Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is a ubiquitous air pollutant, presents in low concentrations in urban air and in higher concentrations in working environment. Few data are available on the effects of being exposed to this pollutant on the molecular mechanism, although some biochemical changes in lipid metabolism, intermediary metabolism and oxidative stress have been detected. The present investigation aimed at analyzing the gene expression profiles of the lungs of Wistar rats short-term (20 ppm, 6 h/day, for seven days) and longterm (5 ppm, 1 h/day, for 30 days) exposed to SO₂ by Affymetrix GeneChip (RAE230A) analysis. It was found that 31 genes, containing 18 known genes and 13 novel genes, were up-regulated, and 31 genes, containing 20 known genes and 11 novel genes, were down-regulated in rats short-term exposed to SO₂ compared with control rats. While there were 176 genes, containing 82 known genes and 94 novel genes, were up-regulated, and 85 genes, containing 46 known genes and 39 novel genes, were down-regulated in rats long-term exposed to SO₂ compared with control rats. It is suggested that: (1) SO₂ exerts its effects by different mechanisms in vivo at high-dose short-term inhalation and at low-dose long-term inhalation; (2) a notable feature of the gene expression profile was the decreased expression of genes related to oxidative phosphorylation in lungs of rats short-term exposed to SO₂, which shows high-dose short-term exposed to SO₂ may cause the deterioration of mitochondrial functions; (3) discriminating genes in lungs of rats long-term exposed to SO₂ included those involved in fatty acid metabolism, immune, inflammatory, oxidative stress, oncogene, tumor suppresser and extracellular matrix. The mechanism of low-dose long-term exposed to SO₂ is more complex.

The human novel gene of ZNF322 is cloned from human fetal cDNA library using the primers on the basis of the ZNF322 sequence analyzed with computer. The gene is located on Chromosome 6p22.1, and encodes a protein consisting of 402 amino acid residues and containing nine tandem C₂H₂-type zinc-finger motifs. Northern blot result shows that the gene is expressed in all examined adult tissues. Subcellular location study indicates that ZNF322-EGFP fusion protein is distributed in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Reporter gene assays show that ZNF322 is a potential transcriptional activator.

This study identified mutations of the idurnate-2-sulfatase (IDS) gene in a patient with Hunter syndrome, and established a basis for the diagnosis of the prenatal gene of Hunter syndrome. Urine glyeosaminoglycan (GAG) assay was used to make the preliminary diagnosis of mucopolysaccharidosis type II. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from dried blood spots and DNA sequencing were applied to analyze hotspot mutations in exons 9,3 and 8 of the IDS gene in the proband and his parents. A new missense mutation (T1140C) in exon 8 of the IDS gene was found by using DNA sequencing. This mutation caused a substitution of codon 339 from CTA (leucine) to CCA (praline). The patient is a hemizygote, and his mother is a heterozygote. The new missense mutation results in a change in the primary and tertiary structure of the IDS protein. It is possible that this mutation severely impairs enzymatic activity and is the underlying basis for the pathology seen in this patient with Hunter syndrome.

Two bacterial strains, Py1 and Py4, have been tamed and isolated through long cultivation with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon—pyrene as the single carbon source. It has been proven that they are both highly-efficient pyrene degrading bacteria and both Bacillus sp.. The pyrene degradation ability of separated Py1, Py4 and the consortium of equal Py1 and Py4 was studied in this project. It is shown that pyrene degradation rates were 88% in 10hr by Py1, 84% in 14hr by Py4, and 88% in 8hr by the consortium. It was also determined that the best degradation temperatures were 37vH and pH 7.0 respectively. The influence of different nutrient substrates added in the degradation experiments was also studied. It was shown that sodium salicylate, sodium acetate and yeast extract had obvious simulative effect, but glucose had no obvious effect.

L-cysteine desulfhydrase (CD) plays an important role in L-cysteine decomposition. To identify the CD gene in Pseudomonas sp. TS1138 and investigate its effect on the L-cysteine biosynthetic pathway, the CD gene was cloned from Pseudomonas sp. TS1138 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The nucleotide sequence of CD gene was determined to be 1,215 bp, and its homology with other sequences encoding CD was analyzed. Then the CD gene was subcloned into pET-21a(+) vector and expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) by isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) inducement. The recombinant CD was purified by Ni-NTA His-Bind resin, and its activity was identified by the CD activity staining. The enzymatic properties of the recombinant CD were characterized and its critical role involved in the L-cysteine biosynthetic pathway was also discussed.

A total of 892 individuals sampled from a wild soybean population in a natural reserve near the Yellow River estuary located in Kenli of Shandong Province (China) were investigated. Seventeen SSR (simple sequence repeat) primer pairs from cultivated soybeans were used to estimate the genetic diversity of the population and its variation pattern versus changes of the sample size (sub-samples), in addition to investigating the fine-scale spatial genetic structure within the population. The results showed relatively high genetic diversity of the population with the mean value of allele number (A) being 2.88, expected heterozygosity (He) 0.431, Shannon diversity index (I) 0.699, and percentage of polymorphic loci (P) 100%. Sub-samples of different sizes (ten groups) were randomly drawn from the population and their genetic diversity was calculated by computer simulation. The regression model of the four diversity indexes with the change of sample sizes was computed. As a result, 27–52 individuals can reach 95% of total genetic variability of the population. Spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed that the genetic patch size of this wild soybean population is about 18 m. The study provided a scientific basis for the sampling strategy of wild soybean populations.

To explore an effective and reliable karyotyping method in Brassica crop plants, Cot-1 DNA was isolated from Brassica oleracea genome, labeled as probe with Biotin-Nick Translation Mix kit, in situ hybridized to mitotic spreads, and where specific fluorescent bands showed on each chromosome pair. 25S and 5S rDNA were labeled as probes with DIG-Nick Translation Mix kit and Biotin-Nick Translation Mix kit, respectively, in situ hybridized to mitotic preparations, where 25S rDNA could be detected on two chromosome pairs and 5S rDNA on only one. Cot-1 DNA contains rDNA and chromosome sites identity between Cot-1 DNA and 25S rDNA was determined by dual-colour fluorescence in situ hybridization. All these showed that the karyotyping technique based on a combination of rDNA and Cot-1 DNA chromosome landmarks is superior to all but one. A more exact karyotype of B. oleracea has been analyzed based on a combination of rDNA sites, Cot-1 DNA fluorescent bands, chromosome lengths and arm ratios.

In the attempt to discover new genes involved in the floral development in monocotyledonousin species, we have cloned and characterized the homologous PISTALLATA-like (PI-like) gene from Phalaenopsis hybrid cultivar named PhPI9 (Phalaenopsis PI STILLATA # 9). The cDNA of PhPI9 has a fragment of 834 bp and has 60% identity with the PISTILATA from Arabidopsis. The deduced amino acid sequence of PhPI9 had the typical PI-motif. It also formed a subclade with other monocot PI-type genes in phylogenetic analysis. Southern analysis showed that PhPI9 was present in the Phalaenopsis orchid genome as a single copy. Furthermore, it was expressed only in the lip of the Phalaenopsis flower and no expression was detected in vegetative organs. Thus, as a B-function MADS-box gene, PhPI9 specifies floral organ identity in orchids.

Five different doses of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation were supplied to tomato (Lycopersicon esculeutum. Mill) with the doubled CO₂ concentration (700 μmol · mol ^1) in the winter plastic greenhouse. The influences on the seedling growth, fruit quality and yield of tomato were investigated. Results showed that the seedling growth, and the contents of UV absorbing compounds, soluble sugar, organic acid, vitamin C and lycopene of tomato fruits, and yield of tomato increased under doubled CO₂ concentration. Under the doubled CO₂ concentration the effects of lost doses of UV-B radiation could further promote the effects of doubled CO₂ concentration. However, there is no significant increase in yield of tomato. The best dose of UV-B radiation is about 1.163 kJ · m ^2. When the dose of UV-B radiation is more than it, the effects of UV-B will be reduced.

Cymbidium goeringii is a diploid and non-rewarding, bumblebee-pollinated species, which is distributed in China, Japan and Korea Peninsula. This species is now highly endangered due to the mass collection and forest clearance in China. In the present study, we investigated the distribution of genetic variation within and between eleven populations of Cymbidium goeringii in central China by using Inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers. Eleven primers produced a total of 127 clear and reproducible bands of which 112 were polymorphic. High genetic diversity was detected in Cymbidium goeringii for both population level (P = 63.1%; He = 0.194 5) and species level (P = 88.2%; He = 0.262 8). A higher level of genetic differentiation was detected among populations (G_ST = 0.244 0, F_ST = 0.220 7) with Nei’s G_ST analysis and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), and no correlation was found between geographical and genetic distance. Genetic drift rather than gene flow played an important role in forming the present population structure of Cymbidium goeringii. Limited gene flow among populations and gene drift increase the extinction risk of local populations. Some conservation concerns are therefore discussed together with possible strategies for implementing in situ and ex situ conservation.

Pressure-volume curve (PV curve) technique is a major method for studying critical plant water potential and critical tissue water content when plasmolysis takes place. In the present study, a mathematical solution method is put forward to obtain parameters based on the PV curve. The calculated results for the parameters of Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea, Leymus chinensis and Stipa krylovii indicated that the mathematical solution method is convenient for actual research compared with the graphical method. Further analysis of the calculations suggested that drought resistance decreased in the following order: S. krylovii>F. arundinacea and L. chinensis>L. perenne.

In arid and semi-arid inland deserts, one of the environmental stresses for plants is recurrent sand burial, which can influence the physical and biotic microenvironments of the plants and soil. Previous studies have shown that different levels of sand burial have different effects on plants. Slight sand burial could increase the height increment, leaf biomass and the number of new ramets of the plants while heavy sand burial could impair the growth of the plants and even decrease their chances of survival. In other words, below a certain threshold level of burial, the growth of plants is stimulated probably because of multiple factors. However, as the level of burial increases, the positive response starts to decline until it becomes a negative value. Arid and semi-arid inland deserts are frequently colonized and stabilized by many rhizomatous clonal plants. Clonal physiological integration often helps clonal plants buffer local environmental stress encountered by ramets. A rhizomatous clonal semishrub, Hedysarum laeve (H. laeve), is the dominant plant species and important for vegetation restoration in the Mu Us sandland. To investigate whether clonal integration can increase the threshold of sand burial and help rhizomatous H. laeve tolerate heavy sand burial, we conducted a field experiment. The results showed that slight sand burial could accelerate ramet growth and enhance leaf biomass, stem biomass and shoot biomass, while heavy sand burial reducesed the biomass of the plant and impairs survival and growth of the ramets. Clonal integration increased the threshold of sand burial. Under heavy sand burial, ramets connected to other ramets not buried in sand were more in terms of height increment, stem biomass, leaf biomass and shoot biomass compared to the ramets encountering sand burial but disconnected from other ramets. It suggested that clonal physiological integration could help H. laeve ramets tolerate relatively heavy sand burial. We also discussed that clonal integration plays a role in H. laeve presence in the Mu Us sandland.

Disanthus cercidifolius Maxim. var. longipes H. T. Chang, a plant species that only occurs in a few counties in Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang Provinces and with a relatively small number of individuals, is ranked as a second Class endangered species for conservation in China. We have studied the effect of pollen and resources available to female reproduction, and the reproductive mechanism of excess flowers with low fruit set  in Disanthus cercidifolius Maxim. var. longipes H. T. Chang was discussed. Results are as follows: Pollen from different sources has significant effects on fruit set and seed set of Disanthus cercidifolius Maxim. var. longipes H. T. Chang. The pollen source rather than pollen numbers significantly affected reproduction of this species. In wild populations, producing one fruit needs about 54.8 flowers, and one satiation seed needs about 6.60 flowers or 83.19 ovules. After fertilizing, which was propitious to flower development, the abortion rate of flower buds was decreasing, but the flowering rate was increasing. The fruit set and seed set was also significantly increasing, while abortion rate of fruit was significantly decreasing. With the increasing percentages of cutting leaves, the fruit set decreased, but the abortion rate of fruit shows no significant differentiation among treatments. After cutting branches that were puny, broken and insectinfested branches, the flower number seemed to be decreasing, but the fruit set and seed set all increased significantly. After removing some flowers, the fruit set was calculated with respect to the number of flowers remaining after the treatment increased with increasing of percentages of flower removal, whereas fruit set calculated with respect to the initial number of flowers remained constant, and the mean weights of per fruit and per seed all decreased significantly. Sufficient spatial or temporal heterogeneities in nutrient levels might allow limitation of seed set by resources and pollen in a natural population, while supplying resources may indirectly affect pollination by increasing attraction of the flowers to pollinators. There were very low fruit and seed sets in natural populations of Disanthus cercidifolius Maxim. var. longipes H. T. Chang. Different factors may have interacted to effect a low fruit set. A joint adoption of the selection abortion hypothesis , ovary reserve hypothesis  and male function hypothesis  seems to be the most likely explanation for the reproductive strategy of excess flowers with few fruit sets  in Disanthus cercidifolius Maxim. var. longipes H. T. Chang.

The relationship between plant and pollinator is considered as the mutualism because plant benefits from the pollinator’s transport of male gametes and pollinator benefits from plant’s reward. Nectar robbers are frequently described as cheaters in the plant-pollinator mutualism, because it is assumed that they obtain a reward (nectar) without providing a service (pollination). Nectar robbers are birds, insects, or other flower visitors that remove nectar from flowers through a hole pierced or bitten in the corolla. Nectar robbing represents a complex relationship between animals and plants. Whether plants benefit from the relationship is always a controversial issue in earlier studies. This paper is a review of the recent literatures on nectar robbing and attempts to acquire an expanded understanding of the ecological and evolutionary roles that robbers play. Understanding the effects of nectar robbers on the plants that they visited and other flower visitors is especially important when one considers the high rates of robbing that a plant population may experience and the high percentage of all flower visitors that nectar robbers make to some species. There are two standpoints in explaining why animals forage on flowers and steal nectar in an illegitimate behavior. One is that animals can only get food in illegitimate way because of the mismatch of the morphologies of animals’ mouthparts and floral structure. The other point of view argues that nectar robbing is a relatively more efficient, thus more energy-saving way for animals to get nectar from flowers. This is probably associated with the difficulty of changing attitudes that have been held for a long time. In the case of positive effect, the bodies of nectar robbers frequently touch the sex organs of plants during their visiting to the flowers and causing pollination. The neutral effect, nectar robbers’ behavior may destruct the corollas of flowers, but they neither touch the sex organs nor destroy the ovules. Their behavior does not affect the fruit sets or seed sets of the hosting plant. Besides the direct impacts on plants, nectar robbers may also have an indirect effect on the behavior of the legitimate pollinators. Under some circumstances, the change in pollinator behavior could result in improved reproductive fitness of plants through increased pollen flow and out-crossing.

In this study, thirty-six individuals of Acheilognathus macropterus were collected from the Heilongjiang River, the Yangtze River, and the Nandujiang River. Partial mitochondrial cytochrome b gene region (636 base pair) was sequenced to these samples and 22 haplotypes were found. With A. chankaensis and A. tokinensis as outgroups, their relationships were analyzed. The p-distances were calculated with Mega software and a molecular phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method. The proportions of main morphological characters were compared as well. P-distances showed that the genetic differences in A. macropterus samples were far smaller than those between these samples and the outgroups. The molecular phylogenetic tree shows that samples with barbels and those without barbels were intermingled. There was no distinctive difference in proportions of morphological characteristics among them. These results suggested that samples with barbels and those without barbels (formally identified as A. taenianalis) are the same species; A. taenianalis is synonymous with A. macropterus. The thirty-six individuals were grouped into five clades and the positions of the samples in the clades were correspondingly grouped within their geographical distributions. Among the five clades, clades 1 and 5 included samples from the Heilongjiang River and Nandujiang River respectively. The samples from the Yangtze River scattered into clades 2, 3, and 4. There were distinctive genetic differences (>5%) among them. Interestingly, the distributions of the 21 samples in these three clades were not correlated to their geographical distributions. It is postulated that these genetic differences were due to the bitterlings’ mating choice mechanism, the prozygotic isolation. The genetic differences between the fish from Nandujiang River and those from the mainland indicated that they were separated early. However, the small genetic differences among the samples and the positions of the fish from the Heilonjiang River in the molecular phylogenetic tree indicate that fish in Heilongjiang River might have dispersed from the Yangtze River to that area much later.

Four diverse disturbance types, namely, farmland, rotationally grazed grassland, overgrazed grassland and forbidden grazing grassland, were identified in the Alashan desert region of Inner Mongolia. Rodents were sampled in April, July and October in 2002 and 2003 using the trap-day method. Their spatial and temporal niches among the four disturbance types were assessed using the Shannon-Wiener niche breadth index and the Pianka niche overlap index. The Shannon-Wiener niche breadth index was the highest for Allactaga sibirica and Meriones meridianus (0.925 and 0.908, respectively), intermediate for Cricetulus eversmanni, Phodopus roborovskii and Citellus dauricus (0.789, 0.782 and 0.711, respectively), and lowest for Cardiocranius paradoxus (0.003). The Pianka niche overlap indices of six-paired species were the highest and varied from 0.900 to 1.000, suggesting their spatial niche overlapped almost completely. Conversely, the spatial niche overlap index for Meriones unguiculatus, Cardiocranius paradoxus, and Salpingotus kozlovi was zero, thus indicating a complete absence of competition among them. In addition, the temporal niche breadth and overlap indices varied greatly in relation to disturbance types and season. The level of temporal niche overlap in spring and autumn was low while in summer it was high. For all disturbance types and for each season, the temporal niche overlap index of Meriones meridianus and Cricetulus barabansis was always highest but for Meriones unguiculatus and Salpingotus kozlovi always lowest.

Topographic conditions play an important role in controlling land cover dynamic processes. In this study, remotely sensed data and the geographic information system were applied to analyze the changes in land cover along topographic gradients from 1978 to 2001 in Beijing, a rapidly urbanized mega city in China. The study was based on five periods of land cover maps derived from remotely sensed data: Landsat MSS for 1978, Landsat TM for 1984, 1992, 1996 and 2001, and the digital elevation model (DEM) derived from 1:250,000 topographic map. The whole area was divided into ten land cover types: conifer forest, broadleaf forest, mixed forest, shrub, brushwood, meadow, farmland, built-up, water body and bare land. The results are summarized as follows. (1) Shrub, forest, farmland and built-up consist of the main land cover types of the Beijing area. The most significant land cover change from 1978 to 2001 was the decrease of the farmland and expansion of the built-up area. Farmland decreased from 6354 to 3813 km² in the 23 years, while the built-up area increased from 421 to 2642 km². Meanwhile, the coverage of forest increased from 17.2% to 24.7% of the total area. The conversion matrix analysis indicated that the transformation of farmland to the built-up area was the most significant process and afforestation was the primary cause of the replacement of shrub to forest. (2) Topographic conditions are of great importance to the distribution of land cover types and the process of land cover changes. Elevation has an intensive impact on the distribution of land cover types. The area below 100 m mostly consists of farmland and built-up areas, while the area above 100 m is mainly covered by shrub and forest. Shrub has the maximum frequency in areas between 100 and 1000 m, while forest has dominance in areas above 800 m. According to the analysis of land cover changes in different ranges of elevation, the greatest change below 100 m was the process of urbanization. The process of the main land cover change occurred above 100 m was the transformation from shrub to forest. This result was consistent with the vertical change of natural vegetation distribution in Beijing. (3) Slope has a great influence on the distribution of land cover. Farmland and built-up areas are mostly distributed in flat areas, while shrub and forest occupy steeper areas compared with other land cover types. Forest frequency increased with the increasing slope. Land cover changes differed from the slope gradients. In the plain area, the land cover change occurred as the result of urbanization. With the increasing of the slope gradient, afforestation, which converts shrub to forest, was the process of the primary land cover change.

Based on Remote Sensing (RS), Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and the Spatial Principal Component Analysis (SPCA) method, the integrated assessment and changes in the ecological environment of Daning River Watershed are studied in this paper. The watershed is located in the Three Gorge Area in China. The result of the integrated assessment showed that level 9 had the biggest proportion in the year 1990, which was about 40%. In the year 2000, however, there were no levels with a proportion significantly bigger than the others. By comparing the assessment results in 1990 and 2000, it is discovered that the ecological environment in Daning River Watershed in 1990 was better than that in 2000.

Fluorescence properties of Early Cambrian acritarchs were investigated using Leica das Mikroskop (DM) microscopy with a mercury lamp. Well-preserved autoflurescence properties show a correlation between acritarchs morphology and the intensity of emitted fluorescence. In accordance with the fluorescence intensity of organic cell walls, two groups of microfossils were distinguished. Results of observation in this study, which are consistent with those of the previous foreign studies, are in good agreement with regular difference in autofluorescence intensity among palynomorphs reported by McPhilemy (1998). Spores and algae, including Botryococcus, have very bright fluorescence while acritarchs often show less intense fluorescence. Dark brown microfossils have been reworked, and have little or no fluorescence.