Magnetoreception in microorganisms and fungi

The ability to respond to magnetic fields is ubiquitous among the five kingdoms of organisms. Apart from the mechanisms that are at work in bacterial magnetotaxis, none of the innumerable magnetobiological effects are as yet completely understood in terms of their underlying physical principles. Physical theories on magnetoreception, which draw on classical electrodynamics as well as on quantum electrodynamics, have greatly advanced during the past twenty years, and provide a basis for biological experimentation. This review places major emphasis on theories, and magnetobiological effects that occur in response to weak and moderate magnetic fields, and that are not related to magnetotaxis and magnetosomes. While knowledge relating to bacterial magnetotaxis has advanced considerably during the past 27 years, the biology of other magnetic effects has remained largely on a phenomenological level, a fact that is partly due to a lack of model organisms and model responses; and in great part also to the circumstance that the biological community at large takes little notice of the field, and in particular of the available physical theories. We review the known magnetobiological effects for bacteria, protists and fungi, and try to show how the variegated empirical material could be approached in the framework of the available physical models.     

Vision, touch and object manipulation in Senegal parrots Poicephalus senegalus

Parrots are exceptional among birds for their high levels of exploratory behaviour and manipulatory abilities. It has been argued that foraging method is the prime determinant of a bird's visual field configuration. However, here we argue that the topography of visual fields in parrots is related to their playful dexterity, unique anatomy and particularly the tactile information that is gained through their bill tip organ during object manipulation. We measured the visual fields of Senegal parrots Poicephalus senegalus using the ophthalmoscopic reflex technique and also report some preliminary observations on the bill tip organ in this species. We found that the visual fields of Senegal parrots are unlike those described hitherto in any other bird species, with both a relatively broad frontal binocular field and a near comprehensive field of view around the head. The behavioural implications are discussed and we consider how extractive foraging and object exploration, mediated in part by tactile cues from the bill, has led to the absence of visual coverage of the region below the bill in favour of more comprehensive visual coverage above the head.     

Activation of the JNK pathway by nanosecond pulsed electric fields

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) are increasingly recognized as a novel and unique tool in various life science fields, including electroporation and cancer therapy, although their mode of action in cells remains largely unclear. Here, we show that nsPEFs induce strong and transient activation of a signaling pathway involving c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Application of nsPEFs to HeLa S3 cells rapidly induced phosphorylation of JNK1 and MKK4, which is located immediately upstream of JNK in this signaling pathway. nsPEF application also elicited increased phosphorylation of c-Jun protein and dramatically elevated c-jun and c-fos mRNA levels. nsPEF-inducible events downstream of JNK were markedly suppressed by the JNK inhibitor SP600125, which confirmed JNK-dependency of these events in this pathway. Our results provide novel mechanistic insights into the mode of nsPEF action in human cells.     

覆盖对西北旱地春小麦旗叶光合特性和水分利用的调控

2015—2016年在西北黄土高原半干旱区进行大田定位试验,以‘陇春35号’为试验材料,设全膜覆土穴播(PMS)、全砂覆盖穴播(SM)和露地穴播(CK)3个处理,分析旗叶光合特性、春小麦耗水特性和产量构成因子之间的关系.结果表明: PMS和SM 在0～300 cm土层的土壤贮水量在灌浆前分别较CK提高47.8和31.6 mm,灌浆期均较CK降低15.6 mm.PMS和SM提高春小麦挑旗-抽穗期和扬花-灌浆期的土壤耗水.PMS和SM的叶面积指数分别较CK提高59.0%～73.7%和40.1%～52.7%,叶片SPAD值分别较CK提高3.5%～28.4%和2.9%～23.9%.PMS的光合速率和气孔导度在春小麦挑旗、抽穗、扬花期分别较CK提高23.5%、33.0%、17.7%和32.6%、76.4%、66.9%,灌浆期分别较CK降低26.2%和16.4%;PMS和SM的气孔限制值在抽穗、扬花、灌浆期分别较CK降低14.6%、23.9%、22.3%和25.7%、29.8%、17.4%.叶片瞬时水分利用效率PMS在挑旗期较CK提高57.8%,扬花期降低11.2%.PMS的表观量子效率在抽穗、扬花期分别较SM和CK增加22.6%、18.7%和26.8%、14.3%.PMS和SM春小麦的株高和产量构成因子均显著高于CK,且在干旱年份增幅较大;PMS的产量较CK和SM分别提高36.2%和8.7%,水分利用效率分别提高9.4%和3.4%.因此,PMS和SM提高了小麦灌浆前土壤贮水,加剧了挑旗到抽穗和扬花到灌浆期的耗水,提高了小麦叶片SPAD值和叶面积指数,增强了小麦灌浆前旗叶光合功能,促进 “库”的建成和同化物的转运,实现增产和水分高效利用.PMS在丰水年份的增产潜力和干旱年份的适应能力比SM更强.     

生态环境移动数据采集系统研究与实现

针对快速、实时、有效采集并录入生态环境野外调查大样本量、多源数据的需求,充分应用移动GIS技术、移动智能终端、3G等现代信息技术优势,提出了基于ArcGIS for Mobile的移动数据采集方案,研究解决了包括系统运行机制、数据访问模式、移动数据库技术等面向全国生态环境野外调查的移动GIS关键技术,设计并研发野外调查移动数据采集系统。该系统采用C#和Java语言,以SQL Server 2008 为服务器端的数据库环境,在Microsoft Visual Studio 2008集成开发环境上实现设计开发,并在全国生态环境10年变化遥感调查与评估项目土地覆盖类型地面核查、生态系统参数野外观测等工作中予以应用。实践检验表明：该系统实现了野外调查数据的数字采集、智能校验、实时上传与有效管理,简化了填报程序,规范了填报内容,提高了工作效率,能够为生态环境相关的调查数据采集提供信息化支持。     

Polydactyly in the Strong's luxoid mouse is suppressed by limb deformity alleles

The study of limb development has provided insight into pattern formation during vertebrate embryogenesis. Genetic approaches offer powerful ways to identify the critical molecules and their pathways of action required to execute a complex morphogenetic program. We have applied genetic analysis to the process of limb development by studying two mouse mutants, limb deformity (Id) and Strong's luxoid (Ist). These mutations confer contrasting phenotypic alterations to the anteroposterior limb pattern. The six mutant Id alleles are fully recessive and result in oligosyndactyly of all four limbs. By contrast, the two mutant Ist alleles result in a mirror-image polydactylous limb phenotype inherited in a semidominant fashion. Morphological and molecular analysis of embryonic limbs has shown that the Id and Ist alleles affect the extent and distribution of two key signaling centers differentially: the apical ectodermal ridge and the zone of polarizing activity. Molecular characterization of the Id gene has defined a new family of evolutionarily conserved proteins termed the formins. The underlying molecular defect in the Ist mutation has not been identified; however, both loci are tightly linked on mouse chromosome 2, suggesting the possibility that they may be allelic. In this study, we have used genetic analysis to examine the epistatic and allelic relationships of Id and Ist. We observed that in + Id/Ist + double heterozygotes, a single mutant Id allele is able to suppress the semi-dominant polydactylous Ist limb phenotype. By segregating the Ist and Id loci in a backcross, we observed that these loci recombine and are separated by a genetic distance of approximately 6 cM. Therefore, while our observations demonstrate a genetic interaction between Id and Ist, it is probable that Id and Ist are not allelic. Instead, Ist and Id may be operating either in a linear or in a parallel (bypass) genetic pathway to affect the limb signaling centers. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Involvement of NMDA receptor in low-frequency magnetic field-induced anxiety in mice

It had been reported that exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELFMF) induces anxiety in human and rodents. Anxiety mediates via the activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, whereas activation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor attenuates the same. Hence, the present study was carried out to understand the contribution of NMDA and/or GABA receptors modulation in ELFMF-induced anxiety for which Swiss albino mice were exposed to ELFMF (50?Hz, 10?G) by subjecting them to Helmholtz coils. The exposure was for 8?h/day for 7, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days. Anxiety level was assessed in elevated plus maze, open field test and social interaction test, on 7th, 30th, 60th, 90th and 120th exposure day, respectively. Moreover, the role of GABA and glutamate in ELFMF-induced anxiety was assessed by treating mice with muscimol [0.25?mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.)], bicuculline (1.0?mg/kg i.p.), NMDA (15?mg/kg i.p.) and MK-801 (0.03?mg/kg i.p.), as a GABA_A and NMDA receptor agonist and antagonist, respectively. Glutamate receptor agonist exacerbated while inhibitor attenuated the ELFMF-induced anxiety. In addition, levels of GABA and glutamate were determined in regions of the brain viz, cortex, striatum, hippocampus and hypothalamus. Experiments demonstrated significant elevation of GABA and glutamate levels in the hippocampus and hypothalamus. However, GABA receptor modulators did not produce significant effect on ELFMF-induced anxiety and elevated levels of GABA at tested dose. Together, these findings suggest that ELFMF significantly induced anxiety behavior, and indicated the involvement of NMDA receptor in its effect.     

Population dynamics of Meloidogyne incognita on black pepper plants in two agro-ecological regions in Vietnam

The objective of our study was to examine the effect of local environmental conditions, especially air temperature and rainfall, in two agro-ecological regions in Vietnam on the population dynamics of Meloidogyne incognita on black pepper plants and on percentage root galling. The two study sites were situated in Cam Lo, Quang Tri province (North Central Coast) and Buon Ma Thuot, Dac Lac province (Central Highlands). At the study sites, 13 plant-parasitic nematode taxa belonging to 12 genera were identified. Ten of these taxa were present in both study sites. Helicotylenchus certus, Hemicriconemoides cocophilus and Pratylenchus coffeae were only found in Buon Ma Thuot. Based on nematode population densities, M. incognita was the most abundant taxon present. Rainfall and air temperature differed significantly between the two study sites. The most important climatic difference was rainfall: in Buon Ma Thuot, the rainy season lasted 2 months longer and the monthly rainfall during the rainy season was much higher compared to Cam Lo. Although this difference resulted in some differences in the population dynamics of M. incognita in the soil and roots of the black pepper variety Vinh Linh, the highest root population densities were observed in both study sites during the first half of the dry season. In Cam Lo, the highest percentage root galling was observed during the first half of the dry season. In Buon Ma Thuot, the highest percentage root galling was observed towards the end of the rainy season. Estimating the population densities if M. incognita to decide on the application of a management strategy should be done during the first half of the dry season.     

Analysis of DNA fragmentation in mouse embryos exposed to an extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field

Effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) on DNA damage in biological systems are still a matter of dispute. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible effect of electromagnetic field exposure on DNA fragmentation in cells (blastomers) of mouse blastocysts.

Eighty female NMRI mice were randomly divided into 2 groups of 40 animals each. The control group was left unexposed whereas the animals in the EMF-group were exposed to a 50-Hz EMF at 0.5 mT 4 h per day, 6 days a week for a duration of 2 weeks. After the 8^th day of exposure, the female mice in both groups were superovulated (with injections of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin and human chorionic gonadotropin) and then mated overnight. At approximately 4 days after mating (102 h after the human chorionic gonadotropin treatment), blastocysts were obtained by flushing the uterus horns. The mean numbers of pregnant mice, blastocysts after flushing, blastomers within the blastocysts, and the DNA fragmentation index following staining in both groups were compared using statistical methods (SPSS, the Chi-square test, the Student's t-test and the Mann-Whitney U-test, P < 0.05). The results showed that the mean number of blastocysts after flushing was significantly decreased in the EMF-group compared to that of the control group (P < 0.03). The DNA fragmentation index was significantly increased in the EMF-group compared to control (10.53% vs. 7.14%; P < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the mean numbers of blastomers and numbers of pregnant mice between the EMF-exposed and control group. Our findings indicate that the EMF exposure in preimplantation stage could have detrimental effects on female mouse fertility and embryo development by decreasing the number of blastocysts and increasing the blastocysts DNA fragmentation.