Toxicity of four systemic neonicotinoids to adults of Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

As part of the ongoing evaluation of different systemic insecticides for prophylactic treatment of trees, responses of the beetle Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) to different doses of four systemic neonicotinyl insecticides were studied. Adult beetles were provided with twigs or leaves of trees treated with different concentrations of imidacloprid to evaluate the toxicity of the insecticide through ingestion or contact or through both. Adult beetles also were provided with twigs of host plant treated with clothianidin, dinotefuran, and thiamethoxam to establish dose response of the beetle to these insecticides. Levels of individual insecticides in twigs and leaves were determined by using the "parent" method with high-performance liquid chromatography, and these levels were compared with the applied concentrations to determine their relationship. The LC50 values for detected level of each insecticide in twigs was 5.1 ppm at 24 h, 2.9 at 48 h, and 1.9 ppm at 72 h for imidacloprid; 1.1 ppm at 72 h for clothianidin; 2.2 ppm at 72 h for dinotefuran; and 1.0 ppm at 72 h for thiamethoxam. Our results indicate that mortality of adult beetles resulted not only from the ingestion and contact toxicity but also possibly from the antifeedant effect of imidacloprid.     

Importance of plant size, distribution of egg masses, and weather conditions on egg parasitism of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis by Trichogramma ostriniae in sweet corn

Trichogramma ostriniae (Hym: Trichogrammatidae), an egg parasitoid of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Lep: Pyralidae), were released into sweet corn (Zea mays L.) fields to study the effects of weather, plant size and distribution of egg masses on egg parasitism by the wasp. Sentinel European corn borer eggs were stapled onto leaves located in the upper, middle and lower third of sweet corn plants 5 to 35 meters away from the wasp release point in either a radial or grid manner. Weather conditions and plant architecture were monitored during the experiments. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that percentage of eggs parasitized was negatively related to an increase in leaf area as well as an increase in distance eggs were located from the point of release of wasps. Eggs distributed on plants at different directions from the release point received different levels of parasitism. Eggs that were stapled onto leaves in the upper third of a corn plant received much less parasitism than those on the middle and lower third of the plant. Higher mean temperature adversely affected the level of parasitism during hotter times of the season and conversely, lower temperatures (<17 °C ) reduced the egg parasitism during cooler times of the season. The longer the exposure of eggs to wasps, the higher the level of egg parasitism. However, the levels of egg parasitism for 2 day's exposure were almost the same as that for 3 day's exposure due to the limited longevity and egg-laying behavior of the wasp. These results suggest that inundative releases of T. ostriniae should be made every two to three days, with multiple release points per hectare. In addition, weather conditions and plant architecture, especially temperature, plant height and leaf area must be taken into consideration to optimize levels of parasitism.     

宁夏盐池近年来植被与气候变化分析

使用1981年到2004年的植被指数（NDVI）资料,分析了盐池县植被指数的历史演变情况,发现从1981年以来植被覆盖的状况在变好,尤其是近4a的春季最明显,植被指数在0.2～0.3级别的年平均面积较前20a增大了1.9倍（887km^2）.统计分析发现年平均NDVI与降水量、气温、相对湿度呈正相关,与蒸发量呈负相关,并且植被覆盖增加对能见度改善的影响非常显著.从季节平均来看,春季的降水与夏季的NDVI、夏季降水与秋季的NDVI具有显著的正相关,夏季降水是决定夏季和秋季以及全年植被覆盖的关键因子.     

Design and production of a novel antimicrobial fusion protein in Escherichia coli

In recent years, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have attracted increasing attention. The microbial cells provide a simple, cost-effective platform to produce AMPs in industrial quantities. While AMP production as fusion proteins in microorganisms is commonly used, the recovery of AMPs necessitates the use of expensive proteases and extra purification steps. Here, we develop a novel fusion protein DAMP4-F-pexiganan comprising a carrier protein DAMP4 linked to the AMP, pexiganan, through a long, flexible linker. We show that this fusion protein can be purified using a non-chromatography approach and exhibits the same antimicrobial activity as the chemically synthesized pexiganan peptide without any cleavage step. Activity of the fusion protein is dependent on a long, flexible linker between the AMP and carrier domains, as well as on the expression conditions of the fusion protein, with low-temperature expression promoting better folding of the AMP domain. The production of DAMP4-F-pexiganan circumvents the time-consuming and costly steps of chromatography-based purification and enzymatic cleavages, therefore shows considerable advantages over traditional microbial production of AMPs. We expect this novel fusion protein, and the studies on the effect of linker and expression conditions on its antimicrobial activity, will broaden the rational design and production of antimicrobial products based on AMPs.

     

亚洲舞毒蛾幼龄幼虫刚毛特点及其与扩散关系初探

本文利用扫描电镜和体视显微镜观察了舞毒蛾Lymantria dispar L.幼龄幼虫的刚毛特点,并在风洞内测量了幼虫的扩散距离。结果发现,舞毒蛾幼虫具有4种形态不同的刚毛,即泡状刚毛、具微刺刚毛、羽状刚毛、线型刚毛,其中,具微刺刚毛长度最长,泡状刚毛数量最多。分析幼虫刚毛特点与其扩散的关系,得出舞毒蛾幼虫扩散距离分别与幼虫的具微刺刚毛长度与头宽之比、羽状刚毛长度与头宽之比具有不同程度的正相关性(P0.05,R=0.790;P0.05,R=0.322),与龄期和体重之间分别具有不同程度的负相关性(P0.01,R=-0.804;P0.05,R=-0.720)。     

桑科中4种桑天牛寄主植物的挥发物成分研究

采用动态顶空和气相色谱-质谱联用技术,对桑天牛的主要桑科寄主桑树、构树、柘树和无花果等4种植物的挥发性物质进行检测,以期找出对桑天牛有引诱作用的行为化学物质.结果表明,4种植物分别鉴定出31种、30种、29种和27种化合物,主要为烯类、酯类、醛类、醇类等.4种寄主植物共有的化合物共11种,分别是叶醇、正辛醇、苯甲醛、壬醛、癸醛、1-辛烯、罗勒烯、乙酸叶醇酯、正十六烷、2,6-二叔丁基对甲酚和2,4-二叔丁基苯酚.