Impact of groundwater depth on leaf hydraulic properties and drought vulnerability of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Populus euphratica</Emphasis> in the Northwest of China

Key message

Different groundwater conditions affect leaf hydraulic conductance and leaf pressure–volume parameters in Populus euphratica at the extremely arid zone in the northwest of China.

Abstract

Efficient water transport inside leaves constitutes a major determinant of plant function, especially in drought-stressed plants. The previous researches have reported the correlation between leaf hydraulic properties and water availability. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that water relation parameters of Populus euphratica in an extremely arid zone of China are sensitive and acclimated to groundwater depth. We measured leaf hydraulic conductance (K _leaf) using rehydration kinetics methods (RKM), pressure–volume (P–V) curves, and leaf vulnerability curves of P. euphratica growing at four groundwater depth gradients. We also assessed the hydraulic safety margins across groundwater depth gradients. We found that K _leaf–max shows an increasing trend as the groundwater depth increases, while osmotic potential at full turgor (π_ft) and turgor loss point (Ψ_tlp) exhibits a decreasing trend, suggesting that increased tolerance to drought is formed as the groundwater depth increases. Furthermore, safety margins showed positive and negative variations under different groundwater depths, indicating that P. euphratica has formed special drought survival strategies, which can be summarized as a “conservative” strategy in favorable water conditions or a “risk” strategy in severe drought stress.

     

新疆塔里木河下游灌丛地上生物量及其空间分布

对塔里木河下游断流河道2004年7个地下水监测断面和19个植被样地的实测监测资料分析得出灌木生物量在空间分布的变化特征。在分析中分别选取了3个指标：灌木总生物量、多枝柽柳和刚毛柽柳的生物量。研究发现在纵向和横向上3项指标均呈现先增加后减小的单峰形式变化。在纵向上分别对3项指标在距离河道0～200m和200—400m范围内的分布情况进行比较,发现灌木在距离河道200～400m样地内分布占到总量近70％;横向上灌木生物量的最大值出现在距离河道450m的样地内。总体来看,对于两个优势物种,由于两个物种生理生态特性的差异对于异质性环境的适应能力也不同,导致分布状况也各异。多枝柽柳有较广的生态适应性,因此广泛分布于塔里木河下游的各个环境梯度上,而刚毛柽柳对水盐条件的要求较高,仅分布在其中个别断面。影响灌木生物量变化的主要因子是地下水埋深,当地下水埋深小于5m时,柽柳处于良好生长状态;当地下水埋深大于6m后,柽柳的生长受到抑制,开始朝衰败方向发展。浅层土壤含水对于植物吸收利用水分而言意义不大,同时由于优势种柽柳具有独特的抗盐和适盐机制,该区的盐分对柽柳的生长也不构成威胁。本文旨在通过分析塔里木河下游灌木生物量变化特征及其影响因子,为干旱、半干旱地区植被的恢复和保护提供了理论依据。     

模式识别受体的胞内转运及其在植物免疫中的作用

植物利用细胞表面模式识别受体(PRRs)来感知病原相关分子模式(PAMPs), 进而触发自身的免疫反应(PTI)。在植物免疫过程中, PRRs在细胞内的正确定位对其生理功能的发挥至关重要。PRRs蛋白可以在内质网(ER)上合成, 并通过胞吐被分泌到质膜(PM)上。此外, PRRs蛋白也可以通过胞吞进行胞内循环或降解。细胞可以通过胞内转运降解PRRs蛋白以终止信号转导, 也可以通过形成胞内体进行信号传递。该文概述了PRRs蛋白及其配体的研究进展以及PRRs蛋白的胞内转运在植物免疫中的重要作用。     

重叠PCR法合成轮状病毒抗原基因VP4

用重叠延伸PCR(overlap extension PCR)法获得轮状病毒VP4基因.根据Genbank中鼠VP4基因的序列设计34对引物,用overlap PCR法合成VP4全基因的两个片段A、B,将A、B分别连入pMD19-T simple载体,测序结果显示,成功合成了VP4全基因.证明了重叠延伸PCR法是获得目的基因的有效方法.     

人视黄醇结合蛋白4在杆状病毒系统中的表达及其多克隆抗体制备

旨在利用杆状病毒系统表达、制备人视黄醇结合蛋白(RBP4)并检测其免疫原性。将人RBP4基因片段及信号肽SS64片段亚克隆到杆状病毒转移载体pFastBac-dual(pFBd)中,获得相应的重组转移质粒;转化大肠杆菌菌株DH10bac,转座后经筛选获得重组穿梭质粒rbacmid,将重组穿梭质粒转染孔板培养的Sf9细胞,获得含人RBP4表达框的重组杆状病毒,经过扩增获得毒种。毒种感染对数生长期的Sf9细胞并表达人RBP4蛋白(I-RBP4),通过SDS-PAGE和Western blotting对表达蛋白进行检测和鉴定。用毒种感染悬浮培养的Sf9细胞制备一批RBP4蛋白,完成SDS、Western blotting的检测及少量的多抗制备。纯化重组蛋白并与E.coli重组人RBP4(E-RBP4)分别免疫家兔。实验结果,酶切鉴定及测序证实重组转移质粒构建正确;成功构建重组RBP4-bacmid;人RBP4蛋白在昆虫细胞获得高效表达。表达的RBP4蛋白可以分泌到培养基中,分子量约为23 kDa,经过计算表达量为100 mg/L;纯化蛋白免疫兔子制备了多抗血清,血清滴度为1∶100 000,高于原核表达的抗体滴度(1∶10 000),与人体提纯蛋白制备的抗体滴度相近。杆状病毒系统高效表达了人的RBP4蛋白,具有较好的抗原性,并获得高亲和力的抗血清,为下一步的人血RBP4检测试剂盒的制备打下了坚实的基础。     

塔里木河下游荒漠河岸林群落土壤呼吸及其影响因子

利用LI-8100土壤碳通量自动测定仪监测塔里木河下游荒漠河岸林群落土壤呼吸的日变化动态,分析其土壤呼吸与环境因子的关系,比较二者的差异。结果表明：（1）胡杨和柽柳群落土壤呼吸的日变化过程相同,最大值出现时间一致,呈单峰值曲线,但是不同月份最大值出现时间不同;（2）胡杨群落的土壤呼吸速率大于柽柳群落的;（3）胡杨和柽柳群落的土壤呼吸速率与距地表2cm处气温之间存在显著的指数关系,但是不同植物类型的土壤呼吸对温度的敏感性有所不同;（4）胡杨和柽柳群落的土壤呼吸速率与土壤水分都存在显著的线性关系;（5）通过多元回归分析表明,塔里木河下游76％～93％左右的荒漠河岸林群落土壤呼吸速率受温度和水分的共同控制。     

2′,3′-cAMP hydrolysis by metal-dependent phosphodiesterases containing DHH, EAL, and HD domains is non-specific: Implications for PDE screening

The recent report of 2′,3′-cAMP isolated from rat kidney is the first proof of its biological existence, which revived interest in this mysterious molecule. 2′,3′-cAMP serves as an extracellular adenosine source, but how it is degraded remains unclear. Here, we report that 2′,3′-cAMP can be hydrolyzed by six phosphodiesterases containing three different families of hydrolytic domains, generating invariably 3′-AMP but not 2′-AMP. The catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) of each enzyme against 2′,3′-cAMP correlates with that against the widely used non-specific substrate bis(p-nitrophenyl)phosphate (bis-pNPP), indicating that 2′,3′-cAMP is a previously unknown non-specific substrate for PDEs. Furthermore, we show that the exclusive formation of 3′-AMP is due to the P-O2′ bond having lower activation energy and is not the result of steric exclusion at enzyme active site. Our analysis provides mechanistic basis to dissect protein function when 2′,3′-cAMP hydrolysis is observed.     

Zipf's law in importance of genes for cancer classification using microarray data

Using a measure of how differentially expressed a gene is in two biochemically/phenotypically different conditions, we can rank all genes in a microarray dataset. We have shown that the falling-off of this measure (normalized maximum likelihood in a classification model such as logistic regression) as a function of the rank is typically a power-law function. This power-law function in other similar ranked plots are known as the Zipf's law, observed in many natural and social phenomena. The presence of this power-law function prevents an intrinsic cutoff point between the "important" genes and "irrelevant" genes. We have shown that similar power-law functions are also present in permuted dataset, and provide an explanation from the well-known chi(2) distribution of likelihood ratios. We discuss the implication of this Zipf's law on gene selection in a microarray data analysis, as well as other characterizations of the ranked likelihood plots such as the rate of fall-off of the likelihood.