Microgeographic variation in the effects of larval temperature environment on juvenile morphology and locomotion in the pool frog

In animals with complex life cycles, the environment experienced early during the development may have strong effects on later performance and fitness. We investigated the intraspecific variation in the effects of larval temperature environment on the morphology and locomotory performance of juvenile pool frogs Rana lessonae originating from three closely located populations of the northern fringe metapopulation in central Sweden. Tadpoles were raised individually at two temperatures (20 and 25 °C) until metamorphosis. We measured the morphology of the metamorphs and tested the jumping performance of the froglets after complete tail absorption. We found that early temperature environment affected juvenile morphology, metamorphs from high-temperature environments having relatively longer hindlimbs (tibiofibulas) and longer tails when weight at metamorphosis was accounted for. In absolute terms, froglets from low temperature jumped significantly longer; however, after correcting for size differences the relationship was reversed, individuals raised at high temperature performing better. In both temperatures, relative jumping performance was positively associated with tibiofibula and body length. Populations differed both in metamorphic traits and in jumping capacity, especially at low temperature, suggesting microgeographical variation in temperature sensitivity within the metapopulation. Our results indicate that the temperature environment experienced during the early aquatic stages can influence the morphology and performance of juvenile frogs, and that these effects can be population specific.     

Differential cell surface properties of vegetative Bacillus

Aims:  The genus Bacillus encompasses a wide range of species which display varying pathogenic abilities. The hydrophobicity of a range of Bacillus species was determined to evaluate the correlation between bacterial hydrophobicity and pathogenicity.
Methods and Results:  Bacterial adhesion to hydrocarbon assays were used to determine the hydrophobicity of various Bacillus species. Significant differences in the hydrophobicity of vegetative Bacilli were found. Specifically, vegetative Bacillus anthracis or Bacillus thuringiensis cells were highly hydrophobic whereas Bacillus cereus or Bacillus subtilis were only slightly hydrophobic using this test. Cell adhesion assays using A549 or J774 cells were used to demonstrate a correlation between the bacterial hydrophobicity profiles with the ability to adhere to the mammalian cell lines.
Conclusions:  The ability of Bacillus species to adhere to mammalian cell lines correlates with the hydrophobicity of the bacteria and also correlates with the relative pathogenicity of some of the Bacillus species tested.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  This work suggests that study of the physical-chemical properties of vegetative cells could inform future approaches for the rapid identification and discrimination of potentially pathogenic Bacilli .     

The role of the concentration and distribution of water in the complex permittivity of breast fat tissue

The structure of breast tissue is complicated and highly variable and presents a great challenge in the development of physical models that may be used to obtain its effective complex permittivity. Empirical models are commonly used by researchers to fit measured data and extrapolated to higher frequencies. However, these models have not been verified experimentally at higher frequencies. Theoretical models of tissue permittivity to explain the role of water are not available today. This communication is a systematic study of several models to estimate the complex permittivity of breast fat tissue based on volume content and distribution of water in the tissue. These models are implemented in (i) long wavelength, sparse concentration limit; (ii) full wave finite element simulation; and (iii) numerical implementation of dynamic multiple scattering theory. A comparison of the proposed models with experimental data is done at 3.2 GHz. Some of the measurement values are in fair agreement with the modeling. The results of the present study are useful for interpreting the large variability in experimentally measured values of the permittivity of breast fat tissue by taking the distribution of water into account. Bioelectromagnetics 30:669–677, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

大豆微核心种质对草甘膦的耐受性鉴定

以萌发初期大豆弯曲的子叶节为靶点,利用草甘膦(Roundup)点施鉴定法,分析了221份大豆微核心种质的草甘膦耐受性及其与抗草甘膦转CP4-EPSPS基因大豆AG5601的差异,结果表明,草甘膦对不同大豆种质的抑制程度与点施的草甘膦浓度呈正相关,Roundup稀释浓度为1/1000、1/10000时,草甘膦对大豆生长几乎无影响;Roundup稀释浓度为1/10时,草甘膦显著抑制大豆生长,导致植株死亡;Roundup稀释浓度为1/100时,不同大豆种质对草甘膦耐受性差异显著,并鉴定出对草甘膦具有较好耐受性的种质10份。虽然大豆微核心种质对草甘膦的耐受程度远远低于AG5601,但不同大豆种质对草甘膦耐受性存在显著差异,这为利用转基因和杂交转育技术培育抗草甘膦转基因大豆的受体或轮回亲本的选择提供了理论依据。     

玉米种质和新品种对腐霉茎腐病和镰孢穗腐病的抗性分析

玉米是我国最重要的农作物之一,腐霉茎腐病和镰孢穗腐病是玉米生产上的重要病害。2006-2012年期间,对1647份玉米种质进行了抗肿囊腐霉茎腐病和拟轮枝镰孢穗腐病鉴定,筛选出高抗茎腐病和穗腐病的种质分别为564份和27份,占鉴定总材料的34.2%和1.6%,抗性材料分别为209份和352份,占比为12.7%和21.4%,表明高抗肿囊腐霉茎腐病的资源较为丰富,高抗镰孢穗腐病的种质相对匮乏。其中,13份种质对2种病害均表现高抗,207份种质对2种病害均表现抗性或对其中一种表现高抗而另一种表现抗性。自交系中对肿囊腐霉茎腐病和拟轮枝镰孢穗腐病表现抗性以上(含HR和R)的种质分别占总鉴定种质的56.5%和23.6%,在农家种中分别为21.2%和21.4%,表明玉米自交系中的抗性资源较农家种丰富。2009-2013年期间参加国家玉米区试的品种中,对腐霉茎腐病表现高抗、抗性、中抗、感病和高感的品种分别占11.5%、11.9%、40.1%、17.6%和18.9%。2009-2011年间,中抗以上的育成品种所占比例呈现明显上升趋势,但2012-2013年间,中抗以上的品种所占比例呈下降趋势。     

SCoT分子标记在植物研究中的应用进展

SCo T是一种新型的目的基因分子标记,该标记不仅能获得与性状联系紧密的目的基因,而且能对性状进行跟踪,已被广泛应用于多种植物的研究。本文概述了SCo T标记的原理、引物设计方法及特点,并从PCR反应体系建立与优化、种质资源遗传多样性与亲缘关系分析、种质鉴定与指纹图谱构建、基因差异表达与分子遗传连锁图谱构建等方面总结了SCo T标记的应用进展。同时,对其存在的问题进行了讨论,并展望了该标记的发展应用前景。     

上海口岸输入性传染性肺结核病患者中结核分枝杆菌北京型特征及耐药性分析

本研究旨在了解上海口岸输入性传染性肺结核病患者中结核分枝杆菌北京型特征及其对一线抗结核药物的耐药情况,从而正确评估输入性结核病给上海地区带来的公共卫生危害,同时为地区传染性结核病防治策略的制定提供依据。针对2009年1月～2013年5月上海口岸入境体检人员中胸部影像学诊断疑似活动性肺结核病的人群,采集其连续3 d的晨痰分离培养结核分枝杆菌,用MGIT960培养法分析其对抗结核药物（链霉素、异烟肼、利福平、乙胺丁醇、吡嗪酰胺）的耐药情况,用目标缺失多重聚合酶链反应（DTM-PCR ）进行结核分枝杆菌北京型分子分型,同时采集其人口学资料。期间共监测到入境外籍疑似活动性肺结核病者193例,其中50例痰液中分离培养到结核分枝杆菌,菌培阳率为25．9％,与我国结核病普查工作中活动性肺结核病菌培阳率（25．9％）相同。分离培养并成功传代、分型的40株结核分枝杆菌中,北京型占57．5％（23／40）,显著低于同期上海口岸出境人群中的90．2％（37／41）。输入性结核分枝杆菌北京型主要来自东南亚地区（71．4％,5／7）和西太平洋地区（57．1％,16／28）。一线5种抗结核药物的耐药性检测结果显示,输入性结核分枝杆菌北京型的总耐药率为30．4％（7／23）,接近上海口岸出境人群的34．1％。输入性耐多药菌株占2．4％（1／42）,分子分型结果显示为非北京型。输入性传染性肺结核病对吡嗪酰胺的耐药率为16．7％,显著高于上海口岸出境人群的2．4％。结果提示,上海口岸输入性肺结核病患者中结核分枝杆菌北京型所占比例显著低于同期出境人群,未发现与性别和年龄相关,未发现输入性结核分枝杆菌北京型对抗结核药物耐药性的显著变化。输入性耐药性结核病带来的公共卫生危害不容忽视,在直接督导下的短程化疗（DOTS）方案中需考虑其高吡嗪酰胺耐药特征。在口岸公共卫生安全风险评估中,需重视输入性结核分枝杆菌北京型与本地流行株的差异。     

肝萎缩增生复合征及肝萎缩病理和代谢功能研究进展

肝萎缩增生复合征(atrophy-hypertrophy complex,AHC)是指肝组织萎缩和代偿性增生的一种临床病理特征,常见的病因有门静脉流入受阻、肝静脉流出受阻、胆道梗阻等。AHC常伴有区域性肝组织的解剖、病理、代谢功能的改变,包括肝脏沿肝门轴的旋转、萎缩肝叶的纤维化和门管区小门静脉的狭窄或血栓形成等。肝萎缩-增生复合征萎缩肝组织仍具有部分代谢功能和生物转化功能,并可能对维持病变肝脏的正常肝功能具有重要的作用,萎缩肝组织仍具有部分代谢功能和生物转化功能,对萎缩肝组织的代谢分区和代谢功能的进一步研究具有重要意义。本文通过分析近年来国内外有关AHC的文献,探讨AHC的病因、病理变化及萎缩肝组织的代谢功能分化特征的研究进展。     

A combined parasitological molecular approach for noninvasive characterization of parasitic nematode communities in wild hosts

Most hosts are concurrently or sequentially infected with multiple parasites; thus, fully understanding interactions between individual parasite species and their hosts depends on accurate characterization of the parasite community. For parasitic nematodes, noninvasive methods for obtaining quantitative, species‐specific infection data in wildlife are often unreliable. Consequently, characterization of gastrointestinal nematode communities of wild hosts has largely relied on lethal sampling to isolate and enumerate adult worms directly from the tissues of dead hosts. The necessity of lethal sampling severely restricts the host species that can be studied, the adequacy of sample sizes to assess diversity, the geographic scope of collections and the research questions that can be addressed. Focusing on gastrointestinal nematodes of wild African buffalo, we evaluated whether accurate characterization of nematode communities could be made using a noninvasive technique that combined conventional parasitological approaches with molecular barcoding. To establish the reliability of this new method, we compared estimates of gastrointestinal nematode abundance, prevalence, richness and community composition derived from lethal sampling with estimates derived from our noninvasive approach. Our noninvasive technique accurately estimated total and species‐specific worm abundances, as well as worm prevalence and community composition when compared to the lethal sampling method. Importantly, the rate of parasite species discovery was similar for both methods, and only a modest number of barcoded larvae (n = 10) were needed to capture key aspects of parasite community composition. Overall, this new noninvasive strategy offers numerous advantages over lethal sampling methods for studying nematode–host interactions in wildlife and can readily be applied to a range of study systems.     

A SNP test to identify Africanized honeybees via proportion of ‘African’ ancestry

The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is the world's most important pollinator and is ubiquitous in most agricultural ecosystems. Four major evolutionary lineages and at least 24 subspecies are recognized. Commercial populations are mainly derived from subspecies originating in Europe (75–95%). The Africanized honeybee is a New World hybrid of A. m. scutellata from Africa and European subspecies, with the African component making up 50–90% of the genome. Africanized honeybees are considered undesirable for bee‐keeping in most countries, due to their extreme defensiveness and poor honey production. The international trade in honeybees is restricted, due in part to bans on the importation of queens (and semen) from countries where Africanized honeybees are extant. Some desirable strains from the United States of America that have been bred for traits such as resistance to the mite Varroa destructor are unfortunately excluded from export to countries such as Australia due to the presence of Africanized honeybees in the USA. This study shows that a panel of 95 single nucleotide polymorphisms, chosen to differentiate between the African, Eastern European and Western European lineages, can detect Africanized honeybees with a high degree of confidence via ancestry assignment. Our panel therefore offers a valuable tool to mitigate the risks of spreading Africanized honeybees across the globe and may enable the resumption of queen and bee semen imports from the Americas.