韭菜迟眼蕈蚊规模化饲养技术

【目的】韭菜迟眼蕈蚊Bradysia odoriphaga Yang et Zhang是为害韭菜等蔬菜的重要害虫,规模化饲养提供大量虫源是其他研究工作得以开展的基础。本研究旨在解决目前韭菜迟眼蕈蚊饲养规模小、材料和劳动力成本高等问题。【方法】本实验室利用土豆、花生、大豆为食物进行了规模化饲养韭菜迟眼蕈蚊的研究,测定了取食上述饲料的韭菜迟眼蕈蚊的成活率、繁殖力、羽化节律和性比。【结果】取食土豆、花生、大豆等食物的韭菜迟眼蕈蚊的成活率和繁殖力与取食人工饲料和韭菜的无显著差异,卵到成虫的发育历期为20~23 d,雌雄性比为0.8︰1~1.2︰1。在规模化饲养过程中,土豆、花生、大豆等饲料有发霉长菌现象,经分子鉴定,主要种类为雅致放射毛霉、巴克斯毛霉、黄曲霉和赭曲霉,均为腐生菌,不影响韭菜迟眼蕈蚊的存活和繁殖。【结论】该技术省工省时,成本低,特别适合实验室种群的维持和大量试虫的饲养。     

管氏肿腿蜂的胚胎发育观察

管氏肿腿蜂Scleroderma guani Xiao et Wu的卵在24℃和RH60%~70%条件下发育约140h孵化。根据胚胎外形的发育特点,可将整个发育过程可分5个阶段:早期发育阶段、胚胎伸长期、原躯原头分化阶段、器官形成阶段和胚胎成熟期。胚层形成趋于简单化,未形成解剖学上比较完整的呼吸、排泄及循环等系统。口道形成后,胚胎体积逐渐增加,这表明胚胎在发育过程中吸收了寄主的营养物质。     

Learning in a game context: strategy choice by some keeps learning from evolving in others

Behavioural decisions in a social context commonly have frequency-dependent outcomes and so require analysis using evolutionary game theory. Learning provides a mechanism for tracking changing conditions and it has frequently been predicted to supplant fixed behaviour in shifting environments; yet few studies have examined the evolution of learning specifically in a game-theoretic context. We present a model that examines the evolution of learning in a frequency-dependent context created by a producer–scrounger game, where producers search for their own resources and scroungers usurp the discoveries of producers. We ask whether a learning mutant that can optimize its use of producer and scrounger to local conditions can invade a population of non-learning individuals that play producer and scrounger with fixed probabilities. We find that learning provides an initial advantage but never evolves to fixation. Once a stable equilibrium is attained, the population is always made up of a majority of fixed players and a minority of learning individuals. This result is robust to variation in the initial proportion of fixed individuals, the rate of within- and between-generation environmental change, and population size. Such learning polymorphisms will manifest themselves in a wide range of contexts, providing an important element leading to behavioural syndromes.     

Understanding self and others: from origins to disorders

In order to interpret and engage with the social world, individuals must understand how they relate to others. Self–other understanding forms the backbone of social cognition and is a central concept explored by research into basic processes such as action perception and empathy, as well as research on more sophisticated social behaviours such as cooperation and intergroup interaction. This theme issue integrates the latest research into self–other understanding from evolutionary biology, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience and psychiatry. By gathering perspectives from a diverse range of disciplines, the contributions showcase ways in which research in these areas both informs and is informed by approaches spanning the biological and social sciences, thus deepening our understanding of how we relate to others in a social world.     

Pollen,mould mites and fungi: improvements to mass rearing ofTyphlodromus doreenae andAmblyseius victoriensis

Populations ofTyphlodromus doreenae Schicha on 18×14 cm arenas using pollen ofTypha orientalis Presl. as food, increased from an estimated 50–150 to 1,000–1,600 motiles per arena in the presence of mould mites,Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) and the fungusRhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenberg ex. Fr.) Lind.T. putrescentiae in association withR. stolonifer, developed pigmentation and were preyed on byT. doreenae which also became pigmented. UnpigmentedT. putrescentiae were not attacked byT. doreenae which remained pale coloured.T. doreenae died when supplied with the fungus alone. Bean plants dusted with pollen ofT. orientalis from a talcum powder dispenser supported a large population (7–12 stages/leaf) ofAmblyseius victoriensis (Womersley). These improvements to mass rearing ofT. doreenae andA. victoriensis are discussed with respect to their potential for commercialisation.     

灰飞虱室内大量繁殖及越冬饲养方法

灰飞虱Laodelphax striatellus(Falln)作为多种植物病毒病的传毒介体,近年来发生数量呈逐年增加趋势,给水稻生产造成严重损失。杀虫剂室内毒力测定和抗性选育工作的顺利进行,必须长期饲养大量的标准试虫。文章介绍采用稻苗饲养室内大量繁殖灰飞虱的方法,饲养盒的使用使该方法更加方便,而越冬用麦苗饲养更接近田间的实际情况。     

A method for mass rearing the aphid predator Anthocoris nemorum

Anthocoris nemorum is currently under investigation as a potential agent for the control of damson-hop aphid Phorodon humuli on hops. Detailed here is a method of rearing A. nemorum to provide a large number of insects with a predetermined age structure for mass release in the field. It is designed to minimise culture maintenance, with components and materials which are readily obtained as, or can be modified from, stock items. Initial cultures are collected from the field, as adults, in early autumn and artificially overwintered. These are recovered in early spring, with females being placed in oviposition chambers, and the harvesting of ova regulated to provide synchronisation of eclosion within batches. Larvae are reared until they reach the desired instar for mass release and then held in controlled cold storage until required.     

Maintenance and mass rearing of phytoseiid predators of the cassava green mite

The cassava green mite Mononychellus tanajoa (Bondar), accidentally introduced from South America into Africa, has spread across the cassava belt and is causing severe yield losses to cassava. Biological control was recognized as the most promising and sustainable strategy against this pest. Among the different stages of a biological control program, mass rearing of beneficials is often a major bottleneck. The different rearing systems used by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture are described. A mother culture system maintains pure and high quality colonies and provides inoculum to start mass production. Twenty biotypes are maintained separately and no contamination has been found in the cultures. Oligophagous species are reared in the insectary on artificial substrate, using alternative prey as a food source. For phytoseiid species specific to M. tanajoa, an on plant system is used in a greenhouse. Advantages and disadvantages of the two different systems are discussed as well as general requirements and constraints in rearing phytoseiids.     

韭菜迟眼蕈蚊的室内人工饲养技术

韭菜迟眼蕈蚊 Bradysia odoriphaga Yanget Zhang俗名韭蛆 ,是危害韭菜的主要害虫 ,亦可危害葱、蒜等作物。该幼虫群集在韭菜鳞茎处咬食 ,常造成韭菜大量死亡 ,严重发生地块可减产 5 0 %以上。目前生产上防治韭蛆常用对硫磷、甲拌磷等高毒药剂灌根防治 ,会造成食用者中毒事件。在进行防治韭蛆低毒药剂筛选工作中 ,需要大量虫龄一致的幼虫进行室内试验 ,作者经过多年的实践探索 ,研究出了一套韭菜迟眼蕈蚊室内人工饲养技术 ,现简介如下。1　材料与工具1 .1　直径 2 0 cm的花盆若干。1 .2　直径 1 2 cm、高 2 0 cm的玻璃罩 ,或用聚丙烯做成…     

Pathological and microbiological studies on calf pneumonia occurring in mass rearing facilities

Pathological and microbiological studies were conducted on lesions in the lungs of 194 calves from mass rearing facilities. Macroscopically, the lesions were classified into six forms: nonlesion, atelectasis, mild pneumonia, moderate pneumonia, advanced pneumonia, and advanced pneumonia accompanied with abscess. Histopathological examination revealed bronchopneumonia in most of the calves. Lesions more advanced than moderate pneumonia were complicated with desquamation, severe exudation, and necrosis. Bacteriologically, Pasteurella sp. was isolated often in combination with Staphylococcus sp. from about a half of the atelectatic cases. With the development of pneumonic lesions, Pasteurella sp. was isolated at a high frequency in combination with Haemophilus sp., Streptococcus sp., and Corynebacterium sp. Prominent necrosis was more often seen in cases with Pasteurella haemolytica isolated than in cases with only Pasteurella multocida isolated. Mycoplasma sp. and Ureaplasma sp. were isolated from distinctly pneumonic lesions. Advanced pneumonic lesions were observed in many calves over 30 days of age. The importance of environmental and managerial improvement was also emphasized, since calf pneumonia tended to break out in facilities under unsatisfactory conditions in the present work.     

Bacterial species identification from MALDI-TOF mass spectra through data analysis and machine learning

At present, there is much variability between MALDI-TOF MS methodology for the characterization of bacteria through differences in e.g., sample preparation methods, matrix solutions, organic solvents, acquisition methods and data analysis methods. After evaluation of the existing methods, a standard protocol was developed to generate MALDI-TOF mass spectra obtained from a collection of reference strains belonging to the genera Leuconostoc, Fructobacillus and Lactococcus. Bacterial cells were harvested after 24 h of growth at 28 °C on the media MRS or TSA. Mass spectra were generated, using the CHCA matrix combined with a 50:48:2 acetonitrile:water:trifluoroacetic acid matrix solution, and analyzed by the cell smear method and the cell extract method. After a data preprocessing step, the resulting high quality data set was used for PCA, distance calculation and multi-dimensional scaling. Using these analyses, species-specific information in the MALDI-TOF mass spectra could be demonstrated. As a next step, the spectra, as well as the binary character set derived from these spectra, were successfully used for species identification within the genera Leuconostoc, Fructobacillus, and Lactococcus. Using MALDI-TOF MS identification libraries for Leuconostoc and Fructobacillus strains, 84% of the MALDI-TOF mass spectra were correctly identified at the species level. Similarly, the same analysis strategy within the genus Lactococcus resulted in 94% correct identifications, taking species and subspecies levels into consideration. Finally, two machine learning techniques were evaluated as alternative species identification tools. The two techniques, support vector machines and random forests, resulted in accuracies between 94% and 98% for the identification of Leuconostoc and Fructobacillus species, respectively.     

Perspectives for mass rearing of Iphiseiodes zuluagai Denmark & Muma (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

Iphiseiodes zuluagai Denmark & Muma is an important predator of Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes) on citrus in Brazil. The suitability of Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) as a food source of I. zuluagai in laboratory rearing was investigated at 25.5 +/- 0.5 masculineC, 88 +/- 7% RU and photophase of 12h. Initially, levels of oviposition of the predator fed on eggs were evaluated, as well as the dead or live post-embryonic stages of T. putrescentiae, in a period of 10 days. The daily oviposition rate was 1.3 egg per female when they were fed on eggs on T. putrescentiae, 0.7 egg per female when they were fed on dead post embryonic stages and about 0.3 egg per female when they were fed on live post-embryonic stages. Later, the life table of I. zuluagai was constructed, when eggs of T. putrescentiae were offered to the predators as prey. The immature stages were observed every 8h, to determine the corresponding durations. In the adult phase, the mites were observed every 24h, to determine the reproductive parameters. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m) was 0.11 female/ female/day; resulting in a finite rate of increase of 1.11 (l). The net reproductive rate (R0) was 7.1 females/generation, with a mean generation time (T) 18.6 days. The results show that T. putrescentiae is a favorable food source for the development of I. zuluagai.     

Asymptomatic Clostridium difficile Colonisation and Onward Transmission

Introduction

Combined genotyping/whole genome sequencing and epidemiological data suggest that in endemic settings only a minority of Clostridium difficile infection, CDI, is acquired from other cases. Asymptomatic patients are a potential source for many unexplained cases.

Methods

We prospectively screened a cohort of medical inpatients in a UK teaching hospital for asymptomatic C. difficile carriage using stool culture. Electronic and questionnaire data were used to determine risk factors for asymptomatic carriage by logistic regression. Carriage isolates were compared with all hospital/community CDI cases from the same geographic region, from 12 months before the study to 3 months after, using whole genome sequencing and hospital admission data, assessing particularly for evidence of onward transmission from asymptomatic cases.

Results

Of 227 participants recruited, 132 provided ≥1 stool samples for testing. 18 participants were culture-positive for C. difficile, 14/132(11%) on their first sample. Independent risk factors for asymptomatic carriage were patient reported loose/frequent stool (but not meeting CDI criteria of ≥3 unformed stools in 24 hours), previous overnight hospital stay within 6 months, and steroid/immunosuppressant medication in the last 6 months (all p≤0.02). Surprisingly antibiotic exposure in the last 6 months was independently associated with decreased risk of carriage (p = 0.005). The same risk factors were identified excluding participants reporting frequent/loose stool. 13/18(72%) asymptomatically colonised patients carried toxigenic strains from common disease-causing lineages found in cases. Several plausible transmission events to asymptomatic carriers were identified, but in this relatively small study no clear evidence of onward transmission from an asymptomatic case was seen.

Conclusions

Transmission events from any one asymptomatic carrier are likely to be relatively rare, but as asymptomatic carriage is common, it may still be an important source of CDI, which could be quantified in larger studies. Risk factors established for asymptomatic carriage may help identify patients for inclusion in such studies.     

Effects of early malnutrition on Swiss white mice: avoidance learning after rearing in large litters

Mice were undernourished by rearing in litters of 20 pups per mother, weaned onto stock diet and their shuttle-box avoidance performance measured at 2 months of age. The mice from these large litters learned the avoidance response more slowly than controls (mice reared in litters of 5). In a second experiment, avoidance performance was measured after nutritional rehabilitation until 2, 4 or 6 months old. No significant improvement was observed in the previously malnourished mice. In the controls, performance was high at 2 and 4 months but by 6 months had fallen almost to the same level as the test group.     

Genetic consequences of domestication and mass rearing of pest fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Tephritid fruit flies, an important pest of horticulture worldwide, are increasingly targeted for control or eradication by large-scale releases of sterile flies of the same species. For each species treated, strains must be domesticated for mass rearing to provide sufficiently large numbers of individuals for releases. Increases in productivity of domesticated tephritid strains are well documented, but there have been few systematic studies of the genetic consequences of domestication in tephritids. Here, we used nine DNA microsatellite markers to monitor changes in genetic diversity during the early generations of domestication in replicated lines of the fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae). The observed changes in heterozygosity and allelic richness were compared with the expected changes in heterozygosity generated by a stochastic simulation including genetic drift but not selection. The results showed that repeatable genetic bottlenecks occur in the early generations and that selection occurs in the later generations. Furthermore, using the same simulation, we show that there is inadvertent selection for increased productivity for the entire life on a mass-rearing colony, in addition to intentional selection for increased productivity. That additional selection results from the common practice of establishing the next generation of the breeding colony from a small proportion of one day's pupae collection (the pupal raffle). That selection occurs during all generations and acts only on fecundity variation. Practical methods to counter that unavoidable loss of genetic diversity during the domestication process in B. tryoni are discussed.     

Colonisation dynamics and virulence of two clonal groups of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from dogs

The study established the virulence potential of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli (MDREC) isolates from nosocomial infections in hospitalised dogs. The isolates were resistant to fluoroquinolones, belonged to two distinct clonal groups (CG1 and CG2) and contained a plasmid-mediated AmpC (CMY-7) β-lactamase. CG1 isolates (n = 14) possessed two of 36 assayed extraintestinal virulence genes (iutA and traT) and belonged to phylogenetic group A, whereas CG2 isolates (n = 19) contained four such genes (iutA, ibeA, fimH and kpsMT K5) and belonged to group D. In a mouse gastrointestinal tract colonisation model, colonisation by index CG1 strain C1 was transient, in contrast to the index CG2 strain C2b, which persisted up to 40 days post-inoculation. In a mouse subcutaneous challenge model, both strains were less virulent than archetypal group B2 extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) strain CFT073; strain C1 caused no systemic signs and strain C2b was lethal to only one of six mice. In a mouse urinary tract infection model, strain C2b colonised the mouse bladder over 2 logs higher compared to strain C1. Whilst both groups of canine MDREC appear less virulent than a reference human ExPEC strain, CG2 strains have greater capacity for colonisation and virulence.     

Intensity-based protein identification by machine learning from a library of tandem mass spectra

Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has emerged as a cornerstone of proteomics owing in part to robust spectral interpretation algorithms. Widely used algorithms do not fully exploit the intensity patterns present in mass spectra. Here, we demonstrate that intensity pattern modeling improves peptide and protein identification from MS/MS spectra. We modeled fragment ion intensities using a machine-learning approach that estimates the likelihood of observed intensities given peptide and fragment attributes. From 1,000,000 spectra, we chose 27,000 with high-quality, nonredundant matches as training data. Using the same 27,000 spectra, intensity was similarly modeled with mismatched peptides. We used these two probabilistic models to compute the relative likelihood of an observed spectrum given that a candidate peptide is matched or mismatched. We used a 'decoy' proteome approach to estimate incorrect match frequency, and demonstrated that an intensity-based method reduces peptide identification error by 50-96% without any loss in sensitivity.