Effect of volatiles emitted from wilted Populus nigra L. leaves on the mating and oviposition of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner)

Wilted black poplar, Populus nigra ‘Italica’ L., leaves are very attractive to a vast number of noctuid moth species. This provides an opportunity for the development of effective trapping methods for the integrated management of pest species, such as Helicoverpa armigera, a major global and economically important insect pest.In the present study, we investigated the (1) nocturnal attraction patterns of H. armigera males and females to wilted P. nigra leaves; (2) effects of P. nigra volatiles on the mate-searching behavior of males through laboratory serial-chamber bioassays and field trapping; and (3) effects of P. nigra volatiles on the ovipositional choice and reproductive performance of females. Females and males, when tested alone, could be attracted by wilted P. nigra leaves, and the time periods of the first two attraction peaks were largely overlapped between sexes. Streams consisting of wilted P. nigra leaves and virgin females were not more attractive than virgin females alone, regardless of the stream sequence in a serial chamber. However, a stream of virgin females passed through wilted P. nigra leaves was more attractive than wilted P. nigra leaves alone. The addition of P. nigra extracts and its major aromatic components to the sex lure of H. armigera did not attract more moths than the sex lure alone. The volatiles from wilted P. nigra leaves were significantly more attractive to ovipositing females than those from cotton, tomato, and corn leaves, but equally attractive to tobacco leaves. Females exposed to volatiles from different leaves (P. nigra, cotton, and tobacco) showed similar fecundities. In summary, the attraction of moths to wilted P. nigra leaves may be attributable to multiple mechanisms, including the adsorption of sex pheromones, ovipostional attraction, and possible feeding attraction.     

Superior japonica rice variety YJ144 with improved rice blast resistance,yield, and quality achieved using molecular design and multiple breeding strategies

Molecular Breeding - The stem color of young mung bean is a very useful tool in germplasm identification. Flowering time and plant height (PH) are known to be strongly correlated with crop adaption...     

Manipulation of host ecdysteroid hormone levels facilitates infection by the fungal insect pathogen,Metarhizium rileyi

Entomopathogenic fungi such as Metarhizium rileyi and Beauveria bassiana are widely used insect biological control agents. Little, however, is known concerning genetic or enzymatic factors that differentiate the mechanisms employed by these two fungal pathogens to infect target hosts. Infection by either of these organisms is known to increase levels of the growth and molting hormone, ecdysone, which also regulates the expression of a number of innate immune pathways. M. rileyi, but not B. bassiana, has apparently evolved an ecdysteroid-22-oxidase (MrE22O) that inactivate ecdysone. We show that deletion of MrE22O impaired virulence compared with the wild-type strain, with an increase in ecdysone titer seen in hosts that was coupled to an increase in the expression of antimicrobial genes. An M. rileyi strain engineered to overexpress MrE22O (MrE22O^OE), as well as trans-expression in B. bassiana (Bb::MrE220^OE) resulted, in strains displaying enhanced virulence and dampening of host immune responses compared with their respective wild-type parental strains. These results indicate that ecdysone plays an important role in mediating responses to fungal infection and that some insect pathogenic fungi have evolved mechanisms for targeting this hormone as a means for facilitating infection.     

A review of the botany,traditional uses,phytochemistry and pharmacology of Nepeta tenuifolia Briq.

Phytochemistry Reviews - Nepeta tenuifolia (N. tenuifolia) is a common aromatic herb that is widespread in East Asia. The aerial parts and spikes can be used as the traditional phytomedicines for...     

MiR-467a-5p aggravates myocardial infarction by modulating ZEB1 expression in mice

Journal of Molecular Histology - Myocardial infarction (MI) is a great threat to patients all over the word. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of non-coding RNAs and can regulate initiation and...     

2010-2020年中华穿山甲在中国的发现记录及保护现状

中国是中华穿山甲(Manis pentadactyla)历史分布区面积和野生种群数量最大的国家。中华穿山甲曾广泛见于我国长江以南各省, 但20世纪中期以来, 由于其甲片被作为贵重的中药材原料, 加之地下野味市场的需求, 大量非法捕猎使得我国野生穿山甲经历了剧烈的分布区缩减和种群下降。目前, 中华穿山甲已被列为我国一级重点保护野生动物, 在IUCN红色名录中被评估为极危(CR)等级。中华穿山甲分布范围广、种群密度低、活动隐秘、调查难度大, 摸清其野外分布现状是当前穿山甲研究与保护中的首要任务。为此, 本研究通过检索2010-2020年间全国范围内中华穿山甲的发现记录, 统计中华穿山甲的目击数量、空间分布以及后续状态, 制作物种分布地图, 并与历史分布情况进行对比, 以评估其野生种群的分布现状与分布区变化。2010-2020年共在11个省级行政区收集到中华穿山甲确认记录142条, 主要集中于大陆华东地区及台湾岛, 台湾、浙江、广东三省记录位点数占全部位点数的67.6%; 相较其历史分布区, 西南、华南地区近年来野外确认较为匮乏。近10年来我国的中华穿山甲记录呈逐渐增多趋势, 86%被发现的实体穿山甲得到救助、放归或未被干扰。本研究结果表明, 目前中华穿山甲在我国, 尤其是华东及台湾地区, 仍具有一定数量的野生种群分布, 且近年来民众对于穿山甲的认知和保护意识有了较大提高。 然而, 现有调查和资料仍不足以对该物种进行全面的现状评估, 亟需加强对我国野生穿山甲种群的调查、监测和保护。     

木犀草素通过调节凝血活性物质及凝血因子含量维持机体血液循环功能的稳定

目的探讨木犀草素通过调节凝血活性物质及凝血因子含量维持机体血液循环功能的作用机制。方法采用试剂盒和试管法测定木犀草素作用后的凝血酶原时间和血浆复钙时间;采用酶联免疫吸附法检测木犀草素对血液凝血活性物质血栓素(TXB2)、纤维酶原激活物抑制剂(PAI-1)、促红细胞生成素(EPO)和凝血因子Ⅶ(FⅦ)、凝血因子Ⅸ(FⅨ)含量的影响;采用PCR法测定木犀草素对凝血因子Ⅶ、Ⅸ的基因表达情况。结果木犀草素能缩短凝血酶原时间和血浆复钙时间,与对照组相比,40 mg/kg的木犀草素使凝血酶原时间和血浆复钙时间分别降低62.89%和64.05%(t=8.713 6、6.218 1,均P0.000 1),表明木犀草素能够促进机体的凝血功能,从而调节血液循环。酶联免疫结果显示,木犀草素能提高小鼠凝血活性物质TXB2、PAI-1和EPO的含量,与对照组相比,40 mg/kg木犀草素能使其含量分别提高11.94%(t=-7.638 0,P=0.000 3)、80.75%(t=-21.698 4,P0.000 1)和26.15%(t=-9.610 4,P=0.000 2),表明木犀草素可通过促进血小板的凝集、纤维酶原的活化以及增加血液的黏度来维持机体血液循环功能的稳定。木犀草素也能提高凝血因子Ⅶ和Ⅸ的含量及其基因表达量,与对照组相比,40 mg/kg的木犀草素能使凝血因子Ⅶ和Ⅸ的含量分别提高290.86%(t=-16.369 1,P=0.000 1)和374.52%(t=-8.104 2,P=0.001 2),基因表达量分别提高172.73%和224.63%(t=-22.007 5、-31.198 6,均P0.000 1),表明木犀草素可通过调节凝血因子Ⅶ和Ⅸ的表达量促进机体凝血,维持机体血液循环功能的稳定。结论木犀草素具有维持机体血液循环功能稳定的作用,其作用机制是通过提高凝血活性物质的含量,调节凝血因子的基因表达量,提高凝血因子的含量,以及抑制纤维酶原的激活和增加血液的黏度等多方面综合作用来实现的。     

稀土元素铈对花生幼苗生长与抗氧化保护酶系统的影响

采用溶液培养方法,研究不同浓度硝酸铈对花生(Arachis hypogaea)幼苗生长、开花数目及抗氧化酶过氧化物酶(POD)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性与丙二醛(MDA)含量的影响。结果表明,与对照相比,铈浓度低于20.0 mg·L–1能促进花生幼苗生长及开花,其中以10.0 mg·L–1铈的效果最为明显,其生物量和开花数分别约为对照的1.3倍和2.8倍;但高于20.0 mg·L–1则抑制花生幼苗生长,降低花朵数目;同时,低于20.0 mg/L铈可抑制花生幼苗过氧化物酶(POD)活性和降低其丙二醛(MDA)含量,其中以10.0 mg·L–1铈的抑制效果最明显,其POD活性和MDA含量约为对照的47.51%和20.76%;而低于20.0 mg·L–1铈能提高花生幼苗的超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性,其中以5.0 mg·L–1铈的促进效果最明显,其SOD活性约为对照的2.0倍。     

Molecular properties and immune defense of two ferritin subunits from freshwater pearl mussel,Hyriopsis schlegelii

Ferritin is a conserved iron-binding protein involved in cellular iron metabolism and host defense. In the present study, two distinct cDNAs for ferritins in the freshwater pearl mussel Hyriopsis schlegelii were identified (designated as HsFer-1 and HsFer-2) by SMART RACE approach and expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis. The full-length cDNAs of HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 were of 760 and 877 bp, respectively. Both of the two cDNAs contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 522 bp encoding for 174 amino acid residues. Sequence characterization and homology alignment indicated that HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 had higher similarity to H-type subunit of vertebrate ferritins than L-type subunit. Analysis of the HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 untranslated regions (UTR) showed that both of them had an iron response element (IRE) in the 5′-UTR, which was considered to be the binding site for iron regulatory protein (IRP). Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assays were employed to examine the mRNA expression profiles. Under normal physiological conditions, the expression level of both HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 mRNA were the highest in hepatopancreas, moderate in gonad, axe foot, intestine, kidney, heart, gill, adductor muscle and mantle, the lowest in hemocytes. After stimulation with bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila, HsFer-1 mRNA experienced a different degree of increase in the tissues of hepatopancreas, gonad and hemocytes, the peak level was 2.47-fold, 9.59-fold and 1.37-fold, respectively. Comparatively, HsFer-2 showed up-regulation in gonad but down-regulation in hepatopancreas and hemocytes. Varying expression patterns indicate that two types of ferritins in H. schlegelii might play different roles in response to bacterial challenge. Further bacteriostatic analysis showed that both the purified recombinant ferritins inhibited the growth of A. hydrophila to a certain degree. Collectively, our results suggest that HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 are likely to be functional proteins involved in immune defense against bacterial infection.     

Association of the SNP rs1800925(C/T) in the Interleukin-13 Gene Promoter with Pulmonary Function in Chinese Han Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

The present report studied potential association of the rs1800925(C/T) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the Interleukin (IL)-13 gene promoter with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in patients of Chinese Han ethnicity. Seventy patients with IPF were enrolled and divided into three subgroups: group A (61–79 % pred. D_LCO; n = 22), group B (51–60 % pred. D_LCO; n = 20), and group C (≤50 % pred. D_LCO; n = 28). Control group consisted of 80 healthy individuals of Chinese Han ethnicity. The SNP rs1800925(C/T) was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) analysis. The IL-13 CC genotype was present in 28/70 (40.0 %), homozygous TT in 6/70 (8.6 %) and heterozygous CT in 36/70 (51.4 %) patients with IPF. In control group, these genotypes were present in 30/80 (37.5 %), 11/80 (13.75 %), 39/80 (48.75 %), respectively, indicating that the distribution of the above three genotypes was not significantly different between patients with IPF and healthy controls. When the patients were stratified according to their D_LCO and D_LCO/VA, the frequencies of genotypes CT and TT in the groups A, B, and C were, respectively, 40.9 % (9/22), 50 % (10/20), and 82.1 % (23/28). Thus, significant differences in the distribution of alleles at ?1112 region of IL-13 gene were observed among the study groups A, B, and C, with the highest frequency in group C (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the rs1800925 T allele of the IL-13 gene is associated with worse pulmonary function in patients with IPF of Chinese Han ethnicity.