Dec 2006, Volume 1 Issue 4
    

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  • High cell density and high expression of recombinant human ApoA-lMilano in Escherichia coli by twice temperature-shifted induction
    MA Wenfeng, GUO Meijin, DING Mansheng, CHU Ju, ZHANG Siliang
    2006, 1(4): 345-348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0043-6
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    The effect of temperature on the formation of recombinant protein, apolipoprotein A-IMilano was investigated in the present study. The temperature of the initial growth phase was set at 30ºC, while temperature variation in induction phase was arranged in three modes. High cell-density culture of Escherichia coli and high expression of recombinant human by twice temperature-shifted induction were carried out. Experimental results showed that ApoA-IMilano reached 4.8 g/L with the final cell density of OD600, 150. It was found that twice temperature-shifted induction could successfully avoid the effect of acetic acid on cell density and the expression of the product. The present study provides a basic procedure for the production of recombinant ApoA-IMilano.
  • Application of pet G-trn P sequence to systematic study of Chinese Cupressus species
    MU Linchun, WANG Li, YAO Li, HAO Bingqing, LUO Qin
    2006, 1(4): 349-352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0044-5
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    Chinese Cupressus L. includes five species. The molecular phylogenetic relationships of the Cupressus species and Chamaecyparis L. were determined by comparing 417%479 bp of chloroplast petG-trnP intergenic spacer sequence. In PAUP* analysis, Platycladus orientalis was used as the functional out group. By using the maximum likelihood method 1 077 trees were examined and the result showed that one tree had a best score of Ln=2 232.47. The phylogenetic tree clearly showed that Chamaecyparis nootkatensis was diverged from other Chamaecyparis species. Based on the results, together with evidences from other aspects, we consider that Cupressus funebris and Chamaecyparis nootkatensis should be placed in the genus Cupressus. The use of cpDNA intergenic spacer petG-trnP in Cupressus was also discussed.
  • Membrane-spanning domain of bovine foamy virus transmembrane protein having cytotoxicity
    MA Yonggang, YU Hong, WANG Jinzhong, CHEN Qimin, GENG Yunqi
    2006, 1(4): 353-356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0045-4
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    Foamy viruses (FVs) have broad cellular tropism infecting vertebrates from fish to human being, which indicates that Env protein has a high capability for membrane fusion. Conservative features in all FV transmembrane (TM) proteins include a region of hydrophobic domain called membrane-spanning domain (MSD), which contains several stretches of hydrophobic amino acids. To investigate whether these features were associated with the cytotoxicity effect of TM on Escherichia coli, a series of mutants were constructed and expressed in the E. coli BL21 (DE3) using pET-32a (+) as expressing vector. The results showed that only TM3 without MSD was expressed in E. coli, whereas the other two containing full or part of the MSD (TM1 and TM2) could not be expressed. Furthermore, the bacterial amount and living bacteria analysis revealed that the cytotoxicity of TM was dependent on its MSD, especially on the stretches of hydrophobic amino acids. Western blotting analysis showed that TM3 protein was purified with affinity purification.
  • Role of the domains of human gene ZNF569 in MAPK pathway
    YUAN Wuzhou, HUANG Xinqiong, ZHU Chuanbing, WANG Yuequn, LI Yongqing, WU Xiushan
    2006, 1(4): 357-361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0046-3
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    Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal pathways are important components in signal transduction connecting cell-surface receptors to critical regulatory targets within cells, mediating multiple intracellular signal cascades and phosphorylating their target proteins, such as transcriptional factors ELK-1, SRE and AP-1, and finally activating the expression of intracellular functional genes. Zinc finger genes are some of the largest gene families in humans, and Zinc finger proteins play an essential role in altering gene expression by acting as transcription factors. Zinc finger proteins are also involved in multiple cell processes, including proliferation, differentiation and development, by interacting with DNA. Here, we reported the transcriptional activities of the domains of zinc finger gene ZNF569 taking advantage of MAPK pathway. Overexpression of ZNF569 in COS-7 cells dramatically inhibited the transcriptional repressor activities of SRE and AP-1, which was also confirmed by subcellular localization analysis. Report assays indicated that the potent repression domains of ZNF569 were the KRAB and ZNF motifs. The results suggested that ZNF569 protein might act as a transcriptional repressor in MAPK signaling pathway to regulate cellular processes.
  • Statistical characteristics of eukaryotic intron database
    HE Miao, LI Jidong, ZHANG Shanghong
    2006, 1(4): 362-366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0047-2
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    A database called eukaryotic intron database (EID) was developed based on the data from GenBank. Studies on the statistical characteristics of EID show that there were 103, 848 genes, 478,484 introns, and 582,332 exons, with an average of 4.61 introns and 5.61 exons per gene. Introns of 40-120 nt in length were abundant in the database. Results of the statistical analysis on the data from nine model species showed that in eukaryotes, higher species do not necessarily have more introns or exons in a gene than lower species. Furthermore, characteristics of EID, such as intron phase, distribution of different splice sites, and the relationship between genome size and intron proportion or intron density, have been studied.
  • Cloning and functional identification of stress-resistant BeDREB genes from Bermuda grass
    XIE Yongli, WANG Zizhang, LIU Qiang, ZHANG Shuping
    2006, 1(4): 367-374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0048-1
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    Dehydration-responsive element-binding (DREB) proteins, specifically binding to the dehydration-responsive element (DRE), have been identified as a group of important transcription activators of plants which regulate the expression of genes in response to drought, high-salt and low-temperature stresses. Two DREB-like genes from Bermuda grass that are induced by low-temperature or high-salt stresses were cloned using RT-PCR and RACE methods, and were named BeDREB1 and BeDREB2, respectively (GenBank accession No: AY462117 and AY462118). They contained an ORF of 753 bp encoding 251 amino acids, showing the typical characteristics of the DREB gene family. Interestingly, these two genes isolated from Bermuda grass induced either by low-temperature stress or high-salt stress shared 97.8% homology. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that both BeDREB1 and BeDREB2 could bind to the wild-type DRE element to activate the transcription of the reporter gene HIS3, driven by a promoter carrying DRE cis-element in yeast strain 4721, in the presence of 3-AT. RT-PCR showed that BeDREB1 and BeDREB2 genes could be greatly induced by low-temperature and high-salt stresses, respectively. Their expressions were changed following the inducible time. In conclusion, all results indicate that BeDREB1 and BeDREB2 genes isolated from treated Bermuda grass are new members of the DREB transcription activator family, which may play very important roles in signal transduction related to stresses.
  • Modification of the full-length cDNA clone of Newcastle disease virus isolated from an outbreak in the goose
    LIU Yuliang, HU Shunli, ZHANG Yanmei, WU Yantao, LIU Xiufan, R?emer-Oberdoerfer Angela, Veits Jutta, Lange Martina
    2006, 1(4): 389-393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0051-6
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    A 6.5-kb specific fragment containing the T7 promoter and the transcription vector was excised from the full-length cDNA clone of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strain ZJI of goose origin, and thereafter it was self-ligated to form a high quality plasmid for mutagenesis. Site-directed mutagenesis was used for inserting three additional G nucleotides (nts) into the region between the T7 promoter and the leader sequence of the NDV genome. RT-PCR was employed to amplify the F/HN gene fragments, and then they were ligated by the shared restriction enzyme BsmBI. Finally, the corresponding fragment in the mutant full-length cDNA was substituted with the new one. The sequencing results showed that the three additional G nts were successfully inserted and the mutant nts in the full-length cDNA were corrected. This study lays a good foundation for research on the reverse genetics of NDV strain ZJI.
  • Intra-specific relationships among Tibetan Eared-pheasants based on randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis
    DING Wei, ZHANG Zhengwang, CHANG Jiang, ZHANG Er, WU Xiushan, ZHANG Jinguo
    2006, 1(4): 394-397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0052-5
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    The Tibetan Eared-pheasant Crossoptilon harmani is a rare species native to China. A captive population has been established in the Beijing Zoo since 1999. In order to determine the kinship of the offsprings in 2001, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to examine the parenthood of seven Tibetan Eared-pheasants in the Beijing Zoo. To amplify the genomic DNA of each individual, 53 arbitrary primers were selected. The results of amplifications showed that 14 primers had clear and distinct RAPD patterns. Totally, 226 amplified fragments were generated by RAPD in this study. Cluster analysis of the seven Tibetan Eared-pheasants indicated that all the four young birds had the same father (No.5 male). This study provides a practical method to determine the relationship of offsprings whose parents are unknown in birds.
  • Cortical reaction and solicitation mechanism in Hemibarbus labeo ovum
    GAN Guangming, ZHANG Yaoguang
    2006, 1(4): 398-406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0053-4
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    There are 1 to 4 rows and five types of cortical alveoli in the cortex of the pallas (Hemibarbus labeo) egg. From the outer to the inner of the cortex, the diameter of the cortical alveoli decreases gradually. We found a new
  • Effects of intercropping with persimmon on the rhizosphere environment of tea
    ZHU Haiyan, ZHONG Zhangcheng, LIU Zhongde, WANG Changrong
    2006, 1(4): 407-410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0054-3
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    The rhizosphere environment of tea (Camelllia sinensis Kuntze) intercropped with persimmon (Diospyros kaki) differs from monocultures of tea. A trial was conducted to determine the effects of intercropping with persimmon on root exudates and soil nutrient condition of tea. Amino acid exuded in intercropping was three times higher than that in monoculture. Phenol, phenol/amino acid ration, dissolved sugar, and total organic acid were also lower in intercropping. The value of pH in soil was higher, and soil nutrient condition of rhizosphere, especially available nutrient, was not as well in intercropping as that in tea grown alone. While soil nutrient of non-rhizosphere was better than that in monoculture, tea quality and soil nutrient condition were better in intercropping ecosystem.
  • Leaf developmental stability of Platanus acerifolia under urban environmental stress and its implication as an environmental indicator
    ZHANG Hao, WANG Xiangrong
    2006, 1(4): 411-417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0055-2
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    The developmental stability indices, leaf width based fluctuating asymmetry (FA1), and lateral vein length based directional asymmetry (RDA1) of Platanus acerifolia were studied. All the leaves were sampled from 14 sites that were categorized based on different urban environmental stress levels (UESL) in Shanghai metropolitan, China. Besides, foliar stomatal density and stomatal length were also studied as the subsidiary indices to test the availability of developmental stability indices as the indicator under a stressful environment. Results showed seasonal variation of FA1 and RDA1 existed among the 14 sites, but the data showed significant negative correlation between FA1 and UESL (FA1 = 0.029 - 0.000 9UESL + 0.000 3UESL2, r = 0.766 5, P = 0.001 4). However, a similar trend was not found between RDA1 and UESL. Furthermore, the significant correlation among FA1 and leaf stomatal length and stomatal density implied they could be used as indicators of urban stress levels on a small scale. It seemed that RDA1 was possibly a normal parameter during leaf development but it was unavailable for use as an indicator of urban stresses.
  • Characteristics of net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) from August to October of Alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau, China
    XU Lingling, ZHANG Xianzhou, SHI Peili, YU Guirui, SUN Xiaomin
    2006, 1(4): 418-422. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0056-1
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    The Alpine meadow is one of the vegetation types widely distributed on the Tibetan Plateau in China with an area of about 1.2 million square kilometers. The Damxung rangeland station, located in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, is covered with an typical vegetation. The continuous carbon flux data (from August to middle October, 2003) measured with the open-path eddy covariance system was used to analyze the diurnal variation pattern of net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) and its relationship with the environmental factors, such as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), precipitation, and temperature. Results showed that NEE presented obvious diurnal variation pattern with single-peak of diurnal maximum carbon assimilation at 11: 00-12: 00 (local time) with an average of -0.268 mg CO2ºm-2ºs-1, i.e., -6.08 μmol CO2ºm-2ºs-1. During the daytime, NEE fitted fairly well with PAR in a rectangular hyperbola function with the apparent quantum yield (0.020 3 μmol CO2 μmol-1 PAR) and maximum ecosystem assimilation (9.741 1 μmol CO2ºm-2ºs-1). During the night-time, NEE showed a good exponential relation with the soil temperature at 5 cm depth.
  • Species composition and correlation of understory woody plants in Chinese fir plantation in the lower subtropical area
    KANG Bing, LIU Shirong, CAI Daoxiong, WEN Yuanguang
    2006, 1(4): 423-429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0057-0
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    There are 71 species in the shrub layer of the Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation after natural succession. The species richness and diversity have increased with slight anthropogenic disturbance. The status and function of understory woody species were judged by the analysis of the important value (IV). χ2 statistics and r test were used for testing the significance of interspecific association and correlation among 25 main understory woody plants selected from the woody population. The results clearly showed their interspecific relationships and their differences in resource utilization. Species-pairs of positive association were in the majority. Most species were accommodated in the shady habitat. There was a positive correlation between the IV of the species and the interspecific association. The higher the IV of the species, the closer and more significant was the interspecific association. Based on analytical results of interspecific association and correlation, 25 woody plants in the shrub layer could be divided into four ecological species groups: I. Ficus hispida + Antidesma bunius + Mallotus barbatus + Ficus cunia + Saurauia tristyla + Mallotus philippinensis + Maesa japonica + Ficus hirta + Alchornea rugosa + Ficus fulva + Mallotus apelta; II. Cudrania tricuspidata + Schefflera octophylla; III. Cunninghamia lanceolata + Clerodendron cytophyllum + Millettia semicastrata + Randia spinosa + Litsea cubeba + Litsea pungens; IV. Ardisia japonica + Psychotria rubra + Vitex quinata + Cephalanthus occidentalis + Pithecellobium lucidum + Mycetia sinensis. If species group III or II is the advantaged species in the shrub layer, the community would change from a coniferous forest to a sparse evergreen broad-leaved forest. For group IV, the community would be relatively stable. For group I, the coniferous forest would be mixed with coniferous-broad leaved forest. The classification of ecological species groups would provide a theoretical basis on judging its ecological function, adjusting the stand structure of the plantation and directing the suitable natural vegetation type through the close-natural restoration process.
  • Biological characteristics of wild Cycas fairylakea population in Guangdong Province, China
    JIAN Shuguang, GAO Zezheng, WEI Qiang, XIE Zhenhua, WU Mei, REN Hai, LIU Nian
    2006, 1(4): 430-433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0058-z
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    There are five wild populations of Cycas fairylakea in Guangdong Province, China, three of which are newly found. A study of the biological characteristics of C. fairylakea populations showed that this species had a narrow colonization area within 300 hm2, and an island pattern of distribution. Because of the overexploitation, urbanization, environment pollution, plant diseases, and insect pests, the wild populations and individuals of C. fairylakea decreased markedly in the past decades. All five populations have an opposite pyramid age structure, few coning plants, few seed production, and low level of seed germination rate or sterility. In conclusion, C. fairylakea in Guangdong Province was threatened seriously and an urgent need to take effective efforts to protect the plants and habitats in its location sites was required.
  • Time budget and activity rhythm of wild Great Bustard in winter
    SUN Yanfeng, LI Suping, LI Juyong, WU Yuefeng, LI Jianping
    2006, 1(4): 443-447. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0060-5
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    Instantaneous scanning and focal animal sampling methods were used to record the behaviors of nine wild Great Bustards (Otis tarda) and their time budget from November 2004 to January 2005. The results indicated that foraging and resting time accounted for as high as 46.40% and 39.12%, respectively, while the rest of the behaviors, such as walking, alerting, preening and flying, only shared 6.83%, 2.03%, 2.64% and 1.84%, respectively. There were significant differences in foraging time, alert time and walking time between males and females (P < 0.05). The preening and flying were closely related to males (Pearson s correlation, r = 0. 932), and it was similar for resting and walking in females (Pearson s correlation, r = 0. 716). Resting occurred mainly at dawn and dusk, and foraging appeared mostly from 9:30 to 11:30 and from 14:30 to 16:30. Non-parameter testing demonstrates that time budget among resting, flying and others in two temperature intervals (> -5 ºC and ≤ -5 ºC) was significantly different.
  • Bird community patterns in response to the island features of urban woodlots in eastern China
    CHEN Shuihua, DING Ping, ZHENG Guangmei, WANG Yujun
    2006, 1(4): 448-454. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0061-4
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    Many studies have demonstrated the changes in the spatial patterns of plant and animal communities with respect to habitat fragmentation. Insular communities tend to exhibit some special patterns in connection with the characteristics of island habitats. In this paper, the relationships between richness, assemblage, and abundance of bird communities with respect to island features were analyzed in 20 urban woodlots in Hangzhou, China. Field investigations of bird communities, using the line transect method, were conducted from January to December, 1997. Each woodlot was surveyed 16 times during the year. Results indicated that bird richness was higher, per unit area?in the smaller woodlots than the larger ones, and overall bird density decreased with the increase in the size of woodlot. However, the evenness of species abundance increased with the area, and small woodlots were usually dominated by higher density species and large woodlots by medium density species. Most species occurring in the small woodlots also occurred in larger woodlots. Also, bird communities among urban woodlots showed a nestedness pattern in assemblage. These patterns implied that the main impacts of woodland habitat fragmentation are: (1) species are constricted and thus species number will increase at a given sample size; (2) as surface area decreases, the proportion of forest edge species as to interior species will increase; (3) community abundance will therefore increase per unit area but most individuals will be from a few dominant species; and (4) overall species diversity will decrease at a habitat level as well as at a region level. These patterns of community in response to the island features were therefore summarized as island effects in community . The underlying processes of such observations were also examined in this paper. Woodlot area, edge ratio, isolation, and habitat nestedness were considered as the important factors forming the island effects in community. High heterogeneity between habitats usually contributed most to the maintenance of regional biodiversity, especially in urban woodlots.
  • Landscape pattern and eco-hydrological characteristics at the upstream of Minjiang River, China
    LI Chongwei, GE Jianping, LIU Shirong, SUN Pengsen
    2006, 1(4): 455-462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0062-3
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    Based on three scenes of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite images acquired on June 26, 1994, 12 land cover types were identified by the supervised classification techniques. The precipitation, runoff, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data of six catchments were accumulated from April to September in 1992, 1993, and 1995. A new eco-hydrological index, expressed by the difference between precipitation and runoff divided by the product of precipitation and NDVI, was used in this study to represent the eco-hydrological functions of different catchments. The results were: (1) The selected six catchments at the upstream of Minjiang River, China were different in landscape patterns in terms of landscape type and cover. There were higher contagion, lower edge density and diversity index in the Shouxi catchments and lower contagion, higher edge density and diversity index in the Zagunao catchments. (2) Eco-hydrological indexes had remarkable differences among different catchments. The highest eco-hydrological index was found in the Shouxi catchments, which indicated higher precipitation holding capacity of vegetation therein. While the lower eco-hydrological index was found in the Zagunao catchments, which indicated its lower precipitation holding capacity of vegetation. (3) High correlation was detected between the landscape indexes and eco-hydrological indexes. Eco-hydrological index was positively correlated with landscape contagion in contrast with the negative correlation with landscape diversity and edge density.
  • An artificial neural network model of the landscape pattern in Shanghai metropolitan region, China
    ZHANG Liquan, ZHEN Yu
    2006, 1(4): 463-469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-006-0063-2
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    To characterize the urbanization pattern quantitatively, a study on the mechanisms of the landscape pattern formation could facilitate the understanding on urban landscape patterns and processes, the ecological and socioeconomic consequences of urbanization, as well as the establishment of more effective strategies for landscape management. In this study, we integrated a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based analysis on landscape pattern with an artificial neural network (ANN) to quantitatively characterize the urbanization pattern of the metropolitan area of Shanghai, China, and to establish an ANN model that could preferably simulate the responses of urban landscape pattern to the natural and socioeconomic factors such as residence area, road density, population density, urban development history and the Huangpu River as an element of economic change. Our results showed that the ANN model seems appropriate for studying the nonlinear relationship among the forcing factors of urbanization and the urban landscape patterns, which provided an effective and practical approach for further understanding the mechanisms of the landscape formation pattern and the reciprocal relationship between landscape spatial pattern and ecological process.