A trait-based approach predicting community assembly and dominance of microbial invasive species

Understanding the mechanisms underlying community assembly helps to define success and susceptibility to biological invasions. Here, we explored phytoplankton community assembly following niche and neutral paradigms and using a trait-based approach. Under the hypothesis that the morphology-based functional groups (MBFG) clusters species with similar niche, we analysed how trait-related differences in fitness influence dominance of an invasive species. This was based on literature review, field data and model simulations. We predict that invading species can be dominant if: 1) do not belong to the local MBFG but use unexploited areas of the niche, or 2) belong to the resident MBFG but exhibit a higher fitness due to a particular combination of traits. The invasive dinoflagellate Ceratium furcoides was used as the model species to evaluate these hypotheses, its morphological (e.g. volume) and physiological (e.g. growth rates) traits were compared with species from the same (V: photosynthetic flagellates) and different (VII: colonial cyanobacteria) MBFG. Fitness was estimated using models parametrized with MBFG rates (R*, ability to draw down phosphate) under different environmental conditions (i.e. flushing). Results contributed to support both hypotheses. First, the alternation of C. furcoides and cyanobacteria dominance was explained by the use of different niches. Secondly, species from MBFG V were dominant under similar environments. Within this group V C. furcoides showed higher fitness under low flushing and high predation, advantage provided by a distinctive combination of traits. The application of trait-based approaches to represent the niche and estimate fitness along environmental gradients was useful to evaluate community assembly and can be used to predict the dominance of microbial species invasions.     

镉胁迫对吊兰及银边吊兰生长及镉富集特性的影响

选择吊兰和银边吊兰为试验材料,采用水培法研究其在不同Cd²⁺处理浓度(0、20、80、200 μmol·L^-1)下生长及生理特性的变化。结果表明: 20 μmol·L^-1镉对两种吊兰的影响较小,单叶面积、总叶面积、叶绿素(Chl)a含量、总叶绿素[Chl (a+b)]含量、类胡萝卜素含量、Chl a/Chl b值、胞间二氧化碳浓度(C_i)和蒸腾速率(T_r)与对照(CK)基本无显著差异;80 μmol·L^-1镉胁迫下两种吊兰叶片初始荧光(F_o)和非光化学淬灭系数(NPQ)升至最高水平;200 μmol·L^-1镉胁迫下,两种吊兰生物量、叶绿素含量、最大净光合速率(P_n)、气孔导度(g_s)、最大光化学量子产量(F_v/F_m)、实际光化学量子产量Y_(II)、转移系数(TF)以及各部分生物量均降至最低水平,而两种吊兰的过氧化物酶(POD)、抗坏血酸过氧化物酶(APX)及过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性和银边吊兰的丙二醛(MDA)含量均有不同程度的增加。随着镉处理浓度的增加,两种吊兰各器官Cd含量持续升高,且主要富集在根部;吊兰各器官Cd含量及富集系数(BCF)在胁迫处理下均高于银边吊兰。研究表明,两种吊兰对镉具有一定的耐性,其中吊兰对Cd的耐受能力强于银边吊兰,可考虑作为绿化植物用于修复镉污染水体或土壤。     

Revisiting of Carex sect. Confertiflorae s.l. (Cyperaceae): New data from molecular and morphological evidence and first insights on Carex biogeography in East Asia

Carex sect. Confertiflorae s.l. is a medium-sized species group (ca. 40 species) with its center of diversity in E Asia (China and Japan). According to morphological traits, the section has been proposed to split into two sections (sects. Confertiflorae sensu Ohwi and Molliculae Ohwi) up to five different ones (sects. Confertiflorae s.s., Molliculae, Dispalatae Ohwi, Ischnostachyae Ohwi, and Alliiformes Akiyama). Recent phylogenetic reconstructions showed Confertiflorae s.l. not to be monophyletic, as species traditionally considered part of it were found to belong to other clades, whereas species traditionally ascribed to other sections were nested within it. In this study, we investigated the phylogenetic structure, morphological affinities, and biogeographic history of sect. Confertiflorae s.l. We employed a taxon-based approach to explore the morphological affinities of the species considered in sect. Confertiflorae and compared the micromorphology of the nutlets of almost all the taxa using SEM. We included 40 samples representing 31 species/subspecies of sect. Confertiflorae s.l. and used two nuclear (ETS and ITS) and three plastid (trnL-F, matK, and rpl32-trnL ^UAG) molecular markers to reconstruct the phylogeny of the group. The phylogenetic analyses confirmed the polyphyly of sect. Confertiflorae s.l., whose representatives were found within five distinct clades. From these, two clades, sect. Confertiflorae and sect. Molliculae, were found to be closely related and contained the majority of the species. The composition of the two clades agreed with the morphological structure of the group, and we confirmed an exclusive combination of features (namely color of basal sheaths, presence of bract sheath, peduncle of lowest spike, inflorescence sex distribution, shape of pistillate glume apex, and color and veins of utricle, among others) characterizing each of the two clades. The origin of the two clades was found to be in the early Pliocene; however, the majority of the diversification events within each clade took place during the Pleistocene. This illustrates that although Asia has been regarded as having little potential ecological space for Carex to diversify due to its climate stability, groups of sedges sub-endemic from that area may have a fairly recent origin related to glaciations. We proposed the rearrangement of sect. Confertiflorae as previously conceived as three independent sections: the monotypic Alliiformes, sect. Molliculae, and sect. Paludosae.     

Macroevolutionary insights into sedges (Carex: Cyperaceae): The effects of rapid chromosome number evolution on lineage diversification

Changes in holocentric chromosome number due to fission and fusion have direct and immediate effects on genome structure and recombination rates. These, in turn, may influence ecology and evolutionary trajectories profoundly. Sedges of the genus Carex (Cyperaceae) comprise ca. 2000 species with holocentric chromosomes. The genus exhibits a phenomenal range in the chromosome number (2n = 10 − 132) with almost not polyploidy. In this study, we integrated the most comprehensive cytogenetic and phylogenetic data for sedges with associated climatic and morphological data to investigate the hypothesis that high recombination rates are selected when evolutionary innovation is required, using chromosome number evolution as a proxy for recombination rate. We evaluated Ornstein–Uhlenbeck models to infer shifts in chromosome number equilibrium and selective regime. We also tested the relationship between chromosome number and diversification rates. Our analyses demonstrate significant correlations between morphology and climatic niche and chromosome number in Carex. Nevertheless, the amount of chromosomal variation that we are able to explain is very small. We recognized a large number of shifts in mean chromosome number, but a significantly lower number in climatic niche and morphology. We also detected a peak in diversification rates near intermediate recombination rates. In combination, these analyses point toward the importance of chromosome evolution to the evolutionary history of Carex. Our work suggests that the effect of chromosome evolution on recombination rates, not just on reproductive isolation, may be central to the evolutionary history of sedges.     

沙生植物沙鞭不同居群形态变异研究

以沙鞭(Psammochloa villosa Bor.)20个自然居群为研究对象,对其株高、花序长度、旗叶长度、旗叶宽度和小穗长度等12个表型性状进行形态变异研究。结果显示,12个性状群体间F值为1.832~8.958,达到显著或极显著水平,表明沙鞭不同居群表型性状存在广泛变异,且变异程度各不相同;主成分分析结果显示,前4个主成分代表了沙鞭形态多样性的82.277%,其中旗叶长度、旗叶宽度、颖片长度、小穗长度等是造成不同居群表型性状差异的主要因素;依据欧式距离对参试居群进行的UPGMA聚类分析结果表明,当遗传距离为20.5时,可以将20个沙鞭野生居群划分为两类,且各表型性状并没有依居群地理分布而聚类。     

Clinical determinants of early spontaneous conversion to sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation

Netherlands Heart Journal - The current standard of care for acute atrial fibrillation (AF) focuses primarily on immediate restoration of sinus rhythm by cardioversion, although AF often terminates...     

亚热带6个典型树种吸收细根寿命与形态属性格局

根周转是地下生态过程的主要驱动力, 根属性指征了物种生态策略, 根寿命与属性是理解生态系统碳氮循环和群落多样性的关键。目前对亚热带常绿阔叶林根周转等生态过程的直接观测资料缺乏。该研究对中亚热带江西樟树试验林场6个树种吸收细根动态进行了2年观测, 获取了2.8万张微根管照片, 分析了吸收细根寿命年际和季节变化特征及其与根形态属性的关系。结果显示: 1)亚热带6个树种间吸收细根寿命变异为4.6倍, 变异系数可达73%。中值寿命排序为: 红豆杉(Taxus wallichiana)(426天) >复羽叶栾树( Koelreuteria bipinnata)(155天) >竹柏( Nageia nagi)(145天) >樟( Cinnamomum camphora)(126天) >东京樱花( Cerasus yedoensis)(93天) >深山含笑( Michelia maudiae)(92天); 2)树木吸收细根寿命年际、季节变异较大, 可能是适应伏秋旱、雨热不同期、年际变化大的亚热带季风气候的结果; 3)吸收细根寿命与直径呈显著正相关关系, 与比根长呈显著负相关关系, 表明根的构建成本可以在一定程度上预测寿命。这些结果为预测亚热带地下生态过程、揭示亚热带常绿阔叶林碳氮循环、物种共存机制提供依据。     

八个树种叶水力性状对水分条件的响应及其驱动因素

树木叶片的水力效率和安全性会对水分条件的改变做出一定的响应, 进而影响树木的生长和分布, 然而叶导水率(K_leaf)和叶水力脆弱性(P₅₀)对不同水分条件的响应模式及其影响因素尚不清楚。该研究选取了晋西北关帝山和黑茶山两种水分条件下的8种树种, 测量其水力性状、叶片导管和形态性状, 比较两地不同树种的K_leaf和P₅₀的变化, 分析叶片水力效率和安全性之间的权衡关系, 并探讨叶片水力性状在不同树种及水分条件下的响应模式及其驱动因素。结果表明: 对同一树种而言, 湿润的关帝山叶最大导水率(K_max)和P₅₀均高于干旱的黑茶山; 对同一地区而言, 从在高水分条件下生长的树种到在易干旱环境生长的树种, K_max和P₅₀均逐渐下降。K_max、P₅₀、膨压丧失点水势(TLP)之间均存在显著相关关系。两地叶片P₅₀与导管密度、导管塌陷预测值((t/b)³)、叶片厚度、比叶质量显著正相关, 与导管直径、叶面积显著负相关, 不同树种的K_leaf和P₅₀与叶导管性状的关系大于叶形态性状。同一树种的关帝山到黑茶山P₅₀变化量(δP₅₀)与比叶质量和叶干物质含量在两地的变化量显著正相关, 同一树种δP₅₀与叶形态性状变化量的关系大于与叶导管性状的。以上结果表明: 随着水分条件变差, 叶片水力效率降低, 水力安全性提高, 不同树种叶片水力效率与安全性之间存在一定的权衡关系, 不同树种叶水力性状的差别受叶导管性状影响的程度大于受叶形态性状的影响, 同一树种叶水力安全性对水分条件变化的响应主要依靠叶形态性状的驱动, 树木在提高自身叶水力安全的同时增加了叶构建的碳投资。     

油茶花芽分化形态结构及内源激素变化

以普通油茶(Camellia oleifera) 4个无性系为材料,结合油茶成花的动态观察和花芽分化过程的石蜡切片形态观察,采用酶联免疫吸附分析法测定花芽中玉米素核苷(ZR)、脱落酸(ABA)、生长素(IAA)、赤霉素(GA) 4种内源激素含量,探讨油茶花芽分化与内源激素的关系。油茶花芽分化过程可分为6个时期：前分化期(10 d)、萼片形成期(20 d)、花瓣形成期(30 d)、雌雄蕊形成期(20 d)、子房与花药形成期(10 d)和雌雄蕊成熟期(20 d),历时3～4个月。油茶不同无性系的花芽分化时间略有不同。油茶花芽中ZR含量相对较低(5.102～16.412 ng·g–1 FW),ABA含量相对较高(76.815～137.648 ng·g–1 FW)。其中,粤华5号和湘林8号的ZR、ABA含量变化趋势一致,岑软3号和岑软2号含量变化趋势一致。油茶花芽中IAA含量相对较高,为49.072～135.622 ng·g–1 FW,随着花芽分化进程,IAA含量均呈先升后降再升的变化趋势。GA含量相对较低,为5.616～13.720 ng·g–1 FW,随时间变化,呈现出不断降低的趋势。其中,不同无性系的IAA、GA含量变化趋势一致,而ZR、ABA含量变化趋势有所差异。ZR有利于花器官形成;高浓度IAA促进油茶花芽分化,低浓度IAA有利于开花;花芽中IAA与ABA存在明显的颉颃作用;GA抑制花芽分化。     

Reunderstanding Cairo through urban metabolism: Formal versus informal districts resource flow performance in fast urbanizing cities

Urban expansion can be seen as the most pervasive human impact on the environment where its high resource use contributes negatively to climate change and resource scarcity crises. Many experts call for decoupling resource use, economic development, and related urban development especially within cities of the Global South. This paper focuses on investigating resource efficiency through the lens of urban metabolism. It investigates current resource flows, through material flow analysis, from source to sink, in two diverse districts in Cairo: a formal district and an informal one, regarding materials (waste) and mobility. Consequently, the paper discusses locally responsive interventions that address local priorities as opposing to citywide one‐size fits all solution. The paper relies on parcel audits, which are embedded in an Urban Metabolism Information System developed by the Ecocity Builders and their partners, through a joint project with Cairo University. The methodology couples crowd‐sourced data, parcel audits, and experts’ knowledge to better understand resource flows based on a bottom‐up approach, given the unavailability of governmental data on the local level. The paper further correlates the perceived quality of life with the actual resource flows. It utilizes fieldwork investigations to argue against the local misconceptions regarding the inefficiency of informal areas/systems versus the higher efficiency of planned areas/systems. The paper concludes by proposing integrated solutions that respond to local needs and resources. It highlights the challenges and lessons of this tailored bottom‐up approach and its applicability in other cities worldwide.