接种菌根菌短枝木麻黄对低温胁迫的响应特征

通过对接种不同菌根菌短枝木麻黄幼枝进行系列低温胁迫处理,分析抗寒性相关生理指标与接种菌根菌短枝木麻黄抗寒性关系,探讨短枝木麻黄接种菌根菌对低温胁迫的响应特征,为科学评价和改良短枝木麻黄的抗寒能力提供依据。结果表明:(1)接种菌根菌有助于短枝木麻黄形成菌根,可显著促进其苗期生长。(2)随着胁迫温度的降低,接种菌根菌短枝木麻黄嫩枝SOD、POD、CAT活性均呈先上升后下降的趋势,MDA含量逐渐增加,且细胞膜透性均升高。(3)与相同温度处理下未接种对照相比,7个接种处理短枝木麻黄的嫩枝SOD、POD、CAT活性显著提高,并在0～4℃达到最高值,其MDA含量和细胞膜透性显著降低,而且各菌株处理的升降幅度存在显著差异。研究发现,在一定低温胁迫下,接种菌根菌可以显著提高短枝木麻黄嫩枝主要保护酶活性,有效降低其细胞膜透性和MDA含量,从而提高自身抗寒能力;接种内生菌根菌苏格兰球囊霉和外生菌根菌多根硬皮马勃对短枝木麻黄耐寒性的促进效果最佳。     

干旱胁迫下红麻和大麻状罗布麻水分生理及光合作用特征研究

以中国红麻和美国大麻状罗布麻为材料,采用防雨棚内盆栽控水法研究了4种土壤水分条件下2种罗布麻的水分生理及光合作用日变化特性,探讨2种罗布麻对干旱胁迫的响应和适应能力,为美国大麻状罗布麻引种栽培提供理论依据。结果显示:(1)随干旱胁迫的加剧,2种罗布麻叶片的组织含水量、相对含水量均逐渐降低,但大麻状罗布麻的降幅较小;同一水分条件下,大麻状罗布麻的组织含水量、相对含水量均高于红麻,而水分饱和亏均低于红麻;不同水分条件下,大麻状罗布麻叶片相对含水量在离体2h后仍维持高位,降幅极显著低于红麻(P<0.01),离体8h后仍能维持较高水平。(2)在饱和供水(CK)、轻度胁迫(LS)和中度胁迫(MS)条件下,2种罗布麻叶片的Pn、Tr、Gs日变化均呈相似的"双峰"型曲线,而重度胁迫(SS)下却呈单峰曲线,各胁迫条件下Pn第二峰值比CK推迟2h左右;各处理Pn和WUE日均值在大麻状罗布麻中表现为LS>CK>MS>SS,而在红麻中则为CK>LS>MS>SS,且2种罗布麻除WUE指标在处理CK与T1间差异不显著外(P>0.05),其余处理间差异均达到显著水平以上(P<0.05);同一水分条件下,大麻状罗布麻的Pn和WUE值均显著高于红麻,如大麻状罗布麻在SS条件下的Pn和WUE日均值分别为2.28μmol·m-2.s-1和1.41μmol·mmol-1,而红麻的仅为0.29μmol·m-2.s-1和0.16μmol·mmol-1。研究表明,在土壤干旱胁迫条件下,大麻状罗布麻叶片在水分生理和光合生理方面均表现出明显优势,比当地红麻具有更强的保水及光合生产能力,耐旱性更强,可在宁夏地区引种栽培。     

不同灌水量下限对高羊茅绿期及抗寒性生理指标的影响

采用盆栽试验的方法,研究了秋末冬初不同灌水量下限\[分别占田间持水量(FC)的80%、70%、60%、50%\]对高羊茅绿期及抗寒性生理指标的影响.结果表明：在冬季低温条件下,80%和70%FC灌水处理使高羊茅叶片相对含水量、保护酶(SOD、POD和CAT)活性、叶绿素、可溶性糖和游离脯氨酸含量维持在较高水平,丙二醛含量和电解质外渗率降低,高羊茅的抗寒性增强.80%FC灌水处理分别较70%、60%和50%FC处理的草坪草绿期延长4、22和28 d,到达枯黄休眠的时间最晚,完成返青的时间最早.综合考虑节水和提高水分利用效率等多种因素,70%FC灌水处理为高羊茅秋末冬初季节最佳的灌水下限.     

梯度水分对鱼腥草生长及生理特征的影响

以不同的施水量,模拟自然生境中林下鱼腥草不同水分条件,设置了8个水分梯度,研究梯度水分对鱼腥草生长和生理特征的影响,以建立鱼腥草生态栽培模式。结果表明:水分的减少或增加均显著减少生物量,中度、重度干旱和水淹明显降低株高和叶面积指数。重度干旱显著提高根冠比。除轻度湿润组外,水分的减少或增加,均显著提高MDA含量;与对照组相比,各干旱处理组SOD和CAT活性和MDA含量明显增强;除脯氨酸含量以外,湿润各处理组CAT、POD、SOD活性和MDA含量均明显低于干旱各处理组;水淹时,CAT、POD、SOD活性、MDA和脯氨酸含量均较低。说明中度干旱或中度湿润已对鱼腥草形成逆境胁迫。栽培鱼腥草的水分条件可以控制在轻度干旱和轻度湿润之间。     

模拟低温或自然低温条件下牡竹属3种类抗寒性及生理指标的比较

以牡竹属(Dendrocalamus Nees)的清甜竹(D.sapidus Q.H.Dai et D.Y.Huang)、花吊丝竹[D.minor var.amoenus(Q.H.Dai et C.F.Huang) Hsueh et D.Z.Li]和勃氏甜龙竹[D.brandisii (Munro) Kurz]盆栽苗为实验材料,测定了模拟低温(0℃、-5℃、-10℃、-15℃、-20℃和-25℃)条件下3个竹种离体叶片的相对电导率和伤害率,在此基础上根据Logistic方程推算出3个竹种的低温半致死温度(LT50);对自然低温(15℃、10℃、5℃、3℃、0℃和-2 C)条件下3个竹种叶片的形态变化以及相对电导率、叶绿素和MDA含量及SOD活性的变化也进行了比较分析.结果表明:在模拟低温条件下,3个竹种离体叶片的相对电导率和伤害率均随温度降低逐渐增大,且总体上与对照(25℃)有显著差异(P＜0.05);根据Logistic方程推算出花吊丝竹、勃氏甜龙竹和清甜竹的LT50分别为-3.07℃、-1.83℃和-1.40 C.在日最低温度大于5℃的自然低温条件下3个竹种的叶片均能够正常生长,而随温度降低,叶片逐渐出现水浸斑点、失绿等症状直至干枯脱落,其中清甜竹叶片伤害症状最重;在自然低温条件下,随日最低气温的降低,3个竹种叶片的叶绿素含量总体呈下降趋势、相对电导率则逐渐升高、MDA含量和SOD活性总体上均呈波动的趋势;与日最低气温15℃相比,在日最低气温-2℃条件下清甜竹叶片叶绿素含量和SOD活性降幅最大而花吊丝竹降幅最小,清甜竹叶片相对电导率最高而花吊丝竹最低.根据LT50和叶片形态及生理指标的变化,可确定3个竹种的抗寒性均较差,其中清甜竹的耐寒能力最弱.     

Kinetic properties required for sustained or paradoxical control of metabolic fluxes under large changes in enzyme activities

The effect that an increase in the activity of an enzyme has on its flux normally decreases with activity increase. To achieve a large increase in flux by manipulating a single step would therefore require a high initial effect that maintains or increases when the activity is increased, what has been called sustained or paradoxical control. Using metabolic control analysis for large responses, we derive conditions for sustained or paradoxical control in terms of elasticity coefficients. These are used to characterise types of rate laws contributing to this behaviour. The result that simple pathways, with normal kinetics, subject to large activity changes can lead to paradoxical control behaviour suggests that this type of pattern may be much more ubiquitous than could have, in principle, been suspected.     

Essential conditions for evolution of communication within a species

A major obstacle in analyzing the evolution of information exchange and processing is our insufficient understanding of the underlying signaling and decision-making biological mechanisms. For instance, it is unclear why are humans unique in developing such extensive communication abilities. To treat this problem, a method based on the mutual information approach is developed that evaluates the information content of communication between interacting individuals through correlations of their behavior patterns (rather than calculating the information load of exchanged discrete signals, e.g. Shannon entropy). It predicts that correlated interactions of the indirect reciprocity type together with affective behavior and selection rules changing with time are necessary conditions for the emergence of significant information exchange. Population size variations accelerate this development. These results are supported by evidence of demographic bottlenecks, distinguishing human from other species’ (e.g. apes) evolution line. They indicate as well new pathways for evolution of information based phenomena, such as intelligence and complexity.     

Pollen hosts of western palaearctic bees of the genus Colletes (Hymenoptera: Colletidae): the Asteraceae paradox

To assess the pollen hosts of 60 western palaearctic bee species of the genus Colletes (Colletidae), we microscopically analysed 1336 pollen loads of collected females. Twenty‐six species (43.3%) were found to be specialized at the level of plant family, subfamily or genus. Thirty‐four species (56.7%) proved to be pollen generalists to varying degrees, visiting the flowers of up to 15 different plant families. Flowers of the subfamily Asteroideae (Asteraceae) are by far the most important pollen source, contributing 23.6% to the pollen‐plant spectrum of the whole bee genus. The high significance of Asteroideae pollen is due to the large number of specialists: 14 Colletes species belonging to four different taxonomic groups harvest pollen exclusively or predominantly on flowers of the Asteroideae. By striking contrast, Asteroideae pollen plays only a marginal role in the diets of the pollen generalists: it was recorded in only 2.7% of the pollen loads and in seven out of the 34 pollen generalists. Among the few generalists exploiting Asteroideae for pollen, three closely related species have ancestors which were possibly specialized on Asteraceae. The pattern of use of Asteroideae pollen by the Colletes bees supports recent findings that this pollen possesses unfavourable or protective properties, which render its digestion difficult, and suggests that bees need physiological adaptations to successfully utilize it. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 95 , 719–733.     

The role of density-dependent individual growth in the persistence of freshwater salmonid populations

Theoretical and empirical models of populations dynamics have paid little attention to the implications of density-dependent individual growth on the persistence and regulation of small freshwater salmonid populations. We have therefore designed a study aimed at testing our hypothesis that density-dependent individual growth is a process that enhances population recovery and reduces extinction risk in salmonid populations in a variable environment subject to disturbance events. This hypothesis was tested in two newly introduced marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) populations living in Slovenian streams (Zakojska and Gorska) subject to severe autumn floods. We developed a discrete-time stochastic individual-based model of population dynamics for each population with demographic parameters and compensatory responses tightly calibrated on data from individually tagged marble trout. The occurrence of severe flood events causing population collapses was explicitly accounted for in the model. We used the model in a population viability analysis setting to estimate the quasi-extinction risk and demographic indexes of the two marble trout populations when individual growth was density-dependent. We ran a set of simulations in which the effect of floods on population abundance was explicitly accounted for and another set of simulations in which flood events were not included in the model. These simulation results were compared with those of scenarios in which individual growth was modelled with density-independent Von Bertalanffy growth curves. Our results show how density-dependent individual growth may confer remarkable resilience to marble trout populations in case of major flood events. The resilience to flood events shown by the simulation results can be explained by the increase in size-dependent fecundity as a consequence of the drop in population size after a severe flood, which allows the population to quickly recover to the pre-event conditions. Our results suggest that density-dependent individual growth plays a potentially powerful role in the persistence of freshwater salmonids living in streams subject to recurrent yet unpredictable flood events. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Compensation and resistance to herbivory in seagrasses: induced responses to simulated consumption by fish

Herbivory can induce changes in plant traits that may involve both tolerance mechanisms that compensate for biomass loss and resistance traits that reduce herbivore preference. Seagrasses are marine vascular plants that possess many attributes that may favour tolerance and compensatory growth, and they are also defended with mechanisms of resistance such as toughness and secondary metabolites. We quantified phenotypic changes induced by herbivore damage on the temperate seagrass Posidonia oceanica in order to identify specific compensatory and resistance mechanisms in this plant, and to assess any potential trade-offs between these two strategies of defence. We simulated three natural levels of fish herbivory by repeatedly clipping seagrass leaves during the summer period of maximum herbivory. Compensatory responses were determined by measuring shoot-specific growth, photosynthetic rate, and the concentration of nitrogen and carbon resources in leaves and rhizomes. Induced resistance was determined by measuring the concentration of phenolic secondary metabolites and by assessing the long-term effects of continued clipping on herbivore feeding preferences using bioassays. Plants showed a significant ability to compensate for low and moderate losses of leaf biomass by increasing aboveground growth of damaged shoots, but this was not supported by an increase in photosynthetic capacity. Low levels of herbivory induced compensatory growth without any measurable effects on stored resources. In contrast, nitrogen reserves in the rhizomes played a crucial role in the plant’s ability to compensate and survive herbivore damage under moderate and high levels of herbivory, respectively. We found no evidence of inducibility of long-term resistance traits in response to herbivory. The concentration of phenolics decreased with increasing compensatory growth despite all treatments having similar carbon leaf content, suggesting reallocation of these compounds towards primary functions such as cell-wall construction.