Observed flow compensation associated with the MOC at 26.5 degrees N in the Atlantic

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC), which provides one-quarter of the global meridional heat transport, is composed of a number of separate flow components. How changes in the strength of each of those components may affect that of the others has been unclear because of a lack of adequate data. We continuously observed the MOC at 26.5 degrees N for 1 year using end-point measurements of density, bottom pressure, and ocean currents; cable measurements across the Straits of Florida; and wind stress. The different transport components largely compensate for each other, thus confirming the validity of our monitoring approach. The MOC varied over the period of observation by +/-5.7 x 10(6) cubic meters per second, with density-inferred and wind-driven transports contributing equally to it. We find evidence for depth-independent compensation for the wind-driven surface flow.     

The cell and molecular basis of mechanical, cold, and inflammatory pain

Peripheral pain pathways are activated by a range of stimuli. We used diphtheria toxin to kill all mouse postmitotic sensory neurons expressing the sodium channel Nav1.8. Mice showed normal motor activity and low-threshold mechanical and acute noxious heat responses but did not respond to noxious mechanical pressure or cold. They also showed a loss of enhanced pain responses and spontaneous pain behavior upon treatment with inflammatory insults. In contrast, nerve injury led to heightened pain sensitivity to thermal and mechanical stimuli indistinguishable from that seen with normal littermates. Pain behavior correlates well with central input from sensory neurons measured electrophysiologically in vivo. These data demonstrate that Na(v)1.8-expressing neurons are essential for mechanical, cold, and inflammatory pain but not for neuropathic pain or heat sensing.     

Frequent mutation of BAP1 in metastasizing uveal melanomas

Metastasis is a defining feature of malignant tumors and is the most common cause of cancer-related death, yet the genetics of metastasis are poorly understood. We used exome capture coupled with massively parallel sequencing to search for metastasis-related mutations in highly metastatic uveal melanomas of the eye. Inactivating somatic mutations were identified in the gene encoding BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1) on chromosome 3p21.1 in 26 of 31 (84%) metastasizing tumors, including 15 mutations causing premature protein termination and 5 affecting its ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase domain. One tumor harbored a frameshift mutation that was germline in origin, thus representing a susceptibility allele. These findings implicate loss of BAP1 in uveal melanoma metastasis and suggest that the BAP1 pathway may be a valuable therapeutic target.     

土壤保持耕作——全球农业可持续发展优先领域

 从农业活动对全球变化以及对农业可持续发展的影响进而导致全球性土壤保持需求的迫切性增加出发，追踪了国外土壤保持耕作领域的研究和发展动态；对中国该领域研究发展现状和研究水平，从时间、深度、方法、生产应用等方面与国外进行了比较分析。中国是一个水土流失和耕地退化严重的农业大国，而从全球统计数字来看，中国土壤保持耕作面积目前仅占全球保持耕作面积的0.2%，仅占全国耕地面积的0.1%， 其现状与中国耕地资源和环境的继续退化以及对土壤保持耕作需求的增加极不相符。加强中国土壤保持耕作系统研究和土壤保持耕作"节能固碳"长期建设不仅对中国而且对全球变化及农业可持续发展具有重大意义。鉴于中国土壤保持耕作领域研究和发展所存在的不足和所面临的更大挑战，以及该领域研究涉及到复杂的农业系统"耕作管理-生物过程-环境变化"相互作用及其系统能流-碳流循环过程，尤其农业生态系统碳汇/源估量尚存在诸多不确定性因素等科学问题，有必要运用综合的系统性研究分析方法，借助国外长期试验和理论研究经验，以及系统模型模拟研究手段等多学科和交叉学科知识，加速提升中国土壤保持耕作领域的科研实力和水平，为实现碳汇/源科学调控管理、减缓农业对温室效应贡献、促进农业可持续发展提供科学依据。     

新育成反向核不育水稻FHS开花习性观察(英文)

[Objective] This study was to use reverse genic male sterile FHS better in field production. [Method] Low energy nitrogen ion beam was taken as a mutation source to conduct mutagenic treatment for indica rice 99-02 and the mutant FHS with special fertility that was isolated from their offspring. Some characteristics such as flowering habit and stigma exsertion rate of FHS were observed in this experiment. [Result] The reverse genic sterile rice FHS had an obvious peak flowering stage from 10:00 to 10:30, while the second peak flowering was from August 5 to August 10. Compared with PA64S, FHS flowered early and its flowering time was concentrated, showing that it is for seed propagation. The stigma exsertion rate of FHS was 85.8% and low exsertion rate was good for the purity of seed. [Conclusion] The reverse genic sterile rice FHS had good value in use, besides, it could also be used as comparison material for studying fertility alternation mechanism of photoperiod sensitive genic male sterile rice.     

Genetic Diversity of Peanut Core Collection from US Using Simple Sequence Repeats

Groundnut is a member of genus Arachis and the crop is divided into two subspecies and six botanical varieties based on morphological characteristics （Krapovickas and Gregory, 1994）. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics （ICRISAT） holds more than 14 000 groundnut accessions from which a core collection of 1 704 have been developed （Upadhyaya et al., 2003）. Holdbrook et al. （1993） developed a groundnut core collection of 831 accessions from a total of 7 432 US groundnut accessions based on morphological characteristics. The large number and variability of accessions in GenBanks create problems in knowing which germplasm to select for breeding purpose. Only a few established cultivars and elite breeding lines have been utilised in breeding programmes. A core collection is a fraction of accessions from the entire collection which represent most of the available genetic diversity of the species. A core collection can extensively be evaluated and information derived from them can be applied to the whole collection. Identification of DNA markers associated with the botanical varieties of groundnut would be useful in genotyping, germplasm management and evolutionary studies.     

High‐throughput Cryopreservation of Sperm from Sex‐reversed Southern Flounder,Paralichthys lethostigma

The Southern flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma, is a valuable aquaculture fish with established markets in the USA. All‐female production in this species is an important technology for aquaculture because the females usually have body sizes twice those of males at the same age, and sex‐reversed males (genotypic XX neomales) are used for all‐female production by crossing with genetically normal females. However, sperm volume from the neomales is usually small (<0.5 mL) and limits their application for all‐female fish production. Cryopreservation of sperm from these sex‐reversed neomales will provide access on demand with increased efficiency to extend the application of neomales. The goal of this study was to develop a protocol for cryopreservation of sperm from the Southern flounder by using an automated high‐throughput processing system. The objectives were to: (1) determine the effect of osmolality on activation of sperm motility; (2) evaluate the effect of extender solutions on sperm motility capacity; (3) evaluate the acute toxicity of cryoprotectants (dimethyl sulfoxide [DMSO], propylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol) on sperm motility, and (4) estimate the effect of cooling rate on sperm cryopreservation and post‐thaw fertilization. Sperm motility was activated when osmolality was 400 mOsmol/kg or higher. Of the three extender buffers tested, HEPES4‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐1‐piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) at 300 mOsmol/kg resulted in better protection for sperm motility than did Hanks' balanced salt solution and Mounib solution at 300 mOsmol/kg during 7 d of refrigerated storage. After 30 min equilibration with the cryoprotectant of 15% DMSO, sperm motility was 24 ± 21% (fresh sperm motility without any cryoprotectants was 42%). After cooling at a rate of 20 C/min, post‐thaw sperm motility was 8 ± 5% and fertilization was 63 ± 40% evaluated at the 32–64 cell stage (5 × 10⁵ sperm per egg). Overall, a protocol was developed for sperm cryopreservation in the Southern flounder with high‐throughput processing, which provides a tool to preserve the valuable genetic resources from neomale flounders, and enables germplasm repository development for the Southern flounder.