Characterization of Bradyrhizobium strains indigenous to Western Australia and South Africa indicates remarkable genetic diversity and reveals putative new species

Bradyrhizobium are N₂-fixing microsymbionts of legumes with relevant applications in agricultural sustainability, and we investigated the phylogenetic relationships of conserved and symbiotic genes of 21 bradyrhizobial strains. The study included strains from Western Australia (WA), isolated from nodules of Glycine spp. the country is one genetic center for the genus and from nodules of other indigenous legumes grown in WA, and strains isolated from forage Glycine sp. grown in South Africa. The 16S rRNA phylogeny divided the strains in two superclades, of B. japonicum and B. elkanii, but with low discrimination among the species. The multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) with four protein-coding housekeeping genes (dnaK, glnII, gyrB and recA) pointed out seven groups as putative new species, two within the B. japonicum, and five within the B. elkanii superclades. The remaining eleven strains showed higher similarity with six species, B. lupini, B. liaoningense, B. yuanmingense, B. subterraneum, B. brasilense and B. retamae. Phylogenetic analysis of the nodC symbiotic gene clustered 13 strains in three different symbiovars (sv. vignae, sv. genistearum and sv. retamae), while seven others might compose new symbiovars. The genetic profiles of the strains evaluated by BOX-PCR revealed high intra- and interspecific diversity. The results point out the high level of diversity still to be explored within the Bradyrhizobium genus, and further studies might confirm new species and symbiovars.     

杀虫剂诱使棉蚜再猖獗的研究

为指导棉蚜的综合防治,笔者对杀虫剂诱导棉蚜再猖獗的现象进行了研究,速灭杀丁,氧化乐果和久效磷对棉蚜田间施药试验结果表明：效果较好,但进入伏蚜发生期后,速灭杀丁处理区棉蚜种群上升极快,第3次施药手2000倍和4000倍的20％,速灭杀丁处理区棉虹种群数量分别是对照的9．05倍和7．22倍,氧化乐果施药区棉蚜密度也明显高于不 施药的对照区蚜虫密度,整个棉蚜发生阶段棉蚜的抗药性测定表明,随着用药次数增加,棉蚜对速灭杀丁抗性倍数增长迅速,第4次施药后LD56值是早春棉蚜的9．39倍。3种农药对七星瓢虫和异色标虫的毒性皆显著地对棉蚜的毒力,随着棉蚜抗药性增加,农药对瓢虫－蚜系统的破坏愈加严重,对3种农药处理后的棉蚜成,若蚜的生命表分析表明3种农药没有刺激种群增殖作用,因而可以认为速杰灭刹丁诱使棉蚜再猖獗的作用是由于棉蚜抗药性水平迅速提高和对棉田生态的破坏所致。     

用纸浆代棉花合成CMC

羧甲基纤维素(CMC)系天然纤维素的衍生物。它是由天然纤维素分子上引入强极性羧甲基钠而得到的。我们采用纸浆为原料替代棉花生产CMC,测试了其性能,并讨论了反应温度、反应时间和碱用量对粘度的影响。结果表明:此法简化了工艺,原料来源广泛,产品性能优良,成本低,能满足使用要求。     

缺乏抗坏血酸对豚鼠胆固醇代谢的影响

边缘性缺乏抗坏血酸之豚鼠,于三周内其肝脏及小肠粘膜3-羟-3-甲基戊二酰辅酶A还原酶(HMGR)活力均下降到原有水平的50％,但肝脏胆固醇7α-羟化酶活力尚无显著性改变。坏血病豚鼠(三周内)上述几种酶活力都下降至原有水平的50％左右。豚鼠摄取抗坏血酸不足,其血清总胆固醇浓度显著增加,而血清高密度脂蛋自胆固醇浓度显著减少,其改变程度与抗坏血酸缺乏状况一致。     

朱砂叶螨抗氧化乐果品系选育及遗传分析

对采自棉田的朱砂叶螨种群使用氧化乐果选择压（６６．６７－１３３．３３μｌ／ｌ）１６次筛选后,抗氧化乐果由８、３３倍上升到３６、９３倍。利用此抗性品系（Ｒ）和采自河南省固始县的敏感品系（Ｓ）杂交和回交,研究了朱砂叶螨抗氧化乐果的遗传方式,正交和反交（ＳＲ和ＲＳ）Ｆ１代的ＬＣ－Ｐ线介于Ｓ与Ｒ之间偏向Ｒ方,显性系数ＤＳＲ和ＤＲＳ分别为０．５６７９和０．５６５９,表明抗性是由不完全显性基因控制,对Ｆ１杂合     

棉蚜种群动态预报模型

对1980-1989年河南棉区棉蚜种群动态分析表明,棉蚜为害可分为苗蚜和伏蚜两个时期,根据环境因子(气温、相对湿度、降雨量)和不同危害期,建立了2个模糊预报模型,并取得了较满意的预测效果。     

Plant domestication: setting biological clocks

Through domestication of wild species, humans have induced large changes in the developmental and circadian clocks of plants. As a result of these changes, modern crops are more productive and adaptive to contrasting environments from the center of origin of their wild ancestors, albeit with low genetic variability and abiotic stress tolerance. Likewise, a complete restructuring of plant metabolic timekeeping probably occurred during crop domestication. Here, we highlight that contrasting timings among organs in wild relatives of crops allowed them to recognize environmental adversities faster. We further propose that connections among biological clocks, which were established during plant domestication, may represent a fundamental source of genetic variation to improve crop resilience and yield.     

Decoding systems immunological model of sphingolipids with IL-6/IL-17/IL-23 axes in L. major infection

IL-6, IL-17, IL-23 and IL-1β are the crucial cytokines controlling inflammatory and immune response during L. major infection. During cutaneous leishmaniasis, an important T helper cell type CD4⁺ Th17 subset plays a deterministic role in lesion formation through channelling infected macrophages and production of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-23 and IFN-γ. Ceramide derived sphingosine precursors may assist in pro-inflammatory cytokine response. However, the role of these metabolites in inflammation with pleiotropic pro-inflammatory cytokines in L. major infection is unknown. The present study indicates IL-6/IL-17/IL-23 and SPHK1-S1P-S1PRs signaling axes with the overexpression of SATB1 aiding in disease progression. Targeting SATB1 might modulate the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and abnormal immune functioning, thereby killing the intracellular parasite. Systems immunological methods assisted in a step towards identifying the key to the mystery of crucial components and serving as an approach for therapeutic intervention in L. major infection.     

Distinct regions of Praja-1 E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase selectively bind to docosahexaenoic acid-containing phosphatidic acid and diacylglycerol kinase δ

1-Stearoyl-2-docosahexaenoyl (18:0/22:6)-phosphatidic acid (PA) interacts with and activates Praja-1 E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase (full length: 615 aa) to ubiquitinate and degrade the serotonin transporter (SERT). SERT modulates serotonergic system activity and is a therapeutic target for depression, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) δ2 (full length: 1214 aa) interacts with Praja-1 in addition to SERT and generates 18:0/22:6-PA, which binds and activates Praja-1. In the present study, we investigated the interaction of Praja-1 with 18:0/22:6-PA and DGKδ2 in more detail. We first found that the N-terminal one-third region (aa 1–224) of Praja-1 bound to 18:0/22:6-PA and that Lys141 in the region was critical for binding to 18:0/22:6-PA. In contrast, the C-terminal catalytic domain of Praja-1 (aa 446–615) interacted with DGKδ2. Additionally, the N-terminal half of the catalytic domain (aa 309–466) of DGKδ2 intensely bound to Praja-1. Moreover, the N-terminal region containing the pleckstrin homology and C1 domains (aa 1–308) and the C-terminal half of the catalytic domain (aa 762–939) of DGKδ2 weakly associated with Praja-1. Taken together, these results reveal new functions of the N-terminal (aa 1–224) and C-terminal (aa 446–615) regions of Praja-1 and the N-terminal half of the catalytic region (aa 309–466) of DGKδ2 as regulatory domains. Moreover, it is likely that the DGKδ2–Praja-1–SERT heterotrimer proximally arranges the 18:0/22:6-PA-producing catalytic domain of DGKδ2, the 18:0/22:6-PA-binding regulatory domain of Praja-1, the ubiquitin-protein ligase catalytic domain of Praja-1 and the ubiquitination acceptor site-containing SERT C-terminal region.     

Molecular identification and genotyping of Blastocystis sp. in sheep and goats from some areas in Inner Mongolia,Northern China

Blastocystis sp. is a kind of unicellular intestinal commensal which is widely distributed in humans and animals, and frequently found in the people who are in close contact with animals. To investigate the prevalence and evaluate the zoonotic potential of Blastocystis sp. in sheep and goats from Inner Mongolia, China, a total of 1037 samples were collected from them, and subjected to nested PCR amplification based on the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene of Blastocystis sp. The sanger sequencing was used for Blastocystis sp. subtype identification. The results indicated that the average infection rate of Blastocystis sp. was 10.70% [95CI: 8.82%–12.58%] (111/1037), including 11.30% [95CI: 7.96%–14.64%] for sheep (39/345) and 10.40% [95CI: 8.13%–12.67%] for goats (72/692). Five Blastocystis subtypes (ST5, ST10, ST14, ST21 and ST26) were identified in the present study. Among them, ST10 was the most dominant subtype in sheep and goats, accounting for 70.27% (78/111) of the total identified positive samples. This is the first report regarding Blastocystis sp. subtypes ST21 and ST26 in goats in China. This study has provided a detail epidemiological data on the prevalence and subtypes distribution of Blastocystis sp. in sheep and goats in Inner Mongolia, China. Our results indicated that sheep and goats could be reservoir host for multiple Bastocystis subtypes, including the zoonotic subtypes. Further studies among humans, livestock and wild animals are needed to better understand their role in the spread of Blastocystis sp.