宜黄自然保护区华南虎野生种群调查及栖息地评价

江西省宜黄县省级自然保护区以华南虎 (Pantheratigrisamoyensis)为主要保护对象 ,是近几年发现华南虎证据最多的区域 .中美华南虎联合考察队于 2 0 0 1年 3 7月对该保护区进行了调查 ,采用访问调查法、样线调查法、痕迹调查法、红外线自动照相技术等目前国际国内通用的方法和技术 .该次考察虽未证实该区域华南虎存在的确切信息 ,但较系统地调查了该区域的生境资料 ,初步评价了华南虎的生存环境 .其结论为 ,由于乱捕滥猎、过度的经济活动、栖息地缩小和破碎化是导致目前华南虎极度濒危甚至难觅其踪迹的主要原因 .该区域历史上是华南虎较多的区域 ,目前仍具备华南虎生存的基本条件 .     

Genome streamlining in a cosmopolitan oceanic bacterium

The SAR11 clade consists of very small, heterotrophic marine alpha-proteobacteria that are found throughout the oceans, where they account for about 25% of all microbial cells. Pelagibacter ubique, the first cultured member of this clade, has the smallest genome and encodes the smallest number of predicted open reading frames known for a free-living microorganism. In contrast to parasitic bacteria and archaea with small genomes, P. ubique has complete biosynthetic pathways for all 20 amino acids and all but a few cofactors. P. ubique has no pseudogenes, introns, transposons, extrachromosomal elements, or inteins; few paralogs; and the shortest intergenic spacers yet observed for any cell.     

Ordered and dynamic assembly of single spliceosomes

The spliceosome is the complex macromolecular machine responsible for removing introns from precursors to messenger RNAs (pre-mRNAs). We combined yeast genetic engineering, chemical biology, and multiwavelength fluorescence microscopy to follow assembly of single spliceosomes in real time in whole-cell extracts. We find that individual spliceosomal subcomplexes associate with pre-mRNA sequentially via an ordered pathway to yield functional spliceosomes and that association of every subcomplex is reversible. Further, early subcomplex binding events do not fully commit a pre-mRNA to splicing; rather, commitment increases as assembly proceeds. These findings have important implications for the regulation of alternative splicing. This experimental strategy should prove widely useful for mechanistic analysis of other macromolecular machines in environments approaching the complexity of living cells.     

Grazing Management in Tropical Savannas: Utilization and Rest Strategies to Manipulate Rangeland Condition

Grazing management is important for sustaining the productivity and health of rangelands. However, the effects of grazing management on herbage growth and species composition in the tropical savannas of northern Australia are not well known. In this eight-year study the influences of utilization rate and resting pastures from grazing on vegetation dynamics were measured at three sites in northeast Queensland, Australia. The sites had high, medium, and low soil fertility, and there were two land condition classes (States I and II) at each site. Severe drought occurred during the first four years, but above-average rainfall was received in the second half of the study. High utilization rates reduced biomass, perennial grass basal area, and ground cover. The reduction in biomass was due to both higher consumption and decreased primary production. State I condition plots at the high and medium soil fertility sites were initially dominated by decreaser perennial grasses, but these declined at all utilization levels, particularly the high rate. They were largely replaced by exotic perennial grasses. At the low fertility site there were no exotic grasses, and the decreaser grasses increased in all treatments, with the increases greatest in plots with low utilization or medium utilization plus resting. In the State II condition plots at the high and medium fertility sites, low or moderate utilization, led to an increase in both decreaser and exotic perennial grasses; with high utilization the decreaser perennial grasses declined and were replaced largely by exotic perennial grasses. This study clearly demonstrated that either conservative stocking with year-round grazing or a grazing system that includes some wet-season resting will help maintain land in a desirable state or help facilitate the transition from a less desirable ecological state to one more desirable for pastoral production and rangeland condition.     

An empirical approach to target DNA quantification in environmental samples using real-time polymerase chain reactions

Recent advances in molecular techniques have allowed for the routine examination of nucleic acids in environmental samples. Although current methodologies are very sensitive, accurate target DNA quantification from environmental samples remains challenging. To facilitate high-throughput DNA quantification from environmental samples, we developed a novel DNA quantification method based on a non-linear curve-fitting approach to extract additional information from quantitative PCR amplification curves and used the fitted parameters to develop multiple regression standard equations for target DNA quantification. A 3-parameter sigmoidal function performed superior to a 4-parameter Weibull function for generating the multiple regression standard equations. In a verification experiment, target DNA was quantified in a series of ‘unknown’ samples in three soils using this approach and the results were compared to target DNA values determined using corrected and uncorrected Ct-based (threshold cycle) methods. For each method, the deviations from the expected target DNA content were determined. Results clearly showed that over all DNA concentrations, target DNA content determined by the non-linear curve-fitting method was more accurate and more precise than values predicted by all other methods. Analysis of variance conducted on the predicted DNA contents also revealed fewer statistical artifacts with the non-linear curve fitting method compared to the conventional Ct-based methods. The novel approach described here is accurate, inexpensive, and very amenable for automation and high-throughput applications.     

Surplus killing by introduced predators in Australia—evidence for ineffective anti-predator adaptations in native prey species?

Australian examples of surplus killing by mammalian predators were collated. These included surplus killing of native mammals and birds by foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and stock, native mammals and native birds by dingoes (Canis lupus dingo). We found no examples of surplus killing by feral cats (Felis catus). Incidents collated include historical anecdotes of surplus killing by foxes as they colonised the Australian mainland, recent examples where foxes killed threatened native species at sites despite intensive management to exclude foxes, and recent examples of the killing of native species on formerly fox-free islands to which foxes gained entry. Episodes of surplus killings by foxes, other than predation on captive or closely confined animals, appeared different in kind and frequency to those documented for co-evolved predator-prey systems on the large continental landmasses. They did not appear to be uncommon events associated with synchronised births of prey species, unusual or extreme weather that disadvantaged prey species, or seasonal food caching by a predator. Rather, surplus killing events appeared to reflect ineffective anti-predator defences by prey species when encountering a novel and efficient predator to which they have had no evolutionary exposure. We suggest that surplus killing by foxes may have been a feature of, and major contributor to, the rapid mainland extinction or contraction in range of many native species in Australia. In contrast to foxes, examples of surplus killing by dingoes relate mostly to domestic stock (calves and sheep). The arrival of dingoes to the Australian continent preceded that of foxes by 3500-4000 years, but they appear not to have had the dire impact on native mammals that we attribute to foxes. This may be due to fundamental differences in hunting styles and prey size and to their sparse populations in pre-European Australia. Active persecution of non-commensal dingoes by Aborigines, the lack of free-water, and the absence of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as an alternative food supply would have limited their numbers and their impact on native mammals.     

Effect of tillage and rotation on organic carbon forms of chernozemic soils in Saskatchewan

The effects of selected tillage and rotation systems on soil organic carbon and its fractions were studied on Chernozemic soils in south‐western and east‐central Saskatchewan. After practicing a no‐till fallow unfertilized‐wheat rotation for 7 years on an Orthic Brown Chernozem in south‐western Saskatchewan, total soil organic carbon (TOC) in the 0 – 5 cm and 5 – 10 cm layers was slightly lower than the tillage fallow‐unfertilized wheat comparable treatment. However, light fraction of organic carbon (LFOC) was similar in the two treatments. Comparison of the tillage fallow‐unfertilized wheat to a treatment involving conversion to a fertilized continuous cropping system for 10 years showed TOC increased slightly in the two depths and LFOC increased by 24 % and 29 % in the 0 – 5 cm and 5 – 10 cm layer, respectively, of the continuous cropping treatment. Microbial biomass carbon (MB‐C) was increased significantly at the 5 – 10 cm depth. After conversion of fallow‐wheat to alfalfa as perennial forage for 10 years, TOC increased by 80 % and 27 %, LFOC by 245 % and 286 %, and HFOC by 63 % and 20 % at 0 – 5 cm and 5 – 10 cm depths, respectively, compared to the tilled cereal‐fallow system. Meanwhile, water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) was not affected but MB‐C increased significantly. In an Orthic Black Chernozem in east‐central Saskatchewan, the depletion and restoration of organic carbon was observed when native sod was changed into cropland and then back to grassland. For example, the TOC of cropland under cereal‐fallow rotation for 62 years decreased by 42 % and 33 % at 0 – 5 cm and 5 – 10 cm depths, respectively, compared to native sod. The LFOC decreased by 79 % and 74 % in the layers, and reductions in WSOC and MB‐C were even greater. After cropland was re‐seeded to grassland for 12 years, the concentration of total organic carbon was increased by 16 % and 22 % while the mass of organic carbon was the same as the cropland in the two layers. The LFOC and MB‐C amounts in the grass seed‐down were double that of the cropped land, but the amounts of TOC, LFOC, and MB‐C in grass seed‐down were still significantly lower than the native sod.     

Generation of a Mixolab Profile After the Evaluation of the Functionality of Different Commercial Wheat Flours for Hot‐Press Tortilla Production

Refined wheat flours commercially produced by five different U.S. and Mexican wheat blends intended for tortilla production were tested for quality and then processed into tortillas through the hot‐press forming procedure. Tortilla‐making qualities of the flour samples were evaluated during dough handling, hot pressing, baking, and the first five days on the shelf at room temperature. The predominant variables that affected the flour tortilla performance were wet gluten content, alveograph W (220–303) and P/L (0.70–0.94) parameters, farinograph water absorption (57%) and stability (10.8–18.7 min), starch damage (5.43–6.71%), and size distribution curves (uniform particle distribution). Flours produced from a blend of Dark Northern Spring (80%) and Mexican Rayon (20%) wheat had the highest water absorption, and tortillas obtained from this blend showed the highest diameter and lowest thickness. The whitest and best textured tortillas were obtained from the flour milled from three hard types of Mexican wheat blend. A Mixolab profile was generated from the best tortilla flours, those produced by mills 3 and 4. The Mixolab profile showed that a good flour for hot‐press tortillas had a relatively lower absorption and short dough mix time compared with a bread flour and should have a significantly higher gluten compared with an all‐purpose flour. Compared with bread flour, the tortilla flour had higher retrogradation and viscosity values. The Mixolab profile proved to be a good preliminary test to evaluate flours for hot‐press tortillas.     

Pine needle abortion in cattle: a review and report of 1973-1984 research

Research has verified field observations that cows grazing ponderosa pine needles may abort. The incidence and nature of the abortions produced experimentally simulate very closely those reported by livestock producers and veterinarians. The incidence of experimentally-produced abortions varied markedly from year to year even though the needles were collected in the same general area each year. This suggests that the abortifacient compound(s) in the needles vary from year to year, probably due to environmental and site conditions. The impact of stress (cold and nutrition) as a factor in the abortions was examined. It was concluded that the only effects would be on the willingness of cows to eat the needles. The pine needle abortion problem, what is known of the etiology, and mechanisms of the abortion are reviewed. The usefulness of bioassay systems to study pine needle abortions is discussed.