Plant functional diversity enhances associations of soil fungal diversity with vegetation and soil in the restoration of semiarid sandy grassland

The trait‐based approach shows that plant functional diversity strongly affects ecosystem properties. However, few empirical studies show the relationship between soil fungal diversity and plant functional diversity in natural ecosystems. We investigated soil fungal diversity along a restoration gradient of sandy grassland (mobile dune, semifixed dune, fixed dune, and grassland) in Horqin Sand Land, northern China, using the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 18S rRNA and gene sequencing. We also examined associations of soil fungal diversity with plant functional diversity reflected by the dominant species' traits in community (community‐weighted mean, CWM) and the dispersion of functional trait values (FD_is). We further used the structure equation model (SEM) to evaluate how plant richness, biomass, functional diversity, and soil properties affect soil fungal diversity in sandy grassland restoration. Soil fungal richness in mobile dune and semifixed dune was markedly lower than those of fixed dune and grassland (P < 0.05). Soil fungal richness was positively associated with plant richness, biomass, CWM plant height, and soil gradient aggregated from the principal component analysis, but SEM results showed that plant richness and CWM plant height determined by soil properties were the main factors exerting direct effects. Soil gradient increased fungal richness through indirect effect on vegetation rather than direct effect. The negative indirect effect of FDis on soil fungal richness was through its effect on plant biomass. Our final SEM model based on plant functional diversity explained nearly 70% variances of soil fungal richness. Strong association of soil fungal richness with the dominant species in the community supported the mass ratio hypothesis. Our results clearly highlight the role of plant functional diversity in enhancing associations of soil fungal diversity with community structure and soil properties in sandy grassland ecosystems.     

Problems,successes and challenges for the application of dispersion-corrected density-functional theory combined with dispersion-based implicit solvent models to large-scale hydrophobic self-assembly and polymorphism

The recent advent of dispersion-corrected density-functional theory (DFT) methods allows for quantitative modelling of molecular self-assembly processes, and we consider what is required to develop applications to the formation of large self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on hydrophobic surfaces from organic solution. Focus is on application of the D3 dispersion correction of Grimme combined with the solvent dispersion model of Floris, Tomasi and Pascual–Ahuir to simulate observed scanning-tunnelling microscopy (STM) images of various polymorphs of tetraalkylporphyrin SAMs on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surfaces. The most significant problem is identified as the need to treat SAM structures that are incommensurate with those of the substrate, providing a challenge to the use of traditional periodic-imaging boundary techniques. Using nearby commensurate lattices introduces non-systematic errors into calculated lattice constants and free energies of SAM formation that are larger than experimental uncertainties and polymorph differences. Developing non-periodic methods for polymorph interface simulation also remains a challenge. Despite these problems, existing methods can be used to interpret STM images and SAM atomic structures, distinguishing between multiple feasible polymorph types. They also provide critical insight into the factors controlling polymorphism. All this stems from a delicate balance that the intermolecular D3 and solvent Floris, Tomasi and Pascual–Ahuir corrections provide. Combined optimised treatments should yield fully quantitative approaches in the future.     

Axial allometry in a neutrally buoyant environment: effects of the terrestrial‐aquatic transition on vertebral scaling

Ecological diversification into new environments presents new mechanical challenges for locomotion. An extreme example of this is the transition from a terrestrial to an aquatic lifestyle. Here, we examine the implications of life in a neutrally buoyant environment on adaptations of the axial skeleton to evolutionary increases in body size. On land, mammals must use their thoracolumbar vertebral column for body support against gravity and thus exhibit increasing stabilization of the trunk as body size increases. Conversely, in water, the role of the axial skeleton in body support is reduced, and, in aquatic mammals, the vertebral column functions primarily in locomotion. Therefore, we hypothesize that the allometric stabilization associated with increasing body size in terrestrial mammals will be minimized in secondarily aquatic mammals. We test this by comparing the scaling exponent (slope) of vertebral measures from 57 terrestrial species (23 felids, 34 bovids) to 23 semi‐aquatic species (pinnipeds), using phylogenetically corrected regressions. Terrestrial taxa meet predictions of allometric stabilization, with posterior vertebral column (lumbar region) shortening, increased vertebral height compared to width, and shorter, more disc‐shaped centra. In contrast, pinniped vertebral proportions (e.g. length, width, height) scale with isometry, and in some cases, centra even become more spool‐shaped with increasing size, suggesting increased flexibility. Our results demonstrate that evolution of a secondarily aquatic lifestyle has modified the mechanical constraints associated with evolutionary increases in body size, relative to terrestrial taxa.     

参松养心胶囊对心房颤动患者P波离散度及血清炎性因子水平的影响*

目的:探讨参松养心胶囊对心房颤动(AF)患者P波离散度(Pd)及血清炎性因子水平的影响,为临床用药提供依据。方法:将西安交通大学第一附属医院2016年3月-2018年1月收治的AF患者纳入本研究,共148例。所有患者根据不同的治疗方式分为对照组和观察组。对照组(n=74)接受常规治疗,观察组(n=74)在对照组基础上加用参松养心胶囊,两组均治疗8周。比较两组患者治疗后的临床疗效,观察并比较两组患者治疗前及治疗后的Pd、最大P波时限(Pmax)变化情况,检测两组患者治疗前及治疗后的血清炎性因子水平,记录不良反应发生情况。结果:观察组总有效率为89.19%(66/74),高于对照组的70.27%(52/74)(P0.05)。两组患者治疗后的Pmax、Pd均明显降低,且观察组患者治疗后的Pmax、Pd均明显低于对照组(P0.05)。两组患者治疗后的血清炎性因子水平均明显降低,且与对照组相比,观察组患者治疗后的血清肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)、高敏C反应蛋白(hs-CRP)、白介素-6(IL-6)水平均降低(P0.05)。两组不良反应发生情况比较无统计学差异(P0.05)。结论:参松养心胶囊治疗AF患者安全有效,能明显减轻炎性反应,改善患者心功能。     

Vertebral evolution and ontogenetic allometry: The developmental basis of extreme body shape divergence in microcephalic sea snakes

Snakes exhibit a diverse array of body shapes despite their characteristically simplified morphology. The most extreme shape changes along the precloacal axis are seen in fully aquatic sea snakes (Hydrophiinae): “microcephalic” sea snakes have tiny heads and dramatically reduced forebody girths that can be less than a third of the hindbody girth. This morphology has evolved repeatedly in sea snakes that specialize in hunting eels in burrows, but its developmental basis has not previously been examined. Here, we infer the developmental mechanisms underlying body shape changes in sea snakes by examining evolutionary patterns of changes in vertebral number and postnatal ontogenetic growth. Our results show that microcephalic species develop their characteristic shape via changes in both the embryonic and postnatal stages. Ontogenetic changes cause the hindbodies of microcephalic species to reach greater sizes relative to their forebodies in adulthood, suggesting heterochronic shifts that may be linked to homeotic effects (axial regionalization). However, microcephalic species also have greater numbers of vertebrae, especially in their forebodies, indicating that somitogenetic effects also contribute to evolutionary changes in body shape. Our findings highlight sea snakes as an excellent system for studying the development of segment number and regional identity in the snake precloacal axial skeleton.     

What are the roles of retinoids,other morphogens,and Hox genes in setting up the vertebrate body axis?

This article is concerned with the roles of retinoids and other known anterior–posterior morphogens in setting up the embryonic vertebrate anterior–posterior axis. The discussion is restricted to the very earliest events in setting up the anterior–posterior axis (from blastula to tailbud stages in Xenopus embryos). In these earliest developmental stages, morphogen concentration gradients are not relevant for setting up this axis. It emerges that at these stages, the core patterning mechanism is timing: BMP‐anti BMP mediated time space translation that regulates Hox temporal and spatial collinearities and Hox‐Hox auto‐ and cross‐ regulation. The known anterior–posterior morphogens and signaling pathways––retinoids, FGF's, Cdx, Wnts, Gdf11 and others––interact with this core mechanism at and after space–time defined “decision points,” leading to the separation of distinct axial domains. There are also other roles for signaling pathways. Besides the Hox regulated hindbrain/trunk part of the axis, there is a rostral part (including the anterior part of the head and the extreme anterior domain [EAD]) that appears to be regulated by additional mechanisms. Key aspects of anterior–posterior axial patterning, including: the nature of different phases in early patterning and in the whole process; the specificities of Hox action and of intercellular signaling; and the mechanisms of Hox temporal and spatial collinearities, are discussed in relation to the facts and hypotheses proposed above.     

Surviving background extinction: Inferences from historic and current dynamics in the contrasting population structures of two endemic Mexican cycads

Ecological and microevolutionary perspectives were used to investigate signs of background extinction in two endemic species. We studied relict populations of the cycad Dioon caputoi, contrasting its population structure and neighborhood size with those of Dioon planifolium as a demographically healthier reference population. Population dynamics analysis was performed on two populations of D. caputoi through Integral Projection Models and genetic neighborhoods compared between species through 172 Inter Simple Sequence Repeat loci performed in one population of each of the two study species. The D. caputoi populations mostly comprised adult plants, while D. planifolium presented mainly juvenile individuals. Dioon caputoi showed equilibrium in population growth (i.e., λ ≈ 1), with low recruitment, and its genetic neighborhood revealed highly related individuals in a unique distance class (r_ij = 0.407, 33 m). A contrasting pattern was found in D. planifolium, which showed higher relatedness in the first distance class (r_ij = 0.543, 5 m), gradually decreasing to 20 m. The discrepancies between the two species reflect different strategies of persistence. Dioon caputoi conserves a relict dynamics with signs of a multigenerational, attritional loss of reproductive fitness, while D. planifolium does not. This study furthers our understanding of the background extinction process and the information will thus contribute to the management and conservation of this endangered species.     

Effects of substrate patterning on cellular spheroid growth and dynamics measured by gradient light interference microscopy (GLIM)

The development of three‐dimensional (3D) cellular architectures during development and pathological processes involves intricate migratory patterns that are modulated by genetics and the surrounding microenvironment. The substrate composition of cell cultures has been demonstrated to influence growth, proliferation and migration in 2D. Here, we study the growth and dynamics of mouse embryonic fibroblast cultures patterned in a tissue sheet which then exhibits 3D growth. Using gradient light interference microscopy (GLIM), a label‐free quantitative phase imaging approach, we explored the influence of geometry on cell growth patterns and rotational dynamics. We apply, for the first time to our knowledge, dispersion‐relation phase spectroscopy (DPS) in polar coordinates to generate the radial and rotational cell mass‐transport. Our data show that cells cultured on engineered substrates undergo rotational transport in a radially independent manner and exhibit faster vertical growth than the control, unpatterned cells. The use of GLIM and polar DPS provides a novel quantitative approach to studying the effects of spatially patterned substrates on cell motility and growth.