Unravelling transcriptome changes between two distinct maize inbred lines using RNA-seq

Seed size play a significant role in maize yield production. Two maize inbred lines with distinct seed size and weight, V671 (a large-seed inbred line) and Mc (a small-seed inbred line), were investigated by RNA-seq at 14 days after pollination (DAP), when maize endosperm undergoes an active transition from mitosis to storage accumulation. RNA-seq expression data showed that the small-seed line Mc had a higher storage accumulation activity, whereas the large-seed kernel line V671 possessed a higher DNA synthesis activity. An investigation of the pattern of increasing kernel width at serial DAPs showed that V671 experienced an increased kernel width later than did Mc, but the rate and duration of increase were longer in V671. SDS-PAGE of the storage proteins and quantitative RT-PCR of cell cycle-related genes and indole-3-acetic (IAA) synthesis genes certified that the transition from mitosis to storage accumulation starts earlier in Mc. We hypothesized that the difference in the mitosis-to-storage accumulation transition accounts for the larger seed size in V671 vs. Mc.     

野外试验中热脉冲探针间距校正方法的应用

土壤热特性是土壤的重要参数之一,热脉冲探针是目前土壤热特性最为常用的测量方法。在用热脉冲探针测量土壤热特性时,探针间距对测量结果的准确性影响非常大。而在野外试验中,由于土壤受到植物根系、土壤冻融、土壤动物活动等的影响,会造成探针间距的变化。因此,探针间距的校正在野外实地测量时十分重要。本研究团队在2013年提出热脉冲探针间距的校正方法,即在温度探针中使用两个热敏电阻,并通过理论公式校正探针初始间距后,得到间距变化后的探针真实间距。将此校正方法应用于野外试验中,分别于夏季和冬季监测土壤中三个深度处(3 cm、8 cm和13 cm)探针间距的变化。结果显示探针间距校正后得到的土壤热特性参数与未校正探针间距时的土壤热特性相比,探针间距校正后得到的土壤热特性参数更加准确可靠;但由于冬季表层土壤存在结冰现象,造成热脉冲探针无法准确测量热特性参数。     

玉米pTAC2影响苗期叶片叶绿素合成的转录组分析

【目的】叶绿素是参与光合途径最为重要的光合色素。叶绿体的发育及叶绿素的合成在很大程度上依赖于质体基因组与核基因组之间的双向信号传导来精确协调基因表达。通过对白化表型的CRISPR/Cas9-ZmpTAC2转基因阳性纯合突变材料进行RNA-seq研究,筛选和鉴定参与叶绿素合成的相关基因,为明确叶绿素的合成途径奠定基础。【方法】以CRISPR/Cas9-ZmpTAC2玉米转基因编辑纯合突变株系为研究材料,使用透射电镜观察叶绿体超微结构和分光光度法测定叶片叶绿素含量,确定叶绿体发育状态及叶绿素合成情况。对转基因阴性材料（CK）和CRISPR/Cas9-ZmpTAC2转基因纯合编辑材料（zmptac2）苗期叶片取样进行转录组测序。通过生物信息学分析,寻找CK与zmptac2间差异表达的基因;qRT-PCR对差异表达基因进行验证。通过酵母双杂交筛选与玉米pTAC2互作的蛋白质。【结果】共获得15株T₀转基因植株,包括绿色植株（7株）和白色植株（8株）。绿色幼苗中3株为转基因阴性材料,4株为转基因阳性（2株为未编辑,2株为杂合编辑突变）,白色植株(8株)均为转基因阳性纯合编辑。与CK相比,突变体（zmptac2）叶绿体发异常,叶绿素含量显著降低。RNA-seq的结果显示,CK与zmptac2之间共检测到1 367个基因差异表达,其中618个基因上调表达（zmptac2/CK）,749个基因下调表达（zmptac2/CK）。GO富集分析显示,下调基因显著富集到叶绿体和质体中。KEGG分析表明下调表达基因显著富集在苯丙氨酸代谢、酪氨酸代谢和异喹啉生物碱生物合成等途径。选取的15个差异基因表达模式均与测序数据相一致,表明测序结果是可靠的。与CK相比,zmptac2中依赖PEP（plastid-encoded RNA polymerase）转录的基因表达量显著降低,而依赖NEP（nuclear gene-encoded RNA polymerase）转录的基因表达量则显著上升。通过对玉米cDNA文库筛选和互作验证,鉴定出ZmpTAC3与ZmpTAC2存在互作。【结论】ZmpTAC2突变会导致叶绿体早期生物合成受阻,该基因参与叶绿体发育及叶绿素合成,且该种作用是由ZmpTAC2调控PEP相关基因表达而实现的。     

Are dual-purpose and male layer chickens more resilient against a low-protein-low-soybean diet than slow-growing broilers?

ABSTRACT

1. Although fattening dual-purpose types or male layer hybrid chickens appears more ethical than the common practice of culling day-old male layer chicks, the lower feed efficiency of these birds raises concerns. Replacing feed ingredients that compete with food production by those of lower value for human nutrition would be beneficial.

2. Lohmann Dual (LD), a modern dual-purpose type, Lohmann Brown (LB), a male layer hybrid, and Hubbard JA 957 (HU), a slow-growing broiler type, were fattened for nine weeks on two diets (control or ?20% crude protein; n = 6 × 12 birds). Growth, carcass and meat quality were analysed.

3. Growth performance of HU exceeded that of LD and especially of LB. The growth depression caused by the low-protein diet fed to LD (?7%) was only half of that found in HU (?13%). The LD fed the control diet had the same feed efficiency as the HU fed the low-protein diet. Even the LB had a lower performance and feed efficiency with the low-protein diet in growth. There was a gradient in carcass properties (weight, dressing percentage, breast meat yield, breast proportion and breast angle) from HU to LD to LB, with some additional adverse effects of the low-protein diet especially in HU. There were some breed differences in fatty acid profile in the intramuscular fat.

4. In conclusion, the dual-purpose type used complied with regulations for Swiss organic poultry systems in terms of growth rate and was found to respond less when fed a low-protein diet than the slow-growing broiler type. The LB males were inferior in all growth and carcass quality traits. Future studies need to determine the exact protein and amino acid requirements of dual-purpose and layer hybrid chickens and the economic feasibility of the systems, especially for organic farming.     

Engineered-airlift pumps for aquaculture applications using multiphase flow analysis

Currently, very few aquaculture operations are employing airlift pump technology for water recirculation, aeration, and waste removal. This is likely due to the poor design and lower efficiency of traditional airlift design, the limited amount of research effort that has been invested in improving performance capabilities of air lift pumps and the general lack of awareness of the industry about the inherent advantages of airlift systems. A new efficient airlift pump is hydrodynamically designed by incorporating the Volume of Fluid (VOF) multi-phase model along with the K-ε turbulence model utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools. The pump is designed to offer a substantial reduction in total energy usage as well as an improved quality of the culture products in order to make it attractive to aquaculture industry. In this study, both numerical and experimental investigations were carried out for airlift systems operating under two different submergence ratios of 50% and 90% in a lab setting using 2.54 cm diameter pumps. Also, the performance of a large-scale pumps of 10.16 cm diameters were also tested in an aquaculture raceway to determine its effect on the operation. The numerical results were found to be in agreement with the experiments within ±20% which is considered very reasonable for multiphase flow analysis. The present study was found to present a great tool for modelling the airlift pump performance, and potentially proposing new designs.     

干旱与Cd双重胁迫对土壤-小麦-蚜虫系统Cd转移规律影响的研究

为探究干旱和重金属双重胁迫对土壤-小麦-蚜虫系统内Cd转移规律的影响,为小麦蚜虫的生态调节提供理论依据,本研究以麦长管蚜[Sitobionavenae(Fabricius)]为研究对象,用原子吸收分光光度法分别测定不同土壤Cd含量(100 mg?kg-1、200 mg?kg-1)及不同程度干旱胁迫(无胁迫、中度胁迫、重度胁迫)处理下小麦根茎叶及蚜虫体内的Cd含量。结果表明:土壤Cd含量及干旱单一胁迫均对小麦及蚜虫体内的Cd含量造成了显著影响(P0.05)。两者交互作用对小麦根部及叶部的Cd含量影响显著,而对小麦茎部及蚜虫体内Cd含量影响不显著。在相同胁迫条件下, Cd在小麦中的积累分布为根茎叶。随着干旱胁迫程度增大,小麦根部Cd含量及土壤-根转移系数降低,茎部Cd含量及根-茎转移系数升高,麦长管蚜Cd含量在土壤Cd含量100mg?kg-1下高于土壤Cd含量200 mg?kg-1;中度干旱胁迫增加了麦长管蚜体内Cd累积量,而重度干旱胁迫则降低了其体内Cd累积量。叶-蚜虫的Cd转移系数明显大于土壤-根、根-茎和茎-叶转移系数且大于1,说明Cd在麦长管蚜体内产生了生物富集作用。综上所述,干旱胁迫促进了Cd从土壤向小麦茎部转移和根部Cd累积,但抑制了Cd从根部到茎部转移和茎部Cd累积;中度干旱胁迫促进了麦长管蚜体内Cd的积累,而重度干旱胁迫抑制了麦长管蚜体内Cd的积累。     

西南喀斯特二元结构下土壤流失研究进展(英文)

系统梳理了西南喀斯特二元结构下土壤流失的研究进展,结果表明喀斯特山区土壤侵蚀研究总体起步晚,基础研究落后,已有研究成果多集中在地表侵蚀现状、成因、治理措施等方面。喀斯特二元结构背景下存在地下土壤流失的观点已经得到多数学者的认可,然而受限于研究技术方法 ,缺乏观测数据,地下流失途径、流失量及其危害仍不清楚。因此,寻求必要的技术手段,从流失途径和过程开展野外观测是今后喀斯特二元结构下土壤流失研究的重点。