下辽河平原降雨中氮素的动态变化

为了了解降雨中氮对农田生态系统的影响,分析了2004-2006年下辽河平原连续3年定位收集的降雨观测资料与历史资料.结果表明:降雨中氮输入量季节变化显著,夏季最高,这主要与降雨量及空气中NH4 -N浓度变化有关;降雨中DON量与NO3--N含量相当,均接近24%,是雨水中氮的重要组分;与1985年相比,近3年降雨输入到该地区农田生态系统的年氮通量已有较大提高,降雨较多的2005年输入的无机氮量更是20年前的2倍以上;2004-2006年随降雨输入农田生态系统的氮平均占可利用肥料氮的28.3%,对农田生态系统有着重要影响.     

基于近红外漫反射光谱快速测定淫羊藿蛋白质含量

采用近红外漫反射光谱技术对淫羊藿(Epimedium)的蛋白质含量进行快速且无损检测。近红外漫反射光谱经二阶导数处理、标准多元离散校正及主成分分析聚类处理后, 采用改进最小二乘法回归得到的定标模型预测效果最佳, 定标决定系数、交互验证标准差及交互验证相关系数分别为0.923、0.554和0.717。近红外光谱分析法的测定结果与用凯氏定氮法所得结果无显著差异, 两种方法测定值的相关性较高(R²=0.933 9)。重复性实验表明, 近红外光谱分析法的相对标准偏差为0.937%。该研究首次采用近红外光谱分析法测定了8种淫羊藿的蛋白质含量。该方法简便、精确, 在淫羊藿资源开发利用和药材质量控制方面具有参考意义。     

内皮素—1预处理大鼠心脏Gaq／11和Gia蛋白含量的变化

The present study was undertaken to explore the mechanism of G protein-mediated signal transduction pathway during endothelin-1 (ET-1) pre-treatment and ischemic preconditioning (IP). Rats were divided into four groups: ET-1, IP, ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) and control groups. ET-1 pre-treatment model was prepared by administrating 0.5 nmol/(L.kg) ET-1 into rat left ventricle, whereas IP model was prepared by ligating the left coronary artery for 5 min followed by 30 min reperfusion. All the animals were subjected to 60 min regional ischaemia and 30 min reperfusion alternately and then parameters of ventricular arrhythmia and expression of cardiac Galphaq/11 and Gialpha2 were measured. The results showed that the scores of ventricular arrhythmia decreased significantly in both ET-1 and IP treated groups as compared with IR group. In comparison with control group, Galphaq/11 increased by 77.8% (P<0.05) and 110.6% (P<0.01) in IP and ET-1 group respectively. Gialpha2 showed no significant difference in IP group, while it decreased by 31.0% (P<0.01) in ET-1 group. In conclusion, activation of G alphaq/11 may be related to the protecting mechanism of ET-1 pre-treatment and IP, whereas Gialpha2 may only play a role in ET-1 pre-treatment.     

麻蝇和丽蝇幼虫肠道主要蛋白酶活性鉴定

蛋白酶是昆虫肠道的重要消化酶类［１］。研究表明,蛋白酶抑制剂能够抑制昆虫肠道蛋白酶活性,使昆虫生长发育不良甚至死亡,在害虫防治中显示出应用潜力［２～４］。但是,要选择有效的蛋白酶抑制剂,最首要的工作是研究昆虫肠道蛋白酶的特性［５］。蝇类是重要的卫生害虫,确定其肠道蛋白酶的类型,了解其肠道蛋白酶的特性,对蝇类的防治有重要意义。本文以棕尾别麻蝇Ｂｏｅｔｔｃｈｅｒｉｓｃａｐｅｒｅｇｒｉｎａ和巨尾阿丽蝇Ａｌｄｒｉｃｈｉｎａｇｒａｈａｍｉ为材料,分析了其肠道蛋白酶同工酶,鉴定了其肠道主要蛋白酶活性类型,并…     

Informing conservation by identifying range shift patterns across breeding habitats and migration strategies

A species distribution combines the resources and climatic tolerances that allow an individual or population to persist. As these conditions change, one mechanism to maintain favorable resources is for an organism to shift its range. Much of the research examining range shifts has focused on dynamic distribution boundaries wheras the role of species breeding habitat or migration strategies on shift tendencies has received less attention. We expand on previous research by using a large suite of avian species (i.e., 277), analyzing observed abundance-weighted average latitudes, and categorizing species by breeding environment and migration strategy. We used the North American Breeding Bird Survey dataset to address two questions: (1) Has the center of observed abundance for individual species shifted latitudinally? (2) Is there a relationship between migration strategy or breeding habitat and range shifts? Results indicate the majority of species have experienced poleward range shifts over the last 43 years, and birds breeding in all habitat showed trends of poleward shift but only those species breeding in scrub-shrub and grassland environments were different from zero. Additionally, species that are short distance migrants are experiencing significant poleward shifts while Neotropical and permanent residents had shifts that were not different from zero. Our findings do support the general trend expected from climate driven changes (i.e., > 52 % shifting poleward), however, the proportion of species exhibiting equatorial shifts (24 %) or no significant shifts (23 %) illustrates the complex interplay between land cover, climate, species interactions, and other forces that can interact to influence breeding ranges over time. Regardless of the mechanisms driving range shifts, our findings emphasize the need for connecting and expanding habitats for those species experiencing range shifts. This research describes the patterns of breeding birds through central North America and we encourage future research to focus on the mechanisms driving these patterns.     

Aluminum-Induced Cholinergic Deficits in Different Brain Parts and Its Implications on Sociability and Cognitive Functions in Mouse

Aluminum is associated with etiology of many neurodegenerative diseases specially Alzheimer’s disease. Chronic exposure to aluminum via drinking water results in aluminum deposition in the brain that leads to cognitive deficits. The study aimed to determine the effects of aluminum on cholinergic biomarkers, i.e., acetylcholine level, free choline level, and choline acetyltransferase gene expression, and how cholinergic deficit affects novel object recognition and sociability in mice. Mice were treated with AlCl₃ (250 mg/kg). Acetylcholine level, free choline level, and choline acetyltransferase gene expression were determined in cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. The mice were subjected to behavior tests (novel object recognition and social novelty preference) to assess memory deficits. The acetylcholine level in cortex and hippocampus was significantly reduced in aluminum-treated animals, as compared to cortex and hippocampus of control animals. Acetylcholine level in amygdala of aluminum-treated animals remained unchanged. Free choline level in all the three brain parts was found unaltered in aluminum-treated mice. The novel object recognition memory was severely impaired in aluminum-treated mice, as compared to the control group. Similarly, animals treated with aluminum showed reduced sociability compared to the control mice group. Our study demonstrates that aluminum exposure via drinking water causes reduced acetylcholine synthesis in spite of normal free choline availability. This deficit is caused by reduced recycling of acetylcholine due to lower choline acetyltransferase level. This cholinergic hypofunction leads to cognitive and memory deficits. Moreover, hippocampus is the most affected brain part after aluminum intoxication.     

The twin-arginine translocation system and its capability for protein secretion in biotechnological protein production

The biotechnological production of recombinant proteins is challenged by processes that decrease the yield, such as protease action, aggregation, or misfolding. Today, the variation of strains and vector systems or the modulation of inducible promoter activities is commonly used to optimize expression systems. Alternatively, aggregation to inclusion bodies may be a desired starting point for protein isolation and refolding. The discovery of the twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system for folded proteins now opens new perspectives because in most cases, the Tat machinery does not allow the passage of unfolded proteins. This feature of the Tat system can be exploited for biotechnological purposes, as expression systems may be developed that ensure a virtually complete folding of a recombinant protein before purification. This review focuses on the characteristics that make recombinant Tat systems attractive for biotechnology and discusses problems and possible solutions for an efficient translocation of folded proteins.     

Biomarker of food intake for assessing the consumption of dairy and egg products

Dairy and egg products constitute an important part of Western diets as they represent an excellent source of high-quality proteins, vitamins, minerals and fats. Dairy and egg products are highly diverse and their associations with a range of nutritional and health outcomes are therefore heterogeneous. Such associations are also often weak or debated due to the difficulty in establishing correct assessments of dietary intake. Therefore, in order to better characterize associations between the consumption of these foods and health outcomes, it is important to identify reliable biomarkers of their intake. Biomarkers of food intake (BFIs) provide an accurate measure of intake, which is independent of the memory and sincerity of the subjects as well as of their knowledge about the consumed foods. We have, therefore, conducted a systematic search of the scientific literature to evaluate the current status of potential BFIs for dairy products and BFIs for egg products commonly consumed in Europe. Strikingly, only a limited number of compounds have been reported as markers for the intake of these products and none of them have been sufficiently validated. A series of challenges hinders the identification and validation of BFI for dairy and egg products, in particular, the heterogeneous composition of these foods and the lack of specificity of the markers identified so far. Further studies are, therefore, necessary to validate these compounds and to discover new candidate BFIs. Untargeted metabolomic strategies may allow the identification of novel biomarkers, which, when taken separately or in combination, could be used to assess the intake of dairy and egg products.     

Capitalizing on multi-element interactions through balanced nutrition — A pathway to improve nitrogen use efficiency in China,India and North America

A viable option for increasing nitrogen (N) use efficiency and mitigation of negative impacts of N on the environment is to capitalize on multi-element interactions through implementation of nutrient management programs that provide balanced nutrition. Numerous studies have demonstrated the immediate efficacy of this approach in the developing regions like China and India as well as developed countries in North America. Based on 241 site-years of experiments in these countries, the first-year N recovery efficiency (RE) for the conventional or check treatments averaged 21% while the balanced treatments averaged 54% RE, for an average increase of 33% in RE due to balanced nutrition. Effective policies to promote adoption are most likely those that enable site-specific approaches to nutrient management decisions rather than sweeping, nation-wide incentives supporting one nutrient over another. Local farmers, advisers and officials need to be empowered with tools and information to help them define necessary changes in practices to create more balanced nutrient management.     

Purification and characterization of thermostable H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript>-forming NADH oxidase from 2-phenylethanol-assimilating <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brevibacterium</Emphasis> sp. KU1309

A cytoplasmic NADH oxidase (NOX) was purified from a soil bacteria, Brevibacterium sp. KU1309, which is able to grow in the medium containing 2-phenylethanol as the sole source of carbon under an aerobic condition. The enzyme catalyzed the oxidation of NADH to NAD+ involving two-electron reduction of O2 to H2O2. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 102 kDa by gel filtration and 57 kDa by SDS-PAGE, which indicates that the NOX was a homodimer consisting of a single subunit. The enzyme was stable up to 70 degrees C at a broad range of pH from 7 to 11. The enzyme activity increased about ten-fold with the addition of ammonium salt, while it was inhibited by Zn2+ (39%), Cu2+ (41%), Hg2+ (72%) and Ag+ (37%). The enzyme acts on NADH, but not on NADPH. The regeneration of NAD+ utilizing this enzyme made selective oxidation of mandelic acid or L: -phenylalanine possible. This thermostable enzyme is expected to be applicable as a useful biocatalyst for NAD+ recycling.