湖南发现四川竹叶青蛇

2020年7月30日,在湖南壶瓶山国家级自然保护区石碾子沟（30°00′46″N,110°32′18″E,海拔615 m）采集到1号蛇类标本,经形态鉴定和分子系统关系比较,确定为四川竹叶青蛇（Trimeresurus sichuanensis）,为湖南省蛇类分布新记录种,该标本（CSUFTHPS2007080）存放于中南林业科技大学动物标本室。此次发现增补了四川竹叶青蛇的生物学信息,也表明该物种在武陵山脉及其延伸地区可能有着更为广泛的地理分布。建议进一步开展该物种种群生态学的研究,以便为该特有种种群和栖息地保护提供参考。     

滇绒鼠在四川的分类与分布厘定

2019至2023年,在四川省珙县（104°50′05″E,27°54′27″N,海拔1 331 m）和叙永县（105°32′05″E,28°13′51″N,海拔1370m）分别采集到2号和4号绒鼠类成体标本。这些标本个体较小,尾长约为体长的41%,形态鉴定属于滇绒鼠（Eothenomys eleusis）。对所采标本的Cyt b基因进行PCR扩增和测序,并结合从GenBank下载的绒鼠属物种序列构建贝叶斯基因树,结果显示：所采标本与滇绒鼠指名亚种（E. e. eleusis）聚为一个支系（贝叶斯后验概率为1.0）,遗传距离为0.8%,与滇绒鼠aurora亚种（E.e.aurora）的遗传距离为2.5%。根据标本形态、头骨特征,结合分子生物学证据,确定所采6号标本为滇绒鼠,是该物种在四川省的首次确认分布记录。标本现存于四川省林业科学研究院动物标本馆（编号分别为SAF19843、SAF19844、SAF220125、SAF220131、SAF23176和SAF23177）。     

湖南南山国家公园发现花坪角蟾

2023年6月12日,在湖南省城步县南山国家公园（110°11′42″E,26°11′54″N）采集到无尾目（Anura）角蟾科（Megophryidae）布角蟾属（Boulenophrys）雌性标本1号（标本号NS20230612）,现保存于湖南师范大学生命科学学院脊椎动物学实验室。该标本背部皮肤光滑有痣粒,两侧皮肤松弛,有刺疣,背部灰褐色,背中央有深色“X”形斑,与花坪角蟾（B. mirabilis）形态鉴别特征一致。基于线粒体16Sr RNA和COI基因片段进行的系统发育分析结果显示,该标本与花坪角蟾聚为一支;平均遗传距离为0.28%,远小于布角蟾属物种间的遗传距离。结合形态特征比较与系统发育关系重建,鉴定该标本为角蟾科布角蟾属花坪角蟾,查阅相关文献资料,确认花坪角蟾为湖南省两栖纲分布新记录种。该物种的发现丰富了南山国家公园的两栖爬行动物物种多样性,同时为该物种分类及谱系地理学研究提供了参考资料。     

贵州发现昆明钝头蛇

2020年8月在贵州省普安县（25°47′02″N,105°01′07″E,海拔1 636 m）采集到3号蛇类标本。它们在形态上与昆明钝头蛇（Pareas niger）相似。基于线粒体细胞色素b(Cytb)基因序列构建的系统发育树显示,此次采集的钝头蛇标本与昆明钝头蛇的1号地模标本序列聚为一支,它们之间的遗传距离为0.4%,远小于钝头蛇属物种之间的遗传距离（5.60%～23.90%）。综合形态比较和分子系统发育分析结果,确定此次采集到的钝头蛇标本为昆明钝头蛇,为贵州省爬行动物分布新记录种。     

湖北省蛇类新记录种——华西腹链蛇

2022年8月,在湖北省恩施土家族苗族自治州利川市（109°13′E,30°4′N,海拔1 179 m）采集到1号蛇亚目Serpentes水游蛇科Natricidae东亚腹链蛇属Hebius物种标本。经形态特征比较,并基于线粒体cyt b基因片段构建的东亚腹链蛇属部分物种分子系统发育树,鉴定该标本为华西腹链蛇H. maximus,为湖北省爬行动物新记录。本研究扩大了华西腹链蛇已知分布范围,并讨论了湖北省东亚腹链蛇属的多样性与分布情况。     

湖南省蛇类新纪录——龙胜小头蛇

2008年7月,在湖南省莽山自然保护区内(24°58′N, 112°52′E,1000 m)采集到蛇类标本1号,经鉴定,该蛇为龙胜小头蛇Oligodon lungshenensis,是湖南省蛇类新纪录.标本保存于西华师范大学生命科学学院标本室.     

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。     

上海市发现钝尾两头蛇

正2017年9月8日,在上海市大金山岛的南坡中段(30°41′30″N,121°25′04″E,海拔40 m)距山脚约30 m和40 m处,采集到2号蛇类尸体标本。经查阅文献(浙江动物志委员会1990,赵尔宓1999,2006)和鉴定,确认为游蛇科(Colubridae)两头蛇属(Calamaria)的钝尾两头蛇(C.septentrionalis),系上海市首次发现。标本现保存于上海自然博物馆的两栖爬行类标本库房。     

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...     

云南省发现弄岗狭口蛙

2018年6月,在位于云南省文山壮族苗族自治州的文山国家级自然保护区(23°21′41″N,104°50′26″E,海拔1 300 m)采集到无尾目(Anura)姬蛙科(Microhylidae)狭口蛙属(Kaloula)标本3号,包括雄性成体标本1号和雌性成体标本2号,并对相应形态特征进行了测量,雄性头体长为35.79mm,雌性头体长为48.01 mm和42.78 mm。根据形态特征比较发现,该种群的标本皮肤光滑,背部呈橄榄绿色,有不规则的深绿色斑纹,指端平切且具两排小乳突,雄性胸部有小柠檬黄色斑点,雄性全蹼,雌性为1/3蹼,与采集自弄岗国家级自然保护区的弄岗狭口蛙(K. nonggangensis)地模标本(海拔186 m)的形态鉴定特征基本一致,仅体色和体型大小稍有差异。基于16S rRNA基因片段进行系统发育分析表明,这些标本与弄岗狭口蛙模式产地标本聚在一起,共享同一单倍型。可以确定所采集的3号标本均为弄岗狭口蛙,为云南省两栖纲分布新记录物种。新发现的种群分布于中高海拔处,较地模标本的低海拔分布记录有较大的拓展。该物种的发现说明,云南东南部与广西西南部的喀斯特地区具有相似的物种组成,对该区域将来的生物地理学研究具有重要意义。     

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.