盐生植物星星草叶表皮具有泌盐功能的蜡质层

利用扫描电镜和 X射线电子探针研究了星星草 (Puccinellia tenuiflora)的叶表皮及其与生境高盐的关系。结果表明 ,叶表皮由表皮细胞和气孔器组成 ,下表皮气孔器多于上表皮 ,且常下陷 ,表皮具表皮毛。表皮细胞外存在丰富的蜡质纹饰和蜡质颗粒 ,这些蜡质包含盐离子 ,具有泌盐的功能。这些特征表明星星草受外界生态因素的影响 ,而演化出具有泌盐功能的蜡质层来适应所生长的高盐生境     

不同产地白蜡虫(Ericerus pela Chavannes)产卵期天敌的种类及其群落结构研究

白蜡虫雌虫产卵期是白蜡种虫生产的关键时期,在我国白蜡主产地区,选择有代表性的4个种虫产地,2个白蜡产地和4个虫蜡混产地,调查群落中白蜡虫天敌的物种组成和数量变化,并进行聚类分析和排序,在10个白蜡主产地内,共收集到各种天敌15种,分属于6科11属,各群落的物种组成变化较小,优势种为白蜡虫花翅跳小蜂Microterys ericeri Ishii、中华花翅跳小蜂M.sinicus Jiang、白蜡虫啮小蜂Tetrastichus kodaikanalensis Saraswat、白蜡蚧长角象Anthribus la-jievorus Chao和黑缘红瓢虫Chilocorus rubidus Hope。群落的优势集中指数较小,多样性指数和均匀性指数较高,群落相似性系数最高达97.46%,最低为75.92%。影响群落相似性的主要因子为白蜡产区不同、生态环境差异和优势种天敌的数量变化,根据聚类分析和排序,将10个不同产地白蜡虫天敌群落分为3类;第1类为种虫产地,优势种天敌发生和危害较轻;第2类为白蜡产地,白蜡虫天敌发生和危害极为严重,其种群数量为第1类的3.36倍,第3类虫蜡皆产,其天敌数量介于第1、2类之间,中华花翅跳小蜂种群数量在第1、3类群落中大致相等,第2类发生较较重,白蜡虫天敌的严重危害是造成蜡区不产种虫的主要原因之一。     

Scilla bifolia Wax as a Source of Diverse Long-Chain Resorcinols and Alkane-1,3-diols

GC, GC/MS and NMR analyses of Scilla bifolia washings allowed for the identification of thirty-six long-chain compounds belonging to six homologous series (five of which are from the class of resorcinols, a group of biologically important phenols): 1-alkyl-3,5-dimethoxybenzenes, 5-alkyl-3-methoxy-2-methylphenols, 3-alkyl-5-methoxyphenols, 5-alkyl-2-methylresorcinols (five compounds from each of the series); 5-alkylresorcinols (six compounds) and 1,3-alkanediols (ten compounds). Many of these compounds rarely occur in Nature. Retention indices of these compounds, as well as indices of the corresponding trimethylsilyl derivatives, were reported, some of them for the first time. The exact regiochemistry was unambiguously determined by two-dimensional NMR experiments; in some cases, the complete NMR assignment was augmented by computer spin-simulation of ¹H-NMR spectra.     

Seed epicuticular wax of avena sativa

The main fractions in oat seed wax are β-diketones (15.5%), alkanols (14.4%), hydroxy-β-diketones (12.2%), esters (11.1%) and fatty esters (7.2%).     

Alkyl esters from pinus radiata foliage epicuticular wax

Wax esters from the epicuticular wax of juvenile and mature-tree Pinus radiata foliage have been shown by capillary column GC-MS to consist mainly of short chain (C₆–C₁₂)alkanols esterified with long chain acids (C₂₄–C₃₂) and long chain alkanols (C₂₄–C₃₂) esterified with short chain acids (C₆-C₁₄) in a non-random manner. Mature-tree foliage wax esters also contained nonacosan-10-ol esterified with dodecanoic and tetradecanoic acids.     

Do males choose their mates in the lekking moth Achroia grisella? Influence of female body mass and male reproductive status on male mate choice

Lekking males aggregate to attract females and contribute solely to egg fertilization, without any further parental care. Evolutionary theory therefore predicts them to be nonchoosy toward their mates, because any lost mating opportunities would outweigh the benefits associated with such preferences. Nevertheless, due to time costs, the production of energetically costly sexual displays, and potential sperm limitation, the mating effort of lekking males is often considerable. These factors, combined with the fact that many females of varying quality are likely to visit leks, could favor the evolution of male mate preferences. Here, we show that males of the lekking lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella, were indeed more likely to mate with heavier females in choice experiments, even at their virgin mating (i.e., when their reproductive resources have not yet been depleted by previous matings). This differential female mating success could not be attributed to female behavior as heavy and light females showed similar motivation to mate (i.e., latency to approach the males) and time to copulate. Males seem to benefit from mating with heavier females, as fecundity positively correlated with female mass. This new empirical evidence shows that male mate choice may have been underestimated in lekking species.     

Influence of leaf epicuticular waxes from cerrado species on substrate selection byAtta sexdens rubropilosa

The influence of leaf epicuticular waxes of nine woody species from cerrado (a savanna ecosystem of Brazil) on the foraging behavior of the leaf-cutting antAtta sexdens rubropilosa Forel, 1908 (Formicidae, Attini) was investigated. Some waxes showed neither inhibitory nor attractive effect over a series of tests, while a second group caused a delayed rejection. Waxes of two species were shown to be strongly deterrent to the ants. Since different waxes caused different responses, it is concluded that their chemical composition, rather than hydrophobicity or mechanical constraints, accounts for the observed effects. Plant species with leaves rejected by the ants did not necessarily have repellent waxes. On the other hand, no species with acceptable leaves yielded waxes with deterrent effects.     

Wax ester synthesis by lipase-catalyzed esterification with fungal cells immobilized on cellulose biomass support particles

Esterification reactions between long-chain alcohol and oleic acid were performed for producing wax esters. The reaction can be catalyzed efficiently by cell-bound lipase of Rhizopus niveous fungal cells immobilized within cellulose biomass support particles. Carrying out the reaction in a solvent-free system is feasible by adding a molecular sieve for dehydration purposes. To optimize the yield, addition of a molecular sieve should be performed gradually during the whole course starting from the beginning of the reaction. The influence of reaction conditions such as temperature and substrate concentrations on reaction rates and yields were investigated; however, this reaction system is under the influence of both internal and external mass transfer resistance. Conducting the reaction in an organic solvent system with hexane or heptane as the solvent can eliminate diffusional effects. Reaction kinetics were subjected to detailed study in this system. The kinetics of the reaction can be represented satisfactorily by a Ping-Pong Bi Bi mechanism with deadend inhibition by alcohol.