A paradigm for virus-host coevolution: Sequential counter-adaptations between endogenous and exogenous retroviruses

Endogenous retroviruses ( ERVs) are remnants of ancient retroviral infections of the host germline transmitted vertically from generation to generation. It is hypothesized that some ERVs are used by the host as restriction factors to block the infection o

Diet and feeding behavior of Rhinopithecus bieti at Xiaochangdu, Tibet: Adaptations to a marginal environment

The diet and feeding ecology of a wild subpopulation of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) were studied at Xiaochangdu in Honglaxueshan Nature Reserve, Tibet. This region is climatologically harsher than any other inhabited by non-human primates. Black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys fed on 48 parts of 25 plant species, at least three species of lichens and seven species of invertebrates. The number of food items exploited varied markedly among seasons, with dietary diversity being greatest in spring and summer. In winter, black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys had to subsist on fallback foods such as dried grass and bark. Ubiquitous lichens formed a major dietary constituent throughout the year, contributing about 75% of feeding records. Even though lichens act as a staple, our findings signify that the monkeys at Xiaochangdu prefer feeding on foliage, which is higher in protein content than the former. We provide evidence that black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys are able to cope with an array of food items other than lichens and hence can be regarded as feeding generalists. We discuss the results with reference to previous studies on other subpopulations living in habitats that are floristically more diverse and offer more plant food items than the marginal habitat at Xiaochangdu.

The youngest split in sympatric schizothoracine fish (Cyprinidae) is shaped by ecological adaptations in a Tibetan Plateau glacier lake

Although new empirical evidence shows that sympatric speciation has occurred in some species, there are few indisputable model organisms for this process of speciation. The two subspecies (Gymnocypris eckloni eckloni and G. e. scoliostomus) of the schizothoracine Gymnocypris fish species complex from a small glacier lake in the Tibetan Plateau, Lake Sunmcuo, fit several of the key characteristics of the sympatric speciation model. We used combined mitochondrial control region sequences and the cytochrome b gene (1894 bp) to address the phylogenetics and population genetics of 232 specimens of G. e. eckloni and G. e. scoliostomus, as well as all of its closely related sister species. We found that: (i) a total of four old lineages were uncovered in the widespread G. e. eckloni, of which only one was shown to be shared with all G. e. scoliostomus individuals and (ii) the new subspecies (G. e. scoliostomus) evolved in Lake Sunmcuo from the ancestral G. e. eckloni population within approximately 0.057 Ma. These two taxa of the species complex are morphologically distinct, and reproductive isolation is further suggested. Ecological disruptive selection based on morphological traits (e.g. mouth cleft characters) and food utilization may be a mechanism of incipient speciation of two sympatric populations within Lake Sunmcuo. This study provides the first genetic evidence for sympatric speciation in the schizothoracine fish.

Phylogenetic relationships of the Chinese cyprinid genus Rhinogobio Bleeker (Teleostei : Cyprinidae) based on sequences of the mitochondrial DNA control region, with comments on character adaptations

Rhinogobio is a cyprinid genus restricted to the river drainages of China. Sequences of the mitochondrial DNA control region were determined for four Rhinogohio species and one outgroup species, Coreius heterodon, to investigate the phylogenetic relationships within the genus. The control region of the Rhinogobio species ranges from 922 to 930 base pairs and comprises 930 base pairs in Coreius. Our phylogenetic analysis indicates two distinct lineages in the genus Rhinogobio. The first includes only R. ventralis. In the second lineage there are three species, two closely related species R. cylindricus and R. hunanensis, and their sister species R. typus. An analysis of character adaptations suggests an evolutionary trend in this genus towards a relatively lower body and caudal peduncle depth, a shorter dorsal fin, and a more anterior anus. In addition, there is a trend towards shorter barbels and relatively larger eyes. Some or all of these traits may be associated with a habitat shift from fast-flowing turbid rivers to slower-flowing clear river habitats.

Morphological Adaptations to Drought and Reproductive Strategy of the Moss Syntrichia caninervis in the Gurbantunggut Desert, China

The biological soil crusts (BSCs) in the Gurbantunggut Desert, the largest fixed and semi-fixed desert in China, feature moss-dominated BSCs, which play an indispensable role in sand fixation. Syntrichia caninervis Mitt. (S. caninervis) serves as one of the most common species in BSCs in the desert. In this study we examined the morphological structure of S. caninervis from leafy gametophyte to protonema using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We also examined the relationships between the morphological structure of S. caninervis and environmental factors. We found that: (1) this moss species is commonly tufted on the sand surface, and its leaves are folded upwards and twisted around the stem under dry conditions; (2) the cells on both upper and lower leaf surfaces have C-shaped dark papillae, which may reflect sunlight to reduce the damage from high temperature; (3) the leaf costa is excurrent, forming an awn with forked teeth; and (4) the protonema cells are small and thickset with thick cell walls and the cytoplasm is highly concentrated with a small vacuole. In addition, we also found that the protonema cells always form pouches on the tip of the mother cells during the process of cell polarization. Our results suggest that S. caninervis has, through its life cycle, several morphological and structural characteristics to adapt to dry environmental conditions. These morphological features of S. caninervis may also be found in other deserts in the world due to the world-wide distribution of the species.

半干旱区典型植物对气候变化与C02浓度升高的响应与适应

1.羊草对土壤水分的响应与适应 羊草生物量随着土壤水分含量的降低逐渐降低，后期的降低幅度远远大于前期。干旱促进鞘分配增加，增加了在处理初期的根的分配，但到后期则使之减少，表明羊草在经历较长期的持续干旱后通过增加根部的比重来提高抗旱性的能力逐渐降低。轻度(LD)、中度干旱(MD)对羊草叶片相对含水量(RWC)、气孔密度、光合参数、荧光猝灭参数和群体日交换速率无显著影响，但严重土壤干旱使它们显著降低。 羊草叶片的可溶性蛋白质以中度干旱的最高，严重干旱(SD)特别是极严重干旱(VD)使之显著降低，游离氨基酸含量(FAA)的变化与之相似。随着土壤水分含量的降低硝酸还原酶(NR)活性逐渐下降，而谷氨酰胺酶合成酶(GS)的活性变化则是LD和MD使之分别增加了25.75%和12.22%，SD和VD则分别减少了8.21%和28.72%，说明了NR的活性变化对土壤干旱较敏感，而GS的活性则对适度的干旱有一定程度的适应性。LD处理没有增加天冬酰胺酶(AE)和内肽酶(EP)两种酶的活性，但MD、SD和VD使两种水解酶的活性显著增加，说明轻度土壤干旱对蛋白质和氨基酸的分解作用有稍降低作用，但随着土壤干旱程度的加剧，又极大地促进了这个分解过程。严重和极严重土壤干旱显著降低了叶片的总核酸含量和RNA的含量，暗示严重程度的土壤水分胁追限制了核酸的合成代谢，加强了其分解代谢，严重土壤干旱还显著增加了丙二醛(MDA)的含量，说明提高了羊草叶片叶肉细胞的膜质过氧化水平。 2.羊草对土壤干旱和复水的响应与适应 羊草受到适当的干旱驯化可促进生长，但过长时间的干旱处理，复水后未能补偿损失的生物量和叶面积。羊草叶片的气孔密度以中度干旱持续期(Mtd)处理的最高，其次是短期干旱持续期( Std)，二者分别比没有经过土壤干旱的处理（对照）增加了14.90%和3.61%，但长期干旱持续期(Ltd)却使之减少了27.19%，气孔指数亦有类似的趋势。复水增加羊草叶片的光合速率、气孔导度、蒸腾速率，近期复水的激发效应明显大于前期，而对夜晚的呼吸作用影响不显著。水分利用率( WUE)的日变化动态呈“M”字型曲线，以Mtd的WUE值的峰值最大，以三次曲线拟合WUE的24小时日进程最佳。叶绿素荧光动力学的分析结果表明，复水，特别是最近的复水可显著改善羊草叶片的PS II性能，增加叶绿素a，b的含量及其比值，提高碳酸酐酶的活性。 羊草含氮量以叶片的最高(4.40%)，根部的最低(1.99%)，枯叶、茎鞘和根茎的含量差异较小(2.26～4.40%)。所有器官的含氨量对土壤水分处理的响应基本一致，以对照处理的最低，Std的最高。各器官的碳氮比都是以对照的最高，而其它土壤水分处理相差不显著，给于一定时间的土壤干旱处理可使羊草获得较强的氨代谢能力。Std的氮素总拥有量最多，和对照相比，绿叶、枯叶、茎鞘、根茎和根分别提高了35.58、26.88、23.49、31.66、40.75%，而Ltd的含氨总量呈下降趋势，说明短时间的土壤水分干旱处理可明显促进羊草各器官和植株的氮素积累，而较长时间的土壤干旱则不利于氮素的积累。羊草各器官氮素绝对量占整株的百分比从大到小依次为：绿叶(42.42-44.00%)、根茎(20.13—23.69%)、根(15.43～17.18%)、枯叶(10.07～11.30%)和茎鞘(7.27～8.67%)，表明叶片的氮素存量占植株的一半以上。Mtd处理增加了叶片的氮素贡献率，减少了茎鞘和根茎的贡献率，有利于加强叶片的光合性能。 以中度干旱持续期(Mtd)处理的叶片可溶性蛋白质含量、谷氨酰胺合成酶(GS)活性、RNA含量为最高，但中长期的土壤干旱处理再复水后则显著降低了羊草叶片内肽酶(EP)的活性和MDA的含量，说明给于一定时间的土壤干旱处理可使羊草叶片保持较高的蛋白质代谢水平，降低膜脂过氧化水平。 3.羊草对昼夜温差与土壤水分交互作用响应与适应 昼夜温差减少使单株羊草的生物量降低21.3%，分蘖和根的生物量减少，而鞘的生物量稍增加，显著降低了严重和极严重条件下的生物量。温差缩小降低了分蘖和根的投资比例，减少植株的地下部分生物量，而增加新叶、鞘和分蘖光合产物的比例，表明温差的减少将抑制光台产物向地下部分的转移。温差减少对充足土壤水分和轻度干旱处理的放射性比强影响较小，但减少了其它3种干旱处理的放射性比强。其原因主要是减少了植株鞘、根和根茎的放射性比强，显著增加了饲喂叶和心叶的放射性比强，表明温差的缩小阻止了“源”的光合产物向“库”的转移，降低对分蘖和根的投资，不利于羊草对干旱逆境的适应。 昼夜温差缩小使羊草叶片的气孔密度降低4.01%，而且减少了土壤干旱对气孔密度的影响。较高的昼夜温差和较低的昼夜温差相比，羊草叶片的光合速率和WUE分别增加了7.37%和20.09%;而气孔导度、胞间CO2浓度和蒸腾速率分别降低了14.03%、2.57%和10.80%。昼夜温差减少降低了土壤干旱的δ13C值，说明可能减少处在干旱条件下的植株WUE，暗示减小昼夜温差不利于增大羊草叶片对土壤水分亏缺的耐性。昼夜温差的缩小主要影响了下午羊草群体的CO2交换速率，增加了对照、LD和MD处理的夜间呼吸速率，降低了尤其是显著降低了在土壤缺水条件下的CO2昼夜净交换量，而在两个昼夜温差条件下都是以LD的最高。 昼夜温差缩小影响氮素含量在羊草各器官中的氮素分配，降低了叶片和茎鞘中的氮素百分比含量，但增加了根茎和根中的氮素含量。在较小的昼夜温差条件下，LD显著增加了叶片的氮素含量，但其它土壤水分处理影响不显著，在较大的昼夜温差条件下，亦是LD显著增加了叶片的氮素含量，但MD也使其显著增加。昼夜温差缩小增加了叶片和茎鞘的碳氮比，降低了根茎和根的碳氮比，使叶片在中度和严重土壤水分胁迫时无变化，降低了响应于土壤水分变化的调节弹性。 昼夜温差缩小使羊草叶片可溶性蛋白质降低了16.14%。LD和MD显著促进叶片可溶性蛋白质含量增加，SD和VD都显著地降低了羊草叶片的可溶性蛋白质含量。昼夜温差缩小有使羊草叶片游离氨基酸降低的趋势，主要是降低土壤干旱条件下的游离氨基酸含量，虽然昼夜温差缩小稍增加了可溶性耱的含量(4.68%)，但使土壤干旱激发效应变得不显著，表明温差的缩小降低了叶片中渗透调节物质的积累，不利于羊草抗旱性的提高。昼夜温差缩小显著降低了羊草叶片的NR、GS和谷氨酸脱氢酶(GDH)的活性，在较小昼夜温差条件下几乎看不出土壤水分降低的激发效应，而在高温差下则明显看出LD的激发效应。昼夜温差减少加强土壤干旱对天冬酰胺酶和内肽酶活性的影响，加强了蛋白质和关键氨基酸的分解作用，提高了叶片的膜脂过氧化水平，不利于羊草对干旱的适应性响应。 在土壤水分充足条件下，昼夜温差缩减对羊草叶片气孔形态的影响不明显，但可以看出温差较大时有较多的星状蜡质覆于气孔表面及其周围，这可能是由于夜间温度升高后植物为了减少水分的散失而采取的一种适应性策略。在本实验条件下，中度和严重土壤水分胁迫使气孔变得更加凹陷，气孔更加坚挺，体现了对土壤干旱的适应性反应。对羊草叶片叶肉细胞超微结构的观察表明，昼夜温差对土壤水分充足时的超微结构影响不显著，但在严重土壤干旱条件下，昼夜温差缩减似乎减少了叶绿体中的淀粉粒，加速了叶绿体和线粒体膜的裂解，表明昼夜温差缩减加大了严重土壤干旱对羊草叶片叶肉细胞超微结构的负面影响。 4.羊草对温度和土壤水分交互作用的响应与适应 温度升高使羊草叶片气孔导度和蒸腾速率增加，使光合速率(A)和水分利用率( WUE)降低。土壤干旱和高温均导致最大光化学效率、量子产额和光化学荧光猝灭系数降低，使非光化学荧光猝灭系数升高。土壤干旱减少了羊草幼苗的生物量，却显著增加了根的贡献率和根冠比，而高温使二者显著地降低。在本实验条件下，直到极端干旱才显著降低了羊草叶片的A和WUE，而其他的水分处理影响不显著。土壤干旱使得叶片中的含氮量显著降低：温度对叶片氮含量无显著影响，但却显著地降低了根中的氮含量，尤其显著增加根与叶片氮含量的比率。高温加强了干旱对光合性能的影响，表明高温降低了羊草对干旱的适应能力。 温度过低或过高都对叶片保持高水平的可溶性蛋白质不利，温度过高还削弱了土壤水分亏缺对叶片中游离氨基酸的激发作用。水分梯度对20℃时的GS活性无显著影响，但LD促使26℃和29'C下的GS活性增加，MD以上强度的土壤干旱都显著降低了23℃以上温度尤其是29℃和32℃时的GS活性，表明高温和干旱的协同效应对谷氨酰胺的合成不利。高温增加了AE和EP的活性，加强了土壤干旱对羊草叶片蛋白质和氨基酸分解的促进作用，在一定的土壤水分条件下，高温对RNA的合成作用增强，认为这是对高温胁迫的一种适应性响应。 随着温度的升高羊草叶片中的可溶性糖含量逐渐增加，土壤干旱亦增加了其可溶性糖的含量，但至极端干旱时则使之降低。在20℃下，土壤水分对羊草叶片的可溶性糖的含量无显著影响，在23—32℃温度条件下则是土壤干旱增加了其值，但至VD时则使之显著降低。不同温度条件下，土壤水分对羊草叶片的MDA影响不同，在20℃下，无显著影响，在23和26℃下，SD和VD使MDA稍升高，但在29和32℃条件下使之显著增加，说明温度升高加强了土壤干旱所引发的增加叶片膜质过氧化水平的负面影响。 5.柠条和杨柴对CO2浓度倍增和土壤水分交互作用的响应与适应 土壤干旱使拧条和杨柴的生物量在倍增CO2浓度条件下比在正常浓度条件下降低幅度更大。CO2浓度倍增较大地促进了充足水分条件下的植物生长，而对干旱条件下的生长促进作用则较小。无论在中度条件下还是在严重干旱条件下，两种优势植物均是在倍增CO2浓度条件下增加的根冠比幅度较大;无论在中度条件下还是在严重干旱条件下，且无论正常CO2浓度条件下还是在倍增CO2浓度条件下均是杨柴增加的幅度大。CO2浓度倍增主要增加了水分充足和MD的单位叶面积质量(LMA)，但反而降低了严重干旱的LMA。 CO2倍增使δ13C降低，但土壤干旱使之增加。用“库”（根）中的δ13C值对“源”（叶片）中的δ13C作图，可以用以评价碳分配以及“库”中新增生物量，两种沙生灌木叶片与根部的δ13C值呈极显著线性关系，杨柴的斜率大于柠条的，表明前者叶片与根部在光合产物分配上具有较高的可塑性，这和干旱条件下杨柴的根冠比增加相关联。杨柴的“源库”调节特性反映了对逆境具有较高的耐性。 CO2倍增使柠条和杨柴叶片含氮量分别降低了10.40%和5.06%，土壤干旱有使柠条叶片含氮量增加的趋势，但中度干旱没有增加羊柴叶片的含氮量。CO2倍增使叶片的碳氮比显著增加，而干旱使之降低。CO2浓度倍增降低叶肉细胞质膜的过氧化产物MDA的含量，干旱亦使叶片的MDA含量增加。叶片含氮量与MDA呈显著正相关，表明CO2倍增有保护叶片免受土壤干旱的作用，但干旱的负面影响是CO2倍增效应所难以弥补的。 CO2倍增降低了柠条叶片的可溶性蛋白质的含量，但在干旱条件下降低幅度较小，说明CO2浓度升高条件下可减轻干旱影响叶片中可溶性蛋白质的强度，体现了CO2浓度倍增对植物的抗旱性有利的一面。CO2浓度倍增使土壤水分充足条件下的柠条叶片中游离氨基酸含量降低17.24%，却使SD条件下增加10.78%，表明土壤干旱导致的叶片游离氨基酸含量的增加平衡了CO2升高造成的降低。在充足土壤水分和MD条件下，CO2浓度倍增对核酸总含量和RNA含量有稀释效应，但严重干旱条件下，CO2倍增提高了核酸总含量和RNA的含量。

Motilin and ghrelin gene experienced episodic evolution during primitive placental mammal evolution

Motilin and ghrelin, members of a structure-function-related hormone family, play important roles in gastrointestinal function, regulation of energy homeostasis and growth hormone secretion. We observed episodic evolution in both of their prehormone gene sequences during primitive placental mammal evolution, during which most of the nonsynonymous changes result in radical substitution. Of note, a functional obestatin hormone might have only originated after this episodic evolution event. Early in placental mammal evolution, a series of biology complexities evolved. At the same time the motilin and ghrelin prehormone genes, which play important roles in several of these processes, experienced episodic evolution with dramatic changes in their coding sequences. These observations suggest that some of the lineage-specific physiological adaptations are due to episodic evolution of the motilin and ghrelin genes.

Seasonal variations in the activity budget of Nomascus concolor jingdongensis at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China: Effects of diet and temperature

We studied seasonal variation in the activity budget of a habituated group of Nomascus concolor jingdongensis at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China from March 2005 to April 2006 via scan sampling at 5-min intervals. The study site is near the northern extreme of the distribution of hylobatids, at high altitude with extreme seasonality of temperature and rainfall. During the day, feeding manifested a bimodal pattern of high activity levels in mid-morning and mid-afternoon, whereas resting reached a peak at midday, with proportionally less time used for traveling. Annually, the group spent an average of 40.0% of the time resting, 35.1% feeding, 19.9% traveling, 2.6% singing, 1.2% playing, and 1.3% in other activities. The proportion of time allocated to activities showed significant monthly variations and was influenced by the diet and temperature. Gibbons increased traveling and playing time and decreased feeding time when they ate more fruit, and they decreased traveling, singing, and playing time and increased feeding time when they ate more leaves. Moreover, when the temperature was low, the gibbons decreased time traveling and increased time resting. In summary, black-crested gibbons employed high-effort activities when they ate more fruit and energy-conservation patterns when they ate more leaves and in low temperature. Behavioral data from the site are particularly useful in understanding gibbon behavioral adaptations to different sets of ecological conditions.

Sleeping sites, sleeping trees, and sleep-related behaviors of black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) at Mt. Wuliang, central Yunnan, China

Data on sleep-related behaviors were collected for a group of central Yunnan black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) at Mt. Wuliang, Yunnan, China from March 2005 to April 2006. Members of the group usually formed four sleeping units (adult male and juvenile, adult female with one semi-dependent black infant, adult female with one dependent yellow infant, and subadult male) spread over different sleeping trees. Individuals or units preferred specific areas to sleep; all sleeping sites were situated in primary forest, mostly (77%) between 2,200 and 2,400 m in elevation. They tended to sleep in the tallest and thickest trees with large crowns on steep slopes and near important food patches. Factors influencing sleeping site selection were (1) tree characteristics, (2) accessibility, and (3) easy escape. Few sleeping trees were used repeatedly by the same or other members of the group. The gibbons entered the sleeping trees on average 128 min before sunset and left the sleeping trees on average 33 min after sunrise. The lag between the first and last individual entering the trees was on average 17.8 min. We suggest that sleep-related behaviors are primarily adaptations to minimize the risk of being detected by predators. Sleeping trees may be chosen to make approach and attack difficult for the predator, and to provide an easy escape route in the dark. In response to cold temperatures in a higher habitat, gibbons usually sit and huddle together during the night, and in the cold season they tend to sleep on ferns and/or orchids.

Identification and characterization of hypoxia-induced genes in Carassius auratus blastulae embryonic cells using suppression subtractive hybridization

Organisms living in water are inevitably exposed to periods of hypoxia. Environmental hypoxia has been an important stressor having manifold effects on aquatic life. Many fish species have evolved behavioral, physiological, biochemical and molecular adaptations that enable them to cope with hypoxia. However, the molecular mechanisms of hypoxia tolerance in fish, remain unknown. in this study, we used suppression subtractive hybridization to examine the differential gene expression in CAB cells (Carassius auratus blastulae embryonic cells) exposed to hypoxia for 24 h. We isolated 2100 clones and identified 211 differentially expressed genes (e-value <= 5e-3; Identity > 45%). Among the genes whose expression is modified in cells, a vast majority involved in metabolism, signal transduction, cell defense, angiogenesis, cell growth and proliferation. Twelve genes encoding for ERO1-L, p53, CPO, HO-1, MKP2, PFK-2, cystatin B, GLUT1, BTG1, TGF beta 1, PGAM1, hypothetical protein F1508, were selected and identified to be hypoxia-induced using semi-quantitive RT-PCR and real-time PCR. Among the identified genes, two open reading frames (ORFs) encoding for CaBTG1 and Cacystatin B were obtained. The deduced amino acid sequence of CaBTG1 had 94.1%, 72.8%, 72.8%, 72.8%, 68.6% identity with that of DrBTG1, HsBTG1, BtBTG1, MmBTG1 and XIBTG1. Comparison of Cacystatin B with known cystatin B, the molecules exhibited 49.5 to 76.0% identity overall. These results may provide significant information for further understanding of the adaptive mechanism by which C. auratus responds to hypoxia. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bayesian mixed models and divergence time estimation of Chinese cavefishes (Cyprinidae : Sinocyclocheilus)

The genus Sinocyclocheilus is distributed in Yun-Gui Plateau and its surrounding region only, within more than 10 cave species showing different degrees of degeneration of eyes and pigmentation with wonderful adaptations. To present, published morphological and molecular phylogenetic hypotheses of Sinocyclocheilus from prior works are very different and the relationships within the genus are still far from clear. We obtained the sequences of cytochrome b (cyt b) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) of 34 species within Sinocyclocheilus, which represent the most dense taxon sampling to date. We performed Bayesian mixed models analyses with this data set. Under this phylogenetic framework, we estimated the divergence times of recovered clades using different methods under relaxed molecular clock. Our phyloegentic results supported the monophyly of Sinocyclocheilus and showed that this genus could be subdivided into 6 major clades. In addition, an earlier finding demonstrating the polyphyletic of cave species and the most basal position of S. jii was corroborated. Relaxed divergence-time estimation suggested that Sinocyclocheilus originated at the late Miocene, about 11 million years ago (Ma), which is older than what have been assumed.

STUDIES ON MIXED MASS CULTIVATION OF ANABAENA SPP (NITROGEN-FIXING BLUE-GREEN-ALGAE, CYANOBACTERIA) ON A LARGE-SCALE

Studies on mixed mass cultivation of Anabaena spp. on a large scale (5170 m2) were conducted continuously for 3 years. Under the continental monsoon climate in northern subtropics (30-degrees-N, 115-degrees-E), 7-11 g dry weight m-2 day-1 of microalgal biomass on average was harvested in simple plastic greenhouses in the effective growth days during the warmer seasons. The maximum productivity was 22 g m-2 day-1 in the middle of summer. Observations on the productive properties of strains of Anabaena spp. indicated that they were different from and could compensate for each other in their productivities and adaptations to the seasonal changes. With different lining materials (PVC sheets, concrete, sand and soil) in the culture ponds, no significant variation of productivity was found, but bubbling with biogas in the middle of the day and the application of some growth regulating substances (2,4-D, NaHSO3 and extracts of oyster mushroom spawn) was able to improve the production. The cost of microalgal biomass in this way was around 0.75-1.0 US dollar(s) per kilogram.

Revision of Yunnanilus with descriptions of a miniature species flock and six new species from China (Cypriniformes: Homalopteridae)

The genus Yunnanilus Nichols, 1925 is revised; Eonemachilus Berg, 1938 is a junior subjective synonym. Yunnanilus includes at least nine described species and five undescribed species. The status of Y; salmonides Chaudhuri is still incertae sedis. Six new species are described: Y. parvus, Y: altus, Y; pachycephalus, X niger, Y. macrogaster and Y. paludosus. The last three species occur sympatrically in a small endorheic basin of eastern Yunnan; they developed different feeding specializations which allowed them to use different niches. Other species also have peculiar specializations. The diversity of feeding habits and related adaptations in Yunnanilus is greater than in the whole subfamily Nemacheilinae and is one more example of supralimital specialization. Speciation of fishes on the Yunnan Plateau is discussed. Several species are endangered or possibly extinct. Introduction

Digestive gut structure and activity of protease, amylase, and alkaline phosphatase in Calanus sinicus during summer in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea

Calanus sinicus aggregate at the depth of 40-60 m (ambient temperature is 16 degreesC) in the waters of the continental shelf of the Yellow Sea during summer. in animals found in near shore regions, there are changes in digestive gut cells structure, digestive enzyme activity (protease, amylase), and tissue enzyme (alkaline phosphatase (ALP)), which may represent adaptations by this cold-water animal to a sharp seasonal increase in temperature of 6-23 degreesC. The activities of the digestive enzymes (protease and amylase) are very low in animals at stations near the estuary of Yangtse River, whereas they are relatively high in animals at stations in the central Yellow Sea, During summer, B-cells of the intestine and the villi intestinalis disappear in animals that do not feed at stations near the estuary of the Yangtse River. Respiration rates were undetectable or quite low during summer in C. sinicus from stations near the estuary of the Yangtse River, whereas they were relatively high at stations in the central Yellow Sea. Based upon the morphological characteristics of the digestive gut structure, enzyme levels, respiration rates, and the distribution of C. sinicus, we concluded that C. sinicus might be dormant during summer in the near shore areas of the East China Sea while remaining active in the central Yellow Sea. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Diploid and tetraploid distribution of Allium przewalskianum Regel. (Liliaceae) in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and adjacent regions

Polyploidization plays an important role in generating the current high diversity of plants. Studies of distributional patterns of diploids and derivative autopolyploids have provided important insights into evolutionary processes and cryptic speciation of polyploidization within species defined on the basis of their morphology. However, few studies have been designed to examine distributions of infrageneric diploids and polyploids on the Asian Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). Allium przewalskianum occurs widely on the QTP and in adjacent regions, at altitudes ranging from 2000m to 4500m. We collected a total of 844 individuals from 62 populations and determined their cytotypes over the entire distribution range of this species. Tetraploids tend to occur at high altitudes; however, the positive relationship between the ploidy and altitude was only marginally significant (P < 0.05). Contact zones between diploids and tetraploids were recorded on the eastern QTP from north to south. Four populations were found to harbor both cytotypes, but no triploid individuals. The wider distribution of tetraploids may be mainly due to their greater colonization ability in the new niches created by the Quaternary climatic oscillations in the QTP region. Our results offer a fundamental framework for studying evolutionary origins, adaptations and cryptic divergences of polyploids within this species complex based on molecular and/or ecological examinations in the future.