家蚕基因组文库的构建

家蚕（Ｂｏｍｂｙｘｍｏｒｉ）单倍体（ｎ＝２８）的碱基数为４．８×１０￣５ｋｂ。从５龄第３天的家蚕后部丝腺中提取总ＤＮＡ，用ＭｂｏⅠ部分酶解所得的ＤＮＡ片段克隆在载体入Ｃｈａｒｏｎ４０上。重组分子经体外包装形成活的噬菌体颗粒，得到的重组噬菌体数为２．５５×１０￣５ｐｆｕ，达到了建库的要求。用ＤＩＧ标记的探针进行原位杂交鉴定以及小样提取ＤＮＡ酶切检测插入片段，均显示了该基因文库的真实性。     

Changes in soil properties and vegetation characteristics along a forest-savanna gradient in southern Venezuela

Vegetation cover in the Gran Sabana highlands (southern Venezuela) appears as a complex mosaic of tall to low forests, bush vegetation and savannas. In this study we described the changes in structure and floristic composition along a forest-savanna gradient consisted of tall forest (TF), medium forest (MF), low forest (LF) and open savanna (S), and analyse the possible reasons for the observed changes. The results showed no obvious differences in the soils properties along the vegetation gradient. All sites presented shallow soils (<50 cm depth) with high percentage of sand and with dominance of quartz, kaolinite and oxides of iron and aluminum. The soil chemical characteristics were unfavorable and similar along the vegetation gradient. The major soil difference was related with the presence of an organic layer on the soil surface of TF and MF and their absence on the soils of LF and S. Abundant residues of large trees were found on the forest floor of TF, MF and LF. These residues presented no signs of burning in TF, while in MF and particularly in LF were charred. This observation joined to the presence of charcoal within the mineral soil of S and the absence of the organic surface layer in LF and S indicated that fire has affected with different intensity or frequency the studied vegetation gradient. Large differences in the structure and floristic composition were found between TF, MF, LF and S. These differences could not be explained by changes in the mineralogical and chemical characteristics of the soil but only by fire which triggers the conversion. We concluded that the studied vegetation gradient represents stages in a temporal change from forest to savanna caused by fire, and this change has implied an impoverishment of tree species, a drastic reduction of biomass in terms of basal area, a drastic change of the floristic composition and the loss of the organic surface layer, which play an important role to maintain the fertility of these soils.     

Spatially explicit assessment of carbon stocks of a managed forest area in eastern Germany

The Kyoto-protocol permits the accounting of changes in forest carbon stocks due to forestry. Therefore, forest owners are interested in a reproducible quantification of carbon stocks at the level of forest management units and the impact of management to these stocks or their changes. We calculated the carbon stocks in tree biomass and the organic layer including their uncertainties for several forest management units (Tharandt forest, Eastern Germany, 5,500 ha) spatially explicit at the scale of individual stands by using standard forest data sources. Additionally, soil carbon stocks along a catena were quantified. Finally, carbon stocks of spruce and beech dominated stands were compared and effects of thinning intensity and site conditions were assessed. We combined forest inventory and data of site conditions by using the spatial unions of the shapes (i.e., polygons) in the stand map and the site map. Area weighted means of carbon (C) stocks reached 10.0 kg/m2 in tree biomass, 3.0 kg/m2 in the organic layer and 7.3 kg/m2 in mineral soil. Spatially explicit error propagation yielded a precision of the relative error of carbon stocks at the total studied area of 1% for tree biomass, 45% for the organic layer, and 20% for mineral soil. Mature beech dominated stands at the Tharandt forest had higher tree biomass carbon stocks (13.4 kg/m2) and lower organic layer carbon stocks (1.8 kg/m2) compared to stands dominated by spruce (11.6, 3.0 kg/m2). The difference of tree biomass stocks was mainly due to differences in thinning intensity. The additional effect of site conditions on tree carbon stocks was very small. We conclude that the spatially explicit combination of stand scale inventory data with data on site conditions is suited to quantify carbon stocks in tree biomass and organic layer at operational scale.     

放牧和围封对藏北高寒草原紫花针茅群落生物量分配及碳、氮、磷储量的影响

草地围封工程是改善退化草原生态环境和促进牧区经济可持续发展的一项重大举措。以典型高寒草原紫花针茅(Stipa purpurea)群落为研究对象,选取自由放牧、围封4年和围封8年3块样地,比较分析不同草地管理方式下群落生物量分配和碳(C)、氮(N)、磷(P)储量差异。结果表明,自由放牧、围封4年和围封8年的群落地上生物量分别为46.12、146.40和256.44 g·m-2,0-15 cm土层根系生物量分别为274.74、214.87和764.59g·m-2,15-30 cm土层根系生物量分别为17.80、17.56和31.64 g·m-2;围封显著促进了植被群落的增长(P0.05),其中对围封4年的优势种紫花针茅和青藏苔草(Carex moorcroftii)总生物量影响最显著(P0.05)。围封显著提高了植物群落地上部分C、N、P储量,其中围封8年样地营养元素储量最高(P0.05)。研究结果有助于揭示草地围封工程对藏北高寒草原紫花针茅群落物质分配的影响,为评估该区域退牧还草的生态效应提供了基础数据。     

家蚕基因库信息管理系统设计

】根据ＵＣＤＯＳ５．０,运用数据库程序设计语言ＦＯＸＰＲＯ２．５,建立了家蚕基因库信息管理系统。该系统由家蚕基因库、近等位基因库、新增基因库以及数据处理和检索系统组成。     

Changes in soil carbon during the establishment of a hardwood plantation in subtropical Australia

Soil carbon (C) pools are not only important to governing soil properties and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems, but also play a critical role in global C cycling. Mulch and weed control treatments may alter soil C pools by changing organic matter inputs to the forest ecosystem. We studied the 12-month mulch and weed control responses on the chemical composition of soil organic C and the seasonal dynamics of water extractable organic C (WEOC), hot water extractable organic C (HWEOC), chloroform-released organic C (CHCl₃-released C), and acid hydrolysed organic C (acid hydrolysable C) in a hardwood plantation of subtropical Australia. The results showed that compared with the non-mulch treatment, the mulch treatment significantly increased soil WEOC, HWEOC, and CHCl₃-released C over the four sampling months. The weed control treatment significantly reduced the amount of HWEOC and CHCl₃-released C compared with the no weed control treatment. Neither the mulch nor weed control treatment significantly affected soil acid hydrolysed organic C. There were no significant seasonal variations in soil WEOC, HWEOC, CHCl₃-released C, and acid hydrolysed organic C in the hardwood plantation. Solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to study the structural chemistry of soil C pools in hydrofluoric acid (HF) treated soils collected 12 months after the mulch and weed control treatments were applied. Overall, O-alkyl C was the dominant C fraction, accounting for 33–43% of the total NMR signal intensity. The mulch treatment led to higher signal intensity in the alkyl C spectral region and A/O-A ratio (the ratio of alkyl C region intensity to O-alkyl C region intensity), but lower signal intensity in the aryl C and aromaticity. Compared with the no weed control treatment, the weed control treatment reduced signal intensity in the aryl C and aromaticity. Together, shifts in the amount and nature of soil C following the mulch and weed control treatments may be due to the changes in organic matter input and soil physical environment.     

Comparison of slow‐release nitrogen yield from organic soil amendments and chemical fertilizers and implications for regeneration of disturbed sites

Soil amendments are commonly used to regenerate nutrient levels on disturbed construction sites or mined lands prior to revegetation. Management of nitrogen (N) inputs to the degraded substrates is difficult because the low level of ambient fertility on disturbed substrates requires large total N inputs to sustain revegetative growth, but it also requires low N bioavailability in order to avoid weedy invasion and eutrophication of local watersheds. Commonly available soil amendment materials have a wide variety of N contents and release rates, making specification of appropriate N amendments difficult. We compared N release rates of a variety of organic‐based soil amendments and chemical fertilizers in long‐term aerobic incubation chambers in the lab and at a field revegetation site. The N release rate from these amendments fell into four general groups: (1) rapid N release from soluble chemical fertilizer formulations, (2) longer, controlled N release from chemical‐based, slow‐release formulations, and a two‐phase release pattern (rapid initial phase, slower second phase) from (3) organic‐based blends, as well as (4) unsupplemented municipal yard‐waste composts. The release rates from organic‐based amendments were about three times faster in the 30°C laboratory incubations than in the cool, moist winter growing season at a field site in the Central Valley of California. Relative rates of N release can be compared between amendment materials to help guide selection of N amendments, according to the plant‐growth goals of the revegetation project. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Breeding for yield in dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Strategies employed by dry bean breeders to improve yield include early generation testing, ideotype breeding, selection for physiological efficiency, and selection based on genotypic performance and combining ability across gene pools of Phaseolus vulgaris. Ideotype breeding has been successfully deployed to improve yield in navy, pinto and great northern seed types. The ideotype method is based on an ideal plant architecture to which breeders target their selection. Breeding for physiological efficiency is important in combining increased biomass, high growth rates and efficient partitioning. Genotypic performance and combining ability are also critical for yield improvement, since crosses between gene pools can exhibit negative combining ability and problems with lethality, whereas interracial crosses within the same gene pool exhibit the greatest potential. Breeders must work within specific constraints for growth habit, maturity, seed quality and disease resistance. A three-tiered pyramidal breeding strategy is proposed to facilitate yield improvement in dry bean. Breeding of elite, agronomically acceptable germplasm within the same market class is restricted to the apex of the pyramid. The intermediate level has fewer constraints and greater access to diverse germplasm. Interracial crosses within the same gene pool are utilized to exploit genetic differences within adapted material. Extracting genetic diversity from unadapted sources, including wild germplasm and other Phaseolus species, is conducted at the base of the pyramid. The objective of this breeding strategy is the movement of improved germplasm towards the apex, using different breeding procedures to optimize improvement at each tier of the breeding pyramid. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Co-incorporation of rice straw and leguminous green manure can increase soil available nitrogen (N) and reduce carbon and N losses: An incubation study

Returning rice straw and leguminous green manure alone or in combination to soil is effective in improving soil fertility in South China. Despite the popularity of this practice, our understanding of the underlying processes for straw and manure combined application is relatively poor. In this study, rice straw (carbon (C)/nitrogen (N) ratio of 63), green manure (hairy vetch, C/N ratio of 14), and their mixtures (C/N ratio of 25 and 35) were added into a paddy soil, and their effects on soil N availability and C or N loss under waterlogged conditions were evaluated in a 100-d incubation experiment. All plant residue treatments significantly enhanced CO₂ and CH₄ emissions, but decreased N₂O emission. Dissolved organic C (DOC) and N (DON) and microbial biomass C in soil and water-soluble organic C and N and mineral N in the upper aqueous layer above soil were also enhanced by all the plant residue treatments except the rice straw treatment, and soil microbial biomass N and mineral N were lower in the rice straw treatment than in the other treatments. Changes in plant residue C/N ratio, DOC/DON ratio, and cellulose content significantly affected greenhouse gas emissions and active C and N concentrations in soil. Additionally, the treatment with green manure alone yielded the largest C and N losses, and incorporation of the plant residue mixture with a C/N ratio of 35 caused the largest net global warming potential (nGWP) among the amended treatments. In conclusion, the co-incorporation of rice straw and green manure can alleviate the limitation resulting from only applying rice straw (N immobilization) or the sole application of leguminous green manure (high C and N losses), and the residue mixture with a C/N ratio of 25 is a better option because of lower nGWP.     

The initial lignin:nitrogen ratio of litter from above and below ground sources strongly and negatively influenced decay rates of slowly decomposing litter carbon pools

Understanding the interactions between the initial biochemical composition and subsequent decomposition of plant litter will improve our understanding of its influence on microbial substrate use to explain the flow of organic matter between soil carbon pools. We determined the effects of land use (cultivation/native woodland/native pasture), litter type (above and below ground) and their interaction on the initial biochemical composition (carbon, nitrogen, water soluble carbon, lignin, tannin and cellulose) and decomposition of litter. Litter decomposition was studied as the mineralization of C from litter by microbial respiration and was measured as CO₂–C production during 105 d of laboratory incubation with soil. A two-pool model was used to quantify C mineralization kinetics. For all litter types, the active C pool decay rate constants ranged from 0.072 d⁻¹ to 0.805 d⁻¹ which represented relatively short half-lives of between 1 and 10 days, implying that this pool contained compounds that were rapidly mineralized by microbes during the initial stages of incubation. Conversely, the decay rate constants for the slow C pool varied widely between litter types within and among land uses ranging from 0.002 d⁻¹ and 0.019 d⁻¹ representing half-lives of between 37 and 446 days. In all litter types, the initial lignin:N ratio strongly and negatively influenced the decay rate of the slow C pool which implied that the interaction between these two litter quality variables had important controls over the decomposition of the litter slow C pool. We interpret our results to suggest that where the flow of C from the active pool to the slow pool is largely driven by microbial activity in soil, the rate of transfer of C will be largely controlled by the quality of litter under different land-use systems and particularly the initial lignin:N ratio of the litter. Compared with native pastures and cultivation, above and below ground litter from native woodland was characterized by higher lignin:N ratio and more slowly decomposing slow C pools which implies that litter is likely to persist in soils, however based on the sandy nature of the soils in this study, it is likely to lack protection from microbial degradation in the long term.