On Connectedness of a Two-way Elimination of Heterogeneity Design

For some subclass of a two-way elimination of heterogeneity design, necessary and sufficient conditions are established for row-connectedness and column-connectedness of a design to imply its connectedness.     

Elimination of apple stem grooving virus by chemotherapy and development of an immunocapture RT-PCR for rapid sensitive screening

Ombuin (7,4′-dimethyl quercetin) (10 μg ml^-1, for 12 wk), glycyrrhizin/quercetin (80 μg ml^-1and 10 μg ml^-1respectively, for 18 wk), ribavirin (10 μg ml^-1, for 12 wk) and quercetin/ribavirin (10 μg ml^-1each, for 9–12 wk) reduced the titre of apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) when applied in vitro to infected tissue cultures of Nicotiana occidentalis obliqua Wheeler, and/or Malus domestica. ASGV was not detectable in both plant species after the quercitin/ribavirin treatment when tested by ISEM, herbaceous host indexing, RT-PCR, and immunocapture RT-PCR. A sensitive immunocapture RT-PCR procedure for the detection of ASGV was developed for the screening of treated samples to assess antiviral activity.     

Population biology of a selfish sex ratio distorting element in a booklouse (Psocodea: Liposcelis)

Arthropods harbour a variety of selfish genetic elements that manipulate reproduction to be preferentially transmitted to future generations. A major ongoing question is to understand how these elements persist in nature. In this study, we examine the population dynamics of an unusual selfish sex ratio distorter in a recently discovered species of booklouse, Liposcelis sp. (Psocodea: Liposcelididae) to gain a better understanding of some of the factors that may affect the persistence of this element. Females that carry the selfish genetic element only ever produce daughters, although they are obligately sexual. These females also only transmit the maternal half of their genome. We performed a replicated population cage experiment, varying the initial frequency of females that harbour the selfish element, and following female frequencies for 20 months. The selfish genetic element persisted in all cages, often reaching very high (and thus severely female‐biased) frequencies. Surprisingly, we also found that females that carry the selfish genetic element had much lower fitness than their nondistorter counterparts, with lower lifetime fecundity, slower development and a shorter egg‐laying period. We suggest that differential fitness plays a role in the maintenance of the selfish genetic element in this species. We believe that the genetic system in this species, paternal genome elimination, which allows maternal control of offspring sex ratio, may also be important in the persistence of the selfish genetic element, highlighting the need to consider species with diverse ecologies and genetic systems when investigating the effects of sex ratio manipulators on host populations.     

Hepatic overexpression of methionine sulfoxide reductase A reduces atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice

Methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MsrA), a specific enzyme that converts methionine-S-sulfoxide to methionine, plays an important role in the regulation of protein function and the maintenance of redox homeostasis. In this study, we examined the impact of hepatic MsrA overexpression on lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis in apoE-deficient (apoE^−/−) mice. In vitro study showed that in HepG2 cells, lentivirus-mediated human MsrA (hMsrA) overexpression upregulated the expression levels of several key lipoprotein-metabolism-related genes such as liver X receptor α, scavenger receptor class B type I, and ABCA1. ApoE^−/− mice were intravenously injected with lentivirus to achieve high-level hMsrA expression predominantly in the liver. We found that hepatic hMsrA expression significantly reduced plasma VLDL/LDL levels, improved plasma superoxide dismutase, and paraoxonase-1 activities, and decreased plasma serum amyloid A level in apoE^−/− mice fed a Western diet, by significantly altering the expression of several genes in the liver involving cholesterol selective uptake, conversion and excretion into bile, TG biosynthesis, and inflammation. Moreover, overexpression of hMsrA resulted in reduced hepatic steatosis and aortic atherosclerosis. These results suggest that hepatic MsrA may be an effective therapeutic target for ameliorating dyslipidemia and reducing atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular diseases.     

金针菇褐化病毒(FvBV)脱毒方法

【目的】评价5种不同脱毒方法对金针菇(Flammulina velutipes)菌株的脱毒效果,筛选出脱毒率高和脱毒后金针菇菌株菌丝生长速度、生物量、漆酶活力等性状改善明显的脱毒方法。【方法】以栽培金针菇菌株F-4889为研究材料,从菌丝体中提取大小约2.0 kb的病毒dsRNA,经RT-PCR鉴定该病毒为金针菇褐化病毒(FvBV)。采用菌丝尖端分离、原基组织分离、原生质体单核化、有性生殖和核迁移5种脱毒方法对金针菇菌株进行脱毒处理,利用dsRNA技术和RT-PCR检测脱毒效果。【结果】菌丝尖端分离脱毒后得到1株脱毒菌株;原基组织分离法未能脱毒;原生质体单核化脱毒法得到3株脱毒单核菌株和2株原单杂交脱毒菌株;有性生殖脱毒法获得脱毒孢子单核菌株23株和单孢杂交脱毒菌株8株;核迁移脱毒后得到5株核迁移脱毒菌株。脱毒率依次为25.0%、0、7.5%、57.5%和100%。脱毒菌株的菌丝生长速度、生物量、漆酶活力等均优于出发菌株、菌丝尖端和原基组织分离菌株。【结论】这5种方法中原生质体单核化、有性生殖和核迁移脱毒法脱毒效果较佳,均能有效脱除FvBV,脱毒率高,脱毒后菌株菌丝生长速度、生物量、漆酶活力等均明显提高。     

Elimination of Aedes aegypti in northern Australia, 2004–2006

The Northern Territory (NT) of Australia is currently free of the dengue mosquito Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L). However, on 17 February 2004, two Ae. aegypti adults were captured in two routine CO₂‐baited encephalitis virus surveillance traps in Tennant Creek, located 990 km south of Darwin in the NT. The detection triggered an immediate survey and control response undertaken by the NT Department of Health and Community Services, followed by a Commonwealth of Australia‐funded Ae. aegypti elimination program. This report details the methods and results of the detection and subsequent elimination activities that were carried out between 2004 and 2006, returning the NT to its dengue vector‐free status. There have been very few successful Ae. aegypti elimination programs in the world. This purposeful mosquito elimination for Australia was officially declared on 5 April 2006.     

生物工程技术在实验小鼠生物净化上的应用

目的采用体外受精的技术,对L858R、TL清洁级小鼠,以及来源于野外的中华小家鼠,和感染肺炎克来伯氏菌的Balb/c-nu裸鼠进行生物净化。方法对于需要净化的小鼠的雄鼠,采集附睾的精子,放入HTF溶液中获能,然后加入经过超排的卵团,体外受精。20-22 h后,挑选形态正常的二细胞胚胎,在净化实验室,移植给假孕的SPF级ICR母鼠,待产仔。仔鼠断奶后,随机选择仔鼠及带奶母鼠送检。结果体外受精的胚胎,经过移植后,均顺利产仔;仔鼠及母鼠的微生物级别,均达到SPF级。结论对于微生物级别较低的实验小鼠,采用在洁净实验室内做体外受精、胚胎移植的方法,可以提高实验小鼠的微生物级别。     

Phosphorus Translocation by Red Deer on a Subalpine Grassland in the Central European Alps

We examined the role of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) in translocating phosphorus (P) from their preferred grazing sites (short-grass vegetation on subalpine grasslands) to their wider home range in a subalpine grassland ecosystem in the Central European Alps. Phosphorus was used because it is the limiting nutrient in these grasslands. When we compared P removal of aboveground biomass due to grazing with P input due to the deposit of feces on a grid of 268 cells (20 m × 20 m) covering the entire grassland, we detected distinct spatial patterns: the proportion of heavily grazed short-grass vegetation increased with increasing soil-P pool, suggesting that red deer preferably grazed on grid cells with a higher soil-P pool. Biomass consumption related to increased proportion of short-grass vegetation, and therefore P removal, increased with increasing soil-P pool. However, within the two vegetation types (short-grass and tall-grass), consumption was independent from soil-P pool. In addition, P input rates from defecation increased with increasing soil-P pool, resulting in a constant mean net P loss of 0.083 kg ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ (0.03%–0.07% of soil-P pool) independent of both soil-P pool and vegetation type. Thus, there was no P translocation between grid cells with different soil-P pools or between short-grass and tall-grass vegetation. Based on these results, it is likely that the net rate of P loss is too small to explain the observed changes in vegetation composition from tall-herb/meadow communities to short-grass and from tall-grass to short-grass on the grassland since 1917. Instead, we suggest that the grazing patterns of red deer directly induced succession from tall-herb/meadow communities to short-grass vegetation. Yet, it is also possible that long-term net soil-P losses indirectly drive plant succession from short-grass to tall-grass vegetation, because nutrient depletion could reduce grazing pressure in short-grass vegetation and enable the characteristic tall-grass species Carex sempervirens Vill. to establish.     

野黄瓜与栽培黄瓜正反交异源四倍体序列消除的初步研究

不同分类群的异源多倍体在二倍化过程中, 正反交序列消除往往表现出不同特征, 暗示了在不同物种中, 核质互作在多倍体进化过程的作用不同。利用13对EcoRI-NN/MseI-NNN选择性引物, 对野黄瓜Cucumis hystrix (2n=24)与栽培黄瓜C. sativus (2n=14)的正反交F1、异源四倍体及二倍体亲本DNA进行AFLP分析。结果表明: 杂交后代基因组的杂合性诱发了F1与异源四倍体广泛的序列消除; 细胞质可能会影响部分亲本序列消除的频率, 但是正反交在序列消除频率上差异不显著, 并且在序列消除时间(均始于F1代)及消除类型上也表现出一致性, 表明核质互作并不是影响序列消除的主要因素; 实验还发现, 正反交不能影响序列的倾向性丢失, 染色体数少的黄瓜条带易发生丢失。     

The elimination of fox rabies from Europe: determinants of success and lessons for the future

Despite perceived challenges to controlling an infectious disease in wildlife, oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of foxes has proved a remarkably successful tool and a prime example of a sophisticated strategy to eliminate disease from wildlife reservoirs. During the past three decades, the implementation of ORV programmes in 24 countries has led to the elimination of fox-mediated rabies from vast areas of Western and Central Europe. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of 22 European ORV programmes between 1978 and 2010. During this period an area of almost 1.9 million km² was targeted at least once with vaccine baits, with control taking between 5 and 26 years depending upon the country. We examined factors influencing effort required both to control and eliminate fox rabies as well as cost-related issues of these programmes. The proportion of land area ever affected by rabies and an index capturing the size and overlap of successive ORV campaigns were identified as factors having statistically significant effects on the number of campaigns required to both control and eliminate rabies. Repeat comprehensive campaigns that are wholly overlapping much more rapidly eliminate infection and are less costly in the long term. Disproportionally greater effort is required in the final phase of an ORV programme, with a median of 11 additional campaigns required to eliminate disease once incidence has been reduced by 90 per cent. If successive ORV campaigns span the entire affected area, rabies will be eliminated more rapidly than if campaigns are implemented in a less comprehensive manner, therefore reducing ORV expenditure in the longer term. These findings should help improve the planning and implementation of ORV programmes, and facilitate future decision-making by veterinary authorities and policy-makers.