Active Tectonics and Erosional Unloading at the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

The eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau is marked by an extremely steep mountain front with relief of over 5 km. This topography,coupled with abundant Mesozoic thrusts within the margin,explains why tectonic maps of the India-Asia collision typically show the eastern margin as a major thrust zone. Actually,it does not like that. Field observations suggest that the margin is better characterized as a zone of NNE-directed dextral shear with extensive strike-slip faulting and secondary thrusting. The high relief and steep gradients are partially explained by erosional unloading of an elastic lithosphere;the pre-erosion inherited topography may be the inherited Mesozoic thrust belt landscape modified by a component of Cenozoic tectonic shortening.

A Research Overview on Arachidonic Acid:Fermentation Regulation and Purification

Arachidonic acid （ARA or AA）, one of the most important polyunsaturated fatty acids （PUFAs）, has various physiological activities and positive effects on human health. ARA production by Mortierella alpina has become a hot topic in recent years, owing to that it is effective, safe and easy to control. How to improve ARA yield and purification efficiency is important to ARA production in M. alpina. Therefore, in this review, we summarized some methods to improve ARA yield： optimization of culture conditions, mycelium aging technologies and metabolic regulation, and the commonly used methods for ARA isolation and purification, to provide a theoretical basis for ARA production by M. alpina fermentation.

Lipid characterization of an arachidonic acid-rich oil producing fungus Mortierella alpina

Mortierella alpina has been considered as the most effective producer of arachidonic acid(ARA)-rich oil. It was found that several methods could improve the percentage of ARA in total lipids successfully, as they activated the desaturation system on the endoplasmic reticulum. Additionally, in M. alpina the ARA exists in several forms, such as triacylglycerol(TAG), and diacylglycerol(DAG). These forms are caused by different acyltransferases and they determine the nutrient value of the microbial oil. However, few works revealed detailed fatty acid distribution among lipid classes, which to some extent impeded the accurate regulation in ARA accumulation. Herein, this paper gives information on the accumulation process of main lipid classes and the changes of fatty acid composition in these lipids during ARA accumulation period in M. alpina. The result demonstrates that TAG was the dominant component of the total lipids, and it is the main form for ARA storage. The ARA enrichment stage occurred during 168–192 h when the amount of total lipids maintained steady. Further analysis indicated that the newly formed ARA-TAG might come from the incorporation and modi fication of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in other lipid classes. This work could be helpful for further optimization of ARA-rich TAG production.