Modification to the Hardisty equation, regarding the relationship between sediment transport rate and particle size

Bagnold-type bed-load equations are widely used for the determination of sediment transport rate in marine environments. The accuracy of these equations depends upon the definition of the coefficient k(1) in the equations, which is a function of particle size. Hardisty (1983) has attempted to establish the relationship between k(1) and particle size, but there is an error in his analytical result. Our reanalysis of the original flume data results in new formulae for the coefficient. Furthermore, we found that the k(1) values should be derived using u(1) and u(1cr) data; the use of the vertical mean velocity in flumes to replace u(1) will lead to considerably higher k(1) values and overestimation of sediment transport rates.

海洋聚球蓝细菌（Synechococcus）的纯化鉴定及生理和生态分布特征

利用流式细胞仪分析了聚球蓝细菌在胶州湾的时空分布和营养盐的影响, 并对聚球蓝细菌亚群分化及其影响因子做了进一步探索。分离获得六株海洋聚球蓝细菌，分别定名为IOCAS0401、IOCAS0402、IOCAS0403、IOCAS0404、IOCAS0405、IOCAS0406。对其中两株（IOCAS0401、IOCAS0402）进行鉴定，并进一步研究了其生理生态特征。有三株菌（IOCAS0403、IOCAS0404、IOCAS0405）具有异养生长能力，选取其中两株（IOCAS0403、IOCAS0405）构建了遗传操作系统。具体内容摘要如下： 1、聚球蓝细菌在胶州湾的时空分布和营养盐的影响 胶州湾近一年的微微型浮游植物群落分析表明，聚球蓝细菌逐月的最高丰度中心有从湾外→湾口→湾内，再由湾内→湾口→湾外的变化趋势。在月变化中，聚球蓝细菌9月丰度最大，平均丰度为4.87×103 cells/ml，1-4月丰度很低，其中3月平均丰度最低为66 cells/ml。选取D5站的0 m和30 m作为表层和深层，对微微型浮游植物和营养盐的研究表明，在9、10月，N/P主要在10-30之间，聚球蓝细菌占优势51.6%（9月），98.5％（10月），其它月份大多数N/P<10或者>30，尤其以8月和11月最为显著，而这两个月也恰恰是超微真核浮游植物占优势92.1％（8月），84.8％（11月）。流式细胞仪数据表明，夏末和秋季部分站位会出现聚球蓝细菌的两个亚群，并且当N/P在33左右时可能会出现两个亚群分化，经过对N源的分析后发现，产生亚群分化时NO3-N/PO4-P在14左右。 2、 所分离到的六株聚球蓝细菌的吸收光谱表明，胶州湾的聚球蓝细菌色素种类十分丰富，基本都含有叶绿素a和藻红蛋白（PE），同时也有含藻蓝蛋白（PC）的种群。研究中发现有三株菌具有兼性异养生长能力，当有光照的时候，合成色素，自养生长进行产氧光合作用，没有光照时，色素逐渐消失，启动异养生长的代谢过程。 3、 利用流式细胞仪分析黄海近海水样中聚球蓝细菌种群组成，发现主要有不同藻红蛋白含量的两个类群组成，流式细胞仪分选后，用SN培养基培养纯化得到两个亚群优势种聚球蓝细菌IOCAS0401和IOCAS0402。荧光显微镜下镜检，两株菌在蓝色激发光（450-490 nm）下发桔红色荧光，并且IOCAS0401的荧光较IOCAS0402强。扫描电镜观察发现IOCAS0401呈椭圆形，长轴大约1.2 μm左右；IOCAS0402近似球形，直径约有0.6 μm左右。吸收光谱的检测表明，两者都有叶绿素a和藻红蛋白的特征吸收峰。其中IOCAS0401有藻尿胆素（PUB）和藻红胆素（PEB）吸收锋，而IOCAS0402只有PEB的吸收峰，两者均无藻蓝蛋白（PC）吸收锋。通过16S rDNA测序分析，结果表明两株菌都位于MC-A中的clade II类群，与从日本海域分离获得的MBIC10224菌株有较高的亲缘关系，虽然这三株菌都归为clade II，但单独成一分支，表明它们带有明显的西太平洋特色。 4、 选取其中两株IOCAS0403和IOCAS0405构建遗传系统，抗生素图谱表明，IOCAS0403对四环素有抗性，自然转化结果显示，IOCAS0403不能自然转化，IOCAS0405具有自然转化能力，同时两者都不能进行接合转移。

两种蓝藻真核型Ser/Thr激酶基因功能的初步验证

Ser/Thr蛋白激酶（serine/threonine kinases，STK）在真核生物的信号转导通路中具有重要作用，而且已经成为对抗肿瘤、结核等多种人类疾病的药物作用靶点。上世纪九十年代，有研究发现STK在原核生物的信号转导中也发挥重要作用。本论文以聚球藻PCC7942（Synechococcus sp. PCC7942）和钝顶螺旋藻（Spirulina platensis）为材料，对几个真核型的Ser/Thr蛋白激酶基因的功能进行了初步验证。 蓝藻兼具细菌和植物的特点，具有成熟的转化体系，为真核生物基因功能的研究提供了新的模式宿主。聚球藻PCC7942是一种单细胞的淡水蓝藻，具有天然的外源DNA转化系统，是蓝藻分子遗传学研究的模式生物。通过基因敲除及表达差异分析发现聚球藻PCC7942中的Ser/Thr蛋白激酶stk196参与高温胁迫的信号传递。钝顶螺旋藻是原核丝状蓝藻，由于其蕴涵高品质营养成分而成为一类具有重要经济价值的微藻，该研究利用半定量RT-PCR方法，分析四个具有跨膜结构域的Ser/Thr蛋白激酶在正常生长温度下和经低温、高温诱导后表达量的变化情况，发现stk2103在低温诱导后的表达量降低，高温诱导后的表达量升高，提示该基因的表达可能参与了钝顶螺旋藻对温度的适应。 蓝藻中真核型Ser/Thr蛋白激酶功能的研究为我们进一步研究真核生物的Ser/Thr蛋白激酶功能提供了借鉴，并对植物抗逆胁迫的研究提供重要的理论依据。

Clay surface modification and its coagulation of red tide organisms

Surface modification of montmorillonite by means of Mg2+ insertion reaction has been studied and a positively charged montmorillonite has been prepared. The effects of preparation temperature and Mg2+ concentration on the positive charge property of the clay and on the clay coagulating Heterosigma akashiwo have been studied. The results showed that the modified clay enhanced the coagulation and the used amount decreased to 1/5-1/10 of the original. The removal rates of Heterosigma akashiwo were correlated positively with positive charge on the clay in accordance with theoretical model.

A close phylogenetic relationship between Sipuncula and Annelida evidenced from the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Phascolosoma esculenta

Background: There are many advantages to the application of complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes in the accurate reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships in Metazoa. Although over one thousand metazoan genomes have been sequenced, the taxonomic sampling is highly biased, left with many phyla without a single representative of complete mitochondrial genome. Sipuncula (peanut worms or star worms) is a small taxon of worm-like marine organisms with an uncertain phylogenetic position. In this report, we present the mitochondrial genome sequence of Phascolosoma esculenta, the first complete mitochondrial genome of the phylum. Results: The mitochondrial genome of P. esculenta is 15,494 bp in length. The coding strand consists of 32.1% A, 21.5% C, 13.0% G, and 33.4% T bases (AT = 65.5%; AT skew = -0.019; GC skew = -0.248). It contains thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs) with 3,709 codons in total, twenty-two transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and a non-coding AT-rich region (AT = 74.2%). All of the 37 identified genes are transcribed from the same DNA strand. Compared with the typical set of metazoan mt genomes, sipunculid lacks trnR but has an additional trnM. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses of the protein sequences show that Myzostomida, Sipuncula and Annelida (including echiurans and pogonophorans) form a monophyletic group, which supports a closer relationship between Sipuncula and Annelida than with Mollusca, Brachiopoda, and some other lophotrochozoan groups. Conclusion: This is the first report of a complete mitochondrial genome as a representative within the phylum Sipuncula. It shares many more similar features with the four known annelid and one echiuran mtDNAs. Firstly, sipunculans and annelids share quite similar gene order in the mitochondrial genome, with all 37 genes located on the same strand; secondly, phylogenetic analyses based on the concatenated protein sequences also strongly support the sipunculan + annelid clade (including echiurans and pogonophorans). Hence annelid "key-characters" including segmentation may be more labile than previously assumed.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the ridgetail white prawn Exopalaemon carinicauda Holthuis, 1950 (Crustacean: Decapoda: Palaemonidae) revealed a novel rearrangement of tRNA genes

The complete mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequence was determined for a ridgetail white prawn, Exopalaemon carinicauda Holthuis, 1950 (Crustacea: Decopoda: Palaemonidae). The mt genome is 15,730 bp in length, encoding a standard set of 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes, which is typical for metazoans. The majority-strand consists of 33.6% A, 23.0% C, 13.4% G, and 30.0% T bases (AT skew = 0.057: GC skew = -0.264). A total of 1045 bp of non-coding nucleotides were observed in 16 intergenic regions,,including a major A+ T rich (79.7%) noncoding region (886 bp). A novel translocation of tRNA(Pro) and tRNA(Thr) was found when comparing this genome with the pancrustacean ground pattern indicating that gene order is not conserved among caridean mitochondria. Furthermore, the rate of Ka/Ks in 13 protein-coding genes between three caridean species is Much less than 1, which indicates a strong Purifying selection within this group. To investigate the phylogenetic relationship within Malacostraca, phylogenetic trees based oil Currently available malacostracan complete mitochondrial sequences were built with the maximum likelihood and Bayesian models. All analyses based oil nucleotide and amino acid data strongly support the monophyly of Decapoda. The Penaeidae, Reptantia, Caridea, and Meiura clades were also recovered as monophyletic groups with Strong Statistical Support. However, the phylogenetic relationships within Pleocyemata are unstable, as represented by the inclusion or exclusion of Caridea. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Isolation and characterization of a novel variant of HMW glutenin subunit gene from the St genome of Pseudoroegneria stipifolia

The x- and y-type high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin subunits are conserved seed storage proteins in wheat and related species. Here we describe investigations on the HMW glutenin subunits from several Pseudoroegneria accessions. The electrophoretic mobilities of the HMW glutenin subunits from Pd. stipifolia, Pd tauri and Pd strigosa were much faster than those of orthologous wheat subunits, indicating that their protein size may be smaller than that of wheat subunits. The coding sequence of the Glu-1St1 subunit (encoded by the Pseudoroegneria stipifolia accession PI325181) was isolated, and found to represent the native open reading frame (ORF) by in vitro expression. The deduced amino acid sequence of Glu-1St1 matched with that determined from the native subunit by mass spectrometric analysis. The domain organization in Glu-1St1 showed high similarity with that of typical HMW glutenin subunits. However, Glu-1St1 exhibited several distinct characteristics. First, the length of its repetitive domain was substantially smaller than that of conventional subunits, which explains its much faster electrophoretic mobility in SDS-PAGE. Second, although the N-terminal domain of Glu-1St1 resembled that of y-type subunit, its C-terminal domain was more similar to that of x-type subunit. Third, the N- and C-terminat domains of Glu-1St1 shared conserved features with those of barley D-hordein, but the repeat motifs and the organization of its repetitive domain were more similar to those of HMW glutenin subunits than to D-hordein. We conclude that Glu-1St1 is a novel variant of HMW glutenin subunits. The analysis of Glu-1St1 may provide new insight into the evolution of HMW glutenin subunits in Triticeae species. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genome constitutions of Hystrix patula, H-duthiei ssp duthiei and H-duthiei ssp longearistata (Poaceae : Triticeae) revealed by meiotic pairing behavior and genomic in-situ hybridization

Genomic constitutions of three taxa of Hystrix Moench, H. patula, H. duthiei ssp. duthiei and H. duthiei ssp. longearistata, were examined by meiotic pairing behavior and genomic in-situ hybridization. Meiotic pairing in hybrids of H. patula x Pseudoroegneria spicata (St), H. patula x Elymus wawawaiensis (StH), H. patula x H. duthiei ssp. longearistata, H. patula x Psathyrostachys huashanica (Ns(h)), H. duthiei ssp. duthiei x Psa. huashanica, H. duthiei ssp. longearistata x Psa. huashanica, Leymus multicaulis (NsXm) x H. duthiei ssp. longearistata averaged 6.53, 12.83, 1.32, 0.29, 5.18, 5.11 and 10.47 bivalents per cell, respectively. The results indicate that H. patula has the StH genome and H. duthiei ssp. duthiei and H. duthiei ssp. longearistata have the NsXm genome. Results of genomic in-situ hybridization analysis strongly supported the chromosome pairing data; therefore it is concluded that the type species of Hystrix, H. patula, should be included in Elymus, and that H. duthiei ssp. duthiei and H. duthiei ssp. longearistata should be transferred to Leymus.

Modification of nylon membrane used for affinity adsorption

Nylon membrane was modified by binding with polyhydroxyl-containing materials to increase its hydrophilicity and reduce its nonspecific interaction with proteins. The effect of binding hydrophilic materials on amount of ligand bound-Cibacron Blue F3GA (CBF) was investigated. Experimental data showed that the amount of CBF bound can be increased significantly after binding of hydrophilic materials.

Mesoporous spinel MgAl2O4 prepared by in situ modification of boehmite sol particle surface: I Synthesis and characterization of the unsupported membranes

Mesoporous spinel membranes as ultrafiltration membranes were prepared through a novel sol-gel technique. By in situ modification of the sol particle surface during the sol-gel process, control of the material structure on a nanometer scale from the earliest stages of processing was realized. Nano-particles with a chocolate-nut-like morphology, i.e. spinel MgAl2O4 as a shell and gamma -Al2O3 as a core, were first revealed by HRTEM results. The formation of the spinel phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). N-2 adsorption-desorption results showed that the mesoporous membranes had a narrow pore size distribution. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.