Greater soil microbial biomass loss at low frequency of N addition in an Inner Mongolia grassland

低频率的氮添加使内蒙古草原土壤微生物生物量碳出现更大幅度下降 土壤微生物生物量在生物地球化学循环过程中至关重要,是土壤碳固持的前体物质。人为氮输入深刻地改变了草地土壤微生物生物量。然而,传统氮沉降模拟实验仅通过低频率的氮添加进行,与持续高频率的自然氮沉降相比,对土壤微生物生物量的影响可能存在差异。不同频率的氮添加对土壤微生物生物量的影响尚缺乏可靠的数据支撑。本研究通过在不同的氮添加速率(0–50 g N m−2 yr−1)下,控制氮添加频率(每年2次和12次),研究了土壤微生物生物量碳对不同氮添加频率的响应。研究结果表明,在两种氮添加频率下,随着施氮水平的提高,土壤微生物生物量碳逐渐降低。然而,在低施氮频率下,土壤微生物生物量的下降幅度更大,这说明传统的氮添加实验可能高估了氮沉降对土壤微生物生物量的影响。在低施氮频率下,土壤酸化、无机氮积累、碳氮失衡、地下净初级生产力分配减少和真菌细菌比例降低等情况加剧,导致微生物生物量出现较大幅度下降。在未来研究中,为可靠预测氮沉降对草地生态系统土壤微生物功能和碳循环的影响,不仅要考虑氮添加的剂量,还需要考虑氮添加的频率。     

A green and effective method for the determination of metalaxyl enantiomers in tobacco and soil by supercritical fluid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

We reported a new methodology for the stereoselective determination of metalaxyl enantiomers in tobacco and soil. The QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) method was used for the extraction and clean-up of the tobacco and soil samples. Separation of the metalaxyl enantiomers was performed on an ACQUITY UPC2 Trefoil CEL1 chiral column coupled with supercritical fluid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (SFC-MS/MS), and the run time was only 5 minutes. Under the optimized conditions, the recoveries for the enantiomers were between 78.2% and 93.3% with intraday relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranging from 1.1% to 5.4%. The limit of detection (LOD) for the enantiomers in tobacco and soil varied from 0.005 to 0.007 mg/kg, and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) ranged from 0.017 to 0.020 mg/kg. In this method, only a small amount of methanol was consumed to obtain a rapid stereoselective separation. This proposed method showed good accuracy and precision and might be suitable for fast enantioselective determination of metalaxyl in food and environmental samples. The developed method was further validated by application to the analysis of authentic samples.     

Process of Making Three-dimensional Microstructures using Vaporization of a Sacrificial Component

Vascular structures in natural systems are able to provide high mass transport through high surface areas and optimized structure. Few synthetic material fabrication techniques are able to mimic the complexity of these structures while maintaining scalability. The Vaporization of a Sacrificial Component (VaSC) process is able to do so. This process uses sacrificial fibers as a template to form hollow, cylindrical microchannels embedded within a matrix. Tin (II) oxalate (SnOx) is embedded within poly(lactic) acid (PLA) fibers which facilitates the use of this process. The SnOx catalyzes the depolymerization of the PLA fibers at lower temperatures. The lactic acid monomers are gaseous at these temperatures and can be removed from the embedded matrix at temperatures that do not damage the matrix. Here we show a method for aligning these fibers using micromachined plates and a tensioning device to create complex patterns of three-dimensionally arrayed microchannels. The process allows the exploration of virtually any arrangement of fiber topologies and structures.     

Quantitative Metaproteomics and Activity-based Protein Profiling of Patient Fecal Microbiome Identifies Host and Microbial Serine-type Endopeptidase Activity Associated With Ulcerative Colitis

The gut microbiota plays an important yet incompletely understood role in the induction and propagation of ulcerative colitis (UC). Organism-level efforts to identify UC-associated microbes have revealed the importance of community structure, but less is known about the molecular effectors of disease. We performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing in parallel with label-free data-dependent LC-MS/MS proteomics to characterize the stool microbiomes of healthy (n = 8) and UC (n = 10) patients. Comparisons of taxonomic composition between techniques revealed major differences in community structure partially attributable to the additional detection of host, fungal, viral, and food peptides by metaproteomics. Differential expression analysis of metaproteomic data identified 176 significantly enriched protein groups between healthy and UC patients. Gene ontology analysis revealed several enriched functions with serine-type endopeptidase activity overrepresented in UC patients. Using a biotinylated fluorophosphonate probe and streptavidin-based enrichment, we show that serine endopeptidases are active in patient fecal samples and that additional putative serine hydrolases are detectable by this approach compared with unenriched profiling. Finally, as metaproteomic databases expand, they are expected to asymptotically approach completeness. Using ComPIL and de novo peptide sequencing, we estimate the size of the probable peptide space unidentified (“dark peptidome”) by our large database approach to establish a rough benchmark for database sufficiency. Despite high variability inherent in patient samples, our analysis yielded a catalog of differentially enriched proteins between healthy and UC fecal proteomes. This catalog provides a clinically relevant jumping-off point for further molecular-level studies aimed at identifying the microbial underpinnings of UC.     

基质辅助激光解析电离飞行时间质谱在医学真菌领域的应用进展

基质辅助激光解析电离飞行时间质谱（matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry,MALDI-TOF MS）是近年来新兴的微生物检测技术,通过核糖体蛋白分析实现对真菌快速、准确鉴定。本文针对MALDI-TOF MS用于致病真菌鉴定、分类、体外抗真菌药物敏感性检测以及临床微生物样本直接检测等方面作一综述。     

The Association of Phytoplasma with Stunting, Leaf Necrosis and Witches' Broom Symptoms in Magnolia Plants

In 1999–2000 a severe disease was observed on plants of four Magnolia spp. cultivated in a commercial nursery in Poland. Affected plants showed a progressive loss of vigour, were stunted, and had severely malformed leaves, leaf necrosis and witches' broom. Phytoplasma was detected in magnolias with severe symptoms and in dodder-inoculated Catharanthus roseus seedlings by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with primer pair R16F1/R0 followed by universal (rA/fA) and group specific (R16(I)F1/R1) primer pairs which amplified a fragment of phytoplasma 16S rDNA. The PCR products (560 bp or 1.1 kb) of all samples used for restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis after digestion with endonuclease enzymes Alu I and Mse I produced the same profile which corresponded to that of an aster yellows phytoplasma reference strain. Phytoplasma DNA was detected throughout the growing season in roots, stems and young but not mature leaves. Electron microscope examination of the ultra-thin sections of the leaf and stem of diseased magnolias showed collapsed and degenerated sieve tube elements with wall thickening. The reduced lumen of these sieve elements contained numerous vesicles and membrane-bound structures, but no typical phytoplasma cells. This is the first report of aster yellows phytoplasma in magnolia identified by molecular assays.     

Baseline serum levels of cardiac biomarkers in patients with stable coronary artery disease

Stable coronary artery disease (CAD) can cause repetitive reversible myocardial ischaemia, and it seems to be possible that reversibly injured myocardium releases small amounts of soluble cytoplasmic proteins. Hence, the aim was to evaluate the effect of stable CAD on baseline serum levels of cardiac biomarkers. We studied 68 consecutive outpatients referred for gated myocardial perfusion imaging. Before a treadmill exercise test, blood samples for measurement of creatine kinase (CK), CK-myocardial band (CK-MB) mass, myoglobin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were collected. Normal perfusion patterns were detected in 29 (43%) patients (group 1) and perfusion defects were detected in 39 (57%) patients (group 2). Baseline serum levels of biomarkers except CK were significantly higher in group 2 (p=0.001). Stable CAD increases baseline levels of CK-MB mass, myoglobin, AST and LDH in the serum and this increase is related to the extent and severity of the perfusion defect and to some extent the ejection fraction of the left ventricle.     

Frequent overexpression of CADM1/IGSF4 in lung adenocarcinoma

We reported comprehensive screening for antigens (Ags) overexpressed on various carcinomas via isolation of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that may be therapeutic in a previous paper (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 7287-7292, 2008). Twenty-one distinct Ags highly expressed on several carcinomas were identified and 356 mAbs with unique sequences turned out to bind to one of the 21 Ags. Among them CADM1/IGSF4 which had been originally referred to as tumor suppressor lung cancer 1 (TSLC1) was included. Therefore we examined the expression of CADM1 in lung cancers in this study. Eight different anti CADM1 mAbs were used for immunohistochemical analysis of 29 fresh lung cancer specimens. Staining patterns were categorized to six groups based on the extent of positive staining and the localization of stained portions. While overexpression of CADM1 was observed on the cell surface of adenocarcinomas at a high frequency, around 60%, positive stainings were rarely observed on that of other lung carcinomas including squamous cell carcinomas. Moreover, some clones among the eight mAbs gave different staining patterns from those by the other clones against the same fresh specimen, suggesting presence of variant forms of CADM1 differentiated by mAbs.     

三台核桃结实特性研究

选择标准株 70株 ,其中有草果核桃 ( cv.Zaogu)、大油笼核桃 ( cv.Dayoulong)、早熟核桃 ( cv.Zaoshu)、小油笼核桃 ( cv. Xiaoyoulong)、荚绵核桃 ( cv. Jiamian) 5个品种。据对不同品种、海拔、年龄的结实特性研究 ,结果表明 :草果核桃是优良的栽培品种 ,早熟核桃结实性状表现最差 ,果枝粗是影响座果率最重要的因素。