Identification ability of tetraploid microsatellite loci in parentage analysis

An anadromous fish, the Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis Gray) is included in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. To save populations from extinction, artificial propagation had been sought since the 1980s and was achieved in 2009. Additional genetic information and methods will become crucial components in genetic management of the residual A. sinensis population. Microsatellite markers can provide information on the family structure, to avoid inbreeding or founder effects. However, the polyploidy derivative nature of the A. sinensis genome has added difficulties in settling these problems. Given the costs associated with genetic data collection, the trade‐off between the amount of molecular data (how many loci are needed and which loci should be used) and the number of individuals sampled warrants consideration in order to maximize both efficiency and parentage analysis. Formulas to calculate the resolving power for tetraploid microsatellite loci in a given population are provided; these formulas are adapted from those fitted to the diploid loci in Neff et al. (Mol. Ecol., 9, 2000a, 515) and require genetic data only from the parent or parents in question, and an estimate of population allele frequencies. These formulas will help in addressing practical problems, such as the choice of genetic loci in A. sinensis conservation aquaculture programs.     

自交可育甜荞、金苦荞、米苦荞不同品系总黄酮、粗蛋白及其蛋白组分含量研究北大核心CSCD

为探究荞麦新品种的营养保健价值,该文对自交可育甜荞、金苦荞、米苦荞共56个不同品系荞麦种子的粗蛋白、总黄酮、蛋白组分含量及其果实性状的变异进行了研究。结果表明:(1)甜荞、金苦荞、米苦荞种子中粗蛋白含量平均值分别为13.19%、15.44%、11.75%,总黄酮含量平均值分别为0.14%、2.50%、2.09%,清蛋白含量的平均值分别为5.22%、6.13%、4.56%,球蛋白含量的平均值分别为1.29%、1.15%、0.91%,醇溶蛋白含量的平均值分别为0.42%、0.58%、0.55%,谷蛋白含量的平均值分别为2.66%、3.36%、2.80%,三种荞麦的蛋白组分均符合清蛋白>谷蛋白>球蛋白>醇溶蛋白。(2)果实性状中,甜荞果实千粒重、果实面积、果实直径的变异系数最大,米苦荞果实周长、果实长宽比、果实长、果实宽和50 mL容重的变异系数最大。(3)相关分析表明甜荞种子粗蛋白含量与果实长宽比、果实长,金苦荞种子粗蛋白含量与果实周长、果实长,米苦荞种子粗蛋白含量与果实宽、总黄酮含量与果实面积、果实宽、果实直径、50 mL容重的相关性均达到了显著或极显著水平。(4)该研究筛选出甜荞(1808-166贵甜2号优系)、金苦荞(多苦74、多苦78)、米苦荞(1906-136黑米荞麦、43-2)等高蛋白含量或高黄酮含量的荞麦品系。该研究结果对荞麦优良品种的选育和荞麦新产品的开发具有一定指导意义。     

大花红景天多元酚类化学成分的研究

从大花红景天Rhodiola crenulata (HK.f.et thoms)H.Ohba的乙酸乙酯提取物中分离出12个多元酚类化合物。其中六个经光谱分析和化学方法鉴定为没食子酸(gallic acid,1),酪醇(p-tyrosol,2),6-氧-没食子酰基红景天甙(6-O-galloylsalidroside,3),1,2,3,4,6-五氧-没食子酰基-β-D-吡喃葡萄糖(1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-gluco pyranoside,4),草质素-7-氧-α-L-吡喃鼠李糖甙(rhodionin,5),草质素-7-氧-(3-氧-β-D-吡喃葡萄糖基)-α-L-吡喃鼠李糖甙(rhodiosin,6),1和4具有抗毒肝素的活性,4还有抗脂质过氧化的活性,2,5,6具有提高机体抗逆境能力的活性。     

Two Odorant-Binding Proteins Mediate the Behavioural Response of Aphids to the Alarm Pheromone (E)-?-farnesene and Structural Analogues

Background

Aphids are agricultural pests of great economical interest. Alternatives to insecticides, using semiochemicals, are of difficult applications. In fact, sex pheromones are of little use as aphids reproduce partenogenetically most of the time. Besides, the alarm pheromone, (E)-ß-farnesene for a great number of species, is difficult to synthesize and unstable in the environment. The search for novel semiochemicals to be used in population control can be efficiently approached through the study of the olfactory system at the biochemical level. Recently odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) have been shown to play a central role in olfactory recognition, thus becoming the target of choice for designing new semiochemicals.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To address the question of how the alarm message is recognised at the level of OBPs, we have tested 29 compounds, including (E)-ß-farnesene, in binding assays with 6 recombinant proteins and in behaviour experiments. We have found that good repellents bind OBP3 and/or OBP7, while non repellents present different spectra of binding. These results have been verified with two species of aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum and Myzus persicae, both using (E)-ß-farnesene as the alarm pheromone.

Conclusions

Our results represent further support to the idea (so far convincingly demonstrated only in Drosophila) that OBPs are involved in decoding the chemical information of odorants and pheromones, and for the first time provide such evidence in other insect species and using wild-type insects. Moreover, the data offer guidelines and protocols for the discovery of potential alarm pheromones, using ligand-binding assays as a preliminary screening before subjecting selected compounds to behaviour tests.     

Glacial Lake Expansion in the Central Himalayas by Landsat Images, 1990–2010

Glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a serious hazard in high, mountainous regions. In the Himalayas, catastrophic risks of GLOFs have increased in recent years because most Himalayan glaciers have experienced remarkable downwasting under a warming climate. However, current knowledge about the distribution and recent changes in glacial lakes within the central Himalaya mountain range is still limited. Here, we conducted a systematic investigation of the glacial lakes within the entire central Himalaya range by using an object-oriented image processing method based on the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) or Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) images from 1990 to 2010. We extracted the lake boundaries for four time points (1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010) and used a time series inspection method combined with a consistent spatial resolution of Landsat images that consistently revealed lake expansion. Our results show that the glacial lakes expanded rapidly by 17.11% from 1990 to 2010. The pre-existing, larger glacial lakes, rather than the newly formed lakes, contributed most to the areal expansion. The greatest expansions occurred at the altitudinal zones between 4800 m and 5600 m at the north side of the main Himalayan range and between 4500 m and 5600 m at the south side, respectively. Based on the expansion rate, area and type of glacial lakes, we identified 67 rapidly expanding glacial lakes in the central Himalayan region that need to be closely monitored in the future. The warming and increasing amounts of light-absorbing constituents of snow and ice could have accelerated the melting that directly affected the glacial lake expansion. Across the main central Himalayas, glacial lakes at the north side show more remarkable expansion than those at the south side. An effective monitoring and warning system for critical glacial lakes is urgently needed.     

基于高通量测序技术分析四川两个奶牛场乳汁的菌群差异

【目的】本试验测定了两个奶牛场健康乳汁和乳房炎乳汁中微生物菌群的变化,以揭示不同奶牛场之乳汁菌群的异同,评估其对乳汁代谢的影响是否相同。【方法】采用16S rRNA高通量测序技术,分别测定两个奶牛场6头健康奶牛和6头乳房炎奶牛乳汁中微生物16S rRNA V4区序列,并对菌群群落结构和多样性进行比较,分析场内及场间的乳汁菌群差异。【结果】四组乳汁样本共获得4013234条原始序列,经过滤后获得2887024条优化序列。Alpha多样性Chao指数、Ace指数、Shannon指数、Simpson指数差异均不显著(P0.05);Beta多样性四组样本均分别聚类;在场1和场2中,引起奶牛乳房炎的优势菌属分别是克雷伯氏菌属和埃希氏菌属;在2个奶牛场的健康乳汁中,场2的埃希氏菌属、葡萄球菌属的丰度显著高于场1;在2个奶牛场的乳房炎乳汁中,场2的埃希氏菌属、乳球菌属的丰度显著高于场1;2个奶牛场健康乳汁中的嗜冷菌总丰度分别为31.87%和38.72%;关联分析及功能预测分析表明,2个奶牛场健康乳汁与乳房炎乳汁优势物种之间的关系差异较大;场1无论是Level 1还是Level 2水平,均发现显著性差异的代谢通路,而场2均未发现显著性差异的代谢通路。【结论】本试验研究了两个奶牛场健康乳汁和乳房炎乳汁微生物菌群之间的异同,为两个奶牛场在乳房炎的预防工作以及原料奶在冷链运输过程中质量控制提供理论依据。     

Apoptotic cell death in suspension cultures of Taxus cuspidata co-treated with salicylic acid and hydrogen peroxide

Apoptotic cell death in suspension cultures of Taxus cuspidata induced by exogenous salicylic acid and/or H₂O₂ was investigated. H₂O₂ (0.012% v/v) alone changed the permeability of cell membrane while salicylic acid (0.375 mM) not only altered the permeability but also caused nuclei condensation and a small amount of nuclei fragments. The combined use of salicylic acid (0.375 mM) and H₂O₂ (0.012% v/v) changed the cell membrane permeability more significantly and nuclei fragments occurred in ca. 30% of the cells at 48 h. DNA ladders of 180 bp and oligopolymers, characteristics of the apoptotic cleavage of nuclei DNA, were observed by agar electrophoresis. These results show that exogenous salicylic acid and H2O2 could synergistically induce the apoptotic cell death of suspension cultures of Taxus cuspidata.     

肾移植术后肾功能延迟恢复的发病分子机制与诊断标志物研究

移植肾功能延迟恢复(DGF)为肾移植患者常见并发症之一,越来越多的研究开始关注肾移植患者术后DGF发生的新病理生理学机制以及潜在的诊断标志物。本研究对GEO数据库中肾脏移植手术患者的基因表达谱数据进行分析,通过差异表达基因分析发现了多个表达异常的转录因子和免疫相关基因,通过基因编码蛋白之间的相互作用网络分析进一步挖掘了疾病进展过程中的核心调控基因。通过结合加权基因共表达网络分析(WGCNA)和机器学习构建了肾移植术后DGF的预测模型。模型XGBoost的准确率能够达到82.4%,其受试者工作特征曲线下面积(AUC)为0.86,马修斯相关系数(MCC)为0.652,灵敏度(Sensitivity)及特异度(Specificity)则分别为0.789和0.867。对这些获得最优预测效能的特征基因进行检索发现,这些高区分度基因与肾功能密切相关。最后通过比对CMap数据库发现了多个潜在可用于疾病治疗的小分子化合物。本研究对肾移植术后DGF的病理生理学机制进行了多角度探索,为相关疾病的诊断和治疗提供了可靠的理论和实验依据。