Retinotopic order in the absence of axon competition

The retinotectal projection has long been studied experimentally and theoretically, as a model for the formation of topographic brain maps. Neighbouring retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) project their axons to neighbouring positions in the optic tectum, thus re-establishing a continuous neural representation of visual space. Mapping along this axis requires chemorepellent signalling from tectal cells, expressing ephrin-A ligands, to retinal growth cones, expressing EphA receptors. High concentrations of ephrin A, increasing from anterior to posterior, prevent temporal axons from invading the posterior tectum. However, the force that drives nasal axons to extend past the anterior tectum and terminate in posterior regions remains to be identified. We tested whether axon-axon interactions, such as competition, are required for posterior tectum innervation. By transplanting blastomeres from a wild-type (WT) zebrafish into a lakritz (lak) mutant, which lacks all RGCs, we created chimaeras with eyes that contained single RGCs. These solitary RGCs often extended axons into the tectum, where they branched to form a terminal arbor. Here we show that the distal tips of these arbors were positioned at retinotopically appropriate positions, ruling out an essential role for competition in innervation of the ephrin-A-rich posterior tectum. However, solitary arbors were larger and more complex than under normal, crowded conditions, owing to a lack of pruning of proximal branches during refinement of the retinotectal projection. We conclude that dense innervation is not required for targeting of retinal axons within the zebrafish tectum but serves to restrict arbor size and shape.     

Wnt-beta-catenin signaling initiates taste papilla development

Fungiform taste papillae form a regular array on the dorsal tongue. Taste buds arise from papilla epithelium and, unusually for epithelial derivatives, synapse with neurons, release neurotransmitters and generate receptor and action potentials. Despite the importance of taste as one of our five senses, genetic analyses of taste papilla and bud development are lacking. We demonstrate that Wnt-beta-catenin signaling is activated in developing fungiform placodes and taste bud cells. A dominant stabilizing mutation of epithelial beta-catenin causes massive overproduction of enlarged fungiform papillae and taste buds. Likewise, genetic deletion of epithelial beta-catenin or inhibition of Wnt-beta-catenin signaling by ectopic dickkopf1 (Dkk1) blocks initiation of fungiform papilla morphogenesis. Ectopic papillae are innervated in the stabilizing beta-catenin mutant, whereas ectopic Dkk1 causes absence of lingual epithelial innervation. Thus, Wnt-beta-catenin signaling is critical for fungiform papilla and taste bud development. Altered regulation of this pathway may underlie evolutionary changes in taste papilla patterning.     

植物功能基因组研究进展

基因组学研究已开始从结构基因组学转向功能基因组学。对功能基因组学研究的重要意义及内容、方法进行了综述，并对植物功能基因的研究进展及应用前景作了介绍。     

基于小波分析的图像压缩算法应用

以提高压缩比,减少失真度为目标,给出了基于Db小波基的具体推导过程。利用Mallat分解重构比较了Db小波和9—7小波的压缩效果。因此研究对于用小波变换进行图像处理等方面都有很好的应用价值。     

Regulatory circuits controlling vascular cell calcification

Vascular calcification is a common feature of chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and aging. Such abnormal calcium deposition occurs in medial and/or intimal layers of blood vessels as well as in cardiac valves. Once considered a passive and inconsequential finding, the presence of calcium deposits in the vasculature is widely accepted as a predictor of increased morbidity and mortality. Recognition of the importance of vascular calcification in health is driving research into mechanisms that govern its development, progression, and regression. Diverse, but highly interconnected factors, have been implicated, including disturbances in lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokines, and mineral and hormonal balances, which can lead to formation of osteoblast-like cells in the artery wall. A tight balance of procalcific and anticalcific regulators dictates the extent of disease. In this review, we focus on the main regulatory circuits modulating vascular cell calcification.     

制约我国纺织科技成果转化的关键因素分析

利用DEIPHI法，主成分分析筛选法和TSP软件确定出制约我国纺织科技成果转化的关键因素（"瓶颈"问题）；并根据定量分析结果和实际情况，提出了相应的建议．     

Experience-dependent and cell-type-specific spine growth in the neocortex

Functional circuits in the adult neocortex adjust to novel sensory experience, but the underlying synaptic mechanisms remain unknown. Growth and retraction of dendritic spines with synapse formation and elimination could change brain circuits. In the apical tufts of layer 5B (L5B) pyramidal neurons in the mouse barrel cortex, a subset of dendritic spines appear and disappear over days, whereas most spines are persistent for months. Under baseline conditions, new spines are mostly transient and rarely survive for more than a week. Transient spines tend to be small, whereas persistent spines are usually large. Because most excitatory synapses in the cortex occur on spines, and because synapse size and the number of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors are proportional to spine volume, the excitation of pyramidal neurons is probably driven through synapses on persistent spines. Here we test whether the generation and loss of persistent spines are enhanced by novel sensory experience. We repeatedly imaged dendritic spines for one month after trimming alternate whiskers, a paradigm that induces adaptive functional changes in neocortical circuits. Whisker trimming stabilized new spines and destabilized previously persistent spines. New-persistent spines always formed synapses. They were preferentially added on L5B neurons with complex apical tufts rather than simple tufts. Our data indicate that novel sensory experience drives the stabilization of new spines on subclasses of cortical neurons. These synaptic changes probably underlie experience-dependent remodelling of specific neocortical circuits.     

新疆温泉县卓勒萨依一带乌郎组火山岩锆石U-Pb年龄、地球化学特征及其构造意义

卓勒萨依一带的乌郎组火山岩位于温泉县城东南25km处,岩石类型主要为安山岩和流纹岩,火山岩浆具有由酸性—中性—酸性演化的特点,以裂隙式喷发类型为主。LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄为(293±3)Ma(MSWD=0.34、Probability=0.997),时代为早二叠世早期。该火山岩里特曼指数(σ)为1.71~2.60;碱度率(AR)为2.13~2.85,K2O/Na2O比值为0.31~1.83,属钙碱性系列。Nb/Ta值为18.65~22.85,略高于原始地幔值,Zr/Hf值为28.54~41.08,与原始地幔值相近。RbN/YbN比值为9.82~20.04,大于1,属于强不相容元素富集分配形式。稀土总量∑REE为 (118.41~194.70)×10-6;(Ce/Yb)N值为2.55~3.70,(La/Yb)N值为2.98~4.17,均大于1,属于轻稀土富集型,且轻稀土分馏明显;δEu值为0.19~0.59,远小于1,显示为负铕异常,铕亏损明显。根据相关构造环境判别图解,结合火山岩的地球化学特征及其所处的区域地质背景,认为在早二叠世发生大规模的陆陆叠覆造山作用,卓勒萨依一带火山活动较强烈,所反映的构造环境为陆内岛弧造山带火山岩环境。     

Evolution of an Eocene-Oligocene Saline Lake Depositional System and Its Controlling Factors,Jianghan Basin,China

The Upper Eocene–Lower Oligocene Qianjiang Formation of the Jianghan Basin in central China consists of a 4 700-m-thick lacustrine succession, containing 1 800 m of halite deposits. The maximum thickne...     

Chicken genomics: feather-pecking and victim pigmentation

Feather-pecking in domestic birds is associated with cannibalism and severe welfare problems. It is a dramatic example of a spiteful behaviour in which the victim's fitness is reduced for no immediate direct benefit to the perpetrator and its evolution is unexplained. Here we show that the plumage pigmentation of a chicken may predispose it to become a victim: birds suffer more drastic feather-pecking when the colour of their plumage is due to the expression of a wild recessive allele at PMEL17, a gene that controls plumage melanization, and when these birds are relatively common in a flock. These findings, obtained using an intercross between a domestic fowl and its wild ancestor, have implications for the welfare of domestic species and offer insight into the genetic changes associated with the evolution of feather-pecking during the early stages of domestication.