病毒基因组启动子识别的人工神经网络方法

本文运用神经网络方法,并结合病毒基因分子生物学有关理论与统计事实,对病毒基因启动子区域进行了识别,文中选择了共35个基因组,作为研究对象．学习组选择了28个基因组,预测组选择了7个基因组,结果表明,将神经网络模型与病毒基因有关理论相结合,能够运用计算方法,以大量的可能启动子组合中排列出唯一的启动子区域．     

小麦赤霉病的药剂防治指标模型

经过推导,得出小麦赤霉病的两类药剂防治指标模型．在保证品质、收支有余的条件下,第一类模型附加产投比较佳、净收益最佳原则,第二类模型附加产投比最佳原则．灵敏度分析和合理性分析证明了模型的正确性．模型可做为小麦赤霉病药剂防治的决策工具．同时,给出了两类模型的BASIC计算程序．     

Strange limits of stability in host-parasitoid systems

The classical Nicholson-Bailey model for a two species host-parasitoid system with discrete generations assumes random distributions of both hosts and parasitoids, randomly searching parasitoids, and random encounters between the individuals of the two species. Although unstable, this model induced many investigations into more complex host-parasitoid systems. Local linearized stability analysis shows that equilibria of host parasitoid systems within the framework of a generalized Nicholson-Bailey model are generally unstable. Stability is only possible if host fertility does not exceede ⁴=54.5982 and if superparasitism is unsuccessful. This special situation has already been discovered by Hassell et al. (1983) in their study of the effects of variable sex ratios on host parasitoid dynamics. We discuss global behaviour of the Hassell-Waage-May model using KAM-theory and illustrate its sensitivity to small perturbations, which can give rise to radically different patterns of the population dynamics of interacting hosts and parasitoids.     

The effects of control on the biomass, carbohydrate content and bud reserves of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn), and an evaluation of a bracken growth model

This paper examines the initial effects of bracken control on frond numbers and biomass, and the biomass, carbohydrate reserves and bud densities of bracken stands cut once per year, twice per year, subject to a single application of asulam or left untreated. The seasonal dynamics of these parameters are displayed; carbohydrate and biomass are both removed from the rhizome system to produce frond tissue, and are replenished at the end of the growing season. Asulam application reduced densities of both active and dormant buds, and both frond biomass and density. It did not significantly reduce rhizome biomass or carbohydrate reserves in the two years after treatment. Cutting, either once or twice per year reduced both rhizome biomass and rhizome carbohydrate reserves, as well as bud densities, though the latter were reduced in proportion to biomass. Cutting twice a year reduced the production of fronds, both in numbers and biomass. The collected data were used to evaluate a model of bracken growth, and subsequently to improve estimates of some of the model parameters. The model simulations of control treatments were compared to field data. The effects of cutting once per year and spraying with asulam were predicted accurately, but the bracken stand was more resilient to cutting twice per year than would be expected from model predictions. The combination of cutting and spraying is discussed as a potential tool in land management and the deficiencies of the model are discussed in relation to the need for future research into the biology of bracken.     

Kinetics of leucrose formation from sucrose by dextransucrase

Leucrose formation from sucrose and fructose by dextransucrase is of practical interest. It has been investigated at different experimental conditions, including the influence of temperature on reaction rate and selectivity. Under appropriate conditions high product yield can be obtained. Furthermore, a model is presented that allows interpretation of the experimental data.     

Analysis of nitrogen saturation potential in Rocky Mountain tundra and forest: implications for aquatic systems

We employed grass and forest versions of the CENTURY model under a range of N deposition values (0.02–1.60 g N m^–2 y^–1) to explore the possibility that high observed lake and stream N was due to terrestrial N saturation of alpine tundra and subalpine forest in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Model results suggest that N is limiting to subalpine forest productivity, but that excess leachate from alpine tundra is sufficient to account for the current observed stream N. Tundra leachate, combined with N leached from exposed rock surfaces, produce high N loads in aquatic ecosystems above treeline in the Colorado Front Range. A combination of terrestrial leaching, large N inputs from snowmelt, high watershed gradients, rapid hydrologic flushing and lake turnover times, and possibly other nutrient limitations of aquatic organisms constrain high elevation lakes and streams from assimilating even small increases in atmospheric N. CENTURY model simulations further suggest that, while increased N deposition will worsen the situation, nitrogen saturation is an ongoing phenomenon.     

Tropical tree species diversity: a test of the Janzen-Connell model

To test the premises and predictions of the Janzen-Connell model (Janzen's spacing mechanism), seeds of the rainforest canopy tree, Brosimum alicastrum, were placed at different distances from the parent tree and their removal observed over 3 weeks. The number and density of naturally occurring seeds at different distances from the parent tree were also estimated. Predation was not greater near the parent tree, except on the very small spatial scale: the proportion of experimental seeds removed was greater 1 m from the trunk than it was 5–25 m from the trunk. Predation was negatively correlated with seed density, not positively as the Janzen-Connell model assumes-presumably due to predator satiation. The density of seeds after predation peaked 5 m from the tree trunk, but this is well within the crown radius of the parent tree. There is a peak in the number of potential recruits at a distance of 10 m from the parent tree, due to the peaked initial distribution of seeds. This peak is caused by the interaction between the seed density curve and the increasing area of an annulus around the parent tree at increasing distances, not by the product of the density curve and the predation curve. However, it is important to realize that it is not the presence of a peak in recruitment away from the parent that is essential to maintaining tropical tree species diversity, but frequency-dependent recruitment induced by poor recruitment near conspecifics. Predator satiation seems to be an important factor in the survival of B. alicastrum seeds, possibly at several spatial scales. The number of seeds produced by the tree is negatively correlated with the loss to predators, and trees that have a fruiting conspecific nearby also suffer lower levels of predation. Seed predation increases as one moves from the forest edge into the interior, creating an edge effect that may have long-term effects on the forest composition and tree species diversity. More studies are needed, for other species, other localities, and larger spatial and temporal scales, on both the Janzen-Connell mechanism and this edge effect.     

Rational design of peptide-based inhibitors of trypanothione reductase as potential antitrypanosomal drugs

Summary The rational design of ligands for the substrate-binding site of a homology-modelled trypanothione reductase (TR) was performed. Peptides were designed to be selective for TR over human glutathione reductase (GR). The design process capitalized on the proposed differences between the activesites of TR and human GR, subsequently confirmed by the TR crystal structure. Enzyme kinetics confirmed that forT. cruzi TR benzoyl-Leu-Arg-Arg-ß-naphthylamide was an inhibitor (K_i 13.8µM) linearly competitive with the native substrate, trypanothione disulphide, and did not inhibit glutathione reductase.