香港嘉道理农场次生林区碰撞诱捕网和黑光灯捕虫器采集所得鞘翅目甲虫多样性比较

本文根据1990-1995年在香港嘉道理农场次生林区采集的昆虫标本,首次分析了鞘翅目及其优势科的种类、数量和季节性变化,以及由碰撞诱捕网和黑光灯捕虫器采集所得甲虫在种类、数量和季节性上的差异。在13260号标本中,已鉴定到科的有13253号,分属45科,231种。其中,朽木甲科(Alleculidae)、毛蕈甲科(Biphyllidae)、丸甲科(Byrrhidae)、坚甲科(Colydiidae)、拟球甲科(Corylophidae)、隐食甲科(Cryptophagidae)、水缨甲科(Hydroscaphidae)、伪叶甲科(Lagliidae)、薪甲科(Lathridiidae)、泽甲科(Limnichidae)、黑蕈甲科(Zopheridae)等11个科为香港地区的首次报道,约占本次调查科总数的25％。分析表明：(1)该次生林区的鞘翅目甲虫以蛀木性为主。天牛科(Cerambycidae)、瓢虫科(Coccinellidae)、象甲科(Curculionidae)、花蚤科(Mordellidae)、金龟甲科(Scarabaeidae)、小蠹科(Scolytidae)等6科均为多样性较高(种类≥15或者个体数量≥200)的优势科。(2)鞘翅目个体数量季节性明显,每年自2月开始数量逐渐增加,6—7月为甲虫发生的高峰期,8月显著减少。各优势科甲虫的季节性也存在一定的差异,庞大的小蠹标本数量(85％)说明在此调查期间该科正处于大发生时期。(3)黑光灯捕虫器所捕的甲虫科类和种类较之碰撞诱捕网所捕不尽相同,黑光灯捕虫器所捕的甲虫数量发生高峰期比碰撞诱捕网所捕的甲虫提前一个月。(4)各项多样性指数对不同捕虫器采集所得鞘翅目的测度差异明显,黑光灯捕虫器所捕甲虫的多样度和均匀度指数高于碰撞诱捕网。     

Contrasting Patterns in the Early Stage of SARS-CoV-2 Evolution between Humans and Minks

One of the unique features of SARS-CoV-2 is its apparent neutral evolution during the early pandemic (before February 2020). This contrasts with the preceding SARS-CoV epidemics, where viruses evolved adaptively. SARS-CoV-2 may exhibit a unique or adaptive feature which deviates from other coronaviruses. Alternatively, the virus may have been cryptically circulating in humans for a sufficient time to have acquired adaptive changes before the onset of the current pandemic. To test the scenarios above, we analyzed the SARS-CoV-2 sequences from minks (Neovision vision) and parental humans. In the early phase of the mink epidemic (April to May 2020), nonsynonymous to synonymous mutation ratio per site in the spike protein is 2.93, indicating a selection process favoring adaptive amino acid changes. Mutations in the spike protein were concentrated within its receptor-binding domain and receptor-binding motif. An excess of high-frequency derived variants produced by genetic hitchhiking was found during the middle (June to July 2020) and late phase I (August to September 2020) of the mink epidemic. In contrast, the site frequency spectra of early SARS-CoV-2 in humans only show an excess of low-frequency mutations, consistent with the recent outbreak of the virus. Strong positive selection in the mink SARS-CoV-2 implies that the virus may not be preadapted to a wide range of hosts and illustrates how a virus evolves to establish a continuous infection in a new host. Therefore, the lack of positive selection signal during the early pandemic in humans deserves further investigation.     

Distinct features of the host-parasite interactions between nonadherent and adherent Trichomonas vaginalis isolates

Cytoadherence of Trichomonas vaginalis to human vaginal epithelial cells (hVECs) was previously shown to involve surface lipoglycans and several reputed adhesins on the parasite. Herein, we report some new observations on the host-parasite interactions of adherent versus nonadherent T. vaginalis isolates to hVECs. The binding of the TH17 adherent isolate to hVECs exhibited an initial discrete phase followed by an aggregation phase inhibited by lactose. T. vaginalis infection immediately induced surface expression of galectin-1 and -3, with extracellular amounts in the spent medium initially decreasing and then increasing thereafter over the next 60 min. Extracellular galectin-1 and -3 were detected on the parasite surface but only the TH17 adherent isolate could uptake galectin-3 via the lysosomes. Only the adherent isolate could morphologically transform from the round-up flagellate with numerous transient protrusions into a flat amoeboid form on contact with the solid surface. Cytochalasin D challenge revealed that actin organization was essential to parasite morphogenesis and cytoadherence. Real-time microscopy showed that parasite exploring and anchoring on hVECs via the axostyle may be required for initial cytoadherence. Together, the parasite cytoskeleton behaviors may collaborate with cell surface adhesion molecules for cytoadherence. The nonadherent isolate migrated faster than the adherent isolate, with motility transiently increasing in the presence of hVECs. Meanwhile, differential histone acetylation was detected between the two isolates. Also, TH17 without Mycoplasma symbiosis suggests that symbiont might not determine TH17 innate cytoadherence. Our findings regarding distinctive host-parasite interactions of the isolates may provide novel insights into T. vaginalis infection.     

中国生理学会八十周年回顾

The Chinese Association for Physiological Sciences (CAPS) celebrated her 80th anniversary last November. Eighty years ago, Dr. Robert K. S. Lim, Professor of Physiology at the Peking Union Medical College, in association with Dr. Wu Xian (Professor of Biochemistry) and Dr. B. E. Read (Professor of Pharmacology), sponsored the establishment of the Chinese Physiological Society.     

A visit to the zoos and aquariums in Northern Japan

For their trip to the National Parks in Hokkaido the authors also included in their schedule visits to the zoos and aquariums in Northern Japan. Their tight scheduled tour started at the Aquamarine Fukushima, which was after the large tsunami rebuilt and re-opened in July 2011. They continued with a visit to the Kamo Aquarium, which is famous for its unique and large jellyfish exhibition. On Hokkaido Island they visited the smaller zoos in Kushiro and Obihiro with a good collection of native Hokkaido animal species. Included was also the Asahiyama Zoo, which is at the moment one of the most popular zoos in Japan. It is well-known for its innovative enclosures for seals and penguins. The Sapporo Maruyama Zoo and the Chitose Salmon Aquarium were the last highlights of this tour. The themes and animal collections of these different zoos and aquariums are described. The general situation for the northern zoos and aquariums is quite different compared to the institutions in the southern parts of the country and entirely to the zoos in the large city areas like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Here in the northern zoos and aquariums many native animal species and subspecies are kept and often successfully bred.     

Pseudo-random mating systems for 3-allele loci

A random mating population attains equilibrium by the Hardy-Weinberg law. By demonstrating some simple examples for 2-allele loci, Li (1988) showed that a nonrandom mating population of certain mating patterns may also attain equilibrium. He called such a type of population a pseudo-random mating population. Tai (1990), then, gave a generalized representation of these pseudo-random mating systems. In this paper the clear patterns of pseudo-random mating behavior for a 3-allele locus are derived. Both autosomal and sex-linked systems are discussed. The study of these mating patterns provides a way to understand the complicated mating system of a population, which usually is only with difficulty realized through sampled individuals from that population.     

Slit2 Inactivates GSK3β to Signal Neurite Outgrowth Inhibition

Slit molecules comprise one of the four canonical families of axon guidance cues that steer the growth cone in the developing nervous system. Apart from their role in axon pathfinding, emerging lines of evidence suggest that a wide range of cellular processes are regulated by Slit, ranging from branch formation and fasciculation during neurite outgrowth to tumor progression and to angiogenesis. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms downstream of Slit remain largely unknown, in part, because of a lack of a readily manipulatable system that produces easily identifiable traits in response to Slit. The present study demonstrates the feasibility of using the cell line CAD as an assay system to dissect the signaling pathways triggered by Slit. Here, we show that CAD cells express receptors for Slit (Robo1 and Robo2) and that CAD cells respond to nanomolar concentrations of Slit2 by markedly decelerating the rate of process extension. Using this system, we reveal that Slit2 inactivates GSK3β and that inhibition of GSK3β is required for Slit2 to inhibit process outgrowth. Furthermore, we show that Slit2 induces GSK3β phosphorylation and inhibits neurite outgrowth in adult dorsal root ganglion neurons, validating Slit2 signaling in primary neurons. Given that CAD cells can be conveniently manipulated using standard molecular biological methods and that the process extension phenotype regulated by Slit2 can be readily traced and quantified, the use of a cell line CAD will facilitate the identification of downstream effectors and elucidation of signaling cascade triggered by Slit.     

Hyperosmolarity enhanced susceptibility to renal tubular fibrosis by modulating catabolism of type I transforming growth factor‐β receptors

Hyperosmolarity plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of diabetic tubular fibrosis. However, the mechanism of the involvement of hyperosmolarity remains unclear. In this study, mannitol was used to evaluate the effects of hyperosmolarity on a renal distal tubule cell line (MDCK). We investigated transforming growth factor‐β receptors and their downstream fibrogenic signal proteins. We show that hyperosmolarity significantly enhances the susceptibility to exogenous transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1, as mannitol (27.5 mM) significantly enhanced the TGF‐β1‐induced increase in fibronectin levels compared with control experiments (5.5 mM). Specifically, hyperosmolarity induced tyrosine phosphorylation on TGF‐β RII at 336 residues in a time (0–24 h) and dose (5.5–38.5 mM) dependent manner. In addition, hyperosmolarity increased the level of TGF‐β RI in a dose‐ and time‐course dependent manner. These observations may be closely related to decreased catabolism of TGF‐β RI. Hyperosmolarity significantly downregulated the expression of an inhibitory Smad (Smad7), decreased the level of Smurf 1, and reduced ubiquitination of TGF‐β RI. In addition, through the use of cycloheximide and the proteasome inhibitor MG132, we showed that hyperosmolarity significantly increased the half‐life and inhibited the protein level of TGF‐β RI by polyubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Taken together, our data suggest that hyperosmolarity enhances cellular susceptibility to renal tubular fibrosis by activating the Smad7 pathway and increasing the stability of type I TGF‐β receptors by retarding proteasomal degradation of TGF‐β RI. This study clarifies the mechanism underlying hyperosmotic‐induced renal fibrosis in renal distal tubule cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 109: 663–671, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Activation of Ni Particles into Single Ni–N Atoms for Efficient Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to fuels and value‐added industrial chemicals is a promising strategy for keeping a healthy balance between energy supply and net carbon emissions. Here, the facile transformation of residual Ni particle catalysts in carbon nanotubes into thermally stable single Ni atoms with a possible NiN₃ moiety is reported, surrounded with a porous N‐doped carbon sheath through a one‐step nanoconfined pyrolysis strategy. These structural changes are confirmed by X‐ray absorption fine structure analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The dispersed Ni single atoms facilitate highly efficient electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction at low overpotentials to yield CO, providing a CO faradaic efficiency exceeding 90%, turnover frequency approaching 12 000 h^?1, and metal mass activity reaching about 10 600 mA mg^?1, outperforming current state‐of‐the‐art single atom catalysts for CO₂ reduction to CO. DFT calculations suggest that the Ni@N₃ (pyrrolic) site favors *COOH formation with lower free energy than Ni@N₄, in addition to exothermic CO desorption, hence enhancing electrocatalytic CO₂ conversion. This finding provides a simple, scalable, and promising route for the preparation of low‐cost, abundant, and highly active single atom catalysts, benefiting future practical CO₂ electrolysis.     

典型草原大针茅种群空间格局及对长期过度放牧的响应

种群空间格局是生态学研究的基本问题之一。典型草原带由于过度放牧退化严重, 原生群落罕见, 探讨原生群落的种群空间格局具有重要生态学意义。大针茅(Stipa grandis)草原是典型草原区广泛分布的主要群落类型, 1979年围封的大针茅样地, 是目前保存完整的大针茅草原原生群落。本文选择大针茅草原原生群落和长期过度放牧群落, 应用O-Ring函数结合不同零假设模型分析了大针茅种群的空间格局。结果表明: 在原生群落中大针茅种群在小尺度范围内呈均匀分布, 而在长期过度放牧群落中则表现为聚集分布。这说明在大针茅草原原生群落中竞争是主要的相互作用, 而在长期过度放牧群落中正相互作用居主导, 验证了胁迫梯度假说; 同时证明长期过度放牧改变了种群空间格局。