浙江省森林信息提取及其变化的空间分布

如何利用遥感技术提取森林信息是遥感应用的重要领域之一。以不同时相的Landsat TM/ETM+为数据源,采用面向对象和基于多级决策树的分类方法得到浙江省2000年、2005年以及2010年的森林植被覆被图。经实地采样点验证,2010年分类精度达到92.76%,精度满足要求。介绍了浙江森林信息的快速提取方法,即统计不同森林类型的Landsat TM影像原始波段和LBV变换值以及各种植被指数在各时相上的差异,经过C5决策树训练,选取合适的规则和阈值实现森林信息的提取。结果表明,面向对象分割与决策树算法结合可以作为森林信息提取的有效方法。最后,通过对3期森林专题图进行空间叠加分析,得到了森林资源动态变化的空间分布,并以此为基础对林地变化的类型及原因进行分析,结果显示浙江省森林资源变化主要分布在浙西北山区、浙中南山区以及沿海地带,这一结果可以为有关部门的决策提供依据。     

Collapse temperature of solutions important for lyopreservation of living cells at ambient temperature

In this study, the collapse temperature was determined using the freeze‐drying microscopy (FDM) method for a variety of cell culture medium‐based solutions (with 0.05–0.8 M trehalose) that are important for long‐term stabilization of living cells in the dry state at ambient temperature (lyopreservation) by freeze‐drying. Being consistent with what has been reported in the literature, the collapse temperature of binary water‐trehalose solutions was found to be similar to the glass transition temperature (T′_g ～ ?30°C) of the maximally freeze‐concentrated trehalose solution (～80 wt% trehalose) during the freezing step of freeze‐drying, regardless of the initial concentration of trehalose. However, the effect of the initial trehalose concentration on the collapse temperature of the cell culture medium‐based trehalose solutions was identified to be much more significant, particularly when the trehalose concentration is less than 0.2 M (the collapse temperature can be as low as ?65°C). We also determined that cell density from 1 to 10 million cells/mL and ice seeding at high subzero temperatures (?4 and ?7°C) have negligible impact on the solution collapse temperature. However, ice seeding does significantly affect the ice crystal morphology formed during the freezing step and therefore the drying rate. Finally, bulking agents (mannitol) could significantly affect the collapse temperature only when trehalose concentration is low (<0.2 M). However, improving the collapse temperature by using a high concentration of trehalose might be preferred to the addition of bulking agents in the solutions for freeze‐drying of living cells. We further confirmed the applicability of the collapse temperature measured with small‐scale (2 µL) samples using the FDM system to freeze‐drying of large‐scale (1 mL) samples using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) data. Taken together, the results reported in this study should provide useful guidance to the development of optimal freeze‐drying protocols for lyopreservation of living cells at ambient temperature for easy maintenance and convenient wide distribution to end users, which is important to the eventual success of modern cell‐based medicine. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;106: 247–259. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Toward a resolution of a taxonomic enigma: first genetic analyses of Paradoxornis webbianus and Paradoxornis alphonsianus (Aves: Paradoxornithidae) from China and Italy

Paradoxornis webbianus and Paradoxornis alphonsianus naturally occur in South-East Asia. Due to a recent introduction, a mixed population currently occurs in northern Italy. A preliminary phylogeographic analysis using samples from Italy and China found little genetic differentiation between the two taxa and revealed the existence of two molecular lineages, sympatric in some part of China, that do not correspond to the morphological classification. Possible taxonomic changes and preliminary inferences on the relationships between Chinese and the Italian populations and on the likely provenance of the founders introduced in Italy are also discussed.     

Change in floral orientation in Anisodus luridus (Solanaceae) protects pollen grains and facilitates development of fertilized ovules

? Premise of the study: Some floral traits could be selected by pollinators and nonpollinator agents, and studying the floral traits shaped by physical agents could reveal adaptive mechanisms to the environment. We explored the adaptive significance of the change in floral orientation, from pendulous flowers to erect fruits that have a persistent calyx, in Anisodus luridus, a perennial native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). ? Methods: We examined the effect of flower orientation on pollinator visitation rates, pollen deposition efficiency, pollen quantity, and pollen viability to estimate whether pendulous flowers have improved male fitness. We then measured seed production and seed germination rate to assess whether erect fruits have enhanced female fitness. ? Key results: Pendulous flowers did not have any preferred pollinators or increased pollen deposition. In artificially erected flowers, the number of pollen grains greatly decreased after rainwash. Pollen germination experiments indicated that pollen damage by water and exposure to solar radiation is serious. In the persistent calyx that holds water within it, the temperature inside the calyx changed slower than in the calyx that had the water removed. After supplemental pollination, the seed number, seed set, and seed mass of fruits that had water removed from the calyx were reduced greatly in both years. ? Conclusions: We conclude that the change in floral orientation could enhance male and female fitness of A. luridus and is effectively adaptive to the alpine environments, indicating a strong selection by the combined pressure from various abiotic nonpollinator agents in shaping the floral traits of this alpine plant.     

MicroRNA-21 Is a Downstream Effector of AKT That Mediates Its Antiapoptotic Effects via Suppression of Fas Ligand

MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) is highly up-regulated during hypertrophic and cancerous cell growth. In contrast, we found that it declines in cardiac myocytes upon exposure to hypoxia. Thus, the objective was to explore its role during hypoxia. We show that miR-21 not only regulates phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN), but also targets Fas ligand (FasL). During prolonged hypoxia, down-regulation of miR-21 proved necessary and sufficient for enhancing expression of both proteins. We demonstrate here for the first time that miR-21 is positively regulated via an AKT-dependent pathway, which is depressed during prolonged hypoxia. Accordingly, hypoxia-induced down-regulation of miR-21 and up-regulation of FasL and PTEN were reversed by activated AKT and reproduced by a dominant negative mutant, wortmannin, or PTEN. Moreover, the antiapoptotic function of AKT partly required miR-21, which was sufficient for inhibition of caspase-8 activity and mitochondrial damage. In consensus, overexpression of miR-21 in a transgenic mouse heart resulted in suppression of ischemia-induced up-regulation of PTEN and FasL expression, an increase in phospho-AKT, a smaller infarct size, and ameliorated heart failure. Thus, we have identified a unique aspect of the function of AKT by which it inhibits apoptosis through miR-21-dependent suppression of FasL.     

CK2 phosphorylates TNFAIP1 to affect its subcellular localization and interaction with PCNA

TNFAIP1 is a protein which can be induced by tumor necrosis factorα (TNFα) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), it may play roles in DNA synthesis, DNA repair, cell apoptosis and human diseases. However, very little has been known about how TNFAIP1 acts in these physiological processes. In this paper, CK2β was identified as a partner of TNFAIP1 by screening the HeLa cDNA library in yeast two-hybrid system with TNFAIP1 as a bait. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that CK2 could phosphorylate TNFAIP1 in vitro and in vivo, which facilitated the distribution of TNFAIP1 in nucleus and enhanced its interaction with PCNA. It is suggested that the phosphorylation of TNFAIP1 may be required for its functions.     

酸性区3融合重链促进基于蛋白质内含子的双载体B域缺失型凝血因子Ⅷ转基因表达

最近的研究表明,蛋白质内含子(intein)介导的B区缺失型凝血因子Ⅷ (BDD-FⅧ)的轻链和重链剪接可顺式促进后者的分泌,而且剪接反应在细胞内、外均可发生．为进一步提高基于蛋白质内含子的双载体转BDD-FⅧ基因的功效,将具有促进重链分泌作用的位于Pro¹⁶⁴⁰～Ser¹⁶⁹⁰的酸性区3(acidic region-3,AR-3)引入重链,检验对蛋白质内含子剪接的BDD-FⅧ蛋白分泌和活性的影响．用融合蛋白内含子的附加ar-3重链(HCAR3IntN)基因和轻链(IntCLC)基因共转染培养的HEK293细胞,分别用ELISA和Coatest法定量分析分泌至培养上清中剪接BDD-FⅧ蛋白量和生物活性,并用免疫印迹观察了细胞内的BDD-FⅧ剪接．结果显示,共转HCAR3IntN和IntCLC基因细胞,分泌至上清的剪接BDD-FⅧ蛋白量和活性分别为(173±26) μg/L和(1.31±0.15) U/ml,明显高于未添加ar-3的蛋白质内含子融合重链(HCIntN)与轻链(IntCLC)基因共转染细胞[(102±12) μg/L和(0.79±0.09) U/ml],提示AR-3对蛋白质内含子剪接的BDD-FⅧ蛋白分泌和活性有明显改善作用．而且,分别转HCAR3IntN和IntCLC基因细胞混合培养后的上清中,亦检测到剪接的BDD-FⅧ蛋白和活性[(35±7) μg/L和(0.28±0.08) U/ml],表明蛋白质内含子可进行不依赖细胞机制的蛋白质剪接．另外,转基因细胞总蛋白呈现明显的可与FⅧ多克隆抗体进行反应的剪接BDD-FⅧ蛋白条带,直观地反映细胞内BDD-FⅧ的剪接．为动物模体内运用蛋白质反式剪接技术的双腺相关病毒载体(AAV)转BDD-FⅧ基因实验提供了依据．     

Anti-inflammatory effect of chitosan oligosaccharides in RAW 264.7 cells

We examined the effects of chitosan oligosaccharides (COSs) with different molecular weights (COS-A, 10 kDa < MW < 20 kDa; COS-C, 1 kDa < MW < 3 kDa) on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of prostaglandin E₂ and nitric oxide and on the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase in RAW264.7 macrophages. COS-A (0.4%) and COS-C (0.2%) significantly inhibited PGE2 production in LPS-stimulated macrophages without cytotoxicity. The effect of COS-A and COS-C on COX-2 expression in activated macrophages was also investigated by immunoblotting. The inhibition of PGE₂ by COS-A and COS-C can be attributed to the blocking of COX-2 protein expression. COS-A (0.4%) and COS-C (0.2%) also markedly inhibited the LPS-induced NO production of RAW 264.7 cells by 50.2% and 44.1%, respectively. The inhibition of NO by COSs was consistent with decreases in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein expression. To test the inhibitory effects of COS-A and COS-C on other cytokines, we also performed ELISA assays for IL-1β in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, but only a dose-dependent decrease in the IL-1β production exerted by COS-A was observed. In order to test for irritation and the potential sensitization of COS-A and COS-C for use as cosmetic materials, human skin primary irritation tests were performed on 32 volunteers; no adverse reactions of COSs usage were observed. Based on these results, we suggest that COS-A and COS-C be considered possible anti-inflammatory candidates for topical application.