Screening for High-Temperature Tolerant Cotton Cultivars by Testing In Vitro Pollen Germination, Pollen Tube Growth and Boll Retention

With radical global climate change and global warming, high temperature stress has become one of major factors exerting a major influence on crop production. In the cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)-growing areas of China, especially in the Yangtze River valley, unexpected periodic episodes of extreme heat stress usually occur in July and August, the peak time of cotton flowering and boll loading, resulting in lower boll set and lint yield. Breeding programs for screening high temperature-tolerant cotton germplasm and cultivars are urgent in order to stabilize yield in the current and future warmer weather conditions. In the present study, 14 cotton cultivars were quantified for in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube growth in response to temperatures ranging from 10 to 50 ℃ at 5 ℃ intervals. Different cotton genotypes varied in their in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube length responses to the different temperatures. Maximum pollen germination and pollen tube length ranged from 25.2% to 56.2% and from 414 to 682 μm, respectively.The average cardinal temperatures (Tmin, Topt, and Tmax) also varied among the 14 cultivars and were 11.8,27.3, and 42.7 ℃ for pollen germination and 11.8, 27.8, and 44.1 ℃ for maximum pollen tube length. Variations in boll retention and boll numbers per plant in field experiments were found for the 14 cotton cultivars and the boll retention and boll retained per plant on 20 August varied considerably in different years according to weather conditions. Boll retention on 20 August was highly correlated with maximum pollen germination (R2=0.84) and pollen tube length (R2=0.64). A screening method based on principle component analysis of the combination of pollen characteristics in an in vitro experiment and boll retention testing in the field environment was used in the present study and, as a result, the 14 cotton cultivars could be classified as tolerant, moderately tolerant, moderately susceptible and susceptible to high temperature.     

A high standard metabolic rate constrains juvenile growth

The allocation of energy to various components of an individual's energy budget is often viewed as a competitive process. As such, a tradeoff may exist between production (growth) and maintenance metabolism. One view of a potential tradeoff, termed “the principle of allocation”, suggests that individuals with lower maintenance metabolic expenditures may have higher growth rates. To determine whether such a tradeoff exists, I analyzed the relationship between growth rate and maintenance metabolism of 225 juvenile snapping turtles housed in the laboratory. I measured growth from hatching to 6 months of age, and then measured oxygen consumption and calculated standard metabolic rate. Mean growth rate was 0.19 g d⁻ and mean standard metabolic rate (SMR) was 1.41 kJ d⁻. Maintenance metabolism and growth were negatively correlated after both were adjusted for body mass. The results support the “principle of allocation” theory: individuals with higher standard metabolic rates tended to have low growth rates.     

山鸡椒挥发油GC-MS指纹图谱及模式识别研究

为控制山鸡椒挥发油的质量,通过水蒸气蒸馏法分离出山鸡椒挥发油,利用GC-MS建立了山鸡椒挥发油的指纹图谱,并运用主成分分析和聚类分析对指纹图谱进行模式识别研究。结果显示16批样本图谱共匹配出27个共有峰,以此27个峰为评价指标,样本的相似度均大于0.98。对27个共有峰中的18个峰进行了定性,以此18个峰为评价指标,方法学考察结果较好,主成分分析和聚类分析结果基本一致。表明该方法建立的GC-MS指纹图谱具有良好的稳定性和可靠性。同时,模式识别显示不同产地间和同一产地内的山鸡椒挥发油都存在差异。     

On the spherical prototype of a complex dissipative late-stage formation seen in terms of least action Vojta-Natanson principle

The spherical prototype of a crystalline and/or disorderly formation may help in understanding the final stages of many complex biomolecular arrangements. These stages are important for both naturally organized simple biosystems, such as protein (or, other amphiphilic) aggregates in vivo, as well as certain their artificial counterparts, mimicking either in vitro or in silico their structure-property principal relationship. For our particular one-seed based realization of a protein crystal/aggregate late-stage nucleus grown from nearby fluctuating environment, it turns out that the (osmotic-type) pressure could be, due to local inhomogeneities, and their dynamics shown up in the double layer tightly surrounding the growing object, still an appreciably detectable quantity. This is due to the fact that a special-type generalized thermodynamic (Vojta-Natanson) momentum, subjected to the nucleus' surface, is manifested interchangeably, whereas the total energy of the solution in the double layer could not be such within the stationary regime explored. It is plausible since the double layer width, related to the object's surface, contributes ultimately, while based on the so-defined momentum's changes, to the pressure within this narrow flickering zone, while leaving the total energy fairly unchanged. From the hydrodynamic point of view, the system behaves quite trivially, since the circumventing flow should rather be of laminar, thus not-with-matter supplying, character.     

论边坡的生态恢复

对裸露边坡采用植被防护的方式日益引起全球重视,但边坡植被恢复是一项比较复杂的工程,本文阐述了边坡植被的功能,生态恢复的原理,植物品种的筛选,边坡生态恢复的方法及应用,边坡生态恢复的发展方向。     

广西桂平市鳄蜥种群及栖息地现状的分析研究

2004年7月,对广西桂平市鳄蜥种群及其栖息地进行了调查,并首次采用量化指标对鳄蜥栖息的回水塘进行了分析。结果表明：桂平市鳄蜥分布区已破碎成白沙坑、牛头坳和黄凉冲、大藤峡碧滩段三个片段,分布区面积从58．39km^2减小至16．14km^2。鳄蜥种群数量约为150只。通过主成分分析发现,鳄蜥栖息回水塘的长度、宽度、水深、塘底组成、水温、栖枝类型和栖枝高度是影响鳄蜥选择回水塘的主要因子,而海拔、栖枝直径、水流速度的影响不大。鳄蜥倾向栖息于常绿阔叶林生境中,对溪沟的坡向和沟型选择不明显。     

土家族源流的遗传学初探

通过分析湖北恩施、湖南吉首地区土家族两个人群样本,利用14个Y染色体非重组区(NRY)单倍群分型技术对土家族的遗传结构进行了研究。分型结果结合其他地区土家族两个人群和相关民族群体进行主成分分析,并将分析结果根据不同人群的地理分布展示在地图上。然后对各主成分和单倍群进行偏相关分析来探讨它们之间的相关性。结果显示土家族主体与汉族在父系结构上比较接近,但依然有一定的区别。同时还发现龙山地区唯一保留土家语的土家族与氐羌族群有很明显的相关性,这说明土家族最早的起源可能正是氐羌民族。实验结果表明,恩施和吉首地区的大部分土家族与周边民族群体间的血缘交流频繁;而龙山和永顺的土家族更能代表土家先民的遗传结构,他们与西部氐羌族群密切相关。     

副沙鳅属的多变量形态分析

采用多变量分析方法对副沙鳅属Parabotia的外部形态进行了主成分分析,在27个测量性状的第1、第2主成分散布图上显示,副沙鳅属的外部形态存在着3个具有明显差异的种组:即点面副沙鳅,双斑副沙鳅、武昌副沙鳅和花斑副沙鳅,漓江副沙鳅和小副沙鳅3个种组.主成分负荷值还进一步表明,6种副沙鳅属外部度量性状的差异有多元化的倾向.结合定性特征的观察确定了副沙鳅属6个种的有效性.     

未搅拌恒化器中单食物链模型的反应扩散方程组

本文研究一类描写未搅拌恒化器中单食物链模型的反应扩散方程组,用分定理证明正稳态解的存在性,并给出种群绝灭及持续生存的条件。     

FROM METABOLISM TO POLYMORPHISM IN BACTERIAL POPULATIONS: A THEORETICAL STUDY

Abstract Stable polymorphisms are commonly observed in experimental bacterial populations grown in homogeneous media. Evidence is accumulating that metabolic interactions might be the main mechanism underlying the emergence and maintenance of such polymorphisms. To date, however, attempts to model the evolution of bacterial polymorphism have not considered metabolism as a possible component of polymorphism maintenance. Here, we propose a simulation approach to model the evolution of selected polymorphisms in a bacterial population. Using recent knowledge of the relationship between bacterial fitness and metabolism, we build a simple metabolic model and test the effect of resource competition on polymorphism. Without making an a priori hypothesis on fitness functions, we show that stable polymorphic situations could be observed under high nutrient competition, and we propose a functional, metabolism‐based explanation to the debated issue of polymorphism maintenance.