中国兜兰属植物的传粉生态学研究

兰科植物多样化的花部性状和复杂的传粉系统为我们研究传粉者与花部性状关系提供了材料，兰科植物的多样性被认为是适应于多样化特化传粉者的结果。对同属不同形态的兰科植物进行传粉生态学观察，对于了解花部性状与传粉系统的关系，理解传粉者在花部进化中的作用具有重要意义。兜兰属植物是兰科植物中比较独特的类群，全世界约有69种，该属植物的花部性状（唇瓣形状、花部颜色）存在很大的差异。本文通过对我国4种具有不同花部性状的兜兰进行传粉生物学研究，探讨该属植物传粉机制与花部形状的关系和适应性进化等问题。 1.硬叶兜兰的传粉生物学 在贵州省东北部对硬叶兜兰传粉进行了连续4年的野外观察和实验，结果表明，硬叶兜兰是由蜂类传粉的，其中黄熊蜂是主要传粉者;硬叶兜兰不产生气味，主要依靠颜色来吸引传粉者。虽然传粉者主要为蜂类，但硬叶兜兰花还吸引了大量食蚜蝇访问者，并且蜂类和食蚜蝇在花上具有相似的行为。所以，硬叶兜兰的花信号是吸引“访问昆虫”，并不是专性吸引“传粉昆虫”的。虽然食蚜蝇类访问者也可以进入硬叶兜兰的传粉通道，但是硬叶兜兰传粉通道的大小决定了熊蜂为其主要传粉者，而频繁访花的食蚜蝇由于体形过小不能为硬叶兜兰传粉。 2.小叶兜兰和长瓣兜兰的传粉生物学 对小叶兜兰和长瓣兜兰的传粉生物学研究，证实了依据传粉综合征概念所作出的推测。小叶兜兰和长瓣兜兰都是由食蚜蝇传粉的，两种兜兰在观察地点的主要传粉者均为黑带食蚜蝇;并且它们都是依靠欺骗食蚜蝇传粉的。通过气味分析，我们发现小叶兜兰和长瓣兜兰都不产生气味，它们都是依靠颜色来欺骗传粉者的。但两种兜兰的欺骗机制存在差异，并且这种差异与花部颜色特征的不同相关。小叶兜兰黄色退化雄蕊的反射光谱符合觅食中的食蚜蝇对颜色的偏好，能有效的诱骗食蚜蝇传粉;长瓣兜兰则是利用花瓣基部的黑色突起和睫状毛模拟繁殖地（蚜虫）来欺骗雌性食蚜蝇。根据本实验结果，我们认为传粉综合征只是对应于不同的传粉选择压力而不是简单对应于传粉者种类，利用传粉综合征预测时还需要考虑生境和演化历史等因素对花部形态的影响，这样才可能得到有效的结果。 3. 带叶兜兰传粉生物学 在广西雅长自然保护区对带叶兜兰传粉进行了连续2年的野外观察。结果表明，带叶兜兰是自交亲和、需要昆虫传粉的欺骗性植物。紫纹异巴食蚜蝇是观察地点唯一的传粉者。虽然小叶兜兰和长瓣兜兰的主要传粉者——黑带食蚜蝇也会访问带叶兜兰，但因为胸高较大不能通过传粉通道，常常被卡死在带叶兜兰的传粉通道中。通过对比小叶兜兰、长瓣兜兰和带叶兜兰的传粉通道大小，以及相应的传粉者的大小，我们发现带叶兜兰具有比其它两种兜兰小的传粉通道，同时，带叶兜兰主要传粉者的胸高也比其它两种兜兰主要传粉者的胸高小。带叶兜兰的传粉通道可以起到限制传粉者种类的作用。此外，带叶兜兰可能是通过模拟食蚜蝇的繁殖地来吸引传粉者的。 4.兜兰属传粉系统的转变 综合已有的关于兜兰属传粉机制的报道以及本文的观察结果，并结合分子系统学证据。我们做出如下推测，兜兰属中存在由蜂类传粉向蝇类传粉转变的趋势，并且这种转变是由兜兰属植物花颜色对昆虫的吸引以及花结构（传粉通道大小）对访问昆虫选择的共同作用结果。兜兰属中较为原始的种类（如硬叶兜兰）可以同时吸引蜂类和蝇类访问者;通过花各部分性状的转变，特别是假雄蕊在颜色上的特化（反射光谱变化范围），或花萼和花瓣的黑色突起和睫状毛附属物对繁殖地（蚜虫）的模拟，处于较进化地位的兜兰属种类则专性吸引食蚜蝇。同样地，兜兰属中较为原始的种类具有较大的传粉通道，从而限制了蝇类访问者作为传粉者，但允许体形较大熊蜂类访问者成为有效传粉者;随着传粉通道的变小，兜兰属植物则仅允许体形较小的食蚜蝇成为有效传粉者。传粉通道越小，有效传粉者的选择余地就越窄。

Adaptive evolution of a duplicated pancreatic ribonuclease gene in a leaf-eating monkey

Although the complete genome sequences of over 50 representative species have revealed the many duplicated genes in all three domains of life(1-4), the roles of gene duplication in organismal adaptation and biodiversity are poorly understood. In addition,

Characterization of TRPC2, an Essential Genetic Component of VNS Chemoreception, Provides Insights into the Evolution of Pheromonal Olfaction in Secondary-Adapted Marine Mammals

Pheromones are chemical cues released and sensed by individuals of the same species, which are of major importance in regulating reproductive and social behaviors of mammals. Generally, they are detected by the vomeronasal system (VNS). Here, we first investigated and compared an essential genetic component of vomeronasal chemoreception, that is, TRPC2 gene, of four marine mammals varying the degree of aquatic specialization and related terrestrial species in order to provide insights into the evolution of pheromonal olfaction in the mammalian transition from land to water. Our results based on sequence characterizations and evolutionary analyses, for the first time, show the evidence for the ancestral impairment of vomeronasal pheromone signal transduction pathway in fully aquatic cetaceans, supporting a reduced or absent dependence on olfaction as a result of the complete adaptation to the marine habitat, whereas the amphibious California sea lion was found to have a putatively functional TRPC2 gene, which is still under strong selective pressures, reflecting the reliance of terrestrial environment on chemical recognition among the semiadapted marine mammals. Interestingly, our study found that, unlike that of the California sea lion, TRPC2 genes of the harbor seal and the river otter, both of which are also semiaquatic, are pseudogenes. Our data suggest that other unknown selective pressures or sensory modalities might have promoted the independent absence of a functional VNS in these two species. In this respect, the evolution of pheromonal olfaction in marine mammals appears to be more complex and confusing than has been previously thought. Our study makes a useful contribution to the current understanding of the evolution of pheromone perception of mammals in response to selective pressures from an aquatic environment.

Adaptive evolution of energy metabolism genes and the origin of flight in bats

Bat flight poses intriguing questions about how flight independently developed in mammals. Flight is among the most energy-consuming activities. Thus, we deduced that changes in energy metabolism must be a primary factor in the origin of flight in bats. The respiratory chain of the mitochondrial produces 95% of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) needed for locomotion. Because the respiratory chain has a dual genetic foundation, with genes encoded by both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, we examined both genomes to gain insights into the evolution of flight within mammals. Evidence for positive selection was detected in 23.08% of the mitochondrial-encoded and 4.90% of nuclear-encoded oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) genes, but in only 2.25% of the nuclear-encoded nonrespiratory genes that function in mitochondria or 1.005% of other nuclear genes in bats. To address the caveat that the two available bat genomes are of only draft quality, we resequenced 77 OXPHOS genes from four species of bats. The analysis of the resequenced gene data are in agreement with our conclusion that a significantly higher proportion of genes involved in energy metabolism, compared with background genes, show evidence of adaptive evolution specific on the common ancestral bat lineage. Both mitochondrial and nuclear-encoded OXPHOS genes display evidence of adaptive evolution along the common ancestral branch of bats, supporting our hypothesis that genes involved in energy metabolism were targets of natural selection and allowed adaptation to the huge change in energy demand that were required during the origin of flight.

Parallel and Convergent Evolution of the Dim-Light Vision Gene RH1 in Bats (Order: Chiroptera)

Rhodopsin, encoded by the gene Rhodopsin (RH1), is extremely sensitive to light, and is responsible for dim-light vision. Bats are nocturnal mammals that inhabit poor light environments. Megabats (Old-World fruit bats) generally have well-developed eyes, while microbats (insectivorous bats) have developed echolocation and in general their eyes were degraded, however, dramatic differences in the eyes, and their reliance on vision, exist in this group. In this study, we examined the rod opsin gene (RH1), and compared its evolution to that of two cone opsin genes (SWS1 and M/LWS). While phylogenetic reconstruction with the cone opsin genes SWS1 and M/LWS generated a species tree in accord with expectations, the RH1 gene tree united Pteropodidae (Old-World fruit bats) and Yangochiroptera, with very high bootstrap values, suggesting the possibility of convergent evolution. The hypothesis of convergent evolution was further supported when nonsynonymous sites or amino acid sequences were used to construct phylogenies. Reconstructed RH1 sequences at internal nodes of the bat species phylogeny showed that: (1) Old-World fruit bats share an amino acid change (S270G) with the tomb bat; (2) Miniopterus share two amino acid changes (V104I, M183L) with Rhinolophoidea; (3) the amino acid replacement I123V occurred independently on four branches, and the replacements L99M, L266V and I286V occurred each on two branches. The multiple parallel amino acid replacements that occurred in the evolution of bat RH1 suggest the possibility of multiple convergences of their ecological specialization (i.e., various photic environments) during adaptation for the nocturnal lifestyle, and suggest that further attention is needed on the study of the ecology and behavior of bats.

Adaptive Evolution of Digestive RNASE1 Genes in Leaf-Eating Monkeys Revisited: New Insights from Ten Additional Colobines

Pancreatic RNase genes implicated in the adaptation of the colobine monkeys to leaf eating have long intrigued evolutionary biologists since the identification of a duplicated RNASE1 gene with enhanced digestive efficiencies in Pygathrix nemaeus. The recent emergence of two contrasting hypotheses, that is, independent duplication and one-duplication event hypotheses, make it into focus again. Current understanding of Colobine RNASE1 gene evolution of colobine monkeys largely depends on the analyses of few colobine species. The present study with more intensive taxonomic and character sampling not only provides a clearer picture of Colobine RNASE1 gene evolution but also allows to have a more thorough understanding about the molecular basis underlying the adaptation of Colobinae to the unique leaf-feeding lifestyle. The present broader and detailed phylogenetic analyses yielded two important findings: 1) All trees based on the analyses of coding, noncoding, and both regions provided consistent evidence, indicating RNASE1 duplication occurred after Asian and African colobines speciation, that is, independent duplication hypothesis; 2) No obvious evidence of gene conversion in RNASE1 gene was found, favoring independent evolution of Colobine RNASE1 gene duplicates. The conclusion drawn from previous studies that gene conversion has played a significant role in the evolution of Colobine RNASE1 was not supported. Our selective constraint analyses also provided interesting insights, with significant evidence of positive selection detected on ancestor lineages leading to duplicated gene copies. The identification of a handful of new adaptive sites and amino acid changes that have not been characterized previously also provide a necessary foundation for further experimental investigations of RNASE1 functional evolution in Colobinae.

A multi-locus phylogeny of Nectogalini shrews and influences of the paleoclimate on speciation and evolution

Nectogaline shrews are a major component of the small mammalian fauna of Europe and Asia, and are notable for their diverse ecology, including utilization of aquatic habitats. So far, molecular phylogenetic analyses including nectogaline species have been unable to infer a well-resolved, well-supported phylogeny, thus limiting the power of comparative evolutionary and ecological analyses of the group. Here, we employ Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of eight mitochondrial and three nuclear genes to infer the phylogenetic relationships of nectogaline shrews. We subsequently use this phylogeny to assess the genetic diversity within the genus Episoriculus, and determine whether adaptation to aquatic habitats evolved independently multiple times. Moreover, we both analyze the fossil record and employ Bayesian relaxed clock divergence dating analyses of DNA to assess the impact of historical global climate change on the biogeography of Nectogalini. We infer strong support for the polyphyly of the genus Episoriculus. We also find strong evidence that the ability to heavily utilize aquatic habitats evolved independently in both Neomys and Chimarrogale + Nectogale lineages. Our Bayesian molecular divergence analysis suggests that the early history of Nectogalini is characterized by a rapid radiation at the Miocene/Pliocene boundary, thus potentially explaining the lack of resolution at the base of the tree. Finally, we find evidence that nectogalines once inhabited northern latitudes, but the global cooling and desiccating events at the Miocene/Pliocene and Pliocene/Pleistocene boundaries and Pleistocene glaciation resulted in the migration of most Nectogalini lineages to their present day southern distribution. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Duplication and independent selection of cell-wall invertase genes GIF1 and OsCIN1 during rice evolution and domestication

Background: Various evolutionary models have been proposed to interpret the fate of paralogous duplicates, which provides substrates on which evolution selection could act. In particular, domestication, as a special selection, has played important role in crop cultivation with divergence of many genes controlling important agronomic traits. Recent studies have indicated that a pair of duplicate genes was often sub-functionalized from their ancestral functions held by the parental genes. We previously demonstrated that the rice cell-wall invertase (CWI) gene GIF1 that plays an important role in the grain-filling process was most likely subjected to domestication selection in the promoter region. Here, we report that GIF1 and another CWI gene OsCIN1 constitute a pair of duplicate genes with differentiated expression and function through independent selection. Results: Through synteny analysis, we show that GIF1 and another cell-wall invertase gene OsCIN1 were paralogues derived from a segmental duplication originated during genome duplication of grasses. Results based on analyses of population genetics and gene phylogenetic tree of 25 cultivars and 25 wild rice sequences demonstrated that OsCIN1 was also artificially selected during rice domestication with a fixed mutation in the coding region, in contrast to GIF1 that was selected in the promoter region. GIF1 and OsCIN1 have evolved into different expression patterns and probable different kinetics parameters of enzymatic activity with the latter displaying less enzymatic activity. Overexpression of GIF1 and OsCIN1 also resulted in different phenotypes, suggesting that OsCIN1 might regulate other unrecognized biological process. Conclusion: How gene duplication and divergence contribute to genetic novelty and morphological adaptation has been an interesting issue to geneticists and biologists. Our discovery that the duplicated pair of GIF1 and OsCIN1 has experiencedsub-functionalization implies that selection could act independently on each duplicate towards different functional specificity, which provides a vivid example for evolution of genetic novelties in a model crop. Our results also further support the established hypothesis that gene duplication with sub-functionalization could be one solution for genetic adaptive conflict.

Structural Evolution and Property Changes in Nd_{60}Al_{10}Fe_{20}Co_{10} Bulk Metallic Glass During Crystallization

The structural evolution and property changes in Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 bulk metallic glass (BMG) upon crystallization are investigated by the ultrasonic method, x-ray diffraction, density measurement, and differential scanning calorimetry. The elastic constants and Debye temperature of the BMG are obtained as a function of annealing temperature. Anomalous changes in ultrasonic velocities, elastic constants, and density are observed between 600–750 K, corresponding to the formation of metastable phases as an intermediate product in the crystallization process. The changes in acoustic velocities, elastic constants, density, and Debye temperature of the BMG relative to its fully crystallized state are much smaller, compared with those of other known BMGs, the differences being attributed to the microstructural feature of the BMG.

Spallation analysis with a closed trans-scale formulation damage evolution

A closed, trans-scale formulation of damage evolution based on the statistical microdamage mechanics is summarized in this paper. The dynamic function of damage bridges the mesoscopic and macroscopic evolution of damage. The spallation in an aluminium plate is studied with this formulation. It is found that the damage evolution is governed by several dimensionless parameters, i.e., imposed Deborah numbers De* and De, Mach number M and damage number S. In particular, the most critical mode of the macroscopic damage evolution, i.e., the damage localization, is deter-mined by Deborah number De+. Deborah number De* reflects the coupling and competition between the macroscopic loading and the microdamage growth. Therefore, our results reveal the multi-scale nature of spallation. In fact, the damage localization results from the nonlinearity of the microdamage growth. In addition, the dependence of the damage rate on imposed Deborah numbers De* and De, Mach number M and damage number S is discussed.

Nonequilibrium microstructures and their evolution in a Fe-Cr-W-Ni-C laser clad coating

The laser-solidified microstructural and compositional characterization and phase evolution during tempering at 963 K were investigated using an analytical transmission electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The cladded alloy, a powder mixture of Fe, Cr, W, Ni, and C with a weight ratio of 10:5:1:1:1, was processed with a 3 kW continuous wave CO2 laser. The processing parameters were 16 mm/s beam scanning speed, 3 mm beam diameter. 2 kW laser power, and 0.3 g/s feed rate. The coating was metallurgically bonded to the substrate, with a maximum thickness of 730 mu m, a microhardness of about 860 Hv and a volumetric dilution ratio of about 6%. Microanalyses revealed that the cladded coating possessed the hypoeutectic microstructure comprising the primary dendritic gamma-austenite and interdendritic eutectic consisted of gamma-austenite and M7C3 carbide. The gamma-austenite was a non-equilibrium phase with extended solid solution of alloying elements and a great deal of defect structures, i.e. a high density of dislocations, twins, and stacking faults existed in gamma phase. During high temperature aging, in situ carbide transformation occurred of M7C3 to M23C6 and M6C. The precipitation of M23C6, MC and M2C carbides from austenite was also observed.

Microstructure and Evolution of Mechanically-Induced Ultrafine Grain in Surface Layer of Al-Alloy Subjected to USSP

Experiments were conducted to investigate the ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructures in the surface layer of an aluminum alloy 7075 heavily worked by ultrasonic shot peening. Conventional and high-resolution electron microscopy was performed at various depths of the deformed layer. Results showed that UFG structures were introdued into the surface layer of 62 μm thick. With increasing strain, the various microstructural features, e.g., the dislocation emission source, elongated microbands, dislocation cells, dislocation cell blocks, equiaxed submicro-, and nano-crystal grains etc., were successively produced. The grain subdivision into the subgrains was found to be the main mechanism responsible for grain refinement. The simultaneous evolution of high boundary misorientations was ascribed to the subgrain boundary rotation for accommodating further strains. Formed microstructures were highly nonequilibratory.  2002 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Damage evolution, localization and failure of solids subjected to impact loading

In order to reveal the underlying mesoscopic mechanism governing the experimentally observed failure in solids subjected to impact loading, this paper presents a model of statistical microdamage evolution to macroscopic failure, in particular to spallation. Based on statistical microdamage mechanics and experimental measurement of nucleation and growth of microcracks in an Al alloy subjected to plate impact loading, the evolution law of damage and the dynamical function of damage are obtained. Then, a lower bound to damage localization can be derived. It is found that the damage evolution beyond the threshold of damage localization is extremely fast. So, damage localization can serve as a precursor to failure. This is supported by experimental observations. On the other hand, the prediction of failure becomes more accurate, when the dynamic function of damage is fitted with longer experimental observations. We also looked at the failure in creep with the same idea. Still, damage localization is a nice precursor to failure in creep rupture.