More than mimicry？ Evaluating scope for flicker-fusion as a defensive strategy in coral snake mimics

Coral snakes and their mimics often have brightly colored banded patterns, generally associated with warning colora- tion or mimicry. However, such color patterns have also been hypothesized to aid snakes in escaping predators through a ＂flicker-fusion＂ effect. According to this hypothesis, banded color patterns confuse potential predators when a snake transitions from resting to moving because its bands blur together to form a different color. To produce this motion blur, a moving snake＇s bands must transition faster than the critical flicker-fusion rate at which a predator＇s photoreceptors can refresh. It is unknown if coral snakes or their mimics meet this requirement. We tested this hypothesis by measuring the movement speed and color pat- terns of two coral snake mimics, Lampropeltis triangulum campbelli and L. elapsoides, and comparing the frequency of color transitions to the photoreceptor activity of the avian eye. We found that snakes often produced a motion blur, but moving snakes created a blurring effect more often in darker conditions, such as sunrise, sunset, and nighttime when these snakes are often active. Thus, at least two species of coral snake mimics are capable of achieving flicker-fusion, indicating that their color patterns may confer an additional defense aside from mimicry     

Naturally occurring Trichogramma species in olive farms in Egypt

A survey of two-year studies (2001-2003) was carried out in two olive groves sited at two representative olive growing areas, namely Paradise Park (arid area) and Burg E1-Arab farm (semi-arid area) to monitor the frequency of endemic Trichogramma species on olive moth (Prays oleae) and jasmine moth (Palpita unionalis). The suspended host bait traps were found to be a more practical and effective tool for collecting Trichogramma wasps than the attached ones. Four naturally occurring Trichogramma species were collected for the first time in Egypt from the olive groves, where releases have never been conducted. T.bourarachae was collected exclusively from Burg El-Arab farm. It seems that this wasp species adapts well to the semi-arid area. Three species, namely T. cordubensis, T. nr.pretiosum and T. cacociae were isolated from Paradise Park farm. All of these wasps were also bred from naturally parasitized host eggs during favorable and even at unfavorable temperature conditions of June-August. However, these endemic species did not occur naturally in sufficient numbers to keep the pest populations from reaching damaging levels.The excessive usage of insecticides and the oophagous predators (e.g., ants and lacewing larvae) are some factors that affect the performance of Trichogramma wasps in olive farms.The presence of warm weather wasp strains suggests the existence of well-adapted wasp species or swains which may be appropriate candidates for the control of target pests in olive groves. Additional study is required to determine the best “habitat-specific” species/strains of Trichogramma for augmentative release of naturally occurring wasps and to incorporate them into integrated pest management programs. Efforts should be made to conserve these endemic species from oophagous predators, hot weather and insecticides.The olive and jasmine moth-larvae and pupae found under tree canopies were bred and emerged parasitoids were listed.     

Epistatic effect between ACACA and FABP2 gene on abdominal fat traits in broilers

Epistasis is generally defined as the interaction between two or more genes or their mRNA or protein products to influence a single trait. Experimental evidence suggested that epistasis could be important in the determination of the genetic architecture of complex traits in domestic animals. Acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase alpha (ACACA) and fatty acid binding protein 2 (FABP2) are both key factors of lipogenesis and transport. They may play a crucial role in the weight variability of abdominal adipose tissue in the growing chicken. In this study, the polymorphisms of c.2292GA in ACACA and c.-561AC in FABP2 were detected among individuals from two broiler lines which were divergently selected for abdominal fat content. Epistasis between the two SNPs on abdominal fat weight (AFW) and abdominal fat percentage (AFP) was analyzed. The additive × additive epistatic components between these two SNPs were found significant or suggestively significant on both AFW and AFP in lean lines of the 9th and 10th generation; whereas, it was not significantly associated with either AFW or AFP in fat lines. At the same time, there were not any other significant epistatic components found in both generations or in both lines. Significant epistatic effects between these two SNPs found only in the lean lines could partly be due to the fact that the abdominal fat traits in these two experimental lines have been greatly modified by strong artificial selection. The results suggested that the epistasis mode may be different between the lean and fat chicken lines. Our results could be helpful in further understanding the genetic interaction between candidate genes contributing to phenotypic variation of abdominal fat content in broilers.     

Kaede for Detection of Protein Oligomerization

Photoconvertible fluorescent proteins such as Kaede are routinely used for tracking proteins, organelles, and whole cells. Kaede was the first identified photoconvertible fluorescent protein and has since become the most commonly used photoconvertible fluorescent protein in vertebrates. Kaede can be irreversibly converted from a green to a red fluo- rescent form upon UV/blue light irradiation and fluorescence of each form can be isolated separately by appropriate filter sets. Spectral properties of the Kaede forms allow F6rster resonance energy transfer （FRET） from the green form as donor to the red form as acceptor. As a sample containing oligomerized Kaede-containing proteins is exposed to UV or blue light, FRET first increases as green Kaede is converted to red and then decreases as the green donor becomes depleted. Thus, FRET information is potentially obtained from a number of independent measurements taken as photoconversion proceeds. We demonstrate here the application of this approach to detect homo-aggregation and conformational dynamics of plant pro- tein constructs. Structural alterations of 2-cys peroxiredoxin-Kaede were successfully detected depending on the redox state in living plant cells. Photoconversion was performed gradually and donor emission, acceptor emission, and FRET-derived sensitized acceptor emission were measured at each step of conversion. Since photoconvertible proteins have not been rou- tinely used in plants, two plasmids have been designed to facilitate plant applications. The plasmids allow either transient expression of Kaede-containing protein constructs in plant cells or Gateway cloning and stable transformation of plants.     

Expression of DNA-dependent protein kinase in human granulocytes

Human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) have been reported to completely lack of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) which is composed of Ku protein and the catalytic subunit DNA-PKcs, needed for nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) of DNA double-strand breaks. Promyelocytic HL-60 cells express a variant form of Ku resulting in enhanced radiation sensitivity. This raises the question if low efficiency of NHEJ, instrumental for the cellular repair of oxidative damage, is a normal characteristic of myeloid differentiation. Here we confirmed the complete lack of DNAPK in PMN protein extracts, and the expression of the truncated Ku86 variant form in HL-60. However, this degradation of DNA-PK was shown to be due to a DNA-PK-degrading protease in PMN and HL-60. In addition, by using a protease-resistant whole cell assay, both Ku86 and DNA-PKcs could be demonstrated in PMN, suggesting the previously reported absence in PMN of DNA-PK to be an artefact. The levels of Ku86 and DNA-PKcs were much reduced in PMN, as compared with that of the lymphocytes, whereas HL-60 displayed a markedly elevated DNA-PK concentration. In conclusion, our findings provide evidence of reduced, not depleted expression of DNA-PK during the mature stages of myeloid differentiation.     

Assembly of lamins in vitro

After lamins A,B and C were isolated and purified from rat liver,their assembly properties were examined by electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy by electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy using negative staining and the glycerol coating method,respectively.By varying the assembly time or the ionic conditions under which polymerization takes place,we have observed different stages of lamin assembly,which may provide clues on the structure of the 10 nm lamin filaments.At the first level of structural organization,two lamin polypeptides associate laterally into dimers with the two domains being parallel and in register.At the second level of structural organization,two dimers associate in a half-staggered and antiparallel fashion to form a tetramer 75 nm in length.At the third level of structural organization,4-10 lamin tetramers associate laterally in register to form 75 nm long 10nm filaments,which in turn combine head to head into long,fully assembled lamin filaments.The assembled lamin filaments are nonpolar.     

The RecQ DNA helicases： Jacks-of-all-trades or master-tradesmen？

Homologous recombination occurs when a damaged chromosome uses an intact homologous chromosome as a template for its repair. The main steps of recombination are most readily illustrated for the repair of a DNA doublestrand-break （DSB）. First, DSB-ends are processed to form single-stranded tails, which assemble into nucleoprotein complexes comprising an oligomeric filament of a RecA-family protein （Rad51 in eukaryotes） and associated factors. Rad51 filaments catalyze homologous pairing and strand-exchange between a DSB-end and a double-stranded template to form a joint molecule intermediate. This structure allows de novo priming of DNA synthesis to restore sequences that were lost or damaged at the site of the original lesion. Recombination also underpins chromosome replication by facilitating the repair of broken replication forks. In this case, joint molecule formation allows rep- lication to reinitiate. At the final step of recombination, strand-exchange ＂Holliday＂ junctions that connect the involved chromosomes are resolved so that segregation can ensue. Joint molecule resolution can occur with one of two outcomes： a crossover, in which chromosome arms are exchanged; or a noncrossover without exchange.     

Bite me： Blue tails as a ＇risky-decoy＇ defense tactic for lizards

Many lizard species use caudal autotomy to escape entrapment. Conspicuous coloration may increase the likelihood of being attacked, but if that attack can be directed towards the autotomous tail this may ultimately increase the chances of the lizard surviving a predatory attack. We tested the hypothesis that brightly-colored tails function to divert predatory attention away from the head and body using pairs of blue-tailed and all-brown clay model lizards. Predatory bird attacks on the 24 blue-tailed models occurred sooner （P = 0.001） than attacks on the 24 all-brown models, and over 7 days blue-tailed models were attacked more often than all-brown models （P = 0.007）. Blue-tailed models were, however, more frequently attacked on the tail than other parts of the body （P 〈 0.001）, while all-brown models were more frequently attacked on the head and body （P = 0.019） which would be more likely to be fatal for a real lizard. Our results suggest that models with a blue tail were more conspicuous than all-brown models, attracting attacks sooner and more often, but that the attacks were predominantly directed at the tail. It is better for individuals to be attacked unsuccessfully many times, than successfully just once. Having a brightly-colored tail may, therefore, act as a ＇risky decoy＇. Despite increased conspicuousness, a blue tail increases the likelihood that the lizard would be able to effect escape through caudal autotomy rather than being grabbed by the head or body [Current Zoology 60 （3）： 333-337, 2014].     

Laser scanning fluorescence microscopic measurement of the movement of cleaving egg surface of Rana Amurensis

By laser scanning fluorescence microscopy for quantitative measurement of fluorescence intensity changes on egg surface stained with fluorescein isothiocyanate during cleavage furrow extending forward,it was found that in area of presumptive cleavage furrow the scanning curve became ∨ shape,indicating dark stripe appeared in that place.Then the fluorescence intensity increased at the place where the bottom of ∨ shape had located,and the scanning curve turned to ∧ shape,indicating single stripe was formed.While enhanced fluorescence appeared on the borders of ∧ shape,an M shape curve was found,showing double stripe occurred.During the distance between two borders of M shape incresing from 50μm to 100μm,a fluorescence peak came to sight in the middle of the M shape,which being the cleavge furrow bottom.The two lateral sides of furrow bottom with decreasing fluorescence were nascent membrane.At that time the curve became W shape.By the sides of cleavage furrow the the stress folds became conspicous after double stripe stage,showing the stretching of the egg surface being increased.With our[31,33]and others[32] reports that polylysine could induce the appearance of nascent membrane and phytohemagglutinins could decrease or prevent the appearance of nascent membrane,we believed the idea of Schroeder[25] that increasing mechanical stress could initiate nascent membrane formation and thought that the stresslay to the outsides of cleavage furrow.     

Dynamic proteome changes of Shigella flexneri 2a during transition from exponential growth to stationary phase

Shigella flexneri is an infectious pathogen that causes dysentery to human, which remains a serious threat to public health, particularly in developing countries. In this study, the global protein expression patterns of S. flexneri during transition from exponential growth to stationary phase in vitro were analyzed by using 2-D PAGE combined with MALDI-TOF MS. In a time-course experiment with five time points, the relative abundance of 49 protein spots varied significantly. Interestingly, a putative outer membrane protein YciD （OmpW） was almost not detected in the exponential growth phase but became one of the most abundant proteins in the whole stationary-phase proteome. Some proteins regulated by the global regulator FNR were also significantly induced （such as AnsB, AspA, FrdAB, and KatG） or repressed （such as AceEF, OmpX, SodA, and SucAB） during the growth phase transition. These proteins may be the key effectors of the bacterial cell cycle or play important roles in the cellular maintenance and stress responses. Our expression profile data provide valuable information for the study of bacterial physiology and form the basis for future proteomic analyses of this pathogen.     

Comparison of the potential rate of population increase of brown and green color morphs of Sitobion avenae （Homoptera： Aphididae） on barley infected and uninfected with Barley yellow dwarf virus

Life tables of brown and green color morphs of the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae （Fabricius） reared on barley under laboratory conditions at 20 ＋ 1℃,65% ± 5% relative humidity and a photoperiod of 16 ： 8 h （L ： D） were compared. The plants were either： （i） infected with the Barley yellow dwarf virus （BYDV）; （ii） not infectedwith virus but previously infested with aphids; or （iii） healthy barley plants, which were not previously infested with aphids. Generally, both color morphs of S. avenae performedsignificantly better when fed on BYDV-infected plants than on plants that were virus free but had either not been or had been previously infested with aphids. Furthermore,when fed on BYDV-infected plants, green S. avenae developed significantly faster and had a significantly shorter reproductive period than the brown color morph. There wereno significant differences in this respect between the two color morphs ofS. avenae when they were reared on virus-free plants that either had been or not been previously infestedwith aphids. These results indicate that barley infected with BYDV is a more favorable host plant than uninfected barley for both the color morphs ofS. avenae tested, particularly the green color morph.     

Dissection of genetic overlap of salt tolerance QTLs at the seedling and tillering stages using backcross introgression lines in rice

QTLs for salt-tolerance(ST)related traits at the seedling and tillering stages were identified using 99 BC2F8 introgression lines(IL)derived from a cross between IR64(indica)as a recurrent parent and Binam(japonica)from Iran as the donor parent.Thirteen QTLs affecting survival days of seedlings(SDS), score of salt toxicity of leaves(SST),shoot K concentration(SKC)and shoot Na concentration(SNC) at the seedling stage and 22 QTLs underlying fresh weight of shoots(FW),tiller number per plant(TN) and plant height(PH)at the tillering stage were identified.Most QTLs detected at the tillering stage showed obvious differential expression to salt stress and were classified into three types based on their differential behaviors.Type I included 11 QTLs which were expressed only under the non-stress condition.Type II included five QTLs expressed in the control and the salt stress conditions,and three of them(QPh5,QPh8 and QTn9)had similar quantity and the same direction of gene effect,suggesting their expression was less influenced by salt stress.Type III included six QTLs which were detectable only under salt stress,suggesting that these QTLs were apparently induced by the stress.Thirteen QTLs affecting trait difference or trait stability of ILs between the stress and non-stress conditions were identified and the Binam alleles at all loci except QPh4,QTn2 and QFw2a decreased trait difference.The three QTLs less influenced by the stress and 13 QTLs affecting trait stability were considered as ST QTLs which contributed to ST.Comparing the distribution of QTLs detected at the seedling and tillering stages,most(69%)of them were genetically independent.Only four were the same or adjacent regions on chromosomes 1,2,8 and 11 harboring ST QTLs detected at the two stages,suggesting that partial genetic overlap of ST across the two stages occurs.It is likely,therefore,to develop ST rice variety for both stages by pyramiding of ST QTLs of different stages or selection against the overlapping QTLs between the two stages via marker-assisted selection(MAS).     

Molecular Epidemiological Investigation of Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus and Taura Syndrome Virus in Penaeus Vannamei Cultured in China

The Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus(IHHNV) and Taura syndrome virus(TSV) are two important shrimp viruses in cultured shrimp in America.These two viruses were transmitted to China at the beginning of the 21st century.In this study,214 shrimp samples of Penaeus vannamei were collected from seven different areas of China and tested by PCR for IHHNV and TSV infection.The results showed that there were a high prevalence of IHHNV(65.42%) and low prevalence of TSV(3.27%) in the tested samples.Several samples were found to be co-infected with these two viruses.A 3 kb fragment of 7 positive IHHNV samples and a structure protein region(ORF2) of three TSV positive samples were amplified and sequenced.The sequence comparison indicated that both IHHNV and TSV sequenced in China have a low genetic variations compared with the prototype IHHNV and TSV from Hawaii.Phylogenetic analysis showed that TSV isolates were clustered into two groups,Asia and America group,which was genetically correlated to geographic distribution.     

佛坪自然保护区野生大熊猫交配行为的观察

On March 26 and 27, 2003, we observed six and five giant pandas assembled together respectively in Huodiba and Lijiagou districts of Sanguanmiao, Foping Nature Reserve, Shaanxi Province, China. The mating sites were located in the coniferous forest and mixed coniferous and deciduous forest, with steep slope and sparse shrubs and bamboos. Wind power was estimated over 3rd category in those two days. The competition and lighting among male pandas were observed, and the mating right with the female panda was mainly based on the hierarchical ordering. However, not all the winners during competition can be access to mating with the female panda. For wild giant panda, its mating system is maybe plastic, which perhaps is affected by environment, time and panda population itself. Cubs or sub-adults are observed oceurring at the mating site, which is considered to be linked with the learning of the reproductive behavior. Our results maybe provide a useful guideline to the management and breeding of giant pandas in the captivity.     

Proteomics analysis of Trichoplusia ni midgut epithelial cell brush border membrane vesicles

The insect midgut epithelium is composed of columnar, goblet, and regenerative cells. Columnar epithelial cells are the most abundant and have membrane protrusions that form the brush border membrane (BBM) on their apical side. These increase surface area available for the transport of nutrients, but also provide opportunities for interaction with xenobiotics such as pathogens, toxins and host plant allelochemicals. Recent improvements in proteomic and bioinfbrmatics tools provided an opportunity to determine the proteome of the T. ni BBM in unprecedented detail. This study reports the identification of proteins from BBM vesicles (BBMVs) using single dimension polyacrylamide gel elec? trophoresis coupled with multi-dimensional protein identification technology. More than 3000 proteins were associated with the BBMV of which 697 were predicted to possess either a signal peptide, at least one transmembrane domain or a GPI-anchor signal. Of these, bioinfbrmatics analysis and manual curation predicted that 185 may be associated with the BBMV or epithelial cell plasma membrane. These are discussed with respect to their predicted functions, namely digestion, nutrient uptake, cell signaling, development, cell-cell interactions, and other functions. We believe this to be the most detailed proteomic analysis of the lepidopteran midgut epithelium membrane to date, which will provide information to better understand the biochemical, physiological and pathological processes taking place in the larval midgut.     

iCatch:a new strategy for capturing large DNA fragments using homing endonucleases

Natural genetic materials contain many biosynthetic gene clusters encoding potentially valuable natural products,many of which can be used directly without codon optimization or other manipulations.With the development of synthetic biology,several DNA assembly standards have been proposed,conveniently facilitating the reuse of natural materials.Among these standards,the iBrick assembly standard was developed by our laboratory to manipulate large DNA fragments,employing two homing endonucleases.Considering the difficulty of cloning large iBrick parts using conventional endonuclease-mediated restriction and ligation methods,we herein present a new method,known as iCatch,which readily captures biosynthetic gene clusters.As the clusters cloned by iCatch have the prefix and suffix of the iBrick standard,they serve as new iBrick parts and are therefore conducive to further editing and assembly with the iBrick standard.iCatch employs the natural homologous recombination system to flank the region of interest with I-Scel and PI-Pspl recognition sites,after which the genome is digested with I-Scel or PI-Pspl and the fragments are then self-ligated to clone the target DNA fragments.We used this method to successfully capture the actinorhodin biosynthetic cluster from Streptomyces coelicolor and then heterologously expressed this cluster in a thermophilic Streptomyces strain.We propose that iCatch can be used for the cloning of DNA sequences that are dozens of kilobases in length,facilitating the heterologous expression of microbial natural products.Moreover,this cloning methodology can be a complementary tool for the iBrick standard,especially in applications requiring the manipulation of large DNA fragments.     

Molecular phylogeography and evolutionary history of Picea likiangensis in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau inferred from mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA sequence variation

The aim of the present study was to examine the phylogeographic and evolutionary history of Picea likiangensis,a dominant species of the conifer forests in the eastern declivity of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We collected 422 individuals from 42 natural populations of three major varieties classified under this species.In conifers,mitochondrial(mt) DNA and chloroplast(cp) DNA dispersed by seeds or pollen experience very different levels of gene flow.To this end,we examined the sequence variation of two mtDNA fragments(nad5 intron 1 and nad1 intron b/c) and three cpDNA fragments(trnL-trnF,trnS-trnG and nadhK/C).We found that cpDNA probably introgressed from P.purpurea into remote populations of P.likiangensis through long-distance dispersal. Multiple refugia seem to have been maintained for P.likiangensis during the Last Glacial Maximum because the cpDNA and mtDNA haplotypes recovered were fixed in the different regions.Postglacial expansions were only detected at the distributional edges of this species where a single cpDNA or mtDNA haplotype was fixed in adjacent populations.However,genetic imprints of postglacial expansions from these two sets of markers were different in the western and southeastern regions,which may result from the long-distance dispersal of the cpDNA,as well as its fast lineage sorting during intraspecific divergences.Analysis of molecular variance further suggested that genetic differentiation between the three varieties is higher at cpDNA markers than at mtDNA markers,which supports the previous viewpoint that cpDNA markers with a high rate of gene flow may be more effective in delimitating closely related taxa.Together,the results of the present study highlight the evolutionary complexity of a widely distributed species owing to interactions among local and edge expansion,long-distance dispersal,and intraspecific divergences at two sets of DNA genomes with different rates of gene flow.     

Identification, bioinformatic analysis and expression profiling of candidate mRNA-like non-coding RNAs in Sus scrofa

Messenger RNA-like non-coding RNAs （mlncRNAs） are a newly identified group of non-coding RNAs （ncRNAs） that may be involved in a number of critical cellular events. In this study, 93 candidate porcine mlncRNAs were obtained by computational prediction and screening, among which 72 were mapped to the porcine genome. Further analysis of 8 representative candidates revealed that these mlncRNA candidates are not highly conserved among species. Remarkably, one of the candidates, sTF35495, was found to be precursor of a putative porcine microRNA. By RACE PCR, we determined that the full length of sTF35495 was 3 kb. The protein-coding potential of this RNA was tested in silico with no significant finding. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of the subgroup of 8 candidates revealed two distinct expression profiles and two molecules were further validated by real-time PCR. The predicted pre-microRNA sequence in this study provides a potentially interesting insight into the in vivo function of porcine mlncRNAs and our findings suggest that they play key biological roles in Sus scrofa.