四川龙门山中段变形和变质历史(英文)

在龙门山的中段,四川盆地西缘的逆冲断层起源于紧靠汶川-茂汶断裂西侧的变质“根带”。汶川-茂汶断裂代表一条20～25km宽的剪切带的晚期脆性变形阶段。该剪切带活动于大约200Ma前的印支期。在汶川-茂汶剪切带北西侧的松潘-甘孜褶皱带中,印支期的NE-SW向挤压形成D_1逆冲断层,并被NW向F_2直立褶皱所叠加。当松潘-甘孜褶皱带受到D_1-D_2期缩短时,相邻的四川盆地并没有发生变形。两个地区的差异应变被发育于D_3的汶川-茂汶左行剪切带所容纳。松潘-甘孜褶皱带中持续的NE-SW向缩短导致了龙门山地区的SE向挤压。这种SE向挤压引起沿汶川-茂汶剪切带发生局部地壳加厚和巴罗型(Barrovian-type)变质作用。汶川-茂汶剪切带的运动学特点由D_3的左行剪切逐渐转变为D_4的SE向逆冲。这种逆冲作用引起了变质地区的初步隆起,以及龙门山地区第一期推覆体的就位。在印支期变形的后期(D_5),岩石发生褶皱并被花岗岩体侵入。现在的汶川-茂汶断裂位置是在更晚的变形阶段确立的。这个阶段的变形可能导致了彭灌基底杂岩沿着映秀-北川断裂发生隆起。在这一事件中,汶川-茂汶断裂是作为一条具有显著左行走滑分量的脆性正断层活动的。这一事件可能对应于龙门山地区的第二期推覆体运动,并且可能发生于侏罗纪—第三纪之间,或者是在喜马拉雅期。     

Identification of human brain tumour initiating cells

The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis suggests that neoplastic clones are maintained exclusively by a rare fraction of cells with stem cell properties. Although the existence of CSCs in human leukaemia is established, little evidence exists for CSCs in solid tumours, except for breast cancer. Recently, we prospectively isolated a CD133+ cell subpopulation from human brain tumours that exhibited stem cell properties in vitro. However, the true measures of CSCs are their capacity for self renewal and exact recapitulation of the original tumour. Here we report the development of a xenograft assay that identified human brain tumour initiating cells that initiate tumours in vivo. Only the CD133+ brain tumour fraction contains cells that are capable of tumour initiation in NOD-SCID (non-obese diabetic, severe combined immunodeficient) mouse brains. Injection of as few as 100 CD133+ cells produced a tumour that could be serially transplanted and was a phenocopy of the patient's original tumour, whereas injection of 10(5) CD133- cells engrafted but did not cause a tumour. Thus, the identification of brain tumour initiating cells provides insights into human brain tumour pathogenesis, giving strong support for the CSC hypothesis as the basis for many solid tumours, and establishes a previously unidentified cellular target for more effective cancer therapies.     

The genome of the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis and the origin of metazoans

Choanoflagellates are the closest known relatives of metazoans. To discover potential molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of metazoan multicellularity, we sequenced and analysed the genome of the unicellular choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis. The genome contains approximately 9,200 intron-rich genes, including a number that encode cell adhesion and signalling protein domains that are otherwise restricted to metazoans. Here we show that the physical linkages among protein domains often differ between M. brevicollis and metazoans, suggesting that abundant domain shuffling followed the separation of the choanoflagellate and metazoan lineages. The completion of the M. brevicollis genome allows us to reconstruct with increasing resolution the genomic changes that accompanied the origin of metazoans.     

Reverse breeding in Arabidopsis thaliana generates homozygous parental lines from a heterozygous plant

Traditionally, hybrid seeds are produced by crossing selected inbred lines. Here we provide a proof of concept for reverse breeding, a new approach that simplifies meiosis such that homozygous parental lines can be generated from a vigorous hybrid individual. We silenced DMC1, which encodes the meiotic recombination protein DISRUPTED MEIOTIC cDNA1, in hybrids of A. thaliana, so that non-recombined parental chromosomes segregate during meiosis. We then converted the resulting gametes into adult haploid plants, and subsequently into homozygous diploids, so that each contained half the genome of the original hybrid. From 36 homozygous lines, we selected 3 (out of 6) complementing parental pairs that allowed us to recreate the original hybrid by intercrossing. In addition, this approach resulted in a complete set of chromosome-substitution lines. Our method allows the selection of a single choice offspring from a segregating population and preservation of its heterozygous genotype by generating homozygous founder lines.