Metagenomic and functional analysis of hindgut microbiota of a wood-feeding higher termite

From the standpoints of both basic research and biotechnology, there is considerable interest in reaching a clearer understanding of the diversity of biological mechanisms employed during lignocellulose degradation. Globally, termites are an extremely successful group of wood-degrading organisms and are therefore important both for their roles in carbon turnover in the environment and as potential sources of biochemical catalysts for efforts aimed at converting wood into biofuels. Only recently have data supported any direct role for the symbiotic bacteria in the gut of the termite in cellulose and xylan hydrolysis. Here we use a metagenomic analysis of the bacterial community resident in the hindgut paunch of a wood-feeding 'higher' Nasutitermes species (which do not contain cellulose-fermenting protozoa) to show the presence of a large, diverse set of bacterial genes for cellulose and xylan hydrolysis. Many of these genes were expressed in vivo or had cellulase activity in vitro, and further analyses implicate spirochete and fibrobacter species in gut lignocellulose degradation. New insights into other important symbiotic functions including H2 metabolism, CO2-reductive acetogenesis and N2 fixation are also provided by this first system-wide gene analysis of a microbial community specialized towards plant lignocellulose degradation. Our results underscore how complex even a 1-microl environment can be.     

北亚热带毛竹林林冠截留模型研究

对北亚热带毛竹林冠截留影响因素如林外降雨、透流雨强度、叶面积指数、林冠干燥度和蒸发系数等进行观测研究,构建了林冠截留模型。结果表明：当实际截留量较大时,模拟值误差大;当实际截留量小时,模拟效果较佳。为了反映林冠截留模型相对误差分布状况,按照相对误差绝对值从小到大（<5 %、5 %~10 %、10 %~20 %、>20 %）的顺序分为4段进行累加统计,得到的实际截留量分别为4512、6944、4079、1583 mm,模拟截留量分别为4482、677、3514、1161 mm,全年林冠截留相对误差为93 %,小于10 %,模拟效果较理想。