无患子果实生长发育及其内含物的变化特征北大核心CSCD

以福建建宁县无患子为材料,观测果实生长动态,并采用Logistic方程对生长指标进行曲线拟合,观察生长过程中果皮显微结构变化,确定无患子果实生长发育的重要时期,为无患子的高效栽培管理和果实采收策略的制定提供科学依据。结果表明:(1)无患子果实生长、果皮总皂苷和种子油脂的积累规律相似,总体上呈Logistic增长模型的单“S”型曲线;果皮总皂苷和种子油脂的主要积累时期分别为45~90 DAP(花授粉后天数)和75~105 DAP。(2)无患子果皮除含有角质层、表皮细胞、厚角细胞、薄壁细胞、维管束、石细胞等基本结构外,还含有溶生式分泌腔和草酸钙簇晶等特征性结构;随着果实生长,分泌腔体积逐渐变大。(3)根据果实生长变化规律和Logistic方程拟合结果,可将无患子果实生长发育进程划分为生长初期(0~30 DAP)、速生期(30~90 DAP)、生长后期(90~120 DAP)和果实成熟期(120~150 DAP)4个阶段。在生产实践中果实成熟期内均适合果实采收,其中135和150 DAP分别为果实皂用和油用采收的最佳时期,此外还应根据每年天气状况对果实采收时间进行适当调整。     

植物合成生物学领域发展态势的文献计量分析

合成生物学作为一种颠覆性技术可应用于农业领域的创新发展,解决当前农业学科中的瓶颈问题。利用文献计量学方法从领域发表论文的时序数量分布、主题分布等探测当前合成生物学的基本态势。基于领域的主题分布可知,其中植物合成生物学这一主题是稳定存在的且主题规模处于稳定增长趋势。聚焦植物合成生物学这一主题方向,在构建引文网络的基础上利用主路径分析方法从知识流动角度探测植物合成生物学领域重要知识节点,内容涵盖介子油苷生物合成途径,重要催化酶功能解析、转录因子的调控作用,组学方法的应用,利用微生物酵母进行生物物质合成,这些内容表征了合成生物的核心理论技术。     

靶向蛋白质降解技术研究进展

靶向蛋白质降解技术可有效克服DNA敲除、RNA干扰等传统药物靶点确认及干扰策略的局限性。近年来,一系列新型靶向蛋白质降解技术不断涌现,在药物研发领域展现出极好的应用前景。本文综述了靶向蛋白质降解技术的最新研究进展,重点介绍各种技术的作用机制、应用情况、技术优势及目前存在问题,以期为药物靶点确认及新药开发提供有力理论及技术支持。     

Developmental staging table of the green iguana

Embryonic staging tables provide information to standardize embryological investigations and to subsidize discussions about evolution. We have established a developmental staging table for Iguana iguana iguana. The sample was composed of 142 embryos, incubated at a constant temperature and collected at regular intervals. Morphological features as pharyngeal arches, craniofacial structures, eyes, limbs, claws, pigmentation, scales and egg tooth were evaluated to determine development stages. The normal staging table includes 17 stages from oviposition to hatching, based on chronology and morphological external features. Stages from 1 to 27 occur before oviposition. Stage 28 was the first described, because all embryos presented limb bud anlage, key feature of the previous stage. We used pharyngeal arches and limb buds to describe the first stages; claws, genital papilla and scales to describe the middle stages; and pigmentation, size and egg tooth to describe the last stages. Incubation lasted approximately 2 months in a controlled environment. The results were similar to the data from other lizards, confirming the embryonic conservative pattern of the group.     

Ontogenetic change in the amount and position of slow-oxidative myotomal muscle in relationship to regional endothermy in juvenile yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares

Myotomal slow-oxidative muscle (SM) powers continuous swimming and generates heat needed to maintain elevated locomotor muscle temperatures (regional endothermy) in tunas. This study describes how the amount and distribution of myotomal SM increases with fish size and age in juvenile yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares in relationship to the development of regional endothermy. In T. albacares juveniles 40–74 mm fork length (L_F; n = 23) raised from fertilised eggs at the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Achotines Laboratory in Panama and larger juveniles (118–344 mm L_F; n = 5) collected by hook and line off of Oahu, Hawaii, USA, SM was identified by histochemical staining for the mitochondrial enzyme succinic dehydrogenase or by colour (in the two largest individuals). The cross-sectional area of myotomal SM at 60% L_F, a position with maximal percentage of SM in larger T. albacares, increased exponentially with L_F. The percentage of total cross-sectional area composed of SM at 60% L_F increased significantly with both L_F and age, suggesting that SM growth occurs throughout the size range of T. albacares juveniles studied. In addition, the percentage of SM at 60% L_F that is medial increased asymptotically with L_F. The increases in amount of SM and medial SM, along with the development of the counter-current heat-exchanger blood vessels that retain heat, allow larger tuna juveniles to maintain elevated and relatively stable SM temperatures, facilitating range expansion into cooler waters.     

Atlantic salmon Salmo salar passing a natural barrier before and after construction of a hydroelectric station

A hydro power plant constructed around a waterfall on a coastal spate river, used the fall as a natural fish pass and applied a previous telemetry study on local Atlantic salmon Salmo salar to determine the abstraction conditions for the site. The current study used the same telemetry approach to monitor the efficacy of S. salar passage and to compare migratory behaviour at the waterfall pre and post the hydro development. The probability of S. salar successfully crossing the waterfall was higher post-hydro when 80% of tagged fish successfully crossed in comparison to the pristine pre-hydro period when 44% of tagged fish ascended. The flow range used by tagged S. salar to cross the waterfall ranged from 2.49−7.87 m³ s⁻¹ in the pre-hydro period but broadened to 1.32−12.91 m³ s⁻¹ during the post-hydro period. This was principally due to the hydro diverting water away from the waterfall during spate conditions, damping the flow across the barrier and facilitating upstream migration within a more suitable discharge range. During 2017–2018 implementation of the hydro-operation protocol elongated the duration of the migratory window for successful upstream migration by 36–128%. A strong diurnal pattern was observed for movements across the Salmon Leap waterfall during both the pre-hydro and post-hydro monitoring periods with most tagged S. salar crossing the complex obstacle in daylight.     

Legume nodulation: The host controls the party

Global demand to increase food production and simultaneously reduce synthetic nitrogen fertilizer inputs in agriculture are underpinning the need to intensify the use of legume crops. The symbiotic relationship that legume plants establish with nitrogen‐fixing rhizobia bacteria is central to their advantage. This plant–microbe interaction results in newly developed root organs, called nodules, where the rhizobia convert atmospheric nitrogen gas into forms of nitrogen the plant can use. However, the process of developing and maintaining nodules is resource intensive; hence, the plant tightly controls the number of nodules forming. A variety of molecular mechanisms are used to regulate nodule numbers under both favourable and stressful growing conditions, enabling the plant to conserve resources and optimize development in response to a range of circumstances. Using genetic and genomic approaches, many components acting in the regulation of nodulation have now been identified. Discovering and functionally characterizing these components can provide genetic targets and polymorphic markers that aid in the selection of superior legume cultivars and rhizobia strains that benefit agricultural sustainability and food security. This review addresses recent findings in nodulation control, presents detailed models of the molecular mechanisms driving these processes, and identifies gaps in these processes that are not yet fully explained.