Allochrony as a potential driver for reproductive isolation in adaptive radiations of European whitefish ecomorphs

In northern Fennoscandian lakes, monophylogenetic lineages of postglacial fishes are radiating into several adaptive forms, but the speciation process is still at an incipient stage. The speciation process has received increased attention over the years, but the underlying mechanisms and drivers are still debated and poorly understood. European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus [L.]) is the most abundant fish species in these lakes and has evolved into several ecomorphs adapted to different trophic niches and habitats. Genetic divergence has been observed among these ecomorphs, but the mechanism(s) responsible for the ongoing build-up of reproductive isolation has still to be revealed. As these systems are young in evolutionary time (<10 kyr), prezygotic and postzygotic extrinsic isolation mechanisms are thought to be more likely to contribute to the reproductive isolation than intrinsic isolation mechanisms. We determined the gonadosomatic index (GSI) of three ecomorphs in two replicated lake systems and used GSI as a proxy to investigate the prezygotic isolation mechanism, allochrony, as a driving factor of divergence in this adaptive radiation of whitefish. We found that the three ecomorphs differed in GSI values within and between lakes, suggesting different spawning times of the ecomorphs. We also show that males of one ecomorph had equal onset of maturity as another ecomorph, giving novel insights into the ongoing gene flow observed between ecomorphs. The result supports allochrony as a driver for the divergence process of whitefish ecomorphs, but more evidence is still needed to rule out that the three ecomorphs make use of different spawning grounds.     

Fluvial sediments in the Alagxa Plateau as a dust source: iron mineralogical and geochemical evidence

The Alagxa Plateau, in the margin of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, is one of the most important dust source areas in East Asia, and the widespread sandy desert in the area is important both as a reservoir and a source of eolian silty. The northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau is one of the most actively-growing mountain belt on earth, and has large amounts of debris, with masses of fine grained material, which were continuously mobilized and deposited in the Alagxa Plateau by rivers, forming broad alluvial fans. It is possible that the role of fluvial sediments as a source of silty dust in the Alagxa Plateau has been underestimated. In this study, we test this hypothesis by investigating the iron mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the fluvial sediments and the surface material of the sandy desert in the Alagxa Plateau, and comparing them with paleo-eolian dust deposits(loess) in the adjacent Chinese Loess Plateau(CLP) to investigate the possible linkages among the fluvial sediments, sandy desert and the last glacial loess of the CLP. The results show that sandy desert typically have high contents of goethite, and high ratios of goethite to hematite, similar to the fluvial sediments in the Alagxa Plateau. Based on the major element characteristics, field investigations and the results of previous studies, we found a genetic link between the silt component of the fluvial sediments and the sandy desert in the Alagxa Plateau with high value of Gt(goethite) and similarity of the Gt/(Hm(hematite)+Gt) ratio. But the silt component of the sandy desert main come from the adjacent fluvial sediments. The iron mineralogical characteristics(χ(magnetic susceptibility), χARM(anhysteretic susceptibility), SIRM(saturation isothermal remanent magnetization) and SIRM_(AF100 mT)(SIRM demagnetized at 100 mT)) of the CLP samples overlap with those of the fluvial sediments in the Alagxa Plateau, but there is a mismatch with the sandy desert samples. This suggests that the fluvial sediments are the source of a large amount of silty material which could be transported to the CLP. Therefore, we conclude that the fluvial sediment in the Alagxa Plateau is an important source of eolian silt, which is deposited in downwind region, and that this source has been previously underestimated.     

三峡库区沉积物中重金属化学形态分布特征与相关性分析

为全面了解三峡库区干支流沉积物中重金属的赋存形态,更好地为评价及保护三峡库区水生态环境提供科学依据,于2015年6月在三峡库区采集沉积物样品67个,通过ICP-MS等仪器测定了沉积物中各重金属元素的不同赋存形态量,运用SPSS、Matlab统计分析软件对重金属赋存形态进行对比分析。结果表明,库区表层沉积物中Cr、Ni元素主要以残渣态为主(占总量的75%以上);Cu、Zn、As元素主要以残渣态和可还原态为主(合计占总量80%~95%);Cd元素主要以酸可提取态和可还原态为主(分别占总量的55%和23%);Pb元素主要以可还原态和残渣态为主(各占总量的71%和18%)。Cd和Pb元素生物可利用态量较高,均超过该元素的长江沉积物背景值;该种形态下的重金属元素容易进入水体,并且在地球化学条件变化时转化成能被生物吸收和利用的形态,对生物造成较大危害。干流上游段重庆主城区及下游段,渠系河、大宁河、磨刀溪、沿渡河应当是重金属生态危害研究与防治的重点区域。     

坛紫菜中铝的形态分析及风险性评价

应用化学连续萃取法结合电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)法对紫菜中铝的存在形态进行了初步研究,并对紫菜中铝食用安全性进行了评价。所测30份紫菜样品中铝的总含量范围为74.3~1 479 mg/kg,紫菜中铝的形态存在难溶态>有机态>无机态>水溶性游离态的分布规律。约75%的铝以难溶态存在。可溶态的铝主要以有机铝的形态存在,有机铝占总可溶态铝的72%左右。无机铝主要以Al(OH)₃的形态存在,水溶性游离态铝占无机铝的18.5%。通过模拟胃肠消化环境测定紫菜中铝的溶出率,结果表明,模拟胃液可溶出的铝占总铝的1.38%～6.80%,说明大部分铝在人体消化过程中不易溶出,对人体的潜在危害并不大。     

森林土壤有机氮的X光吸收近边结构光谱技术测定

本研究通过采用氮的K边X光吸收近边结构(XANES)技术来了解森林土壤有机氮,以此深入研究土壤中有机氮种类与其转化的定量关系。土壤样品采自台湾中部的云杉、铁杉林与草地。结果表明,氮的 XANES 可以揭示样品中不同的氮的种类。在土壤腐植质、可溶性氮及本体土壤中胺态及吡咯氮占了主要的比率。然而不同处理及植被下的土壤样品氮的种类分布是不同的。云杉与铁杉土壤可溶性有机氮在402.3 eV 能量处有显著的差异。在A层土壤中,吡啶类氮含量要显著高于O层土壤,说明氮在不同土层中的转化率存在极大的差异,这种变化对于氮在森林土壤中的循环将起重要作用。图3表1参8。     

土壤中砷的来源及迁移释放影响因素研究进展

砷是一种高致癌风险的类金属,自然环境中高砷(As)含量可对人类和生态系统构成直接的健康威胁。研究自然环境中砷的来源、存在形式及影响因素有助于进一步理解环境中砷的迁移转化规律,降低人体摄入砷的风险。对文献的分析表明,铁锰氧化物矿物的还原性溶解、黄铁矿及其他硫化物矿物的氧化溶解、铝氢氧化物表面的砷还原、有机质抑制砷吸附以及Eh降低和pH升高是造成砷向环境迁移的主要原因。本文综述了环境中砷的来源及其向环境迁移的多种影响因素,分析了这些因素与砷之间的作用机制,以期为加强砷污染治理提供科学依据。     

Potential for the alleviation of arsenic toxicity in paddy rice using amorphous iron-(hydr)oxide amendments

Abstract

A pot culture experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of amorphous iron-(hydr)oxide (Am-FeOH) amendments on arsenic (As) availability and its uptake by rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. BR28) irrigated with As-contaminated water. A rhizobag system was established using 3.5 L plastic pots, each containing one central compartment for plant growth, a middle compartment and an outside compartment. Three levels of laboratory-synthesized Am-FeOH (0, 0.1 and 0.5% w/w) were used to amend samples of the As-free sandy loam paddy soil placed into each compartment of the rhizobag system. The soils were submerged with a solution containing 5 mg L^?1 As(V). Two-week-old rice seedlings were planted in the central compartments and cultured for 9 weeks under greenhouse conditions. The addition of 0.1% Am-FeOH to the soil irrigated with As-contaminated water improved plant growth, reduced the As concentration in the plants and enhanced Fe-plaque formation on the root surfaces. Analysis of soil solution samples collected during the experiment revealed higher pH levels and lower redox potentials in the soils amended with Am-FeOH at the onset of soil submergence, but later the soil solution collected from the 0.1% Am-FeOH treatment was slightly acidic and more oxidized than the solution from the 0% treatment. This indicated active functioning of the roots in the soil treated with 0.1% Am-FeOH. The concentrations of As(III) in the soil solution collected from the central compartment were significantly reduced by the Am-FeOH amendments, whereas in the soil treated with 0% Fe, As(III) accumulated in the rhizosphere, particularly during the late-cultivation period. The improvement in plant growth and reduction in As uptake by plants growing in the Am-FeOH treated soil could be attributed to the reduction of available As in the soil solution, mainly as a result of the binding of As to the Fe-plaque on the root surfaces.     

Translocation of cave fish (Poecilia mexicana) within and between natural habitats along a toxicity gradient

During ecological speciation, diverging taxa have the potential to remain in close spatial proximity (i.e., sympatry or micro‐allopatry) theoretically allowing for continued contact and gene flow. In a system where incipient speciation of populations of the Atlantic molly (Poecilia mexicana) appears to be driven by abiotic factors, we investigated whether one of these factors, hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) toxicity, also constitutes an effective barrier to slow migration within and between habitats. We addressed this experimentally by translocating individuals from high toxicity to lower toxicity within a toxic cave and by translocating individuals from the toxic cave to a nontoxic surface habitat. Using a stepwise‐backwards Cox regression, we found that overall mortality was low, but statistically significant mortality occurred when individuals were transferred from higher toxicity to lower toxicity. In addition, only males were negatively affected by being transferred from low levels of toxicity to nontoxic, surface waters. This indicates that in addition to abiotic factors, other mechanisms, like predation and sexual selection, must be important in maintaining population separation.     

Research Progress on Speciation of Selenium Compounds in Plants

All factors affecting the PCR system in Pinus massoniana Lamb were investigated one by one.The results show that the optimum PCR system of EST-SSR were:2μL 10×Buffer(Mg²⁺ Free), 30 ng template DNA,0.187 5 mmol/L dNTPs, 3.75 mmol/L Mg²⁺,8 pmol primer pair,1.0 U Taq DNA poly-merase in total 20μL reaction system. Finally,a total of 11 isolates of P.massoniana was used for testing the stability of the PCR amplification.The results prove that the optimum PCR system was stable,reliable,highly repetitive.