新疆食管癌中Myc、TP53表达及其与临床病理因素相关性研究

目的:检测Myc和TP53在食管癌组织和远端无癌组织的表达情况,并分析其与临床病理因素之间的关系,初步探讨Myc和TP53在新疆食管癌发生发展中可能存在的特点。方法:经Trizol一步法提取88例新疆地区食管癌组织及其远端无癌组织标本总RNA,m RNA逆转录为c DNA,经聚合酶链式反应生成产物,运用光密度值即半定量RT-PCR技术检测88例新疆地区食管癌组织、远端无癌组织中Myc和TP53的m RNA表达情况及二者阳性表达率,并分析Myc和TP53的表达与临床病理因素之间的相关性。结果:1 Myc的m RNA相对表达量在食管癌组织中高于远端无癌组织,差异有显著性(P0.01);TP53的m RNA相对表达量在远端无癌组织中高于癌组织(P0.05);2 Myc的阳性表达率在88例食管癌组织中高于远端无癌组织(P0.05);TP53的阳性表达率在远端无癌组织中高于癌组织(P0.05);3Myc的表达与分化程度(P0.01)、TNM分期(P0.01)、淋巴结转移(P0.05)、侵犯深度(P0.05)和族别(P0.05)有关,与性别无关;TP53的表达与侵犯程度(P0.01)有关,与性别、分化程度、TNM分期、淋巴结转移和族别均无关;4 88例食管癌组织中,Myc和TP53的表达呈现负相关(r=-0.501,P0.0 1)。结论:Myc在新疆地区食管癌组织中表达上调,TP53则表达减弱。说明Myc参与食管癌的发生和发展,而TP53则可能保护正常组织不发生癌变。     

Influence of soil texture and crop management on the productivity of miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus Greef et Deu.) in the Mediterranean

Biomass productivity is the main favorable trait of candidate bioenergy crops. Miscanthus × giganteus is a promising species, due to its high‐yield potential and positive traits including low nutrient requirements and potential for C sequestration in soils. However, miscanthus productivity appears to be mostly related to water availability in the soil. This is important, particularly in Mediterranean regions where the risk of summer droughts is high. To date, there have been no studies on miscanthus responses under different soil conditions, while only a few have investigated the role of different crop managements, such as irrigation and nitrogen fertilization, in the Mediterranean. Therefore, the effects of contrasting soil textures (i.e. silty‐clay‐loam vs. sandy‐loam) and alternative agricultural intensification regimes (i.e. rainfed vs. irrigated and 0, 50, 100 kg ha^?1 nitrogen fertilization), on miscanthus productivity were evaluated at three different harvest times for two consecutive years. Our results confirmed the importance of water availability in determining satisfactory yields in Mediterranean environments, and how soil and site characteristics strongly affect biomass production. We found that the aboveground dry yields varied between 5 Mg ha^?1 up to 29 Mg ha^?1. Conversely, nitrogen fertilization played only a minor role on crop productivity, and high fertilization levels were relatively inefficient. Finally, a marked decrease, of up to ?40%, in the aboveground yield occurred when the harvest time was delayed from autumn to winter. Overall, our results highlighted the importance of determining crop responses on a site‐by‐site basis, and that decisions on the optimal harvest time should be driven by the biomass end use and other long‐term considerations, such as yield stability and the maintenance of soil fertility.     

Comparison of dwarf bamboos (Indocalamus sp.) leaf parameters to determine relationship between spatial density of plants and total leaf area per plant

The relationship between spatial density and size of plants is an important topic in plant ecology. The self‐thinning rule suggests a ?3/2 power between average biomass and density or a ?1/2 power between stand yield and density. However, the self‐thinning rule based on total leaf area per plant and density of plants has been neglected presumably because of the lack of a method that can accurately estimate the total leaf area per plant. We aimed to find the relationship between spatial density of plants and total leaf area per plant. We also attempted to provide a novel model for accurately describing the leaf shape of bamboos. We proposed a simplified Gielis equation with only two parameters to describe the leaf shape of bamboos one model parameter represented the overall ratio of leaf width to leaf length. Using this method, we compared some leaf parameters (leaf shape, number of leaves per plant, ratio of total leaf weight to aboveground weight per plant, and total leaf area per plant) of four bamboo species of genus Indocalamus Nakai (I. pedalis (Keng) P.C. Keng, I. pumilus Q.H. Dai and C.F. Keng, I. barbatus McClure, and I. victorialis P.C. Keng). We also explored the possible correlation between spatial density and total leaf area per plant using log‐linear regression. We found that the simplified Gielis equation fit the leaf shape of four bamboo species very well. Although all these four species belonged to the same genus, there were still significant differences in leaf shape. Significant differences also existed in leaf area per plant, ratio of leaf weight to aboveground weight per plant, and leaf length. In addition, we found that the total leaf area per plant decreased with increased spatial density. Therefore, we directly demonstrated the self‐thinning rule to improve light interception.     

Responses of the functional traits in Cleistogenes squarrosa to nitrogen addition and drought

植物功能性状被广泛地用于研究植物对环境变化的响应。糙隐子草(Cleistogenes squarrosa)是内蒙古草原重要的C4物种,其功能性状是如何对水氮环境的变化做出响应的,还不十分清楚。该文采用盆栽实验的方法,进行氮添加(0,10.5,35.0和56.0 g·m–2·a–1)和降水(自然降水和70%平均月降水量)处理,研究糙隐子草整株性状、叶形态性状和叶生理性状对氮添加和干旱的响应。结果表明,氮添加显著影响了糙隐子草的整株性状,氮、水处理及它们的交互作用显著影响了糙隐子草的叶形态性状和叶生理性状。各功能性状对氮添加的响应格局在自然降水和干旱处理下是不同的。根深、茎生物量和茎叶比在干旱条件下低和中氮添加处理中较高,而在自然降水下无明显变化;比叶面积在干旱条件下随氮添加量的增加而增加,而在自然降水下无增加趋势;自然降水下,高氮添加显著刺激了光合速率和蒸腾速率,增加了水分利用效率,而在干旱条件下氮添加对它们没有显著影响;叶片单位面积的氮含量在自然降水下随氮添加量的增加有增加趋势,而在干旱条件下显著降低。在自然降水下,氮添加主要影响糙隐子草的叶形态和生理性状,而在干旱条件下,氮添加主要影响糙隐子草的整株性状和形态性状。总之,糙隐子草的功能性状对氮添加表现出明显的响应,响应格局在不同的水分条件下不同,反映了其对氮水环境变化的弹性适应。     

Incidence of Alternaria Species Associated with Watermelon Leaf Blight in Korea

Alternaria leaf blight is one of the most common diseases in watermelon worldwide. In Korea, however, the Alternaria species causing the watermelon leaf blight have not been investigated thoroughly. A total of 16 Alternaria isolates was recovered from diseased watermelon leaves with leaf blight symptoms, which were collected from 14 fields in Korea. Analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) were not competent to differentiate the Alternaria isolates. On the contrary, analysis of amplicon size of the histone H3 (HIS3) gene successfully differentiated the isolates into three Alternaria subgroups, and further sequence analysis of them identified three Alternaria spp. Alternaria tenuissima, A. gaisen, and A. alternata. Representative Alternaria isolates from three species induced dark brown leaf spot lesions on detached watermelon leaves, indicating that A. tenuissima, A. gaisen, and A. alternata are all causal agents of Alternaria leaf blight. Our results indicate that the Alternaria species associated watermelon leaf blight in Korea is more complex than reported previously. This is the first report regarding the population structure of Alternaria species causing watermelon leaf blight in Korea.     

Characterising seedling and adult plant resistance to Puccinia hordei in Hordeum vulgare

A set of 113 genotypes of barley (Hordeum vulgare subsp. vulgare), along with the susceptible control genotype Gus, was tested for response to the barley leaf rust pathogen Puccinia hordei in the greenhouse (as seedlings) and field (as adult plants). The tests revealed that 68 lines carried adult plant resistance (APR), 23 lines carried uncharacterised seedling resistance (USR) and that three lines carried the seedling resistance gene Rph3. Nineteen lines lacked detectable seedling resistance and were also susceptible in the field at adult plant growth stages. The presence of marker bPb‐0837, linked to the APR gene Rph20, in 35 of the 68 lines carrying APR, suggested they carry this gene. The remaining 33 lines, which lacked the Rph20 linked marker, are likely sources of new uncharacterised APR. Pedigree analysis of the 68 lines found to carry APR revealed that 32 were related to cv. Gull and to Hordeum laevigatum; two were related to cv. Bavaria and one related to cvv. Manchuria and Taganrog, suggesting that these genotypes may be the ancestral sources of the APR carried by each.     

UNIFICATION OF METHODS FOR ESTIMATING THE STRENGTH OF REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION

Understanding the evolution of reproductive isolation is tantamount to describing the origin of species. Therefore, a primary goal in evolutionary biology is to identify which reproductive barriers are most important to the process. To achieve this goal, the strength of multiple forms of isolation must be compared in an equivalent manner. However, a diversity of methods has been used to estimate barrier strength, falling into several mathematically distinct categories. This study provides a unified method for calculating isolation that relates the amount of gene flow experienced by taxa to random expectations in a simple linear framework. This approach has three distinct advantages over previous methods: (1) it is directly related to gene flow, (2) it is symmetrical, such that measures in both the positive and negative range are comparable, and (3) it is equivalent between broad categories of reproductive isolation, allowing for appropriate comparisons. This linear formulation can be adjusted for use in all forms of isolation, and can accommodate cases in which null expectations for con‐ and heterospecific gene flow differ. Additionally, this framework can be used to calculate total reproductive isolation and the relative contributions of individual barriers.     

INFERRING THE PAST AND PRESENT CONNECTIVITY ACROSS THE RANGE OF A NORTH AMERICAN LEAF BEETLE: COMBINING ECOLOGICAL NICHE MODELING AND A GEOGRAPHICALLY EXPLICIT MODEL OF COALESCENCE

The leaf beetle Chrysomela aeneicollis occurs across Western North America, either at high elevation or in small, isolated populations along the coast, and thus has a highly fragmented distribution. DNA sequence data (three loci) were collected from five regions across the species range. Population connectivity was examined using traditional ecological niche modeling, which suggested that gene flow could occur among regions now and in the past. We developed geographically explicit coalescence models of sequence evolution that incorporated a two‐dimensional representation of the hypothesized ranges suggested by the niche‐modeling estimates. We simulated sequence data according to these models and compared them to observed sequences to identify most probable scenarios regarding the migration history of C. aeneicollis. Our results disagreed with initial niche‐modeling estimates by clearly rejecting recent connectivity among regions, and were instead most consistent with a long period of range fragmentation, extending well beyond the last glacial maximum. This application of geographically explicit models of coalescence has highlighted some limitations of the use of climatic variables for predicting the present and past range of a species and has explained aspects of the Pleistocene evolutionary history of a cold‐adapted organism in Western North America.     

Atypical surface behavior of ceramides with nonhydroxy and 2-hydroxy very long-chain (C28–C32) PUFAs

Unique species of ceramide (Cer) with very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (VLCPUFA), mainly 28–32 carbon atoms, 4–5 double bonds, in nonhydroxy and 2-hydroxy forms (n-V Cer and h-V Cer, respectively), are generated in rat spermatozoa from the corresponding sphingomyelins during the acrosomal reaction. The aim of this study was to determine the properties of these sperm-distinctive ceramides in Langmuir monolayers. Individual Cer species were isolated by HPLC and subjected to analysis of surface pressure, surface potential, and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) as a function of molecular packing. In comparison with known species of Cer, n-V Cer and h-V Cer species showed much larger mean molecular areas and increased molecular dipole moments in liquid expanded phases, which suggest bending and partial hydration of the double bonded portion of the VLCPUFA. The presence of the 2-hydoxyl group induced a closer molecular packing in h-V Cer than in their chain-matched n-V Cer. In addition, all these Cer species showed liquid-expanded to liquid-condensed transitions at room temperature. Existence of domain segregation was confirmed by BAM. Additionally, thermodynamic analysis suggests a phase transition close to the physiological temperature for VLCPUFA-Cers if organized as bulk dispersions.