Planning wetland protection and restoration for the safeguard of ecosystem service flows to beneficiaries

Landscape Ecology - Human activities have led to the degradation of wetlands, impinging on their capacity to deliver essential ecosystem services to society. Wetland restoration now appears an...     

Gene Discovery and Characterization from Non-sequenced Medicinal Plants

Plant-derived secondary metabolites still constitute important resources for currently prescribed drugs and for the discovery of active principles which are effective in new indication areas. Promising compounds are often exclusively found in wild medicinal plants and the classical plant-based pharmaceutical production approach has been hampered by low yields, lack of reproducibility and the high complexity of plant extracts （Rischer and Oksman-Caldentey, 2005）. Influencing the accumulation of target compounds by breeding or genetic engineering is greatly impeded because in most cases the general biosynthetic routes are incompletely understood.     

黄土坡面细沟径流输沙对水动力学参数的响应

细沟径流输沙是细沟侵蚀产沙的重要过程,阐明细沟径流输沙与水动力学参数之间的关系可以有效地揭示细沟径流输沙的动力学机制,并为建立细沟侵蚀过程物理模型奠定基础。采用具有定流量人工放水的组合小区模拟降雨试验,研究黄土坡面细沟径流输沙对水动力学参数的响应关系。结果表明:1)一次降雨径流产生的细沟输沙模数对水动力学参数平均值响应关系大小顺序为平均水流断面单位能量(R=0.99)>平均水流功率(R=0.88)>平均水流切应力(R=0.82)>平均单位水流功率(R=0.76);2)降雨径流过程中,细沟输沙率对水动力学参数瞬时值响应关系为水流切应力(R=0.88)>水流功率(R=0.47),水流断面单位能量和单位水流功率的相关性较差,细沟输沙率对水流切应力的响应关系呈幂函数方程关系。     

Atmospheric Mercury Fluxes in a Southern Boreal Forest and Wetland

Total gaseous mercury (TGM) fluxes from the forest floor and a boreal wetland were measured by a flux chamber technique coupled with an automatic mercury vapour analyser. The fluxes were measured at three sampling sites in southern Finland, 61°14′ N, 25°04′ E in summer 2007, with additionally in situ TGM concentrations in the air at one of the sites and mercury bulk deposition at another. Most of the flux data were collected during the daytime. At one of the sites, diurnal flux behaviour was studied, and a clear cycle with an afternoon maximum and a night minimum was observed. The highest emissions (up to 3.5 ng m⁻² h⁻¹) were observed at the forest floor site having a moss and grass cover. At the wetland and litter-rich forest floor sites, the emissions were below 1 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ and sometimes negative (down to −1.0 ng m⁻² h⁻¹), indicating mercury uptake. The measured average fluxes in August were 0.9 ± 1.1 and 0.2 ± 0.3 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ for the forest floor sites and wetland sites, respectively. The flux data were compared with the mercury bulk deposition, which proved to be of the same magnitude, but opposite in sign. At the mossy forest floor site, the extrapolated TGM emissions were 130% of the Hg deposition in August 2007. Comparison with other studies showed that the fluxes in background areas are relatively uniform, regardless of measurement site location and method used. Airborne TGM remained at the background level during the study, with an average value of 1.3 ± 0.2 ng m⁻³; it frequently showed a diurnal cycle pattern.     

Effects of Broomrape Parasitism on Sunflower Plants: Growth,Development, and Mineral Nutrition

Sunflower broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) is a parasitic plant that infects sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plants. In this work, sunflower plants were grown under greenhouse conditions in pots with the substrate infested or non-infested with broomrape seeds. At different numbers of days after sowing, plant height, internode lengths, number of leaves, head diameter, mineral composition of leaves, and potassium (K) concentration in stem were measured. The negative effects of broomrape parasitism were assessed from 57 d after sowing, when broomrape started to emerge. Parasitized plants exhibited lower shoot dry weight, height, and head diameter than control plants. The reduction in internode lengths was associated with a decrease in the gradient of K concentration from basal to apical stem. The mineral composition of leaves was also affected in parasitized plants. The concentrations of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) in leaves of parasitized plants were lower than those of the control plants, while there were few differences for K, phosphorus (P), iron (Fe), and copper (Cu). The effects of parasitism are discussed in relation to their competition for resources and to perturbations of the host physiology such as hormonal and water balance.     

Herbivory of an invasive slug in a model grassland community can be affected by earthworms and mycorrhizal fungi

Invasion of non-native species is among the top threats for the biodiversity and functioning of native and agricultural ecosystems worldwide. We investigated whether the herbivory of the slug Arion vulgaris (formerly Arion lusitanicus; Gastropoda), that is listed among the 100 worst alien species in Europe, is affected by soil organisms commonly present in terrestrial ecosystems (i.e. earthworms—Annelida: Lumbricidae and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi—AMF, Glomerales). We hypothesized that slug herbivory would be affected by soil organisms via altered plant nutrient availability and plant quality. In a greenhouse experiment, we created a simple plant community consisting of a grass, a forb, and a legume species and inoculated these systems with either two earthworm species and/or four AMF taxa. Slugs were introduced after plants were established. Earthworms significantly reduced total slug herbivory in AMF-inoculated plant communities (P?=?0.013). Across plant species, earthworms increased leaf total N and secondary metabolites, AMF decreased leaf thickness. Mycorrhizae induced a shift in slug feeding preference from non-legumes to legumes; the grass was generally avoided by slugs. AMF effects on legume herbivory can partly be explained by the AMF-induced increase in total N and decrease in C/N ratio; earthworm effects are less clear as no worm-induced alterations of legume plant chemistry were observed. The presence of earthworms increased average AMF colonization of plant roots by 140 % (P?<?0.001). Total shoot mass was significantly increased by AMF (P?<?0.001). These data suggest that the feeding behavior of this invasive slug is altered by a belowground control of plant chemical quality and community structure.     

Analysis of amino acid uptake and translocation in Arabidopsis with a low‐cost hydroponic system

In soils, amino acids may be an important source of nitrogen for plants, at least in those where organic matter is not quickly degraded. The physiology of uptake of amino acids by roots was mainly studied in the 70's and 80's, before genes encoding amino acid importers were cloned in the 90's. While two families of amino acid transporters have been identified, yielding a total of about 100 genes, the role of each member is yet to be elucidated. As a tool for studying the role of amino acid transporters from Arabidopsis we set up a new hydroponic system suitable for radioisotope use. This system enables reproducible amino acid uptake by roots and estimation of the transport to the shoots of the amino acid taken up. We show that the rates of glutamine (Gln) uptake by wild‐type roots and transfer to the shoots were linear, and that other tested amino acids were translocated to the shoots with lower efficiency than Gln. A T‐DNA insertion mutant for a Gln exporter was compared to the wild‐type plants. Gln uptake and transfer were similar in both genotypes, showing that the suppression of the exporter did not affect uptake or transfer of amino acids to the shoots. The main advantage of the hydroponic system presented here is that all the materials used to grow Arabidopsis are virtually free and can therefore be discarded, a useful feature when working with radioactivity.     

Weed abundance and soil seedbank responses to tillage systems in continuous maize crops

Weed abundance in crops undergoes frequent changes, often due to changes in tillage practices. Annual species, with quick germination, a short vegetative stage, profuse seed production and long-lived seeds become problematic under zero-tillage systems. Portulaca oleracea L. and Amaranthus blitoides L. are widespread weeds in the Mediterranean area, prominent in irrigated crops. We studied the total weed abundance in the field, and specifically these two species (Portulaca oleracea and Amaranthus blitoides) with high frequency of occurrence in monoculture maize, from 2012 to 2014, in the field and soil seedbank. Results showed significant differences between zero-tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT) systems on total weed abundance and relative abundance of Portulaca oleracea. Total weed abundance decreased in ZT plots (from 136 plants m^?2 to 25 and 46 plants m^?2, in 2013 and 2014 respectively). The same trend was observed in Portulaca oleracea recorded in ZT plots, but the abundance of Amaranthus blitoides did not vary in this system. Weed seedling germination and weed seed numbers both of total weed seedbank and Portulaca oleracea, were greater in ZT plots compared to CT, regarding Amaranthus blitoides seedling germination and seed count, the values did not increase with ZT, in continuous maize crops.     

二次正交旋转组合设计优化牛肝菌蛋白提取工艺

为明确牛肝菌蛋白提取条件,以牛肝菌子实体为材料,碱溶液为提取剂,在单因素试验基础上,采用四因素五水平的二次正交旋转组合试验设计,研究碱浓度、浸提温度、浸提时间和液固比对蛋白质提取得率的影响,经统计分析,建立数学回归模型。结果表明,所得回归方程达到极显著水平,无失拟因素存在;通过频率分析法得到的牛肝菌蛋白质的最佳提取工艺为:Na OH浓度0.11mol·L~(-1),液固比31∶1,浸提温度62℃,浸提时间1.70 h,此条件下蛋白质实际提取得率为19.85%。本试验优化牛肝菌蛋白的提取工艺参数准确可靠、稳定、可行,为牛肝菌蛋白功能的进一步研究和食用菌功能性食品开发提供了一定的技术依据。     

辐照对瓜实蝇遗传区性品系成虫肠道微生物的影响

为研究辐照对瓜实蝇肠道微生物群落多样性和结构组成的影响,以100 Gy137Cs辐照来自瓜实蝇遗传区性品系(GSS)的5、8、11和13日龄的雌、雄成虫,并采用Illumina MiSeq测序技术分别对其肠道菌群进行测序分析。结果表明,瓜实蝇雌雄成虫的肠道中存在19个主要的菌属,包括17个属名已知,1个属名未知和1个属不可培养。其中,17个已知属分别属于4个细菌门,即变形菌门(Proteobacteria)(占总量的50%~98%)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)(占总量的2%~47%)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)(占总量的1%~16%)和1个至今微生物界还未确定的稀少菌门(unclassified rare phyla)(总量1%)。此外,辐照降低了瓜实蝇肠道中的微生物多样性以及优势菌的丰富度,且这种影响与瓜实蝇的性别和成虫日龄无关。本研究结果为评估和修复辐照对瓜实蝇的损伤提供了参考。