Nitrogen economy of alpine plants on the north Tibetan Plateau: Nitrogen conservation by resorption rather than open sources through biological symbiotic fixation

Nitrogen (N) is one of the most important factors limiting plant productivity, and N fixation by legume species is an important source of N input into ecosystems. Meanwhile, N resorption from senescent plant tissues conserves nutrients taken up in the current season, which may alleviate ecosystem N limitation. N fixation was assessed by the ¹⁵N dilution technique in four types of alpine grasslands along the precipitation and soil nutrient gradients. The N resorption efficiency (NRE) was also measured in these alpine grasslands. The aboveground biomass in the alpine meadow was 4–6 times higher than in the alpine meadow steppe, alpine steppe, and alpine desert steppe. However, the proportion of legume species to community biomass in the alpine steppe and the alpine desert steppe was significantly higher than the proportion in the alpine meadow. N fixation by the legume plants in the alpine meadow was 0.236 g N/m², which was significantly higher than N fixation in other alpine grasslands (0.041 to 0.089 g N/m²). The NRE in the alpine meadows was lower than in the other three alpine grasslands. Both the aboveground biomass and N fixation of the legume plants showed decreasing trends with the decline of precipitation and soil N gradients from east to west, while the NRE of alpine plants showed increasing trends along the gradients, which indicates that alpine plants enhance the NRE to adapt to the increasing droughts and nutrient‐poor environments. The opposite trends of N fixation and NRE along the precipitation and soil nutrient gradients indicate that alpine plants adapt to precipitation and soil nutrient limitation by promoting NRE (conservative nutrient use by alpine plants) rather than biological N fixation (open sources by legume plants) on the north Tibetan Plateau.     

Altering the Divalent Metal Ion Preference of RNase E

RNase E is a major intracellular endoribonuclease in many bacteria and participates in most aspects of RNA processing and degradation. RNase E requires a divalent metal ion for its activity. We show that only Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ will support significant rates of activity in vitro against natural RNAs, with Mn²⁺ being preferred. Both Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ also support cleavage of an oligonucleotide substrate with similar kinetic parameters for both ions. Salts of Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ permitted low levels of activity, while Ca²⁺, Co³⁺, Cu²⁺, and Fe²⁺ did not. A mutation to one of the residues known to chelate Mg²⁺, D346C, led to almost complete loss of activity dependent on Mg²⁺; however, the activity of the mutant enzyme was fully restored by the presence of Mn²⁺ with kinetic parameters fully equivalent to those of wild-type enzyme. A similar mutation to the other chelating residue, D303C, resulted in nearly full loss of activity regardless of metal ion. The properties of RNase E D346C enabled a test of the ionic requirements of RNase E in vivo. Plasmid shuffling experiments showed that both rneD303C (i.e., the rne gene encoding a D-to-C change at position 303) and rneD346C were inviable whether or not the selection medium was supplied with MnSO₄, implying that RNase E relies on Mg²⁺ exclusively in vivo.     

内蒙古典型草原主要土壤类型和植物硫状况的研究（英文）

通过对内蒙古典型草原4种主要土壤类型及122种主要植物硫含量的分析,并与主要放牧家畜的营养需要相结合,综合评价了内蒙古典型草原硫的营养状况.研究表明4种主要土壤类型不同层次(0.2～0.4m,0.1～0.2m和0～0.1m)的土壤中有机硫的含量变化很大,为17～397μg*g-1,有机硫的含量与土壤中有机碳和全氮含量呈高度正相关.土壤中平均无机硫含量低于10μg*g-1,但黑钙土土壤中无机硫的含量较高,达20μg*g-1左右.土壤中微生物硫含量占土壤中全硫含量的1.78%～2.80%.所测定的122种主要植物中有75%的植物体内硫含量低于0.16%,氮/硫比大于14∶1;与主要放牧家畜的营养需要相比,有约80%的植物缺硫.植物体中硫的含量与土壤中有效硫的含量显著正相关.     

底物中的硅原子对酶反应的影响

在酶工程学的研究史上,人们一方面不断地研制开发新的酶种;一方面利用固定化、酶分子改造和修饰等技术来提高酶的活性和稳定性;另一方面,则不断地开拓酶的新用途。酶催化非天然化合物的生物合成和转化（正是这一方面研究的新进展）。由于有机硅化合物在有机合成,尤其...     

元谋新第三纪食肉动物化石的初步观察

本文对云南元谋盆地产古猿化石地点的部分食肉类化石进行了初步观察分类,认为它们的时代似应稍晚于禄丰,相当上新世早期,估计距今5-6百万年.     

Two cultivated legume plants reveal the enrichment process of the microbiome in the rhizocompartments

The microbiomes of rhizocompartments (nodule endophytes, root endophytes, rhizosphere and root zone) in soya bean and alfalfa were analysed using high‐throughput sequencing to investigate the interactions among legume species, microorganisms and soil types. A clear hierarchical filtration of microbiota by plants was observed in the four rhizocompartments – the nodule endosphere, root endosphere, rhizosphere and root zone – as demonstrated by significant variations in the composition of the microbial community in the different compartments. The rhizosphere and root zone microbial communities were largely influenced by soil type, and the nodule and root endophytes were primarily determined by plant species. Diverse microbes inhabited the root nodule endosphere, and the corresponding dominant symbiotic rhizobia belonged to Ensifer for alfalfa and Ensifer–Bradyrhizobium for soya bean. The nonsymbiotic nodule endophytes were mainly Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The variation in root microbial communities was also affected by the plant growth stage. In summary, this study demonstrated that the enrichment process of nodule endophytes follows a hierarchical filtration and that the bacterial communities in nodule endophytes vary according to the plant species.     

四川盐源盆地哺乳类化石及其意义

本文简述盐源盆地上新世和更新世晚期两个不同时代的哺乳动物化石十余种,据之修正了该盆地晚新生代沉积的时代和对比关系.     

Life prediction for a vacuum fluorescent display based on two improved models using the three‐parameter Weibull right approximation method

To obtain precise life information for vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), luminance degradation data for VFDs were collected from a group of normal life tests. Instead of exponential function, the three‐parameter Weibull right approximation method (TPWRAM) was applied to describe the luminance degradation path of optoelectronic products, and two improved models were established. One of these models calculated the average life by fitting average luminance degradation data, and the other model obtained VFD life by combining the approximation method with luminance degradation test data from each individual sample. The results indicated that the test design under normal working stress was appropriate, and the selection of censored test data was simple. The two models improved by TPWRAM both revealed the luminance decaying law for VFD, and the pseudo failure time was accurately extrapolated. It was further confirmed by comparing relative error that using the second model gave a more accurate prediction of VFD life. The improved models in this study can provide technical references for researchers and manufacturers in aspects of life prediction methodology for its development.     

Fine‐Grained and Nanostructured AgPbmSbTem+2 Alloys with High Thermoelectric Figure of Merit at Medium Temperature

AgPb_mSbTe_m+2 (abbreviated as LAST) has received tremendous attention as a promising thermoelectric material at medium temperature. It can be synthesized by a simple process combining mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). This work reveals that the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT value) of LAST can be increased by 50%, benefiting from enhanced electrical conductivity and thermopower due to refined grains and from nanostructuring realized by repeating the milling and SPS processes. This modified process and further compositional optimization enables ZT values of the LAST alloys up to 1.54 at 723 K. This supports the potential of the LAST alloy as a promising medium‐temperature thermoelectric material and reveals the validity of ZT enhancement by a simple microstructural refining and nanostructuring method.