葛根芩连汤在模拟胃肠液中对微生物生长的影响

目的探究葛根芩连汤在模拟胃肠液中对微生物生长的影响。方法在模拟胃肠液中分别加入消化液10%量的金黄色葡萄球菌、大肠埃希菌、沙门菌、产气杆菌、黑曲霉、米曲霉、青霉和汉逊德巴利酵母,然后加入生药浓度为1 g/mL的葛根芩连汤水煎液,37℃恒温培养。分别在0、1、2和4 h吸取1 mL培养液做稀释平板计数。结果体外模拟肠液中,葛根芩连汤对金黄色葡萄球菌、大肠埃希菌、沙门菌、产气杆菌、黑曲霉、米曲霉和青霉有较强的抑制作用,而对汉逊德巴利酵母的生长则为先促进后抑制,并且在2 h时对黑曲霉、米曲霉、青霉和汉逊德巴利酵母的抑制效果最显著;在模拟胃液中,葛根芩连汤对金黄色葡萄球菌、大肠埃希菌、沙门菌、黑曲霉、青霉和汉逊德巴利酵母均有一定的抑制作用,而对产气杆菌无明显影响。结论葛根芩连汤在模拟胃肠液中对金黄色葡萄球菌、大肠埃希菌、沙门菌、黑曲霉、米曲霉、青霉和汉逊德巴利酵母等均具有一定的抑制作用,在模拟肠液中对产气杆菌抑制作用明显,而在模拟胃液中对其抑制效果不明显。     

How do developmental and parental exposures to predation affect personality and immediate behavioural plasticity in the snail Physa acuta?

Individuals differ in personality and immediate behavioural plasticity. While developmental environment may explain this group diversity, the effect of parental environment is still unexplored—a surprising observation since parental environment influences mean behaviour. We tested whether developmental and parental environments impacted personality and immediate plasticity. We raised two generations of Physa acuta snails in the laboratory with or without developmental exposure to predator cues. Escape behaviour was repeatedly assessed on adult snails with or without predator cues in the immediate environment. On average, snails were slower to escape if they or their parents had been exposed to predator cues during development. Snails were also less plastic in response to immediate predation risk on average if they or their parents had been exposed to predator cues. Group diversity in personality was greater in predator-exposed snails than unexposed snails, while parental environment did not influence it. Group diversity in immediate plasticity was not significant. Our results suggest that only developmental environment plays a key role in the emergence of group diversity in personality, but that parental environment influences mean behavioural responses to the environmental change. Consequently, although different, both developmental and parental cues may have evolutionary implications on behavioural responses.     

粪菌移植对非酒精性脂肪肝大鼠肠黏膜的保护作用

目的探讨粪菌移植(fecal microbiota transplantation,FMT)对非酒精性脂肪性肝病(nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,NAFLD)大鼠肠黏膜屏障的保护作用。方法健康雄性SD大鼠30只,随机分为3组:正常对照组(control group,C组)10只,予正常饮食;高脂模型组(model group,M组)10只、粪菌移植治疗组(treatment group,T组)10只,M组和T组均予高脂饮食。T组予粪菌液灌胃2 mL/次,隔日1次,粪菌液灌胃的前一天晚上及当天早上均予奥美拉唑镁肠溶片灌胃;C组及M组同时予奥美拉唑及生理盐水灌胃。喂养12周后实验结束,测定血中TG、ALT、AST水平;苏丹黑B染色观察肝脏病理学变化;取回肠末端肠组织行HE染色及扫描电镜观察肠黏膜结构变化。结果与M组大鼠相比,T组血清TG、ALT、AST水平降低,差异有统计学意义(均P0.05)。T组大鼠肝脏苏丹黑B染色可见肝细胞内脂肪沉积明显减少,脂肪变性程度较M组减轻。T组大鼠肠组织HE染色肠绒毛轻度水肿,排列较整齐、紧密。扫描电镜中可见T组大鼠肠绒毛形态较饱满,排列比较紧密,微绒毛之间的间隙变小。结论粪菌移植能改善肝功能,减轻肝脏脂肪变,降低肠道通透性,改善肠黏膜屏障功能。     

Impacts of soil temperature,phenology and plant community composition on invertebrate herbivory in a natural warming experiment

Species and community-level responses to warming are well documented, with plants and invertebrates known to alter their range, phenology or composition as temperature increases. The effects of warming on biotic interactions are less clearly understood, but can have consequences that cascade through ecological networks. Here, we used a natural soil temperature gradient of 5–35°C in the Hengill geothermal valley, Iceland, to investigate the effects of temperature on plant community composition and plant–invertebrate interactions. We quantified the level of invertebrate herbivory on the plant community across the temperature gradient and the interactive effects of temperature, plant phenology (i.e. development stage) and vegetation community composition on the probability of herbivory for three ubiquitous plant species, Cardamine pratensis, Cerastium fontanum and Viola palustris. We found that the percentage cover of graminoids and forbs increased, while the amount of litter decreased, with increasing soil temperature. Invertebrate herbivory also increased with soil temperature at the plant community level, but this was underpinned by different effects of temperature on herbivory for individual plant species, mediated by the seasonal development of plants and the composition of the surrounding vegetation. This illustrates the importance of considering the development stage of organisms in climate change research given the variable effects of temperature on susceptibility to herbivory at different ontogenetic stages.     

陆地生态系统环境控制实验的研究方法及技术体系

生物及生态系统与环境变化间的反馈关系及其过程机制是生态学研究的重要内容。不同类型的生物环境因素控制实验以及大尺度的联网野外控制实验被认为是认识生态系统响应和适应环境变化过程机制、精细定量表达的有效手段及认知过程的加速器。近年来发展了大型野外物理模拟实验装置网络(如ECOTRON)、生态系统分析与实验平台(AnaEE)、国际干旱实验研究网络(Drought Network)、氮沉降联合实验网络(Nutrient Network),以及基于各区域性生态观测实验站的联网控制实验(如USA-ILTER)。发展大陆尺度联网实验研究平台事业正日益受到学术界的重视,将会在认知生态系统环境响应过程机制方面发挥更重要的作用。基于以上背景,本文综述了生态系统环境控制实验的研究方法和实验体系的发展,明确指出各种类型的生物环境控制实验需要形成联合协作体系,共同解决生态系统对环境变化的响应及适应的基本科学问题。目前的控制实验包括: 1) 实验室封闭装置内的生物生理生态学控制实验;2) 野外实验场的半开放部分环境要素控制实验;3) 近自然状态的野外环境控制实验;以及4) 基于野外生态站的联网控制实验。进而,本文还深入讨论了陆地生态系统的环境响应及适应过程机制实验系统设计的发展趋势,分析了基于大尺度自然环境梯度实验及生态站尺度的要素控制实验的优势,提出了整合两种实验技术、发展新一代的野外联网实验体系的科学设想,讨论了基于野外联网控制实验的研究体系,论证了研究生态系统对环境变化短期响应和长期适应的规律和机制、生态系统环境响应定量表达的技术途径。若本文提出的控制实验体系设计方案能够得以实施,必将大大促进我国乃至全球生态系统和环境变化科学的研究水平,对我国应对气候变化和生态环境建设具有重要的科学意义。     

Evolution of herbs: key to the conundrum might be tolerance not avoidance

草本植物的进化：解决难题的关键在于忍耐而非逃避 木本植物延续了其祖先被子植物的生长形态,而草本植物则不断地从中进化演变。虽然关于驱动草本植物习性进化的因素已有许多假设,但是通过舍弃地上生物质从而避免冬季冻害的能力常常被认为是促使其进化的主要力量。然而,鉴于草本植物在反复干扰中依旧能够轻松存活,我们提出了不可预测的干扰可能比季节性霜冻更为重要的假设。我们通过比较草本植物和木本植物应对3种模拟干扰(容易预测的冬季冰冻、不易预测的春季冰冻和食草作用)的能力来验证这一假设。通过比较20种不同植物在同质园实验中的表现,我们评估了这些干扰对植物死亡和再生方面的影响。研究结果表明,在冬季冰冻条件下,比起木本植物,草本植物在存活率上并没有优势。在不易预测的春季冰冻条件下,草本植物比木本植物的存活率更高。而在模拟食草作用的条件下,草本植物的这种生存优势更大。在不可预测的条件下,草本植物相较于木本植物的生存优势表明,草本植物的生长形式可能是对不可预测的干扰的适应,这种逆境忍耐通过其损失地上生物质也能够生存的能力得以实现。因此,哺乳动物的食草行为或火灾等原因或许最有可能是木本植物向草本植物过渡的因素。     

基于CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术的本科教学实验体系的创建与实践

CRISPR/Cas9是新兴的基因编辑技术,在生命科学研究中发挥着重要的作用。将它引入本科生的实验教学,使本科生了解这项前沿科研技术很有意义。我们创建了一个基于CRISPR/ Cas9技术的本科教学实验体系。该实验体系侧重CRISPR/Cas9技术在哺乳动物细胞中的应用,选用一株基因组上被插入mCherry基因的小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞为实验材料,命名为STO-82。首先设计靶向mCherry的sgRNA,构建CRISPR-Cas9/sgRNA共表达质粒。经测序验证无误后,转染到STO-82细胞。采用流式细胞仪分析检测mCherry阴性和阳性两群细胞,分选出阴性单细胞并扩大培养。最后用测序检验单克隆细胞中靶标DNA序列的编辑情况。结果显示,靶位点有插入或缺失突变,说明体系创建成功。该实验体系将sgRNA设计、CRISPR-Cas9/sgRNA共表达质粒的构建、细胞转染、单细胞分选、单克隆细胞培养、测序序列分析等内容融合为一个综合实验,用于高年级本科生的实验教学。根据实际情况,将教学实践内容分解分块教学,也可以做完整性项目教学。本教学实践采用10人左右的小班分块教学,2人一组,经过3个班（共13组）的实践,绝大部分学生都能完成实验,得到预期结果。通过这个实验,学生加深了对CRISPR/Cas9技术的原理和实验流程的理解,锻炼了实验操作能力和严谨的科研思维,也使学生对该技术的医疗应用风险有了一些认识。     

Ecosystem Services from Keystone Species: Diversionary Seeding and Seed‐Caching Desert Rodents Can Enhance Indian Ricegrass Seedling Establishment

Seeds of Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides), a native bunchgrass common to sandy soils on arid western rangelands, are naturally dispersed by seed‐caching rodent species, particularly Dipodomys spp. (kangaroo rats). These animals cache large quantities of seeds when mature seeds are available on or beneath plants and recover most of their caches for consumption during the remainder of the year. Unrecovered seeds in caches account for the vast majority of Indian ricegrass seedling recruitment. We applied three different densities of white millet (Panicum miliaceum) seeds as “diversionary foods” to plots at three Great Basin study sites in an attempt to reduce rodents' over‐winter cache recovery so that more Indian ricegrass seeds would remain in soil seedbanks and potentially establish new seedlings. One year after diversionary seed application, a moderate level of Indian ricegrass seedling recruitment occurred at two of our study sites in western Nevada, although there was no recruitment at the third site in eastern California. At both Nevada sites, the number of Indian ricegrass seedlings sampled along transects was significantly greater on all plots treated with diversionary seeds than on non‐seeded control plots. However, the density of diversionary seeds applied to plots had a marginally non‐significant effect on seedling recruitment, and it was not correlated with recruitment patterns among plots. Results suggest that application of a diversionary seed type that is preferred by seed‐caching rodents provides a promising passive restoration strategy for target plant species that are dispersed by these rodents.     

Genetic background,and not ontogenetic effects,affects avian seasonal timing of reproduction

Avian seasonal timing is a life‐history trait with important fitness consequences and which is currently under directional selection due to climate change. To predict micro‐evolution in this trait, it is crucial to properly estimate its heritability. Heritabilities are often estimated from pedigreed wild populations. As these are observational data, it leaves the possibility that the resemblance between related individuals is not due to shared genes but to ontogenetic effects; when the environment for the offspring provided by early laying pairs differs from that by late pairs and the laying dates of these offspring when they reproduce themselves is affected by this environment, this may lead to inflated heritability estimates. Using simulation studies, we first tested whether and how much such an early environmental effect can inflate heritability estimates from animal models, and we showed that pedigree structure determines by how much early environmental effects inflate heritability estimates. We then used data from a wild population of great tits (Parus major) to compare laying dates of females born early in the season in first broods and from sisters born much later, in second broods. These birds are raised under very different environmental conditions but have the same genetic background. The laying dates of first and second brood offspring do not differ when they reproduce themselves, clearly showing that ontogenetic effects are very small and hence, family resemblance in timing is due to genes. This finding is essential for the interpretation of the heritabilities reported from wild populations and for predicting micro‐evolution in response to climate change.