两个育性相关基因在几类小麦雄性不育材料中的表达研究

以1B/1R类K型不育系K3314A及其保持系3314B,非1B/1R类K型不育系732A及其保持系732B,YS温敏雄性不育小麦A3017为材料,提取不同温度处理下各时期小穗的总RNA进行反转录,对AY914051和AY660990两个目标基因进行半定量PCR和电泳分析,测定其在小麦中的表达变化趋势,以分析其与这几种不育系的育性相关关系,探讨这几种不育小麦败育的关键发育时期。结果表明,除AY914051基因在2种保持系3314B和732B中表达量变化不大之外,其它均有明显差异;2个目标基因与这几种雄性不育系的败育有关,但与育性相关程度不同,不育系两个目的基因的表达受温度变化影响程度明显大于保持系。由实验结果推测,1B/1R类K型不育系、非1B/1R类K型不育系和YS温敏雄性不育系的败育关键时期为单核期或单核期至二核期之间;温度差异可能会导致YS温敏雄性不育系的育性相关基因表达时期错位,错位后的表达差异积累可能最终导致其败育。     

三种除草剂对外来入侵植物大狼耙草的防除效果

大狼耙草是危害生物多样性的一种恶性杂草。使用使它隆、二甲四氯、草甘膦3种除草剂对大狼耙草进行不同浓度、不同防治时期防除效果研究,结果表明:使它隆对大狼耙草平均致死率为92%,二甲四氯为85%,草甘膦为82%,但三者差异不显著;高、中、低3种浓度(使它隆分别为0.47、0.40、0.33g·L-1,二甲四氯分别为2.80、2.33、1.87g·L-1,草甘膦分别为5.18、3.89、2.59g·L-1)对大狼耙草致死率差异极显著,高浓度溶液防除效果较好;大狼耙草植株在幼苗期(植株高20cm)、生长盛期(植株高40cm)、花期(植株高60cm)3个防治时期致死率差异极显著,幼苗期防除效果理想。研究表明,在大狼耙草幼苗期使用0.47g·L-1浓度的使它隆防除效果最好。     

施氮时期对高产夏玉米氮代谢关键酶活性及抗氧化特性的影响

选用玉米品种登海661和郑单958为材料,研究了高产条件下施氮时期对夏玉米产量、氮素利用率、氮代谢相关酶及抗氧化酶活性的影响.结果表明:拔节期一次性施氮不利于夏玉米产量提高和氮素积累,分次施氮且增施花粒肥显著提高了植株和籽粒的吸氮量,并提高了籽粒产量.拔节期、10叶期、花后10d按2∶4∶4施氮,登海661产量最高可达14123.0kg· hm-2;基肥、拔节期、10叶期、花后10 d按1∶2∶5∶2施氮,郑单958产量最高可达14517.1 kg· hm-2,这2种施氮方式较拔节期一次性施氮分别增产14.5％和17.5％.花前分次施氮可以显著提高开花期硝酸还原酶活性;登海661和郑单958在花后0～42 d中,施氮处理的谷氨酰胺合成酶、谷氨酸合成酶、谷氨酸脱氢酶活性分别平均提高了32.6％、47.1％、50.4％和14.5％、61.8％、25.6％,减缓了其下降趋势;超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化氢酶活性提高了22.0％、36.6％和13.4％、62.0％,丙二醛含量显著降低.在高产条件下,分次施氮且适当增加花粒肥施入比例可以提高氮代谢相关酶活性,延缓植株衰老,促进氮素吸收利用,进而提高籽粒产量.     

Warmer temperatures reduce the vectorial capacity of malaria mosquitoes

The development rate of parasites and pathogens within vectors typically increases with temperature. Accordingly, transmission intensity is generally assumed to be higher under warmer conditions. However, development is only one component of parasite/pathogen life history and there has been little research exploring the temperature sensitivity of other traits that contribute to transmission intensity. Here, using a rodent malaria, we show that vector competence (the maximum proportion of infectious mosquitoes, which implicitly includes parasite survival across the incubation period) tails off at higher temperatures, even though parasite development rate increases. We also show that the standard measure of the parasite incubation period (i.e. time until the first mosquitoes within a cohort become infectious following an infected blood-meal) is incomplete because parasite development follows a cumulative distribution, which itself varies with temperature. Including these effects in a simple model dramatically alters estimates of transmission intensity and reduces the optimum temperature for transmission. These results highlight the need to understand the interactive effects of environmental temperature on multiple host-disease life-history traits and challenge the assumptions of many current disease models that ignore this complexity.     

Macroinvertebrate communities of non-glacial high altitude intermittent streams

1. Macroinvertebrate assemblages of five non‐glacial intermittent high altitude headwater streams (above 1400 m – Serra da Estrela, Portugal), with dry periods of different lengths (0–3 months), were investigated in nearly undisturbed conditions to (i) examine spatial differences and identify environmental variables responsible for the observed invertebrate patterns, (ii) assess the association of dry period length with invertebrate community structure and (iii) determine the influence of using different taxonomic identification levels (order, family and genus) to assess invertebrate community patterns. 2. More than 100 macroinvertebrate genera were identified. Insects clearly dominated these communities with more than 95% of total captures and around 95% of the total richness. Diptera were the most rich and abundant group with chironomid occurrences comprising over 70% of macroinvertebrate captures. 3. The highest taxon richness, diversity, EPT (Ephemeroptera + Plecoptera + Trichoptera) and OCH (Odonata + Coleoptera + Heteroptera) genus richness, the greatest number of exclusive and characteristic taxa identified by the Indicator Value (IndVal), and a distinct community structure shown by Canonical Correspondence Analyses (CCA), were found in the only stream that was never totally dry, with pools lasting over summer. Environmental gradients that spatially structured the macroinvertebrate communities were always related to flow variations. 4. Over time, the highest abundances found in these systems were also related to flow variations and maximum genus richness occurred in the connected pools or in isolated pools. Streams with longer dry periods presented a distinct recolonization phase, with higher abundance of the stonefly larvae Nemoura sp. and the presence of the chironomid larvae Krenosmittia sp., possibly arriving from the hyporheos. 5. Taxonomic level of invertebrate identification was vital for recognizing the characteristic taxa (IndVal) of streams yet was not critical for identifying streams with the highest macroinvertebrate richness/diversity or structuring environmental gradients. 6. Overall, this study emphasizes the variability of high altitude intermittent streams macroinvertebrate communities, despite spatial proximity. This variability was probably related to flow intermittency and hydrologic permanence, different vegetation covers and riverbed substrata. Consequently, the establishment of reference conditions should involve long‐term data collections and more detailed physical characterization. Also, these findings have significant implications for accurately predicting the ecological consequences of future climate change in high altitude scenarios.     

Risk factors for new intramammary infections during the dry period in untreated dairy cows from herds using selective dry cow therapy

This study aimed at investigating risk factors for new intramammary infections (IMI) during the dry period in untreated cows from herds using selective dry cow antibiotic therapy (DCT). A total of 980 uninfected quarters in 347 untreated cows from 28 herds using selective DCT were included in a prospective survey. A herd-level questionnaire and an individual cow-level recording sheet were implemented to collect data on putative risk factors. Quarter milk samples were taken at drying-off and on day 3 after calving to assess the occurrence of new IMI during the dry period. A multivariate model including a herd effect as random and a cow effect as repeated was run at the quarter level. Interactions between risk factors and the cow infection status at drying-off (cow infected in at least one quarter v. uninfected) were checked. Three risk factors were found significantly associated with the risk for new IMI without interaction (P < 0.05): cows infected in at least one quarter at drying-off (v. uninfected cows) (relative risks (RR) = 1.58); long preceding lactation (>355 days v. shorter length) (RR = 1.62); long dry period (>65 days v. shorter length) (RR = 1.46). One risk factor acted only in interaction with the cow infection status at drying-off: in cows uninfected at drying-off, the risk for new IMI was significantly higher in cows with short teats (RR = 1.21) when compared with cows with long or normal teats, while the reverse relationship was observed in cows infected at drying-off. Risk factors can be translated in recommendations, for instance to have dry periods not longer than 2 months. Moreover, as suggested by our results, the efficacy of selective DCT towards the prevention of new IMI would be improved if all infected cows were detected and treated. Criteria to accurately identify these infected cows should be therefore further investigated.     

The Roman cemeteries of Tienen and Tongeren: results from the archaeobotanical analysis of the cremation graves

Up to now there has been little archaeobotanical research on Gallo-Roman graveyards in Belgium. This paper presents the preliminary results of the investigation of the cremation graves of the graveyards at Tienen and Tongeren, dated from the first up to the beginning of the fourth century a.d., and respectively located in the provinces of Vlaams-Brabant and Limburg. The structures studied mainly consisted of pits containing secondary deposits of pyre debris, but a few busta (where cremation took place in situ in or above a pit) could be analysed as well. The results presented here will focus on the most conspicuous finds. The only bustum grave excavated in Tongeren proved to be extremely rich in remains of Lens culinaris (lentil), Vicia faba var. minor (Celtic bean) with some Vicia ervilia (bitter or lentil vetch), concentrated in the presumed area of the head of the deceased. Some of the graves in Tienen, on the other hand, contained some less frequently found taxa, as for example Vitis vinifera (grape), Olea europaea (olive), Pyrus communis (pear), Prunus insititia and/or domestica (plums, in the broad sense) and Cornus sanguinea (dogwood). Most graves however, showed a typical assemblage consisting of mainly pulses and cereals, commonly found in cremation graves. In that respect a certain similarity between both graveyards could be noticed, which is also reflected in the anthropological study. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A Franco-Italian investigation of funerary rituals in the Roman world, “les rites et la mort à Pompéi”, the plant part: a preliminary report

This paper deals with the botanical study of a family funerary enclosure located in the Porta Nocera necropolis in Pompeii (southwestern Italy). This study is part of a Franco-Italian programme investigating Roman funerary rituals. The choice of the context was due to the exceptional preservation of the archaeological features, which offered the opportunity to observe the remains of the proceedings which took place in a funerary enclosure in great detail. An adequate methodology had to be developed and a 3D recording of every single artefact or ecofact has been made. Both ground surfaces and graves provided botanical results. Those from the ground surfaces consisted mainly of fruit offering residues (especially fig and grape), while a much wider range of species was observed in the tombs, including cereals, pulses, other kinds of fruits, weeds and bread/pastry. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Crops and agriculture during the Iron Age and late antiquity in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Catalonia,Spain)

Various sites in the valley of the Sant Cugat stream in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Catalonia) were subject to systematic archaeobotanical sampling to obtain an overview of the crops and agriculture of the area during the Iron Age and late antiquity. In all cases, the most numerous taxa were crop plants. Among these, cereals were clearly predominant at all sites investigated, especially Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare (hulled barley) and Triticum aestivum/durum (bread or macaroni wheat), both in numbers and frequency. Other cereals, such as Triticum dicoccum (emmer) or Setaria italica (foxtail bristle-grass), were regularly present in considerably lower numbers but in fairly high frequencies. Pulses were much less numerous, although their presence increases in terms of frequency. Among them, clearly the best represented was Lens culinaris (lentil). The results show that the agriculture in the period considered was principally based on winter cereals, with a gradual substitution of hulled barley by bread/hard wheat, accompanied by other cereals of minor importance, led by Triticum dicoccum (emmer), and pulses. The appearance of Vitis (grapevine) in the Iberian period is one of the important characteristics of agriculture in the Iberian world. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Reduced Photoperiod Induces Partially Synchronous Flowering in an Understory Rain Forest Herb, Begonia urophylla in Costa Rica

The monoecious understory herb Begonia urophylla blooms in the dry season at Las Cruces, Costa Rica, and bloom is partially synchronized. A laboratory experiment investigated reduced photoperiod as an unambiguous cue for flowering. The inductive period was 3 weeks for flowers but less for bud formation. Variation in bloom time may be an adaptation to enhance fitness gain of plants, such as B. urophylla, with sequential male and female phases.