MicroRNA及其在昆虫学中的研究进展

MicroRNA(miRNA)是真核生物中对转录后调控起着重要作用的一类非编码单链RNA分子,参与调控胚胎发育、干细胞分化、神经发生及细胞凋亡等几乎所有的生物过程。本文简要总结了miRNA的生物合成、命名、表达及功能等方面的研究进展,同时从昆虫miRNA的鉴定、表达及功能、miRNA的代谢等方面对miRNA在昆虫学研究中的最新进展做了综述。     

RAPD技术及其在昆虫学研究中的应用

本世纪７０年代以前,对昆虫进行遗传研究,主要是利用它的各种外部形态和生理缺陷（如翅长、体色、致死突变等）等特征。所需周期长,且易受环境条件的影响。随着生化技术的不断发展,蛋白质电泳技术在许多昆虫遗传变异研究中得到了广泛的应用。但是随着研究的深人,发现蛋白质受外界环境条件的影响也很大,同时,能检测出的变异频率不能满足继续深人研究的需要［１］根据现代遗传学的观点,物种的遗传性状是由基因决定的。外部形态的变异及体内蛋白质分子的变化最本质的原因是由于基因中ＤＮＡ分子碱基序列发生了改变［’］。因此从ＤＮＡ…     

RNAi技术在昆虫学中的研究进展及展望

在昆虫中,RNAi是一种对抗外源病毒的天然免疫方式,基于生物体中的这种内在机制而建立的RNAi技术已经被广泛用来研究多种昆虫基因的功能。近年的研究结果表明RNAi技术在抵御害虫和防治益虫疾病方面具有潜在的应用价值,有可能对农业有害生物的控制起到巨大的推动作用。本文综述了RNAi与昆虫免疫、及其在昆虫基因功能研究、害虫控制、益虫疾病控制和昆虫系统生物学方面的最新研究进展,并展望了RNAi在昆虫学研究中的发展趋势。     

蛋白质组学方法在昆虫学研究中的应用

蛋白质组学作为后基因组学时代研究的一个重要内容,已广泛深入到生命科学和医药学的各个领域,其理论和技术的发展完善也为昆虫学研究带来了新的思维方式和研究方向。文章就近年来蛋白质组学在昆虫研究中的应用加以综述。     

AFLP标记的特点及其在昆虫学研究中的应用

扩增片段长度多态性（AFLP）是一种新兴的很有效的分子遗传标记方法, 它通过对基因组DNA限制性内切酶酶切片段进行选择性扩增而揭示多态性,具有快速、经济简便、不需要预先知道模板DNA的信息、模板需要量少、重复性高、结果可靠及具有很高的信息含量等优点。AFLP也具有缺点,主要是标记是显性的,同其他显性标记一样,不能区分杂合体和纯合体,因而不能更好地估算种群遗传的变异,对种群遗传结构的分析不能提供更多的统计信息;AFLP技术较复杂,而且经常使用放射性同位素,对模板DNA质量要求也较高。为了克服AFLP的这些缺点,人们又在其基础上发展了其他相关技术,例如AFRP、SAMPL、DALP和TE-AFLP等。目前AFLP在昆虫方面的应用还不是很多,处于初级阶段,主要应用在生态型鉴定、种群遗传分析、连锁图谱构建等方面,相信随着其技术的发展完善,必将会越来越多地应用于昆虫学的研究中。     

植物褪黑素及其抗逆性研究

褪黑素(N-乙酰-5-甲氧基色胺)是脊椎动物的松果体产生的吲哚类激素,主要参与动物昼夜节律调节.现已证实褪黑素在高等植物中也普遍存在,但对其功能的研究还不甚深入.目前,植物中褪黑素的可能功能包括清除自由基、调节光周期、参与生长调节等.本文简述了植物中褪黑素的研究概况、含量及其合成途径,重点综述了其在提高植物抗逆性方面的功能,并对其研究前景进行展望.     

ITS序列的特点及其在昆虫学研究中的应用

随着PCR技术和DNA测序技术的成熟及广泛应用,分子数据的分析和利用逐渐成为生物学研究的重要手段。基因组中含有丰富的遗传信息,运用核基因序列或将核基因与线粒体基因序列相结合作为遗传标记,研究昆虫的系统发育,已成为分子系统学领域的发展趋势。由于长度适中、易于扩增、进化速度快、变异性高等优点,核糖体基因中内转录间隔区(ITS)已在昆虫系统学研究中得到广泛的应用。本文介绍了ITS序列的结构特点,重点对ITS序列在近缘种及种型快速鉴定、属及属上高级阶元系统学研究、谱系生物地理学及与其它基因联合分析昆虫系统进化关系等研究中的应用及前景进行了综述。     

褪黑素在哮喘防治中的作用

褪黑素是由松果体分泌的一种神经内分泌激素,具有节律调节、应激反应和清除自由基等生物学功能。近年研究发现,在哮喘患者体内存在褪黑素分泌及代谢功能紊乱,褪黑素干预研究显现其在哮喘的抗炎、免疫调节等方面具有一定的作用。     

EPG技术在昆虫学研究中的应用及进展

刺吸行为电图(electrical penetration graph, EPG) 技术在植食性刺吸式昆虫,如蚜虫、粉虱、叶蝉和蓟马等研究中的应用日益深入,尤其是对蚜虫和粉虱的研究,已涉及寄主专化性、植物的抗虫机制以及病毒传播等领域。该文从蚜虫和粉虱等典型的刺吸式昆虫入手,介绍EPG技术的研究进展和应用前景。     

基因探针及其在昆虫学上的应用

八十年代以来以基因工程技术为主导的分子生物学研究大大丰富了人们对生命过程和本质的认识,基因工程技术在昆虫学研究中日益受到重视。一个新兴的学科－－昆虫分子生物学已经形成。     

Evidence of temporary mining in the Cretaceous fossil mine assemblage of Negev, Israel

Temporary mining is a peculiar behavioral trait in leaf parasites requiring adaptations of consecutive larval stages to the endophytic and ectophytic life. The first fossil evidence for the origin of the trait comes from the Cretaceous (Turonian) plant–insect locality of the Negev Desert containing rich trace assemblages of leaf parasites, including blotch mines with leaf pieces cut out for case construction, as well as attached larval cases. The host plants are deciduous broadleafs or aquatic angiosperms with emergent leaves, suggesting that initial acquisition of the habit might have been related to leaf abscission and the risk for the larva being chocked in the mine during floods. Unlike tracks of permanent miners, temporary mines never co‐occur on leaves with other type mines, which attests to their effect of enhancing plant resistance. Mine predation appears to have been widespread in the Cretaceous biotic community, suggesting a possibility of top‐down regulation of mining habits at this early stage of their evolutionary development.     

植物与植食性昆虫防御与反防御的三个层次

在植物与植食性昆虫长期的进化过程中,双方形成了一系列的防御与反防御策略。本文将这些策略归为3个层次:第一层次起始于植物对植食性昆虫相关分子模式的识别,并由此激活植食性昆虫分子模式相关的免疫反应。这种免疫反应对于不能产生效应子的植食性昆虫种群是有效的;第二层次是一些植食性昆虫种群可以通过释放特异性效应子抑制植物产生的植食性昆虫分子模式相关的免疫反应,从而在植物上正常生长与繁衍;第三层次是一些植物基因型可以通过特异抗性基因识别植食性昆虫的效应子,进而激活效应子诱导的免疫反应,表现出特异的抗虫性。深入揭示植物与植食性昆虫间的这种分子互作机制,不仅在理论上有助于理解昆虫与植物的协同进化机制,而且在实践上可为作物抗性品种的培育提供重要的技术指导。     

植菌昆虫及共生真菌共生机制

大约4-6千万年前,3种昆虫类群：白蚁、蚂蚁及食菌甲虫独立进化了培植真菌作为食物的能力,完成了从收集、捕获到主动种植真菌作为食物的生活方式的转变。“耕种”的生活方式最终使得这些昆虫占据重要的生态位。这3类昆虫种植真菌的过程具有明确的人类农业的特点,包括接种、培育、收获以及对培养物的营养依赖。围绕这些环节,昆虫适应不同的功能而进行分工合作,同时通过与一类放线菌共生,利用其产生抗生素来保护菌圃。切叶蚁（attine ant）及其共生真菌、白蚁（termite）及其共生蚁巢伞、食菌甲虫（ambrosia beetles）及其共生真菌是典型的被广泛研究的真菌和昆虫共生体系。而这种培植真菌的能力并不仅仅存在于以上3类昆虫中。植菌卷叶象甲Euops chinensis精心制作叶苞并接种储菌器真菌;蜥蜴甲虫Doubledaya bucculenta以及树蜂Sirex spp.也存在接种共生真菌作物的行为。从本质上讲,昆虫的真菌培植体系与人类的农业体系非常类似,因此对于种植真菌昆虫的系统研究能够为应对全球粮食短缺和农业持续高产提供一些有价值的参考。     

Circadian rhythms and the evolution of photoperiodic timing in insects

This review discusses possible evolutionary trends in insect photoperiodism, mainly from a chronobiological perspective. A crucial step was the forging of a link between the hormones regulating diapause and the systems of biological rhythms, circadian or circannual, which have independently evolved in eukaryotes to synchronize physiology and behaviour to the daily cycles of light and darkness. In many of these responses a central feature is that the circadian system resets to a constant phase at the beginning of the subjective night, and then ‘measures’ the duration of the next scotophase. In ‘external coincidence’, one version of such a clock, light now has a dual role. First, it serves to entrain the circadian system to the stream of pulses making up the light/dark cycle and, second, it regulates the nondiapause/diapause switch in development by illuminating/not illuminating a specific light sensitive phase falling at the end of the critical night length. Important work by A. D. Lees on the aphid Megoura viciae using so‐called ‘night interruption experiments' demonstrates that pulses falling early in the night lead to long‐day effects that are reversible by a subsequent dark period longer than the critical night length and also show maximal sensitivity in the blue–green range of the spectrum. Pulses falling in the latter half of the night, however, produce long‐day effects that are irreversible by a subsequent long‐night and show a spectral sensitivity extending into the red. With movement to higher latitudes, insects develop genetic clines in various parameters, including critical night length, the number of long‐night cycles needed for diapause induction, the strength of the response, and the ‘depth’ or intensity of the diapause thus induced. Evidence for these and other types of photoperiodic response suggests that they provided strong selective advantages for insect survival.     

Vision is Important for Plant Location by the Phytophagous Aquatic Specialist Euhrychiopsis lecontei Dietz (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The aquatic milfoil weevil Euhrychiopsis lecontei Dietz (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a specialist on Myriophyllum spp. and is used as a biological control agent for Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum L.), an invasive aquatic macrophyte. We show evidence that visual cues are important for plant detection by these weevils. Weevils had difficulty locating plants in dark conditions and were highly attracted to plant stems in the light, even when the plant sample was sealed in a vial. However, weevils were equally attracted to both M. spicatum and another aquatic macrophyte, coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum L.) in vials. Turbidity (0–100 NTU) did not significantly influence visual plant detection by the weevils. This work fills a void in the literature regarding visual plant location by aquatic specialists and may help lead to a better understanding of when and where these weevils will find, accept, and damage their target host-plants.     

Locomotor control by the central complex in Drosophila-An analysis of the tay bridge mutant

Several aspects of locomotor control have been ascribed to the central complex of the insect brain; however, the role of distinct substructures of this complex is not well known. The tay bridge1 (tay1) mutant of Drosophila melanogaster was originally isolated on the basis of reduced walking speed and activity. In addition, tay1 is defective in the compensation of rotatory stimuli during walking and histologically, tay1 causes a mid-sagittal constriction of the protocerebral bridge, a constituent of the central complex. Cloning of the tay gene revealed that it encodes a novel protein with no significant homology to any known protein. To associate the behavioral phenotypes with the anatomical defect in the protocerebral bridge, we used different driver lines to express the tay cDNA in various neuronal subpopulations of the central brain in tay1-mutant flies. These experiments showed an association of the aberrant walking speed and activity with the structural defect in the protocerebral bridge. In contrast, the compensation of rotatory stimuli during walking was rescued without a restoration of the protocerebral bridge. The results of our differential rescue approach are supported by neuronal silencing experiments using conditional tetanus toxin expression in the same subset of neurons. These findings show for the first time that the walking speed and activity is controlled by different substructures of the central brain than the compensatory locomotion for rotatory stimuli.     

Suppression of nocturnal increases in levels of melatonin elicits an anticipatory behavior in male quail

Abstract

During the reproductive development of male Japanese quail the duration of daily activity is prolonged and the onset of the rhythm of activity is advanced relative to the light‐dark cycle. The neuroendocrine basis for these changes was investigated with focusing on plasma levels of melatonin and testosterone. By means of 4 additional hours of photic stimulation of the brain, after the environmental lights (8L: 16D, lights on at 1000 hr) were turned off, the increase in levels of melatonin after lights‐off was suppressed for a few days. Thereafter the early onset of daily locomotor activity was observed and the gonads began to develop. Similar behavioral changes occurred in castrated quail following direct brain‐illumination or testosterone implants. The testosterone implants also suppressed the increases in levels of melatonin after lights‐off, for a few days. Treatment with an antiserum raised against melatonin (anti‐M) for the first 3 days, to suppress the increases in levels of melatonin after lights‐off, elicited such an anticipatory behavior. These results suggest that suppression of the nocturnal rise in melatonin levels is important for the first steps toward reproductive activity in male Japanese quail.     

Longitudinal observation of attine (Atta cephalotes isthmicola) ants (Hymenoptera; Formicidae)

A colony of the leaf-cutting Attine (Atta cephalotes isthmicola) ants was cultured and observed in the laboratory. During the 114 month life of the colony, a maximum garden volume of 54 L. was attained. The colony used a total of 139,902 g of substrate at a maximum rate of 2,660 g per month and occupied one hundred forty-four 1.25 L. chambers. Observations on the colony ranged from behavior of the castes to biochemistry and the absence of cholesterol. The dramatic display quality of Attine colonies for zoological exhibit is discussed.     

从生物进化看褪黑素的功能意义

褪黑素在生物发布极为广泛,从低等原核生物到高５等脊椎动物,乃至植物体内均发现褪黑素。在漫长的生物进化过程中,它作为了种古老多效性的分子而保留至今。生物中门类浩繁,形态、功能千差万别,但体内的褪黑素却有相似的作用：（１）传递光暗信号,使生物的各种内源性节律与环境周期保持同步。（２）有铲清除生物体内的自由基。使机体免受氧化损伤。（３）褪黑素与钙调蛋白结合,调节细胞骨架的机能状态,以执行特定的功能、褪黑