Appearance can be deceptive: shrubby native mangrove species contributes more to soil carbon sequestration than fast-growing exotic species

Plant and Soil - A dominant species of steppe in northern China, Stipa grandis, is gradually being replaced by S. krylovii due to climate change events. The aim of this study was...     

感染羽茅的香柱菌属内生真菌对丛枝菌根真菌孢子萌发的影响

内生真菌与丛枝菌根(AM)真菌是构成草原生态系统的重要组成部分.内生真菌会抑制其宿主植物的AM真菌侵染率.本研究以感染2种香柱菌属内生真菌[Epichloё gansuensis(Eg)和E. sibirica(Es)]的天然禾草羽茅为供试材料,进行体外纯培养的内生真菌培养滤液、感染内生真菌的羽茅叶片(包括鲜叶和枯叶)浸提液,以及根系分泌物对摩西球囊霉(Gm)和幼套球囊霉(Ge)2种AM真菌孢子萌发影响试验.结果表明: 香柱菌属内生真菌的培养滤液会显著抑制2种AM真菌孢子的萌发,而感染香柱菌属内生真菌的羽茅根系分泌物只对Ge孢子萌发有显著抑制作用,且上述抑制作用与内生真菌种类无关;鲜叶浸提液对Gm和Ge的孢子萌发率均无显著影响,而枯叶浸提液对Ge的孢子萌发有显著抑制作用.在自然生态系统中,香柱菌属内生真菌通常存在于宿主植物体内,可能通过影响宿主植物的根系分泌物来影响AM真菌孢子的萌发.     

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) power performance improvement through enhanced microbial electrogenicity

Within the past 5?years, tremendous advances have been made to maximize the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for both “clean” bioenergy production and bioremediation. Most research efforts have focused on parameters including (i) optimizing reactor configuration, (ii) electrode construction, (iii) addition of redox-active, electron donating mediators, (iv) biofilm acclimation and feed nutrient adjustment, as well as (v) other parameters that contribute to enhanced MFC performance. To date, tremendous advances have been made, but further improvements are needed for MFCs to be economically practical. In this review, the diversity of electrogenic microorganisms and microbial community changes in mixed cultures are discussed. More importantly, different approaches including chemical/genetic modifications and gene regulation of exoelectrogens, synthetic biology approaches and bacterial community cooperation are reviewed. Advances in recent years in metagenomics and microbiomes have allowed researchers to improve bacterial electrogenicity of robust biofilms in MFCs using novel, unconventional approaches. Taken together, this review provides some important and timely information to researchers who are examining additional means to enhance power production of MFCs.     

Ovoviviparity and morphology of the female reproductive system in Palumbina (Lepidoptera,Gelechiidae, Thiotrichinae)

Ovoviviparity is reported for the genus Palumbina of Thiotrichinae. The females of eight species were found to retain a hatched first instar larva or a fully developed embryo in the oviduct (vestibulum), which suggests that the females may deposit larvae or mature eggs that are ready to hatch. In the mature embryos, the mandibles and a head capsule were visible and enclosed in chorion. Taking this into consideration, the embryos may contain sufficient nutrition for development within the eggshell, which indicates an ovoviviparous reproduction. The embryos in the oviduct were not dissolved while the early-stage embryos in the anterior portion of the abdomen were destroyed by the treatment of KOH. Therefore, the formation of chorion likely takes place in the oviduct. The female reproductive system of Palumbina displayed typical morphology of ditrysian Lepidoptera although it showed minor variations among the species. The paired reservoirs of the colleterial gland were rather reduced in the species that carried larvae. We assume that this might be related to the ovoviviparous reproductive physiology. The lagena of the spermatheca was present or absent, and if present, the shape and the size were various even in the same species. The species without lagena had a numerous thorn-like structures on the utriculus. The function is possibly related to the maintenance of sperm, but the correlation between the structure and the absence of the lagena remains unclear. Further detailed studies are required to reveal the comprehensive mechanism of the ovoviviparous reproduction in Palumbina.     

Super-Resolution Microscopy Reveals the Native Ultrastructure of the Erythrocyte Cytoskeleton

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INSECT GROWTH REGULATORS WITH JUVENILE HORMONE ACTIVITY AND INSECT FEEDING BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSE

Abstract  Five insect growth regulators (IGRs) with juvenile hormone (JH) activity including fenoxy-carb, methoprene, NC-170, NC-184 and NC-196 were selected to study on the relationship between IGRs and feeding behaviour of the fourth instar larvae of Calospilos suspecta (Warren) and the fifth instar larvae of Ostrinia furnacalis Guenee, by topical and dietary applications as well as "diet column" methods. The results indicated that the antifeeding indices of methoprene, fenoxycarb, NC-170, NC-184, NC-196 and toosendanin against the fifth instar larvae of Ostrinia furnacalis in no-choice test were -37. 7, 14. 6, -12. 3, 10. 9, 14. 7 and 62. 2% respectively. Methoprene could stimulate the two species of insects to feed, whereas fenoxycarb had some antifeeding activity, and the effects of all the tested chemicals were different. Therefore, disturbances of IGRs with JH activity on insect feeding behavioural response may be one of the mechanisms of action not to be ignored. Moreover, by comparing "diet column" method with "faeces weight" method, it was suggested that the two methods might be applied in bioassay of antifeeding behaviour.     

重组胰高血糖素样肽-1与人血清白蛋白融合蛋白的纯化及活性研究

利用构建的重组菌株Pichia pastoris GS115/GLP-1/HSA,在10L发酵罐中表达了胰高血糖素样肽-1与人血清白蛋白融合蛋白(GLP-1/HSA),表达量为63.6mg/L。发酵液经中空纤维柱浓缩、疏水层析、阴离子交换层析和凝胶过滤分离纯化,获得了较高纯度的GLP-1/HSA,经HPLC分析纯度达95.8%。进一步的体内活性分析结果表明,GLP-1/HSA不仅具有天然GLP-1的生物活性,而且在给药后4h仍能发挥显著性降血糖作用。以上结果表明,利用Pichia pastoris分泌型表达系统和建立的分离纯化方法,能获得大量较高纯度的GLP-1/HSA,为进一步研究和开发能够用于糖尿病临床治疗的长效GLP-1类似物奠定了基础。     

Effects of endophyte fungal species and host plant genotype on the leaf shape and leaf area of endophyte-grass symbionts

Epichloë内生真菌感染能够影响宿主植物的生长发育, 但关于内生真菌感染对宿主植物叶形状和叶面积的研究很少。该研究以羽茅(Achnatherum sibiricum)为实验材料, 采用长宽系数计算和扫描测定叶面积相结合的方法探究内生真菌种类和羽茅母本基因型对羽茅-内生真菌共生体叶形状和叶面积的影响。结果表明: 内生真菌感染与否、内生真菌种类和宿主母本基因型对反映叶形状的叶校正系数、叶片长度、宽度和长宽比均无显著影响, 经计算与验证, 确定了羽茅叶片的校正系数为0.594 9。采用该校正系数及叶长宽计算的叶面积与实测叶面积无显著差异, 且二者均未受到内生真菌感染与否、内生真菌种类或宿主植物母本基因型的显著影响。     

Piperazine: An excellent catalyst for the synthesis of 2-amino-3-cyano-4H-pyrans derivatives in aqueous medium

An improved, forthright, and highly efficient one-pot synthesis of a wide range of pharmaceutically exciting diverse kind of functionalized 2-amino-3-cyano-4H-pyrans and especially bis-pyrans compounds is developed using piperazine as a low-cost and environmentally benign commercially available basic catalyst in aqueous media. The attractive features of this process are simple procedure, short reaction times, high yields, no column chromatographic separation and commercial availability and recyclability of the catalyst. Also, piperazine can catalyze the synthesis of the target compounds on a larger scale. Furthermore, rational mechanism was suggested via GC-Mass analysis of the trapped intermediates.