Molecular approaches to diagnosing nutritional physiology in harmful algae: Implications for studying the effects of eutrophication

Every year harmful algal blooms (HABs) cause serious impacts to local economies, coastal ecosystems, and human health on a global scale. It is well known that nutrient availability can influence important aspects of harmful algae biology and ecology, such as growth, toxin production, and life cycle stage, as well as bloom initiation, persistence and decline. Increases in the rate of supply of organic matter to ecosystems (eutrophication) carries many possible ramifications to coastal systems, including the potential for nutrient enrichment and the potential for stimulation of harmful algal blooms. Traditional studies on algal nutrition typically use either cultured isolates or community level assays, to examine nutrient uptake, nutrient preference, elemental composition, and other metrics of a species’ response to nutrients. In the last decade, technological advances have led to a great increase in the number of sequences available for critical harmful species. This, in turn, has led to new insights with regards to algal nutrition, and these advances highlight the promise of molecular technologies, and genomic approaches, to improving our understanding of algal nutrient acquisition and nutritional physiological ecology, in both cultures and field populations. With these developments increased monitoring of nutritional physiology in field populations of harmful algae will allow us to better discriminate how eutrophication impacts these groups.     

Three MTP Transporters Sequestrate Zn in Sedum alfredii Hance

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Hyperaccumulating ecotype (HE) of Sedum alfredii Hance is a Zn/Cd hyperaccumulator, which can accumulate Zn in shoot up to 2% of dry weight, understanding the...     

Genomes of 12 fig wasps provide insights into the adaptation of pollinators to fig syconia

Figs and fig pollinators are one of the few classic textbook examples of obligate pollination mutualism. The specific dependence of fig pollinators on the relatively safe living environment with sufficient food sources in the enclosed fig syconia implies that they are vulnerable to habitat changes. However, there is still no extensive genomic evidence to reveal the evolutionary footprint of this long-term mutually beneficial symbiosis in fig pollinators. In fig syconia, there are also non-pollinator species. The non-pollinator species differ in their evolutionary and life histories from pollinators. We conducted comparative analyses on 11 newly sequenced fig wasp genomes and one previously published genome. The pollinators colonized the figs approximately 66.9 million years ago, consistent with the origin of host figs. Compared with nonpollinators, many more genes in pollinators were subject to relaxed selection. Seven genes were absent in pollinators in response to environmental stress and immune activation. Pollinators had more streamlined gene repertoires in the innate immune system, chemosensory toolbox, and detoxification system. Our results provide genomic evidence for the differentiation between pollinators and nonpollinators. The data suggest that owing to the long-term adaptation to the fig, some genes related to functions no longer required are absent in pollinators.     

蜜蜂卵巢激活研究进展

蜜蜂Apis作为典型的社会性昆虫,最重要的特征就是生殖劳动分工。卵巢激活是蜜蜂发挥生殖能力的重要影响因素。本文对蜜蜂卵巢激活的影响因素、蜜蜂卵巢激活相关的基因表达及microRNA在蜜蜂卵巢激活过程中的可能作用进行了介绍,为研究蜜蜂级型分化和生殖劳动分工的分子机制提供依据。