西方蜜蜂四个亚种酯酶同工酶型和苹果酸脱氢酶Ⅱ同工酶基因型的遗传差异

The esterase (EST) and the malate dehydrogenase Ⅱ (MDHⅡ) isozymes in A. mellifera carpatica (C), A. mellifera ssp.(D), “Zhejiang Agricultural University No.1” A. mellifera ligustica (Ea) and A. mellifera carnica (K), and the genotypes of MDHⅡ isozymes in four subspecies of A. mellifera were analysed by IEF PAGE. The results indicate that the four subspecies of A. mellifera showed the same EST zymogram, while A. cerana showed a different EST zymogram, which suggests that the genotypes of EST isozymes in A. mellifera are different from those in A. cerana. The genotypes of the MDHⅡ isozymes in four subspecies of A. mellifera were aa, ab, ac, bb, bc and cc. The C and Ea subspecies exhibited high homozyosity, while D and K displayed high heterozyosity. The allele b appeared to be the highest frequency in C, while the allele c had the highest frequency in Ea. The frequencies of the alleles a, b and c in sub species D were very similar. The alleles a and c were common, while allele b was rare in sub species K. There were highly significant differences in genotype frequencies, allele frequencies, homozyosity and heterozyosity among these four subspecies.     

In memory of Professor Ping Wu(1957–2014)

正Sadly and miserably,our beloved and respected colleague,Prof.Ping Wu,a renowned plant biologist and the vice‐president of Zhejiang University passed away in a car accident in Hangzhou,China,in the morning of June 12,2014,aged 57.Prof.Ping Wu was born on March 27,1957,in Hangzhou,Zhejiang province,received his bachelor degree in Soil Science and Agro‐chemistry in 1982 and master degree in Plant     

Systems Biology Brings Life Sciences Closer——Report on the China-UK Systems Biology Workshop 2005

The China-UK Systems held during June 20-21 Biology Workshop 2005 was in the National Science Park of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. It was organized by the Institute of Bioinformatics, Zhejiang University, and was initiated by Prof. Dr. Jun Zhu （Zhejiang University） and Prof. Dr. John Findlay （University of Leeds, UK）. The workshop was part of the program called UK-China Partners in Science, a one-year campaign that was initiated by the British government to explore more collaborations between UK and China on science and technology. It was attended also by a representative of this program, Mr. Frank Yuan, senior science ＆ innovation officer. The idea of the workshop was to bring together experts with specialists in systems biology in order to promote the ＂natural partnership＂ between scientists from the two countries. The most important items of systcms biology considered at the workshop were： （1） New technologies and advances in systems biology; （2） Research developments in genomics and proteomics; （3） New methodologies and software in computational biology; （4） Research collaboration on systems biology between China and UK.     

Profile of Dr. Hefeng Huang

<正>Dr. Hefeng Huang received her Bachelor’s degree in 1982 and Master’s degree in 1989 from the Zhejiang Medical University, now known as the Zhejiang University Medical School in Hangzhou, China. After graduation, she served as a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Zhejiang Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University. From1990 to 1991, she underwent training for assisted reproduction technology (ART) at the Queen Mary Hospital of the Hong Kong University. Subsequently, she returned to the     

In memory of Professor Ping Wu （1957-2014）

Sadly and miserably, our beloved and respected colleague, Prof. Ping Wu, a renowned plant biologist and the vice- president of Zhejiang University passed away in a car accident in Hangzhou, China, in the morning of June 12, 2014, aged 57.     

Comparative susceptibility and immune responses of Asian and European honey bees to the American foulbrood pathogen,Paenibacillus larvae

American foulbrood (AFB) disease is caused by Paenibacillus larvae. Currently, this pathogen is widespread in the European honey bee— Apis mellifera. However, little is known about infectivity and pathogenicity of P. lan'ae in the Asiatic cavity-nesting honey bees, Apis cerana. Moreover, comparative knowledge of P. larvae infectivity and pathogenicity between both honey bee species is scarce. In this study, we examined susceptibility, larval mortality, survival rate and expression of genes encoding antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) including defensin, apidaecin, abaecin, and hymenoptaecin in A. mellifera and A. cerana when infected with P. larvae. Our results showed similar effects of P. larvae on the survival rate and patterns of AMP gene expression in both honey bee species when bee larvae are infected with spores at the median lethal concentration (LC5 0 ) for A. mellifera. All AMPs of infected bee larvae showed significant upregulation compared with noninfected bee larvae in both honey bee species. However, larvae of A. cerana were more susceptible than A. mellifera when the same larval ages and spore concentration of P. larvae were used. It also appears that A. cerana showed higher levels of AMP expression than A. mellifera. This research provides the first evidence of survival rate, LC50 and immune response profiles of Asian honey bees, A. cerana, when infected by P. larvae in comparison with the European honey bee, A. mellifera.     

EXPRESSION OF A BEE-VENOM PHOSPHOLIPASE A2 FROM APIS CERANA CERANA IN E,.qCHERICHIA COLI

The venomous phospholipase A2 (AcPLA2) coding reading region of the Chinese honeybee (Apis cerana cerana), which is composed of 405 bp encoding a mature glycosylated peptide with 134 amino residues was transformed into the expression vector pETblue-1. Then the recombinant vector was introduced into Escherichia coli Tuner (DE3) plac I for expression. Analysis result of SDS-PAGE showed that the expression products had a protein band of about 15 kD. Detection of western blot using ant-European honeybee (Apis mellifera) phospholipase A2 (AmPLA2) polyclonal serum as the first antibody showed that the expression products appeared a special blot same as the native AmPLA2.The result demonstrated that the AcPLA2 peptide had been expressed in E. coli and the AcPLA2 has the similar antigenicity as the AmPLA2.     

THE DISCOVERY OF THE GENUS SHELFORDIA CAMERON （HYMENOPTERA： BRACONIDAE： BRACONINAE） IN CHINA, WITH DESCRIPTION OF ONE NEW SPECIES

The genus Shelfordia is discovered in China for the first time, and one new species of this genus ( S. chinensis sp. nov. ) is fully described and illustrated in the present paper. The type specimen is deposited in the Parasitic Hymenoptera Collection, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.     

A Brief Biography of Prof. Yun-chang Wang (1906-)

<正>Yun-chang Wang,a Chinese mycologist and pathologist,was born in Neihuang county of Henan province.After his graduation from Agricultural College of Peiping University,he became an assis- tant researcher in Botany Institute of Peiping Insti- tute.In 1936,he started his study in Belgium and two years later was granted a doctorate by 1' Universitéde Louvain.Since 1939,he has succes- sively taught in Zhejiang University,Sichuan Uni- versity,Northwest Agricultural College,Northwest     

意蜂王浆生产性能形态学遗传标记的研究

测定19只工蜂头部咽下腺的两条腺体长度和重量,经生统t检验,发现同一工蜂的左、右两条咽下腺长度、重量差异都不显著（P＜0.05）。测定11群 "浙农大1号"意蜂(Apis mellifera ligustica)的330只工蜂的头重、体重、头体重比、咽下腺小囊数和咽下腺长度。在2001年3月30日至4月26日浙江淳安的油菜和紫云英花期测定试验蜂群的王浆产量,分析工蜂头重、头体重比、咽下腺小囊数和咽下腺长度与每千克蜂的王浆产量之间的相关性,发现咽下腺长度与王浆产量的相关性最大,小囊数次之,咽下腺长度可作为意蜂王浆生产性能较理想的形态学遗传标记。 Abstract:The lengths of hypopharyngeal glands (HG) from the left and right side were determined in 19 workers of honeybee(Apis mellifera ligustica).There were no significant differences (P＜0.05) in length between the left and the right in one worker′s hypopharyngeal gland.Three hundred and thirty workers were collected from eleven colonies of "ZND No.1" Italian honeybee(Apis mellifera ligustica) respectively.Head weight,body weight,ratio between head weight and body weight,bursa number and length of hypopharyngeal gland(HG)were tested in these samples.Royal jelly productions were determined during the flowing period of rape and Chinese milk retch from March 30 to April 26 in Chun′an County of Zhejiang Province in 2001.The correlation analysis between royal jelly production and head weight,ratio between head weight and body weight,bursa number of HG,and length of HG were conducted.The correlation coefficient between royal jelly production and length of HG was the largest.The correlation coefficient between royal jelly production and bursa number was the second.It was suggested that the length of HG could be used as one of genetic markers for the production performance of royal jelly.     

Geographical overlap of two mitochondrial genomes in Spanish honeybees (Apis mellifera iberica)

Restriction enzyme cleavage maps of mitochondrial DNA from the Spanish honeybee, Apis mellifera iberica (Hymenoptera: Apidae), were compared with those from the European subspecies A. m. mellifera, A. m. ligustica, and A. m. carnica, and the African subspecies A. m. intermissa and A. m. scutellata. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the two African subspecies can be distinguished by restriction fragment polymorphisms revealed by Hinf I digests. Two distinct mtDNA types were found among Spanish honeybees: a west European mellifera-like type, which predominates in the north of Spain, and an African intermissa-like type, which predominates in the south. Spain appears to be a region of contact and hybridization between the two subspecies A. m. intermissa and A. m. mellifera, which respectively represent African and west European honeybee lineages. This natural boundary between European and African honeybee populations in the Old World may provide a model for predicting the eventual outcome of the colonization of North America by introduced African honeybees.     

The invasive Korea and Japan types of Varroa destructor, ectoparasitic mites of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera), are two partly isolated clones

Varroa destructor, now a major pest of the Western honeybee, Apis mellifera, switched from its original host, the Eastern honeybee, A. cerana, ca. 50 years ago. So far, only two out of several known mitochondrial haplotypes of V. destructor have been found to be capable of reproducing on A. mellifera (Korea and Japan). These haplotypes are associated in almost complete cytonuclear disequilibrium to diagnostic alleles at 11 microsatellite loci. By contrast, microsatellite polymorphism within each type is virtually absent, because of a severe bottleneck at the time of host change. Accordingly, 12 mitochondrial sequences of 5185 nucleotides displayed 0.40% of nucleotide divergence between haplotypes and no intra haplotype variation. Hence, each type has a quasi-clonal structure. The nascent intratype variability is subsequent to the clone formation 50 years ago: in both types the variant alleles differ from the most common by one (in 10 cases), two (five cases) or three (one case) repeated motifs. In addition to individuals of the two 'pure' types, five F1 hybrids and 19 recombinant individuals (Japan alleles introgressed into the Korea genetic background) were detected. The existence of F1 and recombinant individuals in admixed populations requires that double infestations of honeybee cells occur in a high proportion but the persistence of pure types suggests a post-zygotic isolation between the two clones.     

Daily number of bee louse （Braula coeca） in honey bee （Apis mellifera carnica and A. m. syriaca） colonies maintained under semi-arid conditions

Experimental work was conducted at two apiaries located in Irbid district and in Shuna North, Jordan, during the years 2004-2006. The aims of these investigations were to estimate the seasonal changes in the infestation rates of the bee louse （Braula sp.） and to develop an easy and rapid method of estimating the infestation rate on workers with bee Braula. Two major honey bee subspecies are reared in Jordan; Apis mellifera carnica and Apis mellifera syriaca were used in this study. The results showed that the infestation rate began to increase rapidly in May, reaching the season＇s maximum rate of 16.2%, 15.8% and 17.4% forA. m. carnica and 22.6%, 23.9% and 22.9% forA. m. syriaca in December of 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively. The maximum adult numbers of bees were found in April and June, whereas the minimum for the year was in January in both honey bee subspecies colonies during the study period. The actual population of the bee louse could be estimated by counting the daily dropped lice and multiplying by a factor of 158. This factor is valid for the experimental colonies of both subspecies kept for 3 years under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions.     

Genetic control and developmental expression of malate dehydrogenase in Apis mellifera

Starch gel electrophoresis of extracts of Apis mellifera indicates that genetic variability exists for the enzyme cytoplasmic malate dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.1.1.37). Analysis of individuals throughout development indicates that the isozyme patterns are identical for larvae and adults and suggests a dimeric structure for the molecule. The isozyme pattern observed in pupae is more complex than that of larvae and adults may be due to an additional pupal-specific MDH gene being expressed or to an epigenetic modification of the isozymes. Forty-three colonies with artificially inseminated queens were used to study the Mendelian pattern of inheritance. The data revealed that the MDH isozymes are encoded by three alleles, Mdh-1A, Mdh-1B, and Mdh-1C. The frequency of the Mdh-1 alleles is different in two analyzed subspecies, A. m. adansonii (African bees) and A. m. ligustica (Italian bees), with Mdh-1A and Mdh-1B in the African bees being 0-768 and 0.202, respectively. For the Italian bees, these frequencies are 0.136 and 0:154, respectively.     

Molecular characterization of MRJP3, highly polymorphic protein of honeybee (Apis mellifera) royal jelly.

Major proteins of honey bee (Apis mellifera) royal jelly are members of the MRJP protein family. One MRJP protein termed MRJP3 exhibits a size polymorphism as detected by SDS-PAGE. In this report we show that polymorphism of the MRJP3 protein is a consequence of the polymorphism of a region with a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) located at the C-terminal part of the MRJP3 coding region. We present the characterization of five polymorphic alleles of MRJP3 by DNA sequencing. By PCR analyses, at least 10 alleles of distinct sizes were found in randomly sampled bees. Studies with nurse bees from a single honeybee colony revealed both Mendelian inheritance and very high variability of the MRJP3 genomic locus. The high variability and simple detection of the MRJP3 polymorphism may be useful for genotyping of individuals in studies of the honeybee.     

Prevalence of African DNA RELP alleles in neotropical African honeybees

A few queens of the honeybee, Apis mellifera scutellata, were imported from Africa and released in Brazil in 1957. Progeny of these bees have now largely colonized the American tropics. Their imminent arrival in the United States poses a serious threat to the beekeeping industry and to agriculture dependent on honeybee pollination. African and European bees are morphologically very similar. DNA restriction fragment length polymorphisms are proving successful in distinguishing between the two. Several DNA markers specific to European honeybees have been described previously. Reported here are three cloned honeybee DNA probes that reveal polymorphisms that appear to be either African or European specific. Of fourteen alleles or haplotypes identified, five were present only in African and neotropical (Venezuelan and Mexican) African bees but absent in European-derived bees, two were present only in European-derived bees but absent in samples from South Africa. Another allele showed apparent frequency differences among populations. Such markers are useful in studying the genetics of neotropical African bee populations. Venezuelan and Mexican honeybee colonies show a preponderance of the African alleles with low levels of the European alleles. These observations of nuclear DNA, revealing limited paternal European introgression, together with previous mitochondrial DNA findings showing negligible European maternal gene flow into feral African populations, indicate that neotropical African bees are primarily African.     

引入西方蜜蜂对中蜂的危害及生态影响

作者阐述自1896年中国引进西方蜜蜂Apis melliferaL.的优良品种如意大利蜂Apis mellifera ligusticaSpinola和喀尼阿兰蜂Apis mellifera Carnica Pollmann以来,使当地的东方蜜蜂Apis cerana F.受到严重危害,其分布区域缩小75%以上,种群数量减少80%以上。使山林植物授粉总量减少,导致植物多样性减少。文中提出: 建立自然保护区保存本地蜜蜂遗传特性,和采用基因转移等技术,培育具有西方蜜蜂优良生产性能的中蜂新品种,逐步恢复中蜂的种群数量。     

Varying degrees of Apis mellifera ligustica introgression in protected populations of the black honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera, in northwest Europe

The natural distribution of honeybee subspecies in Europe has been significantly affected by human activities during the last century. Non-native subspecies of honeybees have been introduced and propagated, so that native black honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera) populations lost their identity by gene-flow or went extinct. After previous studies investigated the remaining gene-pools of native honeybees in France and Spain, we here assess the genetic composition of eight northwest European populations of the black honeybee, using both mitochondrial (restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the intergenic transfer RNAleu-COII region) and nuclear (11 microsatellite loci) markers. Both data sets show that A. m. mellifera populations still exist in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, England, Scotland and Ireland, but that they are threatened by gene flow from commercial honeybees. Both Bayesian admixture analysis of the microsatellite data and DraI-RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis of the intergenic region indicated that gene-flow had hardly occurred in some populations, whereas almost 10% introgression was observed in other populations. The most introgressed population was found on the Danish Island of Laeso, which is the last remaining native Danish population of A. m. mellifera and the only one of the eight investigated populations that is protected by law. We discuss how individual admixture analysis can be used to monitor the restoration of honeybee populations that suffer from unwanted hybridization with non-native subspecies.     

Polymorphism of locus COI-COII of mitochondrial DNA in the honeybee Apis mellifera L. from southern Ural region

In spite of high biodiversity within the honeybee species Apis mellifera L., only one geographical race, the dark-colored forest honeybee A. m. mellifera, is uniquely adapted to severe environmental conditions of Eurasian forest and forest-steppe zones. Within the vast range of this race, only single isolates remain, where the dark forest honeybee is purebred. The Bashkir population is supposed to be one of these isolates. Molecular-genetic assessment of the state of the gene pool of this population revealed that southern honeybee races were introduced into the Bashkortostan Republic with great intensity, which was above the assimilation capacity of the population. The main part of the former range of the Bashkir population represents a hybrid zone with approximately equal ratio between gene pools of local and introduced honeybees. Our studies provide the possibility to single out one extant reserve of A. m. mellifera, Burzyanskii raion, in which the proportion of local bees in the gene pool is 0.98.     

尼日利亚非洲蜂和安徽意大利蜜蜂及其杂交二代形态特征与微卫星DNA遗传多样性

对来自安徽的意大利蜜蜂、尼日利亚非洲蜂与意大利蜂蜂王与非洲蜂雄蜂杂交所选育的杂交二代3个群体,利用形态学和微卫星DNA多态性相结合的方法进行研究。对安徽意大利蜜蜂、尼日利亚非洲蜂及其杂交二代形态特征进行测量结果是,吻长平均值分别为6.09、5.23 mm和5.53 mm,右前翅宽平均值分别为3.35、8.42 mm和8.65 mm,前翅面积平均值分别为15.18、13.23 mm2和13.95 mm2,前翅肘脉a平均值分别为0.59、0.49 mm和0.55 mm,第3+4背板长平均值分别为4.38、3.80mm和4.04 mm,差异极显著(P≤0.01)。右前翅长平均值分别为9.06、3.12 mm和3.22 mm,差异显著(0.010.05)。对3个群体进行多态检测,共检测到121个等位基因,平均每个位点的等位基因数为8.067,单个位点的等位基因数从3到13不等,表明3个群体都具有较丰富的遗传多样性。3个群体期望杂合度为0.5801至0.8526,平均期望杂合度为0.7591(0.0762)。所有位点的多态信息含量为0.5158至0.8363,平均多态信息含量为0.7283(0.0879)。3个群体的平均期望杂合度,意大利蜜蜂为0.6208,非洲蜂为0.5780,杂交二代为0.7451,非洲蜜蜂和安徽意蜂与其杂交二代之间差异均极显著,安徽意蜂与非洲蜜蜂之间差异不显著。3个群体都具有较高的杂合度和较丰富的多态性,其中杂交二代最高。意大利蜜蜂和尼日利亚非洲蜂平均遗传分化系数FST为0.0436,两个群体间的分化程度极显著,8个位点都极显著地贡献于这一结果。群体内的近交系数FIS较低,为0.070,15个位点显著地贡献于这一结果,表明非洲蜂与意大利蜜蜂的近交较少。非洲蜂和意大利蜜蜂遗传距离为0.725,Nm值为0.213,两个群体间表现出较远的遗传距离,而且彼此之间基因流动较少。安徽意蜂和非洲蜂群体间长期存在地理隔离,两个群体间形态指标差异显著,杂交二代群体形态指标低于安徽意蜂,但比尼日利亚非洲蜂均有不同程度的提高,在形态特征上体现了杂交优势,两群体杂交二代等位基因数、基因杂合度及多态信息含量等遗传多样性指标均有显著提高。