Evidence for strong inter- and intracontinental phylogeographic structure in Amanita muscaria, a wind-dispersed ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete

A growing number of molecular studies show that many fungi have phylogeographic structures and that their distinct lineages are usually limited to different continents. As a conservative test of the extent to which wind-dispersed mycorrhizal fungi may exhibit phylogeographic structure, we chose to study Amanita muscaria, a host-generalist, widespread, wind-dispersed fungus. In this paper, we document the existence of several distinct phylogenetic species within A. muscaria, based on multilocus DNA sequence data. According to our findings, A. muscaria has strong intercontinental genetic disjunctions, and, more surprisingly, has strong intracontinental phylogeographic structure, particularly within North America, often corresponding to certain habitats and/or biogeographic provinces. Our results indicate that the view of A. muscaria as a common, widespread, easily identifiable, ecologically plastic fungus with a wide niche does not correctly represent the ecological and biological realities. On the contrary, the strong associations between phylogenetic species and different habitats support the developing picture of ecoregional endemisms and relatively narrow to very narrow niches for some lineages.     

Identification of the critical regions in hepatitis B virus preS required for its stability.

As a hepatitis B virus (HBV) envelope domain, preS plays significant roles in receptor recognition and viral infection. However, the regions critical for maintaining a stable and functional conformation of preS are still unclear and require further investigation. In order to unravel these regions, serially truncated fragments of preS were constructed and expressed in Escherichia coli. Their solubility, stability, secondary structure, and affinity to polyclonal antibodies and hepatocytes were examined. The results showed that amino acids 31-36 were vital for its stable conformation, and the absence of 10-36 amino acids significantly reduced its binding to polyclonal antibodies as well as hepatocytes. The most stable fragment 1-120 (preS1 + N-terminal 12 amino acids of preS2), perhaps the core of preS, was discovered, which bound to HepG2 cells most tightly. Moreover, the availability of large amounts of well-folded and stable preS1-120 enables us to carry out further structural determination and mechanistic study on HBV infection.     

Arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal colonization of two <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eucalyptus</Emphasis> species in semiarid Brazil

Our goal was to evaluate the mycorrhizal colonization, as well as the density of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal spores, in Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. grandis monocultures at 2 years in a semiarid part of Brazil. Soil and root samples were collected in 2 consecutive years. Eucalyptus camaldulensis showed varied AM colonization level according to season of sampling, and Glomus was dominant in spore numbers. Eucalyptus grandis showed dominant ectomycorrhizal (ECM) colonization and lower AM fungal spore density. Overall results suggest that E. camaldulensis has both AM and ECM dependencies, whereas E. grandis is solely ECM dependent in the monocultures.     

岷山地区大熊猫(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)生境影响因子连通性及主导因子

岷山地区是大熊猫保护的关键地区.运用图论分析法研究了岷山地区大熊猫生境影响因子,及其相互作用关系.结果表明:在岷山地区,12个影响因子66对组合中,47.0%的影响因子间存在直接的联系,其中89.2%的影响具有增大效应,这说明人类活动对大熊猫生境的影响具有协同增大效应,并占主导地位.研究发现,在影响因子关系集中,存在强连通性的子集K={(TD);(RB);(MI);(HPL);(AP);(AD);(SR);(TH);(FC)},这表明近期进行的旅游景点开发,公路建设,采矿,高压电线走廊建设,以及传统的农业开发,畜牧业,薪柴采集等影响因子之间存在着强烈相互作用关系,这些人类活动还会将其他人类活动对大熊猫生境的影响放大,加剧其对大熊猫生境的不利影响,是影响岷山地区大熊猫生境的主导因素.研究还表明如果不能对主导因子进行有效的控制,很难有效地保护岷山地区大熊猫生境.研究表明图论分析法是研究大熊猫生境影响因子的一个有效工具,有助于明确影响熊猫生境的主导和关键因子,为制定有效的大熊猫保护策略提供科学依据.     

南方红壤丘陵区杜仲人工林产流产沙与降雨特征关系

杜仲是我国南方红壤丘陵区重要的水土保持经济树种,为了阐明人工杜仲林地表径流和土壤侵蚀的特征及其与降雨特征的关系,2002-2005年在典型的杜仲人工林设置径流小区,进行定位观测,结果表明:1)观测期间,研究区主要以降雨量(R)＜25 mm、降雨强度(I)＜5 mm·h-1的降雨为主;2)降雨量(R)、降雨量与降雨强度的乘积(R·I)、降雨侵蚀力(R30)与土壤侵蚀量和径流均表现出极显著的线性相关关系;在对特定的降雨条件下的坡面侵蚀进行预测的时候,用R30进行预测比用R·I更接近通用土壤流失方程降雨影响因子的内涵;3)对杜仲人工林径流深(Rd)与降雨侵蚀力(R30)的乘积(Rd·R30)与土壤侵蚀量进行拟合,结果表明,二者达到极显著线性相关性(r=0.685,P＜0.01),比单一用径流进行坡面侵蚀预测更符合水蚀产沙过程.     

The nature of fisheries- and farming-induced evolution

Humans have a penchant for unintentionally selecting against that which they desire most. In fishes, unprecedented reductions in abundance have been associated with unprecedented changes in harvesting and aquaculture technologies. Fishing, the predominant cause of fish-population collapses, is increasingly believed to generate evolutionary changes to characters of import to individual fitness, population persistence and levels of sustainable yield. Human-induced genetic change to wild populations can also result from interactions with their domesticated counterparts. Our examination of fisheries- and farming-induced evolution includes factors that may influence the magnitude, rate and reversibility of genetic responses, the potential for shifts in reaction norms and reduced plasticity, loss of genetic variability, outbreeding depression and their demographic consequences to wild fishes. We also suggest management initiatives to mitigate the effects of fisheries- and farming-induced evolution. Ultimately, the question of whether fishing or fish farming can cause evolutionary change is moot. The key issue is whether such change is likely to have negative conservation- or socio-economic consequences. Although the study of human-induced evolution on fishes should continue to include estimates of the magnitude and rate of selection, there is a critical need for research that addresses short- and long-term demographic consequences to population persistence, plasticity, recovery and productivity.     

广西不同时期IBV分离株S1基因高变区Ⅰ的遗传变异分析

对广西1985～2007年间分离到的22株传染性支气管炎病毒(IBV)的S1基因高变区Ⅰ(HVR Ⅰ)进行序列测定,并与发表的其他IBV参考株及鸽子分离的冠状病毒株的基因序列进行比较和分析.系统进化关系显示毒株可分为5个基因群,其中有16个广西分离株属第Ⅰ群,它们与鸽子冠状病毒分离株的氨基酸序列同源性较高,与Massachusetts(Mass)型疫苗株的同源性较低.有15个分离株在33～34位和34～35之间分别有4个和3个氨基酸残基的插入,GX-NN6在33～34位和34～35位之间则均有4个氨基酸残基的插入;GX-YL1、GX-NN2与常用的Mass型疫苗株的亲缘关系最近,同属于第Ⅱ群;GX-G、GX-XD与日本同一时期分离的毒株JP Miyazaki 89亲缘关系最近,属于第Ⅲ群;GX-YL6、GX-NN7与欧洲毒株4/91亲缘关系较近,属于第V群.结果表明广西存在着多种类型IBV毒株的流行,毒株S1基因HVR Ⅰ碱基的突变或插入比较普遍,可导致其氨基酸序列的变化,绝大部分毒株与目前常用的Mass型疫苗株的亲缘关系较低.同一时期的分离株同源性较高,但无明显的地域性差异.     

Population genetic diversity of Prenant’s schizothoracin, Schizothorax prenanti, inferred from the mitochondrial DNA control region

Wild populations of Prenant’s schizothoracin, Schizothorax prenanti, were collected from the Qingyi, Dadu, and Muli rivers in upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Genetic variation and population structure were examined based on analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region. Nucleotide sequence analysis defined 30 haplotypes in 41 individuals. The nucleotide and haplotype diversities were very high, and genetic distances between the Dadu and Qingyi populations were much smaller than between either of them and the Muli population. The analysis of molecular variance demonstrated that most variation occurred within samples, and the differentiation between Muli and Dadu or Qingyi was significant. Estimates of gene flow indicated reproductive isolation between Muli and the other populations, and this divergence might be related to geographical location. The results are mostly consistent with the findings from AFLP analysis and also suggested considerable genetic diversity of the populations in the Muli, Dadu, and Qingyi rivers.