LIVE-BIRTH IN VIPERS (VIPERIDAE) IS A KEY INNOVATION AND ADAPTATION TO GLOBAL COOLING DURING THE CENOZOIC

The identification of adaptations and key innovations has long interested biologists because they confer on organisms the ability to exploit previously unavailable ecological resources and respond to novel selective pressures. Although it can be extremely difficult to test for the effects of a character on the rate of lineage diversification, the convergent evolution of a character in multiple lineages provides an excellent opportunity to test for the effect of that character on lineage diversification. Here, I examine the effect of parity mode on the diversification of vipers, which have independently evolved viviparity in at least 13 lineages. I find strong statistical evidence that viviparous species diversify at a greater rate than oviparous species and correlate major decreases in the diversification rate of oviparous species with periods of global cooling, such as the Oligocene. These results suggest that the evolution of viviparity buffered live-bearing species against the negative effects of global climate change during the Cenozoic, and was a key innovation in the evolution and diversification of live-bearing vipers.     

黄肉桃种质资源的RAPD分析

利用RAPD技术,采用从200个十碱基随机物筛选的22个随机引物对37个黄肉桃品种的基因组DNA进行扩增,通过扩增的180个位点的谱带的聚类,分析供试黄肉桃的系统发育,运用特殊谱带,建立了黄肉桃的分子检索表,并提出了重点保存的黄肉桃种质。     

Diversification in Polypteriformes and Special Comparison With the Lepisosteiformes

Polypteriformes (or Cladistia) and Lepisosteiformes (or Ginglymodi) are two groups of freshwater fishes with ganoid scales. The earliest fossil records of these taxa are Albian (Lepisosteiformes) and Cenomanian (Polypteriformes) respectively in Gondwana; they are still extant. The 'first' appearance of the two groups in the fossil record (explosive in polypteriforms, gradual in lepisosteiforms) as well as their evolutionary mode (diversification/disparity or replacement) is described in detail. The lepisosteiforms appear to show a rapid radiation of post-Palaeozoic clades immediately upon origination, while the polypteriforms represent a counter-example with their sudden diversification and their sudden acquisition of several 'key innovations'.     

8-Oxoguanine DNA glycosylase-1-mediated DNA repair is associated with Rho GTPase activation and α-smooth muscle actin polymerization

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are activators of cell signaling and modify cellular molecules, including DNA. 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) is one of the prominent lesions in oxidatively damaged DNA, whose accumulation is causally linked to various diseases and aging processes, whereas its etiological relevance is unclear. 8-OxoG is repaired by the 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase-1 (OGG1)-initiated DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway. OGG1 binds free 8-oxoG and this complex functions as an activator of Ras family GTPases. Here we examined whether OGG1-initiated BER is associated with the activation of Rho GTPase and mediates changes in the cytoskeleton. To test this possibility, we induced OGG1-initiated BER in cultured cells and mouse lungs and used molecular approaches such as active Rho pull-down assays, siRNA ablation of gene expression, immune blotting, and microscopic imaging. We found that OGG1 physically interacts with Rho GTPase and, in the presence of 8-oxoG base, increases Rho–GTP levels in cultured cells and lungs, which mediates α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) polymerization into stress fibers and increases the level of α-SMA in insoluble cellular/tissue fractions. These changes were absent in cells lacking OGG1. These unexpected data and those showing that 8-oxoG repair is a lifetime process suggest that, via Rho GTPase, OGG1 could be involved in the cytoskeletal changes and organ remodeling observed in various chronic diseases.     

On the use of fluorescence lifetime imaging and dihydroethidium to detect superoxide in intact animals and ex vivo tissues: A reassessment

Recently, D.J. Hall et al. reported that ethidium (E⁺) is formed as a major product of hydroethidine (HE) or dihydroethidium reaction with superoxide (O₂⁻) in intact animals with low tissue oxygen levels (J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab. 32:23–32, 2012). The authors concluded that measurement of E⁺ is an indicator of O₂⁻ formation in intact brains of animals. This finding is in stark contrast to previous reports using in vitro systems showing that 2-hydroxyethidium, not ethidium, is formed from the reaction between O₂⁻ and HE. Published in vivo results support the in vitro findings. In this study, we performed additional experiments in which HE oxidation products were monitored under different fluxes of O₂⁻. Results from these experiments further reaffirm our earlier findings (H. Zhao et al., Free Radic. Biol. Med. 34:1359, 2003). We conclude that whether in vitro or in vivo, E⁺ measured by HPLC or by fluorescence lifetime imaging is not a diagnostic marker product for O₂⁻ reaction with HE.     

2014 年中国医药市场发展蓝皮书——产业经济部分（Ⅰ）

分别从产业经济、医院用药及零售终端这3 个方面对2013 年中国医药行业实际现况进行统计和分析,为企业明确发展方向、确定产品研发思路及制定市场策略提供参考。     

Description of Medwayella independencia (Siphonaptera,Stivaliidae), a new species of flea from Mindanao Island,the Philippines and their phoretic mites,and miscellaneous flea records from the Malay Archipelago

Medwayella independencia, a new species of flea, is described from the tupaiid host Urogale everetti (Thomas) from Mindanao Island, Philippines. Several other species of fleas are also recorded from the Philippines including a single male of Lentistivalius philippinensis Hastriter and Bush, 2013 (previously known only from two males), the bat fleas Thaumapsylla breviceps orientalis Smit and Thaumapsylla longiforceps Traub, a single unidentified female species of Macrostylophora Ewing collected from the murid Bullimus bagobos Mearns, and a pair of Medwayella robinsoni ssp. from Sundasciurus hoogstraali (Sanborn) from Busuanga Island, Philippines. Representatives of Medwayella Traub, 1972 and Macrostylophora have not previously been recorded from the Philippines. A key to the male sex of Medwayella is provided. Phoretic mites of the genus Psylloglyphus (family Winterschmidtiidae) were present under the abdominal sclerites of several male and female specimens of M. independencia. This is the second report of a phoretic mite on a species of Medwayella Traub. The co-evolutionary implications between phoretic mites and fleas are discussed.     

Scale Insects,edition 2, a tool for the identification of potential pest scales at U.S.A. ports-of-entry (Hemiptera,Sternorrhyncha, Coccoidea)

We provide a general overview of features and technical specifications of an online, interactive tool for the identification of scale insects of concern to the U.S.A. ports-of-entry. Full lists of terminal taxa included in the keys (of which there are four), a list of features used in them, and a discussion of the structure of the tool are provided. We also briefly discuss the advantages of interactive keys for the identification of potential scale insect pests. The interactive key is freely accessible on http://idtools.org/id/scales/index.php