中国发现从始祖鸟到反鸟的重要缺失环节

最近在中国辽宁省北票地区中生代义县组地层中又发现了迄今最为原始的反鸟──始反鸟（Ｅｏｅｎａｎｔｉｏｒｎｉｓ ｂｕｈｌｅｒｉ ｇｅｎ． ｅｔ ｓｐ． ｎｏｖ．）。在系统进化上,这一具有牙齿的反鸟介于始祖鸟和华夏鸟（Ｃａｔｈａｙｏｒｎｉｓ）之间,后者也产于中国的同一地区的早白垩世九佛常组中。这种过渡或转变突出地表现在其肩带上．新属与其他鸟类的牙齿具有共同的特征,这也说明该种齿型和其独特的植入和替换方式是所有已知中生代具牙齿鸟类的共同特征。该鸟小于始祖鸟和孔子鸟,但大于早白垩世的反鸟类。这表明在反鸟类的早期演化中,向小个体方向演化趋势所起的重要作用。     

中国的始祖鸟

主要介绍我国最近在辽宁晚侏罗纪陆相地层中发现的古鸟亚纲－新成员－圣贤孔子鸟。它是世界最早有喙的原始鸟类，与始祖鸟的形态特征很相似。本文还讨论了我国已知早期鸟类的系统关系。     

现生鸟类和孔子鸟(Confuciusornis)叉骨软骨的研究:初步分析以及对中生代鸟类飞行方式的启示（英文）

飞行的早期演化是古生物研究的热点问题之一。现生鸟类演化出多种不同飞行方式,然而对中生代鸟类飞行方式的研究亟需寻找具有指示意义的指标。骨骼与关节组织尤其是乌喙骨-叉骨关节是实现鸟类飞行功能的重要组成,因此其关节的组织形态可能有助于反映现生鸟类的飞行方式。鸟类膜质骨中的次级软骨受到表观遗传的重要影响,只能在关节受到肌肉运动刺激的情况下形成,因此能够反映鸟类关节的形成力学环境;对三种不同飞行方式的现生鸟类(珠颈斑鸠、树麻雀和普通楼燕),以及热河生物群中最为常见的古鸟类之一孔子鸟(Confuciusornis)的叉骨乌喙骨关节的组织学特征进行了分析,显示在所有三种现生鸟类中,叉骨与乌喙骨之间均存在可动关节,并且在叉骨上存在次级软骨。而孔子鸟的叉骨上也存在次级软骨,这是次级软骨组织在中生代鸟类叉骨化石中的首次报道。进一步分析发现,不同现生鸟类物种的次级软骨组织形态存在差异,还需更多数据建立相关形态功能关系以便用于帮助推断中生代鸟类的飞行方式。     

科学家揭示热河鸟奇特双尾羽的奥秘

正热河鸟是2002年首次报道的一种发现于辽宁朝阳,并且具有很长尾骨骼的原始食种子的鸟类。在已发现的鸟类中,其原始性仅次于始祖鸟,但它的尾椎的数量甚至比始祖鸟还多,是恐龙向鸟类演化的一种重要过渡类型,对研究早期鸟类飞行和鸟类羽毛的早期演化过程十分关键。中科院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所与山东临沂大学的研究人员对收藏于山东天宇自然博物馆、山东博物馆和古脊椎动物与古人类研究所的多件热河鸟的化石标本的尾羽进行了系统的     

早白垩世鸟类尾综骨与尾羽之间的形态协同演化（英文）

从兽脚类恐龙中爬行类的骨质长尾,到以尾综骨为终端,并附着具有空气动力学功能的扇状尾羽的短巧尾部,是早期鸟类演化中最显著的适应性转变之一。但能直接反映这一转变的化石记录匮乏,而且对中生代鸟类尾部形态结构,以及尾综骨和尾羽早期演化的认知也相对不足。在此对早白垩世鸟类的尾综骨形态予以概述并将其与现生鸟类尾部结构类比。本研究强调了非鸟手盗龙类中尾椎的联合骨化与早期鸟类的尾综骨实属趋同演化。本研究表明,会鸟形类、孔子鸟形类、反鸟类和今鸟型类的尾综骨结构存在明显差异。今鸟型类尾综骨和尾羽(舵羽)与现代鸟类的相似,而相对更原始的鸟类的尾综骨,从形态来看,并不能支持舵羽球状膨大和必要的肌肉附着来操控具有空气动力学功能的扇状尾羽。由此可见,舵羽球状膨大、舵羽扇面与犁铧状的尾综骨是在今鸟型类演化早期相伴相生的。相对于从前的认知,本研究还发现孔子鸟类的尾综骨与反鸟类的有更多相似之处,与二者都具有的几乎相同的装饰性尾羽相符合。     

辽宁早白垩世今鸟类一新属种(Jianchangornis microdonta gen.et sp.nov.)(英文)

依据一近完整的相关节的骨骼化石,记述了辽宁建昌早白垩世九佛堂组原始今鸟类一新属种:小齿建昌鸟(Jianchangornis microdonta gen.et sp.nov.)。新鸟个体较大,但从骨化程度分析,正型标本可能属于一亚成年个体。具有一些进步特征,如胸骨及龙骨突加长,乌喙骨具有发育的前乌喙突以及和肩胛骨关联的关节窝,叉骨"U"字型,愈合荐椎包括9-10枚荐椎,尾综骨短小,第二、三掌骨远端愈合,跗跖骨完全愈合等,表明新属无疑属于今鸟类。在以下特征组合上很容易和已知的早白垩世今鸟类化石相区别:齿骨上至少有16枚细小牙齿,从齿骨前端向后沿齿骨大部密集排列;肩胛骨强烈弯曲;第一掌骨粗壮,较其他掌骨宽;第一指长并且远端延伸明显超过第二掌骨;肱骨+尺骨+第二掌骨与股骨+胫跗骨+跗跖骨的长度比例约为1.1。系统发育分析表明新属属于基干的今鸟类。新发现的材料第二、三掌骨远端愈合很好,但近端却未完全愈合,这一特征尚未见于其他已知鸟类,或许表明今鸟类腕掌骨的愈合和现生鸟类的跗跖骨一样是从远端开始的,不同于反鸟类和其他基干鸟类。建昌鸟的下颌还保存了一个前齿骨,这是继早白垩世红山鸟之后的另一例报道,可能进一步表明这一结构在今鸟类中曾普遍出现。新鸟肩带、胸骨和前肢的特征显示了和现代鸟类相近的飞行能力,其后肢、脚趾的比例以及趾爪的形态等显示和燕鸟、义县鸟等相似的地栖特征。保存于标本上的鱼类残骸可能显示了建昌鸟食鱼类的习性。今鸟类新属种的发现进一步表明,早白垩世这一进步鸟类类群的分化已不亚于反鸟类,湖滨环境在今鸟类的早期演化中确实扮演了重要的角色。     

我国发现1.2亿年前长着恐龙头骨的鸟类新属种——朱氏克拉通鸷

<正>中生代记录了鸟类如何从恐龙演化出来，并演化出独有的体型特征的过程，这一演化阶段鸟类谱系的多样性主要以反鸟类和今鸟型类构成的鸟胸类为主，而鸟胸类已经演化出大量与现生鸟类相似的形态特征，与最原始的鸟类（始祖鸟）在形态上差异巨大。演化位置介于二者之间的非鸟胸类鸟类（以下简称基干鸟类）则为填补这一鸿沟提供了重要信息，然而，长期以来受限于化石的发现，科学家对基干鸟类早期分异的研究仍十分罕见。     

鸟类起源与演化百问百答(下)

５９ .辽宁鸟和孔子鸟有什么区别 ?辽宁鸟和孔子鸟虽然发现于同一地层中 ,但两者的区别十分显著。前者是今鸟亚纲的最早代表 ,和现代鸟类的关系非常密切 ;而后者属于十分特化的种类 ,一方面具有角质喙 ,而另一方面在原始性上仅次于始祖鸟 ,和现代鸟类相差甚远。６０ 孔子鸟主要在地面还是在树上生活 ?孔子鸟是主要在树上生活的鸟类 ,但显然也能够在地面生活较长的时间。６１ .孔子鸟的最主要特征是什么 ?孔子鸟的最主要特征是牙齿完全退化 ,取而代之的是和现代鸟类相似的角质喙。６２ .朝阳鸟的主要特征是什么 ?朝阳鸟是早白垩世最进步的鸟…     

一些基干鸟类及带毛兽脚类恐龙:发现历史、分类及系统演化关系

主要介绍了鸟类早期演化的历程和早期鸟类分类.始祖鸟是目前最为原始的古鸟类,本文对其发现历史、标本状况及演化意义做了较简明、通俗的总结;同时也简要介绍了热河生物群的重要成员——孔子鸟类的属种构成、形态学特征及系统发育关系;最后围绕中华龙鸟的丝状皮肤衍生物的属性问题,对带毛兽脚类恐龙的争论与演化意义做出了说明.鸟类起源及系统发育的问题仍期待大量的探索性和完善性的科学工作.     

辽宁早白垩世会鸟一新种(英文)

记述了辽宁朝阳大平房早白垩世九佛堂组湖相地层中发现的会鸟化石一新种,窄脊会鸟(Sapeornis angustis sp.nov.)。尽管新种正型标本属于一亚成年个体,但除个体较小外,还在许多特征上很容易与属型种(朝阳会鸟)相区别。例如,不超过6枚荐椎,肱骨的三角脊和气窗均较细窄,三角脊远端的背突不显著尖锐,乌喙骨具有较长的肩峰突,叉骨枝较细,叉骨突较短,第一掌骨以及耻骨突均相对较短等。和始祖鸟以及其他已报道的会鸟标本一样,新种材料没有保存胸骨,肋骨上也未见钩状突起,推测这两种结构可能在个体发育的晚期才开始骨化,上述标本均为发育早中期的个体。会鸟新种的发现为这一基干的原始鸟类提供了新的解剖特征,并表明在会鸟的演化过程中存在个体的逐步增大以及一些形态特征的特化现象。这一新的发现还为分析早白垩世陆地生态系统的鸟类多样性增添了新的资料。     

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.