Proteome-Scale Analysis of Biochemical Activity

ABSTRACT

During the last 10 years, there has been a large increase in the number of genome sequences available for study, altering the way that the biology of organisms is studied. In particular, scientific attention has increasingly focused on the proteome, and specifically on the role of all the proteins encoded by the genome. We focus here on several aspects of this problem. We describe several technologies in widespread use to clone genes on a genome-wide scale, and to express and purify the proteins encoded by these genes. We also describe a number of methods that have been developed to analyze various biochemical properties of the proteins, with attention to the methodology and the limitations of the approaches, followed by a look at possible developments in the next decade.     

秦岭西部山地次生林和人工林大型土壤动物群落结构特征

人类对次生林生态系统的长期扰动必然会对地下生态过程产生深刻影响,而土壤动物群落结构和功能多样性对地下生态过程的演变有重要的指示意义.本文以小陇山林区恢复近30年的次生林和栽植近30年的油松、日本落叶松、欧洲云杉和粗枝云杉林为对象,通过对5种林型土壤动物群落密度调查,采用PCA排序和方差分析等方法,探讨了不同林型土壤动物群落结构特征和营养结构.结果表明:油松林和日本落叶松林土壤动物群落密度是次生林的3.0和2.1倍;油松和日本落叶松人工林土壤动物群落中消费者/分解者比值明显高于次生林,油松林和日本落叶松林消费者/分解者的比值显著高于欧洲云杉林和粗枝云杉林;不同人工林土壤动物群落结构存在明显差异,油松林和日本落叶松林土壤动物群落密度是粗枝云杉林的4.5和3.1倍,而油松林土壤动物群落类群丰富度是欧洲云杉林和粗枝云杉林的1.5倍.     

Herbivory drives large‐scale spatial variation in reef fish trophic interactions

Trophic interactions play a critical role in the structure and function of ecosystems. Given the widespread loss of biodiversity due to anthropogenic activities, understanding how trophic interactions respond to natural gradients (e.g., abiotic conditions, species richness) through large‐scale comparisons can provide a broader understanding of their importance in changing ecosystems and support informed conservation actions. We explored large‐scale variation in reef fish trophic interactions, encompassing tropical and subtropical reefs with different abiotic conditions and trophic structure of reef fish community. Reef fish feeding pressure on the benthos was determined combining bite rates on the substrate and the individual biomass per unit of time and area, using video recordings in three sites between latitudes 17°S and 27°S on the Brazilian Coast. Total feeding pressure decreased 10‐fold and the composition of functional groups and species shifted from the northern to the southernmost sites. Both patterns were driven by the decline in the feeding pressure of roving herbivores, particularly scrapers, while the feeding pressure of invertebrate feeders and omnivores remained similar. The differential contribution to the feeding pressure across trophic categories, with roving herbivores being more important in the northernmost and southeastern reefs, determined changes in the intensity and composition of fish feeding pressure on the benthos among sites. It also determined the distribution of trophic interactions across different trophic categories, altering the evenness of interactions. Feeding pressure was more evenly distributed at the southernmost than in the southeastern and northernmost sites, where it was dominated by few herbivores. Species and functional groups that performed higher feeding pressure than predicted by their biomass were identified as critical for their potential to remove benthic biomass. Fishing pressure unlikely drove the large‐scale pattern; however, it affected the contribution of some groups on a local scale (e.g., large‐bodied parrotfish) highlighting the need to incorporate critical functions into conservation strategies.     

Emergent effects of ground beetles size diversity on the strength of prey suppression

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