Nitrogen and phosphorus addition differentially enhance seed production of dominant species in a temperate steppe

Previous studies have demonstrated changes in plant growth and reproduction in response to nutrient availability, but responses of plant growth and reproduction to multiple levels of nutrient enrichment remain unclear. In this study, a factorial field experiment was performed with manipulation of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability to examine seed production of the dominant species, Stipa krylovii, in response to N and P addition in a temperate steppe. There were three levels of N and P addition in this experiment, including no N addition (0 g N m⁻² year⁻¹), low N addition (10 g N m⁻² year⁻¹), and high N addition (40 g N m⁻² year⁻¹) for N addition treatment, and no P addition (0 g P m⁻² year⁻¹), low P addition (5 g P m⁻² year⁻¹), and high P addition (10 g P m⁻² year⁻¹) for P addition treatment. Low N addition enhanced seed production by 814%, 1371%, and 1321% under ambient, low, and high P addition levels, respectively. High N addition increased seed production by 2136%, 3560%, and 3550% under ambient, low, and high P addition levels, respectively. However, P addition did not affect seed production in the absence of N addition, but enhanced it under N addition. N addition enhanced seed production mainly by increasing the tiller number and inflorescence abundance per plant, whereas P addition stimulated it by decreasing the plant density yet stimulating height of plants and their seed number per inflorescence. Our results indicate seed production is not limited by P availability but rather by N availability in the temperate steppe, whereas seed production will be increased by P addition when N availability is improved. These findings enable a better understanding of plant reproduction dynamics in the temperate steppe under intensified nutrient enrichment and can inform their improved management in the future.     

Reproductive characteristics of Drosophila hibisci in the Northern Territory, Australia

Reproductive traits of Drosophila hibisci collected at 18 sites in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia in May, 1998, as well as at two sites in north Queensland, in June, 1998, were compared to those from earlier work on a cline in ovariole number in D. hibisci along the east coast of Australia. The flies in the NT were considerably smaller, but had more ovarioles than comparably-sized flies on the east coast. Although the flies on the east coast showed an increasing number of ovarioles in populations at increasing distances from the equator, these new populations, both on the east coast and in the NT, reversed this trend, producing a generally U-shaped pattern of ovariole number with latitude among all populations. The northernmost and southernmost populations allocate more to ovariole numbers than populations in intermediate latitudes. Ovariole number is closely related to body size of females in all populations, but the regression coefficient is small at intermediate latitudes and increases at the northern and southern ends of the distribution. Egg volumes primarily varied with body size of the female (positive) and number of ovarioles per female (negatively), producing a generally inverted U-shaped pattern of egg volumes with latitude. Reproductive allocation patterns, but not thorax size or ovariole number, varied significantly in two samples taken 10 days apart at one NT site. This variation probably results from environmental differences across generations of developing larvae and is consistent with our earlier suggestion of substantial effects of the environment, primarily rainfall and temperature, on reproductive allocation in D. hibisci.     

OVULE PACKAGING IN STOCHASTIC POLLINATION AND FERTILIZATION ENVIRONMENTS

The modular morphology of plants has important consequences for reproductive strategies. Ovules are packaged in discrete structures (flowers) that usually vary stochastically in pollen capture and ovule fertilization, because of the vagaries of pollen transfer by external agents. Different ovule packaging schemes may use limited reproductive resources more or less effectively, so that some number of ovules per flower may be optimal, given the prevailing probabilities of ovule fertilization. I derive a phenotypic model for ovule number per flower that maximizes the expected total ovule fertilizations on a plant when pollination and fertilization vary randomly among individual flowers. This model predicts that, except for small or inexpensive flowers, ovules should be “oversupplied” relative to the mean receipt of pollen tubes, so that pollen limitation of seed set should be common. Published data are congruent with this prediction. Additional hypotheses on the relation of ovule packaging to floral cost, plant size, and variance in pollen receipt are suggested by the model, but few data exist to evaluate these hypotheses.     

不稳定EGFP细胞模型的构建及其在基因编辑体系评价中的应用*

目的:为了更好地评价基因编辑效率,满足高通量筛选应用中快速、高效的检测要求,在细胞上建立一个原位检测方法具有重要的意义。通过检测荧光蛋白信号强度的变化可以评价CRISPR系统在细胞中的基因编辑情况,然而这一方法的效率受限于荧光蛋白较长的半衰期。方法:将鸟氨酸脱羧酶降解结构域(含PEST序列)与EGFP融合,通过慢病毒系统感染HEK-293T细胞,获得了表达单拷贝、EGFP-PEST报告基因的稳转细胞系。结果:与EGFP相比,EGFP-PEST在细胞内的降解速度明显加快,荧光水平在4 h内显著降低。利用该模型比较了3种商品化脂质体介导的CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑效率,能够在2~4 d实现定性和定量评价。结论:这一模型能够快速、灵敏地指示基因编辑效果,可以用于不同CRISPR系统或新递送工具的高通量筛选和评价。     

基于三角模糊数的自然保护区生态旅游评价

从生态环境特征、资源影响力、社会经济影响3个方面,选择地形、气候、生态脆弱性、典型性、环境影响、经济效益等16个指标,构建评价模型,运用三角模糊数方法,进行沙坡头国家级自然保护区的生态旅游评价。结果显示:沙坡头国家级自然保护区的生态旅游资源丰富,整体发展良好,发展生态旅游将会对保护区的文化、经济、配套基础设施等方面产生积极影响。将三角模糊数应用于自然保护区生态旅游评价模型,克服了定性指标难以量化、可比较性差的缺点,可以为生态旅游评价提供新思路、新方法,具有一定的应用前景,对生态旅游评价具有新的借鉴意义。     

Studies on Karyotypes of 5 Species in Ranunculus from Jiangxi

The present paper reports the chromosome numbers and karyotypes of 5 species in Ranunculus from Jiangxi. The result is shown in Table 1-2. The chromosome numbers of R. ternatus Thunb. (2n=4x=32; 2n=2x=16=8m+2sm+6st) , R. polii Franch. (2n = 2x = 16 = 8m+2sm+6st) and R. sieboldii Miq. (2n = 8x-1 = 63 = 15m+18sm+22st+8t) are first reported. The essential points are as follows: (1) The karyotypes of R. ternatus Thunb. and R. polii Franch. are rather similar, which shows a close relationship between the two species. (2) Polyploid complexes are common in Ranunculus. (3) According to the taxonomical system of Wang Wen-cai, the karyotypes of the two species investigated in Sect. Auricomus belong to “2A” of Stebbins; that of the only species in Sect. Hecatonia belong to “2B'; the karyotypes of the two species investigated in Sect. Ranunculus belong to “3A” or “3B”. The relationships among the three sections from thekaryotype are basically consistent with those based on morphology.     

Karyology and evolution inSesamoides (Resedaceae)

The meiotic behaviour abnormalities, fertility and size of pollen of 6 taxa ofSesamoides have been analysed. Besides diploids (2x), polyploids (4x, 6x, 8x) have been found. The chromosome base number is x = 10, but an origin from x = 5 is suggested.     

Effects of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors on serum uric acid in type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review with an indirect comparison meta-analysis

To describe the effects of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on serum uric acid (SUA) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL were searched for randomized controlled trials of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with T2DM up to Aug 10, 2017, without language or date restrictions. Thirty-one studies totaling 13,650 patients were included. SGLT2 inhibitors significantly decreased SUA levels compared with placebo, canagliflozin WMD –37.02?μmol/L, 95% CI [–38.41, –35.63], dapagliflozin WMD –38.05?μmol/L, 95% CI [–44.47, –31.62], empagliflozin WMD –42.07?μmol/L, 95% CI [–46.27, –37.86]. The drug class effect of SUA reduction suggesting SGLT2 inhibitors might be beneficial for diabetic patients with hyperuricemia.     

Experimentally increased group diversity improves disease resistance in an ant species

A leading hypothesis linking parasites to social evolution is that more genetically diverse social groups better resist parasites . Moreover, group diversity can encompass factors other than genetic variation that may also influence disease resistance. Here, we tested whether group diversity improved disease resistance in an ant species with natural variation in colony queen number. We formed experimental groups of workers and challenged them with the fungal parasite Metarhizium anisopliae . Workers originating from monogynous colonies (headed by a single queen and with low genetic diversity) had higher survival than workers originating from polygynous ones, both in uninfected groups and in groups challenged with M. anisopliae . However, an experimental increase of group diversity by mixing workers originating from monogynous colonies strongly increased the survival of workers challenged with M. anisopliae , whereas it tended to decrease their survival in absence of infection. This experiment suggests that group diversity, be it genetic or environmental, improves the mean resistance of group members to the fungal infection, probably through the sharing of physiological or behavioural defences.