赤眼蜂的产卵行为

赤眼蜂能在多种宿主卵中产卵寄生,并且还具有在人工物体上产卵的习性。Holloway早在1912年即观察到秋葵植物汁滴干燥结膜后,广赤眼蜂(Trichogramma evanescen)企图在其表面产卵。Salt(1935)观察到赤眼蜂有企图将产卵器插入玻璃珠,水银滴,植物种子等表面的行为。Hagen等(1965)试制人工蜡卵饲喂草蛉幼虫时,偶然发现赤眼蜂可以产卵在这种蜡卵内。近年来,Rajendram和Hagen(1974)曾用上述蜡卵引诱赤眼蜂产卵于盐水或氨基酸溶液内。总之,赤眼蜂可在不少的非天然的宿主或物体上产卵,并且所报道产过卵的物体都是球形的。Salt(1937)认为决定赤眼蜂产卵的因素是化学感觉,夜蛾中促使赤眼蜂产卵的物质是22—25碳的直链烷烃成分。但影响产卵行为的各种因素尚缺乏详细的分析。     

麦长腿红蜘蛛雄虫的新发现

麦长腿红蜘蛛Petrobia latens Muller 雄虫 身体梨形。长459微米,宽272微米。身体背面具极细的指纹状刻纹,在油镜下才能看见。背刚毛短,纺锤形,具茸毛。前肢体段前毛长15μ;中毛长18μ;后毛长28μ;肩毛长27μ;三对背中毛的长度由前向后依次为28μ、25μ、25μ;三对背侧毛的长度与背中毛相等;荐毛和攫毛长24μ(图1)。     

上海地区鼠体恙螨的调查

本文对上海地区鼠体恙螨种类和在不同环境中数量进行了调查: 1.陆地(川沙、嘉定、南汇县)和长兴岛、崇明岛恙螨指数有差别。陆地恙螨指数均高于岛屿。但陆地和长兴岛、崇明岛之间恙螨指数差别也有不同。陆地恙螨指数和形成历史达千年以上的崇明岛比较,则差别较小,而陆地恙螨指数和形成不到百年历史的长兴岛差别极大。 2.小盾恙螨在沿海边县的恙螨指数和寄生率均远较非沿海边县为高。在沿海边各县中,离海边愈近的乡镇,其指数愈高。 3.室内、外鼠恙螨种类比较,与氏螯齿恙螨明显的分布于居宅室内附近的家鼠体上。而居中恙螨、高山真棒恙螨和温氏五甲恙螨在褐家鼠等鼠体上未曾发现。从恙螨的数量来看,室外鼠体上恙螨指数远较室内鼠体为高,故认为室外鼠是恙螨的主要宿主。其中特别黑线姬鼠是本地恙螨的主要宿主。 4.根据冬季竹林和非竹林恙螨数量的比较来看,竹林恙螨指数远远高于非竹林。从恙螨种类来看,在竹林内恙螨指数较高的螨种是于氏恙螨和须恙螨。 5.除竹林外,坟堆内所捕到的鼠恙螨指数也较高。其中指数较高的螨种有于氏恙螨、萨氏背展恙螨、小盾恙螨和须恙螨。从各种作物来看,以甘薯田、稻田、甘蓝田、胡萝卜田内捕到的黑线姬鼠恙螨指数较高;麦田、油菜田和无作物田为最低。     

A 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase-based probe for the discovery of the acyltransferase-less type I polyketide synthases

Acyltransferase (AT)-less type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) produce complex natural products due to the presence of many unique tailoring enzymes. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A synthases (HCSs) are responsible for β-alkylation of the growing polyketide intermediates in AT-less type I PKSs. In this study, we discovered a large group of HCSs, closely associated with the characterized and orphan AT-less type I PKSs through in silico genome mining, sequence and genome neighbourhood network analyses. Using HCS-based probes, the survey of 1207 in-house strains and 18 soil samples from different geographic locations revealed the vast diversity of HCS-containing AT-less type I PKSs. The presence of HCSs in many AT-less type I PKSs suggests their co-evolutionary relationship. This study provides a new probe to study the abundance and diversity of AT-less type I PKSs in the environment and microbial strain collections. Our study should inspire future efforts to discover new polyketide natural products from AT-less type I PKSs.     

Diversity of Rhizosphere Soil Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Various Soybean Cultivars under Different Continuous Cropping Regimes

Recent studies have shown that continuous cropping in soybean causes substantial changes to the microbial community in rhizosphere soil. In this study, we investigated the effects of continuous cropping for various time periods on the diversity of rhizosphere soil arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in various soybean cultivars at the branching stage. The soybean cultivars Heinong 37 (an intermediate cultivar), Heinong 44 (a high-fat cultivar) and Heinong 48 (a high-protein cultivar) were seeded in a field and continuously cropped for two or three years. We analyzed the diversity of rhizosphere soil AM fungi of these soybean plants at the branching stage using morphological and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) techniques. The clustering analysis of unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) was then used to investigate the AM fungal community shifts. The results showed that increasing the number of years of continuous cropping can improve the colonization rate of AM fungi in different soybean cultivars at the branching stage. The dominant AM fungi in the experimental fields were Funneliformismosseae and Glomus spp. The number of years of continuous cropping and the soybean cultivar both had obvious effects on the diversity of AM fungi, which was consistent with the results of colonization rate analysis. This study establishes a basis for screening dominant AM fungi of soybean. In addition, the results of this study may be useful for the development of AM fungal inoculants.