内蒙古蛇类新纪录——双斑锦蛇

2007年8月17日在内蒙古赤峰市巴林右旗北部的赛罕乌拉国家级自然保护区进行野生动物多样性调查时,首次发现双斑锦蛇(Elaphe bimaculata),随后又分别于2008年8月、2009年10月4次在保护区内发现该蛇种,2次为成年个体,1次为幼体,经核查鉴定该蛇为内蒙古蛇类新纪录。     

Patterns of above- and belowground biomass allocation in China’s grasslands: Evidence from individual-level observations

Above- and belowground biomass allocation not only influences growth of individual plants, but also influences vegetation structures and functions, and consequently impacts soil carbon input as well as terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling. However, due to sampling difficulties, a considerable amount of uncertainty remains about the root: shoot ratio (R/S), a key parameter for models of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling. We investigated biomass allocation patterns across a broad spatial scale. We collected data on individual plant biomass and systematically sampled along a transect across the temperate grasslands in Inner Mongolia as well as in the alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results indicated that the median of R/S for herbaceous species was 0.78 in China’s grasslands as a whole. R/S was significantly higher in temperate grasslands than in alpine grasslands (0.84 vs. 0.65). The slope of the allometric relationship between above- and belowground biomass was steeper for temperate grasslands than for alpine. Our results did not support the hypothesis that aboveground biomass scales isometrically with belowground biomass. The R/S in China’s grasslands was not significantly correlated with mean annual temperature (MAT) or mean annual precipitation (MAP). Moreover, comparisons of our results with previous findings indicated a large difference between R/S data from individual plants and communities. This might be mainly caused by the underestimation of R/S at the individual level as a result of an inevitable loss of fine roots and the overestimation of R/S in community-level surveys due to grazing and difficulties in identifying dead roots. Our findings suggest that root biomass in grasslands tended to have been overestimated in previous reports of R/S.     

An open issue: the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) as a free boundary problem

The inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) is structured in cristae, which contributes to the best functioning of ions and adenylates exchange between the matrix and the intermembrane space. The central hypothesis of this paper is that the cristae structure favours a minimal mean free path of adenylates between translocation sites (translocase/ANT sites) and metabolic sites (ATPase sites). We propose a mathematical model and then give simulations. Based on simple hypotheses about cristae growth, they show that we can account for the major features of the IMM organization and functioning by minimizing the mean interdistance between ADP/ATP translocation and transformation sites.     

Mutations in the helix termination motif of mouse type I IRS keratin genes impair the assembly of keratin intermediate filament

Two classical mouse hair coat mutations, Rex (Re) and Rex wavy coat (Re(wc)), are linked to the type I inner root sheath (IRS) keratin genes of chromosome 11. An N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mutation, M100573, also maps close to the type I IRS keratin genes. In this study, we demonstrate that Re and M100573 mice bear mutations in the type I IRS gene Krt25; Re(wc) mice bear an additional mutation in the type I IRS gene Krt27. These three mutations are located in the helix termination motif of the 2B alpha-helical rod domain of a type I IRS keratin protein. Immunohistological analysis revealed abnormal foam-like immunoreactivity with an antibody raised to type II IRS keratin K71 in the IRS of Re/+ mice. These results suggest that the helix termination motif is essential for the proper assembly of types I and II IRS keratin protein complexes and the formation of keratin intermediate filaments.     

植被覆盖度对夏季降温效应的影响——以内蒙古为例

随着全球变暖的加剧,区域热环境问题日益凸显,植被的降温作用逐渐得到广泛关注。目前已有的研究多从样地尺度分析不同类型植被的降温效应。而区域尺度的研究多从定性的角度揭示地表温度与植被覆盖的关系,对评估植被的实际降温效应具有一定的局限性。以内蒙古为研究区,以MODIS地表温度数据为基础,采用近邻分析法,将森林、灌丛和草地的MODIS地表温度与相邻5km范围内的低覆盖地表作为对照,分析植被的降温效应以及植被覆盖度对降温效应的影响。从2015年7月地表温度平均值的结果来看,降温度数在蒙东、蒙中和蒙甘区均呈现森林>灌丛>草地。森林的降温范围在0.67-1.03℃,灌丛为0.60-0.95℃,草地为0.47-0.86℃。植被降温度数与植被覆盖度的回归拟合为对数分布,均呈显著正相关（P<0.01）。且在不同的植被覆盖度范围内植被降温效应具有显著差异,植被覆盖度水平较低时（<40%）,植被覆盖度的增加能更显著地降低地表温度。从整体来看,植被覆盖度每增加10%,森林降温0.12-0.39℃;灌丛降温0.1-0.2℃;草地降温0.049-0.075℃。综上,内蒙古作为全球气候变化最为敏感的区域之一,研究植被的夏季降温效应能够为内蒙古的气候调节服务评估提供重要的理论支撑及案例参考。     

不同营养模式下内蒙古沙漠小型盐湖卤虫种群特征与环境负载力

通过对桑根达莱淖尔卤虫的养殖实验与卵囊解剖,研究了内蒙古沙漠小型盐湖投饵、施肥与自然状态3种营养模式下卤虫的生境、种群动态、生殖特征,分析了环境对卤虫资源的负载力。结果表明:1在起始种群相同的情况下,不同营养模式对种群结构与密度有显著影响;2不同营养模式对个体生长速度影响存在差异,投饵对加快个体生长速度效果最明显,但在性成熟速度方面不同营养模式没有出现统计学显著差异;3不同营养模式对卤虫的怀卵量、卵生/卵胎生比例有显著影响;与空白组相比,投饵组平均怀卵量提高了35.52%—72.71%,施肥组提高了11.34%—26.15%;4卤虫资源的环境负载力为0.3—0.4 kg/m3,加以补充肥料,可提高到0.45 kg/m3,在投喂饲料的情况下可以达到0.5 kg/m3;5卤虫蛋白可开发量按环境负载力的1/3估计,对照组、施肥组和投饵组的相应年开发量分别为2.61—2.98 kg/m3、4.5—5.4 kg/m3和7.51—8.67 kg/m3,滞育卵产量分别为0.73、1.10 g/m3和1.17 g/m3。     

内蒙古典型草原马粪分解特征

2008年6月-2009年9月,采用人工堆置于地表和埋入地下2种处理方法,研究了内蒙古典型草原马粪的分解特征.结果表明:在一块面积约47 hm2草场中,自由放牧100匹纯血马的情况下,马粪月输入量约为48.8 kg·hm-2,年输入量为277.1 kg·hm-2;人为控制的野外分解实验表明,马粪分解中质量损失主要发生在0～60d,损失率为45.0％,之后损失率变化较小;鲜马粪中有机物总量为77.0％,分解60d和330 d减少到48.7％和28.3％;鲜马粪中氮素以有机态为主,矿化和释放速度较慢;而磷素以无机态为主,释放速度较快.马粪埋入地下处理,可以消除风蚀和放牧牲畜践踏对粪块的破碎作用,同时改变了水蚀作用对粪中养分浓度的影响,但对有机质矿化无明显作用.     

A new ground beetle (Carabidae, Protorabinae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China

Cretorabus rasnitsynisp. n., belonging to the extinct subfamily Protorabinae of Carabidae, was described based on a well-preserved specimen from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Yangshuwanzi, Inner Mongolia. The diagnostic characters forCretorabus are revised, and the key to species of the genus was presented. The fossil record of Protorabinae was summarized. Sinocarabus Hong, 1982 and Obesofemoria Hong, 1982 cannot be attributed to Protorabinae.     

Relative contribution of cell contact pattern, specific PKC isoforms and gap junctional communication in tight junction assembly in the mouse early embryo

In mouse early development, cell contact patterns regulate the spatial organization and segregation of inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm epithelium (TE) during blastocyst morphogenesis. Progressive membrane assembly of tight junctional (TJ) proteins in the differentiating TE during cleavage is upregulated by cell contact asymmetry (outside position) and suppressed within the ICM by cell contact symmetry (inside position). This is reversible, and immunosurgical isolation of the ICM induces upregulation of TJ assembly in a sequence that broadly mimics that occurring during blastocyst formation. The mechanism relating cell contact pattern and TJ assembly was investigated in the ICM model with respect to PKC-mediated signaling and gap junctional communication. Our results indicate that complete cell contact asymmetry is required for TJ biogenesis and acts upstream of PKC-mediated signaling. Specific inhibition of two PKC isoforms, PKCdelta and zeta, revealed that both PKC activities are required for membrane assembly of ZO-2 TJ protein, while only PKCzeta activity is involved in regulating ZO-1alpha+ membrane assembly, suggesting different mechanisms for individual TJ proteins. Gap junctional communication had no apparent influence on either TJ formation or PKC signaling but was itself affected by changes of cell contact patterns. Our data suggest that the dynamics of cell contact patterns coordinate the spatial organization of TJ formation via specific PKC signaling pathways during blastocyst biogenesis.