Phylogeny of the East Asian botiine loaches (Cypriniformes,Botiidae) inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome <Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis> gene sequences

The Botiinae have traditionally represented a subfamily of the Cobitidae. At present, the classification and phylogenetic relationships of the Botiinae are controversial. To address systematic and phylogenetic questions concerning this group, we sequenced the complete cytochrome b gene from 34 samples, of which 24 represented 13 species of the East Asian botiine fishes, while the other 10 were non-botiine loach species. For the 1140 bp sequences determined, 494 sites were variable ones, of which 424 were parsimony informative. With Myxocyprinus asiaticus as an outgroup, molecular phylogenetic trees were constructed using the neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. All molecular phylogenetic trees revealed that botiine fishes form a monophyletic group and are distantly related to other loaches, suggesting that the Botiinae should be placed in their own family. Within the Botiinae, there are three genera; Botia, Parabotia, andLeptobotia, each genus forming a monophyletic group, with the genus Botia as the most ancestral split. Our molecular results are in agreement with morphological analyses of botiines, suggesting that Botia is the ancestral genus, while Leptobotia and Parabotia were resolved as more derived sister groups.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Acheilognathus striatus</Emphasis> (Family: Cyprinidae), a new bitterling species from the lower Yangtze River,China

A new species of bitterling, Acheilognathus striatus sp. nov., is described on the basis of 57 specimens collected from the lower Yangtze River in Jiangxi Province, China. It can be distinguished from all congeners by the following combined characters: a pair of relatively long barbels, slightly longer than half of eye diameter; dorsal fin with three simple and 8–9 branched fin rays, anal fin with three simple and 7–8 branched fin rays; a black longitudinal stripe on body from the base of caudal peduncle, distinctly reaching anteriorly to the vertical line from the origin of dorsal fin, broader in males than in females; a scale distance between the longitudinal stripe and lateral line below the origin of dorsal fin; dorsal and anal fin margined with black band in males.     

Comparison of evolutionary rates in the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene and control region and their implications for phylogeny of the Cobitoidea (Teleostei: Cypriniformes)

It is widely accepted that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region evolves faster than protein encoding genes with few exceptions. In the present study, we sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cyt b) and control region (CR) and compared their rates in 93 specimens representing 67 species of loaches and some related taxa in the Cobitoidea (Order Cypriniformes). The results showed that sequence divergences of the CR were broadly higher than those of the cyt b (about 1.83 times). However, in considering only closely related species, CR sequence evolution was slower than that of cyt b gene (ratio of CR/cyt b is 0.78), a pattern that is found to be very common in Cypriniformes. Combined data of the cyt b and CR were used to estimate the phylogenetic relationship of the Cobitoidea by maximum parsimony, neighbor-joining, and Bayesian methods. With Cyprinus carpio and Danio rerio as outgroups, three analyses identified the same four lineages representing four subfamilies of loaches, with Botiinae on the basal-most clade. The phylogenetic relationship of the Cobitoidea was ((Catostomidae+Gyrinocheilidae)+(Botiinae+(Balitorinae+(Cobitinae+Nemacheilinae)))), which indicated that Sawada's Cobitidae (including Cobitinae and Botiinae) was not monophyletic. Our molecular phylogenetic analyses are in very close agreement with the phylogenetic results based on the morphological data proposed by Nalbant and Bianco, wherein these four subfamilies were elevated to the family level as Botiidae, Balitoridae, Cobitidae, and Nemacheilidae.     

Molecular and morphological data suggest that Spinibarbus caldwelli (Nichols) (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) is a valid species

The taxonomic problem of the cyprinid species of genus Spinibarbus, occurring in southern China and northern Vietnam, was resolved on the basis of molecular and morphological analyses. Spinibarbus caldwelli and Spinibarbus hollandi have a smooth posterior edge of the last unbranched dorsal fin ray among species in the genus. Spinibarbus caldwelli is currently regarded as a junior synonym of S. hollandi because of ambiguities in diagnostic characters. In this article, 11 mtDNA cytochrome b sequences of Spinibarbus specimens were analyzed together with Barbodes gonionotus and Puntius conchonius as outgroups. Our results showed that specimens identified as S. hollandi from Taiwan were different from those from the Asian mainland at a high level of genetic divergence (0.097–0.112), which is higher than that between the two valid species, S. sinensis and S. yunnanensis (0.089), and suggested that Taiwan specimens should be considered as a different species from the Asian mainland one. In a molecular phylogenetic analysis, the sister-group relationship between Taiwan specimens and the Asian mainland specimens was supported strongly by a high confidence level (100% in bootstrap value). Further analysis of morphological characters showed that overlap of diagnostic characters is much weaker than previously suggested. Taiwan specimens had 8 branched rays in the dorsal fin, whereas those from the mainland had almost 9–10. The molecular and morphological differences suggest S. caldwelli to be valid. The molecular divergence shows the genetic speciation of S. hollandi and S. caldwelli might have occurred 5.6–4.9 million years ago; the former could be a relict species in Taiwan, and the latter dispersed in the Asian mainland.     

糖尿病大鼠肋间肌酶组织化学研究

目的探讨糖尿病早期肋间肌酶组织化学变化。方法应用酶组织化学方法观察糖尿病2周和4周大鼠肋间肌组织脱氢酶、水解酶和氧化酶活性变化。结果糖尿病2周大鼠肋间肌组织琥珀酸脱氢酶、谷氨酸脱氢酶和辅酶Ⅰ黄递酶活性较对照组增强,乳酸脱氢酶活性较对照组减弱,苹果酸脱氢酶、异柠檬酸脱氢酶、葡萄糖-6-磷酸脱氢酶、酸性磷酸酶、酸性-α-萘酸性酯酶和细胞色素氧化酶无变化。糖尿病4周大鼠肋间肌组织琥珀酸脱氢酶、苹果酸脱氢酶、谷氨酸脱氢酶、辅酶Ⅰ黄递酶、酸性磷酸酶和酸性-α-萘酸性酯酶活性较对照组增强,乳酸脱氢酶和细胞色素氧化酶活性较对照组减弱,异柠檬酸脱氢酶、葡萄糖-6-磷酸脱氢酶无变化。结论糖尿病2周大鼠肋间肌组织有氧氧化代谢能力增强,糖酵解能力减弱。糖尿病4周大鼠肋间肌组织有氧氧化能力增强、糖酵解能力减弱及能量代谢紊乱。在糖尿病早期呼吸肌存在代谢异常。     

Roles of ursodeoxycholic acid in the bile biochemistry and metabolomics in patients with choledocholithiasis: a prospective study

Metabolomics - A large number of studies have explored the potential biomarkers for detecting liver cirrhosis in an early stage, yet consistent conclusions are still warranted. To conduct a review...     

Neural Mechanisms of Selective Attention in Children with Amblyopia

Previous studies have indicated that amblyopia might affect children''s attention. We recruited amblyopic children and normal children aged 9–11 years as study subjects and compared selective attention between the two groups of children. Chinese characters denoting colors were used in the Stroop task, and the event-related potential (ERP) was analyzed. The results show that the accuracy of both groups in the congruent condition was higher than the incongruent condition, and the reaction time (RT) of amblyopic children was longer. The latency of the occipital P1 in the incongruent condition was shorter than the neutral condition for both groups; the peak of the occipital P1 elicited by the incongruent stimuli in amblyopic children was higher. In both groups, the N1 peak was higher in the occipital region than frontal and central regions. The N1 latency of normal children was shorter in the congruent and neutral conditions and longer in the incongruent condition; the N1 peak of normal children was higher. The N270 latencies of normal children in the congruent and neutral conditions were shorter; the N270 peak was higher in parietal and occipital regions than frontal and central regions for both groups. The N450 latency of normal children was shorter; in both groups, the N450 average amplitude was significantly higher in the parietal region than central and frontal regions. The accuracy was the same for both groups, but the response of amblyopic children was significantly slower. The two groups showed differences in both stages of the Stroop task. Normal children showed advantages in processing speed on both stimulus and response conflict stages.Brain regions activated during the Stroop task were consistent between groups, in line with their age characteristics.     

First feeding and subsequent growth performances in piscivorous larvae of Chinese perch Siniperca chuatsi (Perciforms: Sinipercidae)

The success of first feeding is influenced by many factors, such as prey availability, and is critical to subsequent larval growth performances. To test the advantages of prey exposure before complete yolk absorption in piscivorous larvae, feeding incidence and specific growth rate were longitudinally measured in Chinese perch Siniperca chuatsi larvae first fed at different ages. The results showed that Chinese perch larvae were able to capture live piscine prey at 4 DAH (days after hatching), 1 day before complete yolk absorption. The feeding incidence and specific growth rate were higher in larvae first fed at 4 DAH than in larvae first fed at 5 or 6 DAH. These results indicate that prey exposure experience can facilitate the onset of first feeding, and that successful exogenous feeding, even before complete yolk absorption, is important for growth performances of piscivorous fish larvae.