Seasonal, El Niño and longer term changes in flower and seed production in a moist tropical forest

It has recently been reported that humid tropical forests are changing rapidly in response to global anthropogenic change and that these forests experience greater tree mortality and even fire during droughts associated with El Niño events. The former reports are controversial largely because a single method has been used – repeated censuses of tree plots. The latter reports focus on recent extreme El Niño events. Here, we show that flower and seed production both increase during El Niño events in an old-growth tropical forest in Panama. Flower production, but not seed production, has also increased over the past 18 years. The sustained increase in flower production was greater for 33 liana species than for 48 tree species. These results indicate that moderate El Niño events favour seed production, document long-term increases in flower production for the first time, and corroborate long-term increases in the importance of lianas using independent methods. Changes in levels of solar irradiance might contribute to all three patterns.     

Insight into the environment of a pre-Roman Iron Age hillfort at Vladař, Czech Republic, using a multi-proxy approach

The large fortified hilltop site of Vladař, northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic (50°05′N, 13°13′E), has recently been studied intensively by way of environmental archaeology, in which palaeoecological methods have played a crucial role. The latter include the analyses of pollen, green algae, Cladocera, other microfossils, plant macro-remains (including charcoal and wood) and chemical composition, carried out on the wet sediments from an artificial cistern/pond situated in the middle of the large citadel, supplemented by charcoal and wood analysis on material from dry situations. The continuous palaeoecological record consists of well-preserved biological remains and covers the period from ca. 400 b.c. to recent times. The chronology is primarily based on radiocarbon dating, supplemented by archaeological finds. The main focus is on the La Tène period of the Iron Age. During the early to middle La Tène the hillfort had a considerable number of permanent inhabitants and woodland was almost completely replaced by an agricultural landscape. The site became partly abandoned by the end of the 3rd century b.c. and completely abandoned around the birth of Christ, after which it reverted to natural woodland communities.     

Proteomic surveillance of autoantigens in relapsing polychondritis

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a systemic inflammatory disease, in which autoimmunity to cartilage-related components is thought to be involved in its pathogenesis. However, the autoimmune profile in RP has not been studied fully. We therefore investigated autoantibodies/autoantigens in RP comprehensively, by 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE), subsequent western blotting (WB) and mass spectrometry, using cell-extracted proteins as the antigen source. As a result, we detected 15 autoantigens on 2DE-WB, and further identified five of them. On average, one RP serum recognized approximately 8 out of the 15 autoantigens. Frequencies of the autoantibodies to the 5 identified antigens of tubulin alpha ubiquitous/6, vimentin, alpha enolase, calreticulin, and colligin-1/-2 were 91%, 46%, 36%, 82%, and 36%, respectively. ELISA using recombinant proteins for them revealed that frequencies of the autoantibodies to tubulin alpha ubiquitous, vimentin, alpha enolase, calreticulin, and colligin-1 were 36%, 64%, 46%, 27%, and 18%, respectively. Our data demonstrated that the autoimmune reaction was not restricted to cartilagerelated components, rather a variety of autoimmune responses occurred in patients with RP, which may be involved in the pathophysiology of RP. In addition, the proteomic approach using cell-extracted proteins would be a powerful way to investigate autoantigens.     

La(NO3)3浸种对NaCl胁迫下红小豆幼苗生长的影响

采用向1/2Hoagland营养液中按一定比例添加中性盐(NaCl)模拟盐胁迫的方式,研究了La(NO₃)₃浸种对盐胁迫下红小豆(Phaseolus angularis)幼苗生长的影响。结果表明:(1)与对照组相比,盐胁迫不同程度地降低了红小豆幼苗的株高、叶面积、地上部分鲜重、总根数及根系活力、根苗SOD、POD、CAT活性等,明显增加了根苗MDA含量水平。(2)使用适当浓度的La(NO₃)₃浸种可以提高对照组和盐处理组红小豆的株高、叶面积、总根长、总根数、叶绿素、根活力及SOD、POD和CAT活性,也可以显著降低根苗MDA含量水平,且大多表现出在盐胁迫下变化幅度高于正常处理。La(NO₃)₃浸种有利于缓解盐胁迫带来的不良影响。(3)低浓度的La(NO₃)₃浸种处理能够提高红小豆幼苗的耐盐性,缓解盐胁迫伤害,而高浓度处理则加剧了盐胁迫伤害。30mg/LLa(NO₃)₃浸种对提高红小豆幼苗耐盐性的效果最好。     

Dynamics of the shallow-water fish assemblage of the Patos Lagoon estuary (Brazil) during cold and warm ENSO episodes

In southern Brazil, cold ( La Niña ) and warm ( El Niño ) episodes of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon cause drought and high rainfall, respectively. The low precipitation and freshwater outflow associated with La Niña during 1995–1996 were associated with an increase in the abundance of marine species in the Patos Lagoon estuary. During the 1997–1998 El Niño , high precipitation and river discharge were associated with low abundance of marine species in the estuary. ANOVA results showed a higher abundance during La Niña than El Niño for estuarine resident (RES) and estuarine dependent (DEP) fishes. During La Niña catch per unit of effort (CPUE) of RES increased from the marine to estuarine area, but during El Niño CPUE increased at the marine area and diminished during summer and autumn in some estuarine sites. DEP fishes had an opposite abundance pattern. During La Niña , these fishes were abundant at the coastal marine area and along some estuarine sites, but during El Niño , CPUE remained almost the same at the marine area but dropped along some estuarine sites. These different abundance patterns for dominant fish groups yielded a positive interaction between stations and climatic events. With higher river discharge and the consequent decline of dominant euryhaline fishes, such as Mugil platanus and Atherinella brasiliensis , freshwater species increased in abundance and richness in the shallow waters of the stuary. The ENSO phenomenon influences precipitation and estuarine salinity in southern Brazil and thereby seems to have a strong influence on recruitment, immigration, and emigration dynamics of fish species living within and adjacent to estuarine habitats.     

自身抗原组氨酰转移核糖核酸合成酶基因在巴斯德毕赤酵母中的分泌表达研究

目的:通过基因克隆在巴斯德毕赤酵母中表达人自身抗原组氨酰转移核糖核酸合成酶(HRS或Jo-1)。方法:PCR扩增Jo-1基因,与酵母表达载体pPIC9k重组,构建表达质粒pPIC9k-Jo-1。用电穿孔法转化酵母菌SMD1168,在MD平板上筛选重组克隆,用G418快速筛选高拷贝转化子,阳性克隆经甲醇诱导表达后,培养上清用SDS-PAGE和免疫酶斑点法鉴定。结果:PCR产物长约1500bp,与预期1526bp接近;pPIC9k-Jo-1重组阳性克隆测序结果与GenBank核酸数据库的报道完全一致,双酶切鉴定正确,表达产物Jo-1的相对分子质量约55000,免疫酶斑点法证实表达产物具有天然Jo-1分子的免疫原性,阴性对照菌未见目的表达条带。结论:Jo-1在巴斯德毕赤酵母中分泌表达成功,为后续研究打下了基础。     

新城疫弱毒活疫苗中FAdV-4的分离鉴定及分子特征

【目的】当前我国鸡群禽腺病毒(Fowl adenovirus,FAd V)感染严重,该病毒既可水平传播也可经卵垂直传播,因此鸡胚源禽用弱毒活疫苗是否存在FAd V污染,进而造成疫病的传播尚不清楚。检测我国商品化新城疫La Sota弱毒活疫苗中是否存在FAd V污染,探讨国内鸡群中FAd V感染和流行的可能原因。【方法】应用本实验室建立的FAd V PCR检测方法检测商品化新城疫La Sota弱毒活疫苗,并进行FAd V分离鉴定。经序列比对和进化分析,鉴定分离毒株所属种、血清型及进化特征。【结果】分离到一株禽腺病毒,命名为L160962。基因分析表明,分离株L160962的52k和hexon基因片段序列与C种内的血清4型毒株相似性最高,其中与中国毒株HN/151025和CH/HNJZ/2015的相似性为99.9%-100%,与奥地利毒株KR5的相似性为99.3%,但与A、B、D和E种FAd V的相似性分别为79.0%-83.3%。系统进化分析表明,L160962与C种内的血清4型禽腺病毒在同一分支,核苷酸相似性在99.9%以上,应划分为血清4型FAd V。基于分离株L160962的hexon基因构建的系统进化树的拓扑结构,分离株L160962与中国毒株亲缘关系最近,提示疫苗源分离株L160962与我国当前流行毒株相近。【结论】我国商品化的新城疫La Sota弱毒活疫苗中存在血清4型FAd V污染,这可能是我国鸡群中FAd V大面积感染和流行的原因之一。     

Selective conversion of bio-oil to light olefins: controlling catalytic cracking for maximum olefins

Light olefins are the basic building blocks for the petrochemical industry. In this work, selective production of light olefins from catalytic cracking of bio-oil was performed by using the La/HZSM-5 catalyst. With a nearly complete conversion of bio-oil, the maximum yield reached 0.28±0.02 kg olefins/(kg bio-oil), which was close to that from methanol. Addition of La into zeolite efficiently changed the total acid amount of HZSM-5, especially the acid distribution among the strong, medium and weak acid sites. A moderate increase of the number of the medium acid sites effectively enhanced the olefins selectivity and improved the catalyst stability. The comparison between the catalytic cracking and pyrolysis of bio-oil was studied. The mechanism of the conversion of bio-oil to light olefins was also discussed.     

Partial humeri of two Miocene Colombian primates

Distal portions of humeri from two Miocene Colombian primates were recovered during field work in 1986. The larger IGM 183420 is very similar in size and morphology to the humerus included in the type specimen of Cebupithecia sarmientoi, recovered from La Venta in 1945 (Stirton and Savage: Serv. Geol. Nac. Bogata 7:345-356, 1951) and is assigned to this taxon. IGM 183420 presents a number of features of the humerus associated with clinging postural behaviors in living platyrrhines, including a medial epicondyle with very little dorsal angulation, a cylindrical trochlea, and a contact facet for the coronoid process of the ulna. In these and other features Cebupithecia most closely resembles the extant genus Pithecia. IGM 183512 is approximately the size of Saimiri sciureus and is very similar in morphology to the humerus of this small arboreal quadruped. The medial epicondyle is more dorsally angled, the medial lip of the trochlea is more pronounced and the capitulum is less spherical as compared to Cebupithecia. This fossil is assigned to the taxon Neosaimiri fieldsi.     

Evolution in the sabre‐tooth cat,Smilodon fatalis,in response to Pleistocene climate change

The late Pleistocene was a time of environmental change, culminating in an extinction event. Few fossil localities record a temporal series of carnivore fossil populations from this interesting interval as well as Rancho La Brea (RLB). We analysed mandibles of Smilodon fatalis from RLB using 2‐D geometric morphometrics to examine whether, and how, mandibular shape changes through time. Smilodon fatalis shows mandibular evolution with oscillations between a small, ancestral‐type morph in pits 77 (≈37 Kybp) and 2051 (≈26 Kybp), a larger, more derived morph in pits 91 (≈28 Kybp) and 61‐67 (≈13.6 Kybp), and an intermediate morph from pit 13 (≈17.7 Kybp). These oscillations end in pit 61‐67, with greatest body size, and are estimated to have its widest gape and lowest bite force. Additionally, variation is lowest in pit 61‐67, which was deposited concurrent with the Bølling–Allerød warming event, which may have important implications for the timing or conditions during the extinction event. Contra to a temporal Bergmann's rule, such rapid warming events appear to be correlated with larger, derived, morphologies whereas static, cooler, climates correlate with gracile, ancestral morphologies.