Materials for Chinese Phyllanthoideae

The present paper is part of taxonomic study on Chinese Phyllanthoideae. Included in it are two new varieties, Leptopus esquirolii var. villosus and Drypetes hainanensis var. longistipitata, one new combination, Glochidion triandrum var. siamense, and seven new records in China: Drypetes salicifolia, D. hoaensis. Actephila subsessilis, Glochidion khasicum, G. nubigennum, Bridelia spiosa and B. poilanei. In addition, seventeen taxon names are newly reduced: Liodendron formosanum = Drypetes formosana, Liodendron matsumurae = Drypetes matsumurae, D. longipes = D. indica, Antidesma paxii = A. acidum, A. hiiranense, A. filipes and A. pentandrum var. hiiranense = A. japonicum, A. calvescens = A. montanum, A. microphyllum = A. venosum, Breynia stipitata var. formosana and B. jormosana = B. vitis-idaea, Glochidion zeylanicum var. tomentosum = G. hirsutum, G. rubidulum = G. thomsonii, G. acuminatum = G. triandrum, G. fagifolium and Phyllanthus fagifolius = Glochidion sphaerogynum, Bridelia penangiena = B. insulana, B. henryana = B. tomentosa. All the types are kept in SCBl and PE.     

Neutrino intergalactic communication,metal life,and viruses: Part 1 quo vadis ex machina

At one spectrum extreme, Astrobiology conjectures that for exoplanets with Goldilocks conditions, terrestrial-like life is inevitable. Moreover, it is envisaged that via panspermia, terrestrial-like life and its precursors are transferred among galaxies, stars, and within solar systems via transiting comets, asteroids, and planetoids. In addition, expelled stars, which have solar systems, it is inferred, transfer life as well. However, at the other extreme, we propose a paradigm shift that on some planets, subject to non- Goldilocks conditions, metal machine life could arise, ab initio, and evolve viruses, intelligence, and civilizations, conjointly. Accordingly, intelligent mechanized civilizations could readily and efficiently commence space exploration. Furthermore, as a counter paradigm shift, such civilizations could experiment and produce non-metallic life, based on carbon and other non-metal elements, under suitable conditions, related to Goldilocks life. Even a single example of validated interstellar or intergalactic communication received on the Earth would support the existence of life elsewhere. However, the communication platform should not be restricted to electromagnetic radiation. Other platforms should be included as well - one such example, which would require sophisticated technology, is neutrino communication. This is the case for any advanced civilization, be it metal-machine based, biological-based, and carbon-based. In sum, civilizations based on machine life, would be highly productive due to the longevity and hardiness of machine life. However, significant caveats are raised in this brief report, because possibly dissimilar psychologies and intelligence may lead to conflicts between metal machine life and biological life, inter-paradigm conflict.     

Molecular phylogeny of the gobioid fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes: Gobioidei)

The phylogeny of groups within Gobioidei is examined with molecular sequence data. Gobioidei is a speciose, morphologically diverse group of teleost fishes, most of which are small, benthic, and marine. Efforts to hypothesize relationships among the gobioid groups have been hampered by the prevalence of reductive evolution among goby species; such reduction can make identification of informative morphological characters particularly difficult. Gobies have been variously grouped into two to nine families, several with included subfamilies, but most existing taxonomies are not phylogenetic and few cladistic hypotheses of relationships among goby groups have been advanced. In this study, representatives of eight of the nine gobioid familes (Eleotridae, Odontobutidae, Xenisthmidae, Gobiidae, Kraemeriidae, Schindleriidae, Microdesmidae, and Ptereleotridae), selected to sample broadly from the range of goby diversity, were examined. Complete sequence from the mitochondrial ND1, ND2, and COI genes (3573 bp) was used in a cladistic parsimony analysis to hypothesize relationships among the gobioid groups. A single most parsimonious topology was obtained, with decay indices indicating strong support for most nodes. Major phylogenetic conclusions include that Xenisthmidae is part of Eleotridae, and Eleotridae is paraphyletic with respect to a clade composed of Gobiidae, Microdesmidae, Ptereleotridae, Kraemeriidae, and Schindleriidae. Within this five-family clade, two clades are recovered. One includes Gobionellinae, which is paraphyletic with respect to Kraemeriidae, Sicydiinae, Oxudercinae, and Amblyopinae. The other contains Gobiinae, also paraphyletic, and including Microdesmidae, Ptereleotridae, and Schindleriidae. Previous morphological evidence for goby groupings is discussed; the phylogenetic hypothesis indicates that the morphological reduction observed in many goby species has been derived several times independently.     

Nicotinic Agonists, Antagonists, and Modulators From Natural Sources

1. Acetylcholine receptors were initially defined as nicotinic or muscarinic, based on selective activation by two natural products, nicotine and muscarine. Several further nicotinic agonists have been discovered from natural sources, including cytisine, anatoxin, ferruginine, anabaseine, epibatidine, and epiquinamide. These have provided lead structures for the design of a wide range of synthetic agents.2. Natural sources have also provided competitive nicotinic antagonists, such as the Erythrina alkaloids, the tubocurarines, and methyllycaconitine. Noncompetitive antagonists, such as the histrionicotoxins, various izidines, decahydroquinolines, spiropyrrolizidine oximes, pseudophrynamines, ibogaine, strychnine, cocaine, and sparteine have come from natural sources. Finally, galanthamine, codeine, and ivermectin represent positive modulators of nicotinic function, derived from natural sources.3. Clearly, research on acetylcholine receptors and functions has been dependent on key natural products and the synthetic agents that they inspired.     

Systematics and phylogeny of the caryophyllidia-bearing dorids (Mollusca, Nudibranchia), with descriptions of a new genus and four new species from Indo-Pacific deep waters

The phylogenetic relationships of the caryophyllidia-bearing dorids are studied, based on the examination of the type species of all the genera previously described. The phylogenetic hypothesis supports that the caryophyllidia-bearing dorids are a monophyletic group and the sister group of the clade formed by Astemnotus Ehrenberg, 1831 and Halgerda Bergh, 1880. Several genera previously considered as valid or regarded as uncertain are here synonymized: Peronodoris Bergh, 1904, Trippa Bergh, 1877, Phlegmodoris Bergh, 1878, Petelodoris Bergh, 1881, Kentrodoris Bergh, 1876, Audura Bergh, 1878, Centrodoris P. Fischer, 1883, Anisodoris Bergh, 1898, Awuka Er. Marcus, 1955, Rhabdochiia P. Fischer, 1883, Boreodoris Odhner, 1939, Dictyodoris Bergh, 1880, Gravieria Vayssiere, 1912, Aporodoris Ihering, 1886. The following genera are regarded as valid: Astemnotus, Atagema J.E. Gray, 1850, Jorunna Bergh, 1876, Platydoris Bergh, 1877, Diaulula Bergh, 1878, Rostanga Bergh, 1879, Halgerda Bergh, 1880, Baptodoris Bergh, 1884, Gargamella Bergh, 1894, Alloiodoris Bergh, 1904, Sclerodoris Eliot, 1904, Taringa Er. Marcus, 1955, Thorybopus Bouchet, 1977. The new genus Nophodoris is described based on two new species from New Caledonia deep waters. Two additional new species from New Caledonia belonging to the genera Atagema and Gargamella are also described. Nomenclatural and taxonomic problems are discussed, and several type species, neotypes and lectotypes are selected.     

Revision of the Malagasy genus Trichoteleia Kieffer (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea, Platygastridae)

The species of the genus Trichoteleia Kieffer (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) are revised: 42 species are recognized, of which two were previously named and are redescribed: Trichoteleia afo Talamas, sp. n., Trichoteleia albidipes Kieffer, Trichoteleia bicolor Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia bidentata Talamas sp. n.; Trichoteleia carinata Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia cincta Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia delilah Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia eburata Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia echinata Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia fisheri Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia funesta Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia halterata Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia hemlyae Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia irwini Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia janus Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia jiro Talamas, sp. n.; T. ketrona Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia levii Talamas & Johnson, sp. n.; Trichoteleia longiventris Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia minima Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia nify Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia oculea Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia orona Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia parvipennis Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia pauliani (Risbec); Trichoteleia picturata Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia prima Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia prolixa Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia quazii Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia ravaka Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia rugifrons Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia solocis Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia sphaerica Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia subtilis Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia tahotra Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia takariva Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia tezitra Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia tigris Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia tonsa Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia warreni Talamas & Masner, sp. n.; Trichoteleia xantrox Talamas, sp. n.; Trichoteleia zuparkoi Talamas & Masner, sp. n. A neotype is designated for Trichoteleia albidipes and a lectotype is designated for Trichoteleia pauliani.     

Oxypred： Prediction and Classification of Oxygen-Binding Proteins

This study describes a method for predicting and classifying oxygen-binding pro- teins. Firstly, support vector machine (SVM) modules were developed using amino acid composition and dipeptide composition for predicting oxygen-binding pro- teins, and achieved maximum accuracy of 85.5% and 87.8%, respectively. Sec- ondly, an SVM module was developed based on amino acid composition, classify- ing the predicted oxygen-binding proteins into six classes with accuracy of 95.8%, 97.5%, 97.5%, 96.9%, 99.4%, and 96.0% for erythrocruorin, hemerythrin, hemo- cyanin, hemoglobin, leghemoglobin, and myoglobin proteins, respectively. Finally, an SVM module was developed using dipeptide composition for classifying the oxygen-binding proteins, and achieved maximum accuracy of 96.1%, 98.7%, 98.7%, 85.6%, 99.6%, and 93.3% for the above six classes, respectively. All modules were trained and tested by five-fold cross validation. Based on the above approach, a web server Oxypred was developed for predicting and classifying oxygen-binding proteins(available from http://www.imtech.res.in/raghava/oxypred/).     

Mating systems of some putative polypore — agaric relatives

Mating systems are reported for taxa of polypores and agarics considered related. Taxa areDictyopanus pusillus, Favolus alveolaris, F. tenuiculus, Lentinus bertierii, L. crinitis, L. punctaticeps, L. strigellus, L. strigosus, L. suavissimus, Pleurotus australis, P. levis, P. tuberregium, Polyporus ciliatus, P. elegans, P. squamosus, andP. varius. All are tetrapolar exceptP. elegans.     

Some New Taxa and Records of Characeae in Hunan,China

In this paper, one new species, four new varieties and thirteen new records of Characeae from Hunan, China, are reported. They are Chara quadriscutulum, sp. nov., Nitella axilliformis var. biformis, var. nov., N. microcarpa var. unicarpa, var. nov., Chara braunii var. cylindrospora, var. nov., C. hydropitys var. hunanensis, var. nov., Nitella microcarpa Braun, N. leptoclada Braun, N. annandalei Pal, N. confervacea A. Braun, N. gracilliformis J. Groves, N. inversa Imahori, N. musashiensis Morioka, N. paucicostata T. F. Allen, N. acuminata var. gollmeriana (A. Br.) Zanev. et Wood, Tolypella boldii Sawa. Chara longifolia Robinson, C. pistianensis J. Vilhelm, C. grovesii Pal.     

Efficacy ofCarpophilus aggregation pheromones on nine species in northeastern Ohio, and identification of the pheromone ofC. brachypterus

Aggregation pheromones for sevenCarpophilus (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) species were field tested at a site with a rich nitidulid fauna in Ohio, USA, during the summers of 1992 and 1993. The pheromones used were blends identified for:Carpophilus antiquus (Melsheimer),C. brachypterus (Say),C. freemani Dobson, C. hemipterus (L.),C. lugubris Murray,C. mutilatus Erichson, andC. obsoletus Erichson. Each pheromone was used in conjunction with whole wheat bread dough, an effective co-attractant. The pheromone ofC. brachypterus Say was identified during the course of this study and was also tested; males emitted a 100:6:11:4:3 blend of (2E, 4E, 6E, 8E)-3, 5, 7-trimethyl-2, 4, 6, 8-decatetraene, (2E, 4E, 6E, 8E)-3, 5, 7-trimethyl-2, 4, 6, 8-undecatetraene, (2E, 4E, 6E, 8E)-7-ethyl-3, 5-dimethyl-2, 4, 6, 8-decatetraene, (3E, 5E, 7E, 9E)-4, 6, 8-trimethyl-3, 5, 7, 9-undecatetraene and (2E, 4E, 6E, 8E)-7-ethyl-3, 5-dimethyl-2, 4, 6, 8-undecatetraene, respectively. All species responded favorably to their own pheromones with the exception ofC. obsoletus, which was not present in this area. Strong mutual cross attraction was observed betweenC. brachypterus andC. hemipterus. In addition,C. lugubris responded to the pheromones ofC. obsoletus andC. hemipterus and, more weakly, to those ofC. freemani andC. brachypterus; C. freemani responded slightly to the pheromone ofC. multilatus; andC. antiquus responded to the pheromone ofC. lugubris. In most cases, cross attraction was related to the species involved sharing pheromone components. ForC. antiquus, however, the response to theC. lugubris pheromone was apparently kairomonalC. corticinus, C. marginatus, C. marginellus, andC. sayi, for which pheromones are not known, were attracted to the pheromone ofC. lugubris and in some cases to other pheromones. Significant numbers ofColopterus spp. responded to the blends forC. lugubris, C. hemipterus, C. brachypterus, and probably,C. obsoletus.     

鄂西地区裸藻的新种类

本文报道的是1981年5—6月在鄂西地区(包括五峰、宜都、宜昌、当阳、兴山及神农架林区)采集到的裸藻门植物5个新种,7个新变种和3个新变型。       

Distribution of N,P, K,Ca, Mg,S, Zn,Fe, Mn and Cu in groundnut

Summary Concentration of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S in summer groundnut crop was higher than in kharif while Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu contents were higher in summer crop. Kernel's N, P and Zn; Leaflet's Ca and Mn; Stem's K and Fe; Root's S and Cu and Petiole's Mg contents were highest. Shell's N, P, K, Mg, S, Zn and Cu; Kernel's Ca, Fe and Mn contents were the least. N, P, K, S, Zn and Cu concentrations decreased linearly as the crop grew. Ca, Mg, Fe and Mn concentrations did not display any distinct pattern. Ca concentration was positively correlated with pod yield in both the seasons.     

安蕨属的分类与分布

1849年,捷克人Presl根据菲律宾产的一种蕨类植物Anisocampium cumingia-num Presl,建立了安蕨属Anisocapium Presl,几十年来未被各国植物学家(如Baker、Beddom、Makino、C.Christensen、Christ、Nakai、秦仁昌、Devol、Ohwi和Tagawa)所承认。1940年,Tard.-Blot et C.Chr.编写《印度支那植物通志》(Fl.Gen.Indo-Chine)时接受了安蕨属的概念。1947年,美国人Copeland研究东南亚蕨类植物时,也肯定了安蕨属是一个自然分类群。以后,     

国内8款常用植物识别软件的识别能力评价

随着智能手机和人工智能技术的发展, 以手机app为载体的植物识别软件慢慢走进公众生活、科普活动和科研活动的各个方面。植物识别app的识别正确率是决定其使用价值和用户体验的关键因素。目前, 国内应用市场上有许多植物识别app, 它们的开发目的和应用范围各异, 软件本身的关注点、数据库来源、算法、硬件要求也存在很大差异。对于不同人群, 植物识别app有不同的意义, 如对于科研人员来说, 识别能力强的app是提高效率的一大工具; 对植物爱好者来说, 具一定准确率的识别app可以作为入门的工具。因此, 对各app的识别能力进行分析与评价显得尤为重要。本文选取了8款常用的app, 分别对400张已准确鉴定的植物图片进行识别, 其中干旱半干旱区、温带、热带和亚热带4个区各选取100张。这些图片共计122科164属340种, 涵盖了乔木、灌木、草本、草质藤本和木质藤本5种生长型, 包含23种国家级保护植物。种、属、科准确识别正确分别计4分、2分、1分, 以此标准对软件识别能力按总得分进行排序, 正确率得分由高到低依次为花帮主、百度识图、花伴侣、形色、花卉识别、植物识别、发现识花、微软识花。     

Sensory evaluation of fruit quality and nutritional composition of 20 breadfruit (Artocarpus, Moraceae) cultivars

Twenty breadfruit cultivars growing in afield genebank at Kahanu Garden, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hana, Maui, Hawaii, were evaluated for sensory attributes and nutrient composition. A taste panel scored eight flavor/aroma attributes, five textural attributes, and color. There were significant differences (P ≤ 0.01) in aroma, visual texture, flavor intensity, sweetness, starchiness, moistness, stringiness, firmness, and color. The greatest differences were in color and texture. Nutrient analyses showed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) for energy, carbohydrates, ash, crude protein, potassium, magnesium, sodium, iron, copper, and zinc. Considering the versatility of breadfruit as a food, its ease of production, and its nutritional value, the numerous good quality flavorful cultivars available should be more widely grown for sustainable agriculture and food security.     

Extracellular Adenosine, Inosine, Hypoxanthine, and Xanthine in Relation to Tissue Nucleotides and Purines in Rat Striatum During Transient Ischemia

Extracellular (EC) adenosine, hypoxanthine, xanthine, and inosine concentrations were monitored in vivo in the striatum during steady state, 15 min of complete brain ischemia, and 4 h of reflow and compared with purine and nucleotide levels in the tissue. Ischemia was induced by three-vessel occlusion combined with hypotension (50 mm Hg) in male Sprague-Dawley rats. EC purines were sampled by microdialysis, and tissue adenine nucleotides and purine catabolites were extracted from the in situ frozen brain at the end of the experiment. ATP, ADP, and AMP were analyzed with enzymatic fluorometric techniques, and adenosine, hypoxanthine, xanthine, and inosine with a modified HPLC system. Ischemia depleted tissue ATP, whereas AMP, adenosine, hypoxanthine, and inosine accumulated. In parallel, adenosine, hypoxanthine, and inosine levels increased in the EC compartment. Adenosine reached an EC concentration of 40 microM after 15 min of ischemia. Levels of tissue nucleotides and purines normalized on reflow. However, xanthine levels increased transiently (sevenfold). In the EC compartment, adenosine, inosine, and hypoxanthine contents normalized slowly on reflow, whereas the xanthine content increased. The high EC levels of adenosine during ischemia may turn off spontaneous neuronal firing, counteract excitotoxicity, and inhibit ischemic calcium uptake, thereby exerting neuroprotective effects.