兴安鹿蹄草传粉昆虫及其访花行为

对兴安鹿蹄草(Pyrola dahurica(H.Andr.)Kom.)访花昆虫种类、访花频率、访花时间、访花行为进行初步研究。结果表明:(1)兴安鹿蹄草的访花昆虫有3目、10科、16种,其中传粉昆虫为5科9种,主要的传粉昆虫为杂棘蝇Phaonia hybridassp.、熊蜂Bombus ignitus、东北驼花天牛Piidonia puziloi(Soisky)及花蚤Mordellidae sp.。(2)各种传粉昆虫访花频率差异较大,杂棘蝇和花蚤日访花有2次高峰,分别在上午9:00~10:00时和下午14:00~15:00时;熊蜂日访花频率较低,在中午11:00~12:00和下午15:00~16:00时较高;东北驼花天牛日访花高峰出现在中午前后。(3)东北驼花天牛访花时间较长,10~15min,主要吃兴安鹿蹄草花粉。杂棘蝇访花时间较短,10~25s,主要舔食柱头分泌物。熊蜂访花时间最短只有5~10s,主要吃兴安鹿蹄草花粉。     

八角金盘传粉昆虫及其访花行为

八角金盘(Fatsia japonica(Thunb.)Dccne.et Planch.)为冬季开花植物,探讨其访花昆虫种类及访花行为对研究冬季开花植物的传粉生物学规律具有重要意义。对八角金盘访花昆虫种类、访花频率、访花时间、访花行为进行了初步研究。结果发现:八角金盘的传粉昆虫有2目、3科、3种,主要为膜翅目胡蜂科金环胡蜂Vespa mandarinia Smith、双翅目食蚜蝇科斜斑鼓额食蚜蝇Scaeva pyrastri(L.)及丽蝇科大头金蝇Chrysomya(Compsomyia)megacephala(Fabricius);八角金盘提供的酬物主要为花粉与花蜜,食蚜蝇舔食其花粉与花蜜,而金环胡蜂与大头金蝇主要吮吸花蜜;金环胡蜂、大头金蝇及斜斑鼓额食蚜蝇的访花高峰均在10:30—14:30;斜斑鼓额食蚜蝇访花时间较长,5～10min,金环胡蜂访花时间较短,8～30s,大头金蝇访花时间最短只有3～5s。八角金盘具有较低的自花授粉能力,但主要为异花授粉植物。     

多叶斑叶兰花蜜特征和分泌规律及其对昆虫访花的影响

为探讨多叶斑叶兰(Goodyera foliosa)花蜜体积和成分的变异性,及其对传粉昆虫的影响,采用毛细管法、折光仪和高效液相-蒸发光法对一天内不同时间段单花花蜜体积、总糖浓度和可溶性糖成分及含量进行检测,用摄像机对其传粉昆虫访花行为进行观察。结果表明,单花花蜜体积在10:00达到最大[(7.19±2.29)μL, n=10],糖浓度在16:00达到最大[(25.85±1.83)%,n=10]。花蜜中的主要可溶性糖为果糖和蔗糖,果糖在上午10:00含量达到最高(78.310 mg/g);蔗糖在下午16:00含量达到最高(247.600 mg/g)。中华蜜蜂(Apis cerana)访花时间为每天9:00-15:00,访花高峰期在10:00-14:00;橘尾熊蜂(Bombus friseanus)访花时间为每天8:00-16:00,访花高峰期在10:00-12:00和16:00-18:00。因此,这两种传粉昆虫访花频率与多叶斑叶兰单花花蜜体积及糖浓度的变化有一定的相关性,它们更倾向于访问较高花蜜体积及糖浓度的花朵。多叶斑叶兰花蜜成分中蔗糖占优势,能有效吸引各种蜂类、蝶类和蚁类访花,且访问频率较高,中华蜜蜂和橘尾熊蜂能携带其花粉块,是主要的有效传粉昆虫。花形态和访花昆虫的体型大小的匹配,决定了是否成为有效传粉昆虫。     

木荷主要传粉昆虫的传粉行为

木荷(Schima superba)是我国珍贵的优质阔叶用材和高效生物防火树种,属于异花授粉植物,其种子生产必须依靠传粉昆虫。为了明确木荷主要传粉昆虫的组成及优势传粉昆虫的传粉效率,2015—2016年对浙江省兰溪市木荷种子园主要传粉昆虫的访花行为、携粉部位及数量、访花频率、花粉移出和柱头花粉沉降数目等进行了观测。结果表明,中华蜜蜂(Apis cerana)、白星花金龟(Protaetia brevitarsis)和棉花弧丽金龟(Popillia mutans)是木荷的主要传粉昆虫,中华蜜蜂和棉花弧丽金龟的访花高峰均发生在10:00—11:00,白星花金龟无明显的访花高峰。3种传粉昆虫体表均携带花粉,白星花金龟的携粉量显著高于棉花弧丽金龟(P0.001)和中华蜜蜂(P0.001),棉花弧丽金龟的携粉量显著高于中华蜜蜂(P0.001)。体表不同部位携粉量不同,胸部腹板和腹部腹板的携粉量高于其他部位,3种传粉昆虫的主要传粉部位均为胸腹部。中华蜜蜂每次访花的花粉移出数、柱头花粉沉降数及传粉效率均低于白星花金龟和棉花弧丽金龟,但不显著,而中华蜜蜂在访花频率上占有明显优势,分别为白星花金龟的29倍和棉花弧丽金龟的8.3倍;单花停留时间也显著低于白星花金龟和棉花弧丽金龟。综合各项特征表明,中华蜜蜂是木荷最有效的传粉者。     

海南三七（姜科）的食源性欺骗传粉

有花植物为繁殖成功,进化出各种各样的花部特征来吸引传粉者,如为传粉者提供花蜜、花粉、栖息地等,然而在33科146属的被子植物中也存在着不提供任何报酬而欺骗昆虫为其传粉的现象。这种欺骗性传粉模式主要出现在高度进化的具有多样化传粉模式的兰科植物中。报道了在姜科植物中首次发现的食源性欺骗传粉模式。对姜科山柰属海南三七进行连续2年的传粉生物学观察和研究发现,海南三七的花在早上5:30～6:00之间开放,下午17:00～18:00左右闭合萎蔫,持续大约11～12h。开花过程中花粉活性与柱头可受性均保持较高水平(>90%)。花粉/胚珠比率(P/O)为82.20±47.89(n=20)。木蜂是其主要的访花和传粉昆虫,访花目的是吸取花蜜。海南三七虽有细长线形的蜜腺,但并不分泌花蜜作为传粉昆虫访花的报酬,采用食源性欺骗的方式欺骗木蜂为其传粉。繁育系统的研究表明广西弄化的海南三七居群主要是通过根茎进行无性繁殖。     

云南草蔻花蜜分泌格局与访花动物行为及其对果实和种子产量的影响

依靠动物传粉的植物, 其繁殖成功 (胚珠受精与花粉散布 ) 很大程度上取决于访花动物的种类和拜访行为, 而访花动物的种类和行为又受植物提供给传粉者的回报, 主要是花蜜分泌格局的影响。通过对姜科山姜属植物云南草蔻 (Alpiniablepharocalyx) 花蜜分泌量及糖分含量的测定, 拜访动物种类、传粉昆虫拜访频率及停留时间的调查, 主要盗蜜者花松鼠 (Tamiopsswinhoei) 的盗蜜行为观察, 植物的结实率以及结籽量的分析等, 探讨花蜜分泌与传粉昆虫的关系以及盗蜜对果实及种子生产的影响。研究表明 :云南草蔻的两种花型花蜜的分泌量在一天的单花开花过程中呈现相反的格局, 花柱上举型花下午的花蜜分泌量高于上午, 而花柱下垂型花则上午略高于下午 ;两种花型花蜜的糖分浓度都随着开花时间而下降 ;共有 17种访花动物拜访云南草蔻的花, 其中 8种具有传粉作用 ;传粉昆虫的停留时间随拜访频率的不断增加而缩短 ;被盗蜜植株与未被盗蜜植株的结实率差异不显著而结籽量差异显著。     

南京郊区小菊访花昆虫的行为与活动规律

2006年6-10月对中国菊花种质资源保存中心内栽培小菊的访花昆虫进行了观察.结果表明:小菊的访花昆虫有32种,多数隶属于膜翅目、鳞翅目、双翅目和半翅目;不同月份访花昆虫的种类不同;不同种类访花者的形态特征、访花目的及访花行为有所不同,在植物传粉中的作用有很大差异;西方蜜蜂(Apis mellifera)为小菊的主要传粉者,其种群数量大,平均访花频率达16朵·min-1;晴天,西方蜜蜂和大红蛱蝶(Vanessa indica)的访花蜂数与温度的变化呈显著正相关(r=0.876,0.887);气温骤降、阴天及降雨会影响访花昆虫的种类和数量;同一天内不同时间,访花昆虫的访花频率有差异,一般每天11:00-13:00的访花频率最高.     

濒危植物翅果油树种群传粉生物学研究

对山西省南部平陆、乡宁和翼城3个翅果油树(Elaeagnus mollisDiels)种群分别进行了传粉生物学观察.结果表明:(1)翅果油树花期一般为8~12 d,单花花期3~4 d,结实率仅为0.42%;(2)访花者多属于膜翅目、鞘翅目、双翅目、鳞翅目昆虫,蜂类是有效的传粉者;(3)翅果油树依靠芳香气味、花蜜、花粉和适度紧缩的生殖枝吸引访花昆虫;(4)昆虫的访花活动主要集中在11:00~16:00,访花活动易受气象因素影响;(5)自然条件下,翅果油树平均每日每花被访问的频次为(1.93±1.64)次,人工放蜂可显著增加传粉强度;(6)交配系统属居群内的异花传粉,仍属于广义的自花传粉范畴.传粉昆虫少,传粉效率低是翅果油树致濒的重要因素之一.     

浅裂剪秋萝和丝瓣剪秋萝传粉特性的初步研究

为了探究浅裂剪秋萝(Lychnis cognata)和丝瓣剪秋萝(L. wilfordii)的传粉生物学特征, 从花部特征、花粉呈现规律及传粉者访花行为等方面对其开展研究。结果表明, 2种剪秋萝的花期持续时间相近, 但浅裂剪秋萝始花日期较早; 二者花部特征虽有显著差异, 但主要传粉者均为碧翠凤蝶(Papilio bianor)。在开花过程中, 2种剪秋萝的雄蕊均分2批呈现花粉, 第1批雄蕊的花粉生活力在开花后第1天达到最大值, 而第2批雄蕊在第2天达到最大值。浅裂剪秋萝的柱头可授性在开花后第5天最强, 而丝瓣剪秋萝在开花后第4天最强, 花粉生活力和柱头活性的时间差异表明两物种均为雌雄异熟。两物种共同的传粉者碧翠凤蝶对浅裂剪秋萝的访花高峰出现在上午8:00-11:00, 而对丝瓣剪秋萝的访花高峰出现在上午11:00-12:00, 导致访花高峰出现差异的主要影响因素可能是生境和花药开裂时间。     

草果两型植株的繁育差异研究

草果(Amomum tsaoko)是具有柱头卷曲机制的姜科植物,该研究通过观察和分析传粉者的访花行为、草果的花蜜分泌和最终的结实率,探索其花蜜分泌模式与传粉行为的相互关系,以及对其两型植株繁殖的影响。结果表明:草果两型植株的花蜜分泌在1 d花期的16:40—19:00期间达到高峰;上举型花比下垂型花能够提供更多的花蜜,下垂型花的花蜜分泌受环境温度、光照、湿度的显著影响,其结实率也显著低于上举型花。中华蜜蜂(Apis cerean cerana)是观察点频率最高的有效传粉者,在1 d花期里访花频率呈现双峰模式,访花行为受到温度和湿度的显著影响,78%或18℃较适宜访花。1 d花期中温度、湿度的变化,以及花蜜的动态分泌模式共同促进这一双峰访花模式的形成。草果花蜜分泌模式和双峰访花模式均与草果的柱头卷曲运动匹配,对吸引昆虫精确传粉、维持柱头卷曲机制有重要意义。草果两型植株之间,环境因素对它们花蜜分泌的影响显著不同,导致传粉者不同的访花行为反应和繁殖结果。适当增加居群中上举型植株数量,可能是提高产量的一个有效方法。     

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.