大豆全基因组分枝相关基因发掘及与QTL共定位

大豆(Glycine max)分枝在个体和群体水平上均与大豆产量关系密切, 因此大豆分枝相关基因的发掘及利用对大豆高产分子育种具有重要意义。文章通过GO(Gene ontology)分类和文献检索共获得植物分枝发育相关基因183个。基于序列相似和结构域相同的原则, 从大豆基因组中发掘出大豆分枝相关的候选基因406个。通过收集已发表的大豆分枝相关QTL, 利用BioMercator2.1软件, 将符合映射条件的35个QTL映射到公共图谱的12个染色体。通过共定位分析发现, 在20个分枝相关的QTL区间内存在大豆分枝相关候选基因57个。本文发掘的分枝发育相关基因信息为大豆分枝相关QTL的精细定位和克隆以及大豆分枝发育的分子生物学基础研究提供了参考。     

Sublepidodendron grabaui comb. nov., a lycopsid from the Upper Devonian of China

Sublepidodendron wusihense (Sze) Sze and Lepidostrobus grabaui Sze were based on compressions from the upper part of the Wutung Formation (Famennian) of Jiangsu, South China. After studying the morphology and anatomy of abundant well-preserved specimens from two localities, Sublepidodendron wusihense and Lepidostrobus grabaui are reconsidered and viewed as Sublepidodendron grabaui (Sze) comb. nov. This plant is an arborescent, heterosporous lycopsid known from trunk, branches and cones. Leaf bases are spirally arranged, fusiform in outline, with a vascular bundle scar and keel. One specimen is known with a cone attached at the tip of a distal branch. The trunk has an intrastelar parenchyma concentration (pith), exarch primary xylem and secondary xylem. The branch anatomy varies from exarch primary xylem with a small, centrally located pith, to a solid exarch primary xylem strand. Based on the morphology and anatomy of both vegetative and reproductive organs, Sublepidodendron grabaui is placed into Sublepidodendraceae ( sensu Kräusel & Weyland, 1949), and Isoëtales ( sensu DiMichele & Bateman, 1996).  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 149 , 299–311.     

多学科交叉下工科院校微生物学实验教学改革初探

微生物学是生物类专业举足轻重的基础学科,而微生物学的实验方法和技术手段更是微生物学建立和发展的基础。生命科学的不断发展也离不开微生物学。工科院校微生物学科旨在培养应用型研发人才,因此必须提高教师自身的实验素养,不断优化实验内容,基于学科交叉将科研课题融入实验教学中,培养学生的科研思维,为社会打造学科交叉创新型实验人才。     

中国长蠕孢属的分类研究II. 四川省的两个新种

报道生于四川省枯树枝上的长蠕孢属两个新种,假喙长蠕孢Helminthosporiumspurirostrum和四川长蠕孢Helminthosporiumsichuanense。假喙长蠕孢的分生孢子可产生假喙,这是首次报道长蠕孢属的一个新的特征。四川长蠕孢与黄檀长蠕孢H.dalbergiae较相似,但是黄檀长蠕孢的分生孢子大(长58-125靘,宽12-14靘),分生孢子梗细(宽10-12靘)。研究标本保存在山东农业大学植物病理学标本室(HSAUP)。     

Mechanical stresses of primary branches: a survey of 40 woody tree and shrub species

Land plants have evolved a large number of growth forms and each plant species has a unique morphology. For many tall plants, main stems serve the function of vertical growth while primary and higher order branches are responsible for lateral growth for greater light interception. Herein we search for a mechanical constant for primary branches. Primary branches were sampled from 40 species of trees and shrubs. Among the species sampled, branch lengths ranged from 1.8 to 12.2 m, weights from 0.056 to 16.6 kg, base diameters from 17 to 150 mm, bending moments from 7.1 to 2,200 N-m, and section moduli from 0.039 to 29.0 × 10⁻³ m³. Primary branches of all 40 tree and shrub species exhibited relatively constant bending stresses along each branch. Moreover stress values among the 40 species were relatively constant at about 11 MPa (mean = 11.1 MPa [range 5.2–18.9]; standard deviation = 3.3 MPa). Furthermore, primary branches without secondary branches attached (1) had similar bending moment distributions as tapered cantilever beams, (2) exhibited relatively constant slope values of stress versus length among all species (stresses increased linearly with length), and (3) exhibited both relatively constant density and relatively constant taper within each species. We conclude that the relatively constant stress of about 11 MPa of primary branches was due solely to the numbers, weights, and distributions of secondary branches and associated higher order branches along primary branches for the 40 plant species. To our knowledge, this is the first publication that shows a unifying mechanical constant for primary branches of plants.

The cytochrome b gene as a phylogenetic marker: the limits of resolution for analyzing relationships among cichlid fishes

The mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt-b) gene is widely used in systematic studies to resolve divergences at many taxonomic levels. The present study focuses mainly on the utility of cyt-b as a molecular marker for inferring phylogenetic relationship at various levels within the fish family Cichlidae. A total of 78 taxa were used in the present analysis, representing all the major groups in the family Cichlidae (72 taxa) and other families from the suborders Labroidei and Percoidei. Gene trees obtained from cyt-b are compared to a published total evidence tree derived from previous studies. Minimum evolution trees based on cyt-b data resulted in topologies congruent with all previous analyses. Parsimony analyses downweighting transitions relative to transversions (ts1:tv4) or excluding transitions at third codon positions resulted in more robust bootstrap support for recognized clades than unweighted parsimony. Relative rate tests detected significantly long branches for some taxa (LB taxa) which were composed mainly by dwarf Neotropical cichlids. An improvement of the phylogenetic signal, as shown by the four-cluster likelihood mapping analysis, and higher bootstrap values were obtained by excluding LB taxa. Despite some limitations of cyt-b as a phylogenetic marker, this gene either alone or in combination with other data sets yields a tree that is in agreement with the well-established phylogeny of cichlid fish. Received: 11 October 2000 / Accepted: 26 February 2001     

Axillary meristems and the development of epicormic buds in wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis)

Intact trees of Wollemia nobilis Jones, Hill and Allen (Araucariaceae) routinely develop multiple coppice shoots as well as orthotropic epicormic shoots that become replacement or additional leaders. As these are unusual architectural features for the Araucariaceae, an investigation was made of the axillary meristems of the main stem and their role in the production of epicormic and possibly coppice shoots. Leaf axils, excised from the apex to the base of 2-m-high W. nobilis plants (seedling origin, ex situ grown), were examined anatomically. Small, endogenous, undifferentiated (no leaf primordia, no vascular or provascular connections) meristems were found in the axils from near the shoot apex. In the more proximal positions about half the meristems sampled did not differentiate further, but became tangentially elongated to compensate for increases in stem diameter. In the remaining axils the meristems slowly developed into bud primordia, although these buds usually developed few leaf primordia and their apical 'domes' were wide and flat. Associated vascular development was generally restricted to provascular dedifferentiation of the cortical parenchyma, with the procambium usually forming a 'closed loop' that did not extend back to the secondary vascular tissues. Development of the meristems was very uneven with adjacent axils often at widely differing stages of development into buds. The study shows that, unlike most conifers, W. nobilis possesses long-lived meristematic potential in most, if not all, leaf axils. Unlike other araucarias that have been investigated, many of the meristems in the orthotropic main stem will slowly develop into bud primordia beneath the bark in intact plants. It appears likely that this slow but continued development provides a ready source of additional or replacement leaders and thus new branches and leaves.     

The phylogenetic history of Selaginellaceae based on DNA sequences from the plastid and nucleus: extreme substitution rates and rate heterogeneity

Molecular phylogenetic research on Selaginellaceae has focused on the plastid gene rbcL, which in this family has unusually high substitution rates. Here we develop a molecular data set from the nuclear 26S ribosomal DNA gene with the aim of evaluating and extending the results of previous phylogenetic research. The 26S rDNA and the rbcL regions were sequenced for a sample of 23 species, which represent the main elements of species diversity in the family. The data were analysed independently and in combination using both maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference. Although several between genome differences were found, the general pattern of relationships uncovered by all analyses was very similar. Results corroborate the previous study supporting new groupings not previously recognised on morphological grounds. Substitution rates in the 26S rDNA were also found to be high (26% informative) for the region analysed, but lower than for rbcL (37% informative). These data indicate that high substitution rates might be widespread in all three genomes (i.e., plastid, mitochondrion, and nucleus).     

Rare coding sequence changes are consistent with Ecdysozoa, not Coelomata

There is growing interest in the use of alternative, more slowly-evolving RGCs (rare genomic changes). Recently, Rogozin and coauthors (Rogozin et al. 2007) proposed a novel phylogenetic method employing rare amino acid changes, RGC-CAMs (rare genomic changes-conserved amino acids-multiple substitutions). They applied their method to 694 sets of eukaryotic orthologs in order to distinguish the relationship between nematodes, arthropods and deuterostomes. They concluded that such rare amino acid changes were consistent with the Coelomata hypothesis, which groups arthropods and deuterostomes to the exclusion of nematodes. Here we use newly available genomic sequences from Nematostella vectensis, a basal metazoan, and from Brugia malayi, an additional nematode. We show that the apparent support for Coelomata is likely to be the result of the rapid rate of evolution leading to Caenorhabditis nematodes. Including the additional species paints a very different picture, with 13 remaining characters consistent with Ecdysozoa versus only 1 consistent with Coelomata.     

克隆植物沙拐枣的母株和分株对风蚀沙埋的生理生态响应

以中国荒漠区优良的防风固沙克隆灌木沙拐枣为对象,研究了长期风蚀、沙埋环境下沙拐枣母株和克隆分株的同化枝对环境异质性的响应。结果发现:(1)风蚀母株、风蚀分株的叶绿素含量、净光合速率、气孔导度、蒸腾速率、胞间CO2浓度和水分利用效率只有沙埋分株的一半左右,导致同化枝的长度、数量、簇数也仅是沙埋分株的一半,而且风蚀母株的果实宽和果实长也都最小,但浅沙埋有利于沙拐枣的生长和繁殖,表明严峻的风蚀对母株和分株的生长与繁殖都产生了胁迫,但浅沙埋有利于沙拐枣的生长和繁殖。(2)风蚀母株倒伏后同化枝的形态特征是基部优于中部优于顶部,表明严峻风蚀下母株的死亡是从顶部-中部-底部逐渐舍弃的过程。(3)母株的全部根系以及风蚀水平根全部裸露在外但依然能够存活,间接证明沙拐枣克隆整合的方向性——不仅可在分株间进行传递,分株-母株间也可进行传递,否则遭受严峻风蚀胁迫的母株和克隆分株会直接死亡。本研究结果为沙拐枣克隆生长对风沙环境的生态适应机制提供了基础,也是对植物克隆生态学在自然异质环境中研究缺乏的有效补充。