产蛋白酶中度嗜盐菌Thalassobacillus sp. SY-7的分离、鉴定及发酵条件优化

为促进嗜盐微生物及其所产蛋白酶的工业应用,采用脱脂奶粉培养基从我国天津近海盐田富集筛选得到产蛋白酶中度嗜盐菌株SY-7.通过对其形态特征、生理生化、16S rRNA基因序列及系统进化树进分析,确定菌株的分类.利用Plackett-Burman(PB)设计和响应面优化法(Response surface methodology)优化其发酵条件.结果表明:菌株SY-7为革兰氏阳性菌,最适生长温度为30℃、最适生长pH 7.5,最适NaCl为10%.16S rRNA基因序列分析显示,菌株SY-7与Thalassobacillus devorans亲缘性最近,16S rRNA基因序列相似性为98.88%.利用PB设计从众多影响因素中筛选出影响较大的3个因素:葡萄糖含量、接种量和装液量;再利用响应面法中的杂合设计进优化,通过拟合得到响应曲面函数,获得了最佳的产酶条件.在该实验条件下酶活从870 U/mL提高到1 390 U/mL,实际酶活力达到理论预测值的98.3%,优化效果较好.     

响应面法优化短小芽孢杆菌SCU11发酵产碱性蛋白酶及关键基因转录调控分析

短小芽孢杆菌SCU11是由本实验室分离的野生菌株BA06经过复合诱变得到的高产碱性蛋白酶菌株,其产生的碱性蛋白酶在生物制革领域具有很好的应用前景.为进一步提高菌株的蛋白酶产量以满足工业生产的需求,本研究利用响应面法优化菌株产蛋白酶的发酵培养条件.在前期单因素实验的基础上,通过Plackett-Burman实验设计、最陡爬坡实验、中心组合实验设计和响应面分析法,确定了当黄豆粉浓度为53.3 g/L,温度为28℃时,蛋白酶活有理论最大值8 884 U/m L,摇瓶实验验证酶活为8 768 U/m L,达到理论预测值的98.7%,比优化前酶活提高了1倍.为了解优化的发酵条件使蛋白酶产量提高的原因,对短小芽孢杆菌蛋白酶基因及相关调控基因的表达情况进行荧光定量PCR分析,结果显示,优化后5种蛋白酶基因的表达量上调,1种表达量下调;5种蛋白酶相关调控基因的表达量增加,2种基因表达量降低.推测是优化后正调控基因表达量的增加以及负调控基因表达量的降低,促进了短小芽孢杆菌胞外蛋白酶基因转录水平的提高,导致胞外蛋白酶产量增加.本研究采用响应面法优化发酵条件使短小芽孢杆菌SCU11蛋白酶产量提高了1倍,并为阐明其表达调控机制奠定了基础.(图3表7参24)     

产耐温蛋白酶苏云金芽孢杆菌FS140液体发酵条件优化

应用快速有效的数学统计方法对苏云金芽孢菌FS140耐温蛋白酶的发酵条件进行优化.首先采用二水平Plackett-Burman设计对影响产酶的8因素进行筛选,获得培养基成分中3个重要影响的因子:黄豆饼粉、酵母粉、葡萄糖;再利用响应面分析法对该3个因素进行3水平的优化,获得它们的最佳组合:黄豆饼粉1.8%、酵母粉0.36%、葡萄糖0.14%.优化后产酶水平达到837.71U mL-1,与响应面数学模型的预测值只有1.34%的误差.同时进行了发酵温度、初始pH、摇瓶装量与接种量等发酵条件的优化,FS140最终发酵产酶水平达918.91U mL-1.图2表5参14     

芽孢杆菌发酵产碱性果胶酶温度控制策略

采用自行筛选获得一株产碱性果胶酶芽孢杆菌WSH03-09,在小型发酵罐中研究了不同温度对碱性果胶酶分批发酵的影响,结果表明,在恒定39℃条件下,可获得最高酶活5．39u／mL,各温度条件下的菌体干重相差不多,最终均能达11．5g／L左右;在发酵前期,控制温度41℃时最有利于菌体的生长,而在产物合成期,控制37℃有利于获得较高的产物合成比速,在此基础上,提出分阶段温度控制策略,采用此温度控制策略进行碱性果胶酶的发酵,碱性果胶酶酶活达5．99u／mL,比采用单一温度下的最大值提高了11％,其它各项指标也有较大提高．图6表1参6     

3株高温蛋白酶产生菌的分离与鉴定

从云南温泉的污泥样品中分离到3株产蛋白酶的高温菌SB11、SB31和SC5,通过其形态特征、生理生化特征和16S rDNA序列比对分析等,初步鉴定这3株菌都属于土芽孢杆菌属(Geobacillus),其最适生长温度为60℃,最适pH为6.三者的蛋白酶活力分别可达35.6、26.1和26.6UmL-1,最适酶反应温度都在70℃以上,其中菌株SB31的蛋白酶其最适酶反应温度高达80℃,远高于一般动植物来源的蛋白酶.图4表1参11     

一株碱性果胶酶高产细菌的分离、系统发育分析和产酶条件的初步优化

从腐烂的苹果表皮筛选到一株碱性果胶酶的高产菌株,命名为WSHB04-02.分离菌株为革兰氏阳性细菌,有芽孢,菌落颜色为乳白色.分离菌株WSHB04-02的16SrDNA全序列分析表明,该菌株与Bacillussubtilus具有99%的相似性,并与其他13株产碱性果胶酶菌株的16SrDNA结果进行同源性分析,并构建系统发育树.发现菌株WSHB04-02在不含果胶类物质与Mg2 的培养基上能高产碱性果胶酶,在优化的培养条件下,碱性果胶酶的酶活达到34U/mL,在国内还未见报道.图6表2参15     

牛肠激酶基因工程菌的构建、高密度发酵、纯化及活性鉴定

肠激酶（enterokinase，EK）是一种专一识别DDDDK氨基酸序列、并水解K后肽键的丝氨酸蛋白水解酶．根据GenBank序列进行人工合成牛肠激酶轻链基因cDNA，测序正确后将其插入甲醇酵母分泌型载体pPICZαA，得到重组质粒pPICZαA／EKL，重组载体经线性化后转化Pichia pastoris SMD1168H，筛选得到重组牛肠激酶轻链工程菌．分别对重组酵母工程菌进行高密度发酵、rEKL（recombinant enterokinase light chain，rEKL）纯化、N端序列测定、生物学活性鉴定等研究工作．结果表明，发酵上清中rEKL含量高，纯化的rEKL专一性强、无其他杂酶活性、N端15个氨基酸序列与文献报道一致．图5参17     

顺丁烯二酸异构酶工程菌发酵条件优化

为提高重组大肠杆菌中顺丁烯二酸异构酶表达量,通过正交试验设计,对工程菌的生长条件和目的蛋白可溶表达条件进行优化.采用250 mL三角瓶中装有50 mL(Amp 100 mg L-1)的培养基,分别研究培养基中葡萄糖、蛋白胨、酵母浸粉的浓度,培养基pH值以及摇床转速、装液量、接种量等对蛋白可溶表达量的影响.确定顺丁烯二酸异构酶工程菌最优化培养基为:蛋白胨20 g L-1、酵母浸粉2.5 g L-1、K2HPO4·3H2O 3.0 g L-1、KH2PO4 1.5 g L-1、NaCl 6 g L-1、MgSO43 g L-1,培养基pH调至6.5.确定顺丁烯二酸异构酶工程菌可溶性表达最优条件为:37℃下培养至D600 nm值为1.0时,添加终浓度为0.05 mmol L-1的IPTG进行诱导,诱导温度37℃,摇床转速220 r min-1,装液量20%,接种量5%,诱导时长为6 h.利用BioFlo 415发酵罐以最优化的培养基和发酵条件对该工程菌进行了3批发酵实验,与摇瓶实验相比,顺丁烯二酸异构酶的表达量提高了近1.5倍,单位发酵液的酶活力由46 U mL-1发酵液提高到78 U mL-1发酵液.以上数据为顺丁烯二酸异构酶重组工程菌的中试发酵奠定了基础.图7表2参17     

蛋白酶抑制剂对杨扇舟蛾的中肠蛋白酶作用的研究

研究了杨扇舟蛾幼虫的中肠几种主要蛋白酶活性．以14C-酪蛋白为底物测定的总消化酶活性在碱性缓冲液中最高；特异蛋白酶抑制剂研究表明：只有丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂对中肠蛋白酶活性有抑制作用，其它的特异蛋白酶抑制剂如半光氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂、天门冬氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂和金属蛋白酶抑制剂对中肠的酶活均无抑制作用，可以认为杨扇舟蛾的中肠蛋白酶以丝氨酸蛋白酶为主．以特异的p－nitroanilide为底物测定胰蛋白酶、胰凝乳蛋白酶、弹性蛋白酶和亮氨酸蛋白酶活性在碱性缓冲液中最高，且以弹性蛋白酶活性最高．在所研究的23个丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂中，抑制作用最强的是马铃薯蛋白酶抑制剂I和南瓜韧皮胰蛋白酶抑制剂．本研究丰富了对杨扇舟蛾的中肠蛋白酶种类的了解，为杨树抗虫基因构建和转化提供了依据．     

秸秆污泥堆肥产纤维素酶细菌的筛选及产酶条件优化

从添加秸秆进行堆肥处理的污泥中采集样品,通过富集培养和刚果红平板染色法筛选分离出具有纤维素降解能力的细菌,再通过酶活力测定从中分离筛选出1株相对高活性的产纤维素酶细菌CI;通过基于16S rRNA基因序列的系统发育分析,初步确定该菌株为Devosia sp..利用单因素试验对目的菌株C1进行产纤维素酶发酵条件优化,结果表明菌株C1产纤维素酶的最佳发酵时间、培养温度、摇床转速以及最适初始pH值分别为60 h、30℃、130 r·min^-1和7.2～7.5,且在该条件下其滤纸酶（FPase）和羧甲基纤维素酶（CMCase）活力分别达23.10和54.97 U·mL^-1.     

Rapid,recurring, structured survey versus bioblitz for generating biodiversity data and analysis with a multispecies abundance model

A bioblitz inexpensively and quickly generates biodiversity data, but bioblitzes are often conducted with haphazard, unreplicated sampling. Results tend to be taxonomically, geographically, or temporally biased, lack metadata, and consist of lists of observed taxa that do not enable further analyses or correction for imperfect detection. A rapid, recurring, structured survey (RRSS) uses a structured sampling design and temporal and spatial replication to survey randomly selected sites on a conservation property. We participated in a loosely structured bioblitz and a subsequent RRSS at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville (St. Clair County), Alabama (USA) to compare observed richness derived from the 2 survey approaches. The RRSS data structure enabled us to fit models that accounted for imperfect detection to estimate abundances, occupancy probabilities, and habitat associations. The loosely structured bioblitz data could not be used in such models. We present a new integrated multispecies abundance model that we applied to avian RRSS data. Our model extension enables estimation for the community, employs data augmentation to estimate the number of undetected species, and incorporates covariates. The RRSS generated a more comprehensive and less biased list of observed taxonomic richness than the loosely structured bioblitz (e.g., 73 vs. 45 bird species and 104 vs. 63 insect families from the RRSS vs. loosely structured bioblitz, respectively). Models fit to the RRSS data identified seasonal patterns in avian community composition and allowed for estimation of habitat–occupancy relationships for insect taxa. The RRSS protocol has potential for broad transferability as a standardized, quick, and inexpensive way to inventory biodiversity and estimate ecological parameters while providing an outreach opportunity.     

Compliance with and ecosystem function of biodiversity offsets in North American and European freshwaters

Land-use change via human development is a major driver of biodiversity loss. To reduce these impacts, billions of dollars are spent on biodiversity offsets. However, studies evaluating offset project effectiveness that examine components such as the overall compliance and function of projects remain rare. We reviewed 577 offsetting projects in freshwater ecosystems that included the metrics project size, type of aquatic system (e.g., wetland and creek), offsetting measure (e.g., enhancement, restoration, and creation), and an assessment of the projects’ compliance and functional success. Project information was obtained from scientific and government databases and gray literature. Despite considerable investment in offsetting projects, crucial problems persisted. Although compliance and function were related to each other, a high level of compliance did not guarantee a high degree of function. However, large projects relative to area had better function than small projects. Function improved when projects targeted productivity or specific ecosystem features and when multiple complementary management targets were in place. Restorative measures were more likely to achieve targets than creating entirely new ecosystems. Altogether the relationships we found highlight specific ecological processes that may help improve offsetting outcomes.     

Representation of the world's biophysical conditions by the global protected area network

Protected areas (PAs) are often implemented without consideration of already existing PAs, which is likely to cause an overrepresentation of certain biophysical conditions. We assessed the representativeness of the current PA network with regard to the world's biophysical conditions to highlight which conditions are underprotected and where these conditions are located. We overlaid terrestrial and marine PAs with information on biophysical conditions (e.g., temperature, precipitation, and elevation) and then quantified the percentage of area covered by the PA network. For 1 variable at a time in the terrestrial realm, high temperature, low precipitation, and medium and very high elevation were underrepresented. For the marine realm, low and medium sea surface temperature (SST), medium and high sea surface salinity (SSS), and the deep sea were underrepresented. Overall, protection was evenly distributed for elevation across the terrestrial realm and SST across the marine realm. For 2 variables at a time, cold and very dry terrestrial environments had mostly low protection, which was also the case for low SST and low and medium SSS across most depths for marine environments. Low protection occurred mostly in the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula for the terrestrial realm and along the Tropic of Capricorn and toward the poles for the marine realm. Although biodiversity measures are of prime importance for the design of PA networks, highlighting biophysical gaps in current PAs adds a frequently overlooked perspective. These gaps may weaken the potential of PAs to conserve biodiversity. Thus, our results may provide useful insights for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to establish a more comprehensive global PA network.     

Quantitative composition of the defensive secretion ofBledius species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae) is adapted to naturally occurring predators

Summary The adaptation of defensive secretions to their target organisms was examined for the abdominal gland secretions ofBledius furcatus, B. spectabilis andB. arenarius. Therefore the target organisms of the secretion of theseBledius species (i.e. their predators) had to be identified. At the collection sites examined these were the earwigLabidura riparia, the antCataglyphis bicolor, the flyLispe candicans, different carabids of the generaPogonus, Dichirotrichus, Dyschirius, Bembidion andCalathus and the wading birdsHaematopus ostralegus andCalidris alba. The secretion of the abdominal glands contains the toxin ptoluquinone dissolved in either-dodecalactone and 1-undecene (B. furcatus andB. spectabilis) or in octanoic acid and octyloctanoate (B. arenarius). The ratio of these solvents is species-specific. Application experiments using some of the natural insect predators (L. riparia, C. bicolor, Pogonus, Di. gustavii, Dyschirius) revealed that these solvent ratios provided a more effective deterrent than other possible ratios. Thus by combining the solvents in certain ratios, the capability of cuticular penetration and therefore the effectiveness of the defensive secretions are adapted to their natural targets.     

Democracy versus development: New urban debates

The politics of development includes subtexts of choice, as underpinned by community consensus (or lack of it), against the larger backdrop of a liberal democracy, with its intricate power structures that influence the choice of concepts and often lead to complicity rather than consent. A dilemma exists between the understanding of field-level practitioners and that of academics, whose understandings of progress differ. Progress can (and often does) imply long-term change across generations whereas development is often more a matter of crisis management and delivering tangible results to end-users. This makes it a bone of contention across political systems, irrespective of local or global dynamics. Development can emerge as a tool to be wielded for power and further political mileage at the expense of progress. Progress cannot be studied as a counterpoint to development as the sense of history is often missing in development interventions. Development tends to be piecemeal as its very logic often stems from the rationale of power. This is not to suggest, however, that development is only about politics; it is definitely more than the politics of everyday life and involves all of civil society that requires its critical and immediate attention. In this sense, it has become a priority for politicians with an underlying agenda designed to out-manouevre dissent and all statements of protest.     

A palaeo-hydrogeological model for arsenic contamination in southern and south-east Asia

An argument is presented in which areas of natural arsenic contamination of modern groundwaters throughout Asia have a common origin. Arsenic originally accumulated in oceanic ferro-manganoan sediments of the eastern Palaeo-Tethys. This was further concentrated through oceanic crustal extinction in what later became the south-east Chinese accreted mineralised terrain. Proto-Himalayan uplift of this area created the palaeo-drainage systems of the Ganges – Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Red Rivers, with consequent headwater erosion of arsenic-rich sediments. Their downstream deposition as immature and easily redistributed Neogene sandstones, silts, and iron-rich clays has created secondary and tertiary reservoirs of adsorbed and authigenic arsenic, from which the current arsenic-rich groundwaters have evolved. Considering river basins within the above palaeo-hydrogeological framework provides a basis for assessing the risk of arsenic in groundwater basins of south and south-eastern Asia.     

A framework to measure the wildness of managed large vertebrate populations

As landscapes continue to fall under human influence through habitat loss and fragmentation, fencing is increasingly being used to mitigate anthropogenic threats and enhance the commercial value of wildlife. Subsequent intensification of management potentially erodes wildness by disembodying populations from landscape-level processes, thereby disconnecting species from natural selection. Tools are needed to measure the degree to which populations of large vertebrate species in formally protected and privately owned wildlife areas are self-sustaining and free to adapt. We devised a framework to measure such wildness based on 6 attributes relating to the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of vertebrates (space, disease and parasite resistance, exposure to predation, exposure to limitations and fluctuations of food and water supply, and reproduction). For each attribute, we set empirical, species-specific thresholds between 5 wildness states based on quantifiable management interventions. We analysed data from 205 private wildlife properties with management objectives spanning ecotourism to consumptive utilization to test the framework on 6 herbivore species representing a range of conservation statuses and commercial values. Wildness scores among species differed significantly, and the proportion of populations identified as wild ranged from 12% to 84%, which indicates the tool detected site-scale differences both among populations of different species and populations of the same species under different management regimes. By quantifying wildness, this framework provides practitioners with standardized measurement units that link biodiversity with the sustainable use of wildlife. Applications include informing species management plans at local scales; standardizing the inclusion of managed populations in red-list assessments; and providing a platform for certification and regulation of wildlife-based economies. Applying this framework may help embed wildness as a normative value in policy and mitigate the shifting baseline of what it means to truly conserve a species.     

Sexual Predators,Energy Development,and Conservation in Greater Yellowstone

Abstract: In the United States, as elsewhere, a growing debate pits national energy policy and homeland security against biological conservation. In rural communities the extraction of fossil fuels is often encouraged because of the employment opportunities it offers, although the concomitant itinerant workforce is often associated with increased wildlife poaching. We explored possible positive and negative factors associated with energy extraction in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), an area known for its national parks, intact biological diversity, and some of the New World's longest terrestrial migrations. Specifically, we asked whether counties with different economies—recreation (ski), agrarian (ranching or farming), and energy extractive (petroleum)—differed in healthcare (gauged by the abundance of hospital beds) and in the frequency of sexual predators. The absolute and relative frequency of registered sex offenders grew approximately two to three times faster in areas reliant on energy extraction. Healthcare among counties did not differ. The strong conflation of community dishevel, as reflected by in‐migrant sexual predators, and ecological decay in Greater Yellowstone is consistent with patterns seen in similar systems from Ecuador to northern Canada, where social and environmental disarray exist around energy boomtowns. In our case, that groups (albeit with different aims) mobilized campaigns to help maintain the quality of rural livelihoods by protecting open space is a positive sign that conservation can matter, especially in the face of rampant and poorly executed energy extraction projects. Our findings further suggest that the public and industry need stronger regulatory action to instill greater vigilance when and where social factors and land conversion impact biological systems.     

Threats to intact tropical peatlands and opportunities for their conservation

Large, intact areas of tropical peatland are highly threatened at a global scale by the expansion of commercial agriculture and other forms of economic development. Conserving peatlands on a landscape scale, with their hydrology intact, is of international conservation importance to preserve their distinctive biodiversity and ecosystem services and maintain their resilience to future environmental change. We explored threats to and opportunities for conserving remaining intact tropical peatlands; thus, we excluded peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations means conservation in this region can protect only small fragments of the original ecosystem. We focused on a case study, the Pastaza‐Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB) in Peru, which is among the largest known intact tropical peatland landscapes in the world and is representative of peatland vulnerability. Maintenance of the hydrological conditions critical for carbon storage and ecosystem function of peatlands is, in the PMFB, primarily threatened by expansion of commercial agriculture linked to new transport infrastructure that is facilitating access to remote areas. There remain opportunities in the PMFB and elsewhere to develop alternative, more sustainable land‐use practices. Although some of the peatlands in the PMFB fall within existing legally protected areas, this protection does not include the most carbon‐dense (domed pole forest) areas. New carbon‐based conservation instruments (e.g., REDD+, Green Climate Fund), developing markets for sustainable peatland products, transferring land title to local communities, and expanding protected areas offer pathways to increased protection for intact tropical peatlands in Amazonia and elsewhere, such as those in New Guinea and Central Africa which remain, for the moment, broadly beyond the frontier of commercial development.     

Cost‐effective conservation of an endangered frog under uncertainty

How should managers choose among conservation options when resources are scarce and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of actions? Well‐developed tools exist for prioritizing areas for one‐time and binary actions (e.g., protect vs. not protect), but methods for prioritizing incremental or ongoing actions (such as habitat creation and maintenance) remain uncommon. We devised an approach that combines metapopulation viability and cost‐effectiveness analyses to select among alternative conservation actions while accounting for uncertainty. In our study, cost‐effectiveness is the ratio between the benefit of an action and its economic cost, where benefit is the change in metapopulation viability. We applied the approach to the case of the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), which is threatened by urban development. We extended a Bayesian model to predict metapopulation viability under 9 urbanization and management scenarios and incorporated the full probability distribution of possible outcomes for each scenario into the cost‐effectiveness analysis. This allowed us to discern between cost‐effective alternatives that were robust to uncertainty and those with a relatively high risk of failure. We found a relatively high risk of extinction following urbanization if the only action was reservation of core habitat; habitat creation actions performed better than enhancement actions; and cost‐effectiveness ranking changed depending on the consideration of uncertainty. Our results suggest that creation and maintenance of wetlands dedicated to L. raniformis is the only cost‐effective action likely to result in a sufficiently low risk of extinction. To our knowledge we are the first study to use Bayesian metapopulation viability analysis to explicitly incorporate parametric and demographic uncertainty into a cost‐effective evaluation of conservation actions. The approach offers guidance to decision makers aiming to achieve cost‐effective conservation under uncertainty.