| 1. |
- Fang, Ruisen, et al.
(författare)
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Late Ediacaran cavity-dwelling filamentous microorganisms accommodated in a valve-like organism from the uppermost Dengying Formation in eastern Yunnan of South China
- 2022
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Ingår i: Precambrian Research. - : Elsevier. - 0301-9268 .- 1872-7433. ; 379
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Ediacaran–Cambrian transition, one of the major turning points in Earth’s history, is characterized by an epoch-making change in biosphere. In South China, the late Ediacaran Dengying Formation (ca. 551–538 Ma) is an important stratigraphic unit yielding trace fossils, tubular skeletal fossils and some complex forms that represent possible bilateral animals. The fossil-bearing Ediacaran strata of eastern Yunnan is hitherto known from the Jiucheng Member containing the Jiangchuan Biota, together with the enigmatic cosmopolitan taxon Shaanxilithes. Here, we present for the first time cavity-dwelling filamentous microorganisms accommodated within a valve-like fossil from the upper Baiyanshao Member of the Dengying Formation at the Sujiawa Section in Huize County, eastern Yunnan of China. SEM scanning and Micro-CT reconstruction indicate that the well-preserved filaments were characterized by mycelial network structures with abundant branching pattern. Preservation of filamentous microorganisms might result from the decay process of soft parts that were originally accommodated and enclosed within the valve-like organism, and subsequently preserved by early diagenetic phosphatization, which obscures their original organic identity and chemical composition. This paper potentially presents the first fossil evidence of a saprophytic relationship between microorganisms as decomposers and a valve-like organism prior to the eve of the Cambrian Explosion of metazoan animals.
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| 2. |
- Jing, Chun-lei, et al.
(författare)
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Avian malaria parasite infections do not affect personality in the chestnut thrush (Turdus rubrocanus) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
- 2023
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Ingår i: Heliyon. - : Cell Press. - 2405-8440. ; 9:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Personality traits, the consistent individual behavioral differences, are currently gaining much attention in studies of natural bird populations. However, associations between personality traits and parasite infections are not often investigated. Even less attention has been given to studies of birds in the high-elevation region such as the Tibetan plateau. This research aims to examine the relationship between avian malaria parasites and two personality traits in a population of the Chestnut Thrush (Turdus rubrocanus) breed in the Tibetan plateau. Our results revealed no evidence of sex bias in malaria parasite prevalence. Furthermore, we found no effect of infection status on two personality scores: activity and boldness. Additionally, no effects on the activity level or boldness were observed for different parasite lineages of Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, the sex of the birds, or their interactions. Similarly, we did not find any relationship between activity level and boldness with nestling numbers, sex, or their interactions. Notably, individuals with a larger number of offspring tended to display greater boldness. Our findings indicate that blood parasite infections are common in this population but do not significantly impact the personality of the birds.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Liang, Yue, et al.
(författare)
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Evolutionary contingency in lingulid brachiopods across mass extinctions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Current Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0960-9822 .- 1879-0445. ; 33:8, s. 1565-1572.e3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Morphology usually serves as an effective proxy for functional ecology,1,2,3,4,5 and evaluating morphological, anatomical, and ecological changes permits a deeper understanding of the nature of diversification and macroevolution.5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 Lingulid (order Lingulida) brachiopods are both diverse and abundant during the early Palaeozoic but decrease in diversity over time, with only a few genera of linguloids and discinoids present in modern marine ecosystems, resulting in them frequently being referred to as “living fossils.”13,14,15 The dynamics that drove this decline remain uncertain, and it has not been determined if there is an associated decline in morphological and ecological diversity. Here, we apply geometric morphometrics to reconstruct global morphospace occupation for lingulid brachiopods through the Phanerozoic, with results showing that maximum morphospace occupation was reached by the Early Ordovician. At this time of peak diversity, linguloids with a sub-rectangular shell shape already possessed several evolutionary features, such as the rearrangement of mantle canals and reduction of the pseudointerarea, common to all modern infaunal forms. The end Ordovician mass extinction has a differential effect on linguloids, disproportionally wiping out those forms with a rounded shell shape, while forms with sub-rectangular shells survived both the end Ordovician and the Permian-Triassic mass extinctions, leaving a fauna predominantly composed of infaunal forms. For discinoids, both morphospace occupation and epibenthic life strategies remain consistent through the Phanerozoic. Morphospace occupation over time, when considered using anatomical and ecological analyses, suggests that the limited morphological and ecological diversity of modern lingulid brachiopods reflects evolutionary contingency rather than deterministic processes.
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| 5. |
- Liang, Yue, et al.
(författare)
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Late Ordovician lingulid brachiopods from the Pingliang Formation (Shaanxi Province, North China) : Morphological and ecological implications
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. - : Elsevier. - 1367-9120 .- 1878-5786. ; 263
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brachiopods first appeared in the early Cambrian and persist till present. They are one of the main lineages of marine invertebrates that diversified throughout the Paleozoic and reached their maximum diversity of high-rank taxonomy during the Ordovician. During this time interval, brachiopods were mainly dominated by the articulated Orthida and Strophomenida, which represent major components of the Paleozoic Evolutionary Fauna; however, the inarticulated lingulid brachiopods (Order Lingulida) were comparatively less abundant and received less attention during this time period. Here, we report a new record of the lingulid brachiopod Anomaloglossa porca from the Upper Ordovician (Sandbian) Pingliang Formation of the Xilinggou Section, Shaanxi Province, North China. Collected specimens are preserved as calcium phosphatic shells with highly mineralization which preserve detailed morphology and shell ornamentation of both ventral and dorsal valves. The new occurrence of A. porca extends its paleogeographic distribution from Gondwana and Tarim to North China Platform. Moreover, comprehensive geometric morphometric analysis of A. porca is performed and the results indicate that both the shell shape and pseudointerarea are very close to the recent infaunal lingulids. If interpreted correctly, the fossils represent the first example of infaunal lifestyles achieved by Ordovician lingulids from North China, exhibiting the ecological complexities of the Late Ordovician benthos composed of epibenthos and infaunas as well.
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| 6. |
- Liang, Yue, et al.
(författare)
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When lingulid brachiopods became infaunal(?) : Perspectives from the morphological and anatomical information
- 2023
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Ingår i: Estonian journal of earth sciences. - : Estonian Academy Publishers. - 1736-4728 .- 1736-7557. ; 72:1, s. 140-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Morphology usually serves as an effective proxy for functional ecology, and the evaluation of morphological, anatomical, and ecological changes allows for a deeper understanding of the nature of diversification and macroevolution. Lingulid (Order Lingulida) brachiopods were diverse and abundant during the early Palaeozoic, but decreased in diversity over time, with only a few genera of linguloids and discinoids present in modern marine ecosystems, frequently referred to as 'living fossils'. The dynamics that drove this decline remain unclear and it has not been determined if there is an associated decline in morphological and ecological diversity. We applied geometric morphometrics to reconstruct global morphospace occupied by lingulid brachiopods through the Phanerozoic, with results showing that maximum morphospace occupation was reached in the Early Ordovician. At this time of peak diversity, linguloids with sub-rectangular shells already possessed several evolutionary features common to all modern infaunal forms such as the rearrangement of mantle canals and reduction of the pseudointerarea. The endOrdovician mass extinction had a differential effect on linguloids, disproportionally wiping out those with rounded shells whilst forms with sub-rectangular shells survived both the endOrdovician and the Permian-Triassic mass extinctions, with post-extinction faunas predomi nantly composed of infaunal forms. For discinoids, both morphospace occupation and epi-benthic life strategies remain consistent through the Phanerozoic. Analysis of the morphospace occupation of lingulids over time, taking into account their body size, anatomical features and ecological changes, suggests that the reduced morphological and ecological diversity observed in modern lingulid brachiopods reflects evolutionary contingency rather than deterministic processes.
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| 7. |
- Liu, Chenjuan, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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A free standing Ru–TiC nanowire array/carbon textile cathode with enhanced stability for Li–O2 batteries
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 6, s. 23659-23668
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The instability of carbon cathode materials is one of the key problems that hinder the development of lithium–air/lithium–oxygen (Li–O2) batteries. In this contribution, a type of TiC-based cathode is developed as a suitable alternative to carbon based cathodes, and its stability with respect to its surface properties is investigated. Here, a free-standing TiC nanowire array cathode was in situ grown on a carbon textile, covering its exposed surface. The TiC nanowire array, via deposition with Ru nanoparticles, showed enhanced oxygen reduction/evolution activity and cyclability, compared to the one without Ru modification. The battery performance of the Li–O2cells with Ru–TiC was investigated by using in operando synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD) during a full cycle. With the aid of surface analysis, the role of the cathode substrate and surface modification is demonstrated. The presented results are a further step toward a wise design of stable cathodes for Li–O2 batteries.
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| 8. |
- Ma, Tao, et al.
(författare)
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Genomic insights into salt adaptation in a desert poplar
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 4, s. 2797-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the high economic and ecological importance of forests, our knowledge of the genomic evolution of trees under salt stress remains very limited. Here we report the genome sequence of the desert poplar, Populus euphratica, which exhibits high tolerance to salt stress. Its genome is very similar and collinear to that of the closely related mesophytic congener, P. trichocarpa. However, we find that several gene families likely to be involved in tolerance to salt stress contain significantly more gene copies within the P. euphratica lineage. Furthermore, genes showing evidence of positive selection are significantly enriched in functional categories related to salt stress. Some of these genes, and others within the same categories, are significantly upregulated under salt stress relative to their expression in another salt-sensitive poplar. Our results provide an important background for understanding tree adaptation to salt stress and facilitating the genetic improvement of cultivated poplars for saline soils.
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| 9. |
- Song, Kai, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Conservation genomics in the boreal forest : Population structure and local adaptation in the sibling species Chinese Grouse and Hazel Grouse
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The climate of the world’s arctic regions, including the poles and the Tibetan plateau region, act as a bellwether for global change. On the Tibetan plateau, there are numerous species well adapted to cold environments. The Chinese Grouse and Hazel Grouse are sibling species distributed in the Eurasian subarctic forests of the Tibetan plateau respectively. Conservation genomics are transforming our understanding of organismal responses in a changing Arctic boreal forest. In this study, we used 29 individuals from the sister species Chinese Grouse and Hazel Grouse from the boreal forest in Eurasia. Our results provide insights into the genetic diversity and differentiation in to different geographic populations of the two species. Full genome sequencing of samples covering the distribution area of grouse species throughout the Eurasian boreal forest has enabled us to provide the first analysis of the population structure and introgression. Through selective sweep analysis, we detected that the Chinese Grouse inhabiting the QTP high altitude environment show evidence of having evolved adaptations to hypobaric hypoxia and high ultraviolet radiation.
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| 10. |
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