Factors affecting cold hardiness in the small striped flea beetle, Phyllotreta undulata

The striped flea beetle, Phyllotreta undulata Kutschera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is a pest of cruciferous crops. It overwinters as an adult. During winter in northern European countries, such as Estonia, it is subject to sometimes severe temperatures that may fluctuate daily, over the season, and between seasons. The objective of this study was to investigate factors that affect its cold hardiness. In a series of five experiments, the effects of food plant, starvation, and acclimatization on the beetles’ ability to supercool and survive exposure to sub‐zero temperatures was investigated. The supercooling points (SCP) of overwintered beetles field‐collected from white mustard and Indian mustard differed from those caught from white cabbage and oilseed rape, but these differences disappeared after a 4‐day period of starvation at room temperature, indicating that gut content probably influences the potential to supercool. The duration and temperature of acclimation affected SCP in overwintered beetles. The decrease in SCP was more rapid at 22 °C than at 0 °C, probably because of faster dehydration and gut evacuation at the higher temperature. Acclimation at 0 °C for a week increased the ability of overwintered beetles to survive sub‐zero temperatures, lowering both SCP and lower lethal temperature (LLT₅₀). Some pre‐freeze mortality occurred; SCP and LLT₅₀ were correlated but the latter was a constant 3 °C higher than the former. The SCP of field‐collected pre‐winter beetles decreased gradually during the autumn. It also decreased when field‐collected pre‐winter beetles were acclimated at 0 °C in the laboratory, attaining its lowest level after 18 days. Phyllotreta undulata is well‐adapted to unstable and sometimes severe winter conditions; its high potential to supercool enhances its cold hardiness and ability to survive short periods at sub‐zero temperatures although it cannot survive freezing of its body fluids.     

新疆沙湾冷泉沉积物中免培养古菌多样性初步研究

【目的】了解新疆沙湾冷泉沉积物的古菌组成及多样性。【方法】采用免培养法,液氮研磨提取冷泉沉积物总DNA,使用古菌通用引物进行16S rRNA基因扩增,构建16S rRNA基因文库。对阳性克隆进行HhaI限制性酶切分型,选出具有不同酶切图谱的序列进行测序,将所得序列与GenBank数据库中序列比对并构建16S rRNA基因系统发育树。【结果】从冷泉沉积物古菌16S rRNA基因文库中随机挑选了121个阳性克隆,共得到22个不同的可操作分类单元,BLAST结果表明全部克隆子归属于泉古菌门(Crenarchaeote)中免培养类群。系统发育分析归类为Soil-Freshwater-subsurface group和MarinegroupI,2个亚群并且各占整个文库的50%。其中40%左右的克隆子与具有无机碳和硝酸盐同化能力的泉古菌有高的相似性。此外还发现40%的克隆子与低温泉古菌类群具有很高的相似性。【结论】新疆沙湾冷泉沉积物中古菌类群多样性较低,但存有大量高度适应此低温、贫营养环境的泉古菌类群。     

灰飞虱的种群特性及其与温度的关系

调查了南京地区2007～2008年灰飞虱Laodelphax striatellus(Fallén)全年的种群结构和数量动态,结合当地温度资料分析了灰飞虱虫量与温度间的关系。结果表明,灰飞虱在南京地区存在明显的春秋季高峰期及冬夏季的低谷期,且夏季的低谷出现在夏季高温时期。越冬种群以高龄若虫为主,越夏种群的年龄结构在年度间变化较大,2007年以高龄若虫为主,而2008年则以低龄若虫为主。夏季采于田间的灰飞虱若虫能在室内稻苗上连续生长发育,并且饲养一个世代后其产卵量显著提高。由此说明,南京地区灰飞虱不是以滞育形式越夏。灰飞虱若虫的耐寒性很强,在不同温度下饲养及田间越冬的不同时期,其过冷却点均在-22℃以下,且无显著差异。     

水稻剑叶气孔性状与孕穗期耐冷性的关系研究

以人工气候室鉴定的孕穗期耐冷性不同的10个水稻品种为材料,采用扫描电子显微镜观测其剑叶的气孔密度、气孔大小和单位面积气孔周长等性状特点,以探讨水稻剑叶气孔性状与孕穗期耐冷性的关系.结果表明:耐冷性强品种'培杂软香'、'天优688'、'冈优825' 的气孔密度和单位叶面积气孔总周长较小,分别为380～410个/mm2和29.8～32.6 cm;耐冷性弱的品种'粤杂763'气孔密度和单位叶面积气孔总周长较大,分别为618个/mm~2和46.9 cm; 耐冷性中等的品种'培杂泰丰'等介于二者之间,分别为460～510个/mm~2和35.1～39.3 cm.气孔密度相近时,气孔较大的品种耐冷性较弱;单位叶面积气孔总周长相近时,气孔密度大的品种耐冷性较弱.研究发现,水稻品种剑叶的气孔密度和单位叶面积气孔总周长与其孕穗期耐冷性均呈极显著正相关,可以作为水稻孕穗期耐冷性的鉴定指标.     

大白菜一个冷相关基因的分离与逆境诱导表达(英文)

以冷处理的大白菜幼叶为材料,采用RT-PCR技术获得1条新的冷相关基因序列(BpCOR,GenBank登录号DQ491005)。该基因编码129个氨基酸的亲水多肽,预测其N端含有叶绿体转运肽序列。多序列比对显示,Bc-COR蛋白与拟南芥及其它植物COR具有较高的相似性。Northern杂交结果显示BcCOR基因能被冷处理强烈诱导表达,而被脱水和盐处理弱诱导;在冷处理下,BcCORmRNA在根中的积累量低于叶片,光照能显著加强该基因在叶片中的表达。研究表明,BcCOR基因可能在大白菜抵抗冷胁迫和其它非生物胁迫的过程中具有重要的作用。     

Repeated stress exposure results in a survival–reproduction trade-off in Drosophila melanogaster

While insect cold tolerance has been well studied, the vast majority of work has focused on the effects of a single cold exposure. However, many abiotic environmental stresses, including temperature, fluctuate within an organism''s lifespan. Given that organisms may trade-off survival at the cost of future reproduction, we investigated the effects of multiple cold exposures on survival and fertility in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. We found that multiple cold exposures significantly decreased mortality compared with the same length of exposure in a single sustained bout, but significantly decreased fecundity (as measured by r, the intrinsic rate of increase) as well, owing to a shift in sex ratio. This change was reflected in a long-term decrease in glycogen stores in multiply exposed flies, while a brief effect on triglyceride stores was observed, suggesting flies are reallocating energy stores. Given that many environments are not static, this trade-off indicates that investigating the effects of repeated stress exposure is important for understanding and predicting physiological responses in the wild.     

Within‐generation variation of critical thermal limits in adult Mediterranean and Natal fruit flies Ceratitis capitata and Ceratitis rosa: thermal history affects short‐term responses to temperature

Insect thermal tolerance shows a range of responses to thermal history depending on the duration and severity of exposure. However, few studies have investigated these effects under relatively modest temperature variation or the interactions between short‐ and longer‐term exposures. In the present study, using a full‐factorial design, 1 week‐long acclimation responses of critical thermal minimum (CT_min) and critical thermal maximum (CT_max) to temperatures of 20, 25 and 30 °C are investigated, as well as their interactions with short‐term (2 h) sub‐lethal temperature exposures to these same conditions (20, 25 and 30 °C), in two fruit fly species Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) and Ceratitis rosa Karsch from South Africa. Flies generally improve heat tolerance with high temperature acclimation and resist low temperatures better after acclimation to cooler conditions. However, in several cases, significant interaction effects are evident for CT_max and CT_min between short‐ and long‐term temperature treatments. Furthermore, to better comprehend the flies' responses to natural microclimate conditions, the effects of variation in heating and cooling rates on CT_max and CT_min are explored. Slower heating rates result in higher CT_max, whereas slower cooling rates elicit lower CT_min, although more variation is detected in CT_min than in CT_max (approximately 1.2 versus 0.5 °C). Critical thermal limits estimated under conditions that most closely approximate natural diurnal temperature fluctuations (rate: 0.06 °C min^?1) indicate a CT_max of approximately 42 °C and a CT_min of approximately 6 °C for these species in the wild, although some variation between these species has been found previously in CT_max. In conclusion, the results suggest critical thermal limits of adult fruit flies are moderated by temperature variation at both short and long time scales and may comprise both reversible and irreversible components.     

Effects of cold stress on metabolic regulation in the overwintering larvae of the Chinese white pine beetle,Dendroctonus armandi

The Chinese white pine beetle, Dendroctonus armandi Tsai & Li (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), is considered the most destructive forest pest in the Qinling and Bashan Mountains of China. In recent years, winter temperature has dropped in these regions, and extremely low temperatures are hard to survive for insects. Cold hardiness becomes a crucial strategy because temperature change often leads to fluctuations in insect abundance, and the metabolism rate is a key index of resistance to cold in overwintering insects. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the change in respiratory rate and the activity of metabolism-related mitochondrial enzymes in D. armandi larvae under cold conditions. We found that the respiratory rate decreased, and it was matched with the activity of glutamate dehydrogenase, aconitase, and lipase during overwintering. Among the various test times under cold conditions, the respiratory rate also decreased with decreasing temperature and increased under very low temperatures. At all cold stress periods, glutamate dehydrogenase and lipase showed increased activity at higher temperatures and decreased activity under lower temperatures, but the activity of NAD-malic enzyme, NADP-malic enzyme, mitochondrial isocitrate dehydrogenase, and aconitase were contrary. Under all low temperatures, the activity of enzymes – except for NADP-malic enzyme, glutamate dehydrogenase, and lipase – increased in short-term cold stress and decreased in long-term cold stress at 4, 0, −4, −6, −8, and −10 °C. However, at −2 °C, the activity of enzymes showed a decreasing trend in short-term treatments and an increasing trend in long-term treatments, except for mitochondrial isocitrate dehydrogenase. The results not only improve our understanding of the metabolic mechanism of cold adaptation in D. armandi, but also provide an important experimental basis for further study and biological pest control.