取食转Bt基因棉花上的棉蚜对丽草蛉发育和繁殖的影响

为明确转Bt基因抗虫棉对捕食性天敌的生态效应 ,比较了 2种转Bt基因抗虫棉 (GK-1 2和新棉99B)和 1种常规棉上的棉蚜Chrysopaformosa对丽草蛉Aphisgossypii发育和繁殖的影响。结果表明 ,(1 )与取食常规棉泗棉 3号上棉蚜的对照相比 ,取食转Bt基因抗虫棉GK- 1 2上棉蚜的第 1代和第 2代丽草蛉 ,其幼虫期和茧期的死亡率、幼虫和茧的发育历期、茧重及成虫性比等均与对照无显著差异 ;但第 1代成虫的产卵量减少了 2 88 0粒 ,与对照差异显著 (P <0 . 0 1 ) ;第 2代成虫所产卵的孵化率为 64. 0 % ,显著低于对照的 77. 7% (P <0 0 1 )。 (2 ) 2个品种的Bt棉对丽草蛉发育和繁殖的影响也略有差异。与取食GK 1 2上棉蚜的个体相比 ,取食新棉 99B上蚜虫的第 1代丽草蛉 ,其幼虫发育历期缩短了 0 . 6d(P <0 0 1 ) ,茧期缩短了 0 . 7d(P <0 . 0 1 ) ,茧重降低了 1 . 2mg(P <0 .0 1 ) ,幼虫期和茧期的死亡率、茧重以及成虫性比等则无显著差异 ;雌成虫产卵前期、产卵期、产卵量和寿命等繁殖学特性也无显著差异 ,但其成虫所产卵的孵化率为 65. 0 % ,显著低于取食GK- 1 2上棉蚜的处理 (72 . 7% ,P <0. 0 1 )。分别取食 2种Bt棉上的棉蚜 ,对第 2代丽草蛉的发育和繁殖的影响差异则较小。     

Protein and cDNA sequences of Bowman-Birk protease inhibitors from the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata Walp.)

The protein and gene sequences of the cowpea Bowman-Birk type trypsin inhibitor which confers enhanced insect resistance to transgenic tobacco plants, and of cowpea trypsin/chymotrypsin inhibitors are presented. There are regions of high conservation and high divergence within the 5 leader, mature protein and 3 non-coding regions of the Bowman-Birk inhibitors and in the genes which encode them in different members of this family within the Leguminosae. The practical implications of this finding for studies on the evolution of plants and the utilization of these genes for enhancing insect resistance is discussed.     

Effects of habitat complexity on benthic assemblages in a variable environment

1. Habitat complexity is thought to exert a significant influence on ecological communities, but its operation under variable natural conditions is not well understood, particularly in freshwater. To elucidate the role of habitat complexity, in particular the fractal structure of surface irregularity, in a stream system, field colonisation experiments were conducted at three times of year (summer, winter and spring) using natural substrates with different levels of fractal dimension in a small coastal mountain stream of southern Japan. 2. In the winter experiment, comparison was also made between the standard (control) treatment and the resource‐preconditioning treatment whereby experimental plates were conditioned in the natural stream environment to allow the accumulation of potential food resources (algae and detritus) for 1 month prior to the experiment. 3. Species abundance patterns observed at different times of year showed little systematic variation with levels of habitat complexity but largely followed the patterns expected from, or lying in between, the Random Assortment model and the random fraction model. 4. Taxon richness and density increased with habitat complexity in all seasons except for density in spring. Different taxa showed different patterns of change with habitat complexity, which also varied with seasons. Biomass of invertebrates showed no systematic trend with an increase in habitat complexity. 5. Chlorophyll‐a concentrations tended to be lower in more complex habitats, particularly in summer. In contrast, fine particulate organic matter (FPOM) tended to increase with habitat complexity. However, the relationship between these potential food resources and invertebrate assemblages remain unclear. 6. While there were no significant differences in taxon richness and biomass of invertebrates between the resource‐preconditioning and the control treatment, density was higher in the former than in the latter. The abundance of relatively large, surface‐dwelling animals showed more marked temporal variation over the entire period of colonisation in the resource‐preconditioning treatment than in the control treatment. 7. Body size of invertebrates tended to decline with fractal complexity, indicating that crevice sizes could affect habitat use by benthic animals of different sizes. In addition, body size was larger in the resource‐preconditioning treatment than in the control treatment, suggesting that body size in invertebrate assemblages was controlled by a mixture of factors. Thus, the present study demonstrates that habitat structure affects benthic invertebrate assemblages in a complex manner.     

Increased insect resistance in transgenic wheat stably expressing trypsin inhibitor CMe

Proteinase inhibitors have been proposed to function as plant defence agents against herbivorous pests. We have introduced the barley trypsin inhibitor CMe (BTI-CMe) into wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by biolistic bombardment of cultured immature embryos. Of the 30 independent transgenic wheat lines selected, 16 expressed BTI-CMe. BTI-CMe was properly transcribed and translated as indicated by northern and western blot, with a level of expression in transgenic wheat seeds up to 1.1% of total extracted protein. No expression was detected in untransformed wheat seeds. Functional integrity of BTI-CMe was confirmed by trypsin inhibitor activity assay. The significant reduction of the survival rate of the Angoumois grain moth (Sitotroga cerealella, Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), reared on transgenic wheat seeds expressing the trypsin inhibitor BTI-CMe, compared to the untransformed control confirmed the potential of BTI-CMe for the increase of insect resistance. However, only early-instar larvae were inhibited in transgenic seeds and expression of BTI-CMe protein in transgenic leaves did not have a significant protective effect against leaf-feeding insects.     

昆虫嗅觉相关蛋白的研究进展

嗅觉是昆虫产生行为的重要物质基础,阐明昆虫嗅觉机理有助于调控昆虫行为和进行害虫治理。近年来,许多与嗅觉相关的生物活性分子和相关基因的发现和克隆,对揭示嗅觉机理具有重要作用。作者针对近年来研究较多的气味结合蛋白、化学感受蛋白、气味受体、气味降解酶以及感觉神经元膜蛋白等,就其生化特性、表达部位、分子结构、生理功能等进行了综述。     

Evolution of insect-plant relationships — a devil''s advocate approach

Most hypotheses concerning the evolution of insect-plant relationships are based on the assumptions that, (1) phytophagous insects reduce plant fitness, and that (2) insect-plant relationships are the result of unconstrained selection. It can be shown, however, that there is little evidence to support these assumptions. As an alternative, it is proposed that the evolution of insect-plant relationships results primarily from autonomous evolutionary events; namely from heritable functional changes within the insects' nervous system that determine plant recognition and ultimately host plant specificity. These changes cannot be evoked by selective ecological agents. They originate from intrinsic changes (mutationssensu lato) within the insect genome. Ecological factors play a secondary role: by either supporting or preventing the establishment of the new genotype with the novel food preference. This paper has been dedicated in warm friendship to Professor Louis M. Schoonhoven, the leading scientist in sensory physiology of phytophagous insects, on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Localization of corazonin in the nervous system of the cockroach Periplaneta americana

Antisera raised to the cardioactive peptide corazonin were used to localize immunoreactive cells in the nervous system of the American cockroach. Sera obtained after the seventh booster injection were sufficiently specific to be used for immunocytology. They recognized a subset of 10 lateral neurosecretory cells in the protocerebrum that project to, and arborize and terminate in the ipsilateral corpus cardiacum. They also reacted with bilateral neurons in each of the thoracic and abdominal neuromeres, a single dorsal unpaired median neuron in the suboesophageal ganglion, an interneuron in each optic lobe, and other neurons at the base of the optic lobe, in the tritocerebrum and deutocerebrum. The presence of corazonin in the abdominal neurons and the lateral neurosecretory cells was confirmed by HPLC fractionation of extracts of the abdominal ganglia, brains and retrocerebral complexes, followed by determination of corazonin by ELISA, which revealed in each tissue a single immunoreactive peak co-eluting with corazonin in two different HPLC systems. Antisera obtained after the first three booster injections recognized a large number of neuroendocrine cells and neurons in the brain and the abdominal nerve cord. However, the sera from the two rabbits reacted largely with different cells, indicating that the majority of this immunoreactivity was due to cross-reactivity. These results indicate that the production of highly specific antisera to some neuropeptides may require a considerable number of booster injections.     

蚜虫种群时空分布动态模型

种群空间格局是昆虫种群的重要属性,是为害虫防治提供动态信息的重要前提。关于种群空间格局的时空动态,前人曾建立了富立叶模型和有阻尼自由震荡模型,但忽略了生境资源和空间资源的限制,不能很好地描述昆虫种群在自然界摆布状况的动态行为。因此,在前人研究的基础上,根据蚜虫在自然界的聚集扩散行为逐步建立了描述蚜虫种群聚集扩散规律的变幅、变周期时空分布动态模型,即:y=Ae-nt[sin(w0emtt+φ)+b]+c,并应用该模型对麦长管蚜(Sitobion avenae Fabricius)、麦二叉蚜(Schizaphis graminum Rondani)、禾缢管蚜(Rhopalosiphum padi Linnaeus)和玉米蚜(Rhopalosiphum maidis Fitch)的实验数据进行了拟合。结果表明,麦蚜种群和玉米蚜种群呈现出不同的规律,3种麦蚜均为减幅减周期的变化趋势,玉米蚜则表现为减幅增周期的变化趋势。此外,该模型的拟合效果较好(R20.942,SSE2.6)、生物意义明确,不仅可用于描述蚜虫以及蚜虫以外的其他昆虫和螨类种群的时空动态,还可准确描述不同年龄阶段和不同空间位置上种群的动态,具有普遍适用性。应用该模型考察不同种蚜虫在同一作物上的竞争情况和蚜虫与其天敌的空间分布动态,可为害虫的综合防治奠定基础;对不同小麦抗性品种上同一种蚜虫的聚集扩散行为进行刻画、分析,还可为小麦的抗性育种提供参考依据。     

硅胶填充昆虫幼虫标本制作方法

介绍一种利用硅胶填充制作昆虫幼虫标本的方法。将活体昆虫幼虫经过去内脏、填充硅胶、整形和干燥制成昆虫幼虫标本。该方法制作的标本形态生动,保存性与保色性好,并且制作简便、成本低,有利于观赏和教学。