甘肃环县楼房子遗址2018年发掘简报

楼房子遗址系陇东地区一处旧石器时代中期的旷野遗址。2018年对楼房子遗址下文化层下部（第14、15层）进行了发掘,发掘面积为16 m²,出土大量石制品、动物化石。石制品原料以石英砂岩和硅质灰岩为主,类型包括石核、石片、石器、断块或断片、备料等。剥片采用硬锤锤击法,石器修理以硬锤锤击法为主。石制品类型和技术总体上属于北方小石器传统。结合地层堆积及相关的孢粉分析初步认为,楼房子遗址下文化层时代与MIS5相当。     

Epidemiological and molecular study on ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’ in Austria and Hungary

The epidemiology of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’ was studied in Austria and Hungary from 2014 to 2018. Testing of root samples showed average infections rates of 61 and 40% of the Austrian Prunus spinosa and Prunus domestica spp. insititia samples, respectively. In Hungary, on average 21% of the P. spinosa and 13% of the feral Prunus cerasifera samples were infected. The pathogen was found in 18 out of 19 apricot orchards and PCR positive Cacopsylla pruni were observed at 11 out of 17 sampling locations in both countries. In cage experiments with C. pruni remigrants successful pathogen transmission to Prunus armeniaca, P. domestica and P. spinosa seedlings in budding and foliated developmental stages was recorded, an inoculation access period of 4 hr was sufficient for transmission. A field experiment with ungrafted apricot seedlings planted in 2012 and 2014 indicated a prominent role of the insect vectors for disease spread. In 2017, 40 and 28% of the trees planted in 2012 and 2014, respectively, were infected. Molecular characterisation based on the genes aceF and imp allowed the discrimination between 10 phytoplasma types in apricots. Around 70% of the phytoplasma types in apricots were also common in P. spinosa, in P. domestica spp. insititia and in remigrant C. pruni pointing to a possible pathogen exchange by insects between wild and cultivated Prunus spp. For disease control, vector management over the entire flight period of the remigrants seems necessary; when selecting active compounds, the short inoculation access period of not more than 4 hr should be considered.     

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ modulates renal crystal retention associated with high oxalate concentration by regulating tubular epithelial cellular transdifferentiation

The differentiated phenotype of renal tubular epithelial cell exerts significant effect on crystal adherence. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) has been shown to be critical for the regulation of cell transdifferentiation in many physiological and pathological conditions; however, little is known about its role in kidney stone formation. In the current study, we found that temporarily high oxalate concentration significantly decreased PPARγ expression, induced Madin Darby Canine Kidney cell dedifferentiation, and prompted subsequent calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal adhesion in vitro. Furthermore, cell redifferentiation after the removal of the high oxalate concentration, along with a decreasing affinity to crystals, was an endogenic PPARγ-dependent process. In addition, the PPARγ antagonist GW9662, which can depress total-PPARγ expression and activity, enhanced cell dedifferentiation induced by high oxalate concentration and inhibited cell redifferentiation after removal of the high oxalate concentration. These effects were partially reversed by the PPARγ agonist 15d-PGJ2. Similar results were observed in animals that suffered from temporary hyperoxaluria followed by a recovery period. The active crystal-clearing process occurs through the transphenotypical morphology of renal tubular epithelial cells, reflecting cell transdifferentiation during the recovery period. However, GW9662 delayed cell redifferentiation and increased the secondary temporary crystalluria-induced crystal retention. This detrimental effect was partially reversed by 15d-PGJ2. Taken together, our results revealed that endogenic PPARγ activity plays a vital regulatory role in crystal clearance, subsequent crystal adherence, and CaOx stone formation via manipulating the transdifferentiation of renal tubular epithelial cells.     

PbrmiR397a regulates lignification during stone cell development in pear fruit

Lignified stone cells substantially reduce fruit quality. Therefore, it is desirable to inhibit stone cell development using genetic technologies. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating lignification are poorly understood in fruit stone cells. In this study, we have shown that microRNA (miR) miR397a regulates fruit cell lignification by inhibiting laccase (LAC) genes that encode key lignin biosynthesis enzymes. Transient overexpression of PbrmiR397a, which is the miR397a of Chinese pear (Pyrus bretschneideri), and simultaneous silencing of three LAC genes reduced the lignin content and stone cell number in pear fruit. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) identified in the promoter of the PbrmiR397a gene was found to associate with low levels of fruit lignin, after analysis of the genome sequences of sixty pear varieties. This SNP created a TCA element that responded to salicylic acid to induce gene expression as confirmed using a cell‐based assay system. Furthermore, stable overexpression of PbrmiR397a in transgenic tobacco plants reduced the expression of target LAC genes and decreased the content of lignin but did not change the ratio of syringyl‐ and guaiacyl‐lignin monomers. Consistent with reduction in lignin content, the transgenic plants showed fewer numbers of vessel elements and thinner secondary walls in the remaining elements compared to wild‐type control plants. This study has advanced our understanding of the regulation of lignin biosynthesis and provided useful molecular genetic information for improving pear fruit quality.     

Multiple cues from multiple habitats: Effect on metamorphosis of the Florida stone crab, Menippe mercenaria

The Florida stone crab, Menippe mercenaria, is an economically and ecologically important species that ranges from North Carolina throughout the Caribbean and the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. However, there is little known about its early life history stages as compared to other commercially important species in the region. The goal of this research was to examine effects of putative cues on metamorphosis from the megalopa stage to the first juvenile stage. Our study investigated the effect of water-soluble exudates from four substrata, as well as natural biofilms, and exudates from adult stone crabs. In addition, the influence of natural substrata was compared to that of artificial substrata. Adult exudate had no significant effect on metamorphosis, despite a wide range of tested concentrations. In contrast, there was a significant effect on mean time to metamorphosis in experimental groups exposed to multiple cues associated with the brown alga Sargassum fluitans, rubble from stone crab habitat, the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica, and biofilms associated with the oyster. Furthermore, we provide evidence for metamorphic responses to water-soluble chemical cues, as well as biochemical and physical cues associated with different substrata. Overall results were coherent with the relevant body of previous work on metamorphosis of brachyuran crab larvae and indicate that both physical and chemical cues are important factors in facilitating the settlement and metamorphosis of M. mercenaria larvae in juvenile nursery habitat.     

Spreading of ESFY Phytoplasmas in Stone Fruit in Catalonia (Spain)

A survey was carried out in nine stone fruit commercial orchards located in Barcelona province where plum and apricot trees of different cultivars showing European stone fruit yellows (ESFY) symptoms were present. A 4‐year survey with visual inspection of symptoms in one apricot orchard showed a rather high ESFY disease spread, also in a Japanese plum plantation newly infected plants were detected every year in a similar rate (about 2%). All the inspected symptomatic trees were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tested and ESFY phytoplasma identity was confirmed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses and sequencing of ribosomal DNA amplification products. In apricot plantation the detection of ESFY phytoplasma was also tested on 69 asymptomatic trees sampled in summer 2002. The nested PCR with 16SrX group‐specific primers allowed detection of ESFY phytoplasmas in 50% of the trees that indeed showed symptoms by the next winter (2003). The molecular detection of ESFY phytoplasma in asymptomatic apricot trees indicates the risk of maintaining phytoplasma foci in the fields where eradication is based only on visual inspection.     

Qualification and application of an ELISA for the determination of Tamm Horsfall protein (THP) in human urine and its use for screening of kidney stone disease

Kidney stone disease affects 1 - 20% of the general population. At present, the diagnosis of a stone is done using radiography method when noticeable symptoms appeared. We developed a non-invasive quantitative assay for urinary THP, namely ELISA; whereby our previous study and other reports had shown the usefulness of THP as biomarker for kidney stone disease. Since urine is biological fluid that is easily obtainable, this method could be used as a screening assay for kidney stone prior to confirmation with radiography. The ELISA gave assay linearity r(2) > 0.999 within the range of 109 ng/mL to 945 ng/mL THP. Assay precisions were < 4% (C.V.) for repeatability and < 5% (C.V.) for reproducibility. Assay accuracy range from 97.7% to 101.2% at the various THP concentrations tested. Assay specificity and sensitivity were 80% and 86%, respectively. The cut-off points at P < 0.05 were 37.0 and 41.2 mug/mL for male and female, respectively. The assay is cost effective and rapid whereby the cost for assaying each urine sample in duplicate is approximately USD0.35 and within 5 hours, 37 samples can be assayed alongside full range of standards and 3 QC samples in each plate. Furthermore, sample preparation is relatively easy where urine sample was diluted 10 times in TEA buffer. The usability of the ELISA method for diagnosis of kidney stone disease is evaluated with 117 healthy subjects and 58 stone formers.     

Testing species–stone area and species–bryophyte cover relationships in riverine macroinvertebrates at small scales

1. The species–area relationship is considered amongst the few genuine laws in ecology. Although positive species richness–stone area relationships have been found previously in stream systems, very few studies have simultaneously examined species–individuals, individuals–area, species–bryophyte biomass and individuals–bryophyte biomass relationships. We examined these relationships based on temporally replicated assessments of macroinvertebrates on stones at two river sites. 2. We found only one significant species–area relationship out of six relationship tested, and two significant individuals–area relationships. Even these significant relationships were weak, however. By contrast, we detected significant and rather strong relationships between species richness and the number of individuals at both river sites on all three sampling dates. We also found significant relationships of both species richness and the number of individuals with bryophyte biomass at both river sites on all sampling occasions. One of the river sites was disturbed by a bulldozer, and the species–bryophyte biomass relationships were somewhat stronger after the disturbance event. 3. Our findings are quite surprising, given that there were very weak species–area relationships on stream stones. By contrast, our results suggest a pivotal role for bryophyte biomass in determining the species richness and the number of individuals of stream macroinvertebrates at this small scale. The most probably origin of these relationships begins with bryophyte cover, which determines the number of individuals, and subsequently passively affects species richness. Thus, there is not necessarily a direct mechanism that determines the variability of species richness on stream stones. 4. Experimental studies are needed to disentangle the various mechanisms (e.g. passive sampling, provision of more food, more niche space, flood disturbance refugia) by which bryophyte biomass affects stream macroinvertebrates.     

New evidence for hominin carcass processing strategies at 1.5 Ma, Koobi Fora, Kenya

Reconstruction of early Pleistocene hominin carcass acquisition and processing behaviors are necessarily based at least in part on butchered fossil bones. This paper provides zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses and behavioral interpretations of three approximately 1.5 million-year-old archaeofaunas from areas 1A and 103 in the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation, northern Kenya: FwJj14A, FwJj14B, and GaJi14. These sites are all located in similar paleoenvironmental contexts, near shallow water with swampy, seasonally flooded areas, and some evidence for more wooded or gallery forest settings. Both individual specimen--and assemblage-level analyses of butchery-marked bones indicate that the hominins appear to have practiced similar butchery strategies at all of these sites, with butchery (defleshing, disarticulation, and marrow extraction) of both high- and low-ranked skeletal elements with no apparent preference for prey size, skeletal region, limb class, or limb portion. Only four tooth-marked specimens, including one likely crocodile-tooth-marked bone, are preserved in all three archaeofaunas. A paucity of limb epiphyses suggests that bone-crunching hyenids may have deleted these portions subsequent to hominin butchery. Strangely, there are no stone tools preserved with the 292 cut-marked and 27 percussion-marked faunal specimens (out of a total of 6,039 specimens), suggesting that raw material availability may have conditioned hominin lithic discard patterns at these locales. These assemblages increase our knowledge of the dietary behavior and ecology of Homo erectus, and provide support for variability in early Pleistocene hominin carcass foraging patterns.