Assessing vulnerability of New Zealand lakes to loss of conservation value from invasive fish impacts

1. Predictions of invasion risk for seven non‐indigenous fish species, ecological impact scores for individual species, and lake conservation rankings were linked to develop Invasion Risk Impact (IRI) and Lake Vulnerability (LV) indices that help identify New Zealand lakes most at risk of loss of conservation value from potential multi‐species invasions.
2. Species‐specific IRI scores (the product of predicted invasion risk and species impact) highlighted Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) and the brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), as the species most likely to spread and cause ecological harm in lakes. For 3431 lakes >1 ha throughout New Zealand, total IRI tended to be highest for lowland riverine and dune lakes most of which are already colonized by multiple invasive fish species.
3. The LV index indicated that lakes most at risk of loss of conservation value from invasive fish impacts were predominantly (i) in the northern half of the North Island where several uncommon lake types occur, and (ii) along the west coast of the South Island where conservation value is often greater, largely because of low catchment modification.
4. The IRI and LV indices can be used to assist with setting priorities for surveillance monitoring, advocacy, and response planning targeted at preventing the establishment of invasive fish in moderate‐to‐high value lakes most susceptible to ecological impacts. Both indices can be adapted to accommodate alternative impact and conservation scoring systems, providing a flexible tool for local‐ and national‐scale assessments of lake vulnerability to fish invasion impacts.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Replication of neurovirulent equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) in CD172a+ monocytic cells

Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) is responsible for respiratory disorders, abortion and myeloencephalopathy (EHM) in horses. Two pathotypes of EHV-1 strains are circulating in the field: neurovirulent (N) and non-neurovirulent (NN). For both strains, CD172a⁺ monocytic cells are one of the main carrier cells of EHV-1 during primary infection, allowing the virus to invade the horse’s body. Recently, we showed that EHV-1 NN strains showed a restricted and delayed replication in CD172a⁺ cells. Here we characterize the in vitro replication kinetics of two EHV-1 N strains in CD172a⁺ cells and investigate if the replication of these strains is similarly silenced as shown for EHV-1 NN strains. We found that EHV-1 N replication was restricted to 7–8% in CD172a⁺ cells compared to 100% in control RK-13 cells. EHV-1 N replication was not delayed in CD172a⁺ cells but virus production was significant lower (10^3.0 TCID₅₀/10⁵ inoculated cells) than in RK-13 cells (10^8.5 TCID₅₀/10⁵ inoculated cells). Approximately 0.04% of CD172a⁺ cells produced and transmitted infectious EHV-1 to neighbour cells compared to 65% of RK-13 cells. Unlike what we observed for the NN strain, pretreatment of CD172a⁺ cells with histone deacetylases inhibitors (HDACi) did not influence the replication of EHV-1 N strains in these cells. Overall, these results show that the EHV-1 replication of N strains in CD172a⁺ cells differs from that observed for NN strains, which may contribute to their different pathogeneses in vivo.     

Responses of glutamine synthetase activity and gene expression to nitrogen levels in winter wheat cultivars with different grain protein content

Glutamine synthetase (GS) plays a central role in plant nitrogen (N) metabolism, which improves crops grain protein content. A pot experiment in field condition was carried out to evaluate GS expression and activity, and grain protein content in high (Wanmai16) and low grain protein (Loumai24) wheat cultivars under two N levels (0.05 and 0.15 g N kg⁻¹ soil). High nitrogen (HN) resulted in significant increases in GS1 and GS2 expression at 10 days after anthesis (DAA), and higher GS activity during the entire grain filling stage. HN also significantly increased yield, grain protein content and protein fraction (except for glutenin of Luomai24) in two wheat cultivars, which indicated that it increased grain yield and protein content by improving nitrogen metabolism. Wanmai16 showed higher grain protein content, gliadin and glutenin content, and had higher expression level of GS2 both in flag leaves and grains at early grain filling stage. However, Luomai24 had greater yield and higher expression level of GS1. The difference expression of GS2 and GS1 genes indicates they had various contributions to the accumulation of protein and starch in wheat grains, respectively. The results suggest that GS2 would be serving as a potential breeding target for improving wheat quality.     

秋冬萝卜新品种晋萝卜4 号的选育

晋萝卜4 号是以雄性不育系4-01A 为母本，自交系03-37-1 为父本配制而成的秋冬萝卜一代杂种，生育期80 d（天）。地上部叶丛半直立，叶片稀疏，肉质根圆柱形，表皮光滑，出土部分皮绿色，入土部分皮白色，近1/2 露出地面。含水量适中，肉质甜脆，商品性好。肉质根纵径30 cm，横径7～8 cm，单根质量1.5 kg，每667 m² 产量5 000 kg 左右。适宜山西省及其周边地区种植。     

黄金宝树树冠分形特征及枝系构型分析

以黄金宝幼树为研究对象，经过2a左右的生长观察，分析其树冠的分形维数及其枝系构型，采用主成分分析方法对9个枝系构型指标进行分析，结果表明，黄金宝树冠幅均值的分形维数为0.57，冠幅面积的分形维数为0.18，树冠体积的分形维数为0.21；该时期以高生长为主，各枝处于生长状态，但四级枝条较少，枝条由一级转化为二级的能力高于二级转化为三级和三级转化为四级。主成分分析结果还表明，第一主成分贡献率为40.37％，第二主成分贡献率为21.61％；通过第一和第二主成分分析体现了黄金宝树该阶段的2种生态适应机制，即冠幅、冠幅面积、冠幅体积和枝径均值均趋于增大，逐步分枝率3，4和枝条倾角则均趋于减小。     

春白萝卜新品种雪单3 号的选育

雪单3 号是利用双单倍体育种技术选育的春白萝卜新品种。母本ED0108A 是以梅花春萝卜× 白玉春萝卜进行花药培
养获得的DH 系为轮回父本，与不育系进行多次回交，转育成的雄性不育系。父本ED3128 是由迟花春萝卜× 天鸿春萝卜进行
花药培养获得的DH 系。该品种生育期60 d（天），植株开展度45 cm，裂叶，小叶11 对，叶片数20，叶簇平展，叶色深绿；
肉质根长圆柱形，白皮白肉，根长36 cm，横径7.1 cm，单根质量1.1 kg，高抗黑腐病、芜菁花叶病毒病、黄瓜花叶病毒病和花
椰菜花叶病毒病，抗霜霉病，群体整齐度高。每667 m² 产量4 000～5 000 kg。适宜在湖北、湖南、河南、山东等地区早春栽培。     

茄子新品种海丰长茄1 号的选育

海丰长茄1 号是以双单倍体（DH）株系02-QP-19 为母本，优良自交系A-40 为父本配制而成的长茄一代杂种。平
均始花节位为第9 节，植株生长势强，叶片绿色，叶脉、叶柄和主茎的颜色为紫色，植株半开张类型。果实平均纵径31.5
cm，横径4.5 cm，果皮紫黑色，有光泽，果实顶部尖，平均单果质量220 g，VC 和VP 的含量分别为23.2 mg·kg^-1 和0.035%。
一般每667 m² 产量5 000 kg 左右。适宜北京、吉林和黑龙江等地区露地种植。     

浅议慕课及其对精品课程建设的启示

慕课(MOOC)在学习成本低、学习效率高、交互性强等方面受到了广大学习者的青睐,逐渐成为终身学习的一种渠道。精品课程建设是高校教育与教学改革工程必不可少的环节,精品课程建设第二期工程——精品资源共享课正在建设过程中。慕课运行方式对我国精品资源共享课建设具有一定借鉴意义。     

terraGIS – a web GIS for delivery of digital soil maps in cotton‐growing areas of Australia

Effective management of soil requires the spatial distribution of its various physical, chemical and hydrological properties. This is because properties, for example clay content, determine the ability of soil to hold cations and retain water. However, data acquisition is labour intensive and time‐consuming. To add value to the limited soil data, remote sensing (e.g. airborne gamma‐ray spectrometry) and proximal sensing, such as electromagnetic (EM) induction, are being used as ancillary data. Here, we provide examples of developing Digital Soil Maps (DSM) of soil physical, chemical and hydrological properties, for seven cotton‐growing areas of southeastern Australia, by coupling soil data with remote and proximal sensed ancillary data. A greater challenge is how to get these DSM to a stakeholder in a way that is useful for practical soil use and management. This study describes how we facilitate access to the DSMs, using a simple‐to‐use web GIS platform, called terraGIS. The platform is underpinned by Google Maps API, which is an open‐source development environment for building spatially enabled Internet applications. In conclusion, we consider that terraGIS and the supporting information, available on the sister web page ( http://www.terragis.bees.unsw.edu.au/ ), allow easy access to explanation of DSM of soil properties, which are relevant to cotton growers, farm managers, consultants, extension staff, researchers, state and federal government agency personnel and policy analysts. Future work should be aimed at developing error budget maps to identify where additional soil and/or ancillary data is required to improve the accuracy of the DSMs.     

Polymerisation of gluten proteins in developing wheat grain as affected by desiccation

The breadmaking quality of wheat is affected by the composition of gluten proteins and the polymerisation of subunits that are synthesised and accumulated in developing wheat grain. The biological mechanisms and time course of these events during grain development are documented, but not widely confirmed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to monitor the accumulation of gluten protein subunits and the size distribution of protein aggregates during grain development. The effect of desiccation on the polymerisation of gluten proteins and the functional properties of gluten were also studied. The results showed that the size of glutenin polymers remained consistently low until yellow ripeness (YR), while it increased during grain desiccation after YR. Hence, this polymerisation process was presumed to be initiated by desiccation. A similar polymerisation event was also observed when premature grains were dried artificially. The composition of gluten proteins, the ratios of glutenin to gliadin and high molecular weight-glutenin subunits to low molecular weight-glutenin subunits, in premature grain after artificial desiccation showed close association with the size of glutenin polymers in artificially dried grain. Functional properties of gluten in these samples were also associated with polymer size after artificial desiccation.