Germination of Quercus ilex and Q. pubescens in a Q. ilex coppice

Quercus ilex L. (holm oak) coppices, widespread around the Mediterranean basin, are probably the result of 5 000 years of prolonged human disturbance of the original Quercus pubescens Willd. (downy oak) forests. Since disturbance has almost ceased in recent years, a question arises as to the development of these coppices: will the Q. pubescens forests return, or will Q. ilex remain the dominant species? To investigate the phenomenon, we analyzed the first stages, i.e. germination of the two species in holm oak coppices. Our experiments show that both species germinated better in coppices than in clearings or clear-cuts. Moreover, Q. pubescens appears to be slightly favored above Q. ilex and it is suggested auto-allelopathy is involved, at least partially inhibiting the germination of Q. ilex.     

Plaidoyer pour un outillage lithique de l’Âge du fer : le cas des maillets à gorge de l’Ouest de la France

The attention is turned here to one kind of tools, characterized by a special morphology: the grooved hammer-stones. They are known in Europe and all over the world in various cultures, as Neolithic or Bronze Age remains and generally linked to extraction or mining activity; but, the discovery of several of these tools in western France, within pre-roman archaeological contexts, especially in sites devoted to marine salt production, leads us to a discussion on dating and the function of such tools, and feeds a more general reflexion about the existence of a specialised lithic set of tools during the Iron Age.     

Synthèse sur la flore des nodules du Lagerstätte de Montceau-les-Mines (Carbonifère supérieur,France)

The flora from the Montceau-les-Mines Lagerstätte (Late Pennsylvanian, Stephanian, France) is preserved in small sideritic nodules and was studied in three locations in the (1) Saint-Louis, (2) Saint-François, and (3) Sainte-Hélène opencast mines. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of plant diversity and floristic composition in about 7000 nodules indicate substantial variations in the floral composition of these opencast mines. More than 50 taxa are recognized and belong to groups typical of the Late Carboniferous flora (lycopsids, sphenopsids, tree ferns, and pteridosperms). Arborescent sphenopsids and tree ferns were the major components at Saint-Louis, whereas the flora from Saint-François consisted mainly of pteridosperms; the one from Sainte-Hélène has a more balanced composition. Taphonomic and sedimentological data show that the flora contained in the nodules was hypoautochthonous to parautochthonous. The Montceau Basin displayed a mosaic of paleoenvironments (e.g., deltaic lacustrine, paludal to fluvial) which favored colonization by plants and animals.     

Palaeontology of the Purbeck-type (Tithonian,Late Jurassic) bonebeds of Chassiron (Oléron Island,western France)

The paralic flora and fauna from the Late Jurassic of Chassiron (Oléron Island, western France) are described. The Tithonian-aged bonebeds of Purbeck facies of this locality have yielded a rich and diverse vertebrate assemblage including fishes, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, alongside numerous plant and invertebrate remains. The Chassiron locality thus appears as a peculiar Konzentrat-Lagerstätte in which most of the palaeoecosystem's biological components (both aquatic and terrestrial) have been preserved. The depositional environment was probably subject to salinity fluctuations, as indicated by the co-occurrence of freshwater and euryhaline organisms. This is one of the richest localities and the first mammal-bearing site known from the Jurassic of France.     

石蒜Mg^2＋转运体基因LrMGT的克隆与分析

从石蒜〔Lycoris radiata（L’Hér.）Herb.〕叶片全长cDNA文库中克隆获得Mg^2＋转运体（MGT）基因LrMGT。序列分析结果显示：LrMGT基因的cDNA序列全长1 726 bp,其中开放阅读框（ORF）长度921 bp,编码306个氨基酸。石蒜LrMGT基因编码的氨基酸序列的理论相对分子质量为33 635,理论等电点为pI 5.14,为疏水性膜蛋白,不具有信号肽。序列比对结果表明：石蒜LrMGT基因编码的氨基酸序列与小米〔Setaria italica（Linn.）Beauv.〕、水稻（Oryza sativa Linn.）和拟南芥〔Arabidopsis thaliana（Linn.）Heynh.〕等植物的MGT基因编码的氨基酸序列的相似性较高,相似度达到72%~76%;石蒜LrMGT基因与其他植物MGT基因编码的氨基酸序列的保守区域较大,均具有较高的保守性。在NJ系统树上石蒜LrMGT基因编码的氨基酸序列与禾本科（Gramineae）植物二穗短柄草〔Brachypodium distachyum（Linn.）Beauv.〕、水稻、高粱〔Sorghum bicolor（Linn.）Moench〕和小米MGT基因编码的氨基酸序列聚为同一个分支,表明它们可能具有较近的进化关系。实时荧光定量PCR结果表明：石蒜LrMGT基因在根和鳞茎中的相对表达量较高,在叶片和花中的相对表达量较低,具有明显的组织特异性。     

INTRAMARGINAL VEINED LAURACEAE LEAVES FROM THE ALBIAN–CENOMANIAN OF CHARENTE-MARITIME (WESTERN FRANCE)

Abstract:  Eucalyptolaurus depreii gen. et sp. nov. is proposed for angiosperm leaves newly collected from uppermost Albian – lowermost Cenomanian of Charente-Maritime (western France). They consist of simple, narrow, elongate laminas with entire margins and intramarginal veins. The epidermal cells of adaxial cuticle shows small, rounded, blunt papillae outward that protrude inward and fuse together as rolls along and parallel to the margins, while the adaxial cuticle bears brachyparacytic stomatal apparatus that exhibit sunken guard cells and hair bases consisting of a thick-walled pore surrounded by radially arranged differentiated cells. Resin bodies occur inside the mesophyll. These characters closely resemble the lauroid taxa ' Myrtophyllum ' and Pandemophyllum from the Cenomanian of the Czech Republic and Dakota (USA) respectively. The narrow angle of basilaminar secondaries and the whole suite of features in the guard cells (sunken guard cells embedded into subsidiary cells and stomatal ledges) strongly support close affinity with the Lauraceae. From the Cenomanian lauraceous reproductive organs and their related leaves already showed high disparity and diversity. In addition they displayed a broad ecological range from freshwater floodplains to brackish swamps. This combined to high diversity of reproductive organs suggest ecological radiation of Lauraceae by the Cenomanian.