Frequent mowing is better than grazing for the conservation value of lowland tussock grasssland at Pontville,Tasmania

Abstract The effects of an unusual high frequency mowing regime, which involved the removal of slash, were compared to moderate grazing through the method of paired quadrats across a fenceline, which was orthogonal to a weak environmental gradient. The mown plots proved superior in their conservation characteristics to the moderately grazed plots. The mowing regime produced greater cover of rare or threatened species, greater native cover and lesser exotic grass cover. It thus presents an opportunity for maintaining or improving the condition of previously grazed remnants in reserves without resorting to the use of stock or fire for biomass reduction.     

Interaction of silent and replacement changes in eukaryotic coding sequences

Summary We examined the codon usages in wellconserved and less-well-conserved regions of vertebrate protein genes and found them to be similar. Despite this similarity, there is a statistically significant decrease in codon bias in the less-well-conserved regions. Our analysis suggests that although those codon changes initially fixed under amino acid replacements tend to follow the overall codon usage pattern, they also reduce the bias in codon usage. This decrease in codon bias leads one to predict that the rate of change of synonymous codons should be greater in those regions that are less well conserved at the amino acid level than in the better-conserved regions. Our analysis supports this prediction. Furthermore, we demonstrate a significantly elevated rate of change of synonymous codons among the adjacent codons 5 to amino acid replacement positions. This provides further support for the idea that there are contextual constraints on the choice of synonymous codons in eukaryotes.     

Micropropagation of the rare species Stylidium coroniforme and other Stylidium species

The number of plants in the gazetted rare species Stylidium coroniforme was increased through micropropagation. A method was first developed using the common species S. brunonianum. It was found that for both species, rapid propagation could be obtained by excising shoots from sterile seedlings and inducing shoot proliferation on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 1 M BAP. Rooting was achieved using 1 M IBA and over 100 plants of each species were successfully established in soil. Leaf pieces could also be used to initiate cultures. In media with 20–25 M BAP and 1–5 M IBA, leaf pieces of S. brunonianum, S. piliferum, S. caricifolium and S. crassifolium produced adventitious buds, thus providing another method of micropropagation.     

Sequence analysis of a Dictyostelium discoideum gene coding for an active dihydroorotate dehydrogenase in yeast

A Dictyostelium discoideum DNA fragment isolated on the basis of its ability to complement the ural mutation of yeast, codes for a dihydroorotate dehydrogenase activity. The complete nucleotide sequence of this 1898 bp fragment has been determined and reveals an open reading frame capable of coding for a 369 amino acid polypeptide of molecular mass 47.000. The gene shows preferential use of codons with weak pairing forces. Eleven codons, mainly those with a G in the third position, are absent. The flanking sequences are unusually rich in A + T (80%). Several direct and inverted repeats exist in the 5' flanking sequence.     

白鲟消化道形态学与组织学的初步观察

白鲟消化道具有肉食性鱼类的典型特征,其口咽腔结构既适合捕食又适合吞食与滤食水生动物。咽后消化道可分为食道、胃后行支、胃前行支、小肠、瓣肠、直肠与肛门。幽门盲囊似一致密器官,小肠与瓣肠连接处有一特殊淋巴器官,肛门两侧有腹孔。白鲟口咽腔被覆层扁平上皮,上皮内有味蕾分布。咽后消化道组织分层为粘膜(无粘膜肌层)、粘膜下层(小肠及瓣肠前部无)、肌层与外膜。粘膜上皮为单层柱状上皮,由纤毛柱状细胞、一般柱状细胞和杯状细胞组成,其间还散在有颗粒细胞和游走细胞。食道后部与胃的一般柱状细胞为分泌粘液的细胞,肠内的一般柱状细胞为吸收细胞。胃后行支及部分前行支固有膜内有消化腺,其余各部的固有膜为致密层。小肠前中部粘膜形成蜂窝状粘膜窦,无肠腺。除食道前部肌层中有横纹肌外,其余部的肌层均为平滑肌。外膜内结缔组织有的致密有的疏松,外膜表面细胞柱状或立方形或扁平。     

CUG codons inCandida spp.

Codon CUG is used for serine instead of for leucine, its usual assignment, in several yeasts of the genusCandida. We propose a series of steps for the reassignment, including disappearance of leucine CUG and its anticodon CAG, formation of a new serine tRNA, with anticodon CAG, from a duplication of the gene for serine tRNA (IGA), and then production of CUG codons by mutation at sites that are mostly nonessential.     

Genetic diversity and hierarchical population structure of a rare autotetraploid plant,Aster kantoensis (Asteraceae)

We sampled 17 populations of a rare autotetraploid Aster kantoensis (Asteraceae) from three river systems located in central Japan, and studied them for allelic variation at 22 enzyme loci. There was no significant correlation between the actual population size and three genetic diversity parameters, suggesting that the effective population size was very small even for the large populations, i.e., even large populations may still have a high probability of being of recent origin and remain influenced by the founder effect. Compared to other autotetraploid species, the total genetic variation of A. kantoensis is small. The number of alleles and gene diversity of a population were not significantly different among the river systems, although the percentage of polymorphic loci was different. Genetic differentiation among river systems was larger than between populations within the river systems, thereby indicating that gene flow between river systems is small, especially between the Kinu River system and Tama or Sagami River systems.     

Diversity and conservation of blackwater fishes in Peninsular Malaysia,particularly in the North Selangor peat swamp forest

One of the most extreme freshwater habitats in Peninsular Malaysia is the peat swamp forest, with dark-coloured and highly acidic waters. Surprisingly, little is known about blackwater fishes in Peninsular Malaysia. Until 1968, only 26 fish species were known from blackwaters throughout Peninsular Malaysia, of which only one can be regarded as stenotopic. A recent intensive survey of part of the North Selangor peat swamp forest yielded 47 species, of which 14 are probably stenotopic taxa. These include four undescribed species and several new records for western Peninsular Malaysia. These discoveries are significant in that they include the family Chaudhuriidae which until 1985, was not reported from Sundaic Southeast Asia, and the rare genus Encheloclarias which had not been encountered for over 50 years. The rapid rate of destruction of the peat swamp forest owing to development, forestry and agricultural activities must be halted or slowed significantly to enable the proper zoological surveys and studies to be conducted. Conservation plans and environmental impact assessments based on inadequate sampling and knowledge of species present is acutely dangerous. There are no longer substantial undisturbed blackwater peat swamp forests left in most of Peninsular Malaysia. Conservation of the remaining blackwater biotopes is critically important if extinction of many species, here regarded as economically valuable renewable resources, is to be prevented.     

甘肃稀有濒危植物的地理分布和区系特征

分析了甘肃稀有濒危植物５１个种的地理分布和４８个属的分布区类型及其区系特征。