Muscle pioneers: large mesodermal cells that erect a scaffold for developing muscles and motoneurones in grasshopper embryos

During embryonic development, muscles differentiate in the appropriate places and motoneurone growth cones find the appropriate muscles; both events occur concurrently and with remarkable specificity. What are the cellular interactions that orchestrate this coordinated development of nerve and muscle? In the development of vertebrate skeletal muscles, motoneurone growth cones arrive in the periphery along stereotyped routes and enter the appropriately located masses of mesodermal cells usually before differentiated muscle fibres appear and before the masses cleave into separate muscles. We find that a similar sequence of events occurs in the grasshopper embryo. We are interested in how mesodermal cells become organized into the appropriate muscles and what guides motoneurone growth cones to their appropriate targets. Fortunately, in the grasshopper embryo the mesodermal cells in the periphery and motoneurones in the central nervous system (CNS) are large, accessible and in many cases individually identifiable from early in their development. We report here the discovery of a class of large mesodermal cells, which we call muscle pioneers, that arise early in development when the embryonic environment is relatively simple and distances short. By their growth and association with particular sites along the ectoderm, the muscle pioneers appear to erect a scaffold for later developing muscles and motoneurone growth cones.     

陆地棉红株基因(R1)的精细定位

利用陆地棉遗传背景的海岛棉染色体16置换系材料Sub16和陆地棉多基因标记系T586创建了含1259个单株的F₂作图群体, 结合本实验室最新的栽培四倍体棉种种间分子遗传图谱上染色体16的标记信息, 利用分子标记技术, 对红株基因R₁进行精细定位. 在F₂分离群体中, 红株性状分离比符合孟德尔1:2:1的分离, 进一步证明该性状是由一不完全显性单基因控制. 利用JoinMap 3.0连锁分析软件, 使用含237个单株的F₂小群体完成红株基因R₁的初级定位, 进一步利用含1259个单株的F₂大群体将该基因精细定位在NAU4956和NAU6752之间, 与最近标记的遗传距离为0.49 cM. 研究结果为进一步克隆该基因及培育红色彩棉转基因品种提供了研究基础.     

青藏高原现代食草动物牙齿珐琅质稳定同位素特征及古高度重建意义

食草动物牙齿珐琅质具有非常强的抗成岩改造特征, 被认为是研究生态环境变化和重建古高度的理想载体之一. 对青藏高原腹地现代食草动物(牦牛、藏野驴、藏羚羊)牙齿珐琅质的稳定同位素进行了分析, 拉萨地块和羌塘南部地区食草动物牙齿珐琅质δ¹³C(PDB)平均值为－11.3‰ ± 1.1‰, 羌塘北部和可可西里地区为－10.2‰ ± 1.4‰, 与高原以C3植物为主的植被景观是一致的; δ¹⁸O(PDB)值也同样表现出从南向北逐渐升高的趋势, 喜马拉雅山地区吉隆盆地平均值最低, 为－11.8‰ ± 3.4‰, 拉萨地块和羌塘南部地区平均值为－11.1‰ ± 1.1‰, 羌塘北部和可可西里地区最高, 为－9.0‰ ± 1.1‰. 食草动物牙齿珐琅质氧同位素是河水(或降水)与食物(植物)氧同位素的混合, 不适合直接用来进行高度预测. 建立了高原现代食草动物牙齿珐琅质氧同位素对降水、植被及高度的响应关系, 为利用食草动物牙齿化石氧同位素重建青藏高原古高度提供了依据.     

广西崇左江州木榄山智人洞古人类遗址及其地质时代

关于现代智人起源的争论一直是国际古人类学研究的前沿与热点. 最近, 在广西崇左木榄山智人洞发现了具有现代人解剖特征初始状态的人类下颌骨化石及大量与之共生的哺乳动物化石. 木榄山智人洞哺乳动物群以江南象与初现的亚洲象及巨獏等组合为其特征, 截然不同于华南早更新世的巨猿动物群和中更新世的大熊猫-剑齿象动物群, 是典型亚洲象动物群的早期代表. 依动物群性质、地层对比及铀系年代测定木榄山化石智人和伴生的哺乳动物群的时代为距今约11万年的晚更新世早期. 该动物群主要由热带-亚热带型动物组成, 但木榄山动物群中森林型动物种类单调, 草地类型的动物相当多, 这表明当时的气候可能比以前干燥. 木榄山智人的发现对研究现代人起源及其环境背景具有非常重要的意义.