Risks of Biological Invasion on the Belt and Road

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Eight decades of invasion by Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) and its biological control in West Africa: the story so far

ABSTRACT

Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King and H. Robinson (Asteraceae) is a perennial weedy shrub of neotropical origin and a serious biotic threat in its invasive range. The Asian-West Africa (AWA) biotype of C. odorata present in West Africa is both morphologically and genetically different from the southern African (SA) biotype. The AWA biotype was first introduced into Nigeria in the late 1930s and rapidly spread across West Africa. Currently, 12 of the 16 countries in West Africa have been invaded, with significant negative effects on indigenous flora and fauna. However, locals in West Africa have found several uses for the weed. As chemical, physical and other conventional methods were unsustainable, costly and largely ineffective, three biological control agents, Apion brunneonigrum (Coleoptera: Brentidae), Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) and Cecidochares connexa (Diptera: Tephritidae), have been released in West Africa between the 1970s and the early 2000s. However, only C. connexa and P. pseudoinsulata established, contributing to the control of the weed, in six and four countries in West Africa respectively. Limited research funding, the absence of post-release evaluations of the established agents, and the ‘conflict of interest’ status of C. odorata (i.e. being beneficial for local use but damaging to ecosystem services and agriculture), are serious factors deterring the overall biological control effort. Here, using historical records and field surveys, we examine the invasion history, spread, impacts, and management of C. odorata in West Africa and make recommendations for the sustainable management of C. odorata in the region.     

A novel method for cloning of coding sequences of highly toxic proteins

Background

During standard gene cloning, the recombinant protein appearing in bacteria as the result of expression leakage very often inhibits cell proliferation leading to blocking of the cloning procedure. Although different approaches can reduce transgene basal expression, the recombinant proteins, which even in trace amounts inhibit bacterial growth, can completely prevent the cloning process.

Comparison of competitive ability between native and introduced salmonids: evidence from pairwise contests

Brown trout, Salmo trutta, and rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, have been introduced to freshwaters in Hokkaido, Japan. Today, it is recognized that these introduced salmonids have negative impacts on native salmonids such as white-spotted charr, Salvelinus leucomaenis, and masu salmon, O. masou. In particular, interspecific competition may be an important mechanism that could contribute to the exclusion for native salmonids. In this study, experimental pairwise contests were conducted to compare interference competitive ability between native and introduced salmonids. We demonstrated that brown trout were competitively superior to white-spotted charr and masu salmon whereas rainbow trout were superior to white-spotted charr. We suggest that introduced brown trout negatively impact both white-spotted charr and masu salmon, and introduced rainbow trout negatively impact white-spotted charr.     

Transient expression of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and human erythropoietin (hEPO) genes in milk after direct introduction into ewe

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Gastrointestinal parasites of the chimpanzee population introduced onto Rubondo Island National Park,Tanzania

The release of any species into a novel environment can evoke transmission of parasites that do not normally parasitize the host as well as potentially introducing new parasites into the environment. Species introductions potentially incur such risks, yet little is currently known about the parasite fauna of introduced primate species over the long term. We describe the results of long‐term monitoring of the intestinal parasite fauna of an unprovisioned, reproducing population of chimpanzees introduced 40 years earlier (1966–1969) onto Rubondo Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania, a non‐native habitat for chimpanzees. Two parasitological surveys (March 1997–October 1998 and October 2002–December 2005) identified Entamoeba spp. including E. coli, Iodamoeba buetschlii, Troglodytella abrassarti, Chilomastix mesnili, Trichuris sp., Anatrichosoma sp., Strongyloides spp., Strongylida fam. gen. sp., Enterobius anthropopitheci, Subulura sp., Ascarididae gen. sp., and Protospirura muricola. The parasite fauna of the Rubondo chimpanzees is similar to wild chimpanzees living in their natural habitats, but Rubondo chimpanzees have a lower prevalence of strongylids (9%, 3.8%) and a higher prevalence of E. anthropopitheci (8.6%, 17.9%) than reported elsewhere. Species prevalence was similar between our two surveys, with the exception of Strongyloides spp. being higher in the first survey. None of these species are considered to pose a serious health risk to chimpanzees, but continued monitoring of the population and surveys of the parasitic fauna of the two coinhabitant primate species and other animals, natural reservoir hosts of some of the same parasites, is important to better understand the dynamics of host–parasite ecology and potential long‐term implications for chimpanzees introduced into a new habitat. Am. J. Primatol. 72:307–316, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

中国花楸属植物的分布及研究现状

花楸属(Sorbus L.)植物冠形多态、花色秀美、果实缤纷、四季叶色各异，具有很高的园艺观赏价值，但因属下种间杂交、多倍化和无融合生殖的存在，所以花楸属也是分类学上比较困难的一个类群。该研究通过细致整理和分析国家标本资源库和全球数字化植物标本数据库中花楸属植物标本信息，了解中国花楸属物种采集位置和野生种质资源的分布中心，构建中国花楸属植物标本数据库，为全国第一次林草种质资源的普查与收集提供参考；在明晰花楸属植物资源分布位置和生境的基础上，发现中国花楸属植物资源居世界之首且花楸属物种多分布在高海拔区域，尤其是在中国西南部的山区，分布有一半以上的中国花楸属物种，在该区域花楸属物种多种倍性并存、杂交频繁发生。然而，这是否为该属植物物种多样性丰富的关键因素，把高海拔分布的花楸属物种引种到低海拔区域能否适应以及如何适应低海拔的夏季高温尚不清楚。基于此，作者就自己的专业领域进一步检索了花楸属植物在形态分类与系统发育、适应性进化和保护遗传学、植物资源利用等方面的研究现状，梳理出花楸属植物目前研究尚未解决的问题，并进一步指出未来研究需重点关注的方向。建议未来的研究重点关注以下问题：(1)在坚实的系统...     

Thank you for not flowering: conservation genetics and gene flow analysis of native and non-native populations of Fraxinus (Oleaceae) in Ireland

The risks of gene flow between interfertile native and introduced plant populations are greatest when there is no spatial isolation of pollen clouds and phenological patterns overlap completely. Moreover, invasion probabilities are further increased if introduced populations are capable of producing seeds by selfing. Here we investigated the mating system and patterns of pollen-mediated gene flow among populations of native ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and mixed plantations of non-native ash (F. angustifolia and F. excelsior) as well as hybrid ash (F. excelsior × F. angustifolia) in Ireland. We analysed the flowering phenology of the mother trees and genotyped with six microsatellite loci in progeny arrays from 132 native and plantation trees (1493 seeds) and 444 potential parents. Paternity analyses suggested that plantation and native trees were pollinated by both native and introduced trees. No signs of significant selfing in the introduced trees were observed and no evidence of higher male reproductive success was found for introduced trees compared with native ones either. A small but significant genetic structure was found (φ_ft=0.05) and did not correspond to an isolation-by-distance pattern. However, we observed a significant temporal genetic structure related to the different phenological groups, especially with early and late flowering native trees; each phenological group was pollinated with distinctive pollen sources. Implications of these results are discussed in relation to the conservation and invasiveness of ash and the spread of resistance genes against pathogens such as the fungus Chalara fraxinea that is destroying common ash forests in Europe.     

广西园林藤本植物的筛选研究

该文报道了广西藤本植物资源概况与园林藤本植物筛选研究成果,简要介绍了广西藤本植物的种质资源及资源藤本植物利用现状,经过引种和调查选择,收集观赏藤本植物62种,通过配置应用试验和决选评价,决选出适合于城市园林建设的10个花卉品种,21个垂直绿化品种,3个地被植物品种。