Effects of experimental warming and nitrogen fertilization on soil microbial communities and processes of two subalpine coniferous species in Eastern Tibetan Plateau,China

Aim

This study aimed at predicting how sub-alpine coniferous ecosystems respond to global changes in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau by understanding soil microbial communities and activities, as well as variation in the quality and quantity of soil organic matter.

Methods

An experiment was conducted to examine soil microbial communities and their related soil processes in rhizospheric soil of two coniferous species that were exposed to two levels of temperature (unwarmed and infrared heater warming) and two levels of nitrogen (unfertilized and 25 g N m^?2 a^?1) from April 2007.

Results

Four-year night warming alone slightly affected the phospholipid fatty acid contents of the microbial community. However, the combination of nitrogen addition and soil warming significantly affected soil microbial composition while reducing the biomass of major microbial groups and the activities of most enzymes, especially in Abies faxoniana plots. The combination of warming and nitrogen addition increased soil labile C and N pools in Picea asperata plots and was beneficial for soil recalcitrant C, as well as for labile and total C and N pools in A. faxoniana plots.

Conclusion

Results indicated that future warming will slightly affect soil microbial communities and their related soil processes. However, warming combined with high nitrogen deposition will significantly constrain soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities, consequently increasing soil C and N pools in sub-alpine coniferous forests of this region.     

Diversity of root-associated fungal endophytes in Rhododendron fortunei in subtropical forests of China

To investigate the diversity of root endophytes in Rhododendron fortunei, fungal strains were isolated from the hair roots of plants from four habitats in subtropical forests of China. In total, 220 slow-growing fungal isolates were isolated from the hair roots of R. fortunei. The isolates were initially grouped into 17 types based on the results of internal transcribed spacer-restriction fragment length polymorphism (ITS-RFLP) analysis. ITS sequences were obtained for representative isolates from each RFLP type and compared phylogenetically with known sequences of ericoid mycorrhizal endophytes and selected ascomycetes or basidiomycetes. Based on phylogenetic analysis of the ITS sequences in GenBank, 15 RFLP types were confirmed as ascomycetes, and two as basidiomycetes; nine of these were shown to be ericoid mycorrhizal endophytes in experimental cultures. The only common endophytes of R. fortunei were identified as Oidiodendron maius at four sites, although the isolation frequency (3–65%) differed sharply according to habitat. Phialocephala fortinii strains were isolated most abundantly from two habitats which related to the more acidic soil and pine mixed forests. A number of less common mycorrhizal RFLP types were isolated from R. fortunei at three, two, or one of the sites. Most of these appeared to have strong affinities for some unidentified root endophytes from Ericaceae hosts in Australian forests. We concluded that the endophyte population isolated from R. fortunei is composed mainly of ascomycete, as well as a few basidiomycete strains. In addition, one basidiomycete strain was confirmed as a putative ericoid mycorrhizal fungus.     

1982-2016年东北黑土区植被NDVI动态及其对气候变化的响应

植被是陆地生态系统的重要组成部分,在调节气候、水土保持等方面具有重要作用,因此,监测植被生长变化并探讨其与气候变化之间的关系,在全球变化研究中具有重要意义。基于MODIS NDVI和GIMMS NDVI数据集,并通过一致性检验,在区域和像元两个空间尺度上,利用一元线性回归模型,研究东北黑土区1982-2016年植被生长动态,分析植被生长对气温和降水量的响应程度。结果表明：区域尺度上,1982-2016年东北黑土区植被生长季NDVI变化分为3个阶段（先增加继而减少最后再增加）,区域植被的生长在气温、降水量的共同作用下,呈现出明显季节差异;像元尺度上,1982-2016年东北黑土区NDVI总体趋势为改善状态,主要改善植被类型为草原、森林和农业植被,鹤岗市、绥化市和长春市改善面积较大;多年平均NDVI值与同期气温和降水量具有一定的相关关系,平原地区植被NDVI与气温主要呈显著正相关关系,植被类型主要为耕地;平原地区边缘和山地地区的植被NDVI与降水量以显著正相关关系为主,主要植被类型为森林和草地。     

New Conformational State of NHERF1-CXCR2 Signaling Complex Captured by Crystal Lattice Trapping

NHERF1 is a PDZ adaptor protein that scaffolds the assembly of diverse signaling complexes and has been implicated in many cancers. However, little is known about the mechanism responsible for its scaffolding promiscuity or its ability to bind to multiple targets. Computational studies have indicated that PDZ promiscuity may be attributed to its conformational dynamics, but experimental evidence for this relationship remains very limited. Here we examine the conformational flexibility of the NHERF1 PDZ1 domain using crystal lattice trapping via solving PDZ1 structure of a new crystal form. The structure, together with prior PDZ1 structures of a different space group, reveals that 4 of 11 ligand-interacting residues undergo significant crystal packing-induced structural changes. Most of these residues correspond to the residues involved in allosteric transition when a peptide ligand binds. In addition, a subtle difference in ligand conformations causes the same peptide to bind in slightly different modes in different crystal forms. These findings indicate that substantial structural flexibility is present in the PDZ1 peptide-binding pocket, and the structural substate trapped in the present crystal form can be utilized to represent the conformational space accessible to the protein. Such knowledge will be critical for drug design against the NHERF1 PDZ1 domain, highlighting the continued need for experimentally determined PDZ1-ligand complexes.     

碳纳米管及其复合材料在神经系统中的应用研究进展

碳纳米管是结构和性质新颖的一类纳米材料,在生物医学领域的应用备受关注,在神经系统中的应用已成为当前的研究热点之一。本文从碳纳米管的结构和性质出发,阐述了近年来碳纳米管及其复合材料作为神经细胞生长支架材料、神经电极和药物载体,分别在神经修复、神经检测及疾病治疗三个方面的最新研究进展,探讨了碳纳米管潜在的神经毒性及其解决方法,并就碳纳米管在神经系统中的应用前景进行了展望。     

HPLC法测定山茱萸注射液中马钱素和莫诺甙的含量

山茱萸注射液中有多种有效成分,采用高效液相色谱法对山茱萸注射液中的马钱素(Loganin)和莫诺甙(Morroniside)进行分离定量.色谱柱:Kromasil-100℃_(18)柱.流动相:0.05mol/L磷酸二氢钠缓冲液-乙腈(6.4:1).马钱素和莫诺甙的平均回收率和相对标准偏差分别为99.79%、1.51(n=6)和99.73%、2.75%(n=6).结果满意,可作为山茱萸主射液质量控制的标准方法.     

In Vitro Analysis of PDZ-dependent CFTR Macromolecular Signaling Complexes

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chloride channel located primarily at the apical membranes of epithelial cells, plays a crucial role in transepithelial fluid homeostasis^1-3. CFTR has been implicated in two major diseases: cystic fibrosis (CF)⁴ and secretory diarrhea⁵. In CF, the synthesis or functional activity of the CFTR Cl- channel is reduced. This disorder affects approximately 1 in 2,500 Caucasians in the United States⁶. Excessive CFTR activity has also been implicated in cases of toxin-induced secretory diarrhea (e.g., by cholera toxin and heat stable E. coli enterotoxin) that stimulates cAMP or cGMP production in the gut⁷.Accumulating evidence suggest the existence of physical and functional interactions between CFTR and a growing number of other proteins, including transporters, ion channels, receptors, kinases, phosphatases, signaling molecules, and cytoskeletal elements, and these interactions between CFTR and its binding proteins have been shown to be critically involved in regulating CFTR-mediated transepithelial ion transport in vitro and also in vivo^8-19. In this protocol, we focus only on the methods that aid in the study of the interactions between CFTR carboxyl terminal tail, which possesses a protein-binding motif [referred to as PSD95/Dlg1/ZO-1 (PDZ) motif], and a group of scaffold proteins, which contain a specific binding module referred to as PDZ domains. So far, several different PDZ scaffold proteins have been reported to bind to the carboxyl terminal tail of CFTR with various affinities, such as NHERF1, NHERF2, PDZK1, PDZK2, CAL (CFTR-associated ligand), Shank2, and GRASP^20-27. The PDZ motif within CFTR that is recognized by PDZ scaffold proteins is the last four amino acids at the C terminus (i.e., 1477-DTRL-1480 in human CFTR)²⁰. Interestingly, CFTR can bind more than one PDZ domain of both NHERFs and PDZK1, albeit with varying affinities²². This multivalency with respect to CFTR binding has been shown to be of functional significance, suggesting that PDZ scaffold proteins may facilitate formation of CFTR macromolecular signaling complexes for specific/selective and efficient signaling in cells^16-18.Multiple biochemical assays have been developed to study CFTR-involving protein interactions, such as co-immunoprecipitation, pull-down assay, pair-wise binding assay, colorimetric pair-wise binding assay, and macromolecular complex assembly assay^16-19,28,29. Here we focus on the detailed procedures of assembling a PDZ motif-dependent CFTR-containing macromolecular complex in vitro, which is used extensively by our laboratory to study protein-protein or domain-domain interactions involving CFTR^16-19,28,29.