Plant communities of extreme acidic waters: The Rio Tinto case

As one of the largest extreme acidic environments in the world the Río Tinto (Spain) constitutes a useful case to study the vegetation resistant to waters, sediments and soils with pH < 3 and high concentrations of S, Fe, Cu and other metals. In this territory two types of water courses coexist: the extreme acidic waters, with a low pH and high amounts of S and Fe, usually of a red color, and those that are not extremely acid, which include colorless acid, neutral and basic waters with much less S and Fe. An exhaustive study of the riparian vegetation present along the two first sections of the Río Tinto and in less extreme, neighboring water courses was carried out (61 inventories). Some water quality variables (pH, redox, Fe, Cu and O₂) were measured in sampled points. Correspondence between plant community composition and water quality was analyzed through hierarchical classification, detrended correspondence analysis and canonical correspondence analysis.Results indicate clear differences in vegetation between extremely acidic and less extreme water courses. A total of 50 emergent plant species have been found in extremely acidic waters. Among them the most frequent were Erica andevalensis Cabezudo and J. Rivera, Scirpoides holoschoenus (L.) Soják and Nerium oleander L. Additionally, pH, redox, Fe and O₂ concentrations were significantly related to the floristic data.     

High resolution positioning of intron ends on the nucleosomes

High resolution sequence-directed nucleosome mapping is applied to 36,000 sequences containing splice junctions, from five different species. As it has been also shown in previous studies, the junctions are found to be preferentially located within nucleosomes. Moreover, the orientation of guanine residues at the GT- and AG-ends of introns within the nucleosomes is such that the guanines are positioned nearest to the surface of histone octamers, 3 and 4 bases upstream from the local DNA pseudo-dyads passing through minor grooves oriented outwards. Since the guanine residues are the most vulnerable to spontaneous damage within the cell (primarily, depurination and oxidation) such positioning of the splice junctions minimizes the damage that is caused by free radicals and highly reactive metabolites.     

On the significance of structural vegetation elements for caterpillar thermoregulation in two peat bog butterflies: Boloria eunomia and B. aquilonaris

Purpose

Temperature profoundly impacts on distribution and habitat-use of organisms. The development of ectothermous caterpillars does not depend on host plant quality only, but also on the availability of suitable thermal conditions. Selection for thermally favorable microclimates (i.e. behavioral thermoregulation) is a primary mechanism of temperature control, and caterpillars can be either (or alternately) temperature conformers (i.e. passively adopting ambient temperature conditions) or thermoregulators (i.e. able to some extent to elevate or decrease their body temperature relative to ambient temperature). Here, we addressed the functional significance of different structural vegetation elements for the behavioral thermoregulation by caterpillars of two butterfly species.

Results

Weather conditions influenced the caterpillar detection probability within host plant patches, indicating that caterpillars can hide and use suitable microclimates provided by vegetation structures to cope with weather variations. This is why we (1) evaluated the heterogeneity in temperature conditions provided by these structures, (2) quantified the influence of ambient temperature and light intensity on caterpillar body temperature, and (3) tested how position on structure, substrate color and exposition influenced caterpillar body temperature. As expected, vegetation structures provided heterogeneous temperature and sun exposition conditions, while caterpillar body temperature was dependent on ambient temperature and light intensity. But body temperature was additionally influenced by the position on vegetation structures, substrate color and exposition.

Conclusions

These results suggest that there is no unique and fixed structure in the vegetation subsuming the best thermal conditions for caterpillars. We argue that a better understanding of the thermal properties of vegetation structures is essential for correctly understanding caterpillar habitat-use and the behavioral mechanisms driving their body thermoregulation. Conceptually this means that thermal conditions should be included in the definition of a species' functional habitat. Practically this may influence the choice of appropriate habitat management for species of conservation concern.     

镜鲤体长性状的QTL定位分析

以镜鲤良种后代为祖父母本所培育的杂交F2群体的68个个体为材料,利用553个分子标记(217个SSR和336个SNP标记)对其进行基因型检测,运用JoinMap4.0软件包对遗传连锁图谱进行构建。利用MapQTL5.0区间作图法(Interval mapping)进行QTL检测,通过置换实验(1 000次重复)确定连锁群显著性水平阈值。在对体长的区间定位中共检测到12个与体长性状相关的QTLs区间,分布在BL-1-1(SNP0137-SNP1481)、BL-4-1(SNP0092-HLJ797)、BL-5-1(SNP1268-HLJ423)、BL-7-1(HLJ870-SNP0702)、BL-12-1(SNP0922-HLJ639)、BL-16-1(HLJE351-SNP0674)、BL-25-1(SNP0394-SNP0862)、BL-35-1(HLJ668-SNP0832)、BL-43-1(SNP0389-SNP1425)、BL-47-1(HLJ057-HLJ1113)、BL-47-2(HLJ1439-HLJ1418)等11个连锁群上,解释表型变异范围是13.8%~64.9%,其中贡献率大于20%的主效QTLs有8个,是体长性状的主效QTLs区间。     

小相岭山系主要植被类型的动态变化分析

以3S技术作为信息获取和处理的手段,将景观生态学原理与植被变化研究的传统方法相结合,对小相岭山系主要植被类型在近30年发生复杂相互转化的主要表现和动态变化特征进行量化分析。结果表明：（1）针阔叶混交林与针叶林的变化趋势相似,在30年中持续增长,增幅分别为17．57％、7．56％;新增斑块与原有斑块连接在一起,形成边界复杂的大斑块,景观破碎度和均匀性有所降低。（2）高山灌丛呈先减少后增加的变化趋势,在90年代面积与数量都有所回升,但新增斑块多数为尺寸较小的斑块,大量小斑块的出现导致景观破碎度和离散度有所增加。（3）高山流石滩植被在30年中不断减少,减幅为6．41％;由于减少的多是小斑块,因此破碎化程度并未加深,且分布的均匀性有所加强。研究结果不仅可以解释该山系主要植被景观格局与生态过程相互作用的机理,而且可以阐明其动态演替的方向、过程或扩展潜力。     

水稻粒形性状的遗传及相关基因定位与克隆研究进展

作物育种的首要目标是提高产量。水稻粒形是与水稻产量性状直接相关,与品质性状存在着密切关系的数量性状,其评价指标主要是粒长、粒宽、粒厚、长/宽和长/厚。近年来,水稻粒形的数量遗传研究取得了重要进展,并成功定位克隆了一批控制水稻粒形的基因。文章综述了水稻粒形的经典遗传研究、QTL定位、粒形基因的克隆和功能分析以及在水稻超高产育种中的利用。     

SNP-based association mapping of Arachnomelia in Fleckvieh cattle

Bovine arachnomelia is an inherited congenital disorder with malformation mainly of the limbs, the vertebral column and the skull, following a monogenic autosomal recessive heredity. Despite almost identical pathological findings, arachnomelia has previously been mapped to bovine chromosome 23 and 5 in Fleckvieh and Braunvieh respectively. Therefore, this disorder may be an example of locus heterogeneity in cattle. This study aimed to refine the candidate region to allow positional cloning and sequence analyses of candidate genes in Fleckvieh cattle. For that purpose, a case-control association mapping design was set up with a case group of 16 pre-selected affected individuals and a control group of 50 unrelated animals. The subset of affected animals was selected from a total of 129 pathologically confirmed cases due to the occurrence of recombination(s) within a 14.5 cM candidate interval previously mapped to chromosome 23. Six linked microsatellites currently used for indirect gene testing in Fleckvieh were analysed for this purpose. In all selected cases, a genome-wide scan using 44 473 informative SNPs revealed shared segments of homozygosity at 15 adjacent SNPs on chromosome 23. Additional haplotype analysis of 37 carrier bulls confirmed the localization of the arachnomelia locus to a region of 927 kb (13.622-14.549 Mb) containing molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis protein 1 gene, the most likely candidate gene for arachnomelia in Fleckvieh. The number of recombinant haplotypes observed in cases was more than doubled compared with the number of expected recombinations. This remarkably increased mapping resolution and thus illustrates the benefit of pre-selection in association studies.     

The evolution of avian migration

The study of avian migration has reached sophisticated levels in many areas, including ecology, behaviour, and physiology. Traditional discussions of the evolution of migration, however, have been compromised for several reasons. Previous ideas concerning the ancestral home of migrant species, southern or northern, and whether a partially migratory stage always precedes a fully migratory stage, were not expressed as testable hypotheses. Plotting migratory behaviour on phylogenetic trees has become commonplace and allows tests of traditional hypotheses. Some of these studies are reviewed, lending some support for almost all of the previous ideas. Although phylogenetic mapping helps to frame questions about the evolution of migration in a testable framework, there are two serious issues. First, experimental and observational studies reveal that the expression of migratory behaviour can change rapidly within a lineage, which can violate assumptions of character mapping. In addition, a species distribution model is used to show that current conditions for obligate migratory populations of the chipping sparrow were much restricted at the Last Glacial Maximum, and that the species might have been considered a partial migrant at that time. The expression of migratory behaviour in an extant species might be an artefact of the current inter‐glacial period. Only if the rate of gains and losses of migratory behaviour can be incorporated into a phylogenetic mapping exercise will the actual evolutionary pattern of migration be revealed. For example, reconstruction of the ancestral area and the evolutionary history of migratory categories in a clade of New World warblers depended on the assumptions of character state transitions. A second concern is that the trait ‘migratory’ is too broad for evolutionary analysis and that, if possible, the expression of hyperphagia, Zugunruhe, and navigation could be mapped individually. Loss or suppression of any of these components can lead to sedentary populations, revealing how migratory behaviour can appear and disappear rapidly. A report of low levels of Zugunruhe in a sedentary bird, Saxicola torquata, is reconstructed as derived in a clade of otherwise migratory populations, suggesting that the loss of migration was a result of suppression (but not elimination) of Zugunruhe. When researchers mention the independent origin of migration in a clade, they are most likely referring to the gain or loss of the expression of the ancestral migratory programme, not the de novo evolution of migration per se. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 104 , 237–250.     

Epitope mapping of a single repetitive unit of the B13 Trypanosoma cruzi antigen as fusions to Escherichia coli LamB protein

B13, one of the immunodominant antigens of Trypanosoma cruzi, is composed of repeats of a 12-amino-acid motif. Using synthetic peptides, the sequence FGQAAAGDK was previously shown to contain the B13 immunodominant epitope recognized by chagasic patients sera. To investigate the effects of neighboring sequences in the immunodominance, we tested serum recognition of two B13 sequences fused to LamB. GDKPSPFGQAAA-LamB and FGQAAAGDKPSP-LamB were recognized, respectively, by 15% and 80% of 80 sera reactive to B13 antigen. Recognition of FGQAAAGDKPSP-LamB was inhibited by AAAGDK-containing synthetic peptides. FGQAAAGDKPSP-LamB competed with a B13 recombinant protein containing 16.6 repeats for binding to chagasic antibodies. These results strengthen previous conclusions on the immunodominant epitope of B13 and provide a comparison of two methods for epitope mapping.     

家蚕光泽小眼(varnished eye)突变基因的精细定位

家蚕(Bombyx mori)光泽小眼(varnished eye,ve)突变体是家蚕突变品种中少数关于家蚕复眼形态异常的自然隐性突变品种之一,表现为成虫复眼小,表面富有光泽,有瘤状突起;小眼数量少且不规则。经典遗传学连锁图谱将ve基因定位在第6连锁群32.2座位,但到目前为止,该突变性状的形成机理仍不清楚。文章以突变品种ve和对照品种Dz为亲本,杂交产生的F1代雄个体与轮回亲本ve雌个体回交产生的BC1代为材料进行ve基因的精细定位。通过对ve低密度连锁图谱分析发现,ve基因被定位在SNP3~SNP6之间,物理图谱距离大约为1.2 Mb。利用1563个BC1代个体构建ve高密度连锁图谱,最终将ve基因定位在SNP5~SNP61之间,物理图谱距离大约为221.8 kb。通过家蚕基因数据库对ve最终定位区域内进行预测基因检索,发现有6个预测基因。对6个预测基因进行生物信息学分析和测序,这些候选基因都有可能参与家蚕复眼形成,但在编码区没有发现ve特异的突变位点;对这些候选基因进行表达分析,发现编号为BGIBMGA013642的候选基因在ve复眼形成过程中的表达量明显比正常对照Dz低,推测该基因为最佳候选基因。