The Medicago genome provides insight into the evolution of rhizobial symbioses

Legumes (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) are unique among cultivated plants for their ability to carry out endosymbiotic nitrogen fixation with rhizobial bacteria, a process that takes place in a specialized structure known as the nodule. Legumes belong to one of the two main groups of eurosids, the Fabidae, which includes most species capable of endosymbiotic nitrogen fixation. Legumes comprise several evolutionary lineages derived from a common ancestor 60 million years ago (Myr ago). Papilionoids are the largest clade, dating nearly to the origin of legumes and containing most cultivated species. Medicago truncatula is a long-established model for the study of legume biology. Here we describe the draft sequence of the M. truncatula euchromatin based on a recently completed BAC assembly supplemented with Illumina shotgun sequence, together capturing ～94% of all M. truncatula genes. A whole-genome duplication (WGD) approximately 58 Myr ago had a major role in shaping the M. truncatula genome and thereby contributed to the evolution of endosymbiotic nitrogen fixation. Subsequent to the WGD, the M. truncatula genome experienced higher levels of rearrangement than two other sequenced legumes, Glycine max and Lotus japonicus. M. truncatula is a close relative of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), a widely cultivated crop with limited genomics tools and complex autotetraploid genetics. As such, the M. truncatula genome sequence provides significant opportunities to expand alfalfa's genomic toolbox.     

New evidence on deinonychosaurian dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia

Most of what is known about the evolution of deinonychosaurs (that is, the group of theropods most closely related to birds) is based on discoveries from North America and Asia. Except for Unenlagia comahuensis and some fragmentary remains from northern Africa, no other evidence was available on deinonychosaurian diversity in Gondwana. Here we report a new, Late Cretaceous member of the clade, Neuquenraptor argentinus gen. et sp. nov., representing uncontroversial evidence of a deinonychosaurian theropod in the Southern Hemisphere. The new discovery demonstrates that Cretaceous theropod faunas from the southern continents shared greater similarity with those of the northern landmasses than previously thought. Available evidence suggests that deinonychosaurians were probably distributed worldwide at least by the beginning of the Cretaceous period. The phylogenetic position of the new deinonychosaur, as well as other Patagonian coelurosaurian theropods, is compatible with a vicariance model of diversification for some groups of Gondwanan and Laurasian dinosaurs.     

The tomato genome sequence provides insights into fleshy fruit evolution

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a major crop plant and a model system for fruit development. Solanum is one of the largest angiosperm genera and includes annual and perennial plants from diverse habitats. Here we present a high-quality genome sequence of domesticated tomato, a draft sequence of its closest wild relative, Solanum pimpinellifolium, and compare them to each other and to the potato genome (Solanum tuberosum). The two tomato genomes show only 0.6% nucleotide divergence and signs of recent admixture, but show more than 8% divergence from potato, with nine large and several smaller inversions. In contrast to Arabidopsis, but similar to soybean, tomato and potato small RNAs map predominantly to gene-rich chromosomal regions, including gene promoters. The Solanum lineage has experienced two consecutive genome triplications: one that is ancient and shared with rosids, and a more recent one. These triplications set the stage for the neofunctionalization of genes controlling fruit characteristics, such as colour and fleshiness.     

六盘山盆地早白垩世沉积演化特征分析

六盘山盆地基底具槽台过渡性质,形成于燕山运动早期,为祁连山前盆地的剪切挤压盆地;白垩系下统六盘山群自下而上可分为三桥组、和尚铺组、李洼峡组、马东山组和乃家河组5个油层组,发育有碎屑岩夹泥质灰岩,在顶部地层含少量的石膏层,垂向上从下向上发育砾岩-粗砂岩-细砂岩-泥岩-泥灰岩和石膏岩的沉积序列,沉积物颜色为从棕红色到灰黑色再从棕红色到灰黑色的沉积旋回,反映了2个水进水退的沉积旋回.根据六盘山盆地六盘山群的颜色、岩石类型、沉积构造等,可以将六盘山群划分为冲积扇、扇三角洲、辫状河三角洲和湖泊等4种沉积相类型.     

Insights into hominid evolution from the gorilla genome sequence

Gorillas are humans' closest living relatives after chimpanzees, and are of comparable importance for the study of human origins and evolution. Here we present the assembly and analysis of a genome sequence for the western lowland gorilla, and compare the whole genomes of all extant great ape genera. We propose a synthesis of genetic and fossil evidence consistent with placing the human-chimpanzee and human-chimpanzee-gorilla speciation events at approximately 6 and 10 million years ago. In 30% of the genome, gorilla is closer to human or chimpanzee than the latter are to each other; this is rarer around coding genes, indicating pervasive selection throughout great ape evolution, and has functional consequences in gene expression. A comparison of protein coding genes reveals approximately 500 genes showing accelerated evolution on each of the gorilla, human and chimpanzee lineages, and evidence for parallel acceleration, particularly of genes involved in hearing. We also compare the western and eastern gorilla species, estimating an average sequence divergence time 1.75 million years ago, but with evidence for more recent genetic exchange and a population bottleneck in the eastern species. The use of the genome sequence in these and future analyses will promote a deeper understanding of great ape biology and evolution.     

Cladistic analysis of continuous modularized traits provides phylogenetic signals in Homo evolution

Evolutionary novelties in the skeleton are usually expressed as changes in the timing of growth of features intrinsically integrated at different hierarchical levels of development. As a consequence, most of the shape-traits observed across species do vary quantitatively rather than qualitatively, in a multivariate space and in a modularized way. Because most phylogenetic analyses normally use discrete, hypothetically independent characters, previous attempts have disregarded the phylogenetic signals potentially enclosed in the shape of morphological structures. When analysing low taxonomic levels, where most variation is quantitative in nature, solving basic requirements like the choice of characters and the capacity of using continuous, integrated traits is of crucial importance in recovering wider phylogenetic information. This is particularly relevant when analysing extinct lineages, where available data are limited to fossilized structures. Here we show that when continuous, multivariant and modularized characters are treated as such, cladistic analysis successfully solves relationships among main Homo taxa. Our attempt is based on a combination of cladistics, evolutionary-development-derived selection of characters, and geometric morphometrics methods. In contrast with previous cladistic analyses of hominid phylogeny, our method accounts for the quantitative nature of the traits, and respects their morphological integration patterns. Because complex phenotypes are observable across different taxonomic groups and are potentially informative about phylogenetic relationships, future analyses should point strongly to the incorporation of these types of trait.     

从大型企业的信息需求探讨信息服务

分析了大型企业的经济特点，信息需求特点以及信息服务发展的特点，并针对这些特点探讨了为企业提供信息服务的方法。     

鄂尔多斯沙漠高原白垩系地下水锶同位素的演化机理

结合地下水化学资料,应用含水介质和地下水Sr含量及87Sr/86Sr比值,对鄂尔多斯沙漠高原白垩系含水层中水-岩作用机制进行了研究.结果表明:含水介质中钾长石、斜长石和碳酸盐矿物的87Sr/86Sr比值具有差异,地下水87Sr/86Sr比值介于0.709 871～0.711 792.地下水Sr来源主要为碳酸盐矿物、硫酸...     

Changes in carbon dioxide during an oceanic anoxic event linked to intrusion into Gondwana coals

The marine sedimentary record exhibits evidence for episodes of enhanced organic carbon burial known as 'oceanic anoxic events' (OAEs). They are characterized by carbon-isotope excursions in marine and terrestrial reservoirs and mass extinction of marine faunas. Causal mechanisms for the enhancement of organic carbon burial during OAEs are still debated, but it is thought that such events should draw down significant quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide. In the case of the Toarcian OAE (approximately 183 million years ago), a short-lived negative carbon-isotope excursion in oceanic and terrestrial reservoirs has been interpreted to indicate raised atmospheric carbon dioxide caused by oxidation of methane catastrophically released from either marine gas hydrates or magma-intruded organic-rich rocks. Here we test these two leading hypotheses for a negative carbon isotopic excursion marking the initiation of the Toarcian OAE using a high-resolution atmospheric carbon dioxide record obtained from fossil leaf stomatal frequency. We find that coincident with the negative carbon-isotope excursion carbon dioxide is first drawn down by 350 +/- 100 p.p.m.v. and then abruptly elevated by 1,200 +/- 400 p.p.m.v, and infer a global cooling and greenhouse warming of 2.5 +/- 0.1 degrees C and 6.5 +/- 1 degrees C, respectively. The pattern and magnitude of carbon dioxide change are difficult to reconcile with catastrophic input of isotopically light methane from hydrates as the cause of the negative isotopic signal. Our carbon dioxide record better supports a magma-intrusion hypothesis, and suggests that injection of isotopically light carbon from the release of thermogenic methane occurred owing to the intrusion of Gondwana coals by Toarcian-aged Karoo-Ferrar dolerites.     

Episodic growth of the Gondwana supercontinent from hafnium and oxygen isotopes in zircon

It is thought that continental crust existed as early as 150 million years after planetary accretion, but assessing the rates and processes of subsequent crustal growth requires linking the apparently contradictory information from the igneous and sedimentary rock records. For example, the striking global peaks in juvenile igneous activity 2.7, 1.9 and 1.2 Gyr ago imply rapid crustal generation in response to the emplacement of mantle 'super-plumes', rather than by the continuous process of subduction. Yet uncertainties persist over whether these age peaks are artefacts of selective preservation, and over how to reconcile episodic crust formation with the smooth crustal evolution curves inferred from neodymium isotope variations of sedimentary rocks. Detrital zircons encapsulate a more representative record of igneous events than the exposed geology and their hafnium isotope ratios reflect the time since the source of the parental magmas separated from the mantle. These 'model' ages are only meaningful if the host magma lacked a mixed or sedimentary source component, but the latter can be diagnosed by oxygen isotopes, which are strongly fractionated by rock-hydrosphere interactions. Here we report the first study that integrates hafnium and oxygen isotopes, all measured in situ on the same, precisely dated detrital zircon grains. The data reveal that crust generation in part of Gondwana was limited to major pulses at 1.9 and 3.3 Gyr ago, and that the zircons crystallized during repeated reworking of crust formed at these times. The implication is that the mechanisms of crust formation differed from those of crustal differentiation in ancient orogenic belts.     

广东三水盆地白垩纪岩相古地理特征及演化

根据大量的区域地质、钻井、野外露头等资料,对广东三水盆地自垩纪地层进行了构造层序研究,划分出一个盆地充填层序,两个构造层序和4个层序;在构造层序研究的基础上,采用压缩法和瞬时作图法,以层序为编图单元,编制了三水盆地白垩纪层序岩相古地理图,系统地阐述了三水盆地白垩纪不同时期的岩相古地理特征;根据不同时期的岩相古地理展布特征,将白垩纪三水盆地的沉积充填分为早白垩世的底部粗碎屑进积和晚白垩世的首次湖泛两个演化阶段.     

北山盆地群侏罗、白垩系沉积体系及其分布、演化

通过地质调查并结合前人资料，研究了北山盆地群侏罗系与下白垩统的沉积体系类型及其分布、演化。结果表明：北山盆地群侏罗系及下白垩统为典型的内陆湖盆沉积，发育冲积扇、河流(以辫状河为主)、三角洲(包括扇三角洲、辫状河三角洲、曲流河三角洲)、湖泊等沉积体系；沉积体系的分布及演化主要受构造及古气候条件的影响，侏罗系及下白垩统属两个沉积旋回，每个沉积旋回大致可以划分为初始断陷期、强烈断陷期和断陷萎缩期3个沉积阶段；由于阿尔金断裂在侏罗纪时对北山地区南部影响较大，导致侏罗纪沉积呈现出一定的南北差异，表现为南部盆地断陷更为强烈．出现了较深湖相沉积，北部盆地断陷强度相对较弱，只出现滨浅湖沉积；早白垩世阿尔金断裂对本区影响不大，其沉积特征差异不明显。     

Lower Cretaceous angio-sperm leaf from Wuhe in Anhui ,China

A new early angiosperm leaf species is reported from the Xinzhuang Formation of Wuhe County,Anhui Province,It is probably of Barrenian or slightly later in geological age,The fossil leaf is small,no more than 0.6 cm both in length and in width,The leaf vens are well preserved and clearly visble under a low poer microscope.Leaf architectural analysis shows that such a leaf should belong to the first leaf rank of Hickey ,i.e the most primitive one.There are no early angiosperm leaves published colpletely similar to our.A new species name of Dicotylophyllum minutissimum sp.nov.is established for the present leaf fossils.     

准噶尔盆地车排子地区吐谷鲁群储层成岩作用与孔隙演化

准噶尔盆地车排子地区是油气勘探的重点区块。通过岩心观察、薄片鉴定,对车排子地区下白垩统吐谷鲁群储层岩石类型、孔隙类型、储集物性、成岩作用及孔隙演化进行研究。结果表明储层岩石类型主要为长石石英砂岩、岩屑长石砂岩及长石岩屑砂岩,颗粒较细,分选、磨圆较好,结构成熟度较高。储集空间为粒间孔、扩大粒间溶孔、粒内溶孔及溶缝,其中粒间孔占主导地位。岩心样品的孔隙度主要为5%~30%,渗透率为(0.01~1 100)×10-3μm2,大多数属于中低孔、中低渗—特低渗储层。研究区白垩系埋藏较浅,地温低,成岩作用较弱,主要类型有压实作用、胶结作用、交代作用和溶解作用,处于成岩作用早期,且油气早期充注对吐谷鲁群储层成岩作用及孔隙演化具有较大影响。车排子地区吐谷鲁群储层勘探目标应以孔隙度18%的优质储层为主。     

准噶尔盆地西北缘车排子地区下白垩统层序地层与沉积演化

以层序地层学理论为依据,综合运用地震、钻井、测井、野外露头和古生物资料,在井—震联合标定的基础上,对准噶尔盆地西北缘车排子地区下白垩统层序地层及沉积演化进行研究.结果表明:下白垩统可划分为2个三级层序;下部层序KSI结构发育完整,低位体系域以辫状河和扇三角洲沉积为主,下切谷特征明显,水进体系域发育滨浅湖沉积,高位体系域发育扇三角洲、滨浅湖沉积;上部层序KSII低位体系域不发育,水进体系域主要发育滨浅湖沉积,高位体系域在湖平面缓慢下降、陆源碎屑物质供给不断减少的环境下发育曲流河、扇三角洲、滨浅湖沉积;下白垩统沉积建造反映研究区的沉积演化具有一定旋回性,早白垩世古气候变化对层序的发育起重要的控制作用.     

Cannibalism in a semi-aquatic reptile from the Early Cretaceous of China

Cannibalism or intraspecific predation is a particular form of feeding behavior that is far more common in lower vertebrates and invertebrates than in higher vertebrates such as reptiles, birds and mammals. Evidence for cannibalism in vertebrate fossils, however, is generally rare, and the best examples were recently found in the Madagascan dinosaur Majungatholus atopus , the Neanderthals. Here we report the presence of cannibal-ism in a semiaquatic reptile Monjurosuchus splendens from the Lower Cretaceous of China (Fig. 1), as shown by an adult individual containing seven skulls of juveniles of the same species in its abdominal cavity, indicating that it is an active cannibal that preys on young members of its own kind. This discovery also represents the earliest known and most gruesome cannibalism ever recorded among the prehistoric vertebrates.     

下刚果盆地A区块下白垩统Albian阶沉积层序与古地理演化

通过对西非被动大陆边缘下刚果盆地中的A区块沉积相和层序地层分析,确定Albian阶主要为一套具“间断-交叉”混积机理的碳酸盐岩混杂陆源砂、泥沉积,可划分出5个三级层序,经历了从混积缓坡→周缘混积台地→破裂混积台地→深水混积陆棚→深海盆地(深水扇)的沉积演化全过程,对应于威尔逊构造旋回中后裂谷拗陷阶段向大陆漂移的过渡阶段,其中发育主力储、产层的SQ2- SQ3层序为Ⅱ型周缘混积-破裂台地沉积层序,可进一步划分为TST和HST两个体系域.解析了混积碳酸盐岩层序地层与沉积充填响应特征,建立了研究区混积碳酸盐岩“滑脱-盐拱-转换”多因素联控的沉积演化模式,提出SQ3层序时期的盐拱构造顶部呈帚状分布和垂     

Structure of the CED-4-CED-9 complex provides insights into programmed cell death in Caenorhabditis elegans

Interplay among four genes--egl-1, ced-9, ced-4 and ced-3--controls the onset of programmed cell death in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Activation of the cell-killing protease CED-3 requires CED-4. However, CED-4 is constitutively inhibited by CED-9 until its release by EGL-1. Here we report the crystal structure of the CED-4-CED-9 complex at 2.6 A resolution, and a complete reconstitution of the CED-3 activation pathway using homogeneous proteins of CED-4, CED-9 and EGL-1. One molecule of CED-9 binds to an asymmetric dimer of CED-4, but specifically recognizes only one of the two CED-4 molecules. This specific interaction prevents CED-4 from activating CED-3. EGL-1 binding induces pronounced conformational changes in CED-9 that result in the dissociation of the CED-4 dimer from CED-9. The released CED-4 dimer further dimerizes to form a tetramer, which facilitates the autoactivation of CED-3. Together, our studies provide important insights into the regulation of cell death activation in C. elegans.     

塔南凹陷下白垩统铜钵庙组-大磨拐河组沉积相研究

塔南凹陷下白垩统砂体沉积厚度大,分布广泛,是含油气的重要储层。根据测井、岩心观察和3D地震资料分析,认为塔南凹陷下白垩统发育扇三角洲、近岸水下扇和三角洲沉积相。其中,铜钵庙组主要发育扇三角洲沉积,根据扇三角洲的岩性、沉积层序和形态进一步划分为扇三角洲平原、扇三角洲前缘和前扇三角洲3个亚相带。南屯组发育近岸水下扇沉积,可细分为内扇、中扇和外扇三个亚相。大磨拐河组发育三角洲沉积,本区缺失三角洲平原相,只见三角洲前缘和前三角洲亚相。