Variation and Cluster Analysis on Leaf Characters from Different Provenance Sources of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb

[Objective] The aim was to study the variation of leaf characters from different provenance sources of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb,as well as to carry out cluster analysis on P.multiflorum from different provenance sources to provide basis for the classification,identification,breeding and improved variety selection of P.multiflorum.[Method] Leaf shape characters of 31 copies of germplasm resources in the major distribution region of the whole country were determined,and the genetic variation of P.multiflorum leaves from different producing areas was analyzed.[Result] The leaf characters of single plant of the same experimental provenance source of P.multiflorum were relatively stable,the variation was mainly found on the single leaf area,1/2 leaf width,leaf width and other indicators;the variation of each leaf character among different provenance sources was obvious,and the variation was mainly found on the single leaf weight,leaf area,1/2 leaf width,leaf length and other indicators.The correlation analysis of each leaf character in P.multiflorum suggested that the single leaf area and single leaf weight showed extremely significant positive correlation with leaf length,1/2 leaf width,leaf width,leaf thickness and leaf stem length,while the single leaf area and single leaf weight showed significant negative correlation with WWR（leaf width/1/2 leaf width）and LWR（leaf length/1/2 leaf length）,in addition,several macroscopic leaf characters such as leaf length,1/2 leaf width,leaf width,leaf stem length showed extremely positive correlation.The main component analysis result suggested that the contribution rate of accumulation variance of the front three main components was up to 97.4%,which could better reflect the comprehensive performance of leaf characters of different provenance sources of P.multiflorum.The cluster analysis showed that the experimental 31 copies of P.multiflorum provenance sources should be divided into three classes,the first class was distributed in the Middle,Western of Guizhou,northwestern of Guangxi and western areas with higher altitude;the second class was distributed in Hunan,Hubei,Sichuan,Guangdong and the most area of Guangxi;the third class was distributed in Anhui,Jiangsu and Henan and Shandong.[Conclusion] Cluster analysis of leaf characters indicated that the kinds of provenance sources which the geographical position was closer could be got together.The study had provided a certain basis for the classification of P.multiflorum.

Heterogeneity of Chlorophyll Fluorescence of Phyllostachys edulis cv.Pachyloen Leaves

[Objective] This study aimed to explore the heterogeneity of chlorophyll flu- orescence of Phyllostachys edulis cv. Pachyloen leaves. [Method] Using the chloro- phyll fluorescence system and fluorescence imaging system in the Mini-IMAGING- PAM, the chlorophyll fluorescence of Phyllostachys edulis cv. Pachyloen leaves were measured and the fluorescence parameters were calculated. [Result] The homo- geneities of the maximal quantum yield of PS II （Fv/Fm） and the leaf absorptivity （Abs） were higher, with CVs （Coefficient of Variation） of 1.58%-1.68% and 1.75%- 2.12% respectively, while the heterogeneities of the actual quantum yield （Y）, non- photochemical quenching （NPQ/4）, photochemical quenching（qP） and relative photo- synthetic rate （PS/50） were higher, with CVs of 9.60%-14.23%, 10.23%-13.02%, 11.92%-13.02% and 11.15%-17.74% respectively. The trends of heterogeneity change in Y, qP and PSI50 were basically the same with transversely higher het- erogeneity at two sides and lower heterogeneity in the middle, namely with larger CVs at the edges of leaves and smaller ones around the midrib. Longitudinally, the coefficients of variation of Y, qP and PS/50 decreased gradually （from top to bot- tom）, which indicated that the heterogeneity declined from the leaf tip to the base. The trends of heterogeneity change in PS/50 and NPQ/4 were opposite. [Conclusion] The fluorescence parameters of Phyllostachys edulis cv. Pachyloen leaves revealed different heterogeneity.

Physiological and Biochemical Characteristic of a Stripe Mutant with Abnormal Flower Organs in Rice

[Objective] The experiment aimed to explore physiological and biochemical changes of leaves after plants were mutated. [Method] A rice double mutant with stripes on stems, leaves and spikelets were taken as experimental materials to study the enzyme activity changes in different growth stages and amino acid variation in rice. [ Result] The SOD activity in mutant was higher than that in wild plant at tillering metaphase, but lower than that in wild type before heading stage and late flowering; the POD activity in three stages increased firstly then declined and the activity showed highest maximal activity at before heading stage. However, the POD activity in wild type showed the opposite change trend; the CAT activity presented degression at three stages, especially high at tillering metaphase, but reverse changes in wild type; the MDA activity decreased at three stages, but it was still higher than that in wild type, besides, the soluble sugar content of mutant was lower, but total amino acid content was increased. [ Conclusion] The expression of mutant characteristics was correlated with SOD, POD, CAT and MDA activity Changes and these changes made the mutant survive and rice quality change at last.

Isolation of a 1 195 bp 5′-Flanking Region of Rice Cytosolic Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and Analysis of Its Expression in Transgenic Rice

A genomic DNA fragment containing the 5'-upstream sequence and part of the open reading frame corresponding to the cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (cyFBPase) cDNA was isolated by Genome Walking. The 1 195 lip 5'-flanking region which started from the translation initiation ATG codon was fused to reporter gene encoding beta-glucuronidase (GUS) and stably transferred to rice via particle bombardment. Strong GUS activity was detected in leaves and leaf sheaths of transgenic rice, but not in culms and roots. Histochemical localization revealed that GUS expression was exclusively restricted to mesophyll cells in transgenic rice. Our results indicate that the 1 195 bp fragment contains all the cis-elements required for directing mesophyll-specific expression pattern in rice.

Variability of leaf functional traits of invasive tree Rhus typhina L. in North China

Functional traits, specifically leaf functional traits, are core-topics to explore importance to the invasion success of invasive plant species. This study aims to address the differences in leaf functional traits and their corresponding variability of the invasive tree staghorn sumac Rhus typhina L. with different invasion success, including lower and higher invasion success, in two climatic regions in North China, including a warm temperate region and a cold temperate region. No significant differences were found for leaf functional traits of staghorn sumac across different invasion success. However, the variability of leaf chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations of staghorn sumac under higher invasion success were approximately 66.023% and 68.615% higher than those under lower invasion success, respectively. The leaf chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations of staghorn sumac in the warm temperate region were approximately 18.432% and 16.337% higher than those in cold temperate region, respectively. The variability of specific leaf area of staghorn sumac in warm temperate region was approximately 59.802% higher than that in cold temperate region. Accordingly, leaf chlorophyll and N concentrations as well as specific leaf area of staghorn sumac and their corresponding variability may play an essential role in shaping ecological success of studied invader along a climatic gradient.

乌达早二叠世Sphenophyllum angustifolium(Germar)Geoppert的形态复原与生态习性探讨

基于内蒙古乌达下二叠统太原组火山凝灰岩中保存的标本对窄楔叶Sphenophyllum angustifolium(Germar)Goeppert的形态特征和生态习性进行探讨。标本异叶性明显,不同等级的茎上保存钩状线形叶、二裂叶、三裂叶和四裂叶。孢子叶穗着生于分枝顶端,每轮大约12片孢子叶,每片孢子叶近轴面上直接着生1个孢子囊,未发现孢囊柄的结构。本文对该植物的气生部分进行初步复原。根据本文材料以及已报道的楔叶属化石材料的形态学、解剖学特征和埋藏学的分析,认为该属植物可能是一种可以直立生长的草本植物,生活在三角洲平原、泛滥盆地或岸后湖泊、成煤沼泽及其边缘,适应轻度干旱至淹水环境。根据S.angustifolium(Germar)Goeppert深裂的叶型和表皮细胞特征,推测其可能生活在较长期淹水环境,属于湿性中生植物至湿性植物。

Vibration and flutter of wind turbine blade modeled as anisotropic thin-walled closed-section beam

Based on a variational asymptotic analytical model, vibration and aeroelastic stability of rotor blades modeled as anisotropic thin-walled closed-section beams are systematically addressed. The analysis is applied to a laminated composite construction of the circumferentially asymmetric stiffness (CAS) that produces bending-twist coupling. The vibration characteristics of composite beam are determined by the Extended Galerkin Method. The unsteady aerodynamic loads and centrifugal force are integrated with the classical aerodynamic model to deal with aeroelastic stability analysis. The influence of some related factors, ply angle, rotating velocity, and wind speed, is investigated. The paper gives methods of eigenvalue analysis and aeroelastic response, and gives the approaches to restrain classical flutter.

Bio-inspired anisotropic polymeric heart valves exhibiting valve-like mechanical and hemodynamic behavior

Native heart valve leaflets with layered fibrous structures show anisotropic characteristics,allowing them to withstand complex mechanical loading for long-term cardiac cycles.Herein,two types of silk fibroin(SF)fiber membranes with anisotropic(ASF)and isotropic(ISF)properties were prepared by electrospinning,and were further combined with poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate(PEGDA)hydrogels to serve as polymeric heart valve(PHV)substitutes(PEGDA-ASF and PEGDA-ISF).The uniaxial tensile tests showed obvious anisotropy of PEGDA-ASF with elastic moduli of 10.95±1.09 and3.55±0.32 MPa,respectively,along the directions parallel and perpendicular to the fiber alignment,while PEGDA-ISF possessed isotropic property with elastic moduli of 4.54±0.43 MPa.The PHVs from both PEGDA-ASF and PEGDA-ISF presented appropriate hydrodynamic properties from pulse duplicator tests according to the ISO 5840-3 standard.However,finite element analysis(FEA)revealed the anisotropic PEGDA-ASF valve showed a lower maximum principle stress value(2.20 MPa)in commissures during diastole compared with that from the isotropic PEGDA-ISF valve(2.37 MPa).In the fully open state,the bending area of the PEGDA-ASF valve appeared in the belly portion and near the attachment line like native valves,however,which was close to free edges for the PEGDA-ISF valve.The Gauss curvature analysis also indicated that the anisotropic PEGDA-ASF valve can produce appropriate surface morphology by dynamically adjusting the movement of bending area during the opening process.Hence,anisotropy of PHVs with bio-inspired layered fibrous struc-tures played important roles in mechanical and hydrodynamic behavior mimicking native heart valves.

Probing enzyme-nanoparticle interactions using combinatorial gold nanoparticle libraries

The interaction of nanoparticles with proteins is extremely complex, important for understanding the biological properties of nanomaterials, but is very poorly understood. We have employed a combinatorial library of surface modified gold nanoparticles to interrogate the relationships between the nanoparticle surface chemistry and the specific and nonspecific binding to a common, important, and representative enzyme, acetylcholinesterase （ACHE）. We also used Bayesian neural networks to generate robust quantitative structure-property relationship （QSPR） models relating the nanoparticle surface to the AChE binding that also provided significant understanding into the molecular basis for these interactions. The results illustrate the insights that result from a synergistic blending of experimental combinatorial synthesis and biological testing of nanoparticles with quantitative computational methods and molecular modeling.

Self-assembly of anisotropic tobacco mosaic virus nanoparticles on gold substrate

A facile approach to assembled virus film with tunable structure is presented.Rod-like tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was selected as the prototype in this study for its anisotropic structural feature.TMV can either "lie down" or "stand up" on gold substrate by tuning the solution pH.A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring was used to monitor the pH-dependent self-assembly behavior of TMV nanoparticles,and atomic force microscopy and single molecule force spectroscopy further confirmed the different assembly structures.

Evolution of sexual size dimorphism and its relationship with sex ratio in carabid beetles of Genus Ceroglossus Solier

Although the degree of mate competition, given extreme differences in sex ratio, explains much of the pattern of male-biased size dimorphism among diverse taxa, it fails for some species which have potential for intense male competition for mates and yet exhibit little or no sexual size dimorphism （SSD）. This fact suggest that species with low SSD should be express the effect of evolutionary pressure in non-obvious geometrical shape promoted by sex ratio in an evolutionary time scale. To evaluate this hypothesis we used phylogenetic comparative method in a Bayesian framework to investigate the evolution of SSD and the role of sex ratio at inter-specific level in the species of Ceroglossus （Coleoptera： Carabidae）. In our results the proportion farthest from 1：1 is associated with more disparate body shape, even though the entire group has minimum variation in sex ratio, which is an intrinsic life history character of this group considering its phylogenetic conservatism or phylogenetic signal. We suggest that the sex ratio has determined the dimorphism degree during evolution of this group, since both traits have increased or decreased together during the species divergence （i.e. positive phylogenetic correlation： r2=0.85）. We suggest that morphological studies of SSD will benefit from using comparative method with Bayesian approaches to assess the effect of phylogenetic history and its uncertainty. Finally, this will be allow to researchers to quantify the uncertainty of specific evolutionary hypotheses accounting for observed sexual dimorphism patterns.