Possible developmental mechanisms underlying the origin of the crown lineages of arthropods

The extraordinarily preserved, diverse arthropod fauna from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shale, central Yunnan (southwest China), represents different evolutionary stages stepping from stem lineages towards crown arthropods (also called euarthropods), which makes this fauna extremely significant for discussion of the origin and early diversification of the arthropods. Anatomical analyses of the Maotianshan shale arthropods strongly indicate that     

Persistent organic pollutants PCNs and PBDEs in sediments from coastal waters of Qingdao,Shandong Peninsula

Thirty-one congeners of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and 21 congeners of polybrominated diphenylethers(PBDEs)in surface sediments at 5 stations and one mussel sample from Qingdao coastal waters were analyzed. The maximum contents occur at the station near the Haibo River mouth. The total PCNs contents are in the range of 212-1209 pg/g dw, dominated by tri-Cl CN. The total PBDEs contents are in the range of 117-5510 pg/g dw,dominated by tri- to hexa-BrBDEs. The local sources of PCNs are likely from combustion processes such as incinerations and coal burnings. The sources of PBDEs are molecular diffusion from the materials containing them. Except for the area near the river mouth where is affected by the sewage sludges, an important source of PCNs and PBDEs in this area is believed to be the atmospheric deposition. Mussels enrich PCNs and PBDEs relative to the sediments. The total TEQs of PCNs in mussels are lower than the total TEQs of PCBs.     

Cyclotrimerization of nitriles catalyzed by Li<Subscript>3</Subscript>N

Nitriles were unexpectedly trimerized into s-triazines or amino-pyrimidines in high yields in the presence of catalytic amount of Li3N, resulting in a simple, solvent-free and easy-to-scale-up one-pot way to synthesize s-triazines and 4-amino-pyrimidines with high yield.     

Molecular genetic basis for the rhino mouse from Chinese KM subcolony

Both the rhino mouse and hairless mouse resulted from hairless gene mutation, but they show different phenotypes of skin physiology. The rhino mouse has more similar histological characters to human papular alopecia.Therefore rhino mouse is a good experimental animal model for human papular alopecia. This study reports a hairless mouse named rhino KIZ, arose from KM colony in Kunming Institue of Zoology, by systematic studies on morphology,skin histopathology, gene sequence, pedigree and protein domain analysis. The results demonstrate that a C-to-T transition in exon 11 of hr gene (The mutant gene has been applied for a Chinese patent (patent No. 03135280)) results in the rhino KIZ. The rhino KIZ with clear genetic mechanism will be a useful animal model.     

Expression of lysine-rich protein gene and analysis of lysine content in transgenic wheat

Expression vector pBPC102, which carries winged bean lysine-rich protein (wblrp) gene and dihydropicolinate synthase (DHDPS) gene, was transferred into hexaploid winter wheat cv. Jinghua No.l, Jing411, You899 and Yangnongl5 explants of immature inflorescence and immature embryos by particle bombardment. More than 100 transgenic plants were obtained under the selection of s-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine (AEC). Confirmed transgenic plants of To and TI generation by PCR and PCR-Southern blotting analyses showed successful integration of wblrp gene into wheat genome. Analysis of transgenic plant lines of T2 by Northern dot-blotting showed good expression of wblrp gene in offspring seed. The content of free lysine in leaves, contents of bound lysine and total proteins in seeds of T2 transgenie wheat lines were determined and analyzed. Among 34 tested transgenic lines, levels of free lysine content in leaves of 9 transgenic lines are 2~3times higher than un-trans-formed wild-type cultivars. Among 17 analyzed transgenic lines, bound lysine content of 4 transgenic lines is more than 10% higher than that of wild-type cultivars. Our research suggests that introducing wblrp gene into wheat is an effective way to improve its nutrition quality.     

An early cretaceous<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ginkgo</Emphasis> ovule-bearing organ fossil from Liaoning,Northeast China and its evolutionary implications

Ginkgo is a very important gymnospermous genus that has only one surviving species, Ginkgo biloba L. As a so-called “living fossil“, wild Ginkgo was found only in China, but it once flourished well and had a world-wide distribution in the Mesozoic. The earliest Ginkgo has been known from the Middle Jurassic, based on ovule-bearin gorgans. In the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, Ginkgo was one of the dominant gymnosperms in floras and possibly one of the coal-forming plants in North China. During the Early Tertiary, it reduced to a circumpolar distribution in the North Hemisphere; only a few reported from the South Hemisphere. From the Pliocene onwards, the Ginkgoales has been represented by the extant monotypic “living fossil“ Ginkgo biloba.     

Characterization of MASDs of surface soils in north China and its influence on estimating dust emission

Inordertoquantitivelyevaluateeffectsofdustaerosolonradiativeforcing[1],andtounderstandtheprocessofatmosphericchemistryandbiogeochemistry[2,3],modelingthedustemissionfluxisakindoffundamentalwork.TheDPMmodel[4—6]isidealforpredictingdustemission[7—10]becauseitconsiderseffectsofsurfacefea-tures(MASDofsurfacesoil,roughnesslengthandsoilmoisture,etc)andsandblastingprocess.Italsoprovidesanexplicitphysicalmechanismthatisvalidatedbywindtunnelandfieldexperiments[7—10].Themeandiameterofsurfacesoilsi…     

Transformation of the salt-tolerant gene of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Avicennia marina</Emphasis> into tobacco plants and cultivation of salt-tolerant lines

Salt-tolerant gene, CSRG1, which was isolated from a kind of salt-tolerant mangroves, Avicennia marina, constructed the transgenic plasmid, pGAM189/CSRG1. CSRG1, GUS, Kmr and Hyg^r could be transferred into tobacco genome by the ameliorated leaf discs method of agro-bacterium-mediate transformation. Thirteen stable resistant lines were obtained when fifty transgenic explants were selected through 50 mg/L hygromycin and 150 mg/L kanamycin. Assessments of PCR amplification, Southern blot analysis and GUS histochemical staining showed that CSRG1 has been integrated into the genome of the eleven transgenic lines (frequency of transformation was 22%). Northern bolt analysis revealed that CSRG1 had expressed in transgenic lines. The assessments of salt-tolerant ability and photosyn-thetic rates indicated that the survival rate of the transgenic lines is 80%—90% and the transgenic lines could increase by 30%—40% in plant height, even when they were cultivated in MS medium containing 2% NaCl and the total seawater (salinity 24). It is supposed that the special physiologic metabolic pathway formed by the products of CSRG1 can really endow the tobacco plants with the high salt-tolerant ability, not only to Na^ stress, but also to the comprehensive stress of various ions.     

Anion-exchangeable inorganic-organic hybrid materials synthesized without using templates

Inorganic-organic hybrid materials have been obtained at room temperature in aqueous solution without using the templates of surfactants. The materials are carefully characterized by anion-exchange measurement, elements analysis, X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy. Notably, the anion-exchange capacity of the samples (3.9mmol.g^-1) is even higher than anion-exchangeable resins. Interestingly, both small and large anions could be easily exchanged into the samples due to the plasticity of the samples, along with the phase transition.     

Second generation YBCO coated conductors： A review

The advance in first generation Bi-2223 HTS wire has enabled the demonstration of superconducting power cables, magnetic energy-storage devices, transformers,fault current limiters and motors. However, the low irreversibility field (H^*) prevents application of Bi-2223 at 77 Kin any significant field. Worldwide activities are therefore,focused on developing a second-generation HTS technology based on YBCO, for which H^* (77K)-7 T. In this paper, we discuss the status and commercial prospects of second generation HTS wire technologies. In addition, we review the recent results and discuss the prospects of future applications.