云南省鸟类新记录——大红鹳

正2020年11月14日,笔者在云南省曲靖市会泽黑颈鹤国家级自然保护区进行鸟类监测时,于大桥片区三家村附近(103°16'07″E,26°42'10″N,海拔2 492 m)记录到1只大型涉禽(图1),该鸟整体呈白色,侧面观察可见翅上覆羽为粉红色,停歇时可见初级飞羽为黑色;喙镰刀状,灰白色,先端为黑色;腿部为灰色,鉴定为亚成体大红鹳Phoenicop-terus roseus。     

青海省鸟类新纪录——黄腹山雀

<正>2013年5月12日及13日,在青海省循化县孟达国家级自然保护区内的彩虹瀑布路口(35°48'18″N,102°41'05″E,海拔2449 m)以及距离天池约200 m山路边的树林中(35°47'47″N,102°40'48″E,海拔2469 m)共观察到6只雀形目鸟类,并拍摄到清晰数码照片(图1、图2),经鉴定为黄腹山雀Parus venustulus Swinhoe。发现时,1只在彩虹瀑布路口下方路边临时积水中洗澡,另5只在树林间嬉戏追逐。经检索《中国鸟类分类与分布名录》(郑光美,2011)、《青海经济动物志》(李德浩,1989)以及以往青海鸟类有关文献资料、观鸟记录,黄腹山雀在青海的分布未被正式报道过,确认该鸟种为青海省鸟类分布新纪录。观察到的黄腹山雀体形稍较其它山雀小。头、喉和上胸黑色;颊白色;腹部黄色,中央无黑色纵带,雄性成鸟额头顶以至上     

天津鸟类新纪录——水雉

<正>2014年6月2日至6月5日,笔者在天津大黄堡湿地自然保护区(39°26'39.82″N,117°15'03.81″E,海拔5 m)观察到水雉Hydrophasianus chirurgus 1只,并拍照记录;同年6月30日至31日,在天津北大港湿地自然保护区独流减河(38°48'09.47″N,117°24'40.29″E,海拔5 m)再次观察到水雉1只。两次所见水雉均为繁殖羽;头顶、面颊、喉和前颈白色,后枕黑色并往两侧延     

西藏墨脱发现猛隼和白胸翡翠

正2013年10月至11月在岗日噶布山脉南翼山脉(即西藏自治区墨脱县境内),观察记录到猛隼(Falco severus)和白胸翡翠(Halcyon smyrnensis),经查阅以往文献,这两种鸟应为西藏自治区鸟类新纪录。10月31日至11月4日,在墨脱县德兴乡德兴大桥(29°19'23.21″N,95°17'29.23″E,海拔722 m)观察到猛隼2只,分别为黑色和栗红色,体型小于其他隼类,翅膀较长,尾较短;胸腹部为栗红色,区别于其他隼属鸟类(图1a)。11月2日对猛隼的捕食行为进行了观察。其休息时停于德兴大桥旁的枯树上,捕食时飞至空中,然后迅速     

安徽省鸟类新纪录——叉尾太阳鸟

正2017年8月22日,在安徽省牯牛降国家级自然保护区开展鸟类监测时,记录到2只叉尾太阳鸟Aethopyga christinae(图1)正在位于山地小溪20 m左右的常绿阔叶林中觅食,地理坐标为117°28'34.741 2″E,30°0'0.050 4″N,海拔300 m。经查阅《中国鸟类志》(赵正阶,2011)和《中国鸟类分类与分布     

湖南壶瓶山发现白喉针尾雨燕和乌嘴柳莺

正2013年9月13日,在湖南壶瓶山国家级自然保护区(以下简称壶瓶山保护区)壶瓶山主峰(30°06'53.2″N,110°47'14.7″E,海拔2 099 m),观察到2只白喉针尾雨燕(Hirundapus caudacutus)。2013年9月23日、24日,先后又在顶坪瞭望塔上(30°02'57.6″N,110°31'22.6″E,海拔1832 m)、神景洞碑垭(30°03'34.9″N,110°31'22.6″E,海拔1711 m)共观察到8只白喉针尾雨燕。白喉针尾雨燕在中国主要分布于黑龙江、吉林、辽宁、内蒙古、河北、青海、西藏、四川、贵州、云南以及台湾(赵     

海南东寨港发现斑胸滨鹬

正2013年11月15日上午,在海南省海口市东寨港国家级自然保护区周边一片农田(19°53'51.80″N,116°37'01.78″E)观察到1只斑胸滨鹬(Calidris melanotos)(图1),该片农田用作种植蔬菜和饲养水蚤。发现斑胸滨鹬的同时,也记录到林鹬(Tringa glareola)、泽鹬(T.stagnatilis)、白腰草鹬(T.ochropus)、黑尾塍鹬(Limosa     

西藏札达发现印度寿带

正在开展西藏第二次陆生野生动物资源调查工作过程中,于2015年6月18、19日在西藏自治区札达县底雅乡什布奇村(78°44'45.6″E,31°48'33.8″N,3110 m)、6月19日在底雅乡底雅村(78°52'5.1″E,31°46'55.5″N,2977 m)观察并拍摄到雌性印度寿带各1只。经鉴定,为印度寿带印巴亚种Terpsiphone paradisi leucogaster(图1)。     

新疆再次记录到鹃头蜂鹰

<正>2014年8月4日,笔者在新疆伊犁河大桥附近(43°53'34″N,81°16'52″E)观鸟时拍摄到1只猛禽,经鉴定该猛禽为鹃头蜂鹰Pernis apivorus雄性成鸟,这是该鸟种在中国地区的首次确切记录。邓杰等(1995)曾在阿尔泰地区贾登峪林场附近记录到2只鹃头蜂鹰,而马鸣(2011)也曾记载在喀什地区、库车林场和阿尔泰地区有该鸟种的分布。由于这些记录均缺乏实物标本或照片等证据,而未被广泛记述(郑光美,2011;中国观鸟年报编辑,2013)。     

山东省鸟类新纪录——斑姬啄木鸟

<正>2015年7月,在山东省泰安市桃花源景区进行野外鸟类调查时,在环山路小溪流旁茂密的松树林中(117°3'18.96″E,36°16'37.41″N,海拔510 m)发现一只体长约100 mm的小型啄木鸟;同年11月,在泰安市黑龙潭山脚处的柏树林中(117°06'5.39″E,36°12'40.49″N,海拔356 m)用相机拍到了该种鸟。经鉴定,该鸟为斑姬啄木鸟Picumnus innominatus(约翰·     

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.