Larval host plants of two lizard beetles in the genus Tetraphala (Coleoptera,Erotylidae, Languriinae,Languriini) from Taiwan,with a host plant list of Languriini

Lizard beetles (Erotylidae, Languriinae, Languriini) are known as stem borers of plants and contain agricultural pests and endangered species, but their species–host plant associations have been poorly documented. Here we investigated the larval host plants of two species of the genus Tetraphala Strum, T. collaris (Crotch) and Tetraphala sp. occurring in Taiwan. Females of T. collaris excavated living leafstalks and stems of the herbaceous dicot, Sambucus chinensis (Adoxaceae) using their mandibles for oviposition. We observed the eggs and early-instar larvae inside and nearby oviposition holes and late-instar larvae inside stems, suggesting that T. collaris uses living leafstalks and stems of S. chinensis as oviposition substrate and the larvae tunnel into stems with feeding on the tissues. Similarly, females of Tetraphala sp. excavated living leafstalks of the fern, Pteris wallichiana (Pteridaceae) using their mandibles for oviposition. We observed the eggs and early-instar larvae inside and nearby oviposition holes. When reared in laboratory, a larva reached adulthood inside the leafstalk. These results indicated that Tetraphala sp. uses living leafstalks of Pt. wallichiana as oviposition substrate and the larvae complete their development within. This study revealed that the genus Tetraphala contains both fern- and dicot-users during larval period. Further study is needed to clarify the evolutionary process of host plant use of languriines. Additionally, the host plant list of Languriini is provided.     

Glycoproteomics Landscape of Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Human Alzheimer’s Disease Brain

Molecular changes in the brain of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are an intense area of study. Little is known about the role of protein abundance and posttranslational modifications in AD progression and treatment, in particular large-scale intact N-linked glycoproteomics analysis. To elucidate the N-glycoproteome landscape, we developed an approach based on multi-lectin affinity enrichment, hydrophilic interaction chromatography, and LC-MS–based glycoproteomics. We analyzed brain tissue from 10 persons with no cognitive impairment or AD, 10 with asymptomatic AD, and 10 with symptomatic AD, detecting over 300 glycoproteins and 1900 glycoforms across the samples. The majority of glycoproteins have N-glycans that are high-mannosidic or complex chains that are fucosylated and bisected. The Man5 N-glycan was found to occur most frequently at >20% of the total glycoforms. Unlike the glycoproteomes of other tissues, sialylation is a minor feature of the brain N-glycoproteome, occurring at <9% among the glycoforms. We observed AD-associated differences in the number of antennae, frequency of fucosylation, bisection, and other monosaccharides at individual glycosylation sites among samples from our three groups. Further analysis revealed glycosylation differences in subcellular compartments across disease stage, including glycoproteins in the lysosome frequently modified with paucimannosidic glycans. These results illustrate the N-glycoproteomics landscape across the spectrum of AD clinical and pathologic severity and will facilitate a deeper understanding of progression and treatment development.     

Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and ozone alter soybean diseases at SoyFACE

Human driven changes in the Earth's atmospheric composition are likely to alter plant disease in the future. We evaluated the effects of elevated carbon dioxide (CO₂) and ozone (O₃) on three economically important soybean diseases (downy mildew, Septoria brown spot and sudden death syndrome‐SDS) under natural field conditions at the soybean free air concentration enrichment (SoyFACE) facility. Disease incidence and/or severity were quantified from 2005 to 2007 using visual surveys and digital image analysis, and changes were related to microclimatic variability and to structural and chemical changes in soybean host plants. Changes in atmospheric composition altered disease expression, but responses of the three pathosystems varied considerably. Elevated CO₂ alone or in combination with O₃ significantly reduced downy mildew disease severity (measured as area under the disease progress curve‐AUDPC) by 39–66% across the 3 years of the study. In contrast, elevated CO₂ alone or in combination with O₃ significantly increased brown spot severity in all 3 years, but the increase was small in magnitude. When brown spot severity was assessed in relation to differences in canopy height induced by the atmospheric treatments, disease severity increased under combined elevated CO₂ and O₃ treatment in only one of the 3 years. The atmospheric treatments had no effect on the incidence of SDS or brown spot throughout the study. Higher precipitation during the 2006 growing season was associated with increased AUDPC severity across all treatments by 2.7 and 1.4 times for downy mildew and brown spot, respectively, compared with drought conditions in 2005. In the 2 years with similar precipitation, the higher daily temperatures in the late spring of 2007 were associated with increased severity of downy mildew and brown spot. Elevated CO₂ and O₃ induced changes in the soybean canopy density and leaf age likely contributed to the disease expression modifications.     

食果鸟白头鹎与接骨草的分布

作为种子的传播者 ,以果实为生的动物在所食植物的繁殖周期中起着关键作用。尽管动植物相互作用的研究自达尔文开始就引起了进化生物学家和生态学家的关注 ,但和传粉者与植物的相互作用的研究相比 ,种子传播者与植物相互作用的研究在 2 0世纪 70年代后才真正开始[1] 。植物学家     

血满草化学成分研究

首次对血满草(Sambucus adnataWall)的乙醇提取物的乙酸乙酯,正丁醇溶解部分进行分离纯化,得到4个化合物,经理化方法和光谱分析,分别鉴定为对羟基苯甲酸(-phydroxybenzoic acid,1)、齐墩果酸(oleanolic acid,2)、熊果酸(ursolic acid,3)、3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxy-1-O--βD-glucopyranoside(4)。     

Callus Culture and Gentiopicroside Formation in Gentiana manshurica Kitag.

Suitable medium for callus growth and gentiopicroside formation of Gentiana manshurica Kitag. was studied employing orthogonal design and monofactorial experiment. The results showed that combination of NAA 1 mg/L +KT 0.5 mg/L was best for callus growth, while NAA lmg/L, is the suitable phytohormone for gentiopicroside formation. B5 medium was suitable for callus growth while MS medium was suitable for gentiopicroside formation. The experiment of orthogonal design indicates that NH4+/NO3-, K+, Ca2+ and sucrose were the factors significantly affecting fresh weight, dry weight and gentiopicroside content of callus. However, the level of some factors for callus growth was different from that for gentiopicroside formation. In 18 different media, No. 7 was best for callus growth and No.10 medium was best for gentiopicroside formation.     

Morphophysiological dormancy in seeds of two North American and one Eurasian species of Sambucus (Caprifoliaceae) with underdeveloped spatulate embryos

In contrast to previous reports, the endocarps ("seed coats") of Sambucus species are not impermeable to water; thus, the seeds do not have physical dormancy. Seeds of the North American species Sambucus canadensis and S. pubens and of the European species S. racemosa have spatulate shaped embryos that are ～60% fully developed (elongated) at seed maturity. The embryo has to extend to the full length of the seed to germinate. Embryos in freshly matured seeds of S. canadensis and in those of S. pubens grew better at 25°/15°C than at 5°C, whereas the rate of embryo growth in S. racemosa was higher at 5°C than at 25°/15°C. Seeds of all three species germinated to significantly higher percentages in light (14-h photoperiod) than in darkness. Fresh seeds of neither species germinated during 2 wk of incubation over a range of thermoperiods. Warm followed by cold stratification broke dormancy in seeds of S. canadensis and in those of S. pubens. Thus, seeds of these two North American species have deep simple morphophysiological dormancy (MPD). In comparison, seeds of the European species S. racemosa required a cold stratification period only for dormancy break, and thus they have intermediate complex MPD. GA(3) was much more effective in breaking dormancy in seeds of S. racemosa than it was in those of S. canadensis or S. pubens.     

Sialosignaling: Sialyltransferases as engines of self-fueling loops in cancer progression

Background

Glycosylation is increasingly recognized as one of the most relevant postranslational modifications. Sialic acids are negatively charged sugars which frequently terminate the carbohydrate chains of glycoproteins and glycolipids. The addition of sialic acids is mediated by sialyltransferases, a family of glycosyltransferases with a crucial role in cancer progression.

Scope of the review

To describe the phenotypic and clinical implications of altered expression of sialyltransferases and of their cognate sialylated structures in cancer. To propose a unifying model of the role of sialyltransferases and sialylated structures on cancer progression.

Major conclusions

We first discuss the biosynthesis and the role played by the major cancer-associated sialylated structures, including Thomsen–Friedenreich-associated antigens, sialyl Lewis antigens, α2,6-sialylated lactosamine, polysialic acid and gangliosides. Then, we show that altered sialyltransferase expression in cancer, consequence of genetic and epigenetic alterations, generates a flow of information toward the membrane through the biosynthesis of aberrantly sialylated molecules (inside-out signaling). In turn, the presence of aberrantly sialylated structures on cell membrane receptors generates a flow of information toward the nucleus, which can exacerbate the neoplastic phenotype (outside-in signaling). We provide examples of self-fueling loops generated by these flows of information.

General significance

Sialyltransferases have a wide impact on the biology of cancer and can be the target of innovative therapies. Our unified view provides a conceptual framework to understand the impact of altered glycosylation in cancer.     

Pericytes in the mature chorioallantoic membrane capillary plexus contain desmin and α-smooth muscle actin: relevance for non-sprouting angiogenesis

The chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is a frequently used tissue for studying vascular growth and remodeling, notably non-sprouting angiogenesis by formation of transluminal pillars. Vascular pericytes have received increasing attention in the field of angiogenesis research and appear important for pillar growth. Our earlier observation that desmin (DES), but not α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) was expressed in pericytes of the mature CAM capillary plexus after E12 was confirmed by others. However, in different species or vascular beds, either marker or both have been used to identify pericytes, raising the questions if (1) expression of these cytoskeletal proteins really was mutually exclusive; or (2) different types of pericytes existed in the same vascular bed. Using triple labeling with fluorochrome-conjugated markers Sambucus nigra agglutinin, DES or αSMA, and DNA-specific YoPro-1, we report here for the first time a delicate filamentous, circumferentially oriented αSMA pattern in periendothelial cells of the mature CAM capillary plexus, quite different from the coarser, axially oriented DES pattern. A new method for automatic classification of DNA-staining pattern was applied to compare nuclei of DES- or αSMA-positive cells. It predicted colocalisation of both proteins in most capillary pericytes, which was confirmed by double immunostaining for DES and αSMA. We conclude that (1) in contrast to published work, DES and αSMA are not mutually exclusive in most pericytes; (2) different types of pericytes may co-exist in the same vascular bed; (3) on average, one pericyte is associated with two transluminal pillars; (4) a novel imaging modality may be useful for cell identification in angiogenesis research and elsewhere.