广西苦苣苔科一新记录属——报春苣苔属

报道了广西苦苣苔科植物一新记录属——报春苣苔属,该属为中国特有的单型属,仅报春苣苔一种。报春苣苔分布狭域,数量稀少,已被列为国家一级重点保护植物。报春苣苔在广西境内仅知一个分布点,对其野外种群进行了实地调查。     

连州上柏场报春苣苔所处岩洞植物区系特征

为了解国家I 级重点保护植物报春苣苔(Primulina tabacum)种群所处生境的植物多样性和区系特征,对广东连州上柏场石灰岩洞内及洞口附近的维管植物进行了调查。经采集鉴定标本,统计出上柏场岩洞有维管植物66 科100 属115 种,包括报春苣苔、金荞麦(Fagopyrum dibotrys)2 种国家重点保护野生植物,连县唇柱苣苔(Chirita lienxienensis)1 种连州特有植物,圆叶乌桕(Sapium rotundifolium)等多种石灰岩特征植物。种子植物科、属的区系成分以泛热带分布为主,而种的区系成分以东亚分 布、中国特有分布和热带亚洲分布为主。生活型谱以多年生草本植物种类最多;由于洞穴高度、光照等的限制,群落的垂直结构特征不明显。研究结果表明,上柏场岩洞种类密度较高,其特殊的种类组成与其亚热带地理位置和特殊的石灰岩地貌生境相适应。     

越南苦苣苔科植物四新记录种

报道了4个苦苣苔科(Gesneriaceae)植物在越南的分布新记录,其中1种为半蒴苣苔属(Hemiboea)的红苞半蒴苣苔(H.rubribracteata),2种为报春苣苔属(Primulina Hance)的文采报春苣苔(P.wentsaii)和疏花报春苣苔(P.laxi flora),还有1种为吊石苣苔属(Lysionotus)的桂黔吊石苣苔(L.aesch ynanthoides)。文中列出了每个种的标本引证和地理分布情况。     

广东报春苣苔属一新种——黄进报春苣苔

该文报道了在广东丹霞山发现的报春苣苔属一新种——黄进报春苣苔(Primulina huangjiniana),并对其进行了描述。该新种与同属物种短序报春苣苔(P. depressa)最为相似,但两者在形态特征上能够很好地区别:黄进报春苣苔具有更短的、长2.5～6 mm的苞片(vs. 短序报春苣苔具有长15～30 mm的苞片,顺序下同); 花萼裂片等长(vs. 不等长),花丝基部附近膝状突起,中部以上具腺毛(vs. 于中部膝状突起且无毛); 柱头倒三角形,深2裂成2线形裂片(vs. 片状,稍2浅裂,裂片为三角形),侧膜胎座(vs. 中轴胎座)。加上该新种在内,丹霞山目前共记录有6种报春苣苔属植物,其中丹霞小花苣苔(P. danxiaensis)和该新种均为丹霞地貌特有植物。黄进报春苣苔目前在丹霞山的两个地方有发现,成年植株不超过200株,根据IUCN红色名录标准,属于极危种。     

中国广西苦苣苔科一新种--灵川小花苣苔

报道了在广西岩溶洞穴发现的苦苣苔科Gesnenaceae小花苣苔属Chiritopsis一新种——灵川小花苣苔C．lingchuanensis Yah Liu＆Y.G.Wei。本种因聚伞花序花稀疏,花冠白色,明显二唇形,上唇比下唇短3倍以上,退化雄蕊3而与羽裂小花苣苔C.bipinnatifida W .T．Wang相近,区别在于前者叶不裂,雄蕊被短柔毛。本种在叶形上还与小花苣苔C.repandaw T.Wang相近,不同在于后者花冠不明显二唇形,上下唇近等长,雄蕊无毛,退化雄蕊2。灵川小花苣苔的分布范围狭窄,目前仅见于一个岩溶洞穴的近洞口段,具明显的洞生习性。     

广西报春苣苔属一新种——泡叶报春苣苔

报道了分布于广西石灰岩山地及岩溶洞穴的苦苣苔科Gesneriaceae报春苣苔属Primulina Hance一新种——泡叶报春苣苔P.bullata S.N.Lu & Fang Wen。泡叶报春苣苔与荔波报春苣苔P.liboensis(W.T.Wang & D.Y.Chen)Mich.Mller & A.Weber和桂林报春苣苔P.gueilinensis(W.T.Wang)Y.Z.Wang相近,以叶两面均具直立柔毛,叶上面呈显著泡状,具较多花序,(1)2～9条,花序梗较长,(4.0)8.5～15 cm,苞片线形或线状披针形,大小为7 mm×1 mm,花大,长4.2～5.3 cm,粉紫色,退化雄蕊较长,13～15 mm,花期在11月而区别。     

三种苦苣苔对石灰土和红壤的适应性分析

为探讨苦苣苔科植物对其岩溶生境的适应性,该研究选取黄花牛耳朵(Primulina lutea)、紫花报春苣苔(Pri.purpurea)和桂林蛛毛苣苔(Paraboea guilinensis)三种苦苣苔科植物,将其栽种在石灰土及红壤两种不同类型的土壤中,观测记录其生长性状并对其叶片元素含量进行测定和比较。植株采集过程中,同时采集自然生境中三种苦苣苔科植物叶片及取样植物基部土壤,并对叶片及土壤元素的含量进行测定,作为今后苗圃试验的参照。结果表明:三种苦苣苔科植物在两种土壤上的生长状况及适应性具有差异,其在石灰土上生长良好,在红壤上生长较差;在两种不同土壤中,除N外,桂林蛛毛苣苔的叶片其他元素(P、K、Mn、Mg、Ca、Zn、Cu)差异极显著(P0.01);除P外,紫花报春苣苔的叶片其他元素(N、K、Mn、Mg、Ca、Zn、Cu)差异极显著(P0.01);除N、Cu、Ca外,黄花牛耳朵的叶片元素(P、K、Mn、Mg、Zn)差异极显著(P0.01);三种植物的叶片元素比值,除少数值没有差异外,大部分指标差异都极显著;对叶片元素与栽培土壤元素的相关性分析,发现植物叶片Mn元素与土壤中N、Ca、Mg、Zn、Mn、有机质含量等呈正相关,土壤P元素与叶片中N、P元素呈正相关,而与叶片中Zn元素呈负相关关系。在其他栽培条件一致的条件下,土壤因素及物种差别是造成黄花牛耳朵、紫花报春苣苔和桂林蛛毛苣苔适应性产生差异的主要原因。     

钟冠报春苣苔(苦苣苔科)的分类鉴定

原唇柱苣苔属(Chirita Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don)为一个人为界定的属, 2011年在分子系统学研究的基础上对该属及其近缘属开展了系统发育重建工作,其中绝大部分的原唇柱苣苔属唇柱苣苔组(Sect. Gibbosaccus C. B. Clark)的物种被并入了广义报春苣苔属(Primulina Hance)。然而,由于历史原因和早期经典分类学在研究方法上的局限性以及对现报春苣苔属部分物种的营养器官与生殖器官的认知不够,该属下一些物种的分类仍存在一些问题,亟待深入研究。比如,在对中国和越南分布的苦苣苔科植物开展研究的过程中,作者发现两个报春苣苔属的物种——广布于中国西南和华南直至中南半岛中部的钟冠报春苣苔[Primulina swinglei(Merr.)Mich. Möller & A. Weber]命名人和原被认为是中国与广西特有种的疏花报春苣苔[P. laxiflora(W. T. Wang)Yin. Z. Wang]之间的鉴定存在分类学问题,需要进一步厘清两者之间的关系。该文对这两个物种进行了形态比较,同时通过对这两种植物的原始描述对比、植物标本检查、栽培观察以及野外实地观察,确定疏花报春苣苔是钟冠报春苣苔的异名。此外,还明确了钟冠报春苣苔的后选指定模式标本。     

国家保护植物报春苣苔分布地的植物多样性研究

对已知有报春苣苔分布的广东、湖南、广西、江西4省14地的石灰岩洞口或崖壁进行野生维管植物多样性调查分析,以期对珍稀濒危植物报春苣苔种群的生存和保护提供参考。结果表明,14个地点共出现101科242属342种维管植物,其中出现频率最高的科、属、种分别是苦苣苔科、凤尾蕨科、荨麻科、铁线蕨科、爵床科;凤尾蕨属(Pteris)、报春苣苔属(Primulina)、铁线蕨属(Adiantum)、苎麻属(Boehmeria)、唇柱苣苔属(Chirita);报春苣苔(Primulina tabacum Hance)、岩凤尾蕨(Pteris deltodon Bak.)、蜈蚣草(P.vittata L.)、铁线蕨(Adiantum capillus-veneris L.)、苎麻[Boehmeria nivea(L.)Gaudich.]等。植物种的相似性系数最大为40%,最小为0,平均值为14.24%,表明虽均为石灰岩生境,但各地的种类各具特色。鉴于大多数报春苣苔分布点未纳入自然保护区范围,生存状况堪忧,建议加强对报春苣苔种群及其生境的保护。     

广东连州寨背磊村报春苣苔分布岩洞口植物资源调查

在广东省连州市星子镇寨背磊村石灰岩洞口发现国家I级重点保护野生植物报春苣苔Primulina tabacum的自然种群,洞外自然分布有国家II级重点保护植物金荞麦Fagopyrum dibotrys和野大豆Glycine soja。经调查,寨背磊岩洞口附近有野生维管植物107种,隶属59科96属。植物资源可分为14类,其中药用植物资源比例最大,占57.0%。寨背磊与邻近的上柏场洞口植物各具鲜明特色,建议将寨背磊报春苣苔自然分布的洞口范围纳入广东连州田心省级自然保护区管理。     

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.