辽宁沈阳发现韩国林蛙

2021年11月在沈阳市辽中区蒲河湿地公园（41°30′55″ N,122°78′30″ E,海拔30 m）采集到2号无尾两栖类标本,经形态特征比较确认为无尾目（Anura）蛙科（Ranidae）蛙属（Rana）物种,基于线粒体16S rRNA基因对蛙属19个物种的亲缘关系及系统发育进行分析,其与韩国及中国山东文登昆嵛山分布的韩国林蛙（R. coreana）遗传距离最近,并在最大似然树中聚为一支,应属种内关系。综合形态分析和系统发育比较,确定采集到的标本为韩国林蛙,系辽宁省两栖动物分布新记录种。本次发现将辽宁省分布的蛙属物种增至5种。     

贵州威宁发现景东臭蛙

2020年8月6日在贵州省威宁县雪山镇（27°04′09″N,104°04′44″E,海拔2 218 m）采集到6号两栖动物标本,经形态特征比较,与景东臭蛙（Odorrana jingdongensis）相似;基于线粒体16S rRNA构建臭蛙属（Odorrana）部分物种系统发育树,此次采集的臭蛙标本与景东臭蛙聚为一支,且具有较高的支持率（0.97/92,贝叶斯法/最大似然法）;基于Kimura双参数模型估算本次采集的臭蛙标本与景东模式产地标本间的遗传距离为0%,远小于臭蛙属物种间的遗传距离（1.3%～9.5%）。综合形态特征和分子系统发育比较,确定此次采集到的臭蛙标本为无尾目（Anura）蛙科（Ranidae）臭蛙属的景东臭蛙,系贵州省两栖动物分布新记录种。     

中国无尾两栖类新记录种——朝鲜侧褶蛙北大核心CSCD

2021年9月在沈阳市蒲河湿地公园(41°41′54″N,122°52′19″E,海拔35 m)采集到3号无尾两栖类动物,经形态特征比较确认为侧褶蛙属(Pelophylax)金线侧褶蛙种组(P.plancyi species complex)的物种。基于线粒体12S rRNA和16S rRNA基因联合构建的侧褶蛙属部分物种最大似然系统发育树显示,采集到的侧褶蛙标本与朝鲜侧褶蛙(P.chosenicus)聚为一支,且具有较高的支持率(0.95)。综合形态和系统发育比较,确定采集到的标本为无尾目(Anura)蛙科(Ranidae)侧褶蛙属的朝鲜侧褶蛙,系中国两栖动物分布新记录种。     

广西发现荔波臭蛙

荔波臭蛙（Odorrana liboensis）已知仅分布于贵州省荔波县茂兰国家级自然保护区。2021年8月,在广西壮族自治区百色市那坡县弄尧（23°01′21″ N,105°50′58″ E）采集到2号臭蛙标本（1雌,1雄）。经鉴定为荔波臭蛙,属广西两栖纲新记录物种。2号标本在形态上与荔波臭蛙模式标本基本一致,仅体型大小和腹部体色稍有差异。基于线粒体16S rRNA基因部分序列构建的系统发育树表明,荔波臭蛙那坡种群与模式标本聚为一支,支持率为100%,遗传距离为1.5%。本研究表明,荔波臭蛙广西那坡种群与模式产地种群存在一定的遗传和形态分化,可为蛙类生物地理学研究提供基础数据。     

安徽黄山发现孟闻琴蛙

琴蛙属(Nidirana)是广泛分布于东洋界的两栖动物，目前安徽省琴蛙属仅记录了弹琴蛙 (N. adenopleura)1种。2022年7月在安徽省黄山地区(九龙峰自然保护区和马金岭自然保护区)采集到9号两栖动物标本，其形态特征与孟闻琴蛙(N. mangveni)相似；此外，基于线粒体COI基因片段的分子系统发育分析显示，此次采集到的琴蛙标本与孟闻琴蛙聚为一支，且具有高的支持率(贝叶斯后验概率/最大似然支持率为1.00/98%)，而且和孟闻琴蛙遗传距离最近，与模式产地的孟闻琴蛙遗传距离仅有0.04%。因此，结合形态比较和分子系统学分析，鉴定此次采集的琴蛙属标本为孟闻琴蛙，为安徽省两栖动物分布新记录种。这一发现将孟闻琴蛙的分布范围扩展至皖南地区，为琴蛙属和皖南地区的生物地理学和地史研究提供了重要数据。     

湖南通道发现雷山琴蛙

2020年5月23日在湖南省通道县万佛山镇(26° 11′47″N,109°56′21″E,海拔924 m)采集到4号两栖动物标本,经形态特征比较,与雷山琴蛙(Nidirana leishanensis)相似;基于线粒体16S rRNA构建的琴蛙属(Nidirana)部分物种贝叶斯系统发育树显示,此次采集的琴蛙标本与雷...     

贵州桐梓发现大别山林蛙

2019年7月在贵州桐梓黄莲自然保护区(107°2'37.31″E,28°29'31.95″N,海拔1 666 m)采集到2号两栖动物标本,经形态特征比较,与大别山林蛙Rana dabieshanensis相似;基于线粒体16S rRNA构建的蛙属Rana部分物种贝叶斯系统发育树显示,此次采集的林蛙标本与大别山林蛙聚为一支,且具有较高的支持率(0.98);基于Kimura双参数模型估算,该标本与大别山林蛙模式产地标本间的遗传距离为0.6%～0.8%,远小于蛙属物种间的遗传距离。综合形态学和系统发育比较,确定此次采集到的标本为无尾目Anura蛙科Ranidae蛙属的大别山林蛙,系贵州省两栖动物分布新记录。     

广西发现腹斑掌突蟾

2021年5月在广西隆林县者浪乡坡合村（105°13′27″ E,24°44′58″ N）采集到5号两栖动物标本,经形态特征比较,与腹斑掌突蟾（Leptobrachella ventripunctata）相似;基于线粒体16S rRNA和12S rRNA基因片段构建的贝叶斯系统发育树显示,此次采集到的掌突蟾属标本与腹斑掌突蟾聚为一支,且具有较高的后验概率（1.00）;基于Kimura双参数模型估算本次采集的标本与腹斑掌突蟾的遗传距离为0.7% ~ 0.9%,远小于掌突蟾属物种间的遗传距离（4.4% ~ 23.4%）。综合形态特征和系统发育分析比较,鉴定此次采集的掌突蟾属标本为腹斑掌突蟾,为广西两栖动物分布新记录种。     

重庆武隆发现绥阳掌突蟾

2022年8月在重庆市武隆区白马山自然保护区调查采集到2号两栖动物标本,经形态特征比较,与绥阳掌突蟾(Leptobrachella suiyangensis)相似。基于线粒体16S rRNA基因构建掌突蟾属部分物种系统发育树,结果显示,此次采集的掌突蟾标本与绥阳掌突蟾聚为一支,具有较高的支持率(贝叶斯法/最大似然超快速引导支持分析值0.98/99);Kimura双参数模型计算本次采集的掌突蟾标本与贵州绥阳的绥阳掌突蟾模式产地标本间的遗传距离为1.2%,小于掌突蟾属物种间的遗传距离(1.5% ~ 29.1%)。综合形态特征和分子系统发育比较,确定此次采集到的掌突蟾标本为无尾目(Anura)角蟾科(Megophryidae)掌突蟾属的绥阳掌突蟾,且系重庆市两栖动物分布新记录种。     

马鞍菌属3个中国新记录

【背景】目前国内学者已发表60个马鞍菌属物种,但山西省尚缺乏马鞍菌属真菌分布的系统性报道。【目的】调查我国山西省马鞍菌属的种类组成及地理分布。【方法】采集标本,对其进行详细的形态特征描述,并提取DNA,测定热激蛋白(heat shock protein, hsp)和核糖体大亚基(large subunit, LSU)序列,基于贝叶斯法(Bayesian inference, BI)和最大似然法(maximum likelihood, ML)构建分子系统发育树。【结果】鉴定结果表明这3个马鞍菌属物种分别为类帽状马鞍菌(Helvella capucinoides)、丹麦马鞍菌(H. danica)和柔毛马鞍菌(H. pubescens)。它们在形态上与模式标本的描述基本一致。基于hsp和LSU的系统发育关系分析也支持形态学的鉴定结果。【结论】参考我国截至目前已报道的马鞍菌属物种,确定这3个种均为中国新记录种。     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.