Construction costs and physico-chemical properties of the assimilatory organs of Nepenthes species in Northern Borneo

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Species of the Nepenthaceae family are under-represented in studies of leaf traits and the consequent view of mineral nutrition and limitation in carnivorous plants. This study is aimed to complement existing data on leaf traits of carnivorous plants. METHODS: Physico-chemical properties, including construction costs (CC), of the assimilatory organs (leaf and pitcher) of a guild of lowland Nepenthes species inhabiting heath and/or peat swamp forests of Brunei, Northern Borneo were determined. KEY RESULTS: Stoichiometry analyses indicate that Nepenthes species are nitrogen limited. Most traits vary appreciably across species, but greater variations exist between the assimilatory organs. Organ mass per unit area, dry matter tissue concentration (density), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), carbon, heat of combustion (H(c)) and CC values were higher in the leaf relative to the pitcher, while organ thickness, potassium (K) and ash showed the opposite trend. Cross-species correlations indicate that joint rather than individual consideration of the leaf and the pitcher give better predictive relationships between variables, signalling tight coupling and functional interdependence of the two assimilatory organs. Across species, mass-based CC did not vary with N or P, but increases significantly with tissue density, carbon and H(c), and decreases with K and ash contents. Area-based CC gave the same trends (though weaker in strength) in addition to a significant positive correlation with tissue mass per unit area. CONCLUSIONS: The lower CC value for the pitcher is in agreement with the concept of low marginal cost for carnivory relative to conventional autotrophy. The poor explanatory power of N, P or N : P ratio with CC suggests that factors other than production of expensive photosynthetic machinery (which calls for a high N input), including concentrations of lignin, wax/lipids or osmoregulatory ions like K(+), may give a better explanation of the CC variation across Nepenthes species.     

重大工程建设项目竣工验收工作中的环境监测

以辽宁省环境监测中心站配合国家环境保护总局评估中心进行的金哨水利枢纽工程竣工环境保护验收调查为例,论述了环境监测在重大工程建设项目验收调查中的重要作用,提出了项目验收监测工作的程序,认为重大工程建设项目的监测从项目开始就应列入计划,通过监测与监督,使施工期的环境污染问题降至最低限度,这样才能更好地保护生态环境及周围公众的安全健康.     

10kD玉米醇溶蛋白基因的克隆与植物表达载体构建

由于紫花苜蓿中的含硫氨基酸水平很低,采用基因工程手段将富硫蛋白基因-10kD玉米醇溶蛋白(zein)基因转入苜蓿中以提高其水平。根据该基因的保守序列设计引物,并在下游引物终止密码子前引入内质网驻留蛋白信号序列(KDEL),通过PCR技术从玉米(Zea mays L.)黄化幼苗基因组中扩增目的基因的开放阅读框(ORF)。序列测序得到全长为465bp的目的片断,该片段编码154个氨基酸,其中甲硫氨酸(M)31个占20.13%,半胱氨酸(C)6个占3.90%,含硫氨基酸共占24.03%。该基因与报道的10kD玉米醇溶蛋基因具有很高的同源性。将该基因构建到植物表达载体pCAMBIA13011上,以转化紫花苜蓿提高其含硫氨基酸的水平。     

The body size of the New Zealand orb-weaving spider Waitkera waitakerensis (Uloboridae) is directly related to temperature and affects fecundity

Abstract. Waitkera waitakerensis occupies lowland forests of New Zealand's North Island, where temperatures decrease in a southwestward direction. The mean annual temperatures of 18 collecting sites, as extracted from GIS data, are directly related to the first femur length of adult females. Neither site elevation nor phylogeny affected spider size or other variables examined. The direct relationship between spider body size and environmental temperature followed a pattern observed in other terrestrial arthropods with a univoltine life cycle and can probably be explained by the longer growing season of warmer regions. Egg diameter was uniform across the species. Site temperature and female first femur length were each directly related to the number of eggs deposited in egg sacs. The date of egg sac collection was inversely related to egg number, suggesting that clutch size declines during the reproductive season. Females deposit eggs beneath a triangular platform and then cover them with a lower silk sheet. The area of this upper platform and the volume of the egg sac were each directly related to egg number, but not to female first femur length. The depth of the lower covering was not related to egg number or to spider first femur length. This suggests that spiders use information about the volume of eggs in their abdomens to construct an egg sac whose volume will accommodate the volume of eggs to be laid and that females do so principally by adjusting the size of the sac's upper triangular platform.     

医院疾病资源库标准化建设探讨

疾病资源库在转化医学发展中发挥着重要作用,收集人类遗传资源和疾病相关资源信息,建设疾病资源库越来越受到重视。首都医科大学附属北京佑安医院在建设乙型肝炎和艾滋病疾病资源库的过程中,总结疾病资源库建设经验,为中国疾病资源库建设的标准化提供参考。     

地市级妇幼保健机构部制改革问题与对策探讨

妇幼机构四大保健部设置,是国家卫生计生委在新妇幼机构规范化建设标准中提出,其目的是解决妇幼保健管理、认识和定位的误区,各妇幼保健机构在落实四大部设置中存在的困难。文章以秦皇岛市妇幼保健院部制改革为例,寻求探索解决地市妇幼保健机构实施四大保健部设置的方法。     

苏南地区典型城镇建设用地扩展的时空分异

选择江苏省常熟市南部的辛庄镇为研究区,采用该区1980、1991、2001和2009年4期高分辨率遥感影像,利用GIS技术,结合现有的建设用地扩展指标构建了综合扩展程度指数模型,定量分析了研究区1980-2009年间3个时段建设用地扩展的总体特征和时空分异特征.结果表明:随着农村城镇化和工业化进程的加快,辛庄镇建设用地显著扩展,1980-2009年间共增加19.24 km2,其中,2001-2009年该区建设用地进入高速扩展期,扩展面积、扩展贡献率和扩展强度均最大.研究区建设用地扩展具有明显的空间分异特征:1980-1991年,新增建设用地主要集中于镇区所在村域,1991年后,辛庄镇建设重心逐渐向工业发达的村庄转移.研究期间,辛庄镇的新增建设用地主要源于水田和旱地,二者共占建设用地总增加面积的88.1%,其余土地类型对建设用地的转入贡献率相对较小.     

小鼠DLL1真核表达载体的构建及其在肿瘤细胞中的表达

目的:构建带绿色荧光蛋白的小鼠DLL1全长基因真核表达载体,并在肿瘤细胞中表达。方法:利用PCR特异性引物扩增出DLL1基因全长,将克隆的基因片段插入带绿色荧光蛋白的真核表达载体pIRES2-EGFP质粒中。然后利用脂质体将重组质粒pIRES2-EGFP-DLL1转染进小鼠B16黑色素瘤细胞中,并通过G418筛选后选取生长良好、荧光强度高的三株单克隆进行mRNA水平DLL1表达的鉴定。结果:成功扩增小鼠DLL1的全长基因。克隆入质粒载体后,通过DNA序列测定证实其序列正确。将构建的pIRES2-EGFP-DLL1质粒转染小鼠B16黑色素瘤细胞,经过G418筛选和荧光显微镜观察后,挑选得到GFP阳性率90%以上的稳定转染细胞株。RT-PCR检测稳定转染细胞的mDLL1的表达显著增加,进一步证实了pIRES2-EGFP-DLL1的表达效能。结论:成功构建了小鼠DLL1基因的真核表达质粒,证实其在真核细胞B16中可以表达。