Divergent adaptation to Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau implicated from transciptome study of Gymnocypris dobula and Schizothorax nukiangensis

The Schizothoracine fishes are widely distributed in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) area and its peripheral regions, which provide a prime example of adaptation in highland aquatic environments. Recent progresses have revealed various genetic adaptations of these fishes by comparing to distantly related lowerland species, however, comparative studies on closely-related species of different altitudes are still lacking. In this study, we sequenced and annotated a primitive Schizothoracine fish Schizothorax nukiangensis Tsao and a highly specialized one Gymnocypris dobula. We performed evolutionary analyses to investigate the candidate genes and signaling pathways involved QTP highland adaptation in both Schizothoracine fishes. Analysis of the 11,007 one-copy orthologs to the primitive cyprinid species, Danio rerio, revealed that both G. dobula and S. nukiangensis showed elevated evolutionary rates. A large number of genes related to hypoxia, including genes involved metabolic processes and cardiovascular system development, exhibited signatures of positive selection in both Schizothoracine fishes, but very few positively selected genes were found overlapping among these Schizothoracines. Our results indicated divergent genetic adaptation to highland environment for aquatic species living in QTP.     

西藏地区雪层杜鹃遗传多样性的AFLP分析

采用AFLP技术对西藏地区雪层杜鹃（Rhododendron nivale）5个天然种群135份材料进行遗传多样性和遗传分化研究。筛选得出的6对引物共扩增产物273条DNA片段,扩增多态位点百分率为85.71%。5个雪层杜鹃种群的遗传多样性指标表现了相似的变化趋势,Nei基因多样性指数（h）和Shannon信息指数（I）的变化趋势一致,均为工布江达县种群 < 米林种群 < 嘎隆拉种群 < 色季拉山种群 < 红拉山种群。POPGENE分析结果表明雪层杜鹃在物种水平（PPL=85.71%,I=0.415 1,h=0.273）具有较高的遗传多样性,种群水平（PPL=62.26%,I=0.280 3,h=0.184 1）的遗传多样性较低。AMOVA分析结果表明36%的遗传变异存在于种群间,64%的遗传变异存在于种群内,雪层杜鹃种群间的遗传分化系数（G_st=0.324）与AMOVA分析得到的遗传变异分布结果一致。UPGMA聚类结果说明雪层杜鹃的遗传距离与地理距离和海拔高度没有明显的相关性。综合分析,引起雪层杜鹃的遗传变异的原因可能是地理环境不同和种群的生境类型差异。最后就雪层杜鹃的合理开发和保护提出建议。     

Elevational diversity gradients of Tibetan loaches: The relative roles of ecological and evolutionary processes

It is widely believed that species richness patterns (SRPs) are shaped by both ecological and evolutionary processes. However, the relative roles of these processes remain unclear, especially for aquatic organisms. In this study, we integrated ecological and evolutionary measures to tease apart the relative influences of these factors on the SRP of Tibetan loaches along an extensive elevational gradient. We found that the Tibetan loaches displayed a richness pattern that peaked at midelevations. The mean annual temperature (MAT), mid‐domain effect (MDE), and summed age of colonization (SAC, complex of colonization age and colonization frequency) were the main drivers, accounting for 85%, 51%, and 88% of the variations in the SRP, respectively. The three predictors had very high combined effects (MAT‐MDE‐SAC, MAT‐SAC, and MDE‐SAC were 44%, 38%, and 6%, respectively). Our analyses suggested that energy input, time‐for‐speciation, and species dispersal may directly guide the SRP or mediate it by geometric constraints. Conclusively, the SRP of the Tibetan loaches with elevation is the outcome of interactions between biogeographical processes and regional ecological conditions.     

Breeding ecology of an Old World high-altitude warbler, Phylloscopus affinis

Reproduction of Tickell’s Leaf Warblers Phylloscopus affinis was studied in an alpine valley (29°27′N, 91°40′E, 3,980–5,600 m) in the Lhasa mountains, Tibet, at the upper elevational limit of the species’ breeding range. This species is a summer breeder, and is the only breeding Phylloscopus species in the valley. It nested in all types of shrubby vegetation across the altitudinal range of the valley. Most nests were placed close to the ground (<1 m) in low thorn bushes. Egg-laying dates fell between late May and early July, most within the first 3 weeks after the commencement of breeding. Mean clutch size was 4.0 (3–5) and mean brood size at fledging 3.4 (2–5). Incubation was by the females and lasted 13–14 days, and both parents cared for the young for 14–17 days. Nestlings ready to leave the nest were 13% heavier than the adults. Overall, 76% of nesting attempts produced at least one fledged young. Some aspects of the breeding biology of this high-altitude warbler were compared with those of lower-altitude Phylloscopus species.     

神经自发整数倍峰放电节律的随机性和确定性模式的比较

为进一步区分神经自发整数倍峰放电节律的随机性和确定性模式的动力学性质,详细研究了实验神经起步点、随机理论模型(Chay模型)和确定性理论模型(Wang模型)产生的3种整数倍峰放电节律及其变化规律。结果发现,实验和随机模型经随机自共振产生的整数倍峰放电节律具有相同的统计性质(峰峰间期越大,出现的频度越低,约呈指数递减)和变化规律,与确定性Wang模型产生的整数倍节律明显不同。这提示,呈指数衰减分布的整数倍峰放电节律是经随机自共振产生的,是确定性因素和随机因素共同作用的结果。     

Distribution,species diversity and life-form spectra of plant communities along an altitudinal gradient in the northern slopes of Qilianshan Mountains,Gansu, China

We studied the distribution pattern, species diversity and life-formspectra of plant communities along an altitudinal gradient in the mid-sectionofthe northern slopes of Qilianshan Mountains by means of multivariate analyses.Two data sets (167 species × 75 plots, 10 environmental variables ×75 plots), originated from the fieldworks in 1998–1999, were subjected toTWINSPAN and DCCA, resulting in 8 major plant communities: 1)Asterothamnus centraliasiaticus–Halogetonarachnoideus desert grassland on azonal substrates from 1450 to 1600m and 2) zonal Reaumuria soogorica desertgrassland on gravels from 1470 to 1900 m; 3) Stipaprzewalskii–Stipa purpurea montane grassland from 2200 to 2900m; 4) Polygonum viviparum alpine grasslandfrom 2900 to 3700 m; 5) Caraganastenophylla–Ajaniafruticulosa dry-warm shrubland from 2350 to 2800 m; 6)Sabina przewalskii mid-wet warm forest from 2700 to 3300m; 7) Picea crassifolia cold coniferousforestfrom 2450 to 3200 m; 8) Caragana jubatawet-cold alpine shrubland from 3100 to 3700 m. Species diversityand species richness of both grasslands and forests peaked at the intermediateportion of the elevational gradient. Evenness might be strongly influenced byeither biotic or abiotic factors at a local scale, while seems quiteindependentof an elevational gradient at landscape scales. Beta-diversity decreased from1500 to 3700 m, indicating that species turnover declined withincreased elevation. Both richness of life-form and total species richness in agiven altitudinal belt (gamma-diversity) peaked at intermediate elevations,while relative species richness of different life-form varied differently alongthe altitudinal gradient.     

The youngest split in sympatric schizothoracine fish (Cyprinidae) is shaped by ecological adaptations in a Tibetan Plateau glacier lake

Although new empirical evidence shows that sympatric speciation has occurred in some species, there are few indisputable model organisms for this process of speciation. The two subspecies ( Gymnocypris eckloni eckloni and G . e . scoliostomus ) of the schizothoracine Gymnocypris fish species complex from a small glacier lake in the Tibetan Plateau, Lake Sunmcuo, fit several of the key characteristics of the sympatric speciation model. We used combined mitochondrial control region sequences and the cytochrome b gene (1894 bp) to address the phylogenetics and population genetics of 232 specimens of G . e . eckloni and G . e . scoliostomus , as well as all of its closely related sister species. We found that: (i) a total of four old lineages were uncovered in the widespread G . e . eckloni , of which only one was shown to be shared with all G . e . scoliostomus individuals and (ii) the new subspecies ( G . e . scoliostomus ) evolved in Lake Sunmcuo from the ancestral G . e . eckloni population within approximately 0.057 Ma. These two taxa of the species complex are morphologically distinct, and reproductive isolation is further suggested. Ecological disruptive selection based on morphological traits (e.g. mouth cleft characters) and food utilization may be a mechanism of incipient speciation of two sympatric populations within Lake Sunmcuo. This study provides the first genetic evidence for sympatric speciation in the schizothoracine fish.     

藏鸡微卫星文库的构建与微卫星标记筛选

通过磁珠富集法构建了藏鸡基因组微卫星富集文库,分离微卫星序列并对其进行分析.将藏鸡基因组DNA经Sau3AI酶切后纯化回收,连接特定接头.用生物素标记的(CA)12探针与藏鸡基因组酶切回收片段杂交,捕获200～900 bp片段,随后将获得的片段连接到pMD 18-T载体上,转化至JM109中,成功构建藏鸡微卫星富集文库.从1200个转化子中获得了353个阳性克隆,随机挑选53个测序,根据测序结果成功设计了18对藏鸡微卫星引物,最终筛选出6个具有多态性的微卫星标记,其PIC值均大于0.5,同时可以用于研究藏鸡遗传多样性.实验结果表明磁珠富集法能够有效提高分离微卫星标记的效率.     

藏药臭蚤草的一个新的苯丙素苷类成分

为了研究藏药臭蚤草的浩性成分,我们利用各种柱色谱技术,从藏药臭蚤草甲醇提取物的乙酸乙酯萃取相分离到4个化合物,通过1D、2DNMR、MS和HRMS等试验,鉴定为2,4-dihydroxy-6-methyl—ethanone-4-O-β-D—Glc（1）,4-（3’-hydroxypropyl）-2,6-dimethoxyphenol-3’-O-β-D—glcoside（2）,4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol-1-O-β-gleo—side（3）,2-methyl-1,3,6-trihydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone-3—O-（6＇-O-Ac）-α—L—Rha-（1→2）-β-D—Gle（4）,其中化合物1—3为苯丙素苷类化合物,化合物4为蒽醌苷。化合物1—4都是首次从该属植物中分离得到,化合物1为新的苯丙素苷类化合物。     

Investigation of bathymetry and water quality of Lake Nam Co, the largest lake on the central Tibetan Plateau, China

Comprehensive field investigations have been conducted four times on Nam Co, central Tibet, from September 2005 to September 2008. Here, we present the preliminary results focusing on the bathymetric survey and water quality measurements. The isobathic map shows that Nam Co is a high-altitude, deep lake where a flat and large basin lies in the central part with a water depth of more than 90 m. Water depth data from the northwestern bank areas of Nam Co provide unquestionable evidence of rising water levels in the last 3 decades because of the formation of two small islands that were still peninsulas in the 1970s. Water quality measurements taken at 19 stations during three summer field campaigns (2006, 2007 and 2008) covering almost all of the lake areas showed that the temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and electric conductivity of surface water are on average 11.43°C, 9.21, 8.90 mg l⁻¹ and 1,851 μS cm⁻¹, respectively. The surface water shows no obvious spatial variability among all the stations. Vertical fluctuations of profiles, however, display some differences in thermocline and related parameters, such as pH and dissolved oxygen. According to the vertical variations of water quality parameters, the water column in relatively deep lake areas of Nam Co could be divided into three layers with distinctly various features: the epilimnion is from the surface to about 18–20 m depth in which the parameters are homogeneous with higher temperature and abundant sunlight; the metalimnion ranged from 20–60 m where a thermocline develops; the deepest layer forms a cold and dark hypolimnion.