紫花苜蓿赤霉素受体基因的克隆及表达分析

赤霉素受体(GID)是赤霉素信号转导途径的重要成员,直接影响着赤霉素对植物体效应的发挥。该研究利用同源克隆的方法,首次从紫花苜蓿中克隆得到1个赤霉素受体基因,命名为MsGID1b。序列分析发现,MsGID1b基因开放阅读框长度为1 053bp,编码350个氨基酸,推测其蛋白质分子量为39.839kD,是一个无信号肽和跨膜结构的亲水性蛋白。序列比对结果表明,MsGID1b基因与蒺藜苜蓿MtGID1b基因的核苷酸序列相似性为98%,氨基酸序列相似性为99%,且具有HSL家族典型的HGG和GXSXG保守结构域及GA、DELLA蛋白结合位点。荧光定量PCR分析表明,MsGID1b基因在紫花苜蓿各组织中的表达丰度依次为:根盛花初花茎叶荚果;经GA3、ABA、NaCl、PEG和黑暗诱导后该基因表达上调,尤其是在GA3诱导下,MsGID1b基因的表达量一直维持在较高水平,表明MsGID1b基因可能参与紫花苜蓿的抗逆调控。     

Primulina petrocosmeoides sp. nov. (Gesneriaceae) from Guangxi,China

Primulina petrocosmeoides Bo Pan & Fang Wen sp. nov. (Gesneriaceae) from Guangxi, China, is described and illustrated. This new species is similar to P. weii Mich. Möller & A. Weber, but differs from it in leaf blade ovate to elliptical, 1.0 × 0.8 to 2.5 × 2.0 cm, leaf base broadly cuneate, cymes 5–16, 2–6‐flowered, bracts narrowly lanceolate, calyx lobes lanceolate, 4.0–6.5 mm long, corolla bluish purple, 1.2–1.5 cm long, pubescent outside but glabrous inside, filaments purple, pubescent, staminodes 3, stigma trapezoid with its apex lobed to the middle and with dense short papillae.     

基于MuSIASEM理论的大连经济技术开发区可持续发展评价

基于社会生态系统代谢多尺度综合评估（MuSIASEM）理论,对2000-2007年大连经济技术开发区人类活动时间、体外能投入量和增加值进行综合评价.结果表明：2000-2007年,大连开发区居民生活水平逐年提高;农业逐渐萎缩;第二产业仍为区域支柱产业,能耗较大;第三产业发展落后于第二产业;区域整体和各个产业的体外能代谢率明显提高,能源密度不断下降;人类活动时间与体外能投入量不断减少的情况下,经济增加值稳步增长,区域整体发展呈可持续态势.     

miR-10a Regulates Proliferation of Human Cardiomyocyte Progenitor Cells by Targeting GATA6

microRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in cardiogenesis. The altered expression of miRNAs can result in cardiac malformations by inducing abnormalities in the behavior of cardiac cells. However, the role of miR-10a in the regulation of cardiomyocyte progenitor cells (CMPCs) remains undetermined. In the present study, we found that up- or down-regulation of miR-10a inhibited or promoted the proliferation of human CMPCs, respectively, without affecting their differentiation toward cardiomyocytes. miR-10a bound to GATA6 directly and reduced GATA6 expression. Over-expression of GATA6 greatly attenuated the miR-10a-mediated inhibitory effect on the proliferation of human CMPCs. Thus, our results indicate that miR-10a could effectively modulate the proliferation of human CMPCs by targeting GATA6. The finding provides novel insights into the potency of miR-10a during heart development.     

Effects of Forest Regrowth and Urbanization on Ecosystem Carbon Storage in a Rural–Urban Gradient in the Southeastern United States

Forest regrowth after cropland abandonment and urban sprawl are two counteracting processes that have influenced carbon (C) sequestration in the southeastern United States in recent decades. In this study, we examined patterns of land-use/land-cover change and their effect on ecosystem C storage in three west Georgia counties (Muscogee, Harris, and Meriwether) that form a rural–urban gradient. Using time series Landsat imagery data including MSS for 1974, TM for 1983 and 1991, and ETM for 2002, we estimate that from 1974 to 2002, urban land use in the area has increased more than 380% (that is, 184 km²). Most newly urbanized land (63%) has been converted from forestland. Conversely, cropland and pasture area has decreased by over 59% (that is, 380 km²). Most of the cropland area was converted to forest. As a result, the net change in forest area was small over the past 29 years. Based on Landsat imagery and agricultural census records, we reconstructed an annual gridded data set of land-cover change for the three counties for the period 1850 to 2002. These data sets were then used as input to the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM) to simulate land-use effects on C fluxes and storage for the study area. Simulated results suggest that C uptake by forest regrowth (approximately 23.0 g C m⁻² y⁻¹) was slightly greater than the amount of C released due to deforestation (approximately 18.4 g C m⁻² y⁻¹), thus making the three counties a weak C sink. However, the relative importance of different deforestation processes in this area changed significantly through time. Although agricultural deforestation was generally the most important C-release process, the amount of C release attributable to urbanization has increased over time. Since 1990, urbanization has accounted for 29% of total C loss from the study area. We conclude that balancing urban development and forest protection is critically important for C management and policy making in the southeastern United States.     

Genome-wide analysis of N1-methyl-adenosine modification in human tRNAs

The N¹-methyl-Adenosine (m¹A58) modification at the conserved nucleotide 58 in the TΨC loop is present in most eukaryotic tRNAs. In yeast, m¹A58 modification is essential for viability because it is required for the stability of the initiator-tRNA^Met. However, m¹A58 modification is not required for the stability of several other tRNAs in yeast. This differential m¹A58 response for different tRNA species raises the question of whether some tRNAs are hypomodified at A58 in normal cells, and how hypomodification at A58 may affect the stability and function of tRNA. Here, we apply a genomic approach to determine the presence of m¹A58 hypomodified tRNAs in human cell lines and show how A58 hypomodification affects stability and involvement of tRNAs in translation. Our microarray-based method detects the presence of m¹A58 hypomodified tRNA species on the basis of their permissiveness in primer extension. Among five human cell lines examined, approximately one-quarter of all tRNA species are hypomodified in varying amounts, and the pattern of the hypomodified tRNAs is quite similar. In all cases, no hypomodified initiator-tRNA^Met is detected, consistent with the requirement of this modification in stabilizing this tRNA in human cells. siRNA knockdown of either subunit of the m¹A58-methyltransferase results in a slow-growth phenotype, and a marked increase in the amount of m¹A58 hypomodified tRNAs. Most m¹A58 hypomodified tRNAs can associate with polysomes in varying extents. Our results show a distinct pattern for m¹A58 hypomodification in human tRNAs, and are consistent with the notion that this modification fine tunes tRNA functions in different contexts.     

Pulsed Regime of the Diffusive Mode of a Barrier Discharge in Helium

Periodic pulsations of the active current component are revealed experimentally in transversely homogeneous barrier discharges in helium at small values of the parameter Pd (below 500 torr mm) and moderate frequencies of the applied voltage (f < 100 kHz). The frequency of the current pulsations is higher than the frequency of the well-studied pulsations in a transversely inhomogeneous streamer barrier discharge in air by a factor of approximately 100. Numerical calculations show that the physical nature of the observed pulsations can be explained in terms of the negative differential resistance of the cathode fall region, which occupies essentially the entire interelectrode gap in each half-period of the applied voltage.     

Studies on the trehalose-phosphate synthase of Mycobacterium smegmatis: binding of heparin to the enzyme

We have studied the binding of azide ion to ferrihemoglobin in various water/ethylene glycol mixtures. The results show that the thermodynamic parameters are strongly dependent on the mole fraction of ethylene glycol. This dependence has been explained in terms of solvent effects and the transition between two forms of ferrihemoglobin stabilized in water and ethylene glycol.