台闽苣苔（苦苣苔科）花部器官的形态发生

在扫描电镜下对台闽苣苔 (T .oldhamii (Hemsl.)Solereder)进行了花部器官形态发生的观察 ,为探索该类群的个体发育、类群间的系统发育关系和进化趋势提供依据。研究发现该属植物萼片、花冠和雄蕊发生式样均为五数花类型 ,它们各自来源于花原基上分化出来的萼片原基、花冠原基和雄蕊原基 ;花冠与雄蕊的两侧对称性与花冠上唇生长稍快和退化雄蕊原基发育迟滞相关 ;萼片原基的发生和发育的顺序是不一致的 :萼片原基发生的式样为近轴中原基—远轴 2原基— 2侧原基 ,发育式样则为近轴中萼片— 2侧萼片—远轴 2萼片 ,花蕾时为镊合状排列。花冠裂片原基的发生和发育式样是一致的 ,即远轴中裂原基 (下唇中裂片 )—远轴 2侧裂原基 (下唇 2侧裂片 )—近轴 2裂原基 (上唇 2裂片 )。花蕾期卷迭式为覆瓦状排列 ,从外向内 :下唇中裂片—下唇 2侧裂片—上唇 2裂片或下唇 2侧裂片—上唇 2裂片—下唇中裂片。雄蕊原基与花冠裂片原基互生 ,前方雄蕊原基在发生上稍迟于后方雄蕊原基 ,后者与退化雄蕊原基几乎同时发生 ,但较小 ,并与近轴心皮 (或柱头上唇 )对生。将该属与玄参科 (Scrophulari aceae)的地黄属 (Rehmannia)、苦苣苔科 (Gesneriaceae)的异叶苣苔属 (Whytockia)和尖舌苣苔属 (Rhynchoglossum)的花部器官比较发现     

广西苦苣苔科稀有珍贵植物——弥勒苣苔

首次报道广西苦苣苔科植物一新记录属:弥勒苣苔属.该属接近金盏苣苔属,但不同在于弥勒苣苔属花冠上唇4浅裂,下唇不分裂,2对雄蕊分别着生于花冠中部及其上方,雌蕊具一个柱头.弥勒苣苔属为中国特有的单型属,仅弥勒苣苔一种,分布于云南东南部和广西西部.该种在广西首次记录,凭证标本存放于广西植物标本馆(IBK).     

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。     

广西苦苣苔科一新属——文采苣苔属

描述了在广西发现的苦苣苔科一新属和一新种,即文采苣苔属Wentsaiboea D. Fang & D. H. Qin及文采苣苔W. renifolia D. Fang & D. H. Qin, 并提供墨线图。文采苣苔属的柱头外形略似长檐苣苔属Dolicholoma D. Fang & W. T. Wang, 不同在于前者叶肾形,基部心形,具掌状脉,花冠斜钟状,裂片圆形,雄蕊和退化雄蕊着生于冠筒近基部。新属在体态上还接近小花苣苔属Chiritopsis W. T. Wang, 但前者叶具掌状脉,冠筒钟状,远轴侧膨胀,柱头马蹄形;在后者叶具羽状脉,冠筒筒状,不膨胀,柱头下唇倒梯形至线形。     

中国喜鹊苣苔属(苦苣苔科)一新记录种——雷氏喜鹊苣苔

报道了中国苦苣苔科(Gesneriaceae)喜鹊苣苔属(Ornithoboea Parish ex C.B.Clarke)一新记录种——雷氏喜鹊苣苔(O.lacei Craib),该种与滇桂喜鹊苣苔(O.wildeana Craib)近似,其区别特征在于花冠下唇裂片顶端凹陷,退化雄蕊3。凭证标本存放于广西植物研究所标本馆(IBK)。     

广西半蒴苣苔属（苦苣苔科）一新种——红苞半蒴苣苔

报道了在广西发现的苦苣苔科半蒴苣苔属Hemiboea一新种,即红苞半蒴苣苔H. rubribracteata Z. Y. Li & Yan Liu。该新种叶形与贵州半蒴苣苔H. cavaleriei Lévl.相近,不同在于茎较粗且坚硬,总苞红色,萼片较长,花冠外面白色,无毛,下唇3裂至中部。     

万山金盏苣苔

报道了贵州金盏苣苔属Isometrum一新种, 即万山金盏苣苔I. wanshanense S. Z. He。该种以花序梗、花梗被褐色长柔毛至近无毛, 花冠细筒状, 紫色, 喉部不缢缩, 上唇稍长于下唇, 雄蕊及雌蕊均无毛而与柔毛金盏苣苔I. villosum K. Y. Pan 相近缘, 但叶具柄, 柄长0.4-1.4 cm, 叶片较小, 倒披针形, 长1.5-4×0.5-1.6 cm, 聚伞花序具1-4朵花, 花萼裂片外面近无毛或近顶端疏被褐色长柔毛, 花柱与子房近等长而不同。     

苦苣苔科镜像花的多样性及演化

泛热带分布的苦苣苔科(Gesneriaceae)在我国南方具有极高的物种丰富度与特有率,花部特征变化丰富,是研究物种形成与适应演化的代表类群。镜像花(mirror-image flowers)是极为特化的传粉系统,在苦苣苔科中出现了较多的不同类型,可能与苦苣苔科物种多样性形成与维持有关。该研究总结与分析了苦苣苔科镜像花的类型多样性以及系统分布与适应演化等,讨论了镜像花对苦苣苔科物种形成与维持的积极意义。结果表明:镜像花仅分布在亚洲和非洲的苦苣苔亚科(Didymocarpoideae)的7个属,在历史上就至少发生了5次独立起源。长冠苣苔属(Rhabdothamnopsis)、南洋苣苔属(Henckelia)及长蒴苣苔属(Didymocarpus)镜像花的花柱与可育雄蕊分别向左、右两侧偏转,形成互补镜像花;蛛毛苣苔属(Paraboea)、喜鹊苣苔属(Ornithoboea)、非洲堇属(Saintpaulia)镜像花缺乏与花柱对应侧偏的可育雄蕊(非互补镜像花);而海角苣苔属(Streptocarpus)直立堇兰亚属(subg.Streptocarpella Engler)则同时出现了互补、非互补镜像花。不同于其他被子植物(离瓣花、缺乏花冠筒),苦苣苔科中的镜像花大多伴随着明显的花冠筒、内藏的雄蕊、合生的花药,以非互补镜像花为主;传粉者以小型的无垫蜂(Amegilla spp.)和熊蜂(Bombus spp.)为主。这些特殊的花部综合征与特化的传粉机制,提高了传粉精确性,可能促进了传粉隔离与物种适应辐射。今后的一个研究重点应通过分子系统发育方法,进一步揭示苦苣苔亚科互补与非互补镜像花的进化顺序及其在物种分化与长距离扩散过程中的可能作用。     

峨眉尖舌苣苔（苦苣苔科）花部形态发生及其系统学意义

观察了峨眉尖舌苣苔（Ｒｈｙｎｃｈｏｇｌｏｓｓｕｍｏｍｅｉｅｓｅ）花序及花的形态过程,并同近缘类群进行比较和分析,结论如下：１）峨眉大苣台花发生组织通常的总状花序分生组织已发生开变和位偏从而导致不平衡分化,形成花偏向于腹部一侧的变了形的总状花序,２）花冠和能育雄蕊的两侧性可能和退化雄蕊相关。３）该种雄蕊早期的发生和发育过程仍保持着祖先群群中轴肥座的系统发生式样,并在随后的发育过程中转变成侧膜胎座,４     

广西苦苣苔科一新属——方鼎苣苔属

报道了在中国广西发现的苦苣苔科一新属即方鼎苣苔属Paralagarosolen Y. G. Wei 和一新种方鼎苣苔P. fangianum Y. G. Wei。方鼎苣苔属与细筒苣苔属Lagarosolen W. T. Wang近缘,它们的共同特征是花筒细筒状,不肿胀,柱头2;不同点是方鼎苣苔属叶基部有时盾状,聚伞花序具1朵花,花冠裂片顶端圆钝,蒴果宽卵状椭圆球形。     

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.