云南产凤尾蕨属植物(凤尾蕨科)的新修订

在《中国植物志》和《云南植物志》的基础上,对云南产凤尾蕨属植物进行新的分类修订。文中澄清了8个混淆类群,其中新等级1种,即高原凤尾蕨Pteriscuspigera(Chingex Ching et S.H.Wu)X.Q.Song;云南分布新记录1种,即假指状凤尾蕨Pteris psudodactylina Ching et S.K.Wu;新异名3个,即Pteris asperi-caulis var.cuspigera Chingex Ching et S.H.Wu,Pteris inaequalis Bak.及Pteris wallichiana var.yunnanensis(Christ)Ching et S.H.Wu。还列出了新修订种类的文献引证、标本引证、生境和地理分布。经该文研究确认,现知云南有该属植物48种。     

棉花4-香豆酸辅酶A连接酶基因克隆及原核表达

本研究从棉花中克隆了一个4CL基因,命名为Gh4CL2(GenBank登录号为FJ848870)。研究结果表明:Gh4CL2基因cDNA全长2332bp,具有一个1725bp的开放阅读框,5′非编码区为64bp,3′非编码区为543bp,编码574个氨基酸,预测分子量约为62.106kD,等电点为5.94。氨基酸同源性分析发现,Gh4CL2与来自白杨、大豆和紫草的4CL一致性较高。进一步研究Gh4CL2基因的功能,构建了该基因的原核表达载体pET-28a-4CL2,经酶切鉴定后转化到大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中。SDS-PAGE分析表明,最佳诱导表达条件为0.5mmol/LIPTG在37℃下诱导4h,重组蛋白主要以包涵体形式出现。     

淫羊藿属7种植物的雌蕊及果实形态描述的订正

采用了野外观察和光学显微技术对淫羊藿属（Epimedium L.）7种植物的雌蕊及果实的形态结构进行了研究。结果表明：7种植物的心皮数目为1个,胎座类型为边缘胎座,果实类型为蓇葖果。比较了《中国植物志》等文献的记载,订正了文献对7个种＂侧膜胎座＂或＂蒴果＂的记述,并对淫羊藿属的相应特征提出观点。     

环境因素对短命植物抱茎独行菜抽薹开花节律的影响

以新疆十字花科典型早春短命植物抱茎独行菜(Lepidium perfoliatum L.)为材料,分别在不同环境、不同土壤基质及不同春化时间下栽培,以探讨环境因素对抱茎独行菜抽薹开花的影响。结果表明:抱茎独行菜种子在蛭石∶珍珠岩(3∶1)中的出苗率显著高于营养土和自然生境土壤,基质对抱茎独行菜植株是否抽薹无显著影响,但影响其抽薹的早晚及结实特性;人工4℃春化对3种不同栽培环境中于阳台生长植株的抽薹有明显促进作用,而对培养室及户外环境中栽培植株是否抽薹无显著影响;抱茎独行菜抽薹开花对光照和温度的响应最明显,光照时间由短变长与苗期一定时间的低温之间的相互作用是促使抱茎独行菜抽薹开花的关键因素。     

Antioxidative defense and proline/phytochelatin accumulation in a newly discovered Cd-hyperaccumulator, Solanum nigrum L.

Changes in the activity of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), chlorophyll, free proline and phytochelatins (PCs) in Solanum nigrum, the newly discovered Cd-hyperaccumulator were examined and compared with a non-hyperaccumulator Solanum melongena. It was indicated that leaf SOD and POD activity of S. nigrum was significantly higher than that of S. melongena. The Cd treatments significantly increased root SOD activity, leaf POD activity, and CAT activity and free proline content in the leaves and roots of S. nigrum. On the contrary, the Cd treatments decreased SOD activity, and did not change CAT activity in the leaves and roots of S. melongena. Moreover, there were no significant differences in free proline levels in the roots of S. melongena. These results validated that S. nigrum had a greater capacity than S. melongena to adapt to oxidative stress caused by Cd and free proline accumulation might be responsible for the tolerance of S. nigrum to Cd. Treated with 10 μg Cd g⁻¹, growth of S. nigrum and its contents of chlorophyll and MDA were basically unaffected. In contrast, there were a decrease in the growth and chlorophyll content, and an increase in MDA in the roots of S. melongena. Although lipid peroxidation was promoted in both the hyperaccumulator and non-hyperaccumulator by high Cd stress, the greater increase took place in the tissues of S. melongena. The PCs level in roots of S. nigrum was significantly lower than that of S. melongena. On the contrary, the content of leaf PCs was much higher in S. nigrum than that in S. melongena. These results further suggested that antioxidative defense in the Cd-hyperaccumulator might play an important role in Cd tolerance, and PCs synthesis is not the primary reason for Cd tolerance although PCs in S. nigrum increased significantly by Cd.     

Effects of water stress on gas exchange of field grown <Emphasis Type="Italic">Zea mays</Emphasis> L. in Southern Italy: an analysis at canopy and leaf level

Zea mays is cultivated in the Mediterranean regions where summer drought may lead to photoinhibition when irrigation is not available. In this work the response of maize to water stress was evaluated by gas exchange measurements at the canopy and leaf level. Leaf gas exchange was assessed before, during and after water stress, while canopy turbulent fluxes of mass and energy were performed on a continuous basis. In the early growth period, a linear increment of net ecosystem photosynthetic rate (P _NE) to incoming of photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) was found and net leaf photosynthetic rate (P _NL) showed the tendency to saturate under high irradiance. During water stress, the relationship between P _NE and PPFD became curvilinear and both P _NE and P _NL saturated in a range between 1,000 and 1,500 μmol (photons) m⁻² s⁻¹. Leaf water potential (ψ_l) dropped from −1.50 to −1.88 MPa during water stress, indicating that leaf and canopy gas exchanges were limited by stomatal conductance. With the restoration of irrigation, P _NE, P _NL and ψ_l showed a recovery, and P _NE and P _NL reached the highest values of whole study period. Leaf area index (LAI) reached a value of 3.0 m² m⁻². The relationship between P _NE and PPFD remained curvilinear and P _NE values were lower than those of a typical well-irrigated maize crop. The recovery in P _NE and P _NL after stress, and ψ_l values during stress indicate that the photosynthetic apparatus was not damaged while soil moisture stress after-effects resulted in a sub-optimal LAI values, which in turn depressed P _NE.     

The effect of temperature on C(4)-type leaf photosynthesis parameters

C(4)-type photosynthesis is known to vary with growth and measurement temperatures. In an attempt to quantify its variability with measurement temperature, the photosynthetic parameters - the maximum catalytic rate of the enzyme ribulose 1.5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) (V(cmax)), the maximum catalytic rate of the enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) (V(pmax)) and the maximum electron transport rate (J(max)) - were examined. Maize plants were grown in climatic-controlled phytotrons, and the curves of net photosynthesis (A(n)) versus intercellular air space CO(2) concentrations (C(i)), and A(n) versus photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) were determined over a temperature range of 15-40 degrees C. Values of V(cmax), V(pmax) and J(max) were computed by inversion of the von Caemmerer & Furbank photosynthesis model. Values of V(pmax) and J(max) obtained at 25 degrees C conform to values found in the literature. Parameters for an Arrhenius equation that best fits the calculated values of V(cmax), V(pmax) and J(max) are then proposed. These parameters should be further tested with C(4) plants for validation. Other model key parameters such as the mesophyll cell conductance to CO(2) (g(i)), the bundle sheath cells conductance to CO(2) (g(bs)) and Michaelis-Menten constants for CO(2) and O(2) (K(c), K(p) and K(o)) also vary with temperature and should be better parameterized.     

Effects of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Nigella sativa</Emphasis> and human parathyroid hormone on bone mass and strength in diabetic rats

Osteoporosis is a major complication in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), particularly in those with insulin dependency. Recently, many therapeutic effects ofNigella sativa L. (NS) extracts have been exhibited such as anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antidiabetic with clinical and experimental studies. Mechanical strength in the femur and vertebrae increases with human parathyroid hormone (hPTH) treatment. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that combined treatment with NS and hPTH is more effective than treatment with NS or hPTH alone in improving bone mass, connectivity, and biomechanical behavior using the finite element method (FEM) in insulin-dependent diabetic rats. In the mechanical analysis, five rat bones (control, diabetic diabetic NS treated, diabetic hPTH treated, and diabetic NS + hPTH treated) have been studied for bending analysis using the finite element analysis program ANSYS. Combined treatment of NS and hPTH was more effective on bone histomorphometry and mechanical strength than treatment with NS or hPTH alone for streptozotocin-induced diabetic osteopenia, which notably decreased bone volume.     

Multiple sources of carbonic anhydrase activity in pea thylakoids: soluble and membrane-bound forms

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity of pea thylakoids, thylakoid membranes enriched with photosystem I (PSI-membranes), or photosystem II (PSII-membranes) as well as both supernatant and pellet after precipitation of thylakoids treated with detergent Triton X-100 were studied. CA activity of thylakoids in the presence of varying concentrations of Triton X-100 had two maxima, at Triton/chlorophyll (triton/Chl) ratios of 0.3 and 1.0. CA activities of PSI-membranes and PSII-membranes had only one maximum each, at Triton/Chl ratio 0.3 or 1.0, respectively. Two CAs with characteristics of the membrane-bound proteins and one CA with characteristics of the soluble proteins were found in the medium after thylakoids were incubated with Triton. One of the first two CAs had mobility in PAAG after native electrophoresis the same as that of CA residing in PSI-membranes, and the other CA had mobility the same as the mobility of CA residing in PSII-membranes, but the latter was different from CA situated in PSII core-complex (Ignatova et al. 2006 Biochemistry (Moscow) 71:525–532). The properties of the “soluble” CA removed from thylakoids were different from the properties of the known soluble CAs of plant cell: apparent molecular mass was about 262 kD and it was three orders more sensitive to the specific CA inhibitor, ethoxyzolamide, than soluble stromal CA. The data are discussed as indicating the presence of, at least, four CAs in pea thylakoids.     

Du1, encoding a novel Prp1 protein, regulates starch biosynthesis through affecting the splicing of Wxb pre-mRNAs in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Starch is the major component of cereal grains. In rice, starch properties determine the eating and cooking quality. The dull endosperm of rice grains is a classical morphological and agronomical trait that has long been exploited for breeding and genetics study. To understand the molecular mechanism that regulates the starch biosynthesis in rice grains, we characterized a classic rice mutant dull endosperm1 (du1) and isolated Du1 through a map-based cloning approach. Du1, encoding a member of pre-mRNA processing (Prp1) family, is expressed mainly in panicles. Du1 specifically affects the splicing efficiency of Wx(b) and regulates starch biosynthesis by mediating the expression of starch biosynthesis genes. Analysis of du1wx shows that Du1 acts upstream of Wx(b). These results strongly suggest that Du1 may function as a regulator of the starch biosynthesis by affecting the splicing of Wx(b) and the expression of other genes involved in the rice starch biosynthetic pathways.