Identification of five sea cucumber species through PCR-RFLP analysis

Sea cucumbers are traditional marine food and Chinese medicine in Asia. The rapid expansion of sea cucumber market has resulted in various problems, such as commercial fraud and mislabeling. Conventionally, sea cucumber species could be distinguished by their morphological and anatomical characteristics; however, their identification becomes difficult when they are processed. The aim of this study was to develop a new convenient method of identifying and distinguishing sea cucumber species. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) was used to identifing five sea cucumber species (Apostichopus japonicus, Cucumaria frondosa, Thelenota ananas, Parastichopus californicus and Actinopyga lecanora). A 692 bp fragment of COI was searched for BamHI, KpnI, PstI, XbaI and Eco31I restriction sites with DNAMAN 6.0, which were then used to PCR-RFLP analysis. These five sea cucumber species can be discriminated from mixed sea cucumbers. The developed PCR-RFLP assay will facilitate the identification of sea cucumbers, making their source tracing and quality controlling feasible.     

绵阳市度日数特征及其变化趋势分析

从20世纪50年代以来,度日数一直作为气候变化与供暖关系的一个综合评价指标。基于全球变暖可能对我国供暖天数和温度产生深刻的影响,本文采用绵阳市1946~2005年共49年的日最低、最高气温资料,分析了绵阳市度日数年变化特征,并对其进行了趋势分析。结果表明:绵阳市历年供暖度日数最小值处于1998年,比1976年最大值低93.5%,10a年均供暖度日数变化趋势为二次曲线;制冷度日数波动性很大,1960~1979年在1500℃·d左右波动,1979~1990年在1400℃·d左右波动,1990年以后基本处于1500℃·d以上,10a年均制冷度日数拟合趋势曲线为三次曲线。基于Mann-Kendall(M-K)检验法,在α=0.05水平下,对绵阳市供暖和制冷度日数进行检验,研究发现:供暖度日数明显减少,1992年为突变起始年份;制冷度日数波动增长,且自1997年起突变。     

Results of a CLM4 Land Surface Simulation over China Using a Multisource Integrated Land Cover Dataset

In this study, the high-accuracy multisource integrated Chinese land cover （MICLCover） dataset was used in version 4 of the Community Land Model （CLM4） to assess how the new land cover information affected land surface simulation over China. Compared to the default land cover dataset in CLM4, the MICL data indicated lower values for bare soil （14.6% reduction）, nee- dleleaf tree （3.6%）, and broadleaf tree （1.9%）; higher values for shrub cover （1.8% increase）, grassland （9.9%）, cropland （5.0%）, glaciers （0.5%）, lakes （1.6%）, and wetland （1.1%）; and unchanged for urban areas. Two comparative CLM4 simulations were conducted for the 33-yr period from 1972 to 2004, one using the MICL dataset and the other using the default dataset. The results revealed that the MICL data produced a 0.3% lower mean annual surface albedo over China than the original data. The largest contributor to the reduced value was semiarid regions （2.1% reduction）. The MICL-data albedo value agreed more closely with observations （MODIS broad- band black-sky albedo products） over arid and semiarid regions than for the original data to some extent. The simulated average sensible heat flux over China increased by only 0.1 W m 2 owing to the reduced values in arid and semiarid regions, as opposed to increases in humid and semihumid regions, while an increased latent heat flux of I W m-2 was reflected in almost identical changes over the whole region. In addition, the mean annual runoff simulated by CLM4 using MICL data decreased by 6.8 mm yr-1, primarily due to large simulated decreases in humid regions.     

Assimilating the LAI Data to the VEGAS Model Using the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter: An Observing System Simulation Experiment

Information on the spatial and temporal pat- terns of surface carbon flux is crucial to understanding of source/sink mechanisms and projection of future atmospheric CO2 concentrations and climate. This study presents the construction and implementation of a terrestrial carbon cycle data assimilation system based on a dynamic vegetation and terrestrial carbon model Vegetation-Global-Atmosphere-Soil （VEGAS） with an advanced assimilation algorithm, the local ensemble transform Kalman filter （LETKF, hereafter LETKF-VEGAS）. An observing system simulation experiment （OSSE） framework was designed to evaluate the reliability of this system, and numerical experiments conducted by the OSSE using leaf area index （LAI） observations suggest that the LETKF -VEGAS can improve the estimations of leaf carbon pool and LAI significantly, with reduced root mean square errors and increased correlation coefficients with true values, as compared to a control run without assimilation. Furthermore, the LETKF-VEGAS has the potential to provide more accurate estimations of the net primary productivity （NPP） and carbon flux to atmosphere （CFta）.     

南海温度锋的分布特征及季节变化

利用50a(1950—2007年)的SODA(Simple Ocean Data Assimilation)数据分析了南海上层温度锋分布特征以及季节变化规律。结果表明:受季风、太阳辐照以及诸多因素影响,温度锋季节变化明显,锋面结构复杂。冬季,温度锋基本沿陆架分布,存在于南海北部海区,从台湾海峡一直延伸到北部湾,发育比较显著;春季,主要出现在南海北部海区、北部湾、越南东部海岸,分布比较广泛;夏季温度锋出现概率增加,出现区域扩大,越南东部出现大面积温度锋;秋季南海中西部海域存在大面积的温度锋。     

南黄海磁性基底特征分析和综合解释

本文利用南通幅区域地质调查的重磁异常数据,在重磁异常特征分析的基础上,采用一维频谱分析法对南黄海进行磁性基底反演。结果表明:南黄海属于扬子块体向海域的延伸,具有元古代结晶基底和古生代褶皱基底的双基底结构,其磁性基底深度在2—10km之间变化,是褶皱基底与磁性层最小埋深的结合,在坳陷和隆起上表现不同。通过利用综合地质和地球物理综合方法,对南黄海区域的四大构造单元华北—狼林地块、扬子—京畿地块、华南—岭南地块、东海大陆架进行重磁异常变化特征和磁性基底特征分析,为研究区断裂等区域构造特征解释提供了依据。     

单体分子放射性碳同位素分析在海洋科学及环境科学研究中的应用

单体分子放射性碳同位素分析(CSRA)是近十几年来发展起来的一项新兴的分析手段,将所需的单体分子(生物标志物)从复杂的环境样品基质中分离并富集,再进行加速质谱仪(AMS)的放射性碳(14C)测定。这种分子水平的放射性碳同位素测定技术能够揭示出总有机质同位素组成的异质性,为解释有机碳的来源、迁移和转化等提供了新型的手段。在海洋科学研究中,单体分子放射性碳同位素分析已应用于计算碳在全球各储库的逗留时间并揭示和定量估算化石源有机碳的输入、指示沉积物的搬运过程、示踪微生物的代谢途径、改进沉积物年代学等;在环境科学研究中,单体分子放射性碳同位素分析可用于有毒物质(如多环芳烃)的源解析,示踪有机污染环境中微生物的代谢途径等。伴随着单体分子分离技术的改进及AMS灵敏度的提高,CSRA技术的应用会更加广泛。     

基于ROMS模式利用集合最优插值同化沿轨海表面高度异常数据的研究

The ensemble optimal interpolation （EnOI） is applied to the regional ocean modeling system （ROMS） with the ability to assimilate the along-track sea level anomaly （TSLA）. This system is tested with an eddy-resolving system of the South China Sea （SCS）. Background errors are derived from a running seasonal ensemble to account for the seasonal variability within the SCS. A fifth-order localization function with a 250 km localization radius is chosen to reduce the negative effects of sampling errors. The data assimilation system is tested from January 2004 to December 2006. The results show that the root mean square deviation （RMSD） of the sea level anomaly decreased from 10.57 to 6.70 cm, which represents a 36.6% reduction of error. The data assimilation reduces error for temperature within the upper 800 m and for salinity within the upper 200 m, although error degrades slightly at deeper depths. Surface currents are in better agreement with trajectories of surface drifters after data assimilation. The variance of sea level improves significantly in terms of both the amplitude and position of the strong and weak variance regions after assimilating TSLA. Results with AGE error （AGE） perform better than no AGE error （NoAGE） when considering the improvements of the temperature and the salinity. Furthermore, reasons for the extremely strong variability in the northern SCS in high resolution models are investigated. The results demonstrate that the strong variability of sea level in the high resolution model is caused by an extremely strong Kuroshio intrusion. Therefore, it is demonstrated that it is necessary to assimilate the TSLA in order to better simulate the SCS with high resolution models.     

Phylogenomic analysis of transcriptomic sequences of mitochondria and chloroplasts for marine red algae (Rhodophyta) in China

The chloroplast and mitochondrion of red algae （Phylum Rhodophyta） may have originated from different endosymbiosis. In this study, we carried out phylogenomic analysis to distinguish their evolutionary lin-eages by using red algal RNA-seq datasets of the 1 000 Plants （1KP） Project and publicly available complete genomes of mitochondria and chloroplasts of Rhodophyta. We have found that red algae were divided into three clades of orders, Florideophyceae, Bangiophyceae and Cyanidiophyceae. Taxonomy resolution for Class Florideophyceae showed that Order Gigartinales was close to Order Halymeniales, while Order Graci-lariales was in a clade of Order Ceramials. We confirmed Prionitis divaricata （Family Halymeniaceae） was closely related to the clade of Order Gracilariales, rather than to genus Grateloupia of Order Halymeniales as reported before. Furthermore, we found both mitochondrial and chloroplastic genes in Rhodophyta under negative selection （Ka/Ks〈1）, suggesting that red algae, as one primitive group of eukaryotic algae, might share joint evolutionary history with these two organelles for a long time, although we identified some dif-ferences in their phylogenetic trees. Our analysis provided the basic phylogenetic relationships of red algae, and demonstrated their potential ability to study endosymbiotic events.     

褐藻纲海带目Laminaria属和Saccharina属基于三个分子标记的系统发育分析

In the past two decades, many studies have focused on the classification within genus Laminaria, ultimately trying to divide it into two subgroups or genera: Laminaria and Saccharina. A significant debate still surrounds the question of its division, as the conflicting phylogenetic hypotheses that have resulted from the classification studies are based on different taxon sampling, molecular markers, or analysis methods. It is aimed at elucidate the molecular phylogeny within Laminaria and Saccharina. The nine species of Laminariales are sampled from northern Asia and Europe, and 23 new sequences in the nuclear, plastid, and mitochondrial genomes are determined to identify their taxonomic status. The phylogenetic analyses of 71 species are performed, including representatives from six of the seven families of the order Laminariales, based on three separate data sets. An evidence is provided to strongly support a clear split that maintains the two recognized genera, Laminaria and Saccharina, with Laminaria appearing to be the ancestor group. Further, analyses indicate that all taxa in Saccharina and Laminaria did not form a monophyletic lineage, instead Laminariaceae and Lessoniaceae grouped together interlacedly, and Costariaceae appeared as the sister taxon of the Lessoniaceae–Laminariaceae clade. In the phylogenetic analysis, mitochondrial c oxidase I(COI) sequences appeared to be the most credible molecular marker which was more befitting than nuclear encoded internal transcribed spacer(ITS) and plastid encoded rbcL for establishment of Laminariales systematics. It is the most comprehensive phylogeny of the order Laminariales, and contributes to an enhanced understanding and estimation of the phylogenetic relationships for the economically important seaweeds, Laminaria and Saccharina.