Identification of novel juvenile-hormone signaling activators via high-throughput screening with a chemical library

Juvenile hormone (JH) is an insect-specific hormone that regulates molting and metamorphosis. Hence, JH signaling inhibitors (JHSIs) and activators (JHSAs) can be used as effective insect growth regulators (IGRs) for pest management. In our previous study, we established a high-throughput screening (HTS) system for exploration of novel JHSIs and JHSAs using a Bombyx mori cell line (BmN_JF&AR cells) and succeeded in identifying novel JHSIs from a chemical library. Here, we searched for novel JHSAs using this system. The four-step HTS yielded 10 compounds as candidate JHSAs; some of these compounds showed novel basic structures, whereas the others were composed of a 4-phenoxyphenoxymethyl skeleton, the basic structure of several existing JH analogs (pyriproxyfen and fenoxycarb). Topical application of seven compounds to B. mori larvae significantly prolonged the larval period, suggesting that the identified JHSAs may be promising IGRs targeting the JH signaling pathway.     

New ways and new hopes for IGR development

Insect Growth Regulators (IGRs) represent advanced, bio-rational insecticides. This Special Issue reflects progress in IGR development that has been enabled by insight into the molecular principles of biosynthetic or hormone signaling pathways. The unifying principle is aiming at processes and molecular targets that are unique to arthropods and ideally to narrower insect taxa representing pests or disease vectors. While some strategies of obtaining the desired compounds for chemical intervention rely on rational, structure-based design or computational power, others exploit technologies allowing automated, high-throughput screening of large chemical libraries. All avenues leading to selective and environmentally safe pest control are valid as we face the imminent threat of the declining world insect population.     

Met基因在黏虫生殖中的功能分析

保幼激素(juvenile hormone, JH)是由咽侧体分泌的倍半萜类化合物,可以调控昆虫的很多生理过程,如发育、变态、生殖等。作为bHLH-PAS(helix-loop-helix-Per-ARNT-Sim)转录因子家族成员之一的methoprene-tolerant (Met)是JH的受体,在JH的信号传导过程中有非常重要的作用。本研究通过实时荧光定量PCR结合RNAi技术测定了沉默Met基因后黏虫Mythimna separata的Vg基因表达、卵巢发育和生殖行为,旨在探究Met基因在黏虫生殖过程中的功能。结果表明当Met基因沉默后,与卵巢发育密切相关的卵黄原蛋白(vitellogenin, Vg)基因表达量下调了50%,从而显著抑制了卵巢发育,并导致产卵显著延迟、产卵历期显著缩短,产卵量显著下降。结果表明Met基因是黏虫生殖发育过程中的关键受体基因,它通过调节后续Vg的表达和沉积,来达到控制卵巢发育,从而调控生殖作用。     

民办高校开设《化学与健康》通识课探究

《化学与健康》通识课的开设对弥补大学生相关知识的欠缺、引导他们正确认识化学对生活的影响、建立合理的膳食结构和养成健康的生活方式等具有重要意义。本文通过阐述民办高校开设《化学与健康》通识课的必要性,选定主要参考教材,筛选出合理的教学内容,探讨该课程的教学方法及考核方式等问题,旨在为该课程的教学改革提供参考,并期望获得理想的教学效果。     

干旱-低温交叉适应性对茶树抗寒性的影响

为了解干旱-低温交叉适应对茶树抗寒性的影响,以一年生无性系品种舒茶早茶苗为试验材料,用20%聚乙二醇6000(PEG-6000)模拟干旱预处理,测定低温胁迫过程中茶树半致死温度、丙二醛、抗氧化酶活性、渗透物质和内源激素等部分生理指标的变化。结果表明,经过PEG-6000预处理的茶苗半致死温度LT50明显下降。低温条件下,茶苗叶片丙二醛、抗氧化酶活性、渗透物质和激素含量整体呈上升趋势。低温胁迫第7天时,与对照相比,PEG-6000预处理的茶苗叶片丙二醛含量下降44.6%,SOD、POD酶活分别升高78%和25%,可溶性蛋白、溶性糖含量分别增加44.6%及20.0%;内源激素ABA与SA含量分别提高97.7%和122.0%。干旱可诱导茶树对低温胁迫的交叉适应性,这种交叉适应性与茶树的抗氧化酶活性、渗透物质和内源激素的调节能力有关。     

Hormonal changes play important roles in the key period of superior and inferior earshoot differentiation in maize

The upper earshoots with higher superiority usually have higher yield potential and higher efficiency. To determine the key period for the asynchronous differentiation of superior and inferior earshoots and how hormones are involved in this process, a two-year experiment was designed using two maize hybrids: Suyu 41 (S41, single-ear hybrid) and AN 101 (A101, double-ear hybrid). The results showed that the lag of lower earshoot differentiation was not only caused by the delay of the differentiation starting time but also related to extension of the duration in spikelet differentiation (stage II) and sexual organ formation stage (stage IV). From 12 days before silking (DBS), the contents of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), zeatin riboside (ZR)+zeatin (ZT), and gibberellic acid (GA₃) in both upper and lower earshoots of the two hybrids increased dramatically and then decreased quickly. ABA slightly increased in the two hybrids and then decreased slowly in S41, while it was maintained at a high level in A101. At 8 DBS, i.e., the transition period from floret differentiation to sexual organ formation stage, not only the growth of upper-to-lower earshoot difference (ULED), but also the values for ULED of IAA, ZR+ZT and GA₃ were all significantly higher in S41 than in A101. Furthermore, the upper-to-lower hormone ratios IAA_U//AA_L and (ZR+ZT)_U/(ZR+ZT)_L were also much higher in the single-ear hybrid than in the double-ear hybrid, while the GA_3U/GA_3L and ABA_U/ABA_L had no significant differences. In addition, the time course of ULED_hormone/ULED_{earshoot growth rate} also suggested that the hormones work in different ways in earshoot superiority/inferiority formation. The delayed differentiation of lower ear shoots was conclusively related to the later initiation of differentiation and the longer durations of specific differentiation stages. Compared with the regulating roles of IAA and ZR+ZT in the key period (8 DBS) of superiority/inferiority differentiation, GA₃ seems to be affected earlier, while ABA contributes little to this process.     

LED补光对水稻秧苗素质及其生理特征和产量的影响

采用发光二极管(light-emitting diode,LED)精确调制光谱能量,研究不同光质对水稻秧苗素质(株高、根长和鲜干重)和生理特征(内源激素、抗氧化酶、可溶性蛋白和丙二醛)的影响,探讨生理特征与秧苗素质和补光移栽后产量的耦合关系。水稻秧苗分别在5种光质下进行补光照射:R (100%红光),B (100%蓝光),RB (80%红光+20%蓝光)RBG_12.5(62.5%红光+25%蓝光+12.5%绿光),RBG₂₅(50%红光+25%蓝光+25%绿光),光量子通量均为1 000μmol·m^-2·s^-1,照射30 d (6 h/d)后采样,并插秧至稻田,以无补光作为对照(CK)。与CK相比,LED补充光源显著(P<0.05)影响水稻秧苗的株高、根长和鲜干重。株高和地上部分干重最大值分别出现在R和RBG_12.5处理,而根长和地下部分干重的最大值均出现在RBG_12.5处理。LED补充光源对内源激素、抗氧化酶、可溶性蛋白和丙二醛的影响程度因光质和植物部位而异。与CK相比,RBG_12.5二显著(P<0.05)提高地上部生长素(IAA)含量和可溶性蛋白含量,B显著(P<0.05)提高地上部超氧化歧化酶(SOD)活性、过氧化物酶(POD)活性和丙二醛(MDA)含量;RBG_12.5和RBG₂₅显著(P<0.05)提高地下部IAA含量,RBC₂₅显著(P<0.05)提高地下部可溶性蛋白含量和MDA含量。补光移栽后水稻产量的变化趋势与光质对水稻秧苗壮苗指数的影响趋势一致:RBG_12.5> RBG25> RB> B> R> CK。逐步回归分析发现,壮苗指数与地上部赤霉素(GA_3)含量和IAA含量及地下部IAA含量和SOD活性显著正相关;补光移栽后产量与秧苗地上部IAA含量及地下部IAA含量和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性显著正相关。LED补充光源通过调节水稻秧苗生理特征影响其素质,且影响效应延续至水稻成熟期。RBG_12.5光源更利于培育水稻壮苗和水稻增产,适宜用作工厂化育秧的补充光源。     

生殖激素产品的应用和发展趋势

生殖激素是调控动物体内复杂生殖过程并影响繁殖性能的一系列的重要激素。近年来，利用生殖激素的批次化生产繁殖技术被广泛使用，提高了母猪的繁殖效率，促进了养猪业向集约化和规模化方向的发展。目前在批次化生产过程中主要采用孕马血清促性腺激素（PMSG）和人绒毛膜促性腺激素（HCG）以及化学类激素进行繁殖调控。但是这些产品的应用仍存在一些问题，因此需要开发出成本低、活性好的高品质蛋白类生殖激素产品，应用于猪场批次化生产中，提高生猪养殖效率和降低生产成本，为提升我国乃至全球畜牧业的动物繁殖效率做出贡献，为动物和人类的健康提供重要保证。     

BNS和BNS366小麦雄性不育与内源激素的关系

【目的】研究BNS和BNS366小麦雄性不育与小孢子发生过程中内源激素含量变化的关系,为激素调控温光敏雄性不育小麦花粉育性提供理论依据。【方法】选用BNS和BNS366为试验材料,分别以矮抗58和郑麦366（BNS366的近等基因系）为对照,进行正常秋季播种（2018年10月10日）和晚播（2018年12月2日）试验,用I₂-KI法测定花粉育性,用国内法和国际法测定自交结实率,采用间接酶联免疫法测定雌雄蕊原基分化期-三核期叶片、雌雄蕊原基分化期-四分体期幼穗和单核中位期-三核期花药中6种内源激素的含量。【结果】在正常秋季播种条件下,BNS和BNS366花粉可育率、国内法自交结实率和国际法自交结实率均为零,达到全不育水平,在晚播条件下,BNS的这三个指标分别为34.74%、43.12%和48.48%,达到低不育水平,BNS366则分别为92.63%、55.37%和67.94%,达到正常可育水平,播种期间差异均达到极显著水平;矮抗58和郑麦366在2种播期条件下,则为82.56%—94.00%、73.90%—82.31%和96.54%—139.26%,均为正常可育,播种期间差异不显著;BNS和BNS366花粉可育率-∆（正常秋季播种条件下比晚播条件下花粉可育率提高百分率）均分别极显著低于矮抗58和郑麦366。分别在2个试验组内进行内源激素含量的多重比较,BNS和BNS366与矮抗58和郑麦366内源激素含量-∆（正常秋季播种条件下比晚播条件下激素含量提高百分率）存在差异,对内源激素含量与花粉可育率、内源激素含量-∆与花粉可育率-∆进行了相关性分析,发现BNS和BNS366不育株在小麦幼穗发育过程中激素含量存在特征性变化。生长素（indole-3-acetic acid,IAA）含量在四分体期（BNS）和雌雄蕊原基分化期（BNS366）叶片中不足,在单核中位期（BNS）和单核靠边期（BNS366）花药中不足,在二核期花药中盈余;赤霉素（gibberellic acid,GA）含量在四分体期幼穗和单核中位期花药中不足;玉米素核苷（zeatin riboside,ZR）含量在叶片、幼穗和花药中均无一致盈亏特征;脱落酸（abscisic acid,ABA）含量分别在四分体期幼穗中存在偏低倾向（BNS）或确定存在不足（BNS366）现象;油菜素内酯（brassinosteroid,BR）含量在叶片、幼穗和花药中均无一致盈亏特征;茉莉酸甲酯（methyl jasmonate,MeJA）含量在雌雄蕊原基分化期、四分体期、单核靠边期（BNS）或单核中位期（BNS366）和三核期叶片中不足,在雌雄蕊原基分化期（BNS）或四分体期幼穗（BNS366）中不足,在单核靠边期花药中不足。【结论】正常秋季播种条件下,单核靠边期之前,BNS和BNS366中IAA、GA和ABA的含量不足,尤其是MeJA的含量不足,可能促进了二者雄性不育的发生。