'Lophenteropneust' hypothesis refuted by collection and photos of new deep-sea hemichordates

The deep ocean is home to a group of broad-collared hemichordates--the so-called 'lophenteropneusts'--that have been photographed gliding on the sea floor but have not previously been collected. It has been claimed that these worms have collar tentacles and blend morphological features of the two main hemichordate body plans, namely the tentacle-less enteropneusts and the tentacle-bearing pterobranchs. Consequently, lophenteropneusts have been invoked as missing links to suggest that the former evolved into the latter. The most significant aspect of the lophenteropneust hypothesis is its prediction that the fundamental body plan within a basal phylum of deuterostomes was enteropneust-like. The assumption of such an ancestral state influences ideas about the evolution of the vertebrates from the invertebrates. Here we report on the first collected specimen of a broad-collared, deep-sea enteropneust and describe it as a new family, genus and species. The collar, although disproportionately broad, lacks tentacles. In addition, we find no evidence of tentacles in the available deep-sea photographs (published and unpublished) of broad-collared enteropneusts, including those formerly designated as lophenteropneusts. Thus, the lophenteropneust hypothesis was based on misinterpretation of deep-sea photographs of low quality and should no longer be used to support the idea that the enteropneust body plan is basal within the phylum Hemichordata.     

濒危植物小叶兜兰(Paphiopedilum barbigerum)微环境特点

茂兰国家级自然保护区有很丰富的兰花资源,小叶兜兰(Paphiopedilum barbigerumTang et Wang)生于海拔800~1 500m的石灰岩山丘荫蔽多石之地或岩隙中,被列入IUCN物种红色名录,属于IUCN濒危物种等级濒危(EN)。利用Li-6400便携式光合作用系统获得了小叶兜兰的光合反应日变化规律,分析植株和周围环境中微量的土壤,以及周围石灰岩的矿物质成分,得出结论,钙耐受和干旱耐受是茂兰国家级自然保护区作为小叶兜兰原生地最显著的特点。周围环境的高温,湿润的空气,高钙的土壤环境在全世界范围比较少见,这些特点是很多喜钙兰花在茂兰分布的主要原因。     

First insights into the biodiversity and biogeography of the Southern Ocean deep sea

Shallow marine benthic communities around Antarctica show high levels of endemism, gigantism, slow growth, longevity and late maturity, as well as adaptive radiations that have generated considerable biodiversity in some taxa. The deeper parts of the Southern Ocean exhibit some unique environmental features, including a very deep continental shelf and a weakly stratified water column, and are the source for much of the deep water in the world ocean. These features suggest that deep-sea faunas around the Antarctic may be related both to adjacent shelf communities and to those in other oceans. Unlike shallow-water Antarctic benthic communities, however, little is known about life in this vast deep-sea region. Here, we report new data from recent sampling expeditions in the deep Weddell Sea and adjacent areas (748-6,348 m water depth) that reveal high levels of new biodiversity; for example, 674 isopods species, of which 585 were new to science. Bathymetric and biogeographic trends varied between taxa. In groups such as the isopods and polychaetes, slope assemblages included species that have invaded from the shelf. In other taxa, the shelf and slope assemblages were more distinct. Abyssal faunas tended to have stronger links to other oceans, particularly the Atlantic, but mainly in taxa with good dispersal capabilities, such as the Foraminifera. The isopods, ostracods and nematodes, which are poor dispersers, include many species currently known only from the Southern Ocean. Our findings challenge suggestions that deep-sea diversity is depressed in the Southern Ocean and provide a basis for exploring the evolutionary significance of the varied biogeographic patterns observed in this remote environment.     

深海鱼油保健炼乳的研制

结合前人经验,以预热杀菌条件、真空浓缩温度、深海鱼油添加量、鱼油添加时机四个因素分别进行单因素实验,再对四个因素进行三水平正交试验,并通过测定深海鱼油炼乳产品中干物质、脂类、蛋白质等的百分含量及产品的黏度、感官评分,得出深海鱼油炼乳的最佳生产工艺.试验结果显示深海鱼油炼乳的最佳工艺为深海鱼油添加量0.4%,真空浓缩前添...     

施秉喀斯特兽类物种多样性价值与保护

对施秉喀斯特兽类初步调查,发现兽类56种,隶属于9目21科46属,以啮齿目和食肉目的种类为主,分别占该区兽类总种数的33.9%和30.4%。区系分布上以东洋型种类占优势。珍稀濒危物种较丰富,有IUCN红色名录物种53种,《濒危野生动植物国际贸易公约》物种11种,中国物种红色名录物种32种,国家重点保护野生动物13种,具有重要的保护价值。     

一种深水网箱鱼群状态监测的数据采集与远程传输技术研究

为了满足抗风浪深水网箱中鱼群远距离监测的要求，本文提出了一种鱼群监测数据采集和基于无线模块的远程传输方案．该方案由海上现场监测系统和岸上控制及显示主机构成．在海上现场监测系统中，单片机把采集到的回波数据存储到扩展存储器62256，再通过无线模块发送回岸上控制及显示主机，由主机对接收数据进行处理和显示．厦门海域的海上实验结果表明，该方案能够简便、有效地对深水网箱中的鱼群状态进行数据采集，并在距网箱500m的距离内实现数据的可靠传输和显示，为正在新兴发展的抗风浪深水网箱养殖提供了一种简单、有效的鱼群状态安全监测技术．     

南海深海塑料垃圾污染

渔业捕捞及商业航运活动的塑料排放是南海深海塑料污染的主要来源。南海深海微塑料污染始于20世纪80年代,具有明显陆源输入的特征,陆架近岸区域微塑料污染严重。陆坡深海峡谷是塑料/微塑料向深海盆地输运的主要通道,近底浊流在输运中发挥了重要作用。综述了南海海底塑料垃圾深潜研究的最新进展,首次提出了深海塑料垃圾生态系统的概念。     

贵州省珍稀濒危苔藓植物的研究Ι.濒危原因与种类界定

贵州是中国生物多样性丰富的省份之一,发现了约34.42%的苔藓种类.在过去几十年里,由于人口的增加, 森林的砍伐以及环境的污染, 贵州苔藓植物严重地减少.因此,对贵州珍稀濒危苔藓植物的特性进行研究非常必要.需要探究其生境和保护途径.本文列出了27种珍稀濒危苔藓植物, 其中, 中华细指苔、粗瓣疣鳞苔和中华厚边藓已经列入 2000年版<世界苔藓植物红色名录>.     

An accessory chromophore in red vision

In the absence of a red-sensitive visual pigment, some deep-sea fish use a chlorophyll derivative in their green-sensitive rod cells in order to see deep-red light. Here we show that living rods extracted from a salamander can also accumulate an exogenous chlorophyll derivative, chlorin e6, that renders them as sensitive to red light as they are to green. This vision enhancement by an unbleachable chlorophyll derivative might therefore be a general phenomenon in vertebrate photoreception.     

安徽濒危野生动物在世界物种红色名录中的等级划分

依据IUCN2000年红色名录,将安徽省有关的濒危动物列表标出其受胁等级,并与国家重点保护野生动物名录进行比较,从中分析IUCN红色名录列出的安徽野生动物物种在国家重点保护野生动物名录中的地位,提出进一步做好安徽濒危物种保护工作的建议。     

A ubiquitous thermoacidophilic archaeon from deep-sea hydrothermal vents

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are important in global biogeochemical cycles, providing biological oases at the sea floor that are supported by the thermal and chemical flux from the Earth's interior. As hot, acidic and reduced hydrothermal fluids mix with cold, alkaline and oxygenated sea water, minerals precipitate to form porous sulphide-sulphate deposits. These structures provide microhabitats for a diversity of prokaryotes that exploit the geochemical and physical gradients in this dynamic ecosystem. It has been proposed that fluid pH in the actively venting sulphide structures is generally low (pH < 4.5), yet no extreme thermoacidophile has been isolated from vent deposits. Culture-independent surveys based on ribosomal RNA genes from deep-sea hydrothermal deposits have identified a widespread euryarchaeotal lineage, DHVE2 (deep-sea hydrothermal vent euryarchaeotic 2). Despite the ubiquity and apparent deep-sea endemism of DHVE2, cultivation of this group has been unsuccessful and thus its metabolism remains a mystery. Here we report the isolation and cultivation of a member of the DHVE2 group, which is an obligate thermoacidophilic sulphur- or iron-reducing heterotroph capable of growing from pH 3.3 to 5.8 and between 55 and 75 degrees C. In addition, we demonstrate that this isolate constitutes up to 15% of the archaeal population, providing evidence that thermoacidophiles may be key players in the sulphur and iron cycling at deep-sea vents.     

Derivation of haploid embryonic stem cells from mouse embryos

Most animals are diploid, but haploid-only and male-haploid (such as honeybee and ant) species have been described. The diploid genomes of complex organisms limit genetic approaches in biomedical model species such as mice. To overcome this problem, experimental induction of haploidy has been used in fish. Haploid development in zebrafish has been applied for genetic screening. Recently, haploid pluripotent cell lines from medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) have also been established. In contrast, haploidy seems less compatible with development in mammals. Although haploid cells have been observed in egg cylinder stage parthenogenetic mouse embryos, most cells in surviving embryos become diploid. Here we describe haploid mouse embryonic stem cells and show their application in forward genetic screening.     

Progress in studies of fish reproductive development regulation

Mechanisms of the animal reproductive development are an important research field in life sciences.The study of the reproductive development and regulatory mechanisms in fishes is important for elucidating the mechanisms of animal reproduction.This paper summarizes recent advances in the mechanisms of fish sex determination and differentiation,of fish gonad development and maturation,and of fish germ cell development,as well as the according regulating strategies.Fishes comprise an evolutionary stage that links invertebrates and higher vertebrates.They include diversiform species,and almost all vertebrate types of reproduction have been found in fishes.All these will lead to important advances in the regulatory mechanisms of animal reproduction by using fishes as model organisms.It will also enable novel fish breeding techniques when new controllable on-off strategies of reproduction and/or sex in fishes have been developed.     

衡水湖鱼类资源现状及其保护利用与发展

对衡水湖鱼类的种群组成现状进行了调查:有鱼类27种,隶属于7目13科26属.自然鱼类以鲤科鱼类为主,鲫鱼、麦穗鱼为优势种,符合江河平原区、河海亚区的特点.但以小型的杂鱼为主.另外,还包括一部分人工养殖的经济鱼类.针对鸟类自然保护区的需要,对该湿地的鱼类资源保护、利用与发展提出了一些可行性意见和建议.     

Deep-sea pollen research in China

This paper briefly presents the progress of deep-sea pollen research in China since the beginning of ninetieths of the last Century. All the deep-sea pollen contri-butions mainly come from the South China Sea (SCS) and the East China Sea (ECS). The German-Chinese joint cruise (Sonne 95) and ODP 184 cruise initiated by Chinese scientists in the SCS provided excellent material for the deep-sea pollen research. So far a number of pollen results of 20-30 ka and million years from the SCS have been published. A couple of deep-sea pollen records from Okinawa Through of the ECS also came out. The high resolution pollen records obtained from the continuous deposits with high sedimentation rates and reliable age control of the deep-sea sediments provided a high time resolution history (hundred to millennial scales) of vegetation, environment and monsoon evolution of the pollen source areas (southern China and Japan). Spectral analysis of deep-sea pollen records from the SCS discovered orbital (100, 41, 23, 10 ka) and suborbital cyclicities(Heinrich and Dansgaard/Oscheger-O/D events) in the vegetation changes. Moreover, cross spectral analysis showed that the trend of vegetation changes in northern SCS was regulated mainly by changes of the ice volume in the Northern Hemisphere. The pollen record of the last 20 ka from the Okinawa Through of the ECS indicates that the marine environmental change lagged that on the terrestrail by about 1000 year. The asynchronous environmental changes between land and sea were probably caused by the time difference in thermohaline circulation. This study underscored the role of the deep-sea plant fossils as a bridge across the land and sea.     

Mangroves enhance the biomass of coral reef fish communities in the Caribbean

Mangrove forests are one of the world's most threatened tropical ecosystems with global loss exceeding 35% (ref. 1). Juvenile coral reef fish often inhabit mangroves, but the importance of these nurseries to reef fish population dynamics has not been quantified. Indeed, mangroves might be expected to have negligible influence on reef fish communities: juvenile fish can inhabit alternative habitats and fish populations may be regulated by other limiting factors such as larval supply or fishing. Here we show that mangroves are unexpectedly important, serving as an intermediate nursery habitat that may increase the survivorship of young fish. Mangroves in the Caribbean strongly influence the community structure of fish on neighbouring coral reefs. In addition, the biomass of several commercially important species is more than doubled when adult habitat is connected to mangroves. The largest herbivorous fish in the Atlantic, Scarus guacamaia, has a functional dependency on mangroves and has suffered local extinction after mangrove removal. Current rates of mangrove deforestation are likely to have severe deleterious consequences for the ecosystem function, fisheries productivity and resilience of reefs. Conservation efforts should protect connected corridors of mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs.     

Endosymbiotic sulphate-reducing and sulphide-oxidizing bacteria in an oligochaete worm

Stable associations of more than one species of symbiont within a single host cell or tissue are assumed to be rare in metazoans because competition for space and resources between symbionts can be detrimental to the host. In animals with multiple endosymbionts, such as mussels from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and reef-building corals, the costs of competition between the symbionts are outweighed by the ecological and physiological flexibility gained by the hosts. A further option for the coexistence of multiple symbionts within a host is if these benefit directly from one another, but such symbioses have not been previously described. Here we show that in the gutless marine oligochaete Olavius algarvensis, endosymbiotic sulphate-reducing bacteria produce sulphide that can serve as an energy source for sulphide-oxidizing symbionts of the host. Thus, these symbionts do not compete for resources but rather share a mutalistic relationship with each other in an endosymbiotic sulphur cycle, in addition to their symbiotic relationship with the oligochaete host.     

贵州施秉喀斯特珍稀濒危植物资源多样性分析

施秉喀斯特是世界上白云岩喀斯特的典型代表,在独特的地理条件下孕育了丰富的珍稀濒危植物资源。该区分布珍稀濒危植物39科76属97种,其中,列入中国物种红色名录的有66种,列入IUCN红色名录的有41种,列入濒危野生动植物国际贸易公约(CITES)的有28种,列入国家重点保护植物名录的植物有15种。这些植物主要包括银杏(Ginkgo biloba)、南方红豆杉(Taxus wallichiana var.mairei)、鹅掌楸(Liriodendron chinense)、香果树(Emmenopterys henryi)等。这些珍稀濒危植物具有重要的保护价值。     

Post-spawning egg care by a squid

Gonatus onyx is one of the most abundant cephalopods in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and is an important prey species for a variety of vertebrate predators, but a full understanding of its life history has been hampered because spawning occurs at great depths, where observation is difficult. Here we describe post-spawning egg care, or brooding, in this deep-sea squid. Our finding is unexpected because this behaviour differs from the reproductive habits of all other known squid species.