Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Ainu (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Stenochiinae)

The genus ErulipusFairmaire, 1903 (previously in the subfamily Tenebrioninae, tribe Helopini), after the study of the type species (Erulipus fruhstorferiFairmaire, 1903), is transferred to the genus AinuLewis, 1894 (subfamily Stenochiinae, the tribe Cnodalonini) as a subgenus. Consequently, two new combinations are established: Ainu (Erulipus) fruhstorferi (Fairmaire, 1903), comb. nov. and Ainu (s. str.) multicolor (Pic, 1927), comb. nov. The syntypes of Erulipus fruhstorferi and Erulipus multicolorPic, 1927 are studied and the new synonym is proposed: Erulipus fruhstorferi?=?Ainu grandisRen and Yuan, 2005, syn. nov. Two new species are described from China: Ainu linwenxini Nabozhenko & Ren, sp. nov. (Taiwan) and Ainu basifemoratum Nabozhenko & Ren, sp. nov. (Yunnan). Both the new species are closely related to A. sichuanumRen and Yuan, 2015.     

Further new species of the plant bug genus Campylomma Reuter from the Oriental Region (Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae: Nasocorini)

The fauna of the nasocorine plant bug genus Campylomma Reuter from the Oriental Region, including subtropical Japanese Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa Island of Southwest Islands-group) and Taiwan is updated. Three new species are herein described, C. astica n. sp. (from Okinawa and Taoyuan, Taiwan), C. hibiscicola n. sp. (Bangkok, Thailand) and C. nanrenana n. sp. (Pingtung, Taiwan). Of these, C. astica and C. hibiscicola, were observed to have cryptic habitat-preference, inhabiting bracts, stipules or flower buds of the sea (or coastal) hibiscus, Hibiscus tiliaceus (L.) (Malvaceae), planted for landscaping at urbanized zones. An updated checklist of the 22 Oriental Campylomma species is provided.     

Focus: Microbiome: Unraveling the Dynamics of the Human Vaginal Microbiome

Four Lactobacillus species, namely L. crispatus, L. iners, L. gasseri, and L. jensenii, commonly dominate the vaginal communities of most reproductive-age women. It is unclear why these particular species, and not others, are so prevalent. Historically, estrogen-induced glycogen production by the vaginal epithelium has been proffered as being key to supporting the proliferation of vaginal lactobacilli. However, the ‘fly in the ointment’ (that has been largely ignored) is that the species of Lactobacillus commonly found in the human vagina cannot directly metabolize glycogen. It would appear that this riddle has been solved as studies have demonstrated that vaginal lactobacilli can metabolize the products of glycogen depolymerization by α-amylase, and fortunately, amylase activity is found in vaginal secretions. These amylases are presumed to be host-derived, but we suggest that other bacterial populations in vaginal communities could also be sources of amylase in addition to (or instead of) the host. Here we briefly review what is known about human vaginal bacterial communities and discuss how glycogen-derived resources and resource competition might shape the composition and structure of these communities.     

Mites of the subgenus Neotomobia n. subg. (Acariformes: Myobiidae: Radfordia), parasites of the subfamily Neotominae (Rodentia: Cricetidae)

A new subgenus Neotomobia n. subg. (Acariformes: Myobiidae: Radfordia) is established for species parasitising rodents of the subfamily Neotominae (Rodentia: Cricetidae): Radfordia subuliger Ewing, 1938 (type-species), Radfordia eremici Fain & Bochkov, 2002, Radfordia neotomae Jameson & Whitaker, 1975 and Radfordia hamiltoni Jameson & Whitaker, 1975. Three new species are described: Radfordia peromyscus n. sp. from Peromyscus megalops Merriam from Mexico, Radfordia onychomys n. sp. from Onychomys leucogaster (Wied-Neuwied) from the USA and Radfordia megadontomys n. sp. from Megadontomys thomasi (Merriam) from Mexico.     

Resurrection of the genus Yezoterpnosia Matsumura (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadini) based on a new definition of the genus Terpnosia Distant

The genus Terpnosia Distant is newly defined. Terpnosia elegans (Kirby) stat. rev. is resurrected from junior synonymy with Terpnosia psecas (Walker). Seven species are now considered to belong to Terpnosia sensu stricto, including two species currently placed in this genus: T. psecas (Walker) and T. elegans (Kirby) stat. rev. Five species are transferred from Pomponia Stål to Terpnosia: T. polei (Henry) comb. nov., T. lactea (Distant) comb. nov., T. similis (Schmidt) comb. nov., T. simusa (Boulard) comb. nov., and T. graecina (Distant) comb. nov. Yezoterpnosia Matsumura stat. rev. is resurrected from junior synonymy with Terpnosia. Six species formerly in the genus Terpnosia are transferred to Yezoterpnosia: Y. nigricosta (De Motschulsky), Y. ichangensis (Liu) comb. nov., Y. shaanxiensis (Sanborn) comb. nov., Y. vacua (Olivier) comb. nov., Y. obscura (Kato) comb. nov., and Y. fuscoapicalis (Kato) comb. nov. Terpnosia is placed in the subtribe Psithyristriina of the tribe Cicadini, and Yezoterpnosia is placed in the subtribe Leptopsaltriina of Cicadini. Terpnosiina syn. nov. is synonymized with Psithyristriina.     

Structure and evolution of the mitochondrial genome of Exorista sorbillans: the Tachinidae (Diptera: Calyptratae) perspective

The first complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Tachinidae Exorista sorbillans (Diptera) is sequenced by PCR-based approach. The circular mitogenome is 14,960?bp long and has the representative mitochondrial gene (mt gene) organization and order of Diptera. All protein-coding sequences are initiated with ATN codon; however, the only exception is Cox I gene, which has a 4-bp ATCG putative start codon. Ten of the thirteen protein-coding genes have a complete termination codon (TAA), but the rest are seated on the H strand with incomplete codons. The mitogenome of E. sorbillans is biased toward A+T content at 78.4?%, and the strand-specific bias is in reflection of the third codon positions of mt genes, and their T/C ratios as strand indictor are higher on the H strand more than those on the L strand pointing at any strain of seven Diptera flies. The length of the A+T-rich region of E. sorbillans is 106?bp, including a tandem triple copies of a13-bp fragment. Compared to Haematobia irritans, E. sorbillans holds distant relationship with Drosophila. Phylogenetic topologies based on the amino acid sequences, supporting that E. sorbillans (Tachinidae) is clustered with strains of Calliphoridae and Oestridae, and superfamily Oestroidea are polyphyletic groups with Muscidae in a clade.     

Redescription of Bradya typica Boeck, 1873 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Ectinosomatidae) with the first description of the male

Bradya typica Boeck, 1873 is described from samples collected in the course of a colonisation experiment in Kongsfjorden, Spitsbergen (2003–2005). The male of B. typica, the type-species of the genus is described for the first time. B. typica can be distinguished from its congeners by its caudal rami (1.4 times longer than wide) and by its P5 (exopod longer than wide, inner terminal seta of exopod longest, inner seta of baseoendopod longer than outer one and surface seta rigid and curved). Variability within the species is rather small as only the length of some setae is slightly different. B. cladiofera Lang, 1965, B. congenera Sars, 1920, B. minutiseta Soyer, 1973 and B. pugiochaeta Arlt, 1983 are closely related to B. typica. Some details of the morphology, such as the body ornamentation and the longer hair-like pinnules on the spines of the swimming legs, are very difficult to observe even with maximum magnification. With certainty, B. typica is distributed near the Norwegian coast (Oslo Fjord to Trondheim Fjord), the Swedish coast (Skagerak to Öresund), around Spitsbergen and around the polar islands north of Grinnelland (Canadian Arctic Archipelago near Baffin Bay). Records of B. typica from the Kara Sea (near Novaya Zemlya), near Franz Joseph Land, Iceland, Greenland, the British Isles and from deep waters of the North Sea have to be confirmed.     

Analysis of the Bacillus subtilis recO gene: RecO forms part of the RecFLOR function

The deduced protein product of the Bacillus subtilis gene yqfI, which is 255 residues long, shares homology (25% identity) with the Escherichia coli RecO protein. A null allele of yqfI, when present in an otherwise Rec⁺ B. subtilis strain, causes cells to become highly sensitive to DNA-damaging agents, and plasmid transformation (intramolecular recombination) is reduced by 25-fold while chromosomal transformation (intermolecular recombination) is only moderately affected (2.5-fold reduction). Therefore, the yqfI gene was renamed recO and its null allele is referred to as recO1. The recO1 mutation was introduced into recombination-deficient strains representative of the epistatic groups α (recF, recR and recL strains), β (addA5 addB72), γ (recH342) and ? (recU40). The recO mutation did not affect the sensitivity of recF, recR or recL cells to DNA-damaging agents, increased the sensitivity of recU and addAB cells and abolished the DNA repair capacity of recH cells. The recO mutation did not affect intermolecular recombination in recF, recL, recH or recU cells, but reduced (by about 9-fold) the incidence of intermolecular recombination in addAB cells. The recO mutation did not affect intramolecular recombination in the addAB, recU, recF or recL cells, but reduced it by about 75-fold in recH cells. The defects caused by the recO1 mutation can be partially suppressed by a common suppressor of the recF, recL and recR phenotypes. We therefore assigned recO to epistatic group α and predict that the RecO protein acts at the same stage of recombination as the RecF, RecL and RecR proteins, in a RecFLOR complex.     

Structural features of the mitogenome of the leafhopper genus Cladolidia (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Coelidiinae) and phylogenetic implications in Cicadellidae

The first two complete mitogenomes of the leafhopper genus Cladolidia (C. biungulata and C. robusta) were sequenced and annotated to further explore the phylogeny of Cladolidia. Both the newly sequenced mitogenomes have a typical circular structure, with lengths of 15,247 and 15,376 bp and A + T contents of 78.2% and 78%, respectively. We identified a highly conserved genome organization in the two Cladolidia spp. through comparative analysis that included the following assessments: genome content, gene order, nucleotide composition, codon usage, amino acid composition, and tRNA secondary structure. Moreover, we detected the base heterogeneity of Cicadellidae mitogenomic data and constructed phylogenetic trees using the nucleotide alignments of 12 subfamilies of 58 leafhopper species. We noted a weak heterogeneity in the base composition among the Cicadellidae mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the monophyly of each subfamily was generally well supported in the family Cicadellidae; the main topology was as follows: (Deltocephalinae + (Treehoppers + ((Megophthalminae + (Macropsinae + (Hylicinae + (Coelidiinae +Iassinae)) + (Idiocerinae + (Cicadellinae + (Typhlocybinae + (Mileewinae + (Evacanthinae +Ledrinae)))))))))). Within Coelidiinae, phylogenetic analyses revealed that C. biungulata and C. robusta belong to Coelidiinae and the monophyly of Cladolidia is well supported. In addition, on the basis of complete mitogenome phylogenetic analysis and the comparison of morphological characteristics, we further confirm the genus Olidiana as a paraphyletic group, suggesting that the genus may need taxonomic revisions.     

Unraveling the Leloir Pathway of Bifidobacterium bifidum: Significance of the Uridylyltransferases

The GNB/LNB (galacto-N-biose/lacto-N-biose) pathway plays a crucial role in bifidobacteria during growth on human milk or mucin from epithelial cells. It is thought to be the major route for galactose utilization in Bifidobacterium longum as it is an energy-saving variant of the Leloir pathway. Both pathways are present in B. bifidum, and galactose 1-phosphate (gal1P) is considered to play a key role. Due to its toxic nature, gal1P is further converted into its activated UDP-sugar through the action of poorly characterized uridylyltransferases. In this study, three uridylyltransferases (galT1, galT2, and ugpA) from Bifidobacterium bifidum were cloned in an Escherichia coli mutant and screened for activity on the key intermediate gal1P. GalT1 and GalT2 showed UDP-glucose-hexose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase activity (EC 2.7.7.12), whereas UgpA showed promiscuous UTP-hexose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase activity (EC 2.7.7.10). The activity of UgpA toward glucose 1-phosphate was about 33-fold higher than that toward gal1P. GalT1, as part of the bifidobacterial Leloir pathway, was about 357-fold more active than GalT2, the functional analog in the GNB/LNB pathway. These results suggest that GalT1 plays a more significant role than previously thought and predominates when B. bifidum grows on lactose and human milk oligosaccharides. GalT2 activity is required only during growth on substrates with a GNB core such as mucin glycans.     

Terpenoids from the seed of chamaecyparis pisifera: the structures of six diterpenoids

Six new diterpenes, 12-hydroxy-20-nor-abieta-1(10),2,8,11,13-pentaene, pisiferanol (10S,12-dihydroxy-9(10 → 20)-abeo-abieta-8,11,13-triene), pisiferadinol (20S-hydroxypisiferanol), 12-deoxypisiferanol, 1β-hydroxyisopisiferin (1R,12-dihydroxy-9(10 → 2O)abeo-abieta-8,10(20),11,13-tetraene), and the dimethylamine salt of O-methylpisiferic acid were isolated from the seed of Chamaecyparis pisifera. The structures of these diterpenes were established by spectral and chemical methods. In addition, 15 mono-, four sesqui- and nine diterpenes were identified.     

Analysis of the Albino-Locus Region of the Mouse: IV. Characterization of 34 Deficiencies

Thirty-four independent nonviable c-locus mutations (types c^al, albino lethal and c^as, albino subvital), derived from radiation experiments, were tested for involvement of nearby markers tp, Mod-2, sh-1, and Hbb: 10, 22, and 2 involved, respectively, none of these markers, Mod-2 alone, and Mod-2 plus sh-1. When classified on this basis, as well as according to developmental stage at which homozygotes die, and by limited complementation results, the 34 independent mutations fell into 12 groups. From results of a full-scale complementation grid of all 435 possible crosses among 30 of the mutations, we were able to postulate an alignment of eight functional units by which the 12 groups fit a linear pattern. Abnormal phenotypes utilized in the complementation study were deaths at various stages of prenatal or postnatal development, body weight, and reduction or absence of various enzymes. Some of these phenotypes can be separated by complementation (e.g., there is no evidence that mitochondrial malic enzyme influences survival at any age); others cannot thus be separated (e.g., glucose-6-phosphatase deficiency and neonatal death).—We conclude that all of the nonviable albino mutations are deficiencies overlapping at c, and ranging in size from <2cM to 6-11 cM. The characterization of this array of deficiencies should provide useful tools for gene-dosage studies, recombinant-DNA fine-structure analyses, etc. Since many of the combinations of lethals produce viable albino animals that resemble the standard c/c type, we conclude (a) that the c locus contains no sites essential for survival, and (b) that viable nonalbino c-locus mutations (c^xv) are the result of mutations within the c cistron. Viable albinos (c^av, the majority of radiation-induced c-locus mutations) may be intracistronic mutations or very small deficiencies.     

Enantiomerism: A characteristic of the proanthocyanidin chemistry of the monocotyledonae

Proanthocyanidin polymers containing 2,3-cis-procyanidin units with a partly racemic mixture of 2R (the normal configuration) and 2S units are widespread in the Monocotyledonae, being present in several families in the Arecidae, Commelinidae and Lilliidae.     

Alkaloids of the rutoideae: Tribe diosmeae

The aerial parts of 42 taxa of the genera Agathosma, Coleonema, Diosma, Empleurum and Phyllosma (tribe Diosmeae) were screened for alkaloids. Positive results were obtained for five Agathosma species and the compounds were identified as halfordamine and skimmianine.     

Glowing Seashells: Diversity of Fossilized Coloration Patterns on Coral Reef-Associated Cone Snail (Gastropoda: Conidae) Shells from the Neogene of the Dominican Republic

The biology of modern Conidae (cone snails)—which includes the hyperdiverse genus Conus—has been intensively studied, but the fossil record of the clade remains poorly understood, particularly within an evolutionary framework. Here, ultraviolet light is used to reveal and characterize the original shell coloration patterns of 28 species of cone snails from three Neogene coral reef-associated deposits from the Cibao Valley, northern Dominican Republic. These fossils come from the upper Miocene Cercado Fm. and lower Pliocene Gurabo Fm., and range in age from about 6.6-4.8 Ma. Comparison of the revealed coloration patterns with those of extant species allow the taxa to be assigned to three genera of cone snails (Profundiconus, Conasprella, and Conus) and at least nine subgenera. Thirteen members of these phylogenetically diverse reef faunas are described as new species. These include: Profundiconus? hennigi, Conasprella (Ximeniconus) ageri, Conus anningae, Conus lyelli, Conus (Atlanticonus?) franklinae, Conus (Stephanoconus) gouldi, Conus (Stephanoconus) bellacoensis, Conus (Ductoconus) cashi, Conus (Dauciconus) garrisoni, Conus (Dauciconus?) zambaensis, Conus (Spuriconus?) kaesleri, Conus (Spuriconus?) lombardii, and Conus (Lautoconus?) carlottae. Each of the three reef deposits contain a minimum of 14–16 cone snail species, levels of diversity that are similar to modern Indo-Pacific reef systems. Finally, most of the 28 species can be assigned to modern clades and thus have important implications for understanding the biogeographic and temporal histories of these clades in tropical America.     

New grylloblattids of the family Lemmatophoridae (Insecta: Grylloblattida) from the Permian of Russia

New grylloblattids of the family Lemmatophoridae (Insecta: Grylloblattida), Artinska sojanensis sp. nov., Sylvaprisca colorata sp. nov., and Uraloprisca lisca gen. et sp. nov., from the Soyana locality (Lower Kazanian, Arkhangelsk Region) and Paraprisca solikamskensis sp. nov. from the Tyul’kino locality (Ufimian, Perm Region) are described. Two species are transferred from the genus Paraprisca to Uraloprisca gen. nov.: Uraloprisca uralica (G. Zalessky, 1952), comb. nov. and Uraloprisca causaria (Novokshonov, 2000), comb. nov. (both from the Kungurian of the Perm Region). The evolution of the family is discussed.     

Exercise therapy for the management of osteoarthritis of the hip joint: a systematic review

Introduction

We aimed to replicate association of newly identified systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) loci.

Methods

We selected the most associated SNP in 10 SLE loci. These 10 SNPs were analysed in 1,579 patients with SLE and 1,726 controls of European origin by single-base extension. Comparison of allele frequencies between cases and controls was done with the Mantel–Haenszel approach to account for heterogeneity between sample collections.

Results

A previously controversial association with a SNP in the TYK2 gene was replicated (odds ratio (OR) = 0.79, P = 2.5 × 10-⁵), as well as association with the X chromosome MECP2 gene (OR = 1.26, P = 0.00085 in women), which had only been reported in a single study, and association with four other loci, 1q25.1 (OR = 0.81, P = 0.0001), PXK (OR = 1.19, P = 0.0038), BANK1 (OR = 0.83, P = 0.006) and KIAA1542 (OR = 0.84, P = 0.001), which have been identified in a genome-wide association study, but not found in any other study. All these replications showed the same disease-associated allele as originally reported. No association was found with the LY9 SNP, which had been reported in a single study.

Conclusions

Our results confirm nine SLE loci. For six of them, TYK2, MECP2, 1q25.1, PXK, BANK1 and KIAA1542, this replication is important. The other three loci, ITGAM, STAT4 and C8orf13-BLK, were already clearly confirmed. Our results also suggest that MECP2 association has no influence in the sex bias of SLE, contrary to what has been proposed. In addition, none of the other associations seems important in this respect.