To show the vegetation succession interaction with soil properties, microbial biomass, basal respiration, and enzyme activities in different soil layers （0-60 cm） were determined in six lands, i.e., 2-, 7-, 11-, 20-...To show the vegetation succession interaction with soil properties, microbial biomass, basal respiration, and enzyme activities in different soil layers （0-60 cm） were determined in six lands, i.e., 2-, 7-, 11-, 20-, and 43-year-old abandoned lands and one native grassland, in a semiarid hilly area of the Loess Plateau. The results indicated that the successional time and soil depths affected soil microbiological parameters significantly. In 20-cm soil layer, microbial biomass carbon （MBC）, microbial biomass nitrogen （MBN）, MBC/MBN, MBC to soil organic carbon ratio （MBC/SOC）, and soil basal respiration tended to increase with successional stages but decrease with soil depths. In contrast, metabolic quotient （qCO2） tended to decrease with successional stages but increase with soil depths. In addition, the activities of urease, catalase, neutral phosphatase, β-fructofuranosidase, and earboxymethyl cellulose （CMC） enzyme increased with successional stages and soil depths. They were significantly positively correlated with microbial biomass and SOC （P 〈 0.5）, whereas no obvious trend was observed for the polyphenoloxidase activity. The results indicated that natural vegetation succession could improve soil quality and promote ecosystem restoration, but it needed a long time under local climate conditions.展开更多
Soil seed banks play an important role in the distribution and composition of plant communities in semiarid grassland ecosystems. However, information on how spatial scale influences the spatial heterogeneity of soil ...Soil seed banks play an important role in the distribution and composition of plant communities in semiarid grassland ecosystems. However, information on how spatial scale influences the spatial heterogeneity of soil seed banks in a grassland under grazing disturbance is still lacking. Based on field sampling and greenhouse germination, we measured the species composition and seed density of soil seed banks at different spatial scales （30 mx30 m, 30 mx60 m and 30 mx90 m） along a topographical gradient in a sandy grassland in Horqin Sand Land, Northern China. By applying geostatistical methods, we examined how spatial scale and topography affected the spatial distribution of soil seed banks in the study area. Our results showed that the total number of species in soil seed banks, as well as the number of dominant annuals, increased with the increase of spatial scales. Seed density in soil seed banks decreased with the increase of spatial scales due to an increase in the slopes and relative heights of the sampling points. Geostatistical analysis showed that the relative structural variance （C/（C0＋C）） of seed density and species richness were over 65% for all spatial scales, indicating that these variables had an ob- vious spatial autocorrelation and the spatial structured variance accounted for the largest proportion of the total sample variance. Spatial autocorrelation of seed density in soil seed banks increased with the increase of measured scales, while that of species richness showed a reverse trend. These results suggest that the total number of spe- cies in soil seed banks is spatial scale dependent and lower topography may accommodate more seeds. Spatial distribution of seed density in soil seed banks is also scale dependent due to topographic variation. Grassland management, therefore, needs to consider local grazing disturbance regime, spatial scale and topography.展开更多
Concentrations of copper （Cu）, lead （Pb）, chromium （Cr）, mercury （Hg）, and arsenic （As） were measured in arid agricultural and irrigated agricultural soils collected in Daba Village, Shajiawuan Village, Gang...Concentrations of copper （Cu）, lead （Pb）, chromium （Cr）, mercury （Hg）, and arsenic （As） were measured in arid agricultural and irrigated agricultural soils collected in Daba Village, Shajiawuan Village, Gangou Village and Sifangwu Village, located in central Gansu Province, China. Concentrations except Hg and Pb were lower than the background values in grey calcareous soil in the selected arid agricultural soils. Pb concentration exceeded the threshold of arid agricultural soils in China by 72.46%. These results showed that there was indeed serious pollution with Pb, a slight pollution problem for other selected metals in the irrigated agricultural soils in Daba Village. Principal component analysis （PCA） was used to assess the soil data, applying varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalization. The result showed that the irrigated factor, agricultural factor and anthropogenic factor all contributed to the relations between selected chemical properties. The main factor of accumulation of Cu, Pb, Cr, Hg and As was lithological factor in arid agricultural areas. There is a striking dissimilarity of origin of Cu, Pb, Cr, Hg and As in agricultural soil between the irrigate agriculture and arid agriculture.展开更多
The changes of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) and microbial community in the topsoil of the abandoned agricultural land on the semi-arid Loess Plateau in China during the natural succession were eva...The changes of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) and microbial community in the topsoil of the abandoned agricultural land on the semi-arid Loess Plateau in China during the natural succession were evaluated to understand the relationship between microbial community and soil properties. MBC and MBN were measured using fumigation extraction, and microbial community was analyzed by the method of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The contents of organic C, total N, MBC, MBN, total FAME, fungal FAME, bacterial FAME and Gram-negative bacterial FAME at the natural succession sites were higher than those of the agricultural land, but lower than those of the natural vegetation sites. The MBC, MBN and total FAME were closely correlated with organic C and total N. Furthermore, organic C and total N were found to be positively correlated with fungal FAME, bacterial FAME, fungal/bacterial and Gram-negative bacterial FAME. Natural succession would be useful for improving soil microbial properties and might be an important alternative for sustaining soil quality on the semi-arid Loess Plateau in China.展开更多
Populus euphratica Oliv. is of high salinity tolerance and used as a model species for investigating molecular mechanisms of trees＇ responses to salt stress. In the work presented here we found that calli of P. euphr...Populus euphratica Oliv. is of high salinity tolerance and used as a model species for investigating molecular mechanisms of trees＇ responses to salt stress. In the work presented here we found that calli of P. euphratica grew more rapidly and accumulated less Na＋, but more K＋, under salt stress than those of salt-sensitive poplar, Populus hopeiensis. Different types of Na＋/H＋ antiporters （SOS1, NhaD1 and NHX1） were isolated from P. euphratica; all of these genes have been shown to play important roles in plant salt tolerance mechanism in previous studies. Expression profiles of these three genes were compared between P. hopeiensis and P. euphratica in the presence and absence of salt stress by real-time PCR. The three genes were induced in both P. euphratica and P. hopeiensis by salt. Transcript levels of PeNHX1 were lower in P. euphratica than in P. hopeiensis under 150 mM NaCl stress. In addition, transcript levels of PeNhaD1 were lower, while PeSOS1 were higher in P. euphratica than in P. hopeiensis under both stressed and unstressed conditions. The results indicated that P. euphratica up-regulates different genes and consistently maintains both effluxes of Na＋ and high K＋ levels. Our data suggests that differences in gene expression patterns may contribute to the dif-ference in salt tolerance between these two poplars.展开更多
An increasing number of consumers demanding health foods have favoured poultry meat from natural production system. Amino acid and mineral elements are essential nutrient, required for numerous metabolic functions, wh...An increasing number of consumers demanding health foods have favoured poultry meat from natural production system. Amino acid and mineral elements are essential nutrient, required for numerous metabolic functions, which are provided partly by the poultry. The objective of this study was to evaluate amino acid and mineral composition in meat of free-range broilers fed on grasshoppers on alpine rangeland in the Tibetan Plateau. Eighty, 28-day-old Qinjiaoma male broilers were introduced into a rangeland where there was a dense population of grasshoppers （treatment GC）. Control chicken were reared under intensive condition and given a maize-soybean diet （treatment CC）. At 91 days of age, 24 birds from each treatment were slaughtered. Fresh breast meats were packaged and refrigerated for determination. The results indicated that dietary grasshoppers and rearing condition significantly （P 〈 0.05） affected some amino acid and mineral elements composition. Aspartic, arginine, threonine, isoleucine and lysine were higher in the muscles from GC than those from CC, and the similar trend were also found in the content of total amino acid and essential amino acid. While tryptophan and methionine were lower （P 〈 0.05） in meat from GC than that from CC. Effect of diets and rearing condition on mineral elements was also observed, the concentration of sodium, phosphorus and iron were higher （P 〈 0.05） in muscle from GC, while calcium was higher in muscle from CC. In conclusion, the meat in free-range broilers fed on grasshoppers has the richer amino acid and mineral elements.展开更多
Na+/H+ antiporters play an important role in the salt tolerance of a wide variety of plants.Using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends method,a Na+/H+ antiporter gene (PeNHX1) was isolated from Populus euphratica.The ...Na+/H+ antiporters play an important role in the salt tolerance of a wide variety of plants.Using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends method,a Na+/H+ antiporter gene (PeNHX1) was isolated from Populus euphratica.The deduced amino acid sequence contained 528 amino acid residues with a conserved amiloride-binding domain (77LFFIYLLPPI86) and shared more than 68% identity with that of AtNHX1 from Arabidopsis thaliana.PeNHX1 can confer resistance to Na+,as well as Li+,to (EP432) an Escherichia coli strain deficient in both nhaA and nhaB,thus proving that it is a functional Na+/H+ antiporter.PeNHX1 expression profile in EP432 reflected pH independent manner.PeNHX1 expression was regulated by salt at the transcriptional level.Meanwhile,results demonstrated that transcripts of PeNHX1 in P.euphratica calli showed a salt dependent response,and thus provide a valuable tool for studying signaling and biochemical pathways involved in salt recognition and response in P.euphratica.展开更多
Aims Theories based on resource additions indicate that plant species richness is mainly determined by the number of limiting resources.However,the individual effects of various limiting resources on species richness ...Aims Theories based on resource additions indicate that plant species richness is mainly determined by the number of limiting resources.However,the individual effects of various limiting resources on species richness and aboveground net primary productivity(ANPP)are less well understood.Here,we analyzed potential linkages between additions of limiting resources,species loss and ANPP increase and further explored the underlying mechanisms.Methods Resources(N,P,K and water)were added in a completely randomized block design to alpine meadow plots in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.Plant aboveground biomass,species composition,mean plant height and light availability were measured in each plot.Regression and analysis of variance were used to analyze the responses of these measures to the different resource-addition treatments.Important Findings Species richness decreased with increasing number of added limiting resources,suggesting that plant diversity was apparently determined by the number of limiting resources.Nitrogen was the most important limiting resource affecting species richness,whereas Pand K alone had negligible effects.The largest reduction in species richness occurred when all three elements were added in combination.Water played a different role compared with the other limiting resources.Species richness increased when water was added to the treatments with N and P or with N,P and K.The decreases in species richness after resource additions were paralleled by increases in ANPP and decreases in light penetration into the plant canopy,suggesting that increased light competitionwas responsible for the negative effects of resource additions on plant species richness.展开更多
To date, little is still known about how alpine species occurring in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau （QTP） responded to past climatic oscillations. Here, by using variations of the chloroplast trnT-L, we examined the ge...To date, little is still known about how alpine species occurring in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau （QTP） responded to past climatic oscillations. Here, by using variations of the chloroplast trnT-L, we examined the genetic distribution pattern of 101 individuals of Potentilla glabra, comprising both the interior QTP and the plateau edge. Phylogenetic and network analyses of 31 recovered haplotypes identified three tentative clades （A, B and C）. Analysis of molecular variance （AMOVA） revealed that most of the genetic variability was found within populations （0.693）, while differentiations between populations were obviously distinct （Fst -- 0.307）. Two independent range expansions within clades A and B occurring at approximately 316 and 201 thousand years ago （kya） were recovered from the hierarchical mismatch analysis, and these two expansions were also confirmed by Fu＇s Fs values and ＇g＇ tests. However, distant distributions of clade C and private haplotypes from clades A and B suggest that they had survived the Last Glacial Maximum （LGM） and previous glaciers in situ since their origins. Our findings based on available limited samples support that multiple refugia of a few cold-enduring species had been maintained in the QTP platform during LGM and/or previous glacial stages.展开更多
Plants only interact with neighbors over restricted distances,so local conditions are of great significance for plants.In this study,a spatially-explicit,individual-based model was constructed to explore the effects o...Plants only interact with neighbors over restricted distances,so local conditions are of great significance for plants.In this study,a spatially-explicit,individual-based model was constructed to explore the effects of size variation and spatial structure on adaptive plasticity of plant height in response to light competition.In the model a plant maintains its height at an optimal value in order to maximize its growth rate,and this optimal height increases with the increase of the intensity of light competition experienced by the individual plant.When the spatial pattern of the population is non-uniform or there is size variation among individual plants,the height growth curves of individuals different from each other vary due to the differences in the local light environment,and there is also variation in the allocation of photosynthate to height growth among the individual plants.There is no ESS height or height growth strategy on which all plants will converge.Our results indicate that the plasticity of plants' height growth reactions to the light competition should be considered at the individual level and they argue strongly for the importance of the spatial pattern and neighborhood effects in generating the diversity of heights and height growth strategies in plant population.展开更多
Selection of tree species with a high capacity to assimilate N and efficiently utilize N resources would facilitate the success of initial tree seedling establishment in infertile soils.The preference for N forms was ...Selection of tree species with a high capacity to assimilate N and efficiently utilize N resources would facilitate the success of initial tree seedling establishment in infertile soils.The preference for N forms was tested using three pine species(Pinus densata,Pinus tabuliformis and Pinus yunnanensis).Pinus densata is a natural diploid hybrid between P.tabuliformis and P.yunnanensis.Methods Seedlings of three pine species were supplied with nitrate-N,ammonium-N(at two different pH regimes)or combined ammonium and nitrate as a nitrogen source in perlite culture in a controlled environment.Important Findings Seedlings of P.densata had higher total biomass and net photosynthesis when supplied with nitrate-N and ammonium nitrate than with ammonium-N.In parental species,total biomass and net photosynthesis for P.yunnanensis seedlings was higher in ammonium-N than in nitrate-N,whereas the other parental species P.tabuliformis had the highest total biomass among species for all treatments except ammonium with CaCO_(3).Most morphological traits in P.densata seedlings were intermediate between its two parental species.However,N-use efficiency and photosynthetic N-use efficiency of P.densata significantly exceeded both parents when supplied with nitrate-N and ammonium nitrate.The results suggested that the diploid hybrid tree species P.densata has a preference for nitrate and is not well adapted to ammonium-N as a sole nitrogen source regardless of the growth medium pH.Based on changes in environmental conditions,such as predicted future temperature increases in high altitude areas associated with climate change,P.densata is likely to be increasingly competitive and have wide adaptation in high altitude regions.展开更多
Regeneration of degraded grassland ecosystems is a significant issue in restoration ecology globally. To understand the effects of artificial management measures on alpine meadows, we surveyed topsoil properties inclu...Regeneration of degraded grassland ecosystems is a significant issue in restoration ecology globally. To understand the effects of artificial management measures on alpine meadows, we surveyed topsoil properties including moisture, organic carbon (SOC), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) contents five years after fencing and fencing + reseeding management practices in a sandy meadow in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, northwestern China. Both the fencing and fencing + reseeding management practices significantly increased soil moisture storage, SOC, total N, available N, total P, and available P, as compared to the unmanaged control. Fencing plus reseeding was more effective than fencing alone for improving soil C, N, and P contents. These suggested that rehabilitation by reseeding and fencing generally had favorable effects on the soil properties in degraded sandy alpine meadows, and was an effective approach for restoration of degraded meadow ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.展开更多
Spatial processes and environmental control are the two distinct,yet not mutually exclusive forces of community structuring,but the relative importance of these factors is controversial due to the speciesspecific disp...Spatial processes and environmental control are the two distinct,yet not mutually exclusive forces of community structuring,but the relative importance of these factors is controversial due to the speciesspecific dispersal ability,sensitivity towards environmental variables,organism’s abundance and the effect of spatial scale.In the present paper,we explored spatial versus environmental control in shaping community composition(i.e.b-diversity)and species turnover(i.e.change of b-diversity)at an alpine meadow along a slope aspect gradient on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau at different spatial scales of sampling(quadrats and plots),by taking account of seed dispersal mode and abundance.Methods We examined the relative importance of spatial processes and environmental factors using all species and four additional subsets of selected species.Moreover,we attempted to explore the effect of scale(quadrat refers to scale of;0.3 m and plot of;8 m)on their counter balance.The data were analyzed both by variation partitioning and multiple regressions on distance matrices.The spatial structure was modelled using Moran’s eigenvector maps(MEM).Important Findings Both spatial processes and environmental factors were important determinants of the community composition and species turnover.The community composition in the alpine meadow was controlled by spatially structured environment(17.6%),space independent of environment(18.0%)and a negligible effect of environment independent of space(4.4%)at the scale of quadrats.These three components contributed 21.8,9.9 and 13.9%,respectively,at the scale of plots.The balance between the forces at different spatial scales drove community structures along the slope aspect gradient.The importance of environmental factors on b-diversity at alpine meadow increased with scale while that of spatial processes decreased or kept steady,depending on dispersal mode and abundance of species comprising the subset.But the‘pure’effect of spatial processes on species turnover increased with scale while that of environmental factors decreased.This discrepancy highlights that b-diversity and species turnover were determined jointly by spatial processes and environmental factors.We also found that the relative roles of these processes vary with spatial scale.These results underline the importance of considering species-specific dispersal ability and abundance of species comprising the communities and the appropriate spatial scale in understanding the mechanisms of community assembly.展开更多
Deg5,deg8 and the double mutant,deg5deg8 of Arabidopsis thaliana were used to study the physiological role of the DEG proteases in the repair cycle of photosystem II (PSII) under heat stress. PSII activity in deg muta...Deg5,deg8 and the double mutant,deg5deg8 of Arabidopsis thaliana were used to study the physiological role of the DEG proteases in the repair cycle of photosystem II (PSII) under heat stress. PSII activity in deg mutants showed increased sensitivity to heat stress, and the extent of this effect was greater in the double mutant, deg5deg8, than in the single mutants, deg5 and deg8. Degradation of the D1 protein was slower in the mutants than in the WT plants. Furthermore, the levels of other PSII reaction center proteins tested remained relatively stable in the mutant and WT plants following high-temperature treatment. Thus, our results indicate that DEG5 and DEG8 may have synergistic function in degradation of D1 protein under heat stress.展开更多
Aims The prediction that facilitation is the dominant interaction in physically stressful conditions has been supported by many but not all field studies.In the present paper,we tested the effects of the identity of s...Aims The prediction that facilitation is the dominant interaction in physically stressful conditions has been supported by many but not all field studies.In the present paper,we tested the effects of the identity of species,the local environmental conditions and the currencies of performance measurement on such variation.Methods Using contrasting two plots,six species,and up to five multiple traits,we comprehensively explored the effects of the above factors on the assessment of plant interactions in an alpine meadow of the QingHai Tibetan Plateau.Additionally,we attempted to figure out the possible mechanisms underlying the responses observed.The data were analysed by both standard ANOVAs and multivariate statistics.Important findings Our results demonstrated that the response to the removal of neighbours was both species and trait specific,and the effect of the ocal environmental conditions was dependent on the species involved.The contrast between plots had crucial influence on the net interactions of Kobresia macrantha,but little effect on Elymus nutans.Regarding the abiotic conditions,neighbours had significant impact on soil temperature,moist and solar radiation.The results contribute to advance our knowledge on the potential underlying factors influencing the assessment of facilitation.展开更多
Theory predicts that tighter correlation between floral traits and weaker relationship between floral and vegetative traits more likely occur in specialized flowers than generalized flowers, favoring by precise fit wi...Theory predicts that tighter correlation between floral traits and weaker relationship between floral and vegetative traits more likely occur in specialized flowers than generalized flowers, favoring by precise fit with pollinators. However, traits and trait correlations frequently vary under different environments. Through detecting spatiotemporal variation in phenotypic traits （floral organ size and vegetative size） and trait correlations in four Ranunculaceae species, we examined four predictions. Overall, our results supported these predictions to a certain degree. The mean coefficient of variation （CV） of floral traits in two specialized species （Delphinium kamaonense and Aconitum gymnandrum） was marginally significantly lower than that of another two generalized species （Trollius ranunculoides and Anemone obtusiloba）. The two specialized species also showed marginally significantly smaller CV in floral traits than vegetative size across the two species. The absolute mean correlation between floral and vegetative traits, or that between floral traits in species with specialized flowers was not significantly lower, or higher than that in generalized plants, weakly supporting the predictions. Furthermore, we documented a large variation in trait correlations of four species among different seasons and populations. Study of covariance of floral and vegetative traits will benefit from the contrast of results obtained from generalized and specialized pollination systems.展开更多
A few individuals with intermediate morphology always appeared in the sympatric distributions of Gentiana straminea and G.siphonantha.These intermediate individuals were hypothesized to be the hybrids of two species a...A few individuals with intermediate morphology always appeared in the sympatric distributions of Gentiana straminea and G.siphonantha.These intermediate individuals were hypothesized to be the hybrids of two species after a careful evaluation of their morphological characteristics.To test this hypothesis,sequence comparison of the internal transcribed spacer(ITS)regions of the nuclear ribosomal and trnS(GCU)-trnG(UCC)intergenic spacer region of the chloroplast DNA from Gentiana straminea,G.siphonantha and the putative hybrids was performed.The results suggest that most intermediate individuals were the natural hybrids between G.straminea and G.siphonantha.In addition,we examined the sequence variation among the individuals of both parent species and analyzed the possibility leading to the incongruent identification in some individuals based on morphologic and molecular evidences,respectively.The intraspecific diversification of DNA fragments within both parent species and their high variability in hybrid swarms probably resulted from chloroplast genome recombination and incomplete lineage sorting during the early stages of speciation origin of the parent species.展开更多
Aims The Amazon basin plays an important role in the global carbon budget.Interannual climate variability associated with El Nino can affect the Amazon ecosystem carbon balance.In recent years,studies have suggested t...Aims The Amazon basin plays an important role in the global carbon budget.Interannual climate variability associated with El Nino can affect the Amazon ecosystem carbon balance.In recent years,studies have suggested that there are two different types of El Ninos:eastern-Pacific(EP)El Nino and central-Pacific(CP)El Nino.The impacts of two types of El Nino on the Amazon climate and Amazon ecosystem are analyzed in the study.Methods A composite method has been applied to highlight the common features for the EP-and CP-El Nino events using observational data,IPCC-AR4 model output.Potential impacts of the two different types of El Nino on ecosystem carbon sequestration over the Amazon have been investigated using a process-based biogeochemical model,the Biome–BioGeochemical Cycles model(Biome–BGC).Important Findings Below-normal rainfall is observed year round in northern,central and eastern Amazonia during EP-El Nino years.During CP-El Nino years,negative rainfall anomalies are observed in most of the Amazon during the austral summer wet season,while there is average or above-average precipitation in other seasons.EP-and CP-El Nino events produce strikingly different precipitation anomaly pattern in the tropical and subtropical Andes during the austral fall season:wetter conditions prevail during EP-El Nino years and drier conditions during CP-El Nino years.Temperatures are above-average year round throughout tropical South America during EP-El Nino events,especially during austral summer.During CP-El Nino events,average or slightly above-average temperatures prevail in the tropics,but these temperatures are less extreme than EP year’s temperature except in austral fall.These precipitation and temperature anomalies influence ecosystem productivity and carbon sequestration throughout the Amazon.Using the Biome–BGC model,we find that net ecosystem production(NEP)in the EP-El Nino years is below average,in agreement with most previous studies;such results indicate that the Amazon region acts as a net carbon source to the atmosphere during EP-El Nino years.In the CP-El Nino years,NEP does not differ significantly from its climatological value,suggesting that the Amazon forest remains a carbon sink for the atmosphere.Thus,even if CP-El Nino events increase in frequency or amplitude under global warming climate as predicted in some Global Climate Models,the Amazon rainforest may remain a carbon sink to the atmosphere during El Nino years in the near future.展开更多
Thermogenesis is a process of heat production in living organisms. It is rare in plants, but it does occur in some species of angiosperm. The heat is generated via plant mitochondrial respiration. As possible involvem...Thermogenesis is a process of heat production in living organisms. It is rare in plants, but it does occur in some species of angiosperm. The heat is generated via plant mitochondrial respiration. As possible involvement in thermogenesis of mitochondrial factors, alternative ox- idases （AOXs） and plant uncoupling mitochondrial proteins （PUMPs） have been well studied. AOXs and PUMPs are ubiquitously present in the inner membrane of plant mitochondria. They serve as two major energy dissipation systems that balance mitochondrial respiration and uncoupled phosphorylation by dissipating the H~ redox energy and proton electrochemical gradient （A#H~） as heat, respectively. AOXs and PUMPs exert similar physiological functions during homeothermic heat production in thermogenic plants. AOXs have five isoforms, while PUMPs have six. Both AOXs and PUMPs are encoded by small nuclear multigene families. Multiple isoforms are expressed in different tissues or organs.Extensive studies have been done in the area of thermogenesis in higher plants. In this review, we focus on the involvement and regulation of AOXs and PUMPs in thermogenesis.展开更多
Plants often face the challenge of severe environmental conditions, which include various biotic and abiotic stresses that exert adverse effects on plant growth and development. During evolution, plants have evolved c...Plants often face the challenge of severe environmental conditions, which include various biotic and abiotic stresses that exert adverse effects on plant growth and development. During evolution, plants have evolved complex regulatory mechanisms to adapt to various environmental stressors. One of the consequences of stress is an increase in the cellular concentration of reactive oxygen species （ROS）, which are subsequently converted to hydrogen peroxide （H2O2）. Even under normal conditions, higher plants produce ROS during metabolic processes. Excess concentrations of ROS result in oxidative damage to or the apoptotic death of cells. Development of an antioxidant defense system in plants protects them against oxidative stress damage. These ROS and, more particularly, H2O2, play versatile roles in normal plant physiological processes and in resistance to stresses. Recently, H2O2 has been regarded as a signaling molecule and regulator of the expression of some genes in cells. This review describes various aspects of H2O2 function, generation and scavenging, gene regulation and cross-links with other physiological molecules during plant growth, development and resistance responses.展开更多
基金Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program (973 Program) of China (No. 2007CB106804)the PhD candidate Training Program (No. 20060730027)+1 种基金the "111" Project from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA)the Ministry of Education of China
文摘To show the vegetation succession interaction with soil properties, microbial biomass, basal respiration, and enzyme activities in different soil layers （0-60 cm） were determined in six lands, i.e., 2-, 7-, 11-, 20-, and 43-year-old abandoned lands and one native grassland, in a semiarid hilly area of the Loess Plateau. The results indicated that the successional time and soil depths affected soil microbiological parameters significantly. In 20-cm soil layer, microbial biomass carbon （MBC）, microbial biomass nitrogen （MBN）, MBC/MBN, MBC to soil organic carbon ratio （MBC/SOC）, and soil basal respiration tended to increase with successional stages but decrease with soil depths. In contrast, metabolic quotient （qCO2） tended to decrease with successional stages but increase with soil depths. In addition, the activities of urease, catalase, neutral phosphatase, β-fructofuranosidase, and earboxymethyl cellulose （CMC） enzyme increased with successional stages and soil depths. They were significantly positively correlated with microbial biomass and SOC （P 〈 0.5）, whereas no obvious trend was observed for the polyphenoloxidase activity. The results indicated that natural vegetation succession could improve soil quality and promote ecosystem restoration, but it needed a long time under local climate conditions.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41171414)the Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(KZCX2-EW-QN313)+2 种基金the National Science and Technology Support Program (2011BAC07B02)the National Basic Research Program of China(2009CB421303)the West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(0928711001)
文摘Soil seed banks play an important role in the distribution and composition of plant communities in semiarid grassland ecosystems. However, information on how spatial scale influences the spatial heterogeneity of soil seed banks in a grassland under grazing disturbance is still lacking. Based on field sampling and greenhouse germination, we measured the species composition and seed density of soil seed banks at different spatial scales （30 mx30 m, 30 mx60 m and 30 mx90 m） along a topographical gradient in a sandy grassland in Horqin Sand Land, Northern China. By applying geostatistical methods, we examined how spatial scale and topography affected the spatial distribution of soil seed banks in the study area. Our results showed that the total number of species in soil seed banks, as well as the number of dominant annuals, increased with the increase of spatial scales. Seed density in soil seed banks decreased with the increase of spatial scales due to an increase in the slopes and relative heights of the sampling points. Geostatistical analysis showed that the relative structural variance （C/（C0＋C）） of seed density and species richness were over 65% for all spatial scales, indicating that these variables had an ob- vious spatial autocorrelation and the spatial structured variance accounted for the largest proportion of the total sample variance. Spatial autocorrelation of seed density in soil seed banks increased with the increase of measured scales, while that of species richness showed a reverse trend. These results suggest that the total number of spe- cies in soil seed banks is spatial scale dependent and lower topography may accommodate more seeds. Spatial distribution of seed density in soil seed banks is also scale dependent due to topographic variation. Grassland management, therefore, needs to consider local grazing disturbance regime, spatial scale and topography.
文摘Concentrations of copper （Cu）, lead （Pb）, chromium （Cr）, mercury （Hg）, and arsenic （As） were measured in arid agricultural and irrigated agricultural soils collected in Daba Village, Shajiawuan Village, Gangou Village and Sifangwu Village, located in central Gansu Province, China. Concentrations except Hg and Pb were lower than the background values in grey calcareous soil in the selected arid agricultural soils. Pb concentration exceeded the threshold of arid agricultural soils in China by 72.46%. These results showed that there was indeed serious pollution with Pb, a slight pollution problem for other selected metals in the irrigated agricultural soils in Daba Village. Principal component analysis （PCA） was used to assess the soil data, applying varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalization. The result showed that the irrigated factor, agricultural factor and anthropogenic factor all contributed to the relations between selected chemical properties. The main factor of accumulation of Cu, Pb, Cr, Hg and As was lithological factor in arid agricultural areas. There is a striking dissimilarity of origin of Cu, Pb, Cr, Hg and As in agricultural soil between the irrigate agriculture and arid agriculture.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.50639070-4 and 30671666)the National Major Program on Pollution Control and Management of Water Body (No.2008ZX07104-003-03)
文摘The changes of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) and microbial community in the topsoil of the abandoned agricultural land on the semi-arid Loess Plateau in China during the natural succession were evaluated to understand the relationship between microbial community and soil properties. MBC and MBN were measured using fumigation extraction, and microbial community was analyzed by the method of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The contents of organic C, total N, MBC, MBN, total FAME, fungal FAME, bacterial FAME and Gram-negative bacterial FAME at the natural succession sites were higher than those of the agricultural land, but lower than those of the natural vegetation sites. The MBC, MBN and total FAME were closely correlated with organic C and total N. Furthermore, organic C and total N were found to be positively correlated with fungal FAME, bacterial FAME, fungal/bacterial and Gram-negative bacterial FAME. Natural succession would be useful for improving soil microbial properties and might be an important alternative for sustaining soil quality on the semi-arid Loess Plateau in China.
基金NSFC (30800865, 40801001)the Education Ministry of China (NCET-05-0886)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20070420758)
文摘Populus euphratica Oliv. is of high salinity tolerance and used as a model species for investigating molecular mechanisms of trees＇ responses to salt stress. In the work presented here we found that calli of P. euphratica grew more rapidly and accumulated less Na＋, but more K＋, under salt stress than those of salt-sensitive poplar, Populus hopeiensis. Different types of Na＋/H＋ antiporters （SOS1, NhaD1 and NHX1） were isolated from P. euphratica; all of these genes have been shown to play important roles in plant salt tolerance mechanism in previous studies. Expression profiles of these three genes were compared between P. hopeiensis and P. euphratica in the presence and absence of salt stress by real-time PCR. The three genes were induced in both P. euphratica and P. hopeiensis by salt. Transcript levels of PeNHX1 were lower in P. euphratica than in P. hopeiensis under 150 mM NaCl stress. In addition, transcript levels of PeNhaD1 were lower, while PeSOS1 were higher in P. euphratica than in P. hopeiensis under both stressed and unstressed conditions. The results indicated that P. euphratica up-regulates different genes and consistently maintains both effluxes of Na＋ and high K＋ levels. Our data suggests that differences in gene expression patterns may contribute to the dif-ference in salt tolerance between these two poplars.
文摘An increasing number of consumers demanding health foods have favoured poultry meat from natural production system. Amino acid and mineral elements are essential nutrient, required for numerous metabolic functions, which are provided partly by the poultry. The objective of this study was to evaluate amino acid and mineral composition in meat of free-range broilers fed on grasshoppers on alpine rangeland in the Tibetan Plateau. Eighty, 28-day-old Qinjiaoma male broilers were introduced into a rangeland where there was a dense population of grasshoppers （treatment GC）. Control chicken were reared under intensive condition and given a maize-soybean diet （treatment CC）. At 91 days of age, 24 birds from each treatment were slaughtered. Fresh breast meats were packaged and refrigerated for determination. The results indicated that dietary grasshoppers and rearing condition significantly （P 〈 0.05） affected some amino acid and mineral elements composition. Aspartic, arginine, threonine, isoleucine and lysine were higher in the muscles from GC than those from CC, and the similar trend were also found in the content of total amino acid and essential amino acid. While tryptophan and methionine were lower （P 〈 0.05） in meat from GC than that from CC. Effect of diets and rearing condition on mineral elements was also observed, the concentration of sodium, phosphorus and iron were higher （P 〈 0.05） in muscle from GC, while calcium was higher in muscle from CC. In conclusion, the meat in free-range broilers fed on grasshoppers has the richer amino acid and mineral elements.
基金Financial support for this research was provided by NSFC (30800865)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (200704207)
文摘Na+/H+ antiporters play an important role in the salt tolerance of a wide variety of plants.Using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends method,a Na+/H+ antiporter gene (PeNHX1) was isolated from Populus euphratica.The deduced amino acid sequence contained 528 amino acid residues with a conserved amiloride-binding domain (77LFFIYLLPPI86) and shared more than 68% identity with that of AtNHX1 from Arabidopsis thaliana.PeNHX1 can confer resistance to Na+,as well as Li+,to (EP432) an Escherichia coli strain deficient in both nhaA and nhaB,thus proving that it is a functional Na+/H+ antiporter.PeNHX1 expression profile in EP432 reflected pH independent manner.PeNHX1 expression was regulated by salt at the transcriptional level.Meanwhile,results demonstrated that transcripts of PeNHX1 in P.euphratica calli showed a salt dependent response,and thus provide a valuable tool for studying signaling and biochemical pathways involved in salt recognition and response in P.euphratica.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(30970465)Research Station of Alpine Meadow and Wetland Ecosystems of Lanzhou University.
文摘Aims Theories based on resource additions indicate that plant species richness is mainly determined by the number of limiting resources.However,the individual effects of various limiting resources on species richness and aboveground net primary productivity(ANPP)are less well understood.Here,we analyzed potential linkages between additions of limiting resources,species loss and ANPP increase and further explored the underlying mechanisms.Methods Resources(N,P,K and water)were added in a completely randomized block design to alpine meadow plots in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.Plant aboveground biomass,species composition,mean plant height and light availability were measured in each plot.Regression and analysis of variance were used to analyze the responses of these measures to the different resource-addition treatments.Important Findings Species richness decreased with increasing number of added limiting resources,suggesting that plant diversity was apparently determined by the number of limiting resources.Nitrogen was the most important limiting resource affecting species richness,whereas Pand K alone had negligible effects.The largest reduction in species richness occurred when all three elements were added in combination.Water played a different role compared with the other limiting resources.Species richness increased when water was added to the treatments with N and P or with N,P and K.The decreases in species richness after resource additions were paralleled by increases in ANPP and decreases in light penetration into the plant canopy,suggesting that increased light competitionwas responsible for the negative effects of resource additions on plant species richness.
基金Supported by the Frontier Project of the Knowledge Innovation Program of Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,National Natural Science Foundation of China (30725004)the Programfor New Century Excellent Talents,Ministry of Education of China (NCET-05-0886)a Grant-in Aid for Scientific Research (A) from the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology,Government of Japan(18255004)
文摘To date, little is still known about how alpine species occurring in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau （QTP） responded to past climatic oscillations. Here, by using variations of the chloroplast trnT-L, we examined the genetic distribution pattern of 101 individuals of Potentilla glabra, comprising both the interior QTP and the plateau edge. Phylogenetic and network analyses of 31 recovered haplotypes identified three tentative clades （A, B and C）. Analysis of molecular variance （AMOVA） revealed that most of the genetic variability was found within populations （0.693）, while differentiations between populations were obviously distinct （Fst -- 0.307）. Two independent range expansions within clades A and B occurring at approximately 316 and 201 thousand years ago （kya） were recovered from the hierarchical mismatch analysis, and these two expansions were also confirmed by Fu＇s Fs values and ＇g＇ tests. However, distant distributions of clade C and private haplotypes from clades A and B suggest that they had survived the Last Glacial Maximum （LGM） and previous glaciers in situ since their origins. Our findings based on available limited samples support that multiple refugia of a few cold-enduring species had been maintained in the QTP platform during LGM and/or previous glacial stages.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40901019, 30770360 and 20776112)the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant Nos. 20070730047, 20070730051)+1 种基金China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists (Grant No. 30625008)the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB108902)
文摘Plants only interact with neighbors over restricted distances,so local conditions are of great significance for plants.In this study,a spatially-explicit,individual-based model was constructed to explore the effects of size variation and spatial structure on adaptive plasticity of plant height in response to light competition.In the model a plant maintains its height at an optimal value in order to maximize its growth rate,and this optimal height increases with the increase of the intensity of light competition experienced by the individual plant.When the spatial pattern of the population is non-uniform or there is size variation among individual plants,the height growth curves of individuals different from each other vary due to the differences in the local light environment,and there is also variation in the allocation of photosynthate to height growth among the individual plants.There is no ESS height or height growth strategy on which all plants will converge.Our results indicate that the plasticity of plants' height growth reactions to the light competition should be considered at the individual level and they argue strongly for the importance of the spatial pattern and neighborhood effects in generating the diversity of heights and height growth strategies in plant population.
基金This study has been supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant no:30671666)University Key Teacher funds from the Ministry of Education,People’s Republic of China.
文摘Selection of tree species with a high capacity to assimilate N and efficiently utilize N resources would facilitate the success of initial tree seedling establishment in infertile soils.The preference for N forms was tested using three pine species(Pinus densata,Pinus tabuliformis and Pinus yunnanensis).Pinus densata is a natural diploid hybrid between P.tabuliformis and P.yunnanensis.Methods Seedlings of three pine species were supplied with nitrate-N,ammonium-N(at two different pH regimes)or combined ammonium and nitrate as a nitrogen source in perlite culture in a controlled environment.Important Findings Seedlings of P.densata had higher total biomass and net photosynthesis when supplied with nitrate-N and ammonium nitrate than with ammonium-N.In parental species,total biomass and net photosynthesis for P.yunnanensis seedlings was higher in ammonium-N than in nitrate-N,whereas the other parental species P.tabuliformis had the highest total biomass among species for all treatments except ammonium with CaCO_(3).Most morphological traits in P.densata seedlings were intermediate between its two parental species.However,N-use efficiency and photosynthetic N-use efficiency of P.densata significantly exceeded both parents when supplied with nitrate-N and ammonium nitrate.The results suggested that the diploid hybrid tree species P.densata has a preference for nitrate and is not well adapted to ammonium-N as a sole nitrogen source regardless of the growth medium pH.Based on changes in environmental conditions,such as predicted future temperature increases in high altitude areas associated with climate change,P.densata is likely to be increasingly competitive and have wide adaptation in high altitude regions.
基金Supported by the Strategic and Leading Sci-Tech Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No.XDA05050403)the Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, China, the State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, China (Nos.10502-Z8-5 and 10502-Z12)the Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘Regeneration of degraded grassland ecosystems is a significant issue in restoration ecology globally. To understand the effects of artificial management measures on alpine meadows, we surveyed topsoil properties including moisture, organic carbon (SOC), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) contents five years after fencing and fencing + reseeding management practices in a sandy meadow in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, northwestern China. Both the fencing and fencing + reseeding management practices significantly increased soil moisture storage, SOC, total N, available N, total P, and available P, as compared to the unmanaged control. Fencing plus reseeding was more effective than fencing alone for improving soil C, N, and P contents. These suggested that rehabilitation by reseeding and fencing generally had favorable effects on the soil properties in degraded sandy alpine meadows, and was an effective approach for restoration of degraded meadow ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(30970465 and 31000199)Research Station of Alpine Meadow and Wetland Ecosystems of Lanzhou UniversityAcademy of Finland.
文摘Spatial processes and environmental control are the two distinct,yet not mutually exclusive forces of community structuring,but the relative importance of these factors is controversial due to the speciesspecific dispersal ability,sensitivity towards environmental variables,organism’s abundance and the effect of spatial scale.In the present paper,we explored spatial versus environmental control in shaping community composition(i.e.b-diversity)and species turnover(i.e.change of b-diversity)at an alpine meadow along a slope aspect gradient on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau at different spatial scales of sampling(quadrats and plots),by taking account of seed dispersal mode and abundance.Methods We examined the relative importance of spatial processes and environmental factors using all species and four additional subsets of selected species.Moreover,we attempted to explore the effect of scale(quadrat refers to scale of;0.3 m and plot of;8 m)on their counter balance.The data were analyzed both by variation partitioning and multiple regressions on distance matrices.The spatial structure was modelled using Moran’s eigenvector maps(MEM).Important Findings Both spatial processes and environmental factors were important determinants of the community composition and species turnover.The community composition in the alpine meadow was controlled by spatially structured environment(17.6%),space independent of environment(18.0%)and a negligible effect of environment independent of space(4.4%)at the scale of quadrats.These three components contributed 21.8,9.9 and 13.9%,respectively,at the scale of plots.The balance between the forces at different spatial scales drove community structures along the slope aspect gradient.The importance of environmental factors on b-diversity at alpine meadow increased with scale while that of spatial processes decreased or kept steady,depending on dispersal mode and abundance of species comprising the subset.But the‘pure’effect of spatial processes on species turnover increased with scale while that of environmental factors decreased.This discrepancy highlights that b-diversity and species turnover were determined jointly by spatial processes and environmental factors.We also found that the relative roles of these processes vary with spatial scale.These results underline the importance of considering species-specific dispersal ability and abundance of species comprising the communities and the appropriate spatial scale in understanding the mechanisms of community assembly.
基金the Frontier Project of the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Science (Grant No. KJCX2-SW-w29)
文摘Deg5,deg8 and the double mutant,deg5deg8 of Arabidopsis thaliana were used to study the physiological role of the DEG proteases in the repair cycle of photosystem II (PSII) under heat stress. PSII activity in deg mutants showed increased sensitivity to heat stress, and the extent of this effect was greater in the double mutant, deg5deg8, than in the single mutants, deg5 and deg8. Degradation of the D1 protein was slower in the mutants than in the WT plants. Furthermore, the levels of other PSII reaction center proteins tested remained relatively stable in the mutant and WT plants following high-temperature treatment. Thus, our results indicate that DEG5 and DEG8 may have synergistic function in degradation of D1 protein under heat stress.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(30770360)Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China(20070730051 to S.X.).
文摘Aims The prediction that facilitation is the dominant interaction in physically stressful conditions has been supported by many but not all field studies.In the present paper,we tested the effects of the identity of species,the local environmental conditions and the currencies of performance measurement on such variation.Methods Using contrasting two plots,six species,and up to five multiple traits,we comprehensively explored the effects of the above factors on the assessment of plant interactions in an alpine meadow of the QingHai Tibetan Plateau.Additionally,we attempted to figure out the possible mechanisms underlying the responses observed.The data were analysed by both standard ANOVAs and multivariate statistics.Important findings Our results demonstrated that the response to the removal of neighbours was both species and trait specific,and the effect of the ocal environmental conditions was dependent on the species involved.The contrast between plots had crucial influence on the net interactions of Kobresia macrantha,but little effect on Elymus nutans.Regarding the abiotic conditions,neighbours had significant impact on soil temperature,moist and solar radiation.The results contribute to advance our knowledge on the potential underlying factors influencing the assessment of facilitation.
基金China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (204-180434) to Z.G.Zhao
文摘Theory predicts that tighter correlation between floral traits and weaker relationship between floral and vegetative traits more likely occur in specialized flowers than generalized flowers, favoring by precise fit with pollinators. However, traits and trait correlations frequently vary under different environments. Through detecting spatiotemporal variation in phenotypic traits （floral organ size and vegetative size） and trait correlations in four Ranunculaceae species, we examined four predictions. Overall, our results supported these predictions to a certain degree. The mean coefficient of variation （CV） of floral traits in two specialized species （Delphinium kamaonense and Aconitum gymnandrum） was marginally significantly lower than that of another two generalized species （Trollius ranunculoides and Anemone obtusiloba）. The two specialized species also showed marginally significantly smaller CV in floral traits than vegetative size across the two species. The absolute mean correlation between floral and vegetative traits, or that between floral traits in species with specialized flowers was not significantly lower, or higher than that in generalized plants, weakly supporting the predictions. Furthermore, we documented a large variation in trait correlations of four species among different seasons and populations. Study of covariance of floral and vegetative traits will benefit from the contrast of results obtained from generalized and specialized pollination systems.
基金The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.30572329).
文摘A few individuals with intermediate morphology always appeared in the sympatric distributions of Gentiana straminea and G.siphonantha.These intermediate individuals were hypothesized to be the hybrids of two species after a careful evaluation of their morphological characteristics.To test this hypothesis,sequence comparison of the internal transcribed spacer(ITS)regions of the nuclear ribosomal and trnS(GCU)-trnG(UCC)intergenic spacer region of the chloroplast DNA from Gentiana straminea,G.siphonantha and the putative hybrids was performed.The results suggest that most intermediate individuals were the natural hybrids between G.straminea and G.siphonantha.In addition,we examined the sequence variation among the individuals of both parent species and analyzed the possibility leading to the incongruent identification in some individuals based on morphologic and molecular evidences,respectively.The intraspecific diversification of DNA fragments within both parent species and their high variability in hybrid swarms probably resulted from chloroplast genome recombination and incomplete lineage sorting during the early stages of speciation origin of the parent species.
文摘Aims The Amazon basin plays an important role in the global carbon budget.Interannual climate variability associated with El Nino can affect the Amazon ecosystem carbon balance.In recent years,studies have suggested that there are two different types of El Ninos:eastern-Pacific(EP)El Nino and central-Pacific(CP)El Nino.The impacts of two types of El Nino on the Amazon climate and Amazon ecosystem are analyzed in the study.Methods A composite method has been applied to highlight the common features for the EP-and CP-El Nino events using observational data,IPCC-AR4 model output.Potential impacts of the two different types of El Nino on ecosystem carbon sequestration over the Amazon have been investigated using a process-based biogeochemical model,the Biome–BioGeochemical Cycles model(Biome–BGC).Important Findings Below-normal rainfall is observed year round in northern,central and eastern Amazonia during EP-El Nino years.During CP-El Nino years,negative rainfall anomalies are observed in most of the Amazon during the austral summer wet season,while there is average or above-average precipitation in other seasons.EP-and CP-El Nino events produce strikingly different precipitation anomaly pattern in the tropical and subtropical Andes during the austral fall season:wetter conditions prevail during EP-El Nino years and drier conditions during CP-El Nino years.Temperatures are above-average year round throughout tropical South America during EP-El Nino events,especially during austral summer.During CP-El Nino events,average or slightly above-average temperatures prevail in the tropics,but these temperatures are less extreme than EP year’s temperature except in austral fall.These precipitation and temperature anomalies influence ecosystem productivity and carbon sequestration throughout the Amazon.Using the Biome–BGC model,we find that net ecosystem production(NEP)in the EP-El Nino years is below average,in agreement with most previous studies;such results indicate that the Amazon region acts as a net carbon source to the atmosphere during EP-El Nino years.In the CP-El Nino years,NEP does not differ significantly from its climatological value,suggesting that the Amazon forest remains a carbon sink for the atmosphere.Thus,even if CP-El Nino events increase in frequency or amplitude under global warming climate as predicted in some Global Climate Models,the Amazon rainforest may remain a carbon sink to the atmosphere during El Nino years in the near future.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31071335 and 30670070)
文摘Thermogenesis is a process of heat production in living organisms. It is rare in plants, but it does occur in some species of angiosperm. The heat is generated via plant mitochondrial respiration. As possible involvement in thermogenesis of mitochondrial factors, alternative ox- idases （AOXs） and plant uncoupling mitochondrial proteins （PUMPs） have been well studied. AOXs and PUMPs are ubiquitously present in the inner membrane of plant mitochondria. They serve as two major energy dissipation systems that balance mitochondrial respiration and uncoupled phosphorylation by dissipating the H~ redox energy and proton electrochemical gradient （A#H~） as heat, respectively. AOXs and PUMPs exert similar physiological functions during homeothermic heat production in thermogenic plants. AOXs have five isoforms, while PUMPs have six. Both AOXs and PUMPs are encoded by small nuclear multigene families. Multiple isoforms are expressed in different tissues or organs.Extensive studies have been done in the area of thermogenesis in higher plants. In this review, we focus on the involvement and regulation of AOXs and PUMPs in thermogenesis.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (3017023830670070)
文摘Plants often face the challenge of severe environmental conditions, which include various biotic and abiotic stresses that exert adverse effects on plant growth and development. During evolution, plants have evolved complex regulatory mechanisms to adapt to various environmental stressors. One of the consequences of stress is an increase in the cellular concentration of reactive oxygen species （ROS）, which are subsequently converted to hydrogen peroxide （H2O2）. Even under normal conditions, higher plants produce ROS during metabolic processes. Excess concentrations of ROS result in oxidative damage to or the apoptotic death of cells. Development of an antioxidant defense system in plants protects them against oxidative stress damage. These ROS and, more particularly, H2O2, play versatile roles in normal plant physiological processes and in resistance to stresses. Recently, H2O2 has been regarded as a signaling molecule and regulator of the expression of some genes in cells. This review describes various aspects of H2O2 function, generation and scavenging, gene regulation and cross-links with other physiological molecules during plant growth, development and resistance responses.
