Floristic inventory and diversity assessment of a lowland African Montane Rainforest at Korup,Cameroon and implications for conservation

Twenty modified‐Whittaker plots were stratified at different sampling locations from February to May of 2008 in the central zone of Korup National Park, Cameroon. Our interest was to assess floristic diversity and investigate their relationship with environmental variables. Diversity profiles and rank abundance–curves were used for diversity analysis while canonical correspondence analysis and species–response curves were used to investigate the relationships between the response and explanatory variables. Of the 66 families identified, the Rubiaceae (999 species) were the most abundant. The Sterculiaceae (basal area = 10.482 m² ha^?1) were the dominant family, while the co‐dominant families included the Ebenaceae (basal area = 9.092 m² ha^?1) and the Euphorbiaceae (basal area = 8.168 m² ha^?1). Soil variables explained 54.3% of total variation in family distribution. Canonical axes were related to different environmental gradients: axis1 was related to increasing canopy cover (r = 0.6951); axis 2, increasing Magnesium (r = 0.8465) and effective cation exchange capacity (r = 0.5899); axis 3, increasing effective cation exchange capacity (r = 0.5536); while axis 4, increasing Phosphorus concentration (r = 0.5232). Our results demonstrate the advantage which diversity profiles have over single or combination of indices, and the importance of using a combination of methodologies in diversity analysis.     

抗真菌蛋白研究进展

对几种抗真菌蛋白 :病程相关蛋白、防卫素、核糖体失活蛋白、几丁质连接蛋白、蛋白酶抑制剂等的类型、特征、抗菌菌机理进行了阐述 ,着重讨论了病程相关蛋白和核糖体失活蛋白的最新研究进展 ,并且讨论了抗真菌蛋白在植物真菌病害综合防治中的应用前景。     

中红侧沟茧蜂对烟草挥发物的触角电生理及行为反应

中红侧沟茧峰 Microplitis mediator是棉铃虫 H elicoverpa armigera的主要内寄生蜂 ,是优良的蜂种 ,在生物防治上具有广阔的应用前景。但迄今 ,有关中红侧沟茧蜂的化学生态的研究甚少。利用触角电位技术 ,测定了中红侧沟茧蜂对烟草叶片粗提物和烟草中 10种挥发物的触角电生理反应 ,并测定了中红侧沟茧蜂的触角电位反应随日龄的变化。以嗅觉仪测定了中红侧沟茧蜂对烟草粗提物、烟草中 4种挥发物的行为反应。结果表明中红侧沟茧蜂利用烟草释放的气味向烟草定向 ,进而找到其寄主——棉铃虫 ,也佐证了烟草同样是棉铃虫的重要寄主植物的论点。雌蜂对脂肪族化合物反应最强 ,对芳香族化合物和糠醛 (杂环化合物 )的反应居中 ,对萜类化合物反应较弱或者不反应。表明烟草挥发性物质在中红侧沟茧蜂寻找寄主的过程中起着重要的作用 ,但挥发物各组分的作用存在着差异。雌性中红侧沟茧蜂对顺 - 3-己烯醇的触角电位反应随日龄的增加而变化。 1日龄的雌蜂的反应较弱 ,2日龄、3日龄的雌蜂反应较强 ,4日龄、5日龄的雌蜂的反应又减弱。这与该蜂产卵习性相符 :羽化当天的雌蜂产卵较少 ,羽化 2～ 3d之后的雌蜂产卵量较大     

NO是植物应激反应的信号分子

根据NO的性质和可能的产生途径,略述了生物胁迫(病原菌侵害)和干旱胁迫、盐胁迫、极端温度、机械损伤、臭氧和紫外辐射等各种非生物胁迫信号与NO信号分子的偶联及其信号的级联途径,概括了NO可能介导的生物过程,讨论了NO通过其下游信号过程对与细胞的生理影响以及该下游信号过程所涉及到的cGMP、cADPR的产生和NO与其它信号分子(ROS、SA、ABA等)的协同作用,表明胁迫诱导的NO爆发是激发、启动和装备植物细胞的重要信号级联环节,这个环节能使植物细胞处于应激状态,并迅速作出反应,形成一系列适应机制。     

Differential modulation of murine host immune response by salivary gland extracts from the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are major vectors of numerous infectious agents. Compounds in mosquito saliva not only facilitate blood-feeding, but may also have an impact upon the immune system of vertebrate hosts. Consequently, the exposure to mosquito saliva may influence pathogen transmission, establishment and disease development. Using two medically important vector mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti (L.) and Culex quinquefasciatus Say, we examined the effects of mosquito saliva on immune cells of host mice. After antigen-specific or non-specific stimulation, murine splenocyte proliferation and production of both Th1 and Th2 cytokines were significantly reduced in the presence of salivary gland extract (SGE) from Ae. aegypti, but not SGE from Cx. quinquefasciatus. T cell populations were highly susceptible to this suppression, showing increased mortality and reduced division rates - judged by flow cytometric analyses. Evidently these two culicine mosquitoes differ in their host immunomodulatory activities.     

响应面设计法优化单葡萄糖醛酸基甘草次酸（GAMG）发酵转化培养基

以甘草酸（dycyfrhizin,GL）为底物,利用产紫青霉（Penicillium purpurogenum Li-3）液态发酵转化单葡萄糖醛酸甘草次酸（GAMG）,采用响应面设计法对初始发酵培养基进行优化。用部分因子分析法研究原始发酵培养基各成分对响应值的显著程度,发现甘草酸（GL）、NaNO3和K2HPO4的质量浓度对发酵产生GAMG的影响显著（P〈0．01）。用中心组合设计确立甘草酸、NaNO3和K2HPO4的适宜质量浓度分别为2．8、3．0和0．8g／L。在优化条件下进行发酵时,GAMG的转化率从75．49％提高到89．11％,比优化前提高了13．62％。     

DNA sequence selectivity of human topoisomerase I‐mediated DNA cleavage induced by camptothecin

In probing the mechanism of inhibition of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1) by campothecins, we investigated the ability of human topoisomerase I to bind and cleave HIF-1 response element (HRE), which contains the known camptothecin-mediated topoisomerase I cleavage site 5′-TG. We observed that the selection of 5′-TG by human topoisomerase I and topotecan depends to a large extent on the specific flanking sequences, and that the presence of a G at the −2 position (where cleavage occurs between −1 and +1) prevents the HRE site from being a preferred site for such cleavage. Furthermore, the presence of −2 T/A can induce the cleavage at a less preferred TC or TA site. However, in the absence of a more preferred site, the HRE site is shown to be cleaved by human topoisomerase I in the presence of topotecan. Thus, it is implied that the −2 base has a significant influence on the selection of the camptothecin-mediated Topo I cleavage site, which can overcome the preference for +1G. While the cleavage site recognition has been known to be based on the concerted effect of several bases spanning the cleavage site, such a determining effect of an individual base has not been previously recognized. A possible base-specific interaction between DNA and topoisomerase I may be responsible for this sequence selectivity.     

Regulation and function of root exudates

Root-secreted chemicals mediate multi-partite interactions in the rhizosphere, where plant roots continually respond to and alter their immediate environment. Increasing evidence suggests that root exudates initiate and modulate dialogue between roots and soil microbes. For example, root exudates serve as signals that initiate symbiosis with rhizobia and mycorrhizal fungi. In addition, root exudates maintain and support a highly specific diversity of microbes in the rhizosphere of a given particular plant species, thus suggesting a close evolutionary link. In this review, we focus mainly on compiling the information available on the regulation and mechanisms of root exudation processes, and provide some ideas related to the evolutionary role of root exudates in shaping soil microbial communities.