海氏桨角蚜小蜂的多次交配行为及繁殖效益

海氏桨角蚜小蜂Eretmocerus hayati是烟粉虱Bemisia tabaci的优势寄生蜂,了解寄生蜂的交配行为有利于完善其规模化繁殖技术。通过对海氏桨角蚜小蜂的首次交配及再次交配、配偶选择等行为学观察,以及多次交配对雌蜂繁殖量影响的生物学试验,明确了该蜂的交配过程包括求偶、交尾前期、交尾和交尾后期;雌蜂在整个生活史中未观察到再次交配;雄蜂可在首次交配后迅速进行再次交配,首次交配后1 h内的再次交配率为83.3%,62.5%的个体可在2 h内完成第3次交配,再次交配的行为持续时间显著低于首次交配;雄蜂的交配次数对自身寿命及其配偶的寄生量无显著影响;此外,在配偶选择中,处女蜂倾向于接受有交配经历的雄蜂,多头雄蜂间存在竞争行为进而干扰交配成功率。     

Resistance and resilience of soil biological indicators: A case study with multi-walled carbon nanotube

Soil ecosystem is experiencing stresses due to climate change, and soil inhabitants try to demonstrate their inherent resistance and resilience against those stresses. Application of nanomaterials as agricultural inputs could bring shifts in resistance and resilience patterns of soil microbes and associated enzymes, especially under short-term heat stress. With this background, the impacts of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on the resistance and resilience of soil biological indicators were evaluated. An incubation experiment was conducted with varied MWCNT concentrations (0, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg kg^-1 soil) for 90 d after 24-h heat stress at 48 ±2 ℃ to assess the impacts of MWCNT on soil enzyme activities and microbial populations vis-à-vis their resistance and resilience indices under short-term exposure to heat stress. Enzyme activities were reduced after exposure to heat stress. Resistance indices of enzyme activities were enhanced by MWCNT application on day 1 after heat stress, whereas there was no recovery of enzyme activities after 90-d incubation. Like soil enzyme activities, resistance index values of soil microbial populations followed the similar trend and were improved by MWCNT application. Multi-walled carbon nanotube has the potential to improve resistance indices of soil enzyme activities and microbial populations under heat stress, although they could not recover to their original state during periodical incubation after heat stress. This study helps to understand the relative changes of biological indicators under MWCNT and their ability to withstand heat stress.     

Genetic diversity and population structure assessed through simple sequence repeat markers in Saccharum spp. hybrids from Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - The Saccharum species members are extremely complex allopolyploids. In this study, sixty Saccharum spp. hybrids were analyzed using simple sequence repeat...     

Antiproliferative Illudalane Sesquiterpenes from the Marine Sediment Ascomycete Aspergillus oryzae

The new asperorlactone (1), along with the known illudalane sesquiterpene echinolactone D (2), two known pyrones, 4-(hydroxymethyl)-5-hydroxy-2H-pyran-2-one (3) and its acetate 4, and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (5), were isolated from a culture of Aspergillus oryzae, collected from Red Sea marine sediments. The structure of asperorlactone (1) was elucidated by HR-ESIMS, 1D, and 2D NMR, and a comparison between experimental and DFT calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. This is the first report of illudalane sesquiterpenoids from Aspergillus fungi and, more in general, from ascomycetes. Asperorlactone (1) exhibited antiproliferative activity against human lung, liver, and breast carcinoma cell lines, with IC₅₀ values < 100 µM. All the isolated compounds were also evaluated for their toxicity using the zebrafish embryo model.     

New flavane gallates isolated from the leaves of Plicosepalus curviflorus and their hypoglycemic activity

Two new flavane gallates were isolated from the leaves of Plicosepalus curviflorus. The structure of the new compounds was established as 2S,3R-3,3′,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavane-5-O-gallate (1) and 2S,3R-3,3′,4′,5,5′,7-hexahydroxyflavane-4′,5-di-O-gallate (2), respectively. In addition, seven known compounds (−)-catechin (3), quercetin (4), lupeol (5), β-sitosterol (6), pomolic acid (7), β-sitosterol 3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (8) and 4-methoxycinnamic acid (9) were reported for the first time from the genus Plicosepalus. Compounds 1, 2 and 3 were investigated for their hypoglycemic activity and showed significant hypoglycemic activity in Swiss Albino mice.