The evolution of Nyctereutes (Carnivora: Canidae) in the Nihewan Basin,Hebei, northern China

The occurrence of Nyctereutes during the Plio-Pleistocene has long been reported in northern China, with the highest abundance in the Nihewan Basin. However, due to site dispersal, the coexistence of different taxa, and lack of a precise stratigraphic constraint, the evolutionary process of this genus remains enigmatic. In this study, we re-examined the available Nyctereutes materials recovered from the Nihewan Basin housed in IVPP and Tianjin Natural History Museum, in addition to a newly recovered specimen from our latest excavation. Furthermore, we compared these materials with Nyctereutes fossils recovered from the Pleistocene Zhoukoudian sites near Beijing and the extant species N. procyonoides. Our analysis of the upper molar morphometry reveals the variations in size and dietary characteristics within different species of Nyctereutes during the late Plio-Pleistocene. The examination of molars indicates an increase in the size of Nyctereutes sinensis compared to early Pliocene N. tingi as well as changes in the molar teeth morphology. Subsequently, changes in diet or environmental factors possibly caused the decrease of body size in the late Pleistocene. We also estimate an age constraint for the fossils of N. sinensis from the Xiashagou section by relocating Licent's localities and referring of updated magnetostratigraphic data.     

The effect of light and phytochrome on 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid metabolism in etiolated wheat seedling leaves

While light-grown wheat leaves produced ethylene at a low rate of <0.1 nanomoles per gram per hour and contained 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) at low levels of <2.5 nanomoles per gram, etiolated wheat leaves produced ethylene at a rate of 2 nanomoles per gram per hour and accumulated concentrations of ACC at levels of 40 nanomoles per gram. Upon illumination of 8-day-old etiolated wheat seedlings with white light, the ethylene production rate increased initially, due to the activation of ethylene-forming activity, but subsequently declined to a low level (0.1 nanomoles per gram per hour) at the end of the 6-hour illumination. This light-induced decline in ethylene production rate resulted from a decline (more than 35 nanomoles per gram) in ACC level, which was accompanied by a corresponding increase in 1-(malonylamino)cyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid content. These data indicate that illumination promoted ACC malonylation, resulting in reduced ACC level and consequently reduced ethylene production. However, light did not cause any significant increase in the extractable ACC-malonyltransferase activity. The effect of continuous white light on promotion of ACC malonylation was also observed in intermittent white light or red light. A far-red light treatment following red light partially reversed the red light effect, indicating that phytochrome participates in the promotion of ACC malonylation.     

中国黑缘蝽属新种记述(半翅目:缘蝽科)

中国黑缘蝽属(Hygia Uhler)为缘蝽科缘蝽亚科中较大的属,体均为黑色,常具黄色或褐黄色斑。截止到目前已记载19种,现由近年来采集的标本中又发现7新种,分属于两个亚属:黑缘蝽亚属Hygia Uhler及沟缘蝽亚属Colpura Bergroth,现描述如下。文内所用量度单位均为毫米。模式标本除注明者外,均存放南开大学生物系。     

Seasonal plasticity in growth and development of the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria (Satyrinae)

Regulation of growth and development by photoperiod was studied in a population of the speckled wood butterfly, Purarge aegeria L. (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae), from southern Sweden. Individuals were reared in a range of photoperiodic regimes (9L. to 22L) and temperatures (13°C to 21° C). Plasticity was found for important life-history traits- generation time, growth rate and final weight and seasonal regulation of development in response to photoperiod was found to occur at two levels. Purarge aegeria hibernates as a third instar larva or in the pupal stage, cantering one of four major developmental pathways in response to photoperiod: (1) direct development in both the larval and pupal stages, (2) pupal winter diapause with or (3) without a preceding larval summer diapause, or (4) larval winter diapause. In addition to this high-level regulation of individual development, larval growth rate and pupal development rate also appear to be finally regulated by photoperiod within each major pathway. As photoperiods decreased from 22 h to 17 h at 17° C, growth rate among directly developing larvae increased progressively, as was the case for larva? developing according to a univoltine life cycle from 17 h to 14 h. At two photoperiods, 13 h and 16 h (corresponding to shifts between major pathways), both larval and pupal development were extremely variable with the fastest individuals developing directly and the slowest developing with a diapause. This indicates a gradual nature of diapause itself, suggesting that the two level may not he fundamentally different.     

Characterization of the lipid A component of genuine smooth-form lipopolysaccharide

The smooth-form lipopolysaccharide of Salmonella abortus equi had earlier been separated into three distinct fractions, a long-chain fraction with an O chain containing 20-50 repeating units, a short-chain fraction consisting of an R lipopolysaccharide and another with 1-6 repeating units, and an R fraction identical to the lipopolysaccharide synthesized by Ra.b-mutant bacteria [Galanos et al. (1988) J. Chromatogr. 440, 397-404]. In this paper, the corresponding lipid A from each fraction was prepared by a newly elaborated procedure based on hydrolysis of the fractions in calcium acetate buffer (pH 3.5) followed by separation of the resulting free lipid A from the polysaccharide on a Sephadex G-100 column. Chemical analysis revealed that lipid A of the R fraction contained the expected spectrum and amounts of fatty acids and it proved to be structurally identical to lipid A of previously studied Salmonella R mutants. In contrast, the lipid A of the long-chain fraction contained only about 60% fatty acids compared to that of the R fraction. The lipid A of the short-chain fraction also expressed a reduced substitution pattern of acyl residues.     

小麦间期集缩染色质的超微结构研究

本文以普通小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)根端分生组织为材料,在透射电镜下对间期细胞核内的集缩染色质的高层次结构进行了研究。在其中观察到直径约为20—25nm、50nm及110—120nm 的不同等级染色线,并且发现直径110—120nm 的染色线是由50nm 的染色线组成的,而直径约50nm 的染色线是由20—25nm 的染色线组成的。对这三个层次染色质结构之间的集缩方式进行了讨论。     

灭幼脲引起两种幼虫表皮组织病变的显微观察

本文研究了灭幼脲引起黄粉(虫甲)(Tenebrio mclitor)和粘虫(Mythimna separata)幼虫的中毒征象和组织学病变.低剂量能引起幼虫蜕皮障碍,但看不到明显的组织学病变.高剂量处理,不仅引起了严重的中毒征象,而且伴有明显的组织学病变:内表皮生长停滞,真皮细胞排列异常,在内表皮和真皮细胞之间出现附加层和球状颗粒.对这些现象进行了较细致的讨论.     

电损毁海马CA3区及连合前穹窿对大鼠血浆胰岛素水平...

Bilateral electrical lesioning of the hippocampal CA3 region (HCA3-EL) or anterior commissura hippocampi (ACHF-EL) caused marked elevations in plasma basal levels of insulin. 2 weeks later, fasting blood glucose levels were also augmented with decreased glucose tolerance. In contrast, the secretory response of pancreatic B cells to glucose stimulation was markedly enhanced. Following intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT), the relative amounts of glucagon-like and insulin-like immunoreactants were reduced in the pancreatic islets of both HCA3-EL and ACHF-EL rats in comparison with the controls. In the HCA3-EL group, the relative amounts of somatostatin-like immunoreactants and gross numbers of such immunostained cells in islets were also decreased as compared with the control. No difference was seen in pancreatic-polypeptide-like immunoreactivities as assessed by immunohistochemistry plus microphotometry method. The above results suggest strongly that HCA3 and ACHF exert a tonic inhibitory action on the insulin secretion in the rat.     

In vivo regulatory phosphorylation site in c(4)-leaf phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from maize and sorghum

Reversible seryl-phosphorylation contributes to the light/dark regulation of C₄-leaf phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) activity in vivo. The specific regulatory residue that, upon in vitro phosphorylation by a maize-leaf protein-serine kinase(s), leads to an increase in catalytic activity and a decrease in malate-sensitivity of the target enzyme has been recently identified as Ser-15 in ³²P-phosphorylated/activated dark-form maize PEPC (J-A Jiao, R Chollet [1990] Arch Biochem Biophys 283: 300-305). In order to ascertain whether this N-terminal seryl residue is, indeed, the in vivo regulatory phosphorylation site, [³²P]phosphopeptides were isolated and purified from in vivo ³²P-labeled maize and sorghum leaf PEPC and subjected to automated Edman degradation analysis. The results show that purified light-form maize PEPC contains 14-fold more ³²P-radioactivity than the corresponding dark-form enzyme on an equal protein basis and, more notably, only a single N-terminal serine residue (Ser-15 in maize PEPC and its structural homolog, Ser-8, in the sorghum enzyme) was found to be ³²P-phosphorylated in the light or dark. These in vivo observations, combined with the results from our previous in vitro phosphorylation studies (J-A Jiao, R Chollet [1989] Arch Biochem Biophys 269: 526-535; [1990] Arch Biochem Biophys 283: 300-305), demonstrate that an N-terminal seryl residue in C₄ PEPC is, indeed, the regulatory site that undergoes light/dark changes in phosphorylation-status and, thus, plays a major, if not cardinal role in the light-induced changes in catalytic and regulatory properties of this cytoplasmic C₄-photosynthesis enzyme in vivo.