Moth sex-pheromone biosynthesis is inhibited by the herbicide diclofop

Pheromones of nocturnal moths are derived from fatty acids produced as a result of the activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase. This timely production is initiated in nocturnal moths by a tropic peptide, pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide released into the hemolymph. In monocotyledonous plants, specific plastid acetyl-CoA carboxylase is inhibited by herbicides that target the eukaryotic form of the enzyme. We report evidence that these herbicides can also target pheromone biosynthesis by a moth, thereby implicating the acetyl-CoA carboxylase as a key regulatory enzyme in the pheromone biosynthetic pathway. These findings, whilst indicating the possible action of such herbicides on non-target organisms, also suggest a novel alternative method of insect pest management, which precludes sex-pheromone production and mating success, thereby reducing insect population growth.     

甘肃东方蜜蜂的形态特征研究

通过测定甘肃2个不同样点的4群东方蜜蜂发现,甘肃蜜蜂种群内遗传变异丰富,种群中许多形态性状特征表现出较明显的地理变异性;蜜蜂个体增大、体色变深,具体是:前翅长、前翅宽、背板3,4宽;后腿长、蜡镜长、蜡镜宽、蜡镜间距、腹片3,6的长和宽逐渐增加;背板3,4、小盾片的色素度逐渐加深。这些均具有生态适应意义。     

Computationally Assisted Structural Elucidation of Cembranoids from the Soft Coral Sarcophyton tortuosum

A persistent study on soft coral Sarcophyton tortuosum resulted in the characterization of two new cembranolides, tortuolides A and B (1 and 2), and a new related diterpene, epi-sarcophytonolide Q. Their structures were determined not only by extensive spectroscopic analysis but also by DFT calculations of ECD and NMR data, the latter of which was combined with statistical analysis methods, e.g., DP4+ and J-DP4 approaches. Anti-inflammatory and cytotoxicity activities were evaluated in this study.     

微塑料对双酚A在鲤鱼肠道中累积及生长生理的影响

探明微塑料（MPs）对双酚A （BPA）在鱼类肠道中累积特征及鱼类生长生理的影响,本研究以黄河鲤鱼为模型生物,分析了0.5 μm聚苯乙烯微塑料（PS-MPs）与BPA联合作用下鲤鱼肠道中微塑料及BPA的累积特征、鲤鱼生长及其抗氧化酶活性,以及它们之间的响应关系。结果表明：联合处理下鲤鱼肠道中的PS-MPs含量随时间呈线性增加,且随投加的微塑料浓度增加而增加,而PS-MPs累积速率随时间呈先增加后减小趋势,其中在BPA+PS（L）处理（1 mg·L^-1 BPA+20 μg·L^-1 PS-MPs）下,0.25 d时鲤鱼肠道中PS-MPs累积速率达到峰值（373.81 μg·g^-1·d^-1）,BPA+PS（H）处理（1 mg·L^-1 BPA+100 μg·L^-1 PS-MPs）下,则是在0.125 d达到最高（644.00 μg·g^-1·d^-1）。与单一BPA暴露相比,联合暴露下鲤鱼肠道中BPA累积量增加,与BPA （1 mg·L^-1 BPA）处理相比,BPA+PS （L）和BPA+PS （H）处理下鲤鱼肠道中BPA含量分别提高了6.13%和9.74%,BPA累积速率分别增加了190.01%、373.80%。相较于对照处理,BPA处理和MPs与BPA联合处理均引起鲤鱼肠组织中超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性、过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性、还原型谷胱甘肽（GSH）含量、丙二醛（MDA）含量增加,使体质量下降幅度减缓,其中BPA、BPA+PS （L）和BPA+PS （H）处理下鲤鱼体质量（21 d）较对照处理分别下降1.22%、3.90%、4.33%。当微塑料投加量达到100 μg·mL^-1时,联合处理会增加鲤鱼肠道中SOD活性、CAT活性和GSH含量,抑制MDA产生,从而缓解MPs和BPA联合作用对鲤鱼造成的氧化损伤,并且减缓鲤鱼体质量下降。研究表明,微塑料的存在会增加双酚A在鲤鱼肠道中的累积,且两者联合作用对鲤鱼产生了协同毒理效应,导致鲤鱼生长速率减缓,体质量下降。     

β-Carotene from the Alga Dunaliella bardawil Decreases Gene Expression of Adipose Tissue Macrophage Recruitment Markers and Plasma Lipid Concentrations in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

Vitamin A and provitamin A carotenoids are involved in the regulation of adipose tissue metabolism and inflammation. We examined the effect of dietary supplementation using all-trans and 9-cis β-carotene-rich Dunaliella bardawil alga as the sole source of vitamin A on obesity-associated comorbidities and adipose tissue dysfunction in a diet-induced obesity mouse model. Three-week-old male mice (C57BL/6) were randomly allocated into two groups and fed a high-fat, vitamin A-deficient diet supplemented with either vitamin A (HFD) or β-carotene (BC) (HFD-BC). Vitamin A levels in the liver, WATs, and BAT of the HFD-BC group were 1.5–2.4-fold higher than of the HFD group. BC concentrations were 5–6-fold greater in BAT compared to WAT in the HFD-BC group. The eWAT mRNA levels of the Mcp-1 and Cd68 were 1.6- and 2.1-fold lower, respectively, and the plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations were 30% and 28% lower in the HFD-BC group compared with the HFD group. Dietary BC can be the exclusive vitamin A source in mice fed a high-fat diet, as shown by the vitamin A concentration in the plasma and tissues. Feeding BC rather than vitamin A reduces adipose tissue macrophage recruitment markers and plasma lipid concentrations.     

应用间接荧光抗体技术研究水中嗜水气单胞菌的数量与鱼类出血性败血病的关系

应用间接荧光抗体技术（ＩＦＡＴ），并结合嗜水气单胞菌（Ａｈ）地区优势血清型，对鱼类出血性败血病的致病菌Ａｈ进行水中数量的测定。ＭＭ感染试验和对生产鱼塘调查的结果表明，水中Ａｈ菌量与疾病呈正相关，致病浓度又随鱼体健康低下、水中氨氮偏高、溶氧偏低等多种因子的影响而下降。本试验方法快速简便，检测对象为水体，非常适用于预测疾病的发展趋势。     

超高效液相色谱测定猪配合饲料中苯乙醇胺A的研究

研究建立了超高效液相色谱(ultra performance liquid chromatography,UPLC)—二极管阵列检测器(PDA)测定配合饲料中苯乙醇胺A的方法。通过应用0.1%甲酸甲醇溶液提取、混合阳离子固相萃取净化及样品基质校正外标定量方法进行测量。在优化条件下,苯乙醇胺A在0.1~20.0 mg/kg浓度范围内线性关系良好,线性相关系数(R²)达到0.9945;在1.0、5.0、10.0 mg/kg等不同添加浓度下,方法回收率高于90.36%,变异系数低于5.98%;方法检测限为0.06 mg/kg,定量限为0.10 mg/kg。结果表明,该方法灵敏度高、精密度好、准确可靠且操作简单,能够满足配合饲料中苯乙醇胺A的测定需要。     

Effects of ophthalmic disease on concentrations of plasma fibrinogen and serum amyloid A in the horse

Reasons for performing study: There is little scientific information available about the ability of ocular disease to cause a systemic inflammatory response. Horses are frequently affected with ocular disease and ensuring their systemic health prior to performing vision saving surgery under anaesthesia is essential for the successful treatment of ophthalmic disease. Hypothesis: Ocular disease will cause elevations in the concentration of the acute phase proteins fibrinogen and serum amyloid A in peripheral blood. Methods: Whole blood and serum samples were obtained from 38 mature horses with ulcerative keratitis or uveitis and no evidence of systemic disease, 9 mature horses with no evidence of ocular or systemic disease (negative controls) and 10 mature horses with systemic inflammatory disease and no evidence of ocular disease (positive controls). Blood samples were assayed for concentrations of the acute phase proteins fibrinogen and serum amyloid A. Results: Fibrinogen and serum amyloid A were significantly different in the positive control group compared to the negative control, corneal disease and uveitis groups (P<0.126). There was no significant difference between the negative control, corneal disease and uveitis groups (P<0.001). Conclusions: Ulcerative keratitis and anterior uveitis are not associated with elevated concentrations of the acute phase proteins fibrinogen and serum amyloid A in peripheral blood. Potential relevance: When the clinician is presented with a patient with ocular disease and elevated plasma fibrinogen or serum amyloid A concentrations, a nonocular inflammatory focus should be suspected.     

Isolation and pathogenic characterization of an OB1 variant of Babesia rodhaini which has a glycophorin A-independent pathway to murine red blood cells

Recent studies using several Babesia spp. have demonstrated that these species commonly recognize host sialic acids of red blood cells (RBCs) for their invasion. Glycophorin A (GPA), which is a major carrier of the sialic acids on RBCs, is a possible invasive receptor for Babesia parasites. In the present study, a variant of Babesia rodhaini was successfully isolated from a GPA homozygous knockout (GPA^−/−) mouse infected with an Australian strain of B. rodhaini which had originally been unable to replicate in GPA^−/− mice. The isolated parasite (designated as an OB1 variant) caused lethal infection to wild-type mice, as in the case of the parent Australian strain. However, although the growth of the OB1 variant in GPA^−/− mice was comparable with that in wild-type mice at 1–4 days after infection, the growth was significantly inhibited from day 5 onward, leading to the eventual survival of the GPA^−/− mice. Resistance of GPA^−/− mice against OB1 infection was lost by splenectomy, although the cytokine responses to the infection in the sera of GPA^−/− mice were similar to those of wild-type mice. The autoantibody levels to GPA-defective RBCs in the sera of GPA^−/− mice were depressed at a lower level at 0–2 days after infection than those of wild-type mice, while the levels of GPA^−/− mice progressively increased and reached comparable levels to those of wild-type mice at day 3 or later. These results indicate that the isolated OB1 variant has a GPA-independent invasion pathway into murine RBCs and suggest that the resistance of GPA^−/− mice against infection with the OB1 variant may be attributed to the effective clearance of the parasitized RBCs lacking GPA in the spleen, possibly mediated by preferential autoantibody binding to the RBC membrane.     

Effect of Psammaplin A on in vitro Development of Bovine Aging Oocytes

To investigate the effect of histone deacetylation inhibitor Psammaplin A (PsA) on the development of bovine aging oocytes in vitro,oocytes were randomly divided into control group,aging group and 50 mmol/L PsA treated aging group (PsA group).Immunofluorescence staining and JC-1 were used to detect the blastocyst rate of bovine oocytes after parthenogenetic activation,the number of cells in blastocysts,apoptosis,reactive oxygen species (ROS),glutathione (GSH) and mitochondrial membrane potential intensity of embryos.The results showed that the blastocyst rate of the aging group was significantly lower than that of PsA and control groups (P<0.05).The blastocyst rate of PsA group was not significantly different from that of control group (P>0.05).The number of cells in the blastocysts of control group and PsA group were significantly higher than that of aging group (P<0.05).The number of cells in the blastocysts of PsA group was not significantly different from that of control group (P>0.05).The apoptosis rate in aging group was significantly higher than that of control and PsA groups (P<0.05),the apoptosis rate of PsA group was significantly higher than that of control group (P<0.05).The GSH level of MⅡ oocytes in aging group was significantly lower than that of control and PsA groups (P<0.05).There was no significant difference in GSH level between control and PsA groups (P>0.05).The ROS level of the embryos in aging group was significantly higher than that of control and PsA groups (P<0.05).The ROS level in PsA group was significantly higher than that of control group (P<0.05).The mitochondrial membrane potential of early embryos of aging group 4-8 cells was significantly lower than that of control and PsA groups (P<0.05).The mitochondrial membrane potential intensity of control group was significantly higher than that of PsA group (P<0.05).In summary,PsA could effectively delay the aging of bovine oocytes and improve the quality of oocytes.