龙洞山溪鲵精子的超微结构

应用透射电镜和扫描电镜对龙洞山溪鲵(Batrachuperuslongdongensis)精子的超微结构进行观察和研究,探讨山溪鲵属以及小鲵科物种精子的结构特征,并探讨有尾两栖类精子结构特征的演化及其与生殖进化的关系。结果表明:1)龙洞山溪鲵的精子具小鲵科物种精子的共同特征,即精子无顶体钩,顶体呈三叶草状,尾部无线粒体,轴纤维粗大呈圆柱状等特征;2)龙洞山溪鲵精子核脊的形态结构与小鲵科其它属物种以及有尾类其它科物种精子的核脊存在明显的差别,由此可见核脊形态结构具有属或种的特异性。此外,与已有报道的有尾两栖类物种精子的结构特征进行分析比较表明:1)有尾类精子特征的分化与其受精方式的变化是一致的;2)精子结构特征支持隐鳃鲵超科为单系的推测     

挂榜山小鲵精子形态结构研究

应用扫描电镜和透射电镜对挂榜山小鲵(Hynobius guabangshanensis)精子的超微结构进行观察和研究.结果表明:1)挂榜山小鲵的精子形态具有小鲵科精子的共同特征:头部细直、有锥形顶体;颈部短而不明显,尾部细长、有波动膜;2)该种小鲵的精子超微结构具小鲵科物种精子的共同特征,即精子无顶体钩,顶体呈三叶草状,尾部无线粒体,轴纤维粗大呈圆柱状等;3)除精子全长(194.1±7.15μm)在小鲵科物种中属于中等外,挂榜山小鲵和本科其他物种的精子在形态量度学方面差异明显:其头部占全长的比例(22.98%)比其他已知小鲵科的物种都低,尾部占全长的比例(65.79%)比其他小鲵科物种都高.     

耳鲍精子的超微结构

本文利用透射电子显微镜对耳鲍(Haliotis asinina Linnaeus)精子的形态及超微结构进行了研究.研究结果表明:耳鲍的精子由头部、中段和尾部三部分组成,全长 41.6 μm.精子头部长 1.8 μm,头部由顶体、顶体下腔和细胞核组成,顶体电子密度比较均匀,呈圆锥形,长 0.6 μm,基部宽度为 0.65 μm,占头部长的 1/3;顶体下腔长 0.03 μm,宽为 0.65 μm,腔中含有中等电子密度物质;细胞核圆棒状,长 1.17 μm,核中部的宽度为 1.0 μm.精子中段较短,长 0.51 μm,宽 1.2 μm,主要由 5 个线粒体包围一对中心粒构成.尾部是一根鞭毛,从前到后逐渐变细,鞭毛是由细胞质膜包被的轴丝组成,轴丝为典型的"9 2"微管结构,即轴丝是由两个中心微管及均匀分布在中心微管周围的 9 对双联体微管组成.因此,耳鲍与其它鲍类精子的基本结构相似,形态结构的主要差异表现在三个方面:一是耳鲍精子的头部似圆锥形,长 1.8 μm,是目前已研究的鲍类中头部最短的种类;二是耳鲍精子顶体长比其基部宽要小,顶体电子密度比较均匀,顶体与核的电子密度差异不明显;三是耳鲍精子中段线粒体的数量为 5 个,没有发现 6 个线粒体现象的存在[动物学报 53(3):552-556,2007].     

大鲵精子结构研究

为了解大鲵精子超微结构,应用扫描电镜和透射电镜开展了大鲵精子形态结构研究。结果显示:大鲵精子由头部、颈部和尾部3部分组成。精子总长216.36μm±9.93μm(n=30),头部长65.80μm±3.70μm(n=30),颈部较短,多不明显,尾部长153.52μm±3.22μm(n=30)。头部由顶体、穿孔器和细胞核组成;颈部包括核窝、近端中心粒及远端中心粒、线粒体、轴丝和轴纤维;尾部无明显分段,由轴丝、轴纤维、轴丝旁纤维和波动膜组成。大鲵精子内线粒体较少,可能与精子运动缓慢、精子活力维持时间短有关;成熟过程中精子细胞头部包围的胞质分泌物中含有一定数量的线粒体。     

长爪沙鼠精子的显微结构观察

目的　观察长爪沙鼠精子的形态和结构。方法　应用光学显微镜、透射电镜和扫描电镜进行观察。结果与结论　长爪沙鼠精子由头、颈、尾三部分组成 ,全长为 ( 15 6 3 2± 6 61) μm ,头长为 ( 10 4 3± 2 12 ) μm ,颈、尾部长为 ( 14 5 89± 5 14 ) μm ,具典型的啮齿类动物的精子形态 ;长爪沙鼠精子的尾部轴丝是 9+ 2模式 ,轴丝外围有 9条大小、形态不一的外周致密纤维 ,外周致密纤维从主段到末端逐渐变细 ,并在主段的近末端处分 4批终止 ;主段的纤维鞘具有腹侧纵柱、背侧纵柱、内嵴等结构。在精子尾部的末段 ,外层仍保留有纤维鞘的结构 ,但无外周致密纤维 ,轴丝仍然为 9+ 2模式     

青海省发现两栖纲小鲵科无斑山溪鲵

2012年8月,在青海省果洛藏族自治州班玛县采集到小鲵科山溪鲵属标本2尾,经形态鉴定并和山溪鲵属近缘种进行线粒体Cyt b及COⅠ基因序列比较分析,鉴定为无斑山溪鲵(Batrachuperus karlschmidti),为该物种在青海省内首次发现。     

虾夷扇贝精子的超微结构

用扫描和透射电镜研究了虾夷扇贝(Patinopecten yessoensis)精子的超微结构.虾夷扇贝精子为典型的原生型,全长50μm左右,头部长约3 μm.精子主要由头部、中段和尾部三部分组成.头部顶体突出,呈倒"V"形;顶体下方为精核,电子密度较高且占头部大部分,具有核前窝(anterior nuclear fossa)、核后窝(posterior nuclear fossa)和植入窝(implantation fossa);4～5个近圆形的线粒体围绕着中心粒复合体形成精子的中段.尾部细长,尾部鞭毛横切面为典型的"9 2"结构.     

黑麂睾丸及精子的形态学观察

研究了成年雄性黑麂(Muntiacus crinifrons)的睾丸和附睾尾精子形态.Gimsa染色后在显微镜下观察了黑麂精子的顶体形态,统计了顶体畸形和原生质滴存在情况,并与成年黄淮山羊(Copra hircus)的睾丸进行了对比.结果发现.黑麂睾丸长轴4.25 cm,短轴2.05 cm,明显低于成年黄淮山羊睾丸.黑麂精子长54.80 μm,顶体呈圆柱形,顶体约覆盖精子头部的2/3,这个比例明显高于黄淮山羊.黑麂精子畸形率为21.50%,附睾尾部的精子活力为0.20,附睾尾精子原生质滴率为30.17%,顶体异常率为30.50%,与黄淮山羊基本接近.本实验为进一步研究黑麂的繁殖性能和保护提供了参考.     

中国小鲵科属、种分类变更的回顾

小鲵科为亚洲特有的有尾两栖动物,是现生有尾目10科中第三大科.中国是小鲵科动物属、种分布的主要区域,且研究其分类历史较久,学者较多,故导致学术观点差异较大.本文对中国小鲵科分类地位发生变更的部分属(巴鲵属Liua、拟小鲵属Pseudohynobius、肥鲵属Pachyhynobius)、种(秦巴巴鲵L. tsinpaensis、满洲小鲵Hynobius mantchuricus、豫南小鲵H. yunanicus、弱唇褶山溪鲵Batrachuperus cochranae和太白山溪鲵B. taibaiensis)的变更历史进行回顾,旨在为小鲵科动物的分类提供一个清晰的背景知识.     

山溪鲵的脊柱特征,兼议有尾目脊柱的划分

为探讨有尾目脊椎的划分,本文以小鲵科的山溪鲵(Batrachuperus pinchonii)为例,运用透明骨骼双色法对其脊柱的形态特征进行了观察,并对各部分椎骨特征进行详细描述和绘图.结果显示,山溪鲵的脊椎根据椎骨是否具前关节突、横突、肋骨、肋软骨和脉弓等形态特征可分5部分;同时结合小鲵科其他20种94号标本和蝾螈科6种27号标本的脊柱特征及文献资料,讨论了有尾目脊椎的划分,认为将有尾目脊柱划分为5部分(颈椎、躯椎、荐椎、尾荐椎和尾椎)的观点较将其划分为4部分(颈椎、躯椎、荐椎和尾椎)的观点更合理.     

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.