Heat capacity changes upon burial of polar and nonpolar groups in proteins

In this paper we address the question of whether the burial of polar and nonpolar groups in the protein locale is indeed accompanied by the heat capacity changes, DeltaC(p), that have an opposite sign, negative for nonpolar groups and positive for polar groups. To accomplish this, we introduced amino acid substitutions at four fully buried positions of the ubiquitin molecule (Val5, Val17, Leu67, and Gln41). We substituted Val at positions 5 and 17 and Leu at position 67 with a polar residue, Asn. As a control, Ala was introduced at the same three positions. We also replaced the buried polar Gln41 with Val and Leu, nonpolar residues that have similar size and shape as Gln. As a control, Asn was introduced at Gln41 as well. The effects of these amino acid substitutions on the stability, and in particular, on the heat capacity change upon unfolding were measured using differential scanning calorimetry. The effect of the amino acid substitutions on the structure was also evaluated by comparing the (1)H-(15)N HSQC spectra of the ubiquitin variants. It was found that the Ala substitutions did not have a considerable effect on the heat capacity change upon unfolding. However, the substitutions of aliphatic side chains (Val or Leu) with a polar residue (Asn) lead to a significant (> 30%) decrease in the heat capacity change upon unfolding. The decrease in heat capacity changes does not appear to be the result of significant structural perturbations as seen from the HSQC spectra of the variants. The substitution of a buried polar residue (Gln41) to a nonpolar residue (Leu or Val) leads to a significant (> 25%) increase in heat capacity change upon unfolding. These results indicate that indeed the heat capacity change of burial of polar and nonpolar groups has an opposite sign. However, the observed changes in DeltaC(p) are several times larger than those predicted, based on the changes in water accessible surface area upon substitution.     

Influence of plant development and environment on transgene expression in potato and consequences for insect resistance

Clonal replicates of different transformed potato plants expressing transgene constructs containing the constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (CaMV) 35S promoter, and sequences encoding the plant defensive proteins snowdrop lectin (Galanthus nivalis agglutinin; GNA), and bean chitinase (BCH) were propagated in tissue culture. Plants were grown to maturity, at first under controlled environmental conditions, and later in the glasshouse. For a given transgene product, protein accumulation was found to vary between the different lines of clonal replicates (where each line was derived from a single primary transformant plant), as expected. However, variability was also found to exist within each line of clonal replicates, comparable to the variation of mean expression levels observed between the different clonal lines. Levels of GNA, accumulated in different parts of a transgenic potato plant, also showed variation but to a lesser extent than plant–plant variation in expression. With the majority of the clonal lines investigated, accumulation of the transgene product was found to increase as the potato plant developed, with maximum levels found in mature plants. The variation in accumulation of GNA among transgenic plants within a line of clonal replicates was exploited to demonstrate that the enhanced resistance towards larvae of the tomato moth, Lacanobia oleracea L., caused by expression of this protein in potato, was directly correlated with the level of GNA present in the plants, and that conditions under which the plants were grown affect the levels of GNA expression and subsequent levels of insect resistance.     

塔里木河流域荒漠河岸林群落的多元分析与环境解释

应用无偏对应分析（DCA）及二歧指示种分析（TWINSPAN）对塔里木河流域荒漠河岸林33个植物群落方资料进行了多元分析－排序和数量分类,并应用植物群落的排序值与环境参数的多元回归分析给出各群落类型的定量环境解释,探讨了该区植物群落的基本类型,生态梯度及其与环境因子的定量关系,结果表明,塔里木河流域漠河岸林的群落类型及其分布主要取决于土壤湿度和盐分含量,并可通过环境参数的数字表达式定量的确定。     

太白红杉（Larix chinensis）叶的形态解剖学特征与环境因子的关系

根据生态气候学方法推断出不同海拔高度气候指标,应用多元统计方法,对分布于秦岭太白山地区海拔3000－3400m的太白红杉（Larix chinensis)叶特征进行了生态解剖学研究,分析了影响其变化的主导生态因子。观察指标包括叶形态指标（叶片总厚度、每束叶中的叶数和叶长宽比）、叶解剖学特征（叶表皮角质膜厚度、上、下表皮厚度,近上、下表皮叶肉厚度,内皮层厚度,管胞直径,叶传输组织和维管束厚度及其与叶片总厚度之比）。结果表明：（1）水热综合因子是影响太白叶长宽比和叶表皮角质膜厚度的主导因子,随着水热综合因子的增大,叶长宽比呈增加趋势,而角质膜厚度则逐渐变薄。（2）年降水量是影响其它形态解剖学指标的主导因子,随着年降水量的增加,每束叶中的叶数、叶厚度、管胞直径、叶传输组织和维管束厚度、内皮层厚度、传输组织和维管束厚度及其与叶总厚度之比呈减少和变薄的趋势,而上、下表皮厚度则逐渐增加。（3）近上、下表皮叶肉厚度与环境因子无明显相关,可能属于比较保守的性状。     

陕北黄土高原森林植被数量分类及环境解释

通过对陕北黄土高原森林群落的系统聚类分析和因子分析（FA）及其与5个土壤变量的多元统计分析。定量研究了该地区森林植被的类型及土壤特征之间的相互关系。结果表明,陕北黄土高原森林植被可分为5个群系,即油松林、辽东栎林、山杨林、白桦林和侧柏林,聚类分析结果与传统分类的结果完全一致。该地区森林植被格局可由群落土壤条件的差异来解释,土壤因子中含水量、全氮和有机质是主导性因素,各群落沿此梯度呈现出一定的分布格局,其它土壤因子的作用并不明显。     

江西省水生维管束植物群落与环境因子关系的初步研究

植物群落与环境因子关系的研究是植物生态学的一个中心议题[1],主要通过直接梯度分析和间接梯度分析的方法进行定量描述和解释。排序是梯度分析的一个主要技术[2 ],如极点排序 (ＰＯ)、相互平均法 (ＲＡ)、主分量分析 (ＰＣＡ)、典范分析 (ＣＣＡ)等排序技术已被广泛应用于植被的梯度分析中[1,3]。对于水生维管束植物的研究已有不少报道 ,其中有许多研究者注意到了水环境 (如水深、底质、水化学性质、流速等 )对水生维管束植物生态分布的影响[4,5],但缺乏对水生维管束植物与水环境关系的数量分析研究。据此 ,作者通过对水生维管束植物群落及…     

Role of input self-sufficiency in the economic and environmental sustainability of specialised dairy farms

Increasing input self-sufficiency is often viewed as a target to improve sustainability of dairy farms. However, few studies have specifically analysed input self-sufficiency, by including several technical inputs and without only focussing on animal feeding, in order to explore its impact on farm sustainability. To address this gap, our work has three objectives as follows: (1) identifying the structural characteristics required by specialised dairy farms located in the grassland area to be self-sufficient; (2) analysing the relationships between input self-sufficiency, environmental and economic sustainability; and (3) studying how the farms react to a decrease in milk price according to their self-sufficiency degree. Based on farm accounting databases, we categorised 335 Walloon specialised conventional dairy farms into four classes according to their level of input self-sufficiency. To this end, we used as proxy the indicator of economic autonomy – that is, the ratio between costs of inputs related to animal production, crop production and energy use and the total gross product. Classes were then compared using multiple comparison tests and canonical discriminant analysis. A total of 30 organic farms – among which 63% had a high level of economic autonomy – were considered separately and compared with the most autonomous class. We showed that a high degree of economic autonomy is associated, in conventional farms, with a high proportion of permanent grassland in the agricultural area. The most autonomous farms used less input – especially animal feeding – for a same output level, and therefore combined good environmental and economic performances. Our results also underlined that, in a situation of decrease in milk price, the least autonomous farms had more latitude to decrease their input-related costs without decreasing milk production. Their incomes per work unit were, therefore, less impacted by falling prices, but remained lower than those of more autonomous farms. In such a situation, organic farms kept stable incomes, because of a slighter decrease in organic milk price. Our results pave the way to study the role of increasing input self-sufficiency in the transition of dairy farming systems towards sustainability. Further research is required to study a wide range of systems and agro-ecological contexts, as well as to consider the evolution of farm sustainability in the long term.     

Day-to-night variations of cytoplasmic pH in a crassulacean acid metabolism plant

Summary In crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) large amounts of malic acid are redistributed between vacuole and cytoplasm in the course of night-to-day transitions. The corresponding changes of the cytoplasmic pH (pH_cyt) were monitored in mesophyll protoplasts from the CAM plantKalanchoe daigremontiana Hamet et Perrier by ratiometric fluorimetry with the fluorescent dye 2′,7′-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6-)carboxyfluorescein as a pH_cyt indicator. At the beginning of the light phase, pH_cyt was slightly alkaline (about 7.5). It dropped during midday by about 0.3 pH units before recovering again in the late-day-to-early-dark phase. In the physiological context the variation in pH_cyt may be a component of CAM regulation. Due to its pH sensitivity, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase appears as a likely target enzyme. From monitoring ΔpH_cyt in response to loading the cytoplasm with the weak acid salt K-acetate a cytoplasmic H⁺-buffer capacity in the order of 65 mM H+ per pH unit was estimated at a pH_cyt of about 7.5. With this value, an acid load of the cytoplasm by about 10 mM malic acid can be estimated as the cause of the observed drop in pH_cyt. A diurnal oscillation in pH_cyt and a quantitatively similar cytoplasmic malic acid is predicted from an established mathematical model which allows simulation of the CAM dynamics. The similarity of model predictions and experimental data supports the view put forward in this model that a phase transition of the tonoplast is an essential functional element in CAM dynamics.