Conversion of L-Galactono-1,4-lactone to L-Ascorbate Is Regulated by the Photosynthetic Electron Transport Chain in Arabidopsis

In this study we focused on the effects of light irradiation and the addition of L-galactono-1,4-lactone (L-GalL) on the conversion of exogenous L-GalL to L-ascorbate (AsA) and the total AsA pool size in detached leaves of Arabidopsis plants and transgenic plants expressing the rat L-gulono-1,4-lactone oxidase gene. Increases in the total AsA level in L-GalL-treated leaves depended entirely on light irradiation. Treatment with an inhibitor of photosynthetic electron transport together with L-GalL reduced the increase in total AsA under light. Light, particularly the redox state of photosynthetic electron transport, appeared to play an important role in the regulation of the conversion of L-GalL to AsA in the mitochondria, reflecting the cellular level of AsA in plants.     

Kojic Acid Oxidase

Photosystem II (PSII), which catalyzes photosynthetic water oxidation, is composed of more than 20 subunits, including membrane-intrinsic and -extrinsic proteins. The extrinsic proteins of PSII shield the catalytic Mn₄CaO₅ cluster from exogenous reductants and serve to optimize oxygen evolution at physiological ionic conditions. These proteins include PsbO, found in all oxygenic organisms, PsbP and PsbQ, specific to higher plants and green algae, and PsbU, PsbV, CyanoQ, and CyanoP in cyanobacteria. Furthermore, red algal PSII has PsbQ′ in addition to PsbO, PsbV, and PsbU, and diatoms have Psb31 in supplement to red algal-type extrinsic proteins, exemplifying the functional divergence of these proteins during evolution. This review provides an updated summary of recent findings on PSII extrinsic proteins and discusses their binding, function, and evolution within various photosynthetic organisms.     

Female mate preferences for male body size and shape promote sexual isolation in threespine sticklebacks

Female mate preferences for ecologically relevant traits may enhance natural selection, leading to rapid divergence. They may also forge a link between mate choice within species and sexual isolation between species. Here, we examine female mate preference for two ecologically important traits: body size and body shape. We measured female preferences within and between species of benthic, limnetic, and anadromous threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus species complex). We found that mate preferences differed between species and between contexts (i.e., within vs. between species). Within species, anadromous females preferred males that were deep bodied for their size, benthic females preferred larger males (as measured by centroid size), and limnetic females preferred males that were more limnetic shaped. In heterospecific mating trials between benthics and limnetics, limnetic females continued to prefer males that were more limnetic like in shape when presented with benthic males. Benthic females showed no preferences for size when presented with limnetic males. These results show that females use ecologically relevant traits to select mates in all three species and that female preference has diverged between species. These results suggest that sexual selection may act in concert with natural selection on stickleback size and shape. Further, our results suggest that female preferences may track adaptation to local environments and contribute to sexual isolation between benthic and limnetic sticklebacks.     

Strategies for defining traits when calculating economic values for livestock breeding: a review

The objective of the present review was (i) to survey different approaches for choosing the complex of traits for which economic values (EVs) are calculated, (ii) to call attention to the proper definition of traits and (iii) to discuss the manner and extent to which relationships among traits have been considered in the calculation of EVs. For this purpose, papers dealing with the estimation of EVs of traits in livestock were reviewed. The most important reasons for incompatibility of EVs for similar traits estimated in different countries and by different authors were found to be inconsistencies in trait definitions and in assumptions being made about relationships among traits. An important problem identified was how to choose the most appropriate criterion to characterise production or functional ability for a particular class of animals. Accordingly, the review covered the following three topics: (i) which trait(s) would best characterise the growth ability of an animal; (ii) how to define traits expressed repeatedly in subsequent reproductive cycles of breeding females and (iii) how to deal with traits that differ in average value between sexes or among animal groups. Various approaches that have been used to solve these problems were discussed. Furthermore, the manner in which diverse authors chose one or more traits from a group of alternatives for describing a specific biological potential were reviewed and commented on. The consequences of including or excluding relationships among economically important traits when estimating the EV for a specific trait were also examined. An important conclusion of the review is that, for a better comparability and interpretability of estimated EVs in the literature, it is desirable that clear and unique definitions of the traits, complete information on assumptions used in analytical models and details on inter-relationships between traits are documented. Furthermore, the method and the model used for the genetic evaluation of specific traits in a certain breeding organisation are important for the exact definition of traits, for which the economic values will be calculated, and for the inclusion or exclusion of relationships among traits in the calculation of the EVs in livestock breeding.     

兴义鸭LPL基因外显子8多态性与生长和肉质性状的关联性分析

脂蛋白脂酶(LPL)是动物脂质沉积和新陈代谢的关键酶,对生长和肉质发挥着重要作用。试验采用PCR-SSCP法和DNA直接测序技术相结合对兴义鸭L PL基因外显子8进行多态性检测,并分析其多态与生长和肉质性状的关联性。结果表明,在兴义鸭L PL基因外显子8首次检测到1个T1251C同义突变,产生三种基因型TT、TC和CC,2个等位基因T和C,基因型TT和等位基因T的频率分别为0.8077和0.8750,多态信息含量为0.1948,表现为低度多态,卡方(字2)检验表明T1251C位点的基因型分布在兴义鸭中未偏离Hardy-Weinberg平衡。最小二乘分析显示,TT基因型个体的宰前体重显著低于CC基因型(p<0.05),胸宽显著低于TC基因型(p<0.05),推测等位基因C可能是兴义鸭生长性状的有利等位基因,可作为生长性状的一个标记性辅助选择位点。     

Patterns and origin of intraspecific functional variability in a tropical alpine species along an altitudinal gradient

Background : Intraspecific functional variability (IFV) along altitudinal gradients is a powerful proxy to infer the responses of plants to abrupt environmental changes. We envisage that IFV shows distinctive patterns in tropical and extratropical alpine regions.

Aims : To characterise the patterns and explore the origin of IFV in a tropical alpine species in a context of upward range extension.

Methods : We examined variations in a series of plant functional traits in Lasiocephalus ovatus, inside and outside a nurse plant along a 600 m altitudinal gradient in the Ecuadorian Andes, and we studied its genetic variability.

Results : More conservative traits were developed at higher elevation, in contrast to extratropical alpine plants, which commonly develop opportunistic traits in response to late snowmelt close to their upper altitudinal limit. The presence of nurse cushions did not alter this trend. Increasing genetic distance along the gradient suggested that IFV might be partly genetically induced.

Conclusions : Our data combined with existing literature in tropical alpine environments lead the way to a stimulating scientific challenge: determining if patterns of plant altitudinal distribution in tropical alpine areas in response to climate change are predictable from patterns described in extratropical alpine areas.     

Grassland plant species occurring in extensively managed road verges are filtered by urban environments

Background: Urbanisation filters species in communities depending on their adaptability to conditions in built-up areas, especially in semi-natural habitats. Roadside vegetation is widespread along urban-rural gradients and is therefore a good place to study landscape-scale factors influencing plant community composition.

Aim: Our study aimed to assess how plant species distributions vary between urban and rural landscape contexts and to identify biological traits favoured in urban areas.

Methods: Presence/absence data for 63 indigenous common species were collected in 296 road verge patches distributed along the urban–rural gradient in three French cities. We investigated the effects of landscape composition on species assemblages and related individual species responses to urbanisation to functional traits associated with dispersal and persistence capacity.

Results: Many grassland species were negatively affected by increasing proportion of built-up areas in the landscape. Insect-pollination and high seed production appeared to be key traits favoured in grassland communities in urban areas, whereas dispersal modes were less related to plant distribution.

Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that urban filters affect common species of widespread, managed road verges. Better knowledge of the flora of these herbaceous roadsides may contribute to the conservation of common biodiversity within other grassland habitats found in urban areas.     

Dedicated biomass crops can enhance biodiversity in the arable landscape

Suggestions that novel, non‐food, dedicated biomass crops used to produce bioenergy may provide opportunities to diversify and reinstate biodiversity in intensively managed farmland have not yet been fully tested at the landscape scale. Using two of the largest, currently available landscape‐scale biodiversity data sets from arable and biomass bioenergy crops, we take a taxonomic and functional trait approach to quantify and contrast the consequences for biodiversity indicators of adopting dedicated biomass crops on land previously cultivated under annual, rotational arable cropping. The abundance and community compositions of biodiversity indicators in fields of break and cereal crops changed when planted with the dedicated biomass crops, miscanthus and short rotation coppiced (SRC) willow. Weed biomass was consistently greater in the two dedicated biomass crops than in cereals, and invertebrate abundance was similarly consistently higher than in break crops. Using canonical variates analysis, we identified distinct plant and invertebrate taxa and trait‐based communities in miscanthus and SRC willows, whereas break and cereal crops tended to form a single, composite community. Seedbanks were shown to reflect the longer term effects of crop management. Our study suggests that miscanthus and SRC willows, and the management associated with perennial cropping, would support significant amounts of biodiversity when compared with annual arable crops. We recommend the strategic planting of these perennial, dedicated biomass crops in arable farmland to increase landscape heterogeneity and enhance ecosystem function, and simultaneously work towards striking a balance between energy and food security.     

平榛种质资源坚果农艺性状鉴定与评价研究

平榛是我国重要的榛属植物资源,为鉴定、评价和保护平榛种质资源,提高其利用效率,采用主成分分析和聚类分析方法对99份平榛种质资源坚果的主要农艺性状进行了鉴定和综合评价。结果表明:平榛种质资源坚果的24个性状具有丰富的遗传多样性;10个数量性状的主成分分析确定了4类影响因子,反映了育种选择方向及潜力;基于各种质间形态性状的遗传差异,将99份平榛种质划分为5大类群,第Ⅰ类群可作为选育果面光滑品种的育种和候选亲本材料,第Ⅱ类群可作为选育大粒型、适宜机械化加工的育种和候选亲本材料,第Ⅲ类群具有作为市场产品的潜力,第Ⅳ类群可作为选育圆形、果面无条纹的育种和候选亲本材料,第Ⅴ类群可作为选育高丰产性品种的育种和候选亲本材料。上述研究为平榛种质资源的评价、保护和选优工作提供了基础数据。