Etiology of Childhood Infectious Diarrhea in a Developed Region of China: Compared to Childhood Diarrhea in a Developing Region and Adult Diarrhea in a Developed Region

In China, great differences in economy, social characteristics and hygiene exist between developing and developed regions. A comparative study of infectious diarrhea between two regions was needed. Three groups of diarrheal patients were collected: children ≤5 year-olds from Beijing (developed region) and Henan Province (developing region), and adults over 18 year-olds from Beijing. A questionnaire was used to survey and feces samples were examined for 16 enteropathogens. We enrolled 1422 children and 1047 adults from developed region and 755 children from developing region. Virus positive rates were 32.98% for children and 23.67% for adults in developed region. The most prevalent pathogen for children was rotavirus whereas for adults was norovirus. Bacterial isolation rates were 13.92% for children from developed region, while 29.14% for children from the developing regions. For the greatest difference, Shigella accounted for 50.79% and was the dominant pathogen in the developing region, whereas in the developed region it was only 1.45%. There was no significant relationship between the local levels of development with diarrheogenic Escherichia coli (DEC) categories. But it was seen the notable differences between the population with different age: enteropathogenic E.coli (EPEC) and enteroaggregative E.coli (EAggEC) were the primary classes of DEC in children from both regions, whereas it was enterotoxigenic E.coli (ETEC) in adults. The symptoms of Shigella and Salmonella infection, such as bloody stools, white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells (RBC) positivity and fever were similar in children, which may lead to the misidentification. Yersinia enterocolitica and shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) infections were firstly reported in Beijing. There was a large difference in etiology of bacterial diarrhea between children in developing and developed regions of China.     

Possible use of <Emphasis Type="Italic">ail</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">foxA</Emphasis> polymorphisms for detecting pathogenic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Yersinia enterocolitica</Emphasis>

Background  

Yersinia enterocolitica is an enteric pathogen that invades the intestinal mucosa and proliferates within the lymphoid follicles (Peyer's patches). The attachment invasion locus (ail) mediates invasion by Y. enterocolitica and confers an invasive phenotype upon non-invasive E. coli; ail is the primary virulence factor of Y. enterocolitica. The ferrioxamine receptor (foxA) located on the Y. enterocolitica chromosome, together with its transport protein, transports a siderophore specific for ferric ion. Currently, ail is the primary target gene for nucleic acid detection of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica.     

An essential role of the cytoplasmic tail of CXCR4 in G-protein signaling and organogenesis

CXCR4 regulates cell proliferation, enhances cell survival and induces chemotaxis, yet molecular mechanisms underlying its signaling remain elusive. Like all other G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), CXCR4 delivers signals through G-protein-dependent and -independent pathways, the latter involving its serine-rich cytoplasmic tail. To evaluate the signaling and biological contribution of this G-protein-independent pathway, we generated mutant mice that express cytoplasmic tail-truncated CXCR4 (ΔT) by a gene knock-in approach. We found that ΔT mice exhibited multiple developmental defects, with not only G-protein-independent but also G-protein-dependent signaling events completely abolished, despite ΔT's ability to still associate with G-proteins. These results reveal an essential positive regulatory role of the cytoplasmic tail in CXCR4 signaling and suggest the tail is crucial for mediating G-protein activation and initiating crosstalk between G-protein-dependent and G-protein-independent pathways for correct GPCR signaling.     

遮荫对新疆紫草育苗的影响

目的 探讨新疆紫草育苗的最佳遮荫条件.方法 采用不同的遮荫条件,研究了遮荫处理对新疆紫草原生苗生长量和成活率的影响.结果 结果表明,不同强度的遮荫处理对原生苗的叶面积、成活率、地下生长量影响显著.适度遮荫可以增加叶面积和地下生长量,提高幼苗成活率,结论 采用30%遮荫率的遮荫处理能够同时满足增加生长量和提高成活率的要求,同时避免了叶片先端的日灼伤害.     

Polyketides from Penicillium sp. JP-1, an endophytic fungus associated with the mangrove plant Aegiceras corniculatum

Four polyketides, leptosphaerone C (1), penicillenone (2), arugosin I (3) and 9-demethyl FR-901235 (4), as well as five known compounds, bacillosporin A (5), bacillosporin C (6), sequoiamonascin D (7), sequoiatone A (8), and sequoiatone B (9) were isolated from the Penicillium sp. JP-1, an endophytic fungus isolated from Aegiceras corniculatum. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods, mainly by 2D NMR spectroscopic analyses. Compound 1 showed cytotoxicity against A-549 cells with an IC50 value of 1.45 microM, while compound 2 showed cytotoxicity against P388 cells with an IC50 value of 1.38 microM.     

An empirical comparison of character‐based and coalescent‐based approaches to species delimitation in a young avian complex

The process of discovering species is a fundamental responsibility of systematics. Recently, there has been a growing interest in coalescent‐based methods of species delimitation aimed at objectively identifying species early in the divergence process. However, few empirical studies have compared these new methods with character‐based approaches for discovering species. In this study, we applied both a character‐based and a coalescent‐based approaches to delimit species in a closely related avian complex, the light‐vented/Taiwan bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis/Pycnonotus taivanus). Population aggregation analyses of plumage, mitochondrial and 13 nuclear intron character data sets produced conflicting species hypotheses with plumage data suggesting three species, mitochondrial data suggesting two species, and nuclear intron data suggesting one species. Such conflict is expected among recently diverged species, and by integrating all sources of data, we delimited three species verified with independently congruent character evidence as well as a more weakly supported fourth species identified by a single character. Attempts to validate species hypothesis using Bayesian Phylogenetics and Phylogeography (BPP), a coalescent‐based method of species delimitation, revealed several issues that can seemingly affect statistical support for species recognition. We found that θ priors had a dramatic impact on speciation probabilities, with lower values consistently favouring splitting and higher values consistently favouring lumping. More resolved guide trees also resulted in overall higher speciation probabilities. Finally, we found suggestive evidence that BPP is sensitive to the divergent effects of nonrandom mating caused by intraspecific processes such as isolation‐with‐distance, and therefore, BPP may not be a conservative method for delimiting independently evolving population lineages. Based on these concerns, we questioned the reliability of BPP results and based our conclusions about species limits exclusively on character data.     

WRKY gene family evolution in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis>

The Arabidopsis thaliana WRKY proteins are characterized by a sequence of 60 amino acids including WRKY domain. It is well established that these proteins are involved in the regulation of various physiological programs unique to plants including pathogen defense, senescence and response to environmental stresses, which attracts attention of the scientific community as to how this family might have evolved. We tried to satisfy this curiosity and analyze reasons for duplications of these gene sequences leading to their diversified gene actions. The WRKY sequences available in Arabidopsis thaliana were used to evaluate selection pressure following duplication events. A phylogenetic tree was constructed and the WRKY family was divided into five sub-families. After that, tests were conducted to decide whether positive or purified selection played key role in these events. Our results suggest that purifying selection played major role during the evolution of this family. Some amino acid changes were also detected in specific branches of phylogeny suggesting that relaxed constraints might also have contributed to functional divergence among sub-families. Sites relaxed from purifying selection were identified and mapped onto the structural and functional regions of the WRKY1 protein. These analyses will enhance our understanding of the precise role played by natural selection to create functional diversity in WRKY family.     

Soil nitrous oxide emissions from a typical semiarid temperate steppe in inner Mongolia: effects of mineral nitrogen fertilizer levels and forms

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions can be significantly affected by the amounts and forms of nitrogen (N) available in soils, but the effect is highly dependent on local climate and soil conditions in specific ecosystem. To improve our understanding of the response of N₂O emissions to different N sources of fertilizer in a typical semiarid temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia, a 2-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of high, medium and low N fertilizer levels (HN: 200 kg N?ha^-1y^-1, MN: 100 kg N ha^-1y^-1, and LN: 50 kg N ha^-1y^-1) respectively and N fertilizer forms (CAN: calcium ammonium nitrate, AS: ammonium sulphate and NS: sodium nitrate) on N₂O emissions using static closed chamber method. Our data showed that peak N₂O fluxes induced by N treatments were concentrated in short periods (2 to 3 weeks) after fertilization in summer and in soil thawing periods in early spring; there were similarly low N₂O fluxes from all treatments in the remaining seasons of the year. The three N levels increased annual N₂O emissions significantly (P?<?0.05) in the order of MN > HN > LN compared with the CK (control) treatment in year 1; in year 2, the elevation of annual N₂O emissions was significant (P?<?0.05) by HN and MN treatments but was insignificant by LN treatments (P?>?0.05). The three N forms also had strong effects on N₂O emissions. Significantly (P?<?0.05) higher annual N₂O emissions were observed in the soils of CAN and AS fertilizer treatments than in the soils of NS fertilizer treatments in both measured years, but the difference between CAN and AS was not significant (P?>?0.05). Annual N₂O emission factors (EF) ranged from 0.060 to 0.298% for different N fertilizer treatments in the two observed years, with an overall EF value of 0.125%. The EF values were by far less than the mean default EF proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).     

广东省二种兽类新纪录一鼩猬(Neotetracus sinensis)和短尾鼩(Anourosorex squamipes)

2009年9月,在广东省南岭国家级自然保护区石坑崆(24°55’7″N,112°59’4″E;海拔1831～1895m)进行动物考察时采集到一批兽类标本。经鉴定,其中鼩猬(Neotetracus sinensis)和短尾鼩