Hemolysis of human erythrocytes induced by melamine-cyanurate complex

Melamine is a widely-used chemical in industries. In recent years, melamine has been found to be involved in outbreaks of renal injury in infants and animals. Pathological studies indicated that the melamine-induced acute renal failure was related to the concurrence of melamine and other triazine analogs such as cyanuric acid. In the present study, human erythrocytes were used as an in vitro model to explore the cytotoxicity of melamine and its complex with cyanuric acid. The results demonstrated that mixing melamine and cyanuric acid resulted in the formation of insoluble particles and that the insoluble melamine-cyanurate complex induced membrane damages of human erythrocytes. The membrane damages included hemolysis, K⁺ leakage, alterations in cell shape and membrane fragility, and inhibition of enzymatic activity. By contrast, either melamine or cyanuric acid alone had no effect on erythrocyte membranes. The results of this study may provide a fresh insight into the melamine toxicology.     

The phylogeny of Orthoptera inferred from mtDNA and description of Elimaea cheni （Tettigoniidae： Phaneropterinae） mitogenome

The complete 15,831 bp nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome from Elimaea cheni(Phaneropterinae)was determined.The putative initiation codon for cox1 was TTA.The phylogeny of Orthoptera based on different mtDNA datasets were analyzed with maximum likelihood(ML)and Bayesian inference(BI).When all 37 genes(mtDNA)were analyzed simultaneously,the monophyly of Caelifera and Ensifera were recovered in the context of our taxon sampling.The phylogeny of Orthoptera was largely consistent with previous phylogenetie hypotheses.Rhaphidophoridae to be a sister group of Tettigoniidae,and the relationships among four subfamilies of Tettigoniidae were(Phaneropterinae+(Conocephalinae+(Bradyporinae+Tettigoniinae))).Pyrgomorphidae was the most basal group of Caelifera.The relationships among six acridid subfamilies were(Oedipodinae+(Acridinae+(Gomphocerinae+(Oxyinae+(Calliptaminae +Cyrtacanthaeridinae))))).However,we did not recover a monophyletic Grylloidea.Myrmecophilidae clustered into one clade with Gryllotalpidae instead of with Gryllidae.ML and BI analyses of all protein coding genes(using all nucleotide sequence data or excluding the third codon position,and amino acid sequences)revealed a topology identical to that of the entire mtDNA genome dataset.However,22 tRNAs genes excluding the DHU loop and T()C loop(TRNA),and two rRNA genes(RRNA)perform poorly when analyzed as single dataset.Our results suggest that the best phylogenetie inferences were ML and BI methods based on total mtDNA.Excluding tRNA genes,rRNA genes and the third codon position of protein coding genes from dataset and converting nucleotide sequences to amino acid sequences do not positively affect phylogenetic reconstruction.     

Inhibition of dark‐induced stomatal closure by fusicoccin involves a removal of hydrogen peroxide in guard cells of Vicia faba

Fusicoccin (FC) treatment prevents dark‐induced stomatal closure, the mechanism of which is still obscure. By using pharmacological approaches and laser‐scanning confocal microscopy, the relationship between FC inhibition of dark‐induced stomatal closure and the hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) levels in guard cells in broad bean was studied. Like ascorbic acid (ASA), a scavenger of H₂O₂ and diphenylene iodonium (DPI), an inhibitor of H₂O₂‐generating enzyme NADPH oxidase, FC was found to inhibit stomatal closure and reduce H₂O₂ levels in guard cells in darkness, indicating that FC‐caused inhibition of dark‐induced stomatal closure is related to the reduction of H₂O₂ levels in guard cells. Furthermore, like ASA, FC not only suppressed H₂O₂‐induced stomatal closure and H₂O₂ levels in guard cells treated with H₂O₂ in light, but also reopened the stomata which had been closed by darkness and reduced the level of H₂O₂ that had been generated by darkness, showing that FC causes H₂O₂ removal in guard cells. The butyric acid treatment simulated the effects of FC on the stomata treated with H₂O₂ and had been closed by dark, and on H₂O₂ levels in guard cells of stomata treated with H₂O₂ and had been closed by dark, and both FC and butyric acid reduced cytosol pH in guard cells of stomata treated with H₂O₂ and had been closed by dark, which demonstrates that cytosolic acidification mediates FC‐induced H₂O₂ removal. Taken together, our results provide evidence that FC causes cytosolic acidification, consequently induces H₂O₂ removal, and finally prevents dark‐induced stomatal closure.     

河南蚱属二新种记述(直翅目:蚱科)

记述采自河南省蚱科二新种,即鸡公山蚱Tetrix jigongshanensis sp. nov.和突背蚱Tetrix glochinota sp. nov..鸡公山蚱近似于凹额蚱Tetrix cavifrontalis Liang, 1998, 主要区别为:1)头顶前缘平直;2)侧面观,头顶与额面隆起呈钝角形;3)侧面观,额面隆在侧单眼前直,不凹陷;4)侧观,前胸背板上缘呈弧形;5)前胸背板前缘钝角形突出;6)后突到达后足股节中部;7)后翅略不到达后突顶端;8)中足股节明显宽于前翅宽.突背蚱近似于仿蚱Tetrix simulans(B.-Bienko, 1929)及云龙蚱Tetrix yunlongensis Zheng et Mao, 2002, 其与二者的区别为:1)头顶前缘平直;2)侧面观,背板上缘前半部球形突出,后半段平直;3)后突到达后足股节顶端.其区别于前者为:1)侧面观,额面隆起在侧单眼前凹陷;2)中足股节宽于前翅等宽.其区别于后者为头顶宽为一眼宽的1.7倍.模式标本保存于陕西师范大学动物研究所昆虫标本室.     

Floral morphogenesis in Euptelea (Eupteleaceae, Ranunculales)

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Based on molecular phylogenetic studies, the unigeneric family Eupteleaceae has a prominent phylogenetic position at or near the base of Ranunculales, which, in turn, appear at the base of eudicots. The aim of the present paper is to reveal developmental features of the flowers and to put the genus in a morphological context with other basal eudicots. METHODS: Flowers in all developmental stages of Euptelea pleiosperma were collected in the wild at intervals of 7-10 d in the critical stages and studied with a scanning electron microscope. KEY RESULTS: Remnants of a perianth are lacking throughout flower development. Floral symmetry changes from monosymmetric to asymmetric to disymmetric during development. Asymmetry is expressed in that the sequence of stamen initiation is from the centre to both lateral sides on the adaxial side of the flower but starting from one lateral side and proceeding to the other on the abaxial side. Despite the pronounced floral disymmetry, a dimerous pattern of floral organs was not found. The carpel primordia arise between the already large stamens and alternate with them. Stamens and carpels each form a somewhat irregular whorl. The carpels are ascidiate from the beginning. The stigma differentiates as two crests along the ventral slit of the ovary. The few lateral ovules alternate with each other. CONCLUSIONS: Although the flowers have some unusual autapomorphies (wind pollination, lack of a perianth, pronounced disymmetry of the floral base, long connective protrusion, long temporal gap between androecium and gynoecium initiation, small space for carpel initiation), they show some plesiomorphies at the level of basal eudicots (free carpels, basifixed anthers, whorled phyllotaxis), and thus fit well in Ranunculales.     

中国林蛙生态学研究进展

中国林蛙具有重要的药用价值与经济价值,因此其受到人们的重视。对不同发育阶段中国林蛙生态学的研究现状进行了综述,为中国林蛙的人工养殖提供生态学的理论基础。     

Genetic diversity and structure of Pinus dabeshanensis revealed by expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers

Assessing patterns of genetic variation in rare endangered species is critical for developing both in situ and ex situ conservation strategies. Pinus dabeshanensis Cheng et Law is an endangered species endemic to the Dabieshan Mountains of eastern China. To obtain fundamental information of genetic diversity, population history, effective population size, and gene flow in this species, we explored patterns of genetic variation of natural populations, in addition to an ex situ conserved population, using expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSR) markers. Our results revealed moderate levels of genetic diversity (e.g., H_E = 0.458 vs. H_E = 0.423) and a low level of genetic differentiation (F_ST = 0.028) among natural and conserved populations relative to other conifers. Both contemporary and historical migration rates among populations were high. Bayesian coalescent-based analyses suggested that 3 populations underwent reductions in population size ca. 10,000 yr ago, and that two populations may have experienced recent genetic bottlenecks under the TPM. Bayesian clustering revealed that individuals from the ex situ population were largely assigned to the ‘red’ cluster. Additionally, our results identified private alleles in the natural populations but not in the ex situ population, suggesting that the ex situ conserved population insufficiently represents the genetic diversity present in the species. Past decline in population size is likely to be due to Holocene climate change. Based on the genetic information obtained for P. dabeshanensis, we propose some suggestions for the conservation and efficient management of this endangered species.