Genetic diversity decreases as population density declines: Implications of temporal variation in mitochondrial haplotype frequencies in a natural population of Tscherskia triton

Although the spatial genetic differentiation that occurs in animal populations has been extensively studied, information on temporal variations in genetic structure and diversity is still lacking, especially for animals with oscillating populations. In the present study, we used the mtDNA D‐loop sequence to assess the temporal genetic variation in samples from six successive years for the greater long‐tailed hamster, Tscherskia triton. Sampling was carried out between 1998 and 2003 in cropland on the North China Plain, China. A total of 108 individuals were analyzed. The temporal samples showed a high level of genetic diversity. Substantial genetic changes in haplotype frequencies over time were detected for the hamster population. Random genetic drift and migration are likely to be the major factors responsible for the observed temporal pattern. The genetic diversity of the hamster population was higher in years with higher population density, and lower in years with lower population density. The result supports our hypothesis that genetic diversity decreases when population density declines in animals whose population oscillates greatly between years. The combined effects of inbreeding and genetic drift caused by reproduction, dispersal and population size might play important roles in the observed changes in genetic structure and diversity between years.     

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN RETRACTED Exergy as an ecological application used in the recovery process of benthic communities

Exergy, the thermodynamic function that represents the distance of an open system from equilibrium, is proposed as an ecological indicator for summarizing the complex dynamics occurring in a disturbed community during its recovery processes. These complex dynamics can be difficult to capture by using classical indices. In this study, we sampled macrobenthos using the BACI scheme (before versus after; control versus impact) in tidal wetlands of west Chongming Island, China, an area that has been disturbed by ecological engineering measures. Exergy storage is estimated for benthic communities. The control area is proposed as dynamic reference for estimating local exergy storage of the benthic community. Three different methods were used for estimating exergy on the basis of coefficients: (a) taken for taxa groups; (b) estimated from coding genes given for broad taxonomic groups; and (c) estimated from genome size taken as close as possible to the taxonomic level of the species, providing a basis for inferring similarities. We found a decrease of local exergy content in the disturbed area 9 days after the disturbance. Subsequently, the reference exergy of the benthic community increased (i.e. in the surrounding control area) in accordance with the proposed hypothesis regarding the dynamics of exergy storage during a system's development. Estimates of local exergy arrived at using the three methods provided comparable results. Based on this, we then discuss the feasibility of using the more readily available genome size data for estimating exergy. This result may have important implications for broader application of this indicator to biological systems. Moreover, the adjacent control samples seem to represent an appropriate dynamic reference for estimating the local exergy of disturbed communities. We found that exergy was a useful indicator that integrates the processes underlying the recovery of the benthic community after disturbance.     

主动免疫血管活性肠肽（VIP）对家鸽繁殖性能影响的初探

将３０对青年鸽随机分为三组,第一组用血管活性肠肽（ＶＩＰ）类似物与牛血清蛋白（ＢＳＡ）的偶联物进行主动免疫ＶＩＰ,第二组注射与第一组等量的生理盐水,第三组不做任何处理。在试验的第一阶段,除第三组外,第一、二组鸽在产蛋后立即将书目是拿出,试验结果显示：第一组与第二组鸽月产蛋量和周抱窝数差异不显著。但第一、二组鸽产蛋量与第三组（自然饲养组）差异极显著。在试验的第二阶段（Ｂ处理过程）均不把蛋拿出,则三组     

细叶百合低温解除休眠过程中鳞茎内糖分及相关酶的研究

通过低温处理打破细叶百合鳞茎休眠,探讨细叶百合鳞茎解除休眠过程中的糖类化合物及蔗糖、淀粉代谢酶的变化规律。结果表明,鳞茎休眠解除过程中伴随着旺盛的糖类代谢活动,淀粉含量下降,淀粉酶活性升高。内层鳞片在冷藏60 d时可溶性糖含量达到峰值,贮藏前期,蔗糖含量,蔗糖合成酶(SS)和蔗糖磷酸合成酶(SPS)活性上升,SPS和SS协同控制蔗糖代谢及转运。冷藏条件下鳞片及顶芽内淀粉向可溶性糖方向代谢过程中促进了腺苷二磷酸葡萄糖焦磷酸化酶(AGPase)活性的增加。各种淀粉代谢相关酶在鳞茎冷藏不同时期和不同部位的作用规律不同。鳞茎各个部位总可溶性糖含量与蔗糖、葡萄糖含量及淀粉磷酸化酶(SP)、SS、α-及β-淀粉酶活性都存在显著或极显著的正相关性。糖类代谢成为鳞茎休眠解除的物质基础。     

Ethyl acetate fraction of flavonoids from Polygonum hydropiper L. modulates pseudorabies virus-induced inflammation in RAW264.7 cells via the nuclear factor-kappa B and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection leads to severe inflammatory responses and tissue damage, and many natural herbs exhibit protective effects against viral infection by modulating the inflammatory response. An ethyl acetate fraction of flavonoids from Polygonum hydropiper L. (FEA) was prepared through ethanol extraction and ethyl acetate fractional extraction. An inflammatory model was established in RAW264.7 cells with PRV infection to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of FEA by measuring cell viability, nitric oxide (NO) production, reactive oxygen species (ROS) release, and mRNA expression of inflammatory factors, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Its functional mechanism was investigated by analyzing the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of key proteins in the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Our findings indicate that PRV induced inflammatory responses in RAW264.7 cells, and the responses were similar to that in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cells. FEA significantly suppressed NO synthesis and down-regulated both expression and secretion of COX-2, iNOS, and inflammatory cytokines (P<0.05 or P<0.01). FEA also reduced NF-κB p65 translocation into the nucleus and decreased MAPK phosphorylation, indicating that the NF-κB/MAPK signaling pathway may be closely related to the inflammatory response during viral infection. The findings suggested the potential pharmaceutical application of FEA as a natural product that can treat viral infections due to its ability to mitigate inflammatory responses.     

RT-PCR快速检测口蹄疫病毒

根据口蹄疫病毒VP1基因的序列，设计了1对引物，建立了检测口蹄疫病毒的RT－PCR方法。对FMDV各毒株检测，结果均为阳性，而对猪病毒性疾病相关病毒进行检测，结果均为阴性；检测19份已知阳性样品，检出率100％；与动物接种试验比较，符合率100％，证明该方法特异，与经典方法动物接种试验比较，其灵敏度提高100倍左右；对O3I3株的细胞毒进行检测，其敏感度达10个TCID50。初步结果表明所建立的RT－PCR技术可用于口蹄疫的诊断和流行病学调查。     

西藏牦牛和黑白花奶牛生长激素基因AluⅠ多态性的比较研究

利用聚合酶链式反应 (PCR)技术 ,测定了西藏牦牛和黑白花奶牛生长激素基因的AluⅠ RFLP (限制性内切酶片段长度多态性 ) ,并比较了2牛群的基因频率。在西藏牦牛和黑白花奶牛中 ,等位基因A的频率分别为 0 935和 0 90 5 ,等位基因B的频率分别为 0 0 65和 0 0 65 ,卡方检验差异不显著 (P >0 0 5)。     

Isolation and Identification of Variant HeNZK-2014 of Pseudorabies Virus and Sequence Analysis of gE Gene

In order to learn the situation of pig pseudorabies virus (PRV) variant in this study, tissue samples such as lymph nodes which were collected from clinical pigs with suspected PRV infection were identified by PCR. PRV positive sample were inoculated on PK-15 cells after grinding and degerming, with further experiment including virus isolation, plague purification, PCR and IFA identification, TCID₅₀ confirmed by Reed-Muench method, inoculation test and observation of clinical symptoms in mice. The gE gene of purified PRV and brain tissue samples of dead mice were identified by sequencing analysis. The results showed that the virus grown on PK-15 cells could produce typical cytopathic effect (CPE) after 24 h; After three rounds of plaque purification,the isolate was PRV positive identified by PCR and IFA, and nominated as HeNZK-2014; The TCID₅₀ of the isolate was 10^-9.77/0.1 mL; The virus in 1×10⁸ TCID₅₀ inoculation was able to cause itching, tearing, death in infected mice, and PRV could be detected in tissues of dead mice; The molecular genetic variation analysis of gE gene by PCR amplification and clone sequencing indicated that the gE gene from brain tissue of infected mice shared 100.0% homology with HeNZK-2014, and located in a relatively independent branch with newly pandemic isolates in recent years after 2011, but was far from the classical strains before 2011, and both had two insertion of aspartic acid (D) at sites of 48 and 496 amino acids, which were considered to be the typical characteristics of PRV variants. This study successfully isolated a PRV variant, which laid a foundation for further research on vaccine development, prevention and control against PRV variants.     

猪附红细胞体PCR-微孔板杂交-酶免疫检测方法的研究

以猪附红细胞体和多种血营养菌16S rRNA基因的保守区设计合成引物HM-f/HM-r,在反向引物的5′端用生物素标记,以猪附红细胞体广东株16S rRNA基因的可变区序列设计种特异性寡核苷酸探针,探针的5′端用地高辛标记,成功地建立了猪附红细胞体PCR-微孔板杂交-酶免疫检测方法。通过测定不同浓度PCR产物对应的微孔板杂交-酶反应显色OD值,用SPSS统计软件进行回归分析,得到回归方程为y=2.1012-0.4492×logx,其相关系数R为0.977,显示对未知样品可进行定量检测。该方法与猪的多种细菌性病原、猫血巴尔通氏体CA株和E.wenyonii无交叉反应,其敏感性比常规PCR琼脂糖电泳检测提高了近100倍。用建立的方法对38份临床样品进行检测,结果有12份检测结果为阳性。     

基于单时相MODIS数据的草地退化遥感监测研究

以草地NPP减少的相对百分数（由实际NPP和潜在NPP计算）为主要监测指标，提出了一个基于单时相MODIS数据的草地退化遥感监测方法。介绍了利用MODIS数据反演实际NPP的方法，并提出了一个根据实际NPP和草地类型分布图确定潜在NPP的方法。对2003年中国北方草地的监测结果表明，中国北方草地退化严重，退化程度的空间差异性较大，草地退化程度与草地类型密切相关。