Field-based investigation on phytoremediation potentials of Lemna minor and Azolla filiculoides in tropical,semiarid regions: Case of Ethiopia

This study investigated the concurrent accumulation of eight heavy metals by two floating aquatic macrophytes (Lemna minor and Azolla filiculoides) cultivated in ambient media and blended wastewaters in the semiarid regions of Ethiopia. Both species accumulated heavy metals in varying degrees with a significant concentration gradient within the immediate water media. Highest bioconcentration factor (BCF) was determined for Mn and Fe in both plants. Results revealed that L. minor was high phytoaccumulator for Fe, Mn, Zn, and Co but moderate for Cd, Cu, Ni, and Cr. On the other hand, A. filiculoides was a high accumulator for Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu, but its potency was moderate for Co, Cr, and Ni, but lower for Cd. Both species exhibited significant difference in accumulating Co, Zn, and Mn (p < 0.05). In general, the BCFs for both plants were comparable within the same treatment. In this study, stronger associations between the heavy metal concentrations in the plant tissues and in the grown water media were observed for A. filiculoides.     

Turkish graveyards as refuges for orchids against tuber harvest

Harvest of orchid tubers for salep production is widespread in southwestern Asia and the Balkans and constitutes a major conservation risk for wild orchid populations. Synanthropic habitats, such as graveyards, are important refuges for orchids and other organisms and could offer protection from salep harvesting because of their special cultural role. However, little is known about the occurrence and factors influencing harvesting of salep in graveyards. During field surveys of 474 graveyards throughout Turkey, we observed 333 graveyards with orchids, 311 graveyards with tuberous orchids, and salep harvest in 14 graveyards. Altogether, 530 individuals of 17 orchid species were collected, representing 9% of the individuals recorded. Harvesting intensity was relatively low, and populations were usually not wholly destroyed. However, some species were clearly more affected than others. Salep harvesting risk of orchid species was significantly associated with flowering time, with early‐flowering species being more affected. A marginally significant positive relationship between harvesting risk and species‐specific tuber size was also detected. Our data suggest that graveyards might offer some protection against salep harvesting in Turkey, but they also show that some orchid taxa are much more affected than others. Overall, our observations add more weight to the conservation value of these special habitats.     

家榆种子老化过程中ROS-类caspse-3途径的初步研究

以家榆种子为试材,在37℃、100%相对湿度下进行老化处理后,结合DAPI染色和细胞原位末端脱氧核苷酸转移酶标记法(TUNEL)、激光共聚焦技术以及生化分析,检测家榆种子人工诱导老化过程中细胞核、活性氧(ROS)和类半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶3(caspase-3)活性的变化.结果显示:随着老化程度加深,种子细胞染色质皱缩、凝聚,继而解体并被排出体外;表皮中最先发现TUNEL凋亡核,而后逐渐延伸到子叶和胚轴;老化处理5d时种子活性氧信号最强,且其与程序性死亡相关事件的发生具有时空一致性,同时在胞浆中检测到较强的caspase-3活性.研究表明,家榆种子人工老化可导致细胞程序性死亡,且存在与ROS迸发及类caspase-3相关联的信号通路.     

海南岛红树林湿地的水鸟多样性

从2015年10月至2016年6月,调查了海南岛17个沿海红树林湿地春、夏、秋、冬四季的湿地鸟类。共记录水鸟74种,隶属5目12科,其中,翘鼻麻鸭（Tadorna tadorna）为海南鸟类分布新记录种。位于海南省儋州市白马井镇洋浦湾的新英作为黑脸琵鹭（Platalea minor）新的越冬点被发现。全岛水鸟数量较多的地点在万宁小海、海口东寨港和乐东莺歌海,种类较多的地点在东寨港、东方四更和莺歌海。Jaccard指数分析表明,栖息地具有相似适合度的地方,水鸟种类相似性更高,人工湿地之间的水鸟相似性高,人工湿地与天然湿地之间的水鸟相似性低。海南岛沿海红树林湿地的鸟类种类和数量随季节变化,秋、冬季种类多、数量丰富,春、夏季的种类和数量均较少。鸻鹬类在春、冬季种类和数量占比均为最大,秋、夏季数量最多的为鹭类。Shannon-Wiener指数、Pielou均匀度指数分析得出东寨港的多样性指数最高,东寨港和莺歌海的均匀度指数表现较高。研究表明,海南岛的沿海红树林湿地是很多水鸟的重要栖息地,保护红树林是保护湿地水鸟多样性的关键。     

U12-type spliceosomal introns of Insecta

Most of eukaryotic genes are interrupted by introns that need to be removed from pre-mRNAs before they can perform their function. This is done by complex machinery called spliceosome. Many eukaryotes possess two separate spliceosomal systems that process separate sets of introns. The major (U2) spliceosome removes majority of introns, while minute fraction of intron repertoire is processed by the minor (U12) spliceosome. These two populations of introns are called U2-type and U12-type, respectively. The latter fall into two subtypes based on the terminal dinucleotides. The minor spliceosomal system has been lost independently in some lineages, while in some others few U12-type introns persist. We investigated twenty insect genomes in order to better understand the evolutionary dynamics of U12-type introns. Our work confirms dramatic drop of U12-type introns in Diptera, leaving these genomes just with a handful cases. This is mostly the result of intron deletion, but in a number of dipteral cases, minor type introns were switched to a major type, as well. Insect genes that harbor U12-type introns belong to several functional categories among which proteins binding ions and nucleic acids are enriched and these few categories are also overrepresented among these genes that preserved minor type introns in Diptera.     

Effects of artificial ultraviolet-B radiation on growth and fatty acid composition of duckweed (Lemna minor)

1. Duckweed (Lemna minor), collected either in summer or early fall was exposed under laboratory conditions to control (photosynthetically active and UV‐A radiation) or experimental (control plus UV‐B radiation) conditions. 2. Growth and survival were determined by counting the number of green, and brown/white fronds following 1–5 or 11 days of irradiation. Growth of duckweed was impaired by exposure to UV‐B radiation in the fall experiment but not in the summer. 3. Fatty acid compositions were analysed following 5 or 11 days of irradiation and a recovery period of 0, 5, 29 or 40 h. Concentrations of the major fatty acids, palmitic, linoleic (LA) and α‐linolenic (ALA) acids were similar in the summer and fall duckweed collections, but the summer samples had higher concentrations of the desaturation products of LA and ALA. 4. UV‐B exposure had small, but significant, and contrasting effects on duckweed fatty acid concentrations. In the summer experiment, duckweed exposed to UV‐B had slightly lower concentrations of major fatty acids than control duckweed, while the reverse was true in the fall experiments. 5. These minor effects of UV‐B on concentrations of LA and ALA would be unlikely to have a major impact on the supply of these essential fatty acids from duckweed to freshwater food webs.     

几种高等水生植物的克藻效应

研究了水花生、水浮莲、满江红、紫萍、浮萍和西洋菜对雷氏衣藻的相生相克关系,并和水葫芦的作用进行了比较。试验指出前五种水生植物对雷氏衣藻表现了克制作用,但它们的克藻效能不如水葫芦强。西洋菜没有克制作用,甚至稍有促进效应。从水花生、水浮莲、水葫芦的种植水中得到的分泌物粗提物,都显示了对雷氏衣藻的抑制效应,进一步证实了有相生相克关系的存在。试验结果说明高等水生植物对藻类的克制作用似有一定的普遍性,在水生生态系统的形成和演替过程中可能起着重要的作用。     

芬芳桔色藻的一个新变种

芬芳桔色藻的一个新变种梁良弼毕列爵（福建师范大学生物系福州３５０００７）（湖北大学生命科学系武汉４３００６２）关键词芬芳桔色藻,芬芳桔色藻小型变种,云南ＡＮＥＷＶＡＲＩＥＴＹＯＦＴＲＥＮＴＥＰＯＨＬＩＡＯＤＯＲＡＴＡ（ＷＩＧＧＥＲＳ）ＷＩＴＴＲＯＣＫ...