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.     

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。     

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.     

Phosphorus and aluminium solubility relationships in acidic lowbush blueberry barren soils in Maine

Lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) is a native plant that is not cultivated, but managed in areas of sufficient plant density to provide commercial yields. A cropping systems study was initiated to compare how organic and three levels of conventional (low, medium and high input) management practices affected soil properties at 12 grower fields in the lowbush blueberry barrens of Maine. The fields under organic and low‐conventional treatments did not receive any fertilizer inputs. The high and medium conventional treatment fields received optimal and reduced diammonium phosphate inputs, respectively. Three measurements of soil P (modified‐Morgan soil test, oxalate extractable and total P) showed no significant effect of management treatment on the phosphorus status of the soils. This suggests that soil P may be leaching below the 0–10 cm rooting zone which was investigated in this study. Equilibrium chemical speciation of soil/water extracts showed that gibbsite was controlling the solubility of Al in these barren soils and that P was undersaturated with respect to amorphous Al(OH)₂PO₄. A laboratory one‐point P sorption study showed that dissolved organic matter derived from the organic pad sampled from the study sites did not inhibit the adsorption of the added P. This suggests that addition of carbon‐rich soil amendments such as compost may not increase P bioavailability of these acidic soils with high Al (oxy)hydroxide (gibbsite) mineral content.     

镉在海藻中的化学形态

利用化学试剂逐步提取法研究了紫菜、海带、裙带菜和羊栖菜中镉的存在化学形态。研究结果表明:镉以多种化学形态存在于4种海藻中,1 mol/L氯化钠提取态镉和 2% 醋酸提取态的镉所占比例较大,两者约占总镉含量的76.3%～92.9%。0.6 mol/L盐酸提取态、去离子水提取态和80%乙醇提取态镉所占比例较小,其中乙醇提取态(离子态镉)约仅占总镉含量的0.4%～9.2%,且对于4种海藻,紫菜中的离子态镉所占比例最低(均小于1%)。实验进一步证实以海藻中总镉含量作为检测标准不能准确反映海藻及其制品的食用安全性,因此亟需建立海藻中针对毒性较强的离子态镉的检测标准限量和快速有效的检测方法,以保障我国海藻产业和出口创汇经济的顺利发展。     

Contrasting species boundaries between sections Alternaria and Porri of the genus Alternaria

The fungal genus Alternaria comprises a large number of asexual taxa with diverse ecological, morphological and biological modes ranging from saprophytes to plant pathogens. Understanding the speciation processes affecting asexual fungi is important for estimating biological diversity, which in turn affects plant disease management and quarantine enforcement. This study included 106 isolates of Alternaria representing five phylogenetically defined clades in two sister sub‐generic groups: section Porri (A. dauci, A. solani and A. limicola) and section Alternaria (A. alternata/tenuissima and A. arborescens). Species in section Porri are host‐specific while species in section Alternaria have wider host ranges. For each isolate, DNA sequences of three genes (Alt a1, ATPase, Calmodulin) were used to estimate phylogenies at the population and species levels. Three multilocus haplotypes were distinguished among A. dauci isolates and only one haplotype among A. solani and A. limicola isolates, revealing low or no differentiation within each taxon and strong clonal structure for taxa in this section. In contrast, 37 multilocus haplotypes were found among A. alternata/tenuissima isolates and 21 multilocus haplotypes among A. arborescens isolates, revealing much higher genotypic diversity and multiple clonal lineages within taxa, which is not typical of asexual reproducing lineages. A species tree was inferred using a Yule Speciation model and a strict molecular clock assumption. Species boundaries were well defined within section Porri. However, species boundaries within section Alternaria were only partially resolved with no well‐defined species boundaries, possibly due to incomplete lineage sorting. Significant association with host specificity seems a driving force for speciation.