Effects of Evolution Rate of Cyt b and 12S rRNA Genes on Constructing Phylogenetic Trees

[Objective]The aim was to prove that the mitochondrial genes of Cyt b and 12S rRNA with different evolutional rates have effects on the topological structures of phylogenetic trees.[Method]The complete sequences of Cyt b and 12S rRNA from 15 species in 12 families of snakes were downloaded and extracted from GenBank,while their molecular phylogenetic trees were constructed by Maximum Likelihood（ML） method with GTR ＋I ＋G substitute model based on PAUP4.0 software.[Result]With the same software,methods and species,the difference in topological structures of phylogenetic trees was mainly due to different evolutional rates of Cyt b and 12S rRNA genes.[Conclusion]In studies on phylogenetic trees,aimed to different research species and purposes,phylogenetic trees should be constructed by choosing the correct and appropriate genes.

Phase Morphology Evolution in AISI301 Austenite Stainless Steel under Different Cooling Rates

Quenching experiments were performed at different cooling rates under non-directional solidification by differential thermal analysis, and the morphologic variation of primary phase, phase transition temperature and hardness change at the same quenching temperature were investigated. The experimental results show that, with the gradual decrease of the cooling rate from 25 K/min, the morphology of ferrite starts to transform experiencing the dendrite, radial pattern, Widmanstatten-like and wire-net. Sample starts to present the Widmanstatten-like microstructure at 10 K/min which does not exist at higher or lower cooling rates, and this microstructure is detrimental to the mechanical property. Except 10 K/min, the hardness decreases with decreasing cooling rate.

Gas evolution characteristics of three kinds of no-bake resin-bonded sands for foundry in production

No-bake resin-bonded sand is commonly used in casting production.However,its air pollution is relatively serious,especially in the molding and pouring process.For this reason,it is necessary to study the gas evolution characteristics of no-bake resin-bonded sand from room temperature to high temperatures,and not only the amount of gaseous products,but also the composition of the gaseous products.No-bake furan resin-bonded sand(#1),phenolic urethane no-bake resin-bonded sand(#2),and alkaline phenolic no-bake resin-bonded sand(#3)are the three most common no-bake resin-bonded sands in casting.The gas evolution volume and rate of these three no-bake resin-bonded sands were studied.Thermogravimetry-mass spectrometer(TG-MS),headspace-gas chromatography/mass spectrometer(HS-GC/MS),and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometer(PY-GC/MS)were used to measure the composition of the gaseous products emitted from binders at room temperature and high temperatures.The differences between formaldehyde,heterocyclic aromatic compounds(HAC),monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(MAH),and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)gaseous products from the three types of no-bake resin-bonded sands during the molding and casting process were compared.From the perspective of environmental protection,alkaline phenolic no-bake resin-bonded sand and no-bake furan resin-bonded sand are better than phenolic urethane no-bake resin-bonded sand.

Study on the Marine Sedimentary Environment Evolution of the Southern Laizhou Bay Under the Impact of Port Projects

The southern Laizhou Bay is mainly composed of silt-sandy coasts with diverse landforms, and its marine hydrodynamic environment is sensitive to human activities. Marine hydrodynamic and sedimentary environments of the study area have changed under the influence of large-scale port projects in recent years. In this paper, the evolution of hydrodynamic environment, deposition rate, and geochemical characteristics were studied based on sediment grain size, element analysis and ^(210)Pb dating of two cores, in order to analyze the influence of Weifang Port on marine environmental evolution, and provide theoretical and practical basis for protecting marine environment in developing marine resources reasonably. Results showed that sediments of the two cores were relatively coarser and mainly composed of silty sand. Sediments above 230 cm in core WF1 and 218 cm in core WF2 were deposited since 1855 when the Yellow River appeared to deposit its sediments within the modern active delta, and the average deposition rate was between 0.3 and 0.5 cm a^(-1). Implement of Weifang Port projects in 1997 and 2007 created great influence on the sedimentary environment evolution in the surrounding waters, and the deposition rate was significantly increased. The average annual deposition rates were 5.1 cm and 3.5 cm in WF1 and WF2 respectively between 1997 and 2007. Content of heavy metals in sediments showed no obvious change in the vertical, indicating that the heavy metals were less affected by human activity and there was no significant accumulation of such metals in the study area.

Microstructures and electrochemical corrosion properties of Mg-Al-Pb and Mg-Al-Pb-Ce anode materials

Mg-Al-Pb alloy is a good candidate for the anode material of magnesium seawater battery. For improving the low current utilization efficiency of Mg-Al-Pb alloy, the influence of Ce on the microstructures and electrochemical corrosion properties in a 3.5% NaCl solution was investigated using scanning electron microscope and electrochemical measurements. The results indicate that Ce refines the grain structure of Mg-Al-Pb alloy. The formation of strip Al11Ce3 second phase promotes the uniform distribution of Mg17Al12 phase in Mg-Al-Pb-Ce alloy. The addition of cerium accelerates the discharge activity of Mg-Al-Pb alloy. Due to a large number of cathodic Al11Ce3 and MglyAla2 phases, Ce promotes the micro-galvanic corrosion and leads to larger corrosion current density and hydrogen evolution rate in Mg-Al-Pb-Ce alloy than those in Mg-Al-Pb alloy. However, Mg-Al-Pb alloy expresses smaller utilization efficiency than Mg-Al-Pb-Ce alloy because of grain detachment.

Ethylene and Spermidine in Wheat Grains in Relation to Starch Content and Granule Size Distribution Under Water Deficit

Two wheat cultivars （Triticum aestivum L.） were used to evaluate the effects ofpost-anthesis severe water deficit （SD） on starch content and granule size distribution and their relations with ethylene and spermidine （Spd）. Comparison to the well-watered （WW） treatment, SD led to lower Spd and higher 1-aminocylopropane-l-carboxylic acid （ACC） concentrations and ethylene evolution rate （EER） in grains at the critical stage of forming starch granules. Application of Spd or aminoethoxyvinylglycine （AVG） significantly reduced ACC concentration and EER and increased Spd concentration, while ethephon or methylglyoxal-bis （MGBG） had an opposite impact. The volume and surface area distribution of starch granules showed a bimodal curve, while the number distribution exhibited a unimodal curve. SD caused a marked drop in grain weight, grain number and starch content, also led to a significant reduction in the proportion （both by volume and by surface area） of B-type starch granules （〈10 Ixm）, with an increase in those of A-type starch granules （〉10 ~tm）. Application of Spd or AVG increased the proportion （both by volume and by surface area） of B-type starch granules under SD. Correlation analysis suggested that ethylene and Spd showed an antagonism relation in the formation of B-type granules. These results suggested that it would be good for the formation of B-type starch granules to have the physiological traits of higher Spd and lower ACC concentrations and ethylene emission under SD.

Research Progress of Molecular Clock

In the paper, related research and progress of molecular clock hypothesis were summarized, including definition of molecular clock, supporting proofs, contro- versy, significance and perfection, application and accompanying challenges.

Direct Z-scheme CdS-CdS Nanorod Arrays Photoanode: Synthesis,Characterization and Photoelectrochemical Performance

Direct Z-scheme CdO-CdS 1-dimensional nanorod arrays were constructed through a facile and simple hydrothermal process. The structure, morphology, photoelectrochemical properties and H2 evolution activity of this catalyst were investigated systematically. The morphology of the obtained nanorod is a regular hexagonal prism with 100-200 nm in diameter. The calcination temperature and time were optimized carefully to achieve the highest photoelectrochemical performance. The as-fabricated hybrid system achieved a photocurrent density up to 6.5 mA/cm2 and H2 evolution rate of 240 μmol·cm-2·h-1 at 0 V vs. Ag/AgCl, which is about 2-fold higher than that of the bare CdS nanorod arrays. The PEC performance exceeds those previously reported similar systems. A direct Z-scheme photocatalytic mechanism was proposed based on the structure and photoelectrochemical performance characterization results, which can well explain the high separation efficiency of photoinduced carriers and the excellent redox ability.

Photosynthesis of Submerged and Surface Leaves of the Dwarf Water Lily(Nymphoides aquatica)Using PAM Fluorometry

Dwarf Water Lilies Nymphoides aquatica(J.F.Gmel)Kuntze have floating and submerged leaves.Some submerged aquatic vascular plants have a form of CAM(Crassulacean Acid Metabolism)called Submerged Aquatic Macrophyte(SAM)metabolism.Blue-diode based PAM technology was used to measure the Photosynthetic Oxygen Evolution Rate(POER:1O_(2)≡4e^(-)).Optimum Irradiance(E_(opt)),maximum POER(POER_(max))and quantum efficiency(α_(0))all vary on a diurnal cycle.The shape of the POER vs.E curves is different in seedling,submerged and surface leaves.Both E_(opt) and POER_(max) are very low in seedling leaves(E_(opt)≈104μmol photon m^(-2) s^(-1),PPFD;POER_(max)≈4.95µmol O_(2) g^(-1) Chl a s^(-1)),intermediate in mature submerged leaves(E_(opt)≈419µmol photon m^(-2) s^(-1) PPFD,POER_(max)≈38.1µmol O_(2) g^(-1) Chl a s^(-1))and very high in surface leaves(E_(opt)≈923µmol photon m^(-2) s^(-1) PPFD,POER_(max)≈76.1µmol O_(2) g^(-1) Chl a s^(-1)).Leaf titratable acid(C4 acid pool)is too small(≈20 to 50 mol H+m^(-3))to support substantial SAM metabolism.Gross daily photosynthesis of surface leaves is≈3.71 g C m^(-2) d^(-1) in full sun and as much as 1.4 gC m^(-2) d^(-1) in shaded submerged leaves.There is midday inhibition of photosynthesis.

Sedimentary environment change in northwestern of Lake Qinghai Based on the ^(137)Cs and ^(210)Pb

Lake Qinghai is located in the northeastern margin of qinghai-tibet plateau.It’s very sensitive to climate change.Through the research of modern sedimentary environmental change in Lake Qinghai,We expect to gain the information about its response to global environmental change.Our study collected three sedimentary columns of Lake Qinghai in the northwestern,Column samples’length

Homepeptide Repeats:Implications for Protein Structure,Function and Evolution

Analysis of protein sequences from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv （Mtb H37Rv） was performed to identify homopeptide repeat- containing proteins （HRCPs）. Functional annotation of the HRCPs showed that they are preferentially involved in cellular metabolism. Furthermore, these homopeptide repeats might play some specific roles in protein-protein interaction. Repeat length differences among Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryotes were calculated in order to identify the conservation of the repeats in these divergent kingdoms. From the results, it was evident that these repeats have a higher degree of conservation in Bacteria and Archaea than in Eukaryotes. In addi- tion, there seems to be a direct correlation between the repeat length difference and the degree of divergence between the species. Our study supports the hypothesis that the presence of homopeptide repeats influences the rate of evolution of the protein sequences in which they are embedded. Thus, homopeptide repeat may have structural, functional and evolutionary implications on proteins.

Random Penetrance of Mutations Among Individuals:A New Type of Genetic Drift in Molecular Evolution

The determinative view of mutation penetrance is a fundamental assumption for the building of molecular evolutionary theory:individuals in the population with the same genotype have the same fitness effect.Since this view has been constantly challenged by experimental evidence,it is desirable to examine to what extent violation of this view could affect our under-standing of molecular evolution.To this end,the author formulated a new theory of molecular evolution under a random model of penetrance:for any individual with the same mutational genotype,the coefficient of selection is a random variable.It follows that,in addition to the conventional Ne-genetic drift(Ne is the effective population size),the variance of penetrance among individuals(ε^(2))represents a new type of genetic drift,coined by theε^(2)-genetic drift.It has been demonstrated that these two genetic drifts together provided new insights on the nearly neutral evolution:the evolutionary rate is inversely related to the log-of-Ne when theε^(2)-genetic drift is nontrivial.This log-of-Ne feature ofε^(2)-genetic drift did explain well why the dN/dS ratio(the nonsynonymous rate to the synonymous rate)in humans is only as twofold as that in mice,while the effective population size(Ne)of mice is about two-magnitude larger than that of humans.It was estimated that,for the first time,the variance of random penetrance in mammalian genes was approximatelyε^(2)≈5.89×10^(-3).

Identifying PCR primers to facilitate molecular phylogenetics in Caddisflies(Trichoptera)

The molecular phylogenetics of the Lepidoptera （butterflies and moths） is well studied, but that of Trichoptera （caddisflies）, the sister clade of Lepidoptera, is less studied. The PCR primer libraries developed for lepidopteran phylogenetics might work in Trichoptera. DNA from 8 caddisfly species （Asynarchus nigriculus （Banks, 1908）, Grammotaulius lorettae Denning, 1941, Hesperophylax occidentalis （Banks, 1908）, Limnephilus externus Hagen, 1861, Limnephilus picturatus McLachlan, 1875, Limnephilus secludens Banks, 1914, Limnephilus sublunatus Provancher, 1877 and Agrypnia deflata （Milne, 1931）） was used to screen for amplification. 107 primer pairs for 45 nuclear and 3 mitochondrial genes were tested. Primers for 1 new gene （40S ribosomalprotein $2 （RPS2）） and 8 genes previously used in Trichopteran phylogenetics were recovered （16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase （CAD）, cytoehrome oxidase I （CO1）, cytochrome oxidase 11 （COIl）, elongation factor-1 alpha （EF-1 alpha）, isoeitrate dehydrogenase （IDH）, and RNA polymerase-II （POL-I1））. New primer pairs extended the genomic region sampled for many genes. Evolution rates among loci varied by 2 orders of magnitude. Differences among evolution rates and modes of inheritance offer flexible tools for resolving phylogenetic questions and examining genome evolution in the Trichoptera. Screening libraries of PCR primers is a useful approach for identifying PCR primers in related taxa with limited molecular genetic resources.