新疆北部棉铃虫寄主来源与转基因棉区庇护所评估

转Bt基因抗虫棉长期大规模种植后,棉铃虫对其存在抗性风险,庇护所是延缓抗性上升的策略之一。但在新疆北部转基因棉区,庇护所提供敏感棉铃虫的生态功能尚未见评估。2013年5—9月期间在新疆北部石河子地区147团、121团利用棉田边缘的智能测报灯收集棉铃虫成虫,应用碳稳定同位素技术从群体水平(混合翅膀)分析虫源性质,从个体水平(雌蛾翅膀和对应精包)确定交配类型;同时通过解剖雌性棉铃虫体内的精包数量评估交配频率。结果表明:来源于C4植物的棉铃虫主要出现在5月下旬和8—9月期间,比例占到50%左右;6—7月接近100%的棉铃虫来自于C3植物上;经测定不同寄主来源棉铃虫的有效交配比例为10%左右;两个地方的棉铃虫交配频率一般在0.9—2.1次,但121团的第一代和第二代均高于147团。玉米是新疆北部地区重要的庇护所,但C3和C4来源棉铃虫同存的时间比较短,有效交配比例相对比较低,影响了庇护所的抗性稀释能力。在转基因棉区的抗性管理中不仅要考虑庇护所提供敏感棉铃虫数量大小,同时需要考虑有效交配比率,这将有利深刻理解庇护所生态功能。     

Diminishing Returns from Increased Percent Bt Cotton: The Case of Pink Bollworm

Regional suppression of pests by transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been reported in several cropping systems, but little is known about the functional relationship between the ultimate pest population density and the pervasiveness of Bt crops. Here we address this issue by analyzing 16 years of field data on pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) population density and percentage of Bt cotton in the Yangtze River Valley of China. In this region, the percentage of cotton hectares planted with Bt cotton increased from 9% in 2000 to 94% in 2009 and 2010. We find that as the percent Bt cotton increased over the years, the cross-year growth rate of pink bollworm from the last generation of one year to the first generation of the next year decreased. However, as the percent Bt cotton increased, the within-year growth rate of pink bollworm from the first to last generation of the same year increased, with a slope approximately opposite to that of the cross-year rates. As a result, we did not find a statistically significant decline in the annual growth rate of pink bollworm as the percent Bt cotton increased over time. Consistent with the data, our modeling analyses predict that the regional average density of pink bollworm declines as the percent Bt cotton increases, but the higher the percent Bt cotton, the slower the decline in pest density. Specifically, we find that 95% Bt cotton is predicted to cause only 3% more reduction in larval density than 80% Bt cotton. The results here suggest that density dependence can act against the decline in pest density and diminish the net effects of Bt cotton on suppression of pink bollworm in the study region. The findings call for more studies of the interactions between pest density-dependence and Bt crops.     

Changes of Bt Toxin in the Rhizosphere of Transgenic Bt Cotton and its Influence on Soil Functional Bacteria

Summary The concentrations of Bacillus thuringensis (Bt) toxin released from root exudation of Bt cotton were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and its impacts on the numbers of culturable functional bacteria in the rhizosphere were determined by cultivation. No Bt toxin was found in the rhizosphere of non-Bt cotton (SHIYUAN321), but varying levels of Bt toxin were present in the rhizosphere of two Bt cotton varieties (NuCOTN99^B and SGK321) during the entire growth period. The levels of Bt toxin in the rhizosphere of NuCOTN99^B were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of SGK321 within all sampling dates except on June 17th in the whole growth season. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found in the numbers of the three functional bacteria between SHIYUAN321 and NuCOTN99^B within each sampling day from May 27th to October 27th. No significant differences were found in the numbers of functional bacteria among three cultivars after growth season. Fortification of pure Bt toxin into rhizospheric soil did not result in significant changes in the numbers of culturable functional bacteria, except the nitrogen-fixing bacteria when the concentration of Bt toxin was higher than 500 ng/g. The results indicated that Bt toxin was not the direct factor causing decrease of the numbers of bacteria in the rhizosphere, and other factors may be involved.     

Detection of an Allele Conferring Resistance to Bacillus sphaericus Binary Toxin in Culex quinquefasciatus Populations by Molecular Screening

The activity of the Bacillus sphaericus binary (Bin) toxin on Culex quinquefasciatus larvae depends on its specific binding to the Cqm1 receptor, a midgut membrane-bound α-glucosidase. A 19-nucleotide deletion in the cqm1 gene (cqm1_REC) mediates high-level resistance to Bin toxin. Here, resistance in nontreated and B. sphaericus-treated field populations of C. quinquefasciatus was assessed through bioassays as well as a specific PCR assay designed to detect the cqm1_REC allele in individual larvae. Resistance ratios at 90% lethal concentration, gathered through bioassays, were close to 1 and indicate that the selected populations had similar levels of susceptibility to B. sphaericus, comparable to that of a laboratory colony. A diagnostic PCR assay detected the cqm1_REC allele in all populations investigated, and its frequency in two nontreated areas was 0.006 and 0.003, while the frequency in the B. sphaericus-treated population was significantly higher. Values of 0.053 and 0.055 were detected for two distinct sets of samples, and homozygote resistant larvae were found. Evaluation of Cqm1 expression in individual larvae through α-glucosidase assays corroborated the allelic frequency revealed by PCR. The data from this study indicate that the cqm1_REC allele was present at a detectable frequency in nontreated populations, while the higher frequency in samples from the treated area is, perhaps, correlated with the exposure to B. sphaericus. This is the first report of the molecular detection of a biolarvicide resistance allele in mosquito populations, and it confirms that the PCR-based approach is suitable to track such alleles in target populations.     

Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin Cry2Ab in Trichoplusia ni Is Conferred by a Novel Genetic Mechanism

The resistance to the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin Cry2Ab in a greenhouse-originated Trichoplusia ni strain resistant to both Bt toxins Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab was characterized. Biological assays determined that the Cry2Ab resistance in the T. ni strain was a monogenic recessive trait independent of Cry1Ac resistance, and there existed no significant cross-resistance between Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab in T. ni. From the dual-toxin-resistant T. ni strain, a strain resistant to Cry2Ab only was isolated, and the Cry2Ab resistance trait was introgressed into a susceptible laboratory strain to facilitate comparative analysis of the Cry2Ab resistance with the susceptible T. ni strain. Results from biochemical analysis showed no significant difference between the Cry2Ab-resistant and -susceptible T. ni larvae in midgut proteases, including caseinolytic proteolytic activity and zymogram profile and serine protease activities, in midgut aminopeptidase and alkaline phosphatase activity, and in midgut esterases and hemolymph plasma melanization activity. For analysis of genetic linkage of Cry2Ab resistance with potential Cry toxin receptor genes, molecular markers for the midgut cadherin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and aminopeptidase N (APN) genes were identified between the original greenhouse-derived dual-toxin-resistant and the susceptible laboratory T. ni strains. Genetic linkage analysis showed that the Cry2Ab resistance in T. ni was not genetically associated with the midgut genes coding for the cadherin, ALP, and 6 APNs (APN1 to APN6) nor associated with the ABC transporter gene ABCC2. Therefore, the Cry2Ab resistance in T. ni is conferred by a novel but unknown genetic mechanism.     

Frequency of Cry1F Non-Recessive Resistance Alleles in North Carolina Field Populations of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a target species of transgenic corn (Zea mays L.) that expresses single and pyramided Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin. In 2014, S. frugiperda were collected from a light trap in North Carolina, and a total of 212 F₁/F₂ isofemale lines of S. frugiperda were screened for resistance to Bt and non-Bt corn. All of the 212 isolines were susceptible to corn tissue expressing Cry1A.105 + Cry2Ab, Cry1F + Cry1A.105 + Cry2Ab, and Cry1F + Cry1Ab + Vip3Aa20. Growth rate bioassays were performed to isolate non-recessive Bt resistance alleles. Seven individuals out of the 212 isofemale lines carried major non-recessive alleles conferring resistance to Cry1F. A pooled colony was created from the seven individuals. This colony was 151.21 times more resistant to Cry1F than a known-susceptible population and was also resistant to Cry1A.105, but was not resistant to Cry2Ab and Vip3Aa20. The results demonstrate that field populations of S. frugiperda collected from North Carolina are generally susceptible to Cry1F, but that some individuals carry resistant alleles. The data generated in this study can be used as baseline data for resistance monitoring.     

Control of Resistant Pink Bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) by Transgenic Cotton That Produces Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin Cry2Ab

Crops genetically engineered to produce Bacillus thuringiensis toxins for insect control can reduce use of conventional insecticides, but insect resistance could limit the success of this technology. The first generation of transgenic cotton with B. thuringiensis produces a single toxin, Cry1Ac, that is highly effective against susceptible larvae of pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), a major cotton pest. To counter potential problems with resistance, second-generation transgenic cotton that produces B. thuringiensis toxin Cry2Ab alone or in combination with Cry1Ac has been developed. In greenhouse bioassays, a pink bollworm strain selected in the laboratory for resistance to Cry1Ac survived equally well on transgenic cotton with Cry1Ac and on cotton without Cry1Ac. In contrast, Cry1Ac-resistant pink bollworm had little or no survival on second-generation transgenic cotton with Cry2Ab alone or with Cry1Ac plus Cry2Ab. Artificial diet bioassays showed that resistance to Cry1Ac did not confer strong cross-resistance to Cry2Aa. Strains with >90% larval survival on diet with 10 μg of Cry1Ac per ml showed 0% survival on diet with 3.2 or 10 μg of Cry2Aa per ml. However, the average survival of larvae fed a diet with 1 μg of Cry2Aa per ml was higher for Cry1Ac-resistant strains (2 to 10%) than for susceptible strains (0%). If plants with Cry1Ac plus Cry2Ab are deployed while genes that confer resistance to each of these toxins are rare, and if the inheritance of resistance to both toxins is recessive, the efficacy of transgenic cotton might be greatly extended.     

HIV-1 Resistance to Maraviroc Conferred by a CD4 Binding Site Mutation in the Envelope Glycoprotein gp120

Maraviroc (MVC) is a CCR5 antagonist that inhibits HIV-1 entry by binding to the coreceptor and inducing structural alterations in the extracellular loops. In this study, we isolated MVC-resistant variants from an HIV-1 primary isolate that arose after 21 weeks of tissue culture passage in the presence of inhibitor. gp120 sequences from passage control and MVC-resistant cultures were cloned into NL4-3 via yeast-based recombination followed by sequencing and drug susceptibility testing. Using 140 clones, three mutations were linked to MVC resistance, but none appeared in the V3 loop as was the case with previous HIV-1 strains resistant to CCR5 antagonists. Rather, resistance was dependent upon a single mutation in the C4 region of gp120. Chimeric clones bearing this N425K mutation replicated at high MVC concentrations and displayed significant shifts in 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀s), characteristic of resistance to all other antiretroviral drugs but not typical of MVC resistance. Previous reports on MVC resistance describe an ability to use a drug-bound form of the receptor, leading to reduction in maximal drug inhibition. In contrast, our structural models on K425 gp120 suggest that this resistant mutation impacts CD4 interactions and highlights a novel pathway for MVC resistance.     

Doxorubicin Resistance Conferred by Selective Enhancement of Intracellular Glutathione Peroxidase or Superoxide Dismutase Content in Human MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

To examine the role of doxorubicin-stimulated oxyradical formation in tumor cell killing, we introduced glutathione peroxidase (GSH Px) or superoxide dismutase (SOD) into MCF-7 cells by “scrape loading.” Control cytoplasmic GSH Px and SOD levels increased from (mean ± S.E.) 0.37nmol/min/mg and 0.58 μg SOD/mg, respectively, to 3.99 or 7.63 nmol/min/mg and 1.40 or 1.83 μg SOD/mg after treatment with either 150 or 300 units/ml of GSH Px or 20 or 40mg/ml SOD. Resistance to doxorubicin was cbrrelated with the level of GSH Px introduced into the MCF-7 cells: a one-hour exposure to 1.75 μM doxorubicin decreased the cloning efficiency of control cells loaded with medium alone to 34%, whereas doxorubicin-treated cells augmented with 150 or 300 units/ml of GSH Px had plating efficiencies of 56 or 86%, P < 0.05. Introduction of SOD increased MCF-7 resistance to doxorubicin similarly. The heat-inactivated enzymes were not protective. Cells loaded with GSH Px were also resistant to the redox cycling anticancer quinone mitomycin C but not to the redox inactive analogs 5-iminodaunorubicin and mitoxan-trone. suggesting that amplification of GSH Px or SOD levels can produce doxorubicin resistance in MCF-7 cells.     

棉花miR397 LAC4模块调控棉铃虫抗性研究

miRNA(microRNA)通过调控其靶标基因在植物的生长、发育和抗逆过程中扮演着重要的角色。该研究采用分子生物学和生物化学等方法,探讨棉花miR397 LAC4参与植株木质素生物合成和对棉铃虫抗性响应机制。结果发现：(1)棉花miR397(ghr miR397)在转录后调控漆酶基因(GhLAC4)的表达,GhLAC4属于蓝铜氧化酶家族,通过调控木质素合成,抵御棉铃虫入侵棉花。(2)GUS报告基因融合表达和酶活性测定表明,ghr miR397在转录后切割靶标基因GhLAC4抑制其表达。(3)利用VIGS(virus induced gene silencing)技术在棉花中沉默和过表达ghr miR397,棉铃虫抗性检测分析表明,沉默miR397表达会增加棉花对棉铃虫的抗性,但过表达ghr miR397则会降低棉花的抗性。(4)选择性和非选择性棉铃虫实验分析、组织化学染色和木质素含量测定表明,沉默GhLAC4表达会减少木质素的积累,增加棉花对棉铃虫的敏感性。研究表明,ghr miR397 GhLAC4模块共同微调棉花木质素合成来参与棉花抗虫性调控,同时也为棉花抗虫育种提供了新思路。     

Bt棉与常规棉根际土壤Bt毒蛋白和植物激素变化动态

通过ELISA法对常规棉（石远321）和转基因抗虫棉（99B、SGK321）根际土壤苏云金芽孢杆菌（Bt）毒蛋白和植物激素含量进行了分析,结果表明抗虫棉根际土壤Bt毒蛋白含量显著高于常规棉,特别是从苗期到盛花期抗虫棉根际土壤Bt毒蛋白含量高出常规棉200-300ng／g。抗虫棉根际土壤中脱落酸（ABA）和生长素吲哚乙酸（IAA）含量变化趋势与常规棉相比表现出较大差异。常规棉与抗虫棉根际土壤中ABA变化趋势表现为相似的单峰曲线,而抗虫棉根际土壤中ABA含量变化幅度明显小于常规棉。在棉花生长发育后期抗虫棉根际土壤中赤霉酸（GA3）含量较高,而常规棉根际土壤中GA,含量升高较抗虫棉早且变化幅度大,在高峰处常规棉高于抗虫棉,低谷时抗虫棉高于常规棉。7月17日常规棉根际土壤IAA含量显著高于抗虫棉,8月27日抗虫棉又大大高于常规棉,其他时期变化不大。上述结果表明,外源Bt基因的插入或表达能引起棉花根际土壤中Bt毒蛋白和植物激素含量的较大改变,这种改变可能会影响到抗虫棉的生长发育,并对环境产生影响。     

转基因抗虫棉Bt基因插入区碱基组成分析

利用TAIL－PCR的方法克隆不同来源的转基因抗虫棉中外源基因插入区的侧翼序列并对其进行序列和结构分析,结果表明,同一个较基因的单构自交得到的不同株系中外源基因插入区的两侧DNA序列完全相同,不同的转基因抗虫棉虫的外源基因插入位置各不相同,不同来源的转基因品种外源基因插入的上游侧翼片段含有一段残留质粒片段,外源基因插入的下游侧翼片段为富含AT碱基结构,其中泗棉3号转基因抗虫品系中下游侧翼片段的AT碱基高达92％,Southern杂交结果显示这些侧翼序列为高AT含量的多拷贝序列,序列中没有发现拓扑异构酶的结合位点。     

Variable Mutation Rates as an Adaptive Strategy in Replicator Populations

For evolving populations of replicators, there is much evidence that the effect of mutations on fitness depends on the degree of adaptation to the selective pressures at play. In optimized populations, most mutations have deleterious effects, such that low mutation rates are favoured. In contrast to this, in populations thriving in changing environments a larger fraction of mutations have beneficial effects, providing the diversity necessary to adapt to new conditions. What is more, non-adapted populations occasionally benefit from an increase in the mutation rate. Therefore, there is no optimal universal value of the mutation rate and species attempt to adjust it to their momentary adaptive needs. In this work we have used stationary populations of RNA molecules evolving in silico to investigate the relationship between the degree of adaptation of an optimized population and the value of the mutation rate promoting maximal adaptation in a short time to a new selective pressure. Our results show that this value can significantly differ from the optimal value at mutation-selection equilibrium, being strongly influenced by the structure of the population when the adaptive process begins. In the short-term, highly optimized populations containing little variability respond better to environmental changes upon an increase of the mutation rate, whereas populations with a lower degree of optimization but higher variability benefit from reducing the mutation rate to adapt rapidly. These findings show a good agreement with the behaviour exhibited by actual organisms that replicate their genomes under broadly different mutation rates.     

Correlation of Intracellular Trehalose Concentration with Desiccation Resistance of Soil Escherichia coli Populations

Naturalized soil Escherichia coli populations need to resist common soil desiccation stress in order to inhabit soil environments. In this study, four representative soil E. coli strains and one lab strain, MG1655, were tested for desiccation resistance via die-off experiments in sterile quartz sand under a potassium acetate-induced desiccation condition. The desiccation stress caused significantly lower die-off rates of the four soil strains (0.17 to 0.40 day⁻¹) than that of MG1655 (0.85 day⁻¹). Cellular responses, including extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) production, exogenous glycine betaine (GB) uptake, and intracellular compatible organic solute synthesis, were quantified and compared under the desiccation and hydrated control conditions. GB uptake appeared not to be a specific desiccation response, while EPS production showed considerable variability among the E. coli strains. All E. coli strains produced more intracellular trehalose, proline, and glutamine under the desiccation condition than the hydrated control, and only the trehalose concentration exhibited a significant correlation with the desiccation-contributed die-off coefficients (Spearman''s ρ = −1.0; P = 0.02). De novo trehalose synthesis was further determined for 15 E. coli strains from both soil and nonsoil sources to determine its prevalence as a specific desiccation response. Most E. coli strains (14/15) synthesized significantly more trehalose under the desiccation condition, and the soil E. coli strains produced more trehalose (106.5 ± 44.9 μmol/mg of protein [mean ± standard deviation]) than the nonsoil reference strains (32.5 ± 10.5 μmol/mg of protein).     

Mutated Cadherin Alleles from a Field Population of Helicoverpa armigera Confer Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin Cry1Ac

The cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera is the major insect pest targeted by cotton genetically engineered to produce the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (transgenic Bt cotton) in the Old World. The evolution of this pest's resistance to B. thuringiensis toxins is the main threat to the long-term effectiveness of transgenic Bt cotton. A deletion mutation allele (r₁) of a cadherin gene (Ha_BtR) was previously identified as genetically linked with Cry1Ac resistance in a laboratory-selected strain of H. armigera. Using a biphasic screen strategy, we successfully trapped two new cadherin alleles (r₂ and r₃) associated with Cry1Ac resistance from a field population of H. armigera collected from the Yellow River cotton area of China in 2005. The r₂ and r₃ alleles, respectively, were created by inserting the long terminal repeat of a retrotransposon (designated HaRT1) and the intact HaRT1 retrotransposon at the same position in exon 8 of Ha_BtR, which results in a truncated cadherin containing only two ectodomain repeats in the N terminus of Ha_BtR. This is the first time that the B. thuringiensis resistance alleles of a target insect of Bt crops have been successfully detected in the open field. This study also demonstrated that bollworm larvae carrying two resistance alleles can complete development on Bt cotton. The cadherin locus should be an important target for intensive DNA-based screening of field populations of H. armigera.     

转基因烟草中Bt毒蛋白基因的表达行为

Bt toxin genes were the insecticidal genes most widely used in genetic engineering of pest resistant plant, were of important significance to study their expression behavior in transgenic plants. In this work, a plant expression vector, pBinMoBc, was constructed. It contained the Cry IA(c) gene under control of chimeric OM promoter and the Ω factor. The vector was transferred into tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plant via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. ELISA assay showed that the expression levels of the Cry IA(c) gene in transgenic tobacco plants were significantly higher than that in wild-type tobacco plants. The highest could be up to 0.255% of total soluble proteins; the expression level of CryIA(c) gene in transgenic tobacco plant was changeable during the development stages of tobacco plant. Bioassay showed that pBinMoBc transgenic tobacco plants had more notable insecticidal activity than the wild-type tobacco plants. The above results indicated that pBinMoBc was an effective pest-resistent plant expression vector. This study would be very helpful in screening transgenic cotton with high resistance to cotton bollworm (Heliothis armigeva Hubner).     

转基因烟草中Bt毒蛋白基因的表达行为

构建了高效植物表达载体ｐＢｉｎＭｏＢｃ,该载体携带超强表达复合启动子ＯＭ及Ω因子控制下的ＣｒｙＩＡ（ｃ）基因。采用根癌土壤杆菌（Ａｇｒｏｂａｃｔｅｒｕｍ ｔｕｍｅｆａｃｉｅｎｓ（Ｓｍｉｔｈ ｅｔ Ｔｏｗｎｓｅｎｄ）Ｃｏｎｎ）介导的方法转化烟草（Ｎｉｃｏｔｉａｎａ ｔａｂａｃｕｍ Ｌ．）,ＥＬＩＳＡ检测表明,大多数转基因烟草中ＣｒｙＩＡ（ｃ）基因表达量均超过０．１％,最高可达０．２５５％;转基因烟草     

棉田优势天敌对棉铃虫种群的控制作用

采用二次正交回归旋转组合设计及其方程Ya=b0 ∑bixi ∑bijxij ∑biixi^2分别研究了棉田优势天敌类群小花蝽,异色瓢虫,龟纹瓢虫对棉铃虫卵,小花蝽,异色瓢虫,龟纹瓢虫,拟水涯狼蛛对棉铃虫1－2龄幼虫和三突花蛛,异色瓢虫,龟纹瓢虫,拟水涯狼蛛对棉铃虫3－6龄幼虫的捕食作用。通过对方程的失拟性检验和显著性检验以及对回归系数的显著性,分析了这些捕食性天敌与棉铃虫态之间的相互关系以及捕食性天敌之间的相互关系。     

转基因抗虫棉在中国的推广和传播途径研究

转基因抗虫棉是中国商业化应用最成功的转基因作物,已有许多研究对转基因棉花种植的成本效益和农户生产决策的影响因素进行了深入分析,但对其具体推广过程缺乏足够了解。通过小组访谈和创新树的分析方法,以转基因抗虫棉为例,对转基因生物技术在我国的推广和传播途径开展了研究。研究发现,种业公司转基因作物种子的生产能力直接影响转基因作物的初始规模,来自政府研究机构和种业公司的技术推广者在转基因生物技术的扩散过程中都起着重要作用,公共农技推广服务对于宣传相关信息和知识尤为重要,社会资本也有助于转基因抗虫棉在中国的快速传播和采用。研究结论对推进我国公共农技推广体系改革、完善多元社会化服务主体协作及生物技术研发具有重要启示作用。