Association of the Red Ring Nematode and Other Nematode Species with the Palm Weevil,Rhynchophorus palmarum

The palm weevil, Rhynchophorus palmarum (L.), was collected in cocoons from red ring-diseased coconut palms (Cocos nucifera L.) in Trinidad and Tobago. Juveniles of five species of nematodes were extracted from the genitalia and macerated bodies of newly emerged adults of the palm weevil: Rhadinaphelenchus cocophilus (Cobb) Goodey (the red ring nematode), Teratorhabditis sp., Diplogasteritus sp., Mononchoides sp., and Bursaphelenchus sp. Over 90% of newly emerged weevil females and males were infested internally with red ring nematode juveniles, and over 47% of the weevils contained more than 1,000 red ring nematodes each. There was no significant correlation between weevil body length and the number of red ring nematodes carried internally by each weevil. Teratorhabditis sp. and Diplogasteritus sp. were extracted from over 50% of the palm weevils, and Monochoides sp. and Bursaphelenchus sp. were found in a small proportion of the weevils. Field-collected adult weevils were also internally and externally infested with a Rhabditis sp., which was not observed in or on weevils allowed to emerge from field-collected cocoons.     

两种陆栖等足类的种群及其分解落叶的作用

采用固定路线进行种群数量调查,并用落叶饲养,测定食性、食量,以探讨潮虫、鼠妇在广东小良人工阔叶混交林中分解落叶的作用。结果:(1)潮虫Philoscia sp.喜湿,主要分布于低湿、荫蔽处;鼠妇Armadillo sp.耐干旱,主要分布在较高爽处。(2)两种虫的种群数量高峰均在6月份。潮虫繁殖期延长到雨季之后,鼠妇则在雨季高峰前结束。(3)对未经沤化过的落叶多选食薄且质软的。鼠妇在25℃时摄食量最大,为117.1±12.4毫克/克体重·天;潮虫在20℃时食量最大,为251.2±7.3毫克/克体重·天。 通过种群年生物量变化及不同温度下的摄食量等因素来推算林中等足类的年分解落叶量:在荫蔽潮湿的林下,其分解量最大,占凋落物的自然消耗量的11.4％。     

Functional Expression of the Alkane-Inducible Monooxygenase System of the Yeast: Candida tropicalis IN Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The genes for the alkane-inducible monooxygenase system of the yeast Candida tropicalis, namely a cytochrome P450_alk (P450_alk) and a NADPH cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (NCPR) gene, were transferred in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The P450_alk gene was expressed in this host with the help of the yeast alcohol dehydrogenase I (ADHI) promoter and terminator, whereas the NCPR gene could be expressed with its own structural elements. The presence of P450_alk in S. cerevisiae microsomal fractions resulted in a new acquired lauric acid terminal hydroxylation activity. Moreover, the same activity, coupled with the appearance of 12-hydroxylauric acid derivatives, could be obtained by the addition of lauric acid to intact cells expressing P450_alk. The coordinate expression of the P450_alk and NCPR genes in S. cerevisiae elevated the turnover rate of the P450_alk monooxygenase activity about 2-fold.     

Amblyospora trinus N. Sp. (Microsporida: Amblyosporidae) in the Australian Mosquito Culex halifaxi (Diptera: Culicidae)

ABSTRACT. A new species of Amblyospora , a parasite found in wild populations of the predacious Australian mosquito Culex halifaxi , was investigated with light and electron microscopy. This species was found to be heterosporous with two concurrent sporulation sequences in the host larvae, both arising from diplokaryotic meronts and ending with haploid spores. One sequence was dominant and involved meiosis to produce eight thick-walled, broadly oval meiospores in a sporophorous vesicle (SV). The other sequence involved nuclear dissociation to produce lanceolate, thin-walled spores in a subpersistent SV. Horizontal transmission to the mosquito host, by one or both of two distinctly different pathways (one via an intermediate host, the other by cannibalism of infected individuals) and by vertical transmission, are postulated but have not been demonstrated. A new species, Amblyospora trinus , is proposed and its affinities to other heterosporous microsporidia in mosquitoes are discussed.     

沫蝉的病原真菌新种——巨孢虫疫霉(英文)

在浙江省百山祖自然保护区虫生真菌调查中发现松树上的菱沫蝉(Agrophora sp.)的新病原真菌一种,因其分生孢子远大于任何已知种虫疫霉,故定为新种巨孢虫疫霉(Eryniagigantea Li,Chert et Xu)。其初生分生孢子长倒拟卵形或拟纺锤形,对称或略弯曲,42.6—76.7×l 2.3—26.0μm(平均57.6×l 8.6μm),长径比2.2—4.9(平均3.1);顶稍圆或尖削;基部乳突略钝,有时有孢领。次生分生孢子倒拟卵形至广倒拟卵形;毛管分生孢子未见。假根成束。假囊状体及休眠孢子未见。     

CHANGES IN PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN RESPONSE TO COMBINED IRRADIANCE AND TEMPERATURE STRESS IN CYANOBACTERIAL SURFACE WATERBLOOMS1

Buoyant cyanobacteria, previously mixed throughout the water column, float to the lake surface and form a surface waterbloom when mixing subsides. At the surface, the cells are exposed to full sunlight, and this abrupt change in photon irradiance may induce photoinhibition; at the same time, temperature rises as well. This study investigated the damaging effects of this increase in temperature as well as the ecologically more relevant combination of both an increased temperature and a high photon irradiance. Analysis of surface blooms with oxygen microelectrodes showed that integrated oxygen contents that are dependent on the balance of photosynthetic oxygen evolution and respiratory oxygen uptake decreased when temperature was raised above the lake temperature. Gross rates of photosynthesis were unaffected by temperatures up to of 35°C; hence, a moderate increase in temperature mainly stimulated oxygen uptake. Preincubation of cells of the cyanobacterium Anabaena flos-aquae (Lyngb.) de Brébisson at temperatures up to 35°C did not affect the subsequent measurement of rates of net photosynthesis. Another 5°C rise in temperature severely damaged the photosynthetic apparatus. Failure to restore net rates of photosynthesis was coupled to a strong quenching of the ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence, F_v/F_m, that was the result of a rise in F_o. A combination of high temperature and high photon irradiance was more damaging than high temperature alone. In contrast, low photon irradiances offered substantial protection against heat injury of the photosynthetic apparatus. I conclude from this study that because cyanobacteria usually are acclimated to low average irradiance prior to bloom formation, there is a reasonable risk of chronic photoinhibition. The increase in temperature will enhance the photodamage of cells in the top layer of the bloom. Low photon irradiances in subsurface layers will offer protection against heat injury. If the high temperatures extend to the deepest, dark layers of the bloom, damage in those layers is likely to occur.     

THE GENUS PIKEA (DUMONTIACEAE,RHODOPHYTA) IN ENGLAND AND THE NORTH PACIFIC: COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGICAL,LIFE HISTORY,AND MOLECULAR STUDIES1

A Pikea species attributed to Pikea californica Harvey has been established in England since at least 1967. Previously, this species was believed to occur only in Japan and Pacific North America. Comparative morphological studies on field-collected material and cultured isolates from England, California, and Japan and analysis of organellar DNA restriction fragment length polymorphisms, detected using labeled organellar DNA as a non-radioactive probe, showed that English Pikea is conspecific with P. californica from California. Both populations consist of dioecious gametophytes with heteromorphic life histories involving crustose tetrasporophytes; 96% of organellar DNA bands were shared between interoceanic samples. A second dioecious species of Pikea, P. pinnata Setchell in Collins, Holden et Setchell, grows sympatrically with P. californica near San Francisco but can be distinguished by softer texture, more regular branching pattern, and elongate cystocarpic axes. Pikea pinnata and P. californica samples shared 49–50% of organellar DNA bands, consistent with their being distinct species. Herbarium specimens of P. robusta Abbott resemble P. pinnata in some morphological features but axes are much wider; P. robusta may represent a further, strictly sub-tidal species but fertile material is unknown. Pikea thalli from Japan, previously attributed to P. californica and described here as Pikea yoshizakii sp. nov., are monoecious and show a strikingly different type of life history. After fertilization, gonimoblast filaments grow outward through the cortex and form tetrasporangial nemathecia; released tetraspores develop directly into erect thalli. Tetrasporoblastic life histories are characteristic of certain members of the Phyllophoraceae but were previously unknown in the Dumontiaceae. Japanese P. yoshizakii shared 55 and 56% of organellar DNA bands with P. californica and P. pinnata, respectively; phylogenetic analysis indicated equally distant relationships to both species. Pikea yoshizakii or a closely similar species with the same life history occurs in southern California and Mexico.     

Comparison of wild type and genetically engineered nuclear polyhedrosis viruses of Autographa californica for mortality, virus replication and polyhedra production in Trichoplusia ni larvae

Virus replication and polyhedra production of two polyhedron-positive recombinant nuclear polyhedrosis viruses of Autographa californica, AcJHE.KK and AcAaIT which encode juvenile hormone esterase and scorpion toxin, respectively, were compared with those of a plaque purified wild-type nuclear polyhedrosis virus, AcMNPV-C6, in Trichoplusia ni larvae. Though average times required to kill the T. ni larvae increased with the age of the larvae, killing time by either recombinant virus was significantly shorter than that by wild-type virus. Killing time was reduced ca. 30% for AcAaIT-infected larvae and 5 to 8% for AcJHE.KK-infected larvae as compared to that for AcMNPV-C6-infected larvae. The average weight of larvae infected with AcAaIT was significantly lower than that of larvae infected with AcJHE.KK and AcMNPV-C6. The mean numbers of polyhedra produced in each larva inoculated with AcAaIT and AcJHE.KK were ca. 20% and 60%, respectively, of those for AcMNPV-C6. Total virus titers in AcMNPV-C6-infected larvae were significantly higher than those in AcJHE.KK- and AcAaIT-infected larvae until 2 days post infection.     

Lecane segersi n.sp. (Rotifera, Lecanidae) from Thailand

Lecane segersi n.sp. collected from a swamp in Udornthani province, northeastern part of Thailand, is described and figured. It is closely related to the common, warm-stenotherm Lecane papuana (Murray), but distinguished by the presence of inwardly directed antero-lateral spines.     

Descriptions of Three New Longidorus Species from Alaska (Nematoda: Longidoridae)

Three new Longidorus species, L. alaskaensis n. sp., L. paralaskaensis n. sp., and L. bernardi n. sp., are described from specimens collected near Fairbanks, Alaska. Longidorus alaskaensis differs from all species of Longidorus by the presence of a caecum-like structure situated at the reflex of the oviduct. Longidorus paralaskaensis most closely resembles L. alaskaensis n. sp., L. crassus Thorne, L. picenus Roca, Lamberti &Agostinelli, and L. silvae Roca, differing from the last three of these species by having a parallel vs. a tapered lip region, and from all four by having a more narrowly rounded tail tip. Longidorus paralaskaensis differs from L. alaskaensis by having a longer odontostyle (119-128 vs. 110-118 μm) and by lacking the caecum-like structure found at the reflex of the oviduct. Longidorus bernardi n. sp. most closely resembles L. mirus Khan, Chawla &Seshadri, from which it differs by having a longer tail with a more acutely rounded tip, a longer body length (3.5-4.6 vs. 3.0-3.6 μm), and a larger c'' value (1.6-1.8 vs. 1.3-1.6). Longidorus bernardi differs from L. sylphus Thorne, L. africanus Merny, L. auratus Jacobs &Heyns, and L. conicaudatus Khan by having a slightly expanded lip region vs. a lip region with parallel body walls and a more finely rounded tail tip.