中国入侵生物学学科的构建与发展

自英国生态学家查尔斯.艾尔顿1958年撰写的《动植物的入侵生态学》出版至今,半个世纪已经过去,这部著作被公认为是生物入侵在科学研究方面的开端。这期间生物入侵研究经历了萌芽期（20世纪80年代之前）、成长期（20世纪80年代）和快速发展期（20世纪90年代末期至今）。在这个过程中,越来越多的概念、假说、方法和技术被提出和整合到生物入侵研究之中,由此催生了一门生态学领域的新兴学科——入侵生物学。本文在对近50年来生物入侵专著和论文的统计分析基础上,介绍了国际生物入侵研究的发展脉络和现状。同时综述了中国入侵生物学在基础和应用研究方面的相关进展,着重阐述了主要科学问题（＂入侵潜力与成功入侵的关系＂、＂入侵种种群的扩张与扩散＂、＂入侵种的生态适应性与进化＂及＂本地生态系统对入侵的响应及可入侵性＂）和预防与控制的技术体系（风险评估与早期预警、检测与监测、狙击与灭除、生物防治、生态修复与干扰调控）,并进一步介绍了中国入侵生物学学科体系的构建和框架,提出入侵生物学是研究外来物种的入侵性与生态系统的可入侵性,以及外来物种预防与控制的科学,是一门多领域交叉的学科。最后展望和讨论了中国入侵生物学学科发展可能遇到的一些问题。     

Category learning in rodents using touchscreen-based tasks

Categorization is a fundamental cognitive function that organizes our experiences into meaningful “chunks.” This category knowledge can then be generalized to novel stimuli and situations. Multiple clinical populations, including people with Parkinson's disease, amnesia, autism, ADHD and schizophrenia, have impairments in the acquisition and use of categories. Although rodent research is well suited for examining the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive functions, many rodent cognitive tasks have limited translational value. To bridge this gap, we use touchscreens to permit greater flexibility in stimulus presentation and task design, track key dependent measures, and minimize experimenter involvement. Touchscreens offer a valuable tool for creating rodent cognitive tasks that are directly comparable to tasks used with humans. Touchscreen tasks are also readily used with cutting-edge neuroscientific methods that are difficult to do in humans such as optogenetics, chemogenetics, neurophysiology and calcium imaging (using miniscopes). In this review, we show advantages of touchscreen-based tasks for studying category learning in rats. We also address multiple factors for consideration when designing category learning tasks, including the limitations of the rodent visual system, experimental design, and analysis strategies.     

我国食用菌遗传学的发展及展望

食用菌遗传学是食用菌学科体系的重要分支之一,40年来我国食用菌遗传学研究紧密围绕为育种服务、最新分子生物学技术的应用和生产实践中的科学问题的解决等主题开展了众多科学活动。为了促进食用菌遗传学研究的系统性和全面性,本文梳理出9个方面的研究主题,主要包括食用菌种质资源调查和地方品种研究、食用菌农艺性状控制基因定位和分子辅助育种技术研究、食用菌杂交育种的遗传学规律研究、食用菌菌种的遗传稳定性研究和变异风险监控、栽培基质分解利用和储存转运的分子机制、食用菌应对环境因素变化的分子机制、子实体发育的分子调控机制、食用菌次级代谢产物生物合成的分子机制以及食用菌鲜品采摘后代谢生理的分子机制等,目前这些研究主题有些正在成为研究热点,有些在研究的系统性上还有待完善,有些还缺少足够的关注兴趣。希望食用菌遗传学在未来的发展中,能够把一些源头和底层的科学规律弄清楚,形成完整的知识体系和理论体系,为推动食用菌产业高质量发展提供科学基础。     

梯棱羊肚菌外源营养作用的影响因素

外源营养袋的应用是国内羊肚菌大田栽培成功的关键技术之一,但其作用机理和影响因素一直没有得到充分的解析。本研究首先于室内建立一个外源营养模型,确认模型中外源营养模块可以向外输出营养,且被梯棱羊肚菌菌丝利用。通过模型实验发现,外源营养添加到贫瘠培养基时,菌体生物量的增加显著高于营养丰富的培养基;在梯棱羊肚菌生长的不同阶段添加外源营养,菌核形成位置不同,并影响生物量的增加,在菌核起始阶段添加,主培养基的生物量增加最多;外源营养的添加位置、块数等因素在本模型中没有检测到对生物量的影响。外源营养使用聚丙烯袋包裹和不包裹比较发现,包裹组的主培养基内生物量增速和总量低于无包裹组,而外源营养块内趋势相反,但最终两组之间外源营养块与主培养基内生物量总和没有显著差异。使用滤纸和铝箔包裹外源营养时,对生物量的影响和聚丙烯袋材质没有显著差别。外源营养碳氮比20:1时,最有利于主培养基生物量的积累。本研究建立的外源营养研究模型得到的结论与大田栽培有较好的一致性,通过模型发现了实际栽培中不容易观察到的现象,有助于对外源营养袋作用机理进行深入研究。     

象甲科昆虫转录组研究进展

转录组是细胞在特定发育阶段或生理条件下的全部转录本及其数量总和,并能揭示特定状态下的基因表达模式及分子机理。象甲科昆虫拥有动物界中最多的物种种类,该科许多昆虫也是我国粮食仓储和农林产业上的重大害虫。通过研究象甲科昆虫转录组,从分子水平揭示其生命过程中相关的基因及其功能,对寻找害虫防治的新方法具有重要意义。本文对象甲科昆虫转录组研究现状进行了浅析,涉及象甲科不同发育阶段基因差异、昆虫触角、与植物互作、防治、免疫机制、进化、基因沉默7个方面的分析,可在理论上丰富对象甲科昆虫遗传发育、免疫、潜在RNA干扰靶点筛选等方面的理解,并在此基础上提出了象甲科转录组今后的研究热点与应用前景,为害虫防控提供理论指导。     

CLARIFYING APPEALS TO DIGNITY IN MEDICAL ETHICS FROM AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Over the past few decades the concept of (human) dignity has deeply pervaded medical ethics. Appeals to dignity, however, are often unclear. As a result some prefer to eliminate the concept from medical ethics, whereas others try to render it useful in this context. We think that appeals to dignity in medical ethics can be clarified by considering the concept from an historical perspective. Firstly, on the basis of historical texts we propose a framework for defining the concept in medical debates. The framework shows that dignity can occur in a relational, an unconditional, a subjective and a Kantian form. Interestingly, all forms relate to one concept since they have four features in common: dignity refers, in a restricted sense, to the 'special status of human beings'; it is based on essential human characteristics; the subject of dignity should live up to it; and it is a vulnerable concept, it can be lost or violated. We argue that being explicit about the meaning of dignity will prevent dignity from becoming a conversation-stopper in moral debate. Secondly, an historical perspective on dignity shows that it is not yet time to dispose of dignity in medical ethics. At least Kantian and relational dignity can be made useful in medical ethics.     

Assessing nitrate leaching during the three‐first years of Miscanthus × giganteus from on‐farm measurements and modeling

Miscanthus × giganteus is often regarded as one of the most promising crops to produce sustainable bioenergy. This perennial crop, renowned for its high productivity associated with low input requirements, in particular regarding fertilizers, is thought to have low environmental impacts, but few data are available to confirm this. Our study aimed at assessing nitrate leaching from Miscanthus × giganteus crops in farmers' fields, thus including a wide range of soil and cropping system conditions. We focused on the first years of growth after planting as experimental studies have suggested that Miscanthus × giganteus, once established, results in low nitrate leaching. We combined on‐farm measurements and modeling to estimate drainage, leached nitrogen, and nitrate concentration in drainage water in 38 fields located in Center‐East France during two winters (November 2010 to March 2011, November 2011 to March 2012). Nitrate leaching and nitrate concentration in drainage water were on average very low. Nitrate leaching averaged 6 kg N ha^?1 whereas nitrate concentration averaged 12 mg l^?1. These low values are attributable to the low estimates of drainage water (mean = 166 mm) but also to the low soil mineral nitrogen contents measured at the beginning of winter (mean = 37 kg N ha^?1). Our results were, however, very variable, mainly due to the crop age: nitrate leaching and nitrate concentration were critically higher during the winter following the first growth year of Miscanthus × giganteus, reflecting the low development of the crop. This variability was also explained by the range of soil and cropping conditions explored in the on‐farm design: shallow and/or sandy soils as well as fields where establishment failed had a higher risk of nitrate leaching.     

大头茶属植物研究进展

大头茶属(Polyspora Sweet)为山茶科常绿树木,共50种,主要分布于南亚和东南亚地区。大头茶属植物均具有较高观赏价值,可作为热带和亚热带地区的园林绿化树种,部分种类兼具食用和药用价值。该文在对大头茶属种质资源和应用情况简要介绍的基础上,对其系统演化及分类、繁殖特征、生理特性、生态习性、育苗技术、化学成分及药理活性等方面的研究进展进行了较为详细的综述,提出了目前研究中存在的问题,并对今后的研究方向进行了展望,指出未来应扩大大头茶属的研究范围和种类,加强种质资源搜集、系统发育、遗传多样性等研究,重点关注大头茶属的引种栽培与种质创新,充分发掘其药用价值,开展临床转化和药物研制工作,可为合理开发利用野生大头茶属种质资源提供理论依据和研究思路。     

Studying the effects of virtual biodiversity research infrastructures

The research environment of scholars is increasingly web-based. This makes it urgent to study the effects of moving to the Web on research practices, scholarly output and innovation. We propose a theoretical framework and a methodology to study these effects. In a pilot study, we apply theory and method on an online community in biodiversity research, to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach. We also indicate the practical relevance of this kind of analysis for improving the quality of virtual research environments. In the last section, directions for further research are suggested.