河西走廊天然固沙植被区地表甲虫多样性及其对沙漠化的指示作用

干旱、半干旱区沙漠化强烈影响动植物分布及多样性,地表甲虫是荒漠中主要的动物类群,它们对沙漠化引起的植被和土壤环境变化响应十分敏感。鉴于此,以河西走廊中部张掖绿洲外围的天然固沙植被区作为研究区,依据沙漠化发育程度选择流动沙丘（ASD）、丘间低地（IL）、半固定（SFSD）和固定沙丘（FSD）4种生境,调查了地表甲虫群落组成及影响甲虫分布的植被和土壤环境。研究发现,4种生境地表甲虫群落组成明显不同并存在季节变异,5月ASD与IL、SFSD和FSD生境地表甲虫群落的相异性大于8月。5月和8月SFSD生境地表甲虫活动密度均显著高于其他生境,8月FSD生境地表甲虫多样性指数显著高于其他生境。不同大小甲虫对沙漠化的响应模式不同,大中型甲虫对沙漠化的响应较小型甲虫敏感,这在5月表现尤为明显。地表甲虫与环境因子的RDA分析结果表明,12个植被和土壤环境因子解释了49.8%的地表甲虫群落变异,其中植被环境解释了甲虫群落变异的16.3%,土壤环境解释了甲虫群落变异的4.2%,植被和土壤环境相互作用解释了甲虫群落变异的29.3%。pRDA分析结果表明,草本物种丰富度、灌木盖度、土壤有机碳含量和粗砂含量是影响地表甲虫分布的主要环境因子,它们解释了43.7%的地表甲虫群落变异。Pearson相关分析表明,草本物种丰富度与地表甲虫活动密度呈显著正相关,而与地表甲虫均匀度呈显著负相关;灌木盖度与地表甲虫多样性呈显著正相关;地表甲虫物种丰富度与灌木盖度和草本物种丰富度均呈显著正相关。此外,研究还发现戈壁琵甲、克氏扁漠甲、中华砚甲和甘肃齿足象可以用于指示FSD生境,东鳖甲属昆虫可以用于指数SFSD生境,谢氏宽漠王可以用于指示IL及ASD生境。     

张家口土壤蜘蛛群落结构及多样性研究

1996年8月中旬,在张家口地区4种生境中共捕获土壤蜘蛛461头,隶属于12科54种(属)。研究表明:4种生境中的土壤蜘蛛群落相似性很小,群落结构组成不同,丰富度、多样性指数、均匀度、优势度也不同。植被类型、疏密程度是影响群落结构的主要生态因子,农事活动是另一个重要影响因素。     

卧龙自然保护区落叶松林不同恢复阶段地表甲虫的多样性

在四川卧龙国家自然保护区,以落叶松种植林邻近的天然落叶阔叶林(100年生,5块样地)为对照,分别选择刚种植(5年生)、幼年期(15年生)和成熟期(45年生)的3种落叶松林各4块样地,每个样地4个重复,研究森林不同恢复阶段地表甲虫的多样性。通过巴氏罐诱法取样,采集甲虫标本共7444号。步甲科、隐翅虫科和拟步甲科分别占总数的40·2%、38·3%和6·4%,共同构成本研究地区的优势类群。甲虫的科丰富度、多样性和均匀度在3种落叶松林内显著高于天然林,且在3种落叶松林中,刚种植的最高,幼年期的最低;个体数量正相反,天然林显著高于落叶松林,而且3种落叶松林内,幼年期最高,刚种植的最低。主坐标分析排序和聚类分析表明,不同树龄的落叶松林和天然阔叶林间的地表甲虫群落组成存在显著差异,成熟期落叶松林与幼年期落叶松林和天然阔叶林有较高的相似性。甲虫个体数量的季节变化在3种落叶松林内相似性很高,与天然阔叶林差异显著,而科丰富度、多样性和均匀度的季节变化在3种落叶松林以及天然阔叶林间相似性都很低。多元回归分析表明,林冠层、草本层及枯落物的高(厚)度和覆盖率是决定科丰富度、个体数量、多样性和均匀度的决定因素。以上结果表明,在科级水平上,地表甲虫群落组成在不同树龄的落叶松林以及天然落叶阔叶林内存在显著差异,虽然成熟期的落叶松林已经具有了部分天然阔叶林的甲虫群落特点,但仍无法完全恢复到天然林的群落水平。因此,在鼓励森林恢复的同时,保留大面积的天然落叶阔叶林免受破坏和干扰仍然是保护地表甲虫群落的必要措施。     

武汉天河机场地区蜘蛛群落及多样性研究

１９９９年７月－１０月对天河机场地区４种生境的蜘蛛资源进行了调查,蜘蛛群落有１２科３４属５２种。研究结果表明：群落的优势种为三突花蛛、锥腹肖蛸、茶色新园蛛、斜纹猫蛛、食虫沟瘤蛛、纵条蝇狮;不同生境、不同季节,群落结构组成不同;丰富度、多样性指数、均匀度、优势度不同;４种生境中的蜘蛛群落相似性很小。这主要与植被类型、密度等直接有关,另外也受农事活动的影响。     

天然和人工固沙灌木林蜘蛛和甲虫分布与环境因子的关系

干旱区人工植被恢复驱动的土地利用变化强烈影响了地表和土栖的节肢动物群落结构及多样性。然而,我们对地表节肢动物群落关键类群-蜘蛛和甲虫对固沙植被恢复的响应及与环境变化关系的认识还很有限。以天然固沙灌木林和2种人工固沙灌木林为研究对象,运用方差分析和多变量分析等方法定量研究了干旱区天然和人工固沙植被区地表蜘蛛和甲虫分布特征及影响要素。结果表明,天然灌木林与人工梭梭、柽柳林地表蜘蛛和甲虫群落组成明显不同,人工梭梭、柽柳林地表蜘蛛活动密度和甲虫多样性均显著高于天然灌木林,而地表甲虫密度和蜘蛛多样性变化与之相反。两种人工固沙灌木林之间蜘蛛和甲虫群落组成也存在一定差异,人工柽柳林地表蜘蛛活动密度、多样性和甲虫物种丰富度均显著高于人工梭梭林。进一步分析发现,蜘蛛群落中狼蛛科、平腹蛛科、皿蛛亚科和球蛛科与甲虫群落中拟步甲科、步甲科和象甲科等一些甲虫种属对3种生境的选择模式不同决定了蜘蛛和甲虫群落聚集结构。植被、土壤环境因子与蜘蛛和甲虫pRDA和pCCA结果表明,草本生物量、凋落物量、土壤含砂量、电导率和灌木盖度是影响蜘蛛分布的主要环境因子,它们解释了82.1%的蜘蛛群落变异;灌木盖度、草本生物量、土壤pH和砂含量是影响甲虫群落分布的主要环境因子,它们解释了60.6%的甲虫群落变异。总之,人工固沙灌木恢复影响了植被和土壤环境,它们相互作用改变了荒漠-绿洲过渡区蜘蛛和甲虫等地表节肢动物的分布格局。     

甘肃子午岭天然次生林区三种植被类型中土壤蜘蛛群落的组成及多样性

2004年4—10月,在甘肃子午岭天然次生林区采用巴氏诱罐法采集土壤蜘蛛2164头,隶属于19科43种。研究表明辽东栎林(Quercusliaotungensis)、油松林(Pinustabulaeformis)和杨树林(Populusdavidiana)3种森林植被类型中土壤蜘蛛群落组成有明显的差异;不同生境蜘蛛群落的组成成分和多样性指数各异;从各生境中捕获的蜘蛛个体数量分析,皿蛛科、平腹蛛科和科狼蛛科的数量最多,优势类群的组成相似;各生境类型中蜘蛛功能集团的组成及多样性也有明显差异。同时,分析了影响蜘蛛群落组成和多样性的主要因子是生境的植被类型和生境异质性。     

北京野鸭湖湿地地表甲虫群落组成与空间分布格局

2007年4–10月在北京野鸭湖湿地两种保存较好的湿地植被类型和3种主要的退化植被类型中设立了32个样地, 采用陷阱法调查地表甲虫群落的组成, 并在科级水平上探讨了湿地退化及植被类型变化对地表甲虫群落组成的影响。整个采样周期共采集甲虫标本42科, 其中步甲科和隐翅虫科为优势科, 蚁形甲科、肖叶甲科和薪甲科为亚优势科。在所研究的5种植被类型中, 湿地景观保存较好的芦苇(Phragmites communis)带与球穗莎草(Cyperus glomeratus)带的甲虫群落活动密度、科丰富度和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数(H’)均无显著差异, 而上述两种植被类型的甲虫活动密度以及球穗莎草带的甲虫科丰富度均显著高于3种退化的植被类型。对地表甲虫群落组成与9个环境因子进行的典范对应分析(CCA)表明, 32个样地在CCA排序图中的分布与植被类型之间存在明显的对应关系, 土壤含水量、植物盖度、植物生物量和枯落物盖度是影响地表甲虫群落组成及空间分布的主要环境因子。相关和回归分析结果也显示, 甲虫群落的活动密度与土壤含水量、植物生物量和植物盖度均极显著或显著正相关, 科丰富度与植物生物量显著正相关, 多样性指数(H’)与植物盖度极显著负相关; 其中土壤含水量的变化能够解释甲虫群落活动密度总方差的57%。此外, 通过主成分分析获得了反映土壤含水量、植物生物量和植物盖度综合作用的环境变量WBC (Water-Biomass-Coverage)。依据地表甲虫活动密度与WBC的关系, 可将5种植被类型分为彼此差异极显著的3组。研究结果表明保持良好的湿地景观对于保护湿地甲虫具有重要意义。     

宁夏黄土丘陵区不同生态恢复生境地表甲虫多样性

为了解宁夏黄土丘陵区不同生境地表甲虫群落多样性变化规律及与环境因子的关系, 并探讨不同生态恢复措施对维持地表甲虫群落多样性的影响, 2013年7-8月, 作者利用陷阱法调查了该区6种生境内的地表甲虫群落多样性。结果表明: 灌草混交林地、乔灌混交林地、生态薪炭林地中地表甲虫物种丰富度和个体数量均较高, 天然封育草地、生态经济林地和水平农田中物种丰富度较低, 生态经济林地和水平农田中甲虫个体数量显著高于天然封育草地。不同生境间, 灌草混交林地、乔灌混交林地与生态薪炭林地之间、生态经济林地与水平农田之间甲虫群落组成相似性较高。多元回归分析表明, 草本层生物量、灌木层盖度及土壤含水量是影响甲虫物种丰富度的决定因素, 林冠层盖度和枯落物厚度是决定地表甲虫个体数量的重要因素。CCA分析表明, 枯落物盖度、枯落物厚度、林冠层盖度及草本层盖度是影响地表甲虫群落组成的重要环境因子。研究表明, 灌草混交林地为地表甲虫群落多样性维持较好的生境类型, 是宁夏黄土丘陵区典型生态恢复的最优模式。     

河南南太行山区蝴蝶群落多样性与区系分析

为了解河南南太行山区的蝴蝶的群落组成和分布特点,本研究于2020-2021年对该地区不同生境的蝴蝶群落进行了系统调查和多样性分析。结果共记录到蝴蝶2 688头,隶属于5科55属79种。蛱蝶科的种类数（44种）和个体数（1 329头）均为最多,是保护区的优势类群。玉斑凤蝶Papilio helenus是该地区首次记录的新种。不同生境间物种数和Margalef丰富度指数有明显差异（P＜0.05）,天然林中蝴蝶的物种数、个体数、Shannon多样性指数、Margalef丰富度指数和Pielou均匀度指数均最高。不同生境间蝶类的相似性有所差异,天然林和次生林的Jaccard相似性系数最大,为0.6849,天然林和农田的Jaccard相似性系数最低,为0.3971。区系组成主要以广布种（59.49%）为主,古北种（30.38%）次之。蝴蝶资源的多样性和丰富性受不同生境的植被类型和人为干扰程度的影响。     

DNA复合条形码在太白山土壤动物多样性研究中的应用

DNA复合条形码技术(metabarcoding)将DNA条形码与高通量测序技术相结合,快速便捷地鉴定群落混合样本中的物种,成为监测群落中物种组成和丰富度的可靠方法。采用这一方法分析了秦岭太白山5种不同生境的中小型土壤动物多样性,共得到土壤动物3门9纲28目199科。群落组成分析显示生境的变化对土壤动物群落组成有一定的影响。α多样性分析显示土壤动物群落丰富度指数最高的生境为针叶林,最低的为农田;土壤动物群落多样性指数最高的生境为针叶林,最低的为落叶小叶林。群落相似性分析显示高山草甸、针叶林和农田3种生境的土壤动物群落组成相似性较高,落叶小叶林和落叶阔叶林的土壤动物群落组成与这3种生境的差异较大,落叶小叶林与落叶阔叶林的土壤动物群落组成差异也较大。     

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.