Life cycle changes during 12 successive generations of laboratory colonisation of the leafroller Cnephasia jactatana (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) on artificial diet

Abstract

Close monitoring of the lepidopteran leafroller Cnephasia jactatana under laboratory colonisation revealed few distinct effects of successive rearing on artificial diet on the life cycle. The second laboratory generation had a prolonged development time and altered sex synchronism in pupation and eclosion patterns. Some deleterious changes were observed in later generations, including decreases in fertility, egg hatch and sperm motility, failure of mating adults to separate, and pupal and adult malformations. These changes were not adaptive, but were due to incompatibility with the general purpose diet (GPD) used; they were absent under sub-colonisation on a sheepnut-bean based diet (SBD). Success in the laboratory colonisation of C. jactatana is attributed to a random mating protocol, choice of environmental conditions representing the wild habitat, and a rapid rate of population growth.     

Voltage-dependent depolarization of bacterial membranes and artificial lipid bilayers by the peptide antibiotic nisin

The peptide antibiotic nisin is shown to disrupt valinomycin-induced potassium diffusion potentials imposed on intact cells of Staphylococcus cohnii 22. Membrane depolarization occurred rapidly at high diffusion potentials while at low potentials nisin-induced depolarization was slower suggesting that nisin requires a membrane potential for activity. This assumption was proven in experiments with planar lipid bilayers (black lipid membranes). Macroscopic conductivity measurements indicated a voltage-dependent action of nisin. The potential must have a trans-negative orientation with respect to the addition of nisin (added to the cis-side) and a sufficient magnitude (ca. -100 mV). With intact cells the threshold potential was lower (-50 to -80 mV at pH 7.5 and below -50 mV at pH 5.5). Single channel recordings resolved transient multistate pores, strongly resembling those introduced by melittin into artificial bilayers. The pores had diameters in the range of 0.2–1 nm, and lifetimes of few to several hundred milliseconds. The results indicate that nisin has to be regarded as a membrane-depolarizing agent which acts in a voltage-dependent fashion.Abbreviations BLM Black lipid membranes - CCCP carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone - DOPC dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine - PS phosphatidylserine - TPP⁺ tetraphenylphosphonium cation     

Feeding postures of suspension-feeding larval black flies: the conflicting demands of drag and food acquisition

Summary We tested whether larval black flies actively control the positioning of their feeding appendages (labral fans), and if so, whether their posture represents a balance between the conflicting demands of drag and feeding. We compared the postures of live larvae with the postures of larvae killed by heat-shock in three different flow regimes in a laboratory experiment; we assumed that the postures of heat-killed larvae approximated a passive response to drag. The average height of the labral fans above the bed declined significantly in faster flows, and was significantly greater in live than dead larvae. There was also a significant interaction effect, since the difference between the fan heights of live and dead larvae was greater in slower flows. Two mechanisms may contribute to this result. Larvae in slower flows have to increase their fan heights more than larvae living in faster flows to achieve comparable increases in velocity and thus particle flux. In addition, muscular strength may limit the feeding postures larvae can assume. The fan heights of live larvae also varied depending on the concentration of food particles: larvae exposed to low food concentrations held their fans higher above the bed than did larvae exposed to high food concentrations in the same flow regime. This change in posture is due neither to an uneven particle concentration in the boundary layer nor to added drag from particles trapped in the labral fans. Collectively, our results indicate that these suspension feeders actively control their feeding posture, and suggest that these varying postures represent a dynamic balance between the conflicting needs of minimizing drag and maximizing feeding.     

茶园生态环境对红茶芳香化学物质及品质影响

国内外研究均表明,芳香化学物质是构成红茶品质的主要化学物质。茶叶中芳香化学物质的形成,与茶树品种、加工工艺密切相关。至于茶园生态环境和气象因子对红茶     

Capacitance--voltage relationship in phospholipid bilayers containing gangliosides

Changes in the position of the minimum of the parabolic capacitance-voltage curve allow the measurement of the amount of ganglioside present in artificial bilayers made with phosphatidylcholine-ganglioside mixtures and asymmetrically shielded with Ca2+. The screening effect of the ionic solution must be considered. With ganglioside/phospholipid molar ratios of up to 15%, all glycolipids can be found at the membrane surfaces.     

湿地松与茶树间作根系分布状况的研究

湿地松(Pinus elliottii)是阳性乔木,茶树(Camellia sinensis)是阴性灌木。这两种树种间作,形成针阔、乔灌两层树冠结构的茶园复合生态系统,可以改善茶树生态条件,提高茶叶的产量和品质。但间作存在胁地现象。一般认为这是上层树木的过度遮荫和根系间的竞争造成的。为了解这两种树种根系的分布状况和相互关系,并为间作茶园的合理配置和加强这种茶园的耕作管理提供依据,我们进行了湿地松与茶树间作根系分布状况的研究。     

Effects of plant odor on oviposition by the black swallowtail butterfly,Papilio polyxenes (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Black swallowtail females laid more eggs on plant models treated with contact stimulants and volatiles from carrot leaves than on models treated only with contact stimulants. The volatiles enhanced landing rates and females alighted more frequently on artificial leaves treated with host volatiles than on adjacent control leaves. Volatiles from cabbage, a nonhost, inhibited landing rates on artificial leaves treated with carrot contact stimulants. Examination of antennae revealed two major types of sensilla, believed to be olfactory in function. Electroantennogram preparations responded more strongly to carrot volatiles than to cabbage volatiles and several shared responses at particular retention times to carrot volatile components eluting from a gas chromatograph. Our results are consistent with a long-standing hypothesis that behavioral responses to essential oil components characteristic of the larval food plants have facilitated host shifts in the genus Papilio.     

Resetting biological oscillators—A stochastic approach

We present a stochastic approach to phase-resetting of an ensemble of oscillators. In order to describe stimulation-induced dynamical phenomena we develop a stochastic model which consists of an ensemble of phase oscillators interacting via random forces. Every single oscillator is submitted to a phase stimulus. The ensemble's dynamics is determined by a Fokker-Planck equation. The stationary states are calculated explicitly, whereas the transients are analysed numerically. If the stimulus of a given (non-vanishing) intensity is administered at a critical initial cluster phase for a critical duration T _crit the ensemble's synchronized oscillation is annihilated. A transition from type 1 resetting to type 0 resetting occurs when the stimulation duration exceeds T _crit. Stimulation causes a shift of the mean frequency of every single oscillator. This frequency shift is explicitly calculated by deriving the mean first passage time. The model shows that there is a subcritical intensity which is connected with an enhanced vulnerability to stimulation. The desynchronized states, the so-called black holes, are typically associated with a double peak in the ensemble's phase distribution. This is important for analysing experimental data because simple peak-detection algorithms are not able to extract the underlying dynamics.Our results are discussed from the experimentator's point of view so that the insights derived from our model can improve data analysis and design of stimulation experiments.     

中国茶对变形链球菌的抑菌作用

对３６只ｓｐｒａｑｕｅ－Ｄａｗｌｅｙ鼠分４组给予诱龋饲料（Ｄｉｅｔ２０００,ｋｅｙｓ）,并连续５天在口腔内接种变链菌６７１５菌株,分别给予我国主要产茶区的三种茶浸液：龙井绿茶（Ｂ组）,四川涪陵红茶（Ｃ组）,乌龙茶（Ｄ组）,先用０．５ｇ茶和５０ｍｌ双蒸馏水加热煮沸过滤后浸泡１０分钟以及对照组（Ａ组）用双蒸馏水为饮料喂养实验鼠。实验６０天后,杀鼠观察计算鼠磨牙面的菌落形成单位（ＣＦＵ）和菌斑指数（ｐｌａｑｕｅｓｃｏｒｅ）均显著下降。实验结果,实验组和对照组菌斑指数下降值顺序如下：Ｃ组＞Ｄ组＞Ｂ组＞Ａ组,并与实验组含氟量有相关性。很多研究表明变链菌是较为肯定的致龋菌、茶中氟化物对变链菌生长、粘附都有抑制作用。本研究选用茶来源广泛、价廉、无毒安全等优点,为开拓新的防龋方法进行探索。