Microsatellites are preferentially associated with nonrepetitive DNA in plant genomes.

Microsatellites are a ubiquitous class of simple repetitive DNA sequence. An excess of such repetitive tracts has been described in all eukaryotes analyzed and is thought to result from the mutational effects of replication slippage. Large-scale genomic and EST sequencing provides the opportunity to evaluate the abundance and relative distribution of microsatellites between transcribed and nontranscribed regions and the relationship of these features to haploid genome size. Although this has been studied in microbial and animal genomes, information in plants is limited. We assessed microsatellite frequency in plant species with a 50-fold range in genome size that is mostly attributable to the recent amplification of repetitive DNA. Among species, the overall frequency of microsatellites was inversely related to genome size and to the proportion of repetitive DNA but remained constant in the transcribed portion of the genome. This indicates that most microsatellites reside in regions pre-dating the recent genome expansion in many plants. The microsatellite frequency was higher in transcribed regions, especially in the untranslated portions, than in genomic DNA. Contrary to previous reports suggesting a preferential mechanism for the origin of microsatellites from repetitive DNA in both animals and plants, our findings show a significant association with the low-copy fraction of plant genomes.     

系统发育史的重建

不同的物种是怎样进化形成不同的形态 ,这仍是现代进化生物学中研究的主要课题。近年来 ,对这一问题的研究已集中在由于进化时间的不同而导致进化机制变化的模型上 ,并在解开机体发育期间控制形态表现的分子机理方面取得了惊人的进展。值得注意的是 :形态的表型和一些调节基因的突变大致反映了物种间所表现的差异。通过分析生物的系统发育 ,重新构建系统发育史 ,可以阐明控制发育过程和进化发育的相关时间的遗传网络的分子进化机制。与系统发育进化有关的信息影印在组成它们的基因片段上。存在于这些发育位点的信息可以使人们追踪到发育调节…     

长白山采集的中国东北新记录苔藓植物

在对中国和加拿大苔藓学者联合于中国东北最高的长白山采集的2千余份标本鉴定的基础上。认定有苔藓植物59科，152属，300种。报道了中国大陆新记录1属－小曲柄藓属（Campylostelium）。中国东北新记录2属－直蓑衣藓属（Macrocoma）和同叶藓属（Isopterygium）。中国东北新记录5种－褶叶裂叶苔（Lophozia incisa）。假狗牙藓（Cynodontium fallax）。细枝牛毛藓（Ditrichum gracile）。散叶牛毛藓（Ditrichum divarcatum）和细叶棉藓（Plagiothecium latebricola）。     

Palaeolake and palaeoenvironment between 42 and 18 kaBP in tengger desert, NW China

Comprehensive field investigations and laboratory analyses show that palaeolakes, including fresh- mesohaline water Megalake Tengger and other semi-con- nected, isolated water bodies, during late Pleistocene covered an area of more than 20000 km², which is more than half of the Tengger Desert in NW China. Stratigraphic correlation and chronological evidence indicate that before ca. 42000 aBP the area was more arid. The palaeolakes started to develop around 40000 uncal. ¹⁴C aBP but until 37000 ¹⁴C aBP their scope was limited. High water levels established from 35000 ¹⁴C aBP lasted until 22000 ¹⁴CaBP. Lake levels regressed between 22000 and 20000 ¹⁴C aBP but transgressed from 20000 to 18600 ¹⁴C aBP. Subsequently, water level declined further and the Megalake Tengger finally desiccated at around 18000 ¹⁴C aBP. Megalake Tengger possessed a fresh-mesohaline water property, implying that the regional precipitation increased significantly. During the period of Megalake Tengger, the climate was warmer-humid than present. The annual rainfall was 250 to 350 mm more than that of today and the temperature was 1.5 to 3.0℃ higher.     

Mass march of termites into the deadly trap.

Carnivorous pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes are not usually very selective about their prey, catching anything that is careless enough to walk on their slippery peristome, but Nepenthes albomarginata is an exception. We show here that this plant uses a fringe of edible white hairs to lure and then trap its prey, which consists exclusively of termites in enormous numbers. This singular feature accounts for the specialization of N. albomarginata for one prey taxon, unique so far among carnivorous plants.     

Superoxide activates mitochondrial uncoupling proteins.

Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) diverts energy from ATP synthesis to thermogenesis in the mitochondria of brown adipose tissue by catalysing a regulated leak of protons across the inner membrane. The functions of its homologues, UCP2 and UCP3, in other tissues are debated. UCP2 and UCP3 are present at much lower abundance than UCP1, and the uncoupling with which they are associated is not significantly thermogenic. Mild uncoupling would, however, decrease the mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species, which are important mediators of oxidative damage. Here we show that superoxide increases mitochondrial proton conductance through effects on UCP1, UCP2 and UCP3. Superoxide-induced uncoupling requires fatty acids and is inhibited by purine nucleotides. It correlates with the tissue expression of UCPs, appears in mitochondria from yeast expressing UCP1, and is absent in skeletal muscle mitochondria from UCP3 knockout mice. Our findings indicate that the interaction of superoxide with UCPs may be a mechanism for decreasing the concentrations of reactive oxygen species inside mitochondria.     

宇宙生命化:一个真实的人类未来图景

近几年来，人类在所有科学领域取得成果的速率在惊人地加快。当我们拓展对地球的控制时，同时也在准备重塑和改造地球上的景观，为自己到地球外居住作准备。几个世纪以来，我们已经花大力改造了地球，现在，我们正准备把宇宙转变成一个充满生命的有生气的实体。我们将通过把我们的意识、技能、智力以及我们自身扩展到其他行星上来实现这个目标。我们把人类改变和改善地球环境（最终是宇宙本身）的努力总称为“生命化”。生命化是调节人类行为的一种力量，赋予地球并最终赋予整个宇宙以意识和智慧，是全部人类生产活动背后的原动力。然而，为…     

Rutile U-Pb age for the ultra-high pressure eclogite from the dabie Mountains,central China:Evideence for rapid cooling

The U-Pb isotope compositions of rutile, omphacite and garnet in the eclogite from the Jinheqiao area in the Southern Dabie ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic zone were analyzed. The consistent high precision U-Pb age (218 ±(1.2) Ma of rutile in eclogite from the Dabie Mountains was obtained by two ways of isochron and common Pb correction based on the composition of omphacite. This proves that the omphacite in eclogite has a U/Pb ratio (μ = 2.8) low enough to be used for common Pb correction in the analyses of rutile. Under the rapid cooling condition (40℃/Ma) the closure temperature for U-Pb diffusion in rutile is about 470℃. Thus, this U-Pb age of rutile proves that 218 Ma should be the cooling age of eclogite at 470℃ instead of the peak metamorphic age.     

Deconstructing maize population structure.

Association studies have rarely been used in plant genetics, in part because of the risk of false positives caused by population structure. A study of flowering time in maize makes the first use of recent 'structured association' methods-statistical approaches that use independent loci to control for the effects of structure and admixture.