Dyeing Insects for Behavioral Assays: the Mating Behavior of Anesthetized Drosophila

Mating experiments using Drosophila have contributed greatly to the understanding of sexual selection and behavior. Experiments often require simple, easy and cheap methods to distinguish between individuals in a trial. A standard technique for this is CO₂ anaesthesia and then labelling or wing clipping each fly. However, this is invasive and has been shown to affect behavior. Other techniques have used coloration to identify flies. This article presents a simple and non-invasive method for labelling Drosophila that allows them to be individually identified within experiments, using food coloring. This method is used in trials where two males compete to mate with a female. Dyeing allowed quick and easy identification. There was, however, some difference in the strength of the coloration across the three species tested. Data is presented showing the dye has a lower impact on mating behavior than CO₂ in Drosophila melanogaster. The impact of CO₂ anaesthesia is shown to depend on the species of Drosophila, with D. pseudoobscura and D. subobscura showing no impact, whereas D. melanogaster males had reduced mating success. The dye method presented is applicable to a wide range of experimental designs.     

牛磺酸和力竭运动对大鼠血液生物化学的影响

30只雄性Wistar大鼠按体重随要分为安静组、运动组、服牛磺酸运动组。后两组进行跑台运动至力竭后即刻,取血测定血糖和血乳酸以及血清MDA、LDH、GOT和CK。结果表明：与运动组相比较,服牛磺酸运动阻力竭运动时间有延长趋势,说明补充牛磺酸提高大鼠运动能力;与安静组相比,运动组力竭运动后血糖显著降低,血清LD、MDA、CK、GOT和LDH都显著升高,提示大鼠长时间运动由于中枢疲劳和外周疲劳而导致力竭;与运动组相比较,服牛磺酸运动组血糖降低和血乳酸升高的程度有减小的趋势,而血清MDA、CK、GOT、LDH升高的程度显著减小。研究结果显示,补充牛磺酸能提高机体的运动能力其主要是通过抵抗要体外周疲劳的产生而实现的。     

Hedgehog signaling in the Drosophila eye and head: an analysis of the effects of different patched trans-heterozygotes

Characterization of different alleles of the Hedgehog receptor patched (ptc) indicates that they can be grouped into several classes. Most mutations result in complete loss of Ptc function. However, missense mutations located within the putative sterol-sensing domain (SSD) or C terminus of ptc encode antimorphic proteins that are unable to repress Smo activity and inhibit wild-type Ptc from doing so, but retain the ability to bind and sequester Hh. Analysis of the eye and head phenotypes of Drosophila melanogaster in various ptc/ptc(tuf1) heteroallelic combinations shows that these two classes of ptc allele can be easily distinguished by their eye phenotype, but not by their head phenotype. Adult eye size is inversely correlated with head vertex size, suggesting an alteration of cell fate within the eye-antennal disc. A balance between excess cell division and cell death in the mutant eye discs may also contribute to final eye size. In addition, contrary to results reported recently, the role of Hh signaling in the Drosophila head vertex appears to be primarily in patterning rather than in proliferation, with Ptc and Smo having opposing effects on formation of medial structures.     

Preparation,cellular uptake and angiogenic suppression of shikonin-containing liposomes in?vitro and in?vivo

Shikonin has anticancer activity, but it has not yet been applied into clinical use. In the present study, shikonin was prepared using liposomes. We aimed to examine several aspects of sh-L (shikonin-containing liposomes): preparation, angiogenic suppression and cellular uptake through self-fluorescence. Sh-L were prepared using soybean phospholipid and cholesterol to form the membrane and shikonin was encapsulated into the phospholipid membrane. Three liposomes were prepared with shikonin. They had red fluorescence and were analysed using a flow cytometer. Angiogenic suppression of sh-L was determined using MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide], Transwell tests, chick CAM (chorioallantoic membrane) and Matrigel™ plug assay. MTT assay showed the median IC₅₀ (inhibitory concentrations) as follows: shikonin, sh-L₁ and sh-L₂ were 4.99±0.23, 5.81±0.57 and 7.17±0.69 μM, respectively. The inhibition rates of migration were 53.58±7.05, 46.56±4.36 and 41.19±3.59% for 3.15 μM shikonin, sh-L₁ and sh-L₂, respectively. The results of CAM and Matrigel plug assay demonstrated that shikonin and sh-L can decrease neovascularization. Effect of shikonin was more obvious than sh-L at the same concentration. The results showed that sh-L decreased the toxicity, the rate of inhibition of migration and angiogenic suppression. The cellular uptake of the sh-L could be pictured because of the self-fluorescence. The self-fluorescence will be useful for conducting further research. Sh-L might be an excellent preparation for future clinical application to cancer patients.     

鳞皮鳞木Lepidodendron lepidophloides Yao叶座的解剖构造

描述了贵州水城矿区汪家寨组(晚二叠世晚期)煤核中一种脱落的具解剖构造的鳞木类叶座.这些叶座在大小和形态上与鳞皮鳞木(Lepidodendron lepidophloides Yao)很相似,很可能属于同一种植物的不同保存类型的叶座.将鳞皮鳞木与已知几个鳞木类植物叶座属,如鳞木属、鳞皮木属、封印木属和华夏木属进行了对比,认为鳞皮鳞木具有这几个属的混合特征,将其归入上述任何一属似乎都不太妥当.该类植物有可能代表了一个新属.由于茎的其他部分构造不明以及这些叶座与生殖构造的联系目前尚不清楚,因此,本文暂时采用鳞皮鳞木这一种名,其确切归属留待对其茎的其他部分的解剖构造以及与生殖器官之间的联系都清楚了以后再行决定.首次较详细地报道华夏植物区鳞木类植物叶座的解剖构造.     

我国新分离虫媒病毒的初步鉴定

1990－1994年,从新疆地区的蚊、蜱和病人血清分离了多株病毒,为了明确这些病毒的分类地位,对其中的20株病毒进行了组织培养细胞感染实验和血清学检验,对部分毒株做了动物接种实验和理化性质鉴定。结果显示：20株病毒均可使BHK－21细胞病变（1－3天）,主要表现为细胞圆宿、聚集,融合,破碎,脱落等;致Vero细胞病变为2－4天;15株病毒致C6／36细胞病变（2－4天）,5株病毒对C6／36细胞连续观察7天未见细胞病变。11株病毒对乳鼠2－4天致死,对成年鼠2－5天致死。选取6株病毒进行理化性质鉴定,4株病毒（90260、91002、91004和91028）对5－氟脱氧尿苷耐受,对乙醚和酸敏感,提示为有膜RNA病毒;一株病毒（90265）对5－氟脱氧尿苷、乙醚和酸均敏感,提示为有膜DNA病毒;另一株病毒（9059）对5－氟脱氧尿苷耐受,对乙醚和酸也耐受,提示可能为无膜RNA肠道病毒。20株病毒中,17株病毒与甲病毒、乙型脑炎病毒和布尼亚病毒的特异性免疫腹水不反应,提示这些病毒中可能不存在甲病毒、黄病毒和布尼亚病毒;3株病毒（90260、91002和91004）只与甲病毒的特异性免疫腹水反应,与乙型脑炎病毒和布尼亚病毒的不反应,提示这三株病毒为甲病毒。     

Modeling soil water movement with water uptake by roots

Soil water movement with root water uptake is a key process for plant growth and transport of water and chemicals in the soil-plant system. In this study, a root water extraction model was developed to incorporate the effect of soil water deficit and plant root distributions on plant transpiration of annual crops. For several annual crops, normalized root density distribution functions were established to characterize the relative distributions of root density at different growth stages. The ratio of actual to potential cumulative transpiration was used to determine plant leaf area index under water stress from measurements of plant leaf area index at optimal soil water condition. The root water uptake model was implemented in a numerical model. The numerical model was applied to simulate soil water movement with root water uptake and simulation results were compared with field experimental data. The simulated soil matric potential, soil water content and cumulative evapotranspiration had reasonable agreement with the measured data. Potentially the numerical model implemented with the root water extraction model is a useful tool to study various problems related to flow transport with plant water uptake in variably saturated soils. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.