卧龙国家级自然保护区野生岩羊行为谱及PAE编码系统

2015年1月—2016年6月,利用红外相机监测方法对四川卧龙国家级自然保护区的岩羊Pseudois nayaur进行了行为谱研究。结合照片和视频建立了岩羊行为谱及PAE编码系统,分析了岩羊的9种姿势、68种动作、7种环境和61种行为,并总结出各种行为在不同年龄阶段的相对发生频次。本研究为岩羊行为特征及其栖息地保护提供基础信息,也为其他高海拔珍稀野生动物开展行为谱研究奠定基础。将建立的行为谱与圈养或半圈养状态下的岩羊行为谱进行对比,有助于更深入理解分析动物行为的生物学意义。     

矮岩羊行为生态的初步研究

2006年8月,在四川巴塘县竹巴笼自然保护区对矮岩羊的行为生态进行了研究。共发现矮岩羊7个集群33只,集群平均大小为4.71±1.60只;矮岩羊在夏季9:00~10:00内主要用于卧息,占该段活动时间的76.72%;因子分析显示:矮岩羊对生境的利用具有选择性,影响矮岩羊生境选择行为的主要因子为草因子、灌木因子、坡度和活动基底特征。     

岩羊和矮岩羊头骨形态特征比较

本文报道了岩羊和矮岩羊的头骨形态学资料,涉及头骨特征描述和一些形态学指标测定,被测定的指标主要有上颊齿列基长、眼窝长、乳突间距、眶间距、颧宽、枕颅高、枕髁宽、脑颅最大宽、眶下孔距、上颌臼齿外宽、角基最窄、最小角尖距、角尖距、最大角间距、角基周长、角基长径、角基短径、角外侧长,应用判别分析和单变量分析对岩羊和矮岩羊头骨的测量值进行统计与分析,以探讨这两个种头骨之间的形态差异。结果表明：（1）岩羊和矮岩羊头骨在形态上十分相似,但矮岩羊的头骨细长,脑颅狭窄,角直且朝上翘,角内侧具一明显角棱,亦较直,角基部狭窄,老年个体角基部愈合;岩羊的脑颅宽大,角粗大而长,向两侧分开,弯曲度较大,内侧角棱弯曲呈长S型,角尖朝向后方,角基部较宽,不愈合在一起。（2）岩羊和矮岩羊头骨的18项形态测量指标中乳突间距、眶间距、颧宽、脑颅最大宽、上颌臼齿外宽、角基周长、角基长径差异极显著（P〈0.01）,枕颅高、枕髁宽、眶下孔距、角尖距、最大角间距、角基短径、角外侧长差异显著（P〈0.05）;典型判别的正确率：岩羊为100%,矮岩羊为83.3%,交互验证法检验的结果,判别正确率：岩羊100%,矮岩羊为83.3%。这两个判别函数可以从角上区别岩羊和矮岩羊。     

矮岩羊夏季活动节律、时间分配和集群行为

采用扫描取样法（每隔10 min进行一次扫描纪录,记录时间为5 min）对36只矮岩羊夏季昼间节律与时间分配进行了观察和研究,将矮岩羊行为划分为取食、移动、站立、卧息和其他行为等5类。结果表明,矮岩羊在夏季有3个取食高峰（6：00－9：00、10：00－11：00和16：00－20：00）;1个卧息高峰（11：00－15：00）。在时间分配上,用于取食的时间最多（30.14±3.32）%,其次是卧息（26.44±3.59）%,站立（24.90±4.27）%,移动（15.73±1.26）%,而用于其他行为的时间,仅占（2.82±1.00）%。通过不同个体的比较,发现成年雄性用于取食和站立的时间最多,幼体用于移动和其他行为的时间最多,成年雌性用于卧息的时间最多。在矮岩羊集群方面,其集群类型有：混合群、母仔群、雄性群、雌性群和独羊,在夏季集群平均大小为（7.81±8.42）只,2~8只的羊群,占总群数的54.05%;不同集群类型的大小差异极显著（χ2=13.197,dƒ=3,P=0.004）,混合群群体最大,而雄性群最小;雌雄比为1∶0.54,雌幼比为1∶0.26,成幼比为1∶0.17。这些都说明矮岩羊这类独特的行为和种群特征是长期适应金沙江干热河谷的结果。     

基于DNA条形码和微卫星标记分析矮岩羊的进化地位

岩羊Pseudois nayaur是目前岩羊属Pseudois中承认的唯一物种,主要分布在青藏高原及其周边山脉地区,是该地区代表性的大型有蹄类动物。岩羊种内存在矮岩羊这一个形态特异的种群,其分类地位一直处在争议当中。本次研究从岩羊分布区域内搜集到26个岩羊样品,其中包括5个矮岩羊样品,选取了COⅠ基因DNA条形码标准区域和8个微卫星标记位点探讨了矮岩羊与岩羊不同地理种群的系统进化关系,同时分析了矮岩羊的进化地位。结果表明矮岩羊和岩羊间目前处于基因交流半隔离状态,不应该被分为2个不同的物种或者亚种,而矮岩羊应该被作为岩羊四川亚种P.n.szechuanensis中一个形态变异的特殊分类群。另外,结合生境选择和生态观察的结果推测矮岩羊目前可能已经处于单独进化的早期阶段。     

矮岩羊

报道了矮岩羊种的分类、种群的分布、数量、种群行为生态等方面的研究状况以及今后的研究方向。     

基于线粒体Cyt b和核基因ZFY探讨羊族物种之间的系统发生关系

为了阐明羊族物种之间的系统发生关系并解决岩羊属中矮岩羊物种的有效性问题,本文测定了来自金沙江河谷地区栖息于林线以上岩羊和林线以下矮岩羊共226份粪便DNA样品的线粒体Cyt b基因全序列(1 140 bp)和核基因ZFY部分序列(612 bp),结合从Gen Bank中检索到的羊族物种同源DNA序列进行比较,利用最大简约法和最大似然法构建分子系统发育树,根据获得的拓扑结构初步探讨它们的系统进化关系。结果表明,绵羊属的绵羊与山羊属、塔尔羊属、岩羊属各物种亲缘关系最远,喜马拉雅塔尔羊和岩羊属、山羊属的亲缘关系最近。在进化树的岩羊属这一分支中,金沙江河谷地带岩羊和矮岩羊与内蒙古、青海、四川其它地理种群的岩羊聚为一支,同时分布在这一区域的部分岩羊和矮岩羊在Cyt b基因和ZFY基因单倍型上存在共享现象。历史上的气候事件可能造成金沙江河谷地带岩羊和矮岩羊种群之间相互迁移,偏雄性扩散促进了各地理种群之间的基因交流。因此不支持矮岩羊为独立的物种,建议将金沙江河谷地带的岩羊和矮岩羊都划分到岩羊四川亚种(Pseudois nayaur szechuanensis)。由于它们的形态和生态上存在一定的分化,建议将林线以下矮岩羊作为一个独立的管理单元进行保护与管理。     

竹巴笼矮岩羊昼间行为节律和时间分配

2008年11月中旬至2009年1月中旬和2009年3月至8月,采用瞬时扫描取样法和目标取样法在竹巴笼自然保护区对矮岩羊的昼间行为节律和时间分配进行了研究,结果表明:矮岩羊的昼间行为活动有明显的节律性,活动高峰出现的时间与矮岩羊昼间取食高峰时间基本一致。取食和卧息是最主要的行为方式,分别占总观察频次的53.83%和27.76%,频次较少的是站立和移动,分别占总观察频次的9.93%和8.24%,其它行为所占频次最少,只有0.24%,昼间2个取食高峰(9:00-11:00, 17:00-19:00)和1个卧息高峰(11:00-16:00),呈现出取食-休息-取食的规律。Kruskal-Wallis H 检验表明,季节因素对矮岩羊取食(P <0.05)、卧息(P <0.05)和其它行为(P <0.05)所占时间影响显著,而对移动(P >0.05)和站立(P >0.05)行为影响不显著。各年龄段之间其它行为所占的时间比例差异显著(P<0.05),而取食(P>0.05)、移动(P>0.05)、卧息(P>0.05)和站立(P>0.05)所占时间比例差异不显著;对比分析不同性别矮岩羊昼间行为时间分配差异,雌性的取食、移动和卧息的时间略高于雄性,而站立和其他行为时间低于雄性;Mann-Whitney U 检验对不同性别矮岩羊昼间的各种行为差异进行分析表明:性别因素对矮岩羊昼间时间分配和行为节律产生一定程度的影响,但差异不显著(P>0.05)。     

从线粒体细胞色素b基因探讨矮岩羊物种地位的有效性

用采自四川省的岩羊和矮岩羊共18个头骨或皮张标本，分析了线粒体Cyt6基因1140bp的全序列(其中一个样品只测到802bp的基因片段)。用NJ、MP、ML等系统发育分析法分别重建的系统发育树的拓扑结构完全一致，均不支持矮岩羊是单系群。结果提示：所研究的全部样品都属于同一个物种，即岩羊P．nayaur，不支持矮岩羊的物种地位。根据基于17个样品Cyt6基因全序列的系统发育树和遗传变异以及地理分布，这些岩羊样品聚为5支，根据地理区划和本文分析结果，四川的岩羊可分为摩天岭、川西、川西北、川西南和川北5个种群。基于17个样品Cyt6基因1137bp的编码区，共定义了岩羊的16种单元型，在5个种群间未发现共享的单元型。     

冬春季矮岩羊集群特征比较

2007年10月至12月、2008年11月中旬至2009年1月中旬和2009年3月至5月,采用样线法对四川竹巴笼自然保护区矮岩羊冬春季的集群特征进行了研究,春季共观察到73群451只矮岩羊,冬季共观察到170群1036只矮岩羊。发现春季平均群大小为6.18±5.186,最大群34只;冬季平均集群大小为6.65±4.564,最大群24只;春冬两季矮岩羊集群大小季节性变化不显著(P0.05)。在观察到的矮岩羊中,冬春两季矮岩羊集群都以混合群为主,分别占57.20%和45.20%;与春季相比,冬季混合群和独羊出现频率增高,而春季雌性群和母仔群增多;2-8只的集群冬季109群,春季56群,分别占总群数的64.12%和76.71%;9只以上的集群冬季46群,春季15群,分别占总群数的20.06%和20.55%。说明矮岩羊主要以2-8只的小群为主。冬季雌雄比为1∶0.64;雌幼比为1∶0.77;春季雌雄比为1∶0.72;雌幼比为1∶0.81。     

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.