Water isotope variations in the snow pack and summer precipitation at July 1 Glacier, Qilian Mountains in northwest China

This paper presents the stable isotope data of the snow pack and summer precipitation collected at the July 1 Glacier, Qilian Mountains in northwest China and analyses their relationships with meteorologi- cal factors. On an event scale, there is no temperature effect on the δ 18O values in the summer pre- cipitation, whereas the amount effect is shown to be clear. By tracing the moisture transport history and comparing the precipitation with its isotopic composition, it is shown that this amount effect not only reflects the change in moisture trajectory, which is related to the monsoon activities, but is also associated with the cooling degree of vapor in the cloud, the evaporation of falling raindrops and the isotopic exchange between the falling drops and the atmospheric vapor. As very little precipitation occurs in winter, the snow pack profile mainly represents the precipitation in the other three seasons. There are low precipitation δ 18O ratios in summer and high ratios in spring and autumn. The Meteoric Water Line (MLW) for the summer precipitation is δ D = 7.6 δ 18O 13.3, which is similar to that at Delingha, located in the south rim of the Qilian Mountains. The MWL for the snow pack is δ D = 10.4 δ 18O 41.4, showing a large slope and intercept. The deuterium excess (d) of the snow pack is positively correlated with δ 18O, indicating that both d and δ 18O decrease from spring to summer and increase from early autumn to early spring. This then results in the high slope and intercept of the MWL. Sea- sonal fluctuations of d in the snow pack indicate the change of moisture source and trajectory. During spring and autumn, the moisture originates from continental recycling or rapid evaporation over rela- tively warm water bodies like Black, Caspian and Aral Seas when the dry westerly air masses pass over them, hence very high d values in precipitation are formed. During summer, the monsoon is responsi- ble for the low d values. This indicates that the monsoon can reach the western part of the Qilian Mountains.     

HAR1 mediates systemic regulation of symbiotic organ development

Symbiotic root nodules are beneficial to leguminous host plants; however, excessive nodulation damages the host because it interferes with the distribution of nutrients in the plant. To keep a steady balance, the nodulation programme is regulated systemically in leguminous hosts. Leguminous mutants that have lost this ability display a hypernodulating phenotype. Through the use of reciprocal and self-grafting studies using Lotus japonicus hypernodulating mutants, har1 (also known as sym78), we show that the shoot genotype is responsible for the negative regulation of nodule development. A map-based cloning strategy revealed that HAR1 encodes a protein with a relative molecular mass of 108,000, which contains 21 leucine-rich repeats, a single transmembrane domain and serine/threonine kinase domains. The har1 mutant phenotype was rescued by transfection of the HAR1 gene. In a comparison of Arabidopsis receptor-like kinases, HAR1 showed the highest level of similarity with CLAVATA1 (CLV1). CLV1 negatively regulates formation of the shoot and floral meristems through cell-cell communication involving the CLV3 peptide. Identification of hypernodulation genes thus indicates that genes in leguminous plants bearing a close resemblance to CLV1 regulate nodule development systemically, by means of organ-organ communication.     

薄层分离-分光光度法测定夹竹桃枝中三萜类化合物的质量分数

为测定夹竹桃中总三萜的质量分数,以齐墩果酸为对照品,5％的香草醛-冰醋酸溶液和高氯酸为显色剂,采用薄层色谱分离-分光光度法在550 nm波长处测定样品吸光度.用正交试验法优化了显色反应条件,适宜的展开剂组成为氯仿∶丙酮=10∶3,对照品在10～200μL/mL范围呈良好线性关系,其回归方程为Y=0.007 0C+0.0...     

塔克拉玛干沙漠周边地区暖季气温、降水的变化特征及其响应分析

气温和降水是最重要的气候要素,与人们的生产、生活联系也最为紧密.通过对塔克拉玛干沙漠周边地区9个气象站34年逐月气温、降水资料分析研究,发现该地区暖季气温和降水有明显的上升趋势.暖季气温增加了约0.30℃,暖季对年气温变化的影响不如冷季大.暖季降水量约增加了7.30mm,暖季降水暖季降水量占全年降水量的82.96%,决定了年降水变化趋势.暖季气温对降水存在明显的逆动响应关系.     

国产夹竹桃枝中化学成分的研究

采用硅胶柱色谱、Sephadex LH-20柱色谱等方法分离纯化国产夹竹桃(Nerium indicum Mill)枝,根据理化性质和波谱数据对其化学成分进行结构鉴定.结果表明,从夹竹桃枝中分离并鉴定了4个化合物,分别为16β,17β-环氧-12β-羟基-孕甾-4,6-二烯-3,20-二酮;12β-羟基-孕甾-4,6,16-三烯-3,20-二酮;20(s)21-二羟基-孕甾-3,12-二酮;3β,14β-二羟基-5β-强心甾-20(22)-烯.化合物1～4均为首次从国产夹竹桃中分离得到.     

基于自由基链式反应改进干法烟气脱硫技术的方法

为了提高干法烟气脱硫反应的速率并改良脱硫产物,提出了一种基于自由基链式反应同步氧化烟气中NO和SO2的方法。对该方法的机理进行了分析,提出了利用添加剂引发烟气中链式反应的设想。分别选用双氧水、碳氢化合物、硝酸作为添加剂开展了实验研究。实验结果表明:利用链式反应同步氧化烟气中的NO和SO2是可行的。添加剂的选取很关键:双氧水和碳氢化合物由于自身消耗OH自由基,不能维持链式反应的进行;硝酸热解可有效地提供OH自由基,实现NO和SO2的同步氧化。优化反应条件有助于提高NO和SO2的氧化率。     

Plastid proteins crucial for symbiotic fungal and bacterial entry into plant roots

The roots of most higher plants form arbuscular mycorrhiza, an ancient, phosphate-acquiring symbiosis with fungi, whereas only four related plant orders are able to engage in the evolutionary younger nitrogen-fixing root-nodule symbiosis with bacteria. Plant symbioses with bacteria and fungi require a set of common signal transduction components that redirect root cell development. Here we present two highly homologous genes from Lotus japonicus, CASTOR and POLLUX, that are indispensable for microbial admission into plant cells and act upstream of intracellular calcium spiking, one of the earliest plant responses to symbiotic stimulation. Surprisingly, both twin proteins are localized in the plastids of root cells, indicating a previously unrecognized role of this ancient endosymbiont in controlling intracellular symbioses that evolved more recently.     

Stepwise radial complexation of imine groups in phenylazomethine dendrimers

Dendrimers are highly branched organic macromolecules with successive layers or 'generations' of branch units surrounding a central core. Organic-inorganic hybrid versions have also been produced, by trapping metal ions or metal clusters within the voids of the dendrimers. The unusual, tree-like topology endows these nanometre-sized macromolecules with a gradient in branch density from the interior to the exterior, which can give rise to an energy gradient that directs the transfer of charge and energy from the dendrimer periphery to its core. Here we show that tin ions, Sn(2+), complex to the imine groups of a spherical polyphenylazomethine dendrimer in a stepwise fashion. This behaviour reflects a gradient in the electron density associated with the imine groups, with complexation in a more peripheral generation proceeding only after complexation in generations closer to the core has been completed. By attaching an electron-withdrawing group to the dendrimer core, we are able to change the complexation pattern, so that the core imines are complexed last. By further extending this strategy, it should be possible to control the number and location of metal ions incorporated into dendrimer structures, which might find uses as tailored catalysts or building blocks for advanced materials.     

Mobilization of a transposon in the rice genome

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important crop worldwide and, with the availability of the draft sequence, a useful model for analysing the genome structure of grasses. To practice efficient rice breeding through genetic engineering techniques, it is important to identify the economically important genes in this crop. The use of mobile transposons as gene tags in intact plants is a powerful tool for functional analysis because transposon insertions often inactivate genes. Here we identify an active rice transposon named miniature Ping (mPing) through analysis of the mutability of a slender mutation of the glume-the seed structure that encloses and determines the shape of the grain. The mPing transposon is inserted in the slender glume (slg) mutant allele but not in the wild-type allele. Search of the O. sativa variety Nipponbare genome identified 34 sequences with high nucleotide similarity to mPing, indicating that mPing constitutes a family of transposon elements. Excision of mPing from slg plants results in reversion to a wild-type phenotype. The mobility of the transposon mPing in intact rice plants represents a useful alternative tool for the functional analysis of rice genes.