Meiofauna promotes litter decomposition in stream ecosystems depending on leaf species

Litter decomposition, a fundamental process of nutrient cycling and energy flow in freshwater ecosystems, is driven by a diverse array of decomposers. As an important component of the heterotrophic food web, meiofauna can provide a trophic link between leaf‐associated microbes (i.e., bacteria and fungi)/plant detritus and macroinvertebrates, though their contribution to litter decomposition is not well understood. To investigate the role of different decomposer communities in litter decomposition, especially meiofauna, we compared the litter decomposition of three leaf species with different lignin to nitrogen ratios in litter bags with different mesh sizes (0.05, 0.25, and 2 mm) in a forested stream, in China for 78 days. The meiofauna significantly enhanced the decomposition of leaves of high‐and medium‐ quality, while decreasing (negative effect) or increasing (positive effect) the fungal biomass and diversity. Macrofauna and meiofauna together contributed to the decomposition of low‐quality leaf species. The presence of meiofauna and macrofauna triggered different aspects of the microbial community, with their effects on litter decomposition varying as a function of leaf quality. This study reveals that the meiofauna increased the trophic complexity and modulated their interactions with microbes, highlighting the important yet underestimated role of meiofauna in detritus‐based ecosystems.     

32k Da protein improve ovariectomy-induced bone loss in rats

The objective of the present study was to systematically explore the effects of 32K Da protein (32KP) on postmenopausal osteoporosis. Eighty 3-mo-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were employed and randomly divided into one sham-operated group (SHAM) and five ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups as OVX (control), OVX with 17-ethinylestradiol (E2, 25 g/kg/day), OVX with 32KP of graded doses (50, 50, or 150 mg/kg/day). 32KP or E2 diet was fed on week 4 after operation, for 16 weeks. Bone mass, bone turnover and strength were evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), biochemical markers and three-point bending test, respectively. Femur marrow cavity was observed by light microscopy via hematoxylin-eosin staining. It is observed that different dosage treatment of 32KP increased the body weight and prevented the loss of bone mass induced by OVX. The prevention effect against bone loss was presumably due to the altering of the rate of bone remodeling. The bone mineral density and bone calcium content in OVX rats were lower than that in the control group, suggesting that 32KP was able to prevent significant bone loss. In addition, the data from three point bending test and femur sections showed that 32KP treatment enhanced bone strength and reduced the marrow cavity of the femur in OVX rats. In the serum and urine assay, 32KP decreased urinary deoxypyridinoline and calcium concentrations; however, serum alkaline phosphatase activities were not inhibited. It suggested that amelioration of bone loss was changed via inhibition of bone reabsorption. Our findings indicated that 32KP might be a potential alternative drug for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.     

Tunable emission,energy transfer and charge compensation in SrMoO4:Sm3+,Tb3+,Na+ phosphor

A series of SrMoO₄:Sm³⁺,Tb³⁺,Na⁺ phosphors was synthesized using a high‐temperature solid‐state reaction method in air. On excitation at 290 nm, SrMoO₄:Sm³⁺,Tb³⁺ phosphor emitted light that varied systematically from green to reddish‐orange on changing the Sm³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ion concentrations. The emission intensities of SrMoO₄:Sm³⁺ and SrMoO₄:Sm³⁺,Tb³⁺ phosphors were increased two to four times due to charge compensation when Na⁺ was added as a charge compensator. The luminescence mechanism and energy transfer could be explained using energy‐level diagrams of the MoO₄^2– group, Sm³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions. SrMoO₄:Sm³⁺,Tb³⁺,Na⁺ could be used as reddish‐orange phosphor in white light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) based on an ~ 405 nm near‐UV LED chip. This research is helpful in adjusting and improving the luminescence properties of other phosphors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Forest characteristics and population structure of Glyptostrobus pensilis,a globally endangered relict species of southeastern China

The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. Forest community characteristics and population structure of G. pensilis in China have remained un-known up to now. We investigated six swamp forest stands and analyzed their forest community characteristics (i.e. vertical stratification, species composition, and diversity) and population structure, including the frequency distribution of DBH (diameter at breast height) and age-classes as found in Fujian Province, southeastern China. The vertical stratifications of all the forest stands were rather simple. The remaining wild specimens ranged from roughly 15 to some 357 years for an average of ca. 85 years, with only a few individuals less than 20 years old. Compared with the stands and populations of G. pensilis in Vietnam, the taxonomic compositions of the stands in the two regions were different, except for the dominant species-G. pensilis. The Shannon-Wiener index showed the overstory of each stand had much lower diversity (0.26 on average) in Fujian Province than that (1.97 on average) in Vietnam, whereas the diversity indices were about the same (around 2.41) for the understories in the two regions. Furthermore, we discovered 18 G. pensilis seedlings at the study sites in Fujian Province. This discovery demonstrates that G. pensilis regeneration is extremely poor and its populations are declining, although these populations are rela-tively healthier than those in Vietnam.     

Fungi participate in driving home-field advantage of litter decomposition in a subtropical forest

Plant and Soil - Home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis predicts that plant litter decomposes faster beneath the plant species from which it was derived than beneath other plant species. However, it...     

Isolation of SFRS3 gene and its differential expression during metamorphosis involving eye migration of Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus

Both eyes of flatfishes are located on one side of the body due to asymmetrical eye migration. The molecular mechanisms underlying such asymmetry is poorly understood. As an initial step, we have adopted suppression subtractive hybridization for the identification of upregulated genes during metamorphosis involving eye migration in Japanese flounder, Paralichthys olicaceus. One of the upregulated genes was identified as the splicing factor arginine/serine rich-3 (SFRS3). Sequence analysis of SFRS3 revealed that it encodes a protein of 168 amino acids containing the typical eukaryotic RNA recognition motif (RRM) and an arginine/serine-rich region. The overall amino acid sequences of the Japanese flounder SFRS3 was highly conserved with that of other organisms. The expression of flounder SFRS3 gene increased sharply from the beginning of metamorphosis and reached a high level of expression at stage H of metamorphosis 43 days after hatching. The SFRS3 gene upregulation was mainly limited to the head region, particularly in the rapidly proliferative tissues, the lateral ethmoid and "skin thickness" on blind side, which are thought as two proliferative tissues to push the eye movement. In spite of the upregulated expression of SFRS3 during metamorphosis, its role in metamorphosis involving eye migration requires further studies.     

Metabolomics reveals metabolite changes of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension in China

The specific mechanism of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains elusive. The present study aimed to explore the underlying mechanism of PAH through the identity of novel biomarkers for PAH using metabolomics approach. Serum samples from 40 patients with idiopathic PAH (IPAH), 20 patients with congenital heart disease‐associated PAH (CHD‐PAH) and 20 healthy controls were collected and analysed by ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with high‐resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC‐HRMS). Orthogonal partial least square‐discriminate analysis (OPLS‐DA) was applied to screen potential biomarkers. These results were validated in monocrotaline (MCT)‐induced PAH rat model. The OPLS‐DA model was successful in screening distinct metabolite signatures which distinguished IPAH and CHD‐PAH patients from healthy controls, respectively (26 and 15 metabolites). Unbiased analysis from OPLS‐DA identified 31 metabolites from PAH patients which were differentially regulated compared to the healthy controls. Our analysis showed dysregulation of the different metabolic pathways, including lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism, amino acid metabolism and phospholipid metabolism pathways in PAH patients compared to their healthy counterpart. Among these metabolites from dysregulated metabolic pathways, a panel of metabolites from lipid metabolism and fatty acid oxidation (lysophosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylcholine, perillic acid, palmitoleic acid, N‐acetylcholine‐d ‐sphingomyelin, oleic acid, palmitic acid and 2‐Octenoylcarnitine metabolites) were found to have a close association with PAH. The results from the analysis of both real‐time quantitative PCR and Western blot showed that expression of LDHA, CD36, FASN, PDK1 GLUT1 and CPT‐1 in right heart/lung were significantly up‐regulated in MCT group than the control group.     

中国佛教寺庙植物多样性和佛教树种替代

佛教是我国的主要宗教之一, 佛教寺庙作为佛教文化的物质载体, 对区域生物多样性的保护具有重要意义。本研究收集了中国191座寺庙的树种名录, 分析了不同地区寺庙的树种组成、分布格局及影响因素, 以明确寺庙在生物多样性保护中的作用。结果表明: (1)全国191座寺庙共收集到树种1,059种, 隶属116科410属, 大多数树种(773种)仅出现在1-2座寺庙中; (2)寺庙树种中含有大量乡土植物, 并且保存了丰富的受威胁树种(94种), 具有较高的生物多样性保护价值; (3)不同气候带的佛教树种组成差异较大, 主要受气候因子限制; (4)佛教树种具有清晰的树种替代现象, 由南向北原始佛教树种逐渐由形态相似的本土物种(替代佛教树种)替代。以上结果表明中国寺庙中保存了非常丰富的植物资源, 有效地保护和利用寺庙植物资源对维持区域生物多样性和提升城市绿化水平具有积极作用。     

Cyclohexenone Derivative and Drimane Sesquiterpenes from the Seagrass-Derived Fungus Aspergillus insuetus

One new cyclohexenone derivative ( 1 ), and two undescribed drimane sesquiterpenes ( 2 and 3 ), together with another seven known drimane sesquiterpenes were isolated from a seagrass-derived fungus Aspergillus insuetus SYSU6925. Structures of these metabolites were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including NMR analysis, mass spectrometry, and ECD calculations. Compounds 1 – 3 , 5 and 7 displayed weak to moderate antifungal activities towards four phytopathogenic fungi, with Minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) values range from 50 to 200 μg/mL. Compound 1 , a rare cyclohexenone derivative with n-propyl group exhibited more potent inhibitory activities (MIC, 50 μg/mL) against F. oxysporum than positive control (Triadimefon). Compounds 2 and 3 also exhibit potent anti-inflammatory activities by inhibiting the production of nitric oxide (NO) in RAW264.7 cells with IC₅₀ values of 21.5±1.1 and 32.6±1.16 μM, respectively.     

城市荒野生态研究概述

荒野是地球表面未受人类开发建设影响或基本不受人类活动干扰的自然区域,在城市的局部人为干扰极低区域也存在荒野片段。城市荒野作为城市内部及周边区域中以自然过程主导的景观单元,其物种组成、结构、过程和功能处于基本不受人类活动干扰的状况,因此具有高度自我调节的生态过程,以及良好的生态系统服务潜力,是城市生态系统的高保护价值区域。城市荒野有别于一般人工生态系统的生态特征及生物多样性保育等高价值服务功能开始引起人们的广泛重视,被认为是完善城市生态网络、保护城市生物多样性以及应对人类世人地矛盾激化的重要机遇。当前,国内外城市荒野研究尚处在初级阶段,有关城市荒野辨识、分类及生态特征等方面的研究滞后,制约了城市荒野的价值判断与保护决策。研究系统分析了城市荒野生态研究的进展与趋势,深入辨析了城市荒野的概念、分类与生态特征,探讨了城市荒野与人类的共存挑战和协同机遇,针对现有研究不足提出了保护和修复对策,并就值得进一步关注的研究方向给出了相关建议。研究旨在阐明基于城市荒野恢复城市与自然联系的机遇和挑战,可为城市生物多样性可持续管理提供科学依据,对城市自然资本保护与增强城市生态系统韧性具有重要意义。