Invaded grassland communities have altered stability‐maintenance mechanisms but equal stability compared to native communities

Theory predicts that stability should increase with diversity via several mechanisms. We tested predictions in a 5‐year experiment that compared low‐diversity exotic to high‐diversity native plant mixtures under two irrigation treatments. The study included both wet and dry years. Variation in biomass across years (CV) was 50% lower in mixtures than monocultures of both native and exotic species. Growth among species was more asynchronous and overyielding values were greater during and after a drought in native than exotic mixtures. Mean‐variance slopes indicated strong portfolio effects in both community types, but the intercept was higher for exotics than for natives, suggesting that exotics were inherently more variable than native species. However, this failed to result in higher CV's in exotic communities because species that heavily dominated plots tended to have lower than expected variance. Results indicate that diversity‐stability mechanisms are altered in invaded systems compared to native ones they replaced.     

视网膜中央凹视锥细胞椭球体光学作用分析

用光波导理论分析了视网膜中央凹视锥细胞椭球体的光学作用,发现中央凹视锥细胞椭球体能够有效减小中央凹视锥细胞内段的肌样体和外段之间的耦合损耗;能够匹配中央凹视锥细胞内段的肌样体和外段的模场,具有模场尺寸转换器的作用;椭球体的存在是中央凹视锥细胞实现高灵敏度和高分辨率的选择。     

Antiplasmodial activity study of angiotensin II via Ala scan analogs

Angiotensin II (AII) as well as analog peptides shows antimalarial activity against Plasmodium gallinaceum and Plasmodium falciparum, but the exact mechanism of action is still unknown. This work presents the solid‐phase synthesis and characterization of eight peptides corresponding to the alanine scanning series of AII plus the amide‐capped derivative and the evaluation of the antiplasmodial activity of these peptides against mature P. gallinaceum sporozoites. The Ala screening data indicates that the replacement of either the Ile⁵ or the His⁶ residues causes minor effects on the in vitro antiplasmodial activity compared with AII, i.e. AII (88%), [Ala⁶]‐AII (79%), and [Ala⁵]‐AII (75%). Analogs [Ala³]‐AII, [Ala¹]‐AII, and AII‐NH₂ showed antiplasmodial activity around 65%, whereas the activity of the [Ala⁸]‐AII, [Ala⁷]‐AII, [Ala⁴]‐AII, and [Ala²]‐AII analogs is lower than 45%. Circular dichroism data suggest that AII and the most active analogs adopt a β‐fold conformation in different solutions. All AII analogs, except [Ala⁴]‐AII and [Ala⁸]‐AII, show contractile responses and interact with the AT₁ receptor, [Ala⁵]‐AII and [Ala⁶]‐AII. In conclusion, this approach is helpful to understand the contribution of each amino acid residue to the bioactivity of AII, opening new perspectives toward the design of new sporozoiticidal compounds. Copyright © 2014 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intraspecific plant–soil feedback and intraspecific overyielding in Arabidopsis thaliana

Understanding the mechanisms of community coexistence and ecosystem functioning may help to counteract the current biodiversity loss and its potentially harmful consequences. In recent years, plant–soil feedback that can, for example, be caused by below‐ground microorganisms has been suggested to play a role in maintaining plant coexistence and to be a potential driver of the positive relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. Most of the studies addressing these topics have focused on the species level. However, in addition to interspecific interactions, intraspecific interactions might be important for the structure of natural communities. Here, we examine intraspecific coexistence and intraspecific diversity effects using 10 natural accessions of the model species Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. We assessed morphological intraspecific diversity by measuring several above‐ and below‐ground traits. We performed a plant–soil feedback experiment that was based on these trait differences between the accessions in order to determine whether A. thaliana experiences feedback at intraspecific level as a result of trait differences. We also experimentally tested the diversity–productivity relationship at intraspecific level. We found strong differences in above‐ and below‐ground traits between the A. thaliana accessions. Overall, plant–soil feedback occurred at intraspecific level. However, accessions differed in the direction and strength of this feedback: Some accessions grew better on their own soils, some on soils from other accessions. Furthermore, we found positive diversity effects within A. thaliana: Accession mixtures produced a higher total above‐ground biomass than accession monocultures. Differences between accessions in their feedback response could not be explained by morphological traits. Therefore, we suggest that they might have been caused by accession‐specific accumulated soil communities, by root exudates, or by accession‐specific resource use based on genetic differences that are not expressed in morphological traits. Synthesis. Our results provide some of the first evidence for intraspecific plant–soil feedback and intraspecific overyielding. These findings may have wider implications for the maintenance of variation within species and the importance of this variation for ecosystem functioning. Our results highlight the need for an increased focus on intraspecific processes in plant diversity research to fully understand the mechanisms of coexistence and ecosystem functioning.     

稻田蜘蛛与飞虱制约关系及其利用

1972—1991年间,我们对稻田蜘蛛及其相关害虫—褐稻虱进行了较为系统的调查研究。本文主要论述稻田蜘蛛种类多,发生量大,繁殖力强.与稻飞虱的季节消长、生态分布、变态类型相一致,彼此制约关系明显,有良好的保护利用价值。创造有利于蜘蛛发生发展的环境,合理施用化学农药,既是保护利用蜘蛛的有效途径,又可保护飞虱的其它天敌,发挥多种天敌联合控制飞虱的作用,在经济、生态与社会三方面都可收到显著效益。     

Species distribution models for invasive Eurasian watermilfoil highlight the importance of data quality and limitations of discrimination accuracy metrics

AimAvailability of uniformly collected presence, absence, and abundance data remains a key challenge in species distribution modeling (SDM). For invasive species, abundance and impacts are highly variable across landscapes, and quality occurrence and abundance data are critical for predicting locations at high risk for invasion and impacts, respectively. We leverage a large aquatic vegetation dataset comprising point‐level survey data that includes information on the invasive plant Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian watermilfoil) to: (a) develop SDMs to predict invasion and impact from environmental variables based on presence–absence, presence‐only, and abundance data, and (b) compare evaluation metrics based on functional and discrimination accuracy for presence–absence and presence‐only SDMs.LocationMinnesota, USA.MethodsEurasian watermilfoil presence–absence and abundance information were gathered from 468 surveyed lakes, and 801 unsurveyed lakes were leveraged as pseudoabsences for presence‐only models. A Random Forest algorithm was used to model the distribution and abundance of Eurasian watermilfoil as a function of lake‐specific predictors, both with and without a spatial autocovariate. Occurrence‐based SDMs were evaluated using conventional discrimination accuracy metrics and functional accuracy metrics assessing correlation between predicted suitability and observed abundance.ResultsWater temperature degree days and maximum lake depth were two leading predictors influencing both invasion risk and abundance, but they were relatively less important for predicting abundance than other water quality measures. Road density was a strong predictor of Eurasian watermilfoil invasion risk but not abundance. Model evaluations highlighted significant differences: Presence–absence models had high functional accuracy despite low discrimination accuracy, whereas presence‐only models showed the opposite pattern.Main conclusionComplementing presence–absence data with abundance information offers a richer understanding of invasive Eurasian watermilfoil''s ecological niche and enables evaluation of the model''s functional accuracy. Conventional discrimination accuracy measures were misleading when models were developed using pseudoabsences. We thus caution against the overuse of presence‐only models and suggest directing more effort toward systematic monitoring programs that yield high‐quality data.     

随机扩增多态性DNA技术在鲍氏层孔菌菌株鉴别中的应用

用20个随机引物对7个不同来源的鲍氏层孔菌菌株进行了RAPD分析．结果表明120个随机引物中,有17个引物的扩增产物DNA条带表现出明显的多态性,不同引物对供试菌株扩增出现的DNA条带数目少则10条,多达33条．DNA片段从250bp到2000bp;采用17个引物对7个鲍氏层孔菌菌株共扩增出DNA片段带377条,不同引物扩增出的DNA片段谱带存在较大差异．采用UPGMA系统聚类法,将7个菌株聚类为两大类,能直观准确地揭示菌株间的差异并加以鉴别．     

四川黄龙沟森林植被中兰科植物群落优势种种间联结和相关分析

四川黄龙沟内分布着十分丰富的兰科植物(19属30余种),并且部分种类在沟内形成优势群落。目前尚不清楚在群落中这些兰科植物种之间作用关系。运用种间关联分析和相关分析对黄龙沟森林植被兰科植物群落中的24个优势种的种间关系进行了研究。两种分析方法得到的结果相近,表明黄龙沟优势兰科植物可以分为两组。一组包括无苞杓兰(Cypripedium bardolphianum)、黄花杓兰(C. flavum)、二叶红门兰(Orchis diantha)、广布红门兰(Orchis chusua)、少花虾脊兰(Calanthe delavayi)和西藏杓兰(C. tibeticum),主要分布在光线充足但又具有一定遮荫条件的环境中;另一组包括筒距兰(Tipularia szechuanica)、沼兰(Malaxis monophyllos)、珊瑚兰(Corallorhiza trifida)、小斑叶兰(Goodyera repens)、布袋兰(Calypso bulbosa)、小花舌唇兰(Platanthera minutiflora)和小叶对叶兰(Listera smithii),它们主要分布于荫蔽的环境中。这些兰科植物在组内大多呈现显著的正相关关系,组间大多呈现显著的负相关关系,说明黄龙沟兰科植物在资源利用方式上可能产生了分化。     

Parental contribution and coefficient of coancestry among maize inbreds: pedigree, RFLP, and SSR data

The genetic relationship between inbreds i and j can be estimated from pedigree or from molecular marker data. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine whether pedigree, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and simple sequence repeat (SSR) data give similar estimates of parental contribution and coefficient of coancestry (f _ij ) among a set of maize (Zea mays L.) inbreds, and (2) compare the usefulness of RFLP and SSR markers for estimating genetic relationship. We studied 13 maize inbreds with known pedigrees. The inbreds were genotyped using 124 RFLP and 195 SSR markers. For each type of marker, parental contributions were estimated from marker similarity among an inbred and both of its parents, and were subsequently used to estimate f _ij . Estimates of parental contribution differed significantly (α<0.05) between pedigree data and either type of marker, but not between the marker systems. The RFLP estimates of parental contribution failed to sum to 1.0, reflecting a higher frequency of non-parental bands with RFLP than with SSR markers. The f _ij estimated from pedigree, RFLP, and SSR data were highly correlated (r=0.87–0.97), although significant differences were found among the three sets of f _ij estimates. We concluded that pedigree and marker data often lead to different estimates of parental contribution and f _ij , and that SSR markers are superior to RFLP markers for estimating genetic relationship. A relevant question is whether or not the inbreds previously genotyped with an older marker system (e.g., RFLP) need to be re-analyzed with a newer marker system (e.g., SSR) for the purpose of estimating genetic relationship. Such re-analysis seems unnecessary if data for the same type of marker are available for a given inbred and both of its parents. Received: 2 June 1999 / Accepted: 30 July 1999     

大型多钩槽绦虫与隐藏新棘虫种间关系研究

大型多钩槽绦虫和隐藏新棘虫单独在黄鲜肠道内分布时,其分布益十分相似,相似性系数ｒ＝０．９２２６（Ｐ〈０．０１）,当两种寄生蠕虫在黄鳝中共同感染时,随着大型多钩槽绦虫的生长,其分布位置明显前移而隐藏新棘虫的分布位置则显著后退,生态２位重叠明显下降。两种寄生蠕虫种间正关联显著,它们在宿主人共存并不改变它们的感染速度。