大别山北坡落叶阔叶林种间相关的研究

应用联结系数AC,点相关系数PCC,x~2检验和pearson相关系数r公式测定了大别山北坡落叶阔叶林的种间关系,依据种间联结程度将乔木层划分出3个生态种组,即栓皮栎──枫香种组,化香──短柄抱种组和锐齿栎──灯台树种组。     

Neither Moderate Hypoxia nor Mild Hypoglycaemia Alone Causes Any Significant Increase in Cerebral [Ca2±i: Only a Combination of the Two Insults Has This Effect.: A 31P and 19F NMR Study

(1) The energy state and free intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca^2±_i) of super-fused cortical slices were measured in moderate hypoxia (～65 μM O₂), in mild hypoglycaemia (0.5 mM glucose), and in combinations of the two insults using ¹⁹F and ³¹P NMR spectroscopy. (2) Neither hypoxia nor hypoglycaemia alone caused any significant change in [Ca^2±_i. Hypoxia caused a 40% fall in phosphocreatine (PCr) content but not in ATP level, and hypoglycaemia produced a slight fall in both (as expected from previous studies). These changes in the energy state recovered on return to control conditions. (3) A combined sequential insult (hypoxia, followed by hypoxia plus hypoglycaemia) produced a 100% increase in [Ca^2±, and a decrease in PCr level to ～25% of control. The reverse combined sequential insult (hypoglycaemia, followed by hypoglycaemia plus hypoxia) had the same effect. On return to control conditions there was some decrease in [Ca^2±_i and a small increase in PCr content, but neither recovered to control levels. (4) Exposure of the tissue to the combined simultaneous insult (hypoxia plus hypoglycaemia) immediately after the control spectra had been recorded resulted in a fivefold increase in [Ca^2±_i and a similar decrease in PCr level to 20–25% of control. There was little if any change of [Ca^2±_i or PCr level on return to control conditions. (5) These results are discussed in terms of metabolic adaptation of some but not all of the cortical cells to the single type of insult, which renders the tissues less vulnerable to the combined insult.     

乌骨鸡黑素的一些基本结构特征的初步研究

应用元素分析、电子能谱(XPS)和红外光谱(IR)分析技术对乌骨鸡体内黑素结构特征进行了研究。元素分析结果得到黑素分子中C、H、N、O克原子比率的均值为10:12:1:3.该比值与动物性吲哚黑素的相应元素比例接近。XPS波谱显示出黑素中含有两种价态的硫(S~Ⅵ、S~Ⅰ),其中以低价态占优势,S2p电子结合能比人发黑素要大些。氮原子只有一种价态。IR光谱中有五组明显吸收峰,其中以主要表征吲哚环的1619—1632CM~(-1)处的吸引峰最强。以上结果初步表明出乌骨鸡黑素是以吲哚环为主体的异聚物。     

GENETICS OF HOST-CACTUS RESPONSE AND LIFE-HISTORY EVOLUTION AMONG ANCESTRAL AND DERIVED POPULATIONS OF CACTOPHILIC DROSOPHILA MOJAVENSIS

The extent of host-specific genetic variation for two life-history traits, egg to adult developmental time and viability, and one morphological trait closely tied to fitness, adult thorax size, was exposed by employing a nested half-sib/full-sib breeding design with Baja and mainland populations of Drosophila mojavensis recently extracted from nature. This study was motivated by the presence of substantial variation in life histories among populations of D. mojavensis that use the fermenting tissues of particular species of columnar cacti for feeding and breeding in the Sonoran Desert. Full-sib progeny from all sire-dam crosses were split into cultures of agria cactus, Stenocereus gummosus, and organ pipe cactus, S. thurberi, to examine patterns of genotype-by-environment interaction for these fitness components. Baja flies expressed shorter egg-to-adult developmental times, higher viabilities, and smaller body sizes than mainland flies consistent with previous studies. Significant sire and dam components of variance were exposed for developmental time and thorax size. Genotype-by-environment interactions were significant at the level of dams for developmental time and nearly significant for viability (P = 0.09). Narrow- and broad-sense heritabilities were influenced by host cactus, sex, and population. No strong pattern of genetic correlation emerged among fitness components suggesting that host-range expansion has not been accompanied by formation of coadapted life histories, yet the ability to estimate genetic correlations and their standard errors was compromised by the unbalanced nature of the data set. Genetic correlations in performance across cacti were slightly positive, evidence for ecological generalism among populations explaining the observed pattern of multiple host cactus use within the species range of D. mojavensis.     

HOMOGENEITY OF THE GENETIC VARIANCE-COVARIANCE MATRIX FOR ANTIPREDATOR TRAITS IN TWO NATURAL POPULATIONS OF THE GARTER SNAKE THAMNOPHIS ORDINOIDES

Quantitative genetic models of evolution rely on the genetic variance-covariance matrix to predict the phenotypic response to selection. Both prospective and retrospective studies of phenotypic evolution across generations rely on assumptions about the constancy of patterns of genetic covariance through time. In the absence of robust theoretical predictions about the stability of genetic covariances, this assumption must be tested with empirical comparisons of genetic parameters among populations and species. Genetic variance-covariance matrices were estimated for a suite of antipredator traits in two populations of the northwestern garter snake, Thamnophis ordinoides. The characters studied include color pattern and antipredator behaviors that interact to facilitate escape from predators. Significant heritabilities for all traits were detected in both populations. Genetic correlations and covariances were found among behaviors in both populations and between color pattern and behavior in one of the populations. Phenotypic means differed among populations, but pairwise comparisons revealed no heterogeneity of genetic parameters between the populations. The structure of the genetic variance-covariance matrix has apparently not changed significantly during the divergence of these two populations.     

Evidence for two different blue-light-receptor systems for the fast responses of stimulation of photosynthetic capacity and acidification of the plant surface in brown algae

Two blue-light responses of Phaeophyta that are expressed within a few seconds of a blue-light stimulus were characterized with respect to their photoreception properties. The first response is the activation of red-light-saturated photosynthesis which can be stimulated to values up to 5 times the rates in red light, depending on the species. The second response is a blue-light-induced acidification measurable at the plant surface. Both responses have similar kinetic characteristics and thus led us initially to hypothesise that they were causally connected in the same transduction mechanism. The two responses have action spectra [measured for Ectocarpus siliculosus (Dillwyn) Lyngb. and Laminaria saccharina (L.) Lamouroux] that are indistinguishable within the relatively large limits of error. However, in all species tested, the threshold sensitivity for blue light of the photosynthetic response is lower than that of the pH-shift by a factor of 2 to 150. Furthermore, stimulation of photosynthesis is sensitive to the flavin inhibitors, KI and phenylacetic acid, but the pH response is not affected by these inhibitors. Thus, the blue-light-induced pH-shift does not cause the stimulation of photosynthesis. In contrast, the different fluence-response relationships of the two responses and particularly the differential effect of the inhibitors are clear evidence for the action of two independent transduction pathways and photoreceptor systems for blue light. At least photoreception for stimulation of photosynthesis involves a flavin-or and a pterin.Abbreviations DCMU 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea - PAA phenylacetic acid We thank Dr. C. A. Maggs for collecting P. pavonica. This research was supported by National Environment Research Council grant No. GR3/8102.     

The inheritance of vegetative growth traits in strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa) grown at low temperatures and their relationship to field productivity

The genetic relationship between vegetative growth at low temperatures and productivity was investigated for strawberries grown in controlled and field environments. Genotypes from 20 biparental crosses were grown in controlled environments with 11°, 14°, and 17 °C days, 11 °C nights, and 11-h daylength to simulate a range of winter growing conditions expected in mediterranean environments. Individual plants were scored for two initial runner traits and eight vegetative growth traits. Significant main effects of temperature and cross were detected for all growth chamber traits, and conservative estimates of the broad sense heritability (h²) for these traits were 0.10–0.28. None of the temperature x cross interaction effects were significant, suggesting that genetic potential for vegetative growth and vigor is expressed similarly at low and optimal growing temperatures. Highly significant genetic correlations were detected between many growth chamber trait pairs, indicating pleiotropic effects for the genes that condition these traits. Complementary field trials were established, and individual plants were scored for traits that describe yield, production pattern, and plant size. Significant negative genetic correlations were detected between traits that describe growth in the chambers and early production in the field trials, but genetic correlations between chamber growth traits and mid-season or total production were significantly positive and occasionally large. Several of the yield and field growth variables were genetically correlated to initial runner plant traits, suggesting that indirect selection using traits scored in the nursery can be used to improve yield and modify production pattern in the field.     

31P-Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of the time course of energy metabolism during exercise and recovery

This study evaluated the time courses of intracellular pH and the metabolism of phosphocreatine (PCr) and inorganic phosphate (P) at the onset of four exercise intensities and recoveries. Non-invasive evaluation of continuous changes in phosphorus metabolites has become possible using³¹P-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (³¹P-MRS). After measurements at rest, six healthy male subjects performed 4 min of femoral flexion exercise at intensities of 0 (loadless), 10, 20 and 30 kg · m · min^–1 in a 2.1 T superconducting magnet with a 67-cm bore. Measurements were continuously made during 5 min of recovery. During a series of rest-exercise-recovery procedures,³¹P-MRS were accumulated using 32 scans · spectrum^–1 requiring 12.8 s each. At the onset of exercise, PCr decreased exponentially with a time constant of 27–32 s regardless of the exercise intensity. The time constant PCr resynthesis during recovery was about 27–40 s. The PCr kinetics were independent of exercise intensity. There were similar Pi kinetics at the onset of all types of exercise, while those of Pi recovery became significantly longer at the higher exercise intensities (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the intracellular pH indicated temporary alkalosis just at the onset of exercise, probably due to absorption of hydrogen ions by PCr hydrolysis, and then decrease at a point about 40%–50% of the preexercise PCr. The pH recovery time was longer than that for the P_i or PCr kinetics. By using a more efficient resolution system it was possible to obtain the phosphorus kinetics during exercise and to follow PCr resynthesis within the first few minutes of recovery. From our results it was concluded that in general the time course of PCr and Pi metabolism were unaffected by the exercise intensity, both at the onset of exercise and during recovery, with the exception of P_i recovery.     

Changes in intracellular pH during repeated exercise

The rates of change in intracellular pH during repeated exercise sessions with rest periods was determined by 31 phosphorus-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (³¹P-MRS). Five long-distance runners and six healthy male subjects as controls performed a 2-min femoral flexion at 20 kg · m · min^–1 in a 2.1 T superconducting magnet with a 67-cm bore and repeated this exercise four times with 2-min rest periods intervening. In all cases during exercise the inorganic phosphate (P_i) peak split into two, the earlier increased rapidly (high-pH P_i) and the later (low-pH P_i) increased more slowly. The P_i peaks were separated by a fitting procedure using the least square mean method. The high-pH P_i area during exercise decreased as the number of repeated exercise periods increased, while the low-pH P_i area gradually increased. Although the total P_i area decreased exponentially during the recovery period, the high-pH P_i area decreased first and then the low-pH P_i area reduced gradually. The pH values were estimated from the chemical shift between the phosphocreatine peak and each split peak in the P_i. The high-pH in pooled data ranged from 6.6 to 7.0 during exercise and recovery, while the low pH decreased to 6.2 during exercise. As the number of exercise periods increased, each pH value gradually became less acidic, although there was a tendency to more acidity in the control subjects than in the long-distance runners. In conclusion, it was possible to obtain by non-invasive, continuous³¹P-MRS, a split pattern of P_i peaks during exercise and there were at least tow different intracellular pH values during exercise, suggesting that each P_i peak might be attributed to the types of muscle fibre recruited.     

Action of rat liver Galβ1-4GlcNAc α(2-6)-sialyltransferase on Manβ1-4GlcNAcβ-OMe,GalNAcβ1-4GlcNAcβ-OMe,Glcβ1-4GlcNAcβ-OMe and GlcNAcβ1-4GlcNAcβ-OMe as synthetic substrates

Incubation of synthetic Man\1-4GlcNAc-OMe, GalNAc1-4GlcNAc-OMe, Glc1-4GlcNAc-OMe, and GlcNAc1-4GlcNac-OMe with CMP-Neu5Ac and rat liver Gal1-4GlcNAc (2-6)-sialyltransferase resulted in the formation of Neu5Ac2-6Man1-4GlcNAc-OMe, Neu5Ac2-6GalNAc1-4GlcNAc-OMe, Neu5Ac2-6Glc1-4GlcNAc-OMe and Neu5Ac2-6GlcNAc1-4GlcNAc-OMe, respectively. Under conditions which led to quantitative conversion of Gal1-4GlcNAc-OEt into Neu5Ac2-6Gal1-4GlcNAc-OEt, the aforementioned products were obtained in yields of 4%, 48%, 16% and 8%, respectively. HPLC on Partisil 10 SAX was used to isolate the various sialyltrisaccharides, and identification was carried out using 1- and 2-dimensional 500-MHz¹H-NMR spectroscopy.Abbreviations 2D 2-dimensional - CMP cytidine 5-monophosphate - CMP-Neu5Ac cytidine 5-monophospho--N-acetylneuraminic acid - COSY correlation spectroscopy - DQF double quantum filtered - HOHAHA homonuclear Hartmann-Hahn - MLEV composite pulse devised by M. Levitt - Neu5Ac N-acetylneuraminic acid - Neu5Ac2en 2-deoxy-2,3-didehydro-N-acetylneuraminic acid