Using antisense nucleic acid technology to study the influence of POLκ on genetic stability

AIM:To establish cell line FL-POLκ^- and to study the role ofPOLκ(polymerase kappa) on genetic stability.METHODS:A mammalian expression vector expressing antisense POLκ gene fragment pMAMneo -amp^--POLκ was constructed by cloning the 1 690-1 918 fragment of POLκ gene into the mammalian expression vector pMAMneo-amp^- in antisense orientation. FL cells were fransfected with this antisense RNA expressing vector and selected by G418. Based on the shuttle-plasmid pZ189, the mutation assay was made.RESULTS:The spontaneous mutation frequency of supF tRNA gene in the plasmid replicated in the FL- POLκ^- was 11.2×10^-4, while it was 4.9×10^-4 and 3.7×10^-4 in the control cells FL and FL-M, respectively.CONCLUSION: POLκ playes an important role in maintenance of genetic stability.     

基于SEBAL模型评估干旱半干旱区人工灌丛植被对陆表蒸散的影响

评估人工灌丛植被重建对干旱半干旱区陆地生态系统蒸散的影响,不仅能揭示植被变化与水文过程的耦合机理,又可为区域生态治理与水资源管理提供科学指导。该研究利用Landsat-8OLI/TIR遥感影像及气象数据等驱动SEBAL模型,反演宁夏盐池县的年内不同日期的陆表蒸散,结合目视解译选取的人工灌丛区与对照草地,评估了人工灌丛植被对陆表蒸散的影响。结果表明:1)SEBAL模型的蒸散反演精度与站点观测结果较为一致,可用于干旱半干旱区蒸散反演及空间特征研究;2)盐池县人工灌丛植被区日平均蒸散为1.20mm/d,高于对照草地1.17mm/d的日平均蒸散量,即干旱半干旱区人工种植灌木林增加了生态系统水分消耗,但不同季节和不同生物地理条件下的蒸散增强作用存在差异,蒸散增强在8月份最大,而3、4月份呈现负效应;3)人工灌丛的密度越大、植被盖度越高,对陆表蒸散的增强作用越强,特别在NDVI0.4的高盖度情况下蒸散增强作用更加明显。由此可知,在水资源紧缺的干旱半干旱区开展以灌木树种为主的植被重建需在合理的生态水文阈值范围内开展,才能构建出稳定可持续的人工生态系统。     

铅锌尾矿中砷代谢功能基因的多样性

Microbial activities impact arsenic (As) transformation in mine tailings substantially,yet little is understood on the functional diversity of As metabolism genes.This study explored this issue using a metagenomic approach coupled by a local BLASTN procedure established in our recent studies.An assembled metagenome,recovered from hypersaline and sulfidic mine tailings,was screened for As metabolism genes aioA,arrA,arsC and arsM.This was done using a local BLASTN procedure against databases of the As metabolism genes built in this study.Putative As metabolism genes detected in the assembled metagenome included 11 arsM,20 arsC and 1 arrA full-length sequences.Together with the rRNA-based phylogenetic profiling results,a picture depicting microbial As cycling in the tailings to the genus level was obtained.It was found that most of the dominant genera in the tailings potentially harboured the genes for As reduction and/or methylation.In particular,a typical pyrite-eater present in the tailings,Thioalkalivibrio sp.,was found to harbour not only arsC and arsM,but also arrA.These results highlight the unexpected diversity of As metabolism genes in the tailings,especially considering the extremely low species diversity therein.The microbial As cycling picture established here has potential use for guiding the purposeful manipulation of As biogeochemistry in the tailings.     

林火干扰对兴安落叶松林下植被多样性和生物量的影响

以寒温带大兴安岭受林火干扰的兴安落叶松林下植被为研究对象,采用植物多样性测度方法和收获法,分析火烧强度和自然恢复年限对林下植被物种多样性和生物量的影响。结果表明:在不同火烧强度的影响下,林下植被物种多样性有所降低,Shannon-Wiener指数表现为随林火强度呈递减趋势,Margalef指数表现出未过火区中度火烧迹地轻度火烧迹地重度火烧迹地的规律;火烧降低了林下植被的总生物量,主要降低的是灌木生物量;重度火烧和轻度火烧后草本生物量有所提升,但提升量不足以改变总生物量降低的趋势。在自然恢复过程中,Margalef指数表现为先升高后降低的单峰变化趋势,而Pielou指数的变化趋势与之相反;恢复年限与植被生物量呈正相关关系,草本生物量在经过5 a恢复后逐渐达到一个稳定期,灌木生物量在1~10 a的自然恢复期内持续增长。     

高体鳑鲏幼鱼集群行为的研究

为了考查高体鳑鲏(Rhodeus ocellatus)幼鱼的集群行为,研究选取248尾幼鱼,组成1、2、4、8和16尾高体鳑鲏幼鱼的群体(N = 8),在(25 ± 1)℃水温条件下进行15分钟的视频拍摄、运动轨迹提取和分析。结果显示：①高体鳑鲏的自发游泳速度多介于0-10 cm/s之间,其速度中位数随群体大小上升呈先下降后上升的趋势(P ﹤ 0.05),但各组间游泳速度的同步性随群体大小的上升而下降(P ﹤ 0.05);②焦点鱼和群体中其它个体的最近邻距离(NND)多出现在0-10 cm之间,且2和4个体组的NND显著大于8和(或)16个体组(P ﹤ 0.05);③2和4个体组排列的极性显著高于8和16个体组(P ﹤ 0.05)。研究结果表明群体大小对高体鳑鲏集群行为的特征有显著影响,随群体大小上升,凝聚力上升,但协调性有所下降。     

Carbon Fluxes from Different Pools in a Mined Area under Reclamation in Minas Gerais State,Brazil

Despite the benefits of grass cultivation and organic fertilization in mining areas undergoing reclamation, these practices may be associated to CO₂ emissions and soil organic matter (SOM) losses by priming effect. In the present study, we evaluated the changes on SOM pools and C–CO₂ emissions in a bauxite‐mined area under reclamation fertilized with poultry litter (PL) (0, 10, 20, and 40 Mg ha⁻¹) and cultivated with Brachiaria brizantha . Increases of about 3·5 times in the soil labile C were observed 1 year after experiment establishment. High C–CO₂ fluxes and a significant positive priming effect were observed in the presence of B. brizantha , increasing native C mineralization by nearly 4·9 times. Nevertheless, no net soil C loss was detected, probably because of the C inputs derived from B. brizantha , which offset these losses. In fact, the grass increased total organic C by 45% when fertilized with 40 Mg PL ha⁻¹. The data obtained suggest that the cultivation of B. brizantha fertilized with PL can be a promising option for rapid recovery in SOM in areas under reclamation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spontaneous postharvest fermentation of açai (Euterpe oleracea) fruit

Açai (Euterpe oleracea) fruit (EOF) are widely commercialized in the Brazilian Amazon. These fruit contain a high bacterial load and are transported on boards stowed inside or outside the holds of small boats. In this context, postharvest parameters were assessed under conditions that simulated these two methods of EOF transport: stowage in closed polystyrene boxes, simulating the inside of cargo holds, i.e., transport in a closed system; and open baskets, simulating transport in an open environment, i.e., transport in the prow or bow of the boat. EOF suffered spontaneous fermentation of alcoholic, acetic, and lactic types in the closed system, which is the most common type of transportation of this fruit. In the closed system, there was a predominance of lactic acid bacteria over acetic acid bacteria, with 82% and 95% of the initial content of d-glucose and d-fructose being consumed, respectively, after 27 h of experiment. The weight loss reached 1.7% and there was a logarithmic decrease of the major phenolic compounds of the fruit in the closed system, with losses of 78% of cyanidin-3-rutinoside, 88% of cyanidin-3-glucoside, 78% of homorientin, and 72% of orientin after 27 h, which was higher than in the open system (58%, 66%, 73% and 62%, respectively). Analyses on EOF stowed in a closed system indicated that the respiratory rate was characteristic of a non-climacteric fruit, i.e., it showed a logarithmic decay in the production of CO₂ (R² = 0.995; P < 0.05). Thus, transport in a closed system results in more drastic nutritional and functional changes on EOF than when transport is carried out in an open system, suggesting that transportation in continuous aerobic conditions and a short period of time between picking and processing are preferable.     

Application of the analytic hierarchy process to riparian revegetation policy options

While riparian vegetation can play a major role in protecting land, water and natural habitat in catchments, there are high costs associated with tree planting and establishment and in diverting land from cropping. The distribution of costs and benefits of riparian revegetation creates conflicts in the objectives of various stakeholder groups, and elicitation of importance weights of objectives and determination of rankings of a number of policy options by these stakeholder groups becomes critical in decision-making. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a multicriteria analysis technique that provides an appropriate tool to accommodate the conflicting views of various stakeholder groups. The AHP allows the users to assess the relative importance of multiple criteria (or multiple alternatives against a given criterion) in an intuitive manner. This paper presents an application of AHP to obtain preference weights of environmental, social and economic objectives which have been used in ranking riparian revegetation policy options in a small catchment (watershed) in north Queensland, Australia. The preference weights towards environmental, economic and social objectives have been obtained for the various stakeholder groups (landholders, representatives of local sugar mill staff, environmentalists, recreational fishers and the local community). The AHP technique has proved useful in eliciting objectives and ranking policy options as well as in checking for consistency of the statements of stakeholder groups. Implementation of this approach requires a complex data elicitation process.     

Restoration of the mangrove vegetation in the Mahanadi delta,Orissa, India

In India, mangroves occupy 6740 km² of which the Mahanadi delta andBhitarkanika mangrove forests of Orissa cover 191.44 km², most of whichhas been severely overexploited. World wide concern to conserve mangrovesnecessitated propagation of mangroves to re-establish them on barren andswampy land along tidal creeks around Paradeep port of Orissa. Avicenniaofficinalis, Aegiceras corniculatum, Bruguiera parviflora, B. sexangula,Ceriops decandra, Excoecaria agallocha, Heritiera fomes, Kandelia candel,Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia apetala were vegetatively propagated andplanted over 10 ha of degraded salt-marshy wetlands of Mahanadi delta inpure and mixed stands depending on the intensity and the frequency of tidalinundation at the experimental site. Survival was significantly higher(80%) in S. apetala followed by A. officinalis, R. mucronata, K.candel and H. fomes (70–75%). S. apetala recorded the maximumgrowth in height (3.0 m after 2 years) whereas C. decandra showed theminimum growth (0.5 m). Growth performance was better with plants in mixedstands than the plantation with single species. This gives us hope topropagate and re-establish mangroves for conservation in scientificallymanaged plantations in a physiologically arid environment.     

中华蟾蜍胚后嗅球神经元自发电活动的发育变化

[目的]探讨中华蟾蜍(Bufo bufo gargarizans)胚后嗅球神经元自发电活的电生理学特性的发育变化。[方法]应用微电极电生理技术,对中华蟾蜍胚后嗅球神经元的自发放电活动进行在体胞外记录。[结果]随着嗅球的发育,其神经元的放电形式逐渐增多,单个放电振幅逐渐增大,且在变态期达最大;连续放电振幅在胚后发育的中期变化不大,但高于发育的早期和成体期;连续簇状放电频率随着发育时期而降低,但在成体期再次升高,而连续单个放电频率只在成体期增大。[结论]随着嗅球的发育,神经元的兴奋性逐步提高,神经元电活动形式逐渐呈现多样化。