The Exploitation and Utilization of Lycophyte and Fern Resources in Xishuangbanna,Yunnan

Xishuangbanna lies in the south of Yunnan. The composition and distributive regulation of lycophytes and ferns in Xishuangbanna are studied in this paper. As a result, 363 species of wild lycophytes and ferns which belong to 76 genera and 31 families are found in this area. The six species rich families are Polypodiaceae, Athyriaceae, Thelypteridaceae, Aspleniaceae, Pteridaceae and Selaginellaceae. The geographical distribution of the species shows that this flora mainly consists of Tropical Asia elements. Terrestrial species are the richest of this flora, followed by epiphytic and lithophytic species. The lycophytes and ferns resources of Xishuangbanna are abundant. However, the exploitation and utilization of this group of plants are ignored. This study investigated lycophytes and ferns resources of Xishuangbanna. Medicinal, edible and ornamental ferns in Xishuangbanna have been clearly researched and their utilization and protection have been discussed.     

蛋白质相互作用数据库

随着“蛋白质组学”的蓬勃发展和人类对生物大分子功能机制的知识积累,涌现出海量的蛋白质相互作用数据。随之,研究者开发了300多个蛋白质相互作用数据库,用于存储、展示和数据的重利用。蛋白质相互作用数据库是系统生物学、分子生物学和临床药物研究的宝贵资源。本文将数据库分为3类：（1）综合蛋白质相互作用数据库;（2）特定物种的蛋白质相互作用数据库;（3）生物学通路数据库。重点介绍常用的蛋白质相互作用数据库,包括BioGRID、STRING、IntAct、MINT、DIP、IMEx、HPRD、Reactome和KEGG等。     

我国罗布麻种质资源研究利用现状

罗布麻(Apocynum venetum)是一种世界上稀有的野生植物。其叶可以入药, 也可以制保健茶。该文简介了罗布麻的发现、分布和植物学分类, 并对罗布麻种质资源多样性和耐盐性研究以及罗布麻的开发利用进行了详细综述。旨在为罗布麻耐盐机理、种质资源保护以及定向育种研究提供理论依据和参考, 并呼吁广大同行加强对罗布麻种质资源的保护工作。     

Ontogeny of Feeding Behavior of Eulemur fulvus in the Dry Forest of Mayotte

Captive data show that juvenile mammals usually reproduce the diet of the adult. However, it is not known whether, in natural environments, the process of feeding maturation varies according to available foods and to adult choices. I examined the feeding ontogeny of Mayotte brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus), a presumed introduced species, from birth to 12 mo old in the southern dry forest of Mayotte. The study focused on activities and diets of 4 mothers and their juveniles from 2 groups in 1999 and 2000. In 2001, we also observed 2 other dyads from each group for 2 mo (March/April). I assessed plant phenology in each group's home range. There are 4 phases of feeding ontogeny: (1) the 3 mo following birth are characterized by lactation, early bouts of exploration, and consumption; (2) the next 2 mo are characterized by feeding and social weaning; (3) during the sixth and seventh mo, the daily feeding activity rhythms of the mother and her juvenile are synchronized and diets largely overlap; (4) at 10–12 mo of age, the feeding juvenile is closer to other group members than to its mother. During their first year of life, especially before being weaned, juveniles eat several food items that are not ingested by their mothers. It appeared that the progressive overlap in dietary items and feeding synchrony between mother and juvenile depends on several types of leaming. There is a correlation between the availability of particular food resources with high nutritional quality and timing of reproduction and infant maturation.     

Plastid targeting strategies for cyanophycin synthetase to achieve high-level polymer accumulation in Nicotiana tabacum

The production of biodegradable polymers in transgenic plants is an important challenge in plant biotechnology; nevertheless, it is often accompanied by reduced plant fitness. In order to decrease the phenotypic abnormalities caused by cytosolic production of the biodegradable polymer cyanophycin, and to increase polymer accumulation, four translocation pathway signal sequences for import into chloroplasts were individually fused to the coding region of the cyanophycin synthetase gene ( cph A_Te) of Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1, resulting in the constructs pRieske- cph A_Te, pCP24- cph A_Te, pFNR- cph A_Te and pPsbY- cph A_Te. These constructs were expressed in Nicotiana tabacum var. Petit Havana SRI under the control of the constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. Three of the four constructs led to polymer production. However, only the construct pPsbY- cph A_Te led to cyanophycin accumulation exclusively in chloroplasts. In plants transformed with the pCP24- cph A_Te and pFNR- cph A_Te constructs, water-soluble and water-insoluble forms of cyanophycin were only located in the cytoplasm, which resulted in phenotypic changes similar to those observed in plants transformed with constructs lacking a targeting sequence. The plants transformed with pPsbY- cph A_Te produced predominantly the water-insoluble form of cyanophycin. The polymer accumulated to up to 1.7% of dry matter in primary (T₀) transformants. Specific T₂ plants produced 6.8% of dry weight as cyanophycin, which is more than five-fold higher than the previously published value. Although all lines tested were fertile, the progeny of the highest cyanophycin-producing line showed reduced seed production compared with control plants.     

False perceptions and common misunderstandings surrounding the subject of infertility in developing countries

¹ Correspondence address. E-mail: willem.ombelet{at}telenet.be ^{Although the consequences of the problem of childlessness aremore pronounced in developing countries when compared with Westernsocieties, local health care providers and international organizationspay little attention on this issue. The limited budgets forreproductive health care are mostly restricted to family planningand mother care. The most common misunderstanding is the ‘overpopulation-issue’.It is generally believed that the expected growth of the worldpopulation puts a real burden on the issue of infertility treatmentin resource-poor countries, although recent UN reports clearlyshow that in most developing countries the fertility rate isdropping significantly and will fall below the threshold of2.0 by 2050. It seems that the expected population growth indeveloping countries in the next decades is rather due to populationageing and not to high fertility rates. Another important issuesurrounding infertility in developing countries is the so-called‘limited resources argument’. Because the problemof childlessness is a major health problem in most developingcountries, a re-arrangement of the global reproductive healthcare budget should be requested from local governments and internationalorganizations taking into account the urgent need for a go-togetherof more successful family-planning policies and affordable simplifiedART methods.}     

Effects of buckwheat flowers on leafroller (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) parasitoids in a New Zealand vineyard

Abstract 1 The provision of floral resources in agricultural ecosystems can potentially enhance biological control of pests by providing nutrients to parasitoids. To test this, the effect of buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum Moench flowers on leafroller parasitoids was investigated in a New Zealand vineyard. 2 Relative abundance of parasitoids was assessed with yellow sticky traps in buckwheat and control plots. Male Dolichogenidea tasmanica (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) were significantly more abundant in the presence of buckwheat. No significant result was found for female D. tasmanica or either sex of Glyptapanteles demeter (Wilkinson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), the other leafroller parasitoid caught. 3 The relative parasitism rate of leafrollers by D. tasmanica was assessed with a leafroller release and recover technique. No difference in parasitism was found between buckwheat and control plots. 4 The sex ratio (% males) of D. tasmanica emerging from recovered leafroller larvae was significantly lower in the presence of buckwheat than in control plots on one of the two release dates. Possible reasons for this increase in female production are discussed.     

Cryopreservation of Phytodiversity: A Critical Appraisal of Theory & Practice

Cryopreservation is the storage of viable cells, tissues, organs and organisms at ultra-low temperatures, usually in liquid nitrogen to a minimum temperature of ?196°C. The term, phytodiversity describes an assemblage of plants, algae and cyanobacteria; it is used to encourage a more holistic approach to cryopreserving the photosynthetic primary producers. In anticipation that encouraging exchange of knowledge across the different phytodiversity sectors sharing many common goals will facilitate their overall cryobanking activities. The main objective of the review is to explore the boundary between cryobiology theory and cryobanking practice. Natural adaptations will be considered with respect to cryopreservation protocol development and this theme includes a brief examination of ‘cold’ omics research. In addressing the problem of cryostorage recalcitrance, the review compares and contrasts phytodiversity from the perspective of environmental adaptation. A substantial part of the content is dedicated to appraising risk and safety issues and the microbial and pathological aspects of cryobanking. The importance of best practices for safeguarding the security of phytodiversity held in cryobanks is also considered. The review concludes by prospecting the use of the medical translational research paradigm in cryobanking.     

A secondary sex trait under construction: age- and nutrition-related salivary gland development in a scorpionfly (Insecta: Mecoptera)

Males of Panorpa vulgaris Imhoff and Labram, 1836 (Insecta: Mecoptera) can apply three alternative mating tactics to gain access to female mating partners: (1) without nuptial feeding, (2) providing females with a dead arthropod or (3) producing salivary masses. Providing females with salivary masses during copulation leads to the highest reproductive success, as it results in longer mating durations relative to the other tactics. While the number of sperm transferred correlates with the duration of copulation, the sperm of different males are used according to the fair raffle model. Therefore, salivary mass production is an important fitness determining factor for males. In order to provide females with salivary masses, males must first produce and store saliva secretion inside their salivary glands. The present study was concerned with the development of male salivary glands (= production of saliva) in the course of time after adult emergence. We can show that saliva production did not start before adult emergence, that the state of development of salivary glands was affected by larval nutrition as well as by adult nutrition and, moreover, by age. Older individuals had developed glands of greater mass than had younger animals. After receiving a one‐time feeding immediately after eclosion salivary gland mass increased, while body mass decreased with age. Therefore, male P. vulgaris were able to enlarge the amount of their mating resources (= saliva) independently from external nutritional supply (after the initial feeding) and at the expense of losing weight. Possible reasons and functional explanations are discussed.     

www.LCaccess—global directory of lci resources

LCAccess is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored web-site intended to promote the use of Life Cycle Assessments in business decision-making by facilitating access to data sources useful in developing a life cycle inventory (LCI). While LCAccess will not itself contain data, it will be a searchable global directory to potential data sources. In additional to directing users to relevant data sources, LCAccess will also serve as central source for LCA information. Development is currently being completed on LCAccess with an expected operational date of winter 2000/2001 for some features of the web-site. The LCI Global Directory is expected be fully functional by the summer of 2001. To find the LCAccess web-site in 2001 go to: www.epa.gov/LCAccess. LCAccess is currently soliciting organizations that have completed LCI/LCA studies to provide their data sources for reference in LCAccess. Inquiries should be directed to the development manager, Mr. Tim Skone (US 703/318-4745) and/or the EPA Sponsor, Ms. Mary Ann Curran (513/569-7782).