基于GIS的广西木棉物候三维空间演变分析

以自然物候学理论为指导,GIS为技术支持,气象站物候资料、地理信息资料为基础数据,采用多元线性回归分析法,对广西木棉主要物候期的日序与其对应观测站的经度、纬度和海拔高度进行多元回归分析,建立广西木棉物候期三维空间演变模型,制作广西木棉主要物候期三维空间演变专题图,分析广西木棉主要物候随三维空间的变化规律。结果表明:广西木棉主要物候期从低纬度的沿海南部地区向高纬度的北部地区逐渐演变;同一纬度,从低海拔的平地和丘陵地区向高海拔的山区逐渐演变。     

中药材资源质量评价方法的研究进展

中药材资源是中医药的物质基础,其质量事关临床用药的安全性与有效性,其科学评价是中药产业现代化、标准化以及国际化的前提条件。中药材的性状特征、药效成分以及分子标记为迄今三类质量评价方法的主要依据。近年来,微性状鉴定及仿生识别技术的应用显著提高了基于性状特征评价中药材质量的准确性与客观性;中药指纹图谱、代谢组学技术与化学计量学的应用极大地促进了基于药效成分评价中药材质量的科学性及相应有效成分群的发现;基因组学及蛋白质组学的进展推动了分子标记的挖掘及相应分子鉴定技术的建立。上述方法学进展为中药材质量标准体系的建设和中药材资源的开发利用提供思路与借鉴。     

Rebuilding ships while at sea—Character individuality,homology, and evolutionary innovation

How novel traits originate in evolution is still one of the most perplexing questions in Evolutionary Biology. Building on a previous account of evolutionary innovation, I here propose that evolutionary novelties are those individualized characters that are not homologous to any characters in the ancestor. To clarify this definition, I here provide a detailed analysis of the concepts of “character individuality” and “homology” first, before addressing their role for our understanding of evolutionary innovation. I will argue (1) that functional as well as structural considerations are important for character individualization; and (2) that compositional (structural) and positional homology need to be clearly distinguished to properly describe the evolutionary transformations of hierarchically structured characters. My account will therefore integrate functional and structural perspectives and put forward a new multi-level view of character identity and transformation.     

Product label identification with OCR for model-specific reuse,repair, and recycling: A case study for washing machines

In this study, a procedure to automatically identify the product model by evaluating an image of the label is presented. First, object character recognition (OCR) extracts text from the product label. Second, to identify the product model, the extracted text is compared with unique model references in a database, giving access to other model-specific information. For this comparison, a novel variation of the partial ratio matching algorithm was developed. The product-model identification procedure is integrated into an interactive web application, which allows for model identification to be performed during preparation for reuse, repair, and recycling: The SmartRe application. Three datasets consisting of 466, 422, and 771 images of washing machine product labels were gathered in collaboration with a (1) professional repair company for consumer devices, (2) a nonprofit repair and reuse center that resells devices in second-hand stores, and (3) a large recycling company. Results demonstrate that 96%, 91%, and 40% of the product models were correctly read from the product label with OCR, respectively. Of these recognized models, 51%, 88%, and 76% were successfully identified with the SmartRe application by comparing the extracted text with the model database. Further analysis also demonstrated that 72% of the washing machine models identified at the nonprofit repair and reuse center were also found at the recycling facility and that 12% of these models are predicted to be less than 10-years-old. This highlights the potential of the SmartRe application to assist in product triage for reuse at recycling centers.     

Two insertion/deletion variants in the promoter region of the QPCTL gene are significantly associated with body weight and carcass traits in chickens

Glutaminyl‐peptide cyclotransferase‐like (QPCTL) is an isoenzyme of glutaminyl‐peptide cyclotransferase (QPCT). QPCTL and QPCT catalyze the formation of N‐terminal modified pyroglutamate‐fractalkine and the chemokine CCL2. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between insertions/deletions in the chicken QPCTL promoter region with growth traits in chickens. We first detected two insertion/deletion variants of QPCTL via whole‐genome resequencing analysis of DNA samples from Xichuan chickens. A total of 1896 individuals from 12 breeds were genotyped for 52‐ and 224‐bp insertions/deletions. We found two novel insertions/deletions in the promoter region of the chicken QPCTL gene and studied their association with chicken body weight and carcass traits. Our findings show that QPCTL can be a molecular marker for chicken genetics and breeding programs.     

Evolutionary history of the burnet moth genus Zygaena Fabricius, 1775 (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data: phylogeny, host–plant association, wing pattern evolution and historical biogeography

Burnet moths of the genus Zygaena are a striking group of primarily diurnal Lepidoptera displaying an exceptional phenotypic plasticity. Previous attempts to elucidate the phylogenetic history of the group had been confounded by a perplexing pattern of characters or insufficient taxon sampling. In the present study, we infer a phylogeny of the genus Zygaena by analysing 5.4 kb of their nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Eighty‐four of the 98 currently recognized species in this genus are considered, including representatives of all described species groups. RNA coding sequences are aligned with reference to zygaenoid moth specific secondary structure models of corresponding molecules. We conduct phylogenetic analyses within a Bayesian framework applying partition specific substitution parameters; covariation of paired sites in RNA gene sequences is accommodated by using doublet substitution models. The molecular data reveal that a considerable number of currently recognized species groups in Zygaena are not monophyletic. The traditional subgeneric classification proves to be artificial as well; Agrumenia and Zygaena (sensu stricto) are polyphyletic. Only the subgenus Mesembrynus can be confirmed as a monophyletic species cluster. Optimization of larval host–plant associations and forewing patterns on sampled trees of the Bayesian analyses suggest convergent evolution of similar wing pattern types in distantly related species clusters and a shift from cyanogenic to acyanogenic host‐plants. The phylogenetic results challenge the classic assumption that early species diversification in Zygaena took place in the Irano–Turkestanian region. Rather, the molecular data point to the western Mediterranean area as the geographical origin of the group and imply a subsequent colonization of the Middle East and Central Asia. We discuss the apparently convergent evolution of similar wing patterns in context with the chemical defence system of burnet moths and suggest a species group concept for the genus Zygaena that accounts for the recent findings. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 92 , 501–520.     

The Evolutionary Reduction of Microsporangia in Microseris (Asteraceae): Transition Genotypes and Phenotypes

Abstract: The loss of the two inner (adaxial) microsporangia (MS) on the anthers is a shared, derived character for three species of the genus Microseris (Asteraceae). In a hybrid between M. douglasii (4 MS) and M. bigelovii (2 MS), one major gene and four modifier loci are responsible for the difference in MS number. The homozygous recessive (2 MS) genotype of the major gene is necessary but not sufficient for the reduction. In addition, at least five M. bigelovii (2 MS) alleles of the three major modifiers are needed for a stable 2‐MS phenotype in all florets of a plant. One, two or three M. bigelovii alleles of the modifiers cause the random reduction or loss of some of the adaxial MS. When the major gene and two modifiers specify 2 MS and only one modifier is homozygous for the M. douglasii (4 MS) alleles, sister plants can have any phenotype from pure 2 MS to pure 4 MS. Here, we examine the phenotypic expression of these genotypes raised under the normal winter annual conditions and under long‐day conditions. In all cases, the phenotypes vary among sister plants, but the range of variation (most notably under long‐day conditions) depends on the specific modifier gene contributing the M. douglasii alleles. The phenotypic variance in one of the genotypes was decreased by a factor of ten in the depauperate heads produced in the long‐day experiment. This effect is mediated by a dependence of the MS phenotype on the position of the floret relative to the edge of the flowering head (capitulum) and directly by the size of the capitulum. Genotypes specifying phenotypes with more or less precisely two or four MS in all florets show hardly any dependence on environmental or developmental factors. The significance of these observations lies in the non‐linear, “canalized” relationship between phenotypic expression and gene dosage, which shows how a qualitative morphological change dependent on a single major gene mutation can pass through a potentially maladaptive intermediate stage.