First Report of Black Leaf Spot Caused by Alternaria alternata on Ramie in China

In 2012 and 2013, black leaf spot disease was observed on ramie plants in Hunan and Hubei Provinces, China. In the field, the symptoms of this disease included dark green to black big spots on leaves, often resulting in upwardly curled leaf margins. The pathogen isolates were identified as Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler on the basis of morphology and sequence similarity of 99–100% to the published data for internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (gdp). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Alternaria leaf spot of ramie in China.     

苎麻雄性不育系生化代谢和育性遗传研究

用不同温度和日长处理盆栽材料,测试苎麻雄性不育系的温光反应;于雌雄性器官发育期取盆栽植株顶部展开叶往下数第7叶,分析不育系的生化代谢;根据杂交及自交后代育性分离情况,鉴定不育系的不育性遗传方式.结果如下高温加速营养生长,而短日促进生殖生长,短日高温明显加快不育系的发育进度,但高温的促进作用随日长增加而减弱,以至消失.不育系的叶片粗蛋白质、氨基酸含量比可育系减少,尤其是天门冬氨酸、谷氨酸、甘氨酸、胱氨酸、缬氨酸、苯丙氨酸和精氨酸减少明显,但游离脯氨酸含量增加.这些物质代谢的变化,可能是导致苎麻雄性不育的原因.不育系GS14-1、SS370、GSA-2、GS15-8和SS387等的不育性遗传与1对相对性状的遗传方式相符,已找到不育系的保持系和恢复系.     

Natural selection on body size traits in a long‐lived bird,the snow petrel Pagodroma nivea

I consider the possibility of selection favouring large body size in a population of snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea), a long‐lived seabird species. I measured natural selection on body size traits in a population from 1987 to 1998. There was evidence of selection on body size associated with fecundity and survival. Directional selection on bill length and stabilizing selection on tarsus length associated with reproductive success were detected among males. Selection associated with survival favoured males with longer bills. However, selection was weak in all cases. No evidence of selection acting on female body size traits was detected. Offspring–parents regression suggested that bill length and tarsus length were heritable. Although I was able to identify the targets of selection in this population, I could not demonstrate the ecological implications of both tarsus length and bill length variation. The selection on male, but not on female, body size traits suggests factors such as intrasexual competition for nests and/or mates rather than factors such as feeding efficiency as mechanisms of selection on bill size.     

成花光敏感的雌雄性不育苎麻活性氧代谢研究

为研究成花光敏感雌雄不育苎麻(Floral initiation photo-sensitive male and female sertile ramie,SMSFS)的败育与活性氧代谢的关系,对SMSFS及其回复突变株SMSFS(R)花器官的活性氧(ROS)清除酶活性和丙二醛(MDA)含量测定．结果表明：SMSFS蕾的过氧化物酶(POD)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性明显高于可育株SMSFS(R),而膜脂过氧化产物MDA的含量低于SMSFS(R);与蕾期相比,败育期SMSFS雌雄花除POD活性有所上升,而SOD和CAT活性则显著下降,MDA含量升高并高于开花期可育株．可见活性氧代谢的失衡引起了的膜脂过氧化,与SMSFS雌雄性败育明显相关．     

Experimentally delayed hatching triggers a magnified stress response in a long-lived bird

In birds, the timing of breeding is a key life-history trait with crucial fitness consequences. We predicted that parents may value a brood less if it hatched later than expected, thereby decreasing their parental effort. In addition, breeding effort would be further modulated by the age-specific decline of future breeding opportunities. We experimentally investigated whether snow petrels, Pagodroma nivea, were less committed to care for a chick that hatched later than expected. The timing of hatching was manipulated by swapping eggs between early and late known-age pairs (7-44 years old), and investigations on hormonal and behavioral adjustments were conducted. As a hormonal gauge of parental commitment to the brood, we measured the corticosterone stress response of guarding adults. Indeed, an acute stress response mediates energy allocation towards survival at the expense of current reproduction and is magnified when the current brood value is low, as it is expected to be in young and/or delayed parents. As predicted, egg desertion and the magnitude of the stress response was stronger in delayed pairs compared to control ones. However, the treatment did not decrease the length of the guarding period, chick condition and chick survival. In addition, old parents resisted stress better (lower stress-induced corticosterone levels) than young ones. Our study provides evidence that snow petrels, as prudent parents, may value a brood less if it hatched later than expected. Thus, in long-lived birds, the responsiveness to stressors appeared to be adjusted according to the individual prospect of future breeding opportunities (age) and to the current brood value (timing of breeding).     

苎麻细胞质雄性不育“三系”ISSR 特异片段克隆和序列分析

利用ISSR 分子标记技术对苎麻细胞质雄性不育“三系”mtDNA 进行多态性分析; 在选用的38 个ISSR引物中, 有6 个引物的扩增产物在不育系、保持系和恢复系之间存在差异。对这些特异性片段进行克隆和序列测定, 结果表明: 片段21-MS 全长956 bp , 包含一个525 bp 的完整编码区, 共编码174 个氨基酸。片段31-M􊄯R 全长778 bp , 包含一个404 bp 的不完整编码区, 共编码134 个氨基酸; 其核苷酸和氨基酸序列与已报道的多种植物中的番茄红素β-环化酶基因分别存在71%～76%和73%～77%的同源性。     

苎麻小分子G蛋白Racl基因的克隆及表达分析

植物Rac是植物中特有的小分子G蛋白,我们从苎麻转录组中获得一个小分子G蛋白基因eDNA,．5部分序列,设计引物后采用RT-PCR结合RACE技术克隆了该基因的cDNA。序列分析表明,所克隆的RaclcDNA全长为l043bp,包括594bp开放阅读框、214bp的3’端非编码区和235bp的5’端非编码区,能编码一个197氨基酸的推导蛋白。该蛋白包含G蛋白典型的效应因子结合位点、GTP／GDP结合位点和碱性氨基酸区,c末端具有保守的异戊烯基化位,CSIL。采用半定量RT-PCR分析了该基因在5个苎麻品种及不同组织器官中的表达情况,结果表明Racl基因在苎麻根、茎、叶中均有表达,其中在叶中的表达量最高。纤维木质素含量不同的品种中,Racl基因的表达量存在明显差异。木质素含量高的品种具有较高的Racl基因表达,表明该基因可能在苎麻木质素合成过程中发挥作用。     

苎麻光合生理生态特性研究

以大田栽培的苎麻植株为材料,用TPS-2便携式光合作用测定系统测定自然条件下生长的苎麻叶片的光合气体交换参数,以及光响应曲线和CO2响应曲线,并通过回归和相关法分析探讨净光合速率与主要生理、生态因子间的关系.结果表明:(1)苎麻叶片的净光合速率(Pn)日变化曲线呈现双峰型,2个光合峰高度接近,其净光合速率具有典型的午休"现象;蒸腾速率(Tr)日变化曲线呈现单峰型,其走势与气孔导度(Gs)日变化一致.(2)苎麻叶片光合作用的光饱和点(LSP)为1 568.5μmol?m-2?s-1,光补偿点(LCP)为54.18μmol?m-2?s-1,表观量子效率(AQY)为0.025 8 mol?mol-1;而其CO2补偿点(CCP)、饱和点(CSP)和羧化效率(CE)分别为49.25、1 746.9μmol?mol-1和0.045;因此,苎麻属于喜光性阳生植物,且对强光有一定的耐受能力.(3)苎麻叶片Pn日变化的主要限制因子是胞间CO2浓度(Ci),主要决定生理因子是气孔导度(Gs).     

High annual variability in reproductive success and survival of an Antarctic seabird,the snow petrel Pagodroma nivea

Demographic parameters were estimated for snow petrels Pagodroma nivea nesting at Pointe Géologie Archipelago, Adélie Land, Antarctica between 1963 and 1990; 21 years of data on adult survival and 27 years of data on breeding success are available. The average age of first return and first breeding were 8.1 and 9.9 years respectively and there was no signifcant difference between the sexes. The overall breeding success averaged 51.3% and was very variable between years (21–80%). Breeding failure was mostly due to incubation failure and annual breeding success was negatively correlated with average snow falls in October–November and October–March. Breeding frequency was very low, averaging 52% of seasons during a reproductive lifetime. Good quality sites, with high occupancy rate and high breeding success were few in the study plots. Poor years in 1966–1967, 1976–1977 and 1983–1984, with low breeding success, very low proportions of nets with breeding attempts and high numbers of non-breeders, occurred 1 year after large-scale El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Snow petrels exhibited very low philopatry. Only 45 birds have been recovered in the study plots from a total of 1115 banded fledglings giving an estimated rate of return of 12.9% between fledging and 3 years old. Annual survival between 3 and 10 years was 91.4%. Annual adult survival (93.4%), though variable, was low during poor years of 1977–1978 and 1983–1984. Adult survival of males (94.7%) was not significantly different from that of females (93.9%). Over the study period, the population of Pointe Géologie was stable. Using the estimated parameters, a Leslie model gave a growth rate of 0.948%, which was probably compensated by immigration (5.7% per year). Restricted numbers of good-quality sites at the place of birth could have led young birds to prospect other colonies and could have selected low philopatry. High adult survival, strong site tenacity and capacity to spread breeding over a long lifetime are probably part of the adaptive strategy of this small fulmarine petrel facing highly variable environmental conditions.