转Bt-cry1Ah基因玉米花粉对意大利蜜蜂幼虫的影响

新型杀虫蛋白基因crylAh基因是中国农业科学院植物保护研究所从Bt菌株BT8中鉴定克隆的,其编码蛋白对鳞翅目害虫具有强毒力,尤其对亚洲玉米螟Ostriniafurnacalis（Guen6e）的毒力强于目前使用的crylA类基因。转crylAh基因抗虫玉米具有很好的应用前景。花粉是蜜蜂重要的食物来源,蜜蜂是转基因植物安全性评价的关键测试生物。因此,开展转crylAh基因玉米对蜜蜂的安全性研究很有必要。给意大利蜜蜂ApismelliferoligusticoSpirola蜂群中4-6日龄幼虫饲喂转基因玉米花粉、常规玉米花粉、杂花粉,哺育蜂饲喂为对照。转基因玉米花粉对意大利蜜蜂封盖率、出房率和发育历期没有显著影响。表明转crylAh基因玉米花粉对意大利蜜蜂幼虫的存活和发育没有不良影响。     

A restatement of the natural science evidence base concerning neonicotinoid insecticides and insect pollinators

There is evidence that in Europe and North America many species of pollinators are in decline, both in abundance and distribution. Although there is a long list of potential causes of this decline, there is concern that neonicotinoid insecticides, in particular through their use as seed treatments are, at least in part, responsible. This paper describes a project that set out to summarize the natural science evidence base relevant to neonicotinoid insecticides and insect pollinators in as policy-neutral terms as possible. A series of evidence statements are listed and categorized according to the nature of the underlying information. The evidence summary forms the appendix to this paper and an annotated bibliography is provided in the electronic supplementary material.     

Diet effects on honeybee immunocompetence

The maintenance of the immune system can be costly, and a lack of dietary protein can increase the susceptibility of organisms to disease. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between protein nutrition and immunity in insects. Here, we tested in honeybees (Apis mellifera) whether dietary protein quantity (monofloral pollen) and diet diversity (polyfloral pollen) can shape baseline immunocompetence (IC) by measuring parameters of individual immunity (haemocyte concentration, fat body content and phenoloxidase activity) and glucose oxidase (GOX) activity, which enables bees to sterilize colony and brood food, as a parameter of social immunity. Protein feeding modified both individual and social IC but increases in dietary protein quantity did not enhance IC. However, diet diversity increased IC levels. In particular, polyfloral diets induced higher GOX activity compared with monofloral diets, including protein-richer diets. These results suggest a link between protein nutrition and immunity in honeybees and underscore the critical role of resource availability on pollinator health.     

新烟碱类杀虫剂对蜜蜂健康的影响

新烟碱类杀虫剂（neonicotinoid insecticides）,是目前全球应用最为广泛的一类杀虫剂,它能够通过导管运输方式扩散到植物各个组织中,并与昆虫乙酰胆碱受体结合,从而发挥剧烈的神经毒害效应。蜜蜂作为自然界最主要的传粉者,具有重要的经济和生态价值。近年来,蜜蜂等授粉昆虫数量大规模的骤减引起了各界极大关注。虽然具体原因尚未定论,但新烟碱类杀虫剂对它们的影响已被广泛认可。本文综述了新烟碱类杀虫剂及其对蜜蜂的致死和亚致死效应,并阐述了不同国家和地区相关针对性的举措。通过总结国内外有关新烟碱类杀虫剂与蜜蜂健康的研究形势,以期为我国开展相关具体研究提供参考。     

蜜蜂花粉采集行为的调控机制

蜜蜂Apisspp.是一种社会性昆虫。社会性昆虫在对它们群体自身数量和巢穴环境的调节方面表现出明显的稳态特点,Emerson将这种稳态调节称为社会性稳态。蜂群中花粉的储存量就具有稳态的特点。蜂群的花粉采集行为是由蜂群对花粉的需要决定的。关于蜜蜂花粉采集行为的调控机制,目前的研究主要集中于是哪些信息以及蜂群是如何识别这些信息从而调控其采粉行为,主要形成了直接识别和间接识别2种假说。对这2种假说进行综述。     

Nectar and Pollen Sources for Honeybee （Apis cerana cerana Fabr.） in Qinglan Mangrove Area, Hainan Island, China

In the present study, nectar and pollen sources for honeybee （Apls cerana cerana Fabr.） were studied in Qlnglan mangrove area, Hainan Island, China, based on microscopic analysis of honey and pollen load （corblcular and gut contents） from honeybees collected In October and November 2004. Qualitative and quantitative melittopalynologlcal analysis of the natural honey sample showed that the honey is of unlfloral type with Mimosa pudlca L. （Mlmosaceae） as the predominant （89.14%） source of nectar and pollen for A. cerana cerana In October. Members of Araceae are an Important minor （3%-15%） pollen type, whereas those of Arecaceae are a minor （〈3%） pollen type. Pollen grains of Nypa fruticans Wurmb., Rhlzophora spp., Excoecarla agallocha L., Lumnitzera spp., Brugulera spp., Kandella candel Druce, and Ceriops tagal （Perr.） C. B. Rob. are among the notable mangrove texa growing In Qinglan mangrove area recorded as minor taxa In the honey. The absolute pollen count （I.e. the number of pollen grains/10 g honey sample） suggests that the honey belongs to Group V （〉1 000 000）. Pollen analysis from the corblcular and gut contents of A. cerana cerana revealed the highest representation （95.60%） of members of Sonneratia spp. （Sonneratlaceae）, followed by Bruguiera spp. （Rhizophoraceae）, Euphorblaceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, Arecaceae, Araceae, Anacardlaceae, and Rublaceae. Of these plants, those belonging to Sonneratla plants are the most Important nectar and pollen sources for A. cerana cerana and are frequently foraged and pollinated by these bees in November.     

Ubx promotes corbicular development in Apis mellifera

The key morphological feature that distinguishes corbiculate bees from other members of the Apidae family is the presence of the corbicula (pollen basket) on the tibial segment of hind legs. Here, we show that in the honeybee (Apis mellifera), the depletion of the gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) by RNAi transforms the corbicula from a smooth, bristle-free concave structure to one covered with bristles. This is accompanied by a reduction of the pollen press, which is located on the basitarsus and used for packing the pollen pellet as well as a loss of the orderly arrangement of the rows of bristles that form the pollen comb. All these changes make the overall identity of workers’ T3 legs assume that of the queen. Furthermore, in a corbiculate bee of a different genus, Bombus impatiens, Ubx expression is also localized in T3 tibia and basitarsus. These observations suggest that the evolution of the pollen gathering apparatus in corbiculate bees may have a shared origin and could be traced to the acquisition of novel functions by Ubx, which in Apis were instrumental for subsequent castes and behavioural differentiation.     

玉米花粉对螟长距茧蜂成虫寿命的影响

为了探明玉米花粉对玉米螟幼虫期主要天敌螟长距茧蜂的营养效应,作者在田间养虫室研究了玉米花粉对螟长距茧蜂成虫寿命的影响。结果表明：玉米花粉液能明显延长螟长距茧蜂的成虫寿命。雄成虫寿命与食物水分有密切关系。单一玉米花粉对成虫寿命影响很小,只有与水混合才能使花粉粒中的养分渗透到水中而发挥作用。雌成虫寿命随取食花柑液时间的增长而延长。花粉的浸水时间以24小时最佳。结果证明了玉米、玉米螟与螟长距茧蜂三个营养层间在食物营养方面的协同进化关系。     

我国蜜蜂主要病原检测技术

蜜蜂是重要的经济昆虫。蜜蜂病害威胁蜜蜂产业的发展。蜜蜂病害检测及病原鉴定是病害防治的基础。文章详细介绍我国蜜蜂常见6种主要病害(美洲幼虫腐臭病,欧洲幼虫腐臭病,囊状幼虫病,慢性麻痹病,微孢子虫病,白垩病)的病原快速准确的检测方法。     

Are electrostatic forces involved in pollen transfer?

Abstract. The measurements of Yes'kov & Sapozhnikov (1976) suggest that electrostatic potentials on foraging honeybees can reach hundreds of volts. Pollen grains of oilseed rape, Brassica napus L., subjected experimentally to potentials of this order, jumped a distance that increased approximately as the square of the voltage, between two pin electrodes on which, in some experiments, were impaled an anther or stigma of oilseed rape or a freshly-killed honeybee. Most floral surfaces were insulated, but there was a low-impedance path to earth via the stigma, and the electrostatic field due to an approaching charged bee must therefore concentrate there. Thus, if electrostatic potentials of this magnitude occur in nature they may increase the chance that pollen from bees will reach the stigma rather than other floral surfaces, as well as enabling pollen to jump from anther to bee and from bee to stigma across an air gap of the order of 0.5 mm.     

Mating Signals Control Expression of both Starch Fermentation Genes and a Novel Flocculation Gene FLO 8 in the Yeast Saccharomyces

In the yeast Saccharomyces diastaticus, expression of both glucoamylase-producing (STA) genes and a novel flocculation gene FLO 8 was greatly diminished by the mating-type locus MATa/MAT α.     

《Nature》有关转基因玉米生态安全争论性报道的回顾

对近年来《Nature》刊登的、并在全球范围内引起转基因玉米生态安全争论的两个事件进行了回顾 ,一是 1999年由Losey等引发的大斑蝶事件 ,另一是 2 0 0 1年由Quist等引发的转基因渗入墨西哥当地玉米品种事件。同时对其它学者分别就这两个事件进行的更为细致、严密的研究进行了全面的回顾 ,总结发现 :Losey等实验设计没有合理的对照和具体的供试花粉剂量及毒素浓度 ,而Quist等则因为反向PCR引物设计的不当把从墨西哥当地玉米品种K1、A3中扩增出的产物误认为与转基因玉米品种中的adh1基因同源。可见两个事件在实验设计上均存在一定的缺陷。     

Pollination and late-acting self-incompatibility in Cyrtanthus breviflorus (Amaryllidaceae): implications for seed production

Background and Aims

Animal pollination is typically an uncertain process that interacts with self-incompatibility status to determine reproductive success. Seed set is often pollen-limited, but species with late-acting self-incompatibility (SI) may be particularly vulnerable, if self-pollen deposition results in ovule discounting. Pollination is examined and the occurrence of late-acting SI and ovule discounting assessed in Cyrtanthus breviflorus.

Methods

The pollination system was characterized by observing floral visitors and assessing nectar production and spectral reflectance of flowers. To assess late-acting SI and ovule discounting, growth of self- and cross-pollen tubes, and seed set following open pollination or hand pollination with varying proportions of self- and cross-pollen, were examined.

Key Results

Native honeybees Apis mellifera scutellata pollinated flowers as they actively collected pollen. Most flowers (≥70 %) did not contain nectar, while the rest produced minute volumes of dilute nectar. The flowers which are yellow to humans are visually conspicuous to bees with a strong contrast between UV-reflecting tepals and UV-absorbing anthers and pollen. Plants were self-incompatible, but self-rejection was late-acting and both self- and cross-pollen tubes penetrated ovules. Seed set of open-pollinated flowers was pollen-limited, despite pollen deposition exceeding ovule number by 6-fold. Open-pollinated seed set was similar to that of the cross + self-pollen treatment, but was less than that of the cross-pollen-only treatment.

Conclusions

Flowers of C. breviflorus are pollinated primarily by pollen-collecting bees and possess a late-acting SI system, previously unknown in this clade of the Amaryllidaceae. Pollinators of C. breviflorus deposit mixtures of cross- and self-pollen and, because SI is late-acting, self-pollen disables ovules, reducing female fertility. This study thus contributes to growing evidence that seed production in plants with late-acting SI systems is frequently limited by pollen quality, even when pollinators are abundant.     

UV-B增加对玉米花粉抗氧化能力及授粉后籽粒发育的影响

在玉米散粉期,收集花粉进行UV-B辐射增强处理后进行人工授粉研究,结果表明,随着UV-B辐射时间的增加,玉米花粉的SOD、POD和CAT活性都呈明显下降的趋势,而MDA含量则呈相应上升的趋势;玉米每穗粒数与花粉抗氧化酶活性呈正相关、与MDA含量呈负相关关系,并随UV-B辐射时间延长呈下降趋势,且辐射超过2h后下降达到显著水平;玉米百粒重随UV-B辐射时间的延长明显下降,但辐射花粉1~2h对其无显著影响;UV-B辐射花粉对籽粒的可溶性糖、淀粉、脂肪及粗蛋白含量等营养成分无显著影响。