The duration of strong mate-guarding by males of the libellulid dragonflyPaltothemis lineatipes: Proximate causation

Males of the territorial libellulid dragonfly Paltothemis lineatipeschange the intensity with which they guard their mates during an oviposition bout. Immediately after copulation is completed, males exhibit strong guarding, remaining very close to their partners as they begin ovipositing. In less than a minute, however, they begin to drift away to resume territorial patrolling or even to perch while their partners continue to oviposit. The duration of strong guarding is not related to how long the male has been on territory. Nor is it an activity of fixed duration set by the release of the female following copulation or by the initiation of oviposition by a panner. Instead, males can extend the period of strong guarding if oviposition is interrupted experimentally early in a bout. Under these conditions, males follow their mates closely until they have found a new location at which they oviposit steadily. Thus, males apparently must see their panner oviposit for some time before reducing the intensity of mate-guarding.     

固相萃取与气相色谱⁃质谱法联用测定食用植物油和含脂肪食品中氯丙醇酯的方法验证研究

氯丙醇酯是国际上广泛关注的食品加工过程污染物,其水解产物氯丙醇对人体（特别是婴幼儿）危害风险较大。采用固相萃取与气相色谱-质谱（gas chromatography-mass spectrometry,GC-MS）联用技术,对食用植物油和含脂食品中的氯丙醇酯[3-氯-1,2-丙二醇脂肪酸酯（简称3-MCPD酯）和2-氯-1,3-丙二醇脂肪酸酯（简称2-MCPD酯）]进行检测。该方法准确度高（3-MCPD酯和2-MCPD酯的平均回收率分别为98.9%和96.5%)、灵敏度高(3-MCPD酯和2-MCPD酯的检出限分别为0.042 mg·kg^-1和0.058 mg·kg^-1)、重现性好(相对标准偏差均低于5%)。76批次监测样品中,3-MCPD酯和2-MCPD酯的含量分别为0.042~4.865 mg·kg^-1(平均值为0.773 mg·kg^-1)和0.058~2.592 mg·kg^-1(平均值为0.469 mg·kg^-1)。经机构间的协同验证和英国FAPAS样的能力验证,2种氯丙醇酯在0.200~3.000 mg·kg^-1范围内线性良好,为进一步研究奠定了基础,同时也为食品加工企业严格控制生产过程建立了一种可行的检测方法。     

Fermented foods, feeds and beverages

There has been a proliferation of books and papers dealing with the indigenous fermented foods/beverages of the world. It is anticipated that these foods/beverages will play an ever-increasingly important role in feeding both the developing and the developed world as population increases from approximately 4.5 billion to 6 billion by the year 2000 and to 8 to 12 billion people in the 21st century. The indigenous fermented foods consist of microbial protein grown on edible substrates. Microbial or single cell protein (SCP) per se continues to receive research and development attention. It is likely to play an important role in feeding animals in the future when it becomes competitive with soy protein. It may play a direct role in feeding humans in the future after its safety for feeding animals has been adequately demonstrated and it has been shown that it can be processed into foods acceptable to humans. At the present time, mushrooms, a form of microbial protein highly acceptable to humans, which can be grown readily on ligno-cellulosic and other agricultural and food processing wastes, offer considerable opportunity for expanding man's food supply.     

采自祁连山的冷杉侧耳生物学特性及栽培条件探索

以采自甘肃省祁连山国家级自然保护区菌物保育区的野生侧耳作为试验材料,通过形态学及系统发育分析方法将其鉴定为冷杉侧耳Pleurotus abieticola。对该菌株生物学特性及栽培条件进行初步研究,结果表明：菌丝体最适生长温度为25℃;最适pH为7.0;最适碳源为玉米粉;最适氮源为豆粉;在以棉籽壳、木屑和麸皮为栽培料时,可获得子实体。     

Characterization of Polar and Non‐Polar Compounds of House Edible Bird's Nest (EBN) from Johor,Malaysia

This work investigated the polar (PC: protein, amino acid and metabolite) and non‐polar (NPC: fatty acid) compounds and bioactivity characteristics of the EBN harvested from the state of Johor in Malaysia. The electrophoretic gels exhibited 15 protein bands (16–173 kD) with unique protein profile. Amino acids analysis by AccQ?Tag method revealed 18 types of amino acids in EBN. Metabolite profiling was performed using High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with Quadrupole Time‐of‐Flight Mass Spectrometer (HPLC‐QTOF/MS) technique and a total of 54 compounds belonging to different groups were detected and identified. These findings help to uncover the relation of therapeutic activity of EBN. The EBN was further extracted with AcOEt and BuOH. The AcOEt extract was fractionated into three fractions (F₁?F₃), and the high triglyceride content in F₂ was verified by gC‐FID. The three groups of fatty acids discovered in EBN are 48.43 % of poly‐unsaturated (PUFA), 25.35 % of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and 24.74 % of mono‐unsaturated fat (MUFA). This is the first time to report results ofEBN, BuOH, and AcOEt extracts and of fraction F₂ (TEBN) on their analysis for their antioxidant activities by DPPH, ABTS and catalase assay and for their paraoxonase and anti‐tyrosinase activities. The results showed that TEBN exhibited the significant bioactivity in all assays. These findings suggest that TEBN is a good source for natural bioactive compounds in promoting body vigor. Current work widened the content of EBN especially on the triglyceride and also marked the content of specific location (Johor, Malaysia) of EBN origin.     

New Constituents from the Low Polar Fraction of the Fruits of Crataegus dahurica and Their Anti‐Inflammatory Activity in RAW264.7 Cells

The fruit of Crataegus dahurica Koehne was used to treat the disease of infantile indigestion and dyspepsia as an ethnic medicine and food. As a continuous work on finding the active constituents from the edible herbs, four new biphenyl derivatives ( 1 – 4 ), together with two known compounds ( 5 and 6 ), were obtained from the petroleum ether fraction of the fruits of C. dahurica. Their structures were determined by the extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectra and HR‐MS spectrometry. Furthermore, the anti‐inflammatory activities of all the isolated compounds were investigated, in which compound 4 showed moderately inhibitory effects on NO production in RAW264.7 cells without inducing cytotoxicity.     

双斑蟋营养成分分析及评价

由于具有较好的营养价值以及较高的食物转化效率,食用昆虫特别是蟋蟀受到普遍关注。在双斑蟋（Gryllus bimaculatus,GB）营养成分测定的基础上,对比家蟋（Acheta domesticus,AD）和黑蟋（Gryllus testaceus,GT）的营养及含量,分析评价了双斑蟋的使用价值。结果显示：双斑蟋水分含量71.0%、粗蛋白含量58.60%（干重）、粗脂肪含量28.90%（干重）、粗纤维含量7.23%（干重）、灰分4.93%（干重）;蛋白含量与黑蟋相当而高于家蟋,粗脂肪和灰分含量要高于家蟋和黑蟋;双斑蟋含有17种氨基酸,总氨基酸含量51.03%（干重）,必需氨基酸含量24.76%（干重）、占总氨基酸的48.3%,氨基酸含量低于其他两种蟋蟀;双斑蟋中常量元素含量最高的为钾（6 416 mg/kg,干重）、含量最低的是钙（92 mg/kg,干重）,微量元素中锌含量较高（241 mg/kg,干重）;双斑蟋油脂中不饱和脂肪酸的相对含量为65.33%,以亚油酸（37.05%）和油酸（25.86%）为主、饱和脂肪酸以棕榈酸（25.44%）和硬脂酸（8.74%）为主。双斑蟋的脂肪酸组成、含量与家蟋相近,而与黑蟋的脂肪酸组成差别较大,三种蟋蟀中含量最高的饱和脂肪酸为棕榈酸,而含量最高的不饱和酸为亚油酸。结果表明,双斑蟋的必需氨基酸组成符合FAO/WHO推荐的氨基酸构成比例的蛋白条件,具有较高的营养价值和食用价值。     

双孢蘑菇子实体发育后期差异表达蛋白质分析

为探讨双孢蘑菇子实体发育后期的蛋白质表达变化,对双孢蘑菇As2796子实体采收期、成熟期和开伞期的蛋白质组进行了双向电泳(2-DE)分析,发现了16个表达差异明显的蛋白质。通过质谱分析(MALDI-TOF/TOF MS)和数据库检索,有14个差异蛋白质获得鉴定。其中磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸水合酶与能量代谢相关,T-蛋白复合体1、蛋白酶体、5-甲基四氢三谷氨酸-同型半胱氨酸甲基转移酶、1-吡咯琳-5-羧酸脱氢酶、精氨酸酶与氨基酸或蛋白质代谢直接相关,而GTP结合蛋白则参与细胞的多种生命活动,在细胞的生长发育过程中起着重要的作用。另外7个为功能未知的蛋白质。     

Growth performance and feed conversion of Ruspolia differens on plant-based by-product diets

The use of food industry by-products in insect feeds has gained increasing attention recently. However, the understanding of how well the economically valuable edible insect Ruspolia differens (Serville) (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) can grow and develop with plant-based by-product feeds is currently lacking. It is important to determine the nutritional requirements, especially protein demand, of this species before developing artificial feeds for mass-rearing. We reared R. differens with four control diets and 12 plant-based by-product diets in which the major protein source came from food industry by-products, including potato-protein, barley mash, barley feed, turnip rape, a mix of broad bean and pea, and a mix of potato, carrot, and apple. We asked whether the performance (development time, survival, and weight), feed conversion, and fatty acid composition and content differed among diet treatments. Furthermore, the 12 experimental by-product diets were designed to reach six protein levels. We found that R. differens can be reared with various by-product diets, but development time, survival, and weight differed among diets. Barley feed, barley mash, and potato protein diets seem to be good options for rearing, and potato glycoalkaloids do not affect the performance of R. differens. Individuals fed on the various by-product diets also differed in their fatty acid composition and content. Increasing protein levels in diet up to 17% enhanced growth, development time, and survival, but no further enhancements were seen when fed diets with protein levels higher than this. The high protein levels decreased feed conversion rate. Our results can be valuable for designing feeds for insect mass-rearing technology. The use of food industry by-products in the diets for R. differens could increase the re-use of local resources and enhance circular economy.     

Does developmental acclimatization reduce the susceptibility to predation in newt larvae?

Many organisms respond to the heterogeneity of abiotic environmental conditions by plastic modifications of their phenotypes (acclimation or acclimatization). Despite considerable research efforts in this area, the beneficial (adaptive) effect of acclimation or acclimatization is still debated. We examined whether the development of newt larvae (Ichthyosaura alpestris) under different natural light and thermal conditions subsequently altered their susceptibility to predation in sun‐exposed versus shaded tanks in nature. During predation trials in various light and temperature conditions, newt larvae that developed in sun‐exposed warmer tanks consistently suffered from higher predation by dragonfly nymphs (Aeshna cyanea) compared to larvae from shaded or colder tanks. We conclude that higher sun exposure during embryonic and larval development negatively affects antipredator performance even in sun‐exposed tanks: this result is inconsistent with the beneficial acclimation hypothesis. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, ●● , ●●–●●.