Genes involved in melanin production directly impact insect pigmentation and can affect diverse physiology and behaviours. The role these genes have on sex behaviour, however, is unclear. In the present study, the crucial melanin pigment gene black was functionally characterised in an urban pest, the German cockroach, Blattella germanica. RNAi knockdown of B. germanica black (Bgblack) had no effect on survival, but did result in black pigmentation of the thoraxes, abdomens, heads, wings, legs, antennae, and cerci due to cuticular accumulation of melanin. Sex-specific variation in the pigmentation pattern was apparent, with females exhibiting darker coloration on the abdomen and thorax than males. Bgblack knockdown also resulted in wing deformation and negatively impacted the contact sex pheromone-based courtship behaviour of males. This study provides evidence for black function in multiple aspects of B. germanica biology and opens new avenues of exploration for novel pest control strategies.

The fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is a highly damaging invasive omnivorous pest that has developed varying degrees of resistance to commonly used insecticides. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of tolerance to tetraniliprole, spinetoram, and emamectin benzoate, the enzyme activity, synergistic effect, and RNA interference were implemented in S. frugiperda. The functions of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (P450) in the tolerance to tetraniliprole, spinetoram, and emamectin benzoate in S. frugiperda was determined by analysing changes in detoxification metabolic enzyme activity and the effects of enzyme inhibitors on susceptibility to the three insecticides. 102 P450 genes were screened via transcriptome and genome, of which 67 P450 genes were differentially expressed in response to tetraniliprole, spinetoram, and emamectin benzoate and validated by quantitative real-time PCR. The expression patterns of CYP9A75, CYP340AA4, CYP340AX8v2, CYP340L16, CYP341B15v2, and CYP341B17v2 were analysed in different tissues and at different developmental stages in S. frugiperda. Silencing CYP340L16 significantly increased the susceptibility of S. frugiperda to tetraniliprole, spinetoram, and emamectin benzoate. Furthermore, knockdown of CYP340AX8v2, CYP9A75, and CYP341B17v2 significantly increased the sensitivity of S. frugiperda to tetraniliprole. Knockdown of CYP340AX8v2 and CYP340AA4 significantly increased mortality of S. frugiperda to spinetoram. Knockdown of CYP9A75 and CYP341B15v2 significantly increased the susceptibility of S. frugiperda to emamectin benzoate. These results may help to elucidate the mechanisms of tolerance to tetraniliprole, spinetoram and emamectin benzoate in S. frugiperda.

Athetis lepigone Möschler (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) is a common maize pest in Europe and Asia. However, there is no long-term effective management strategy is available yet to suppress its population. Adults rely heavily on olfactory cues to locate their optimal host plants and oviposition sites. Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are believed to be responsible for recognizing and transporting different odorant molecules to interact with receptor membrane proteins. In this study, the ligand-binding specificities of two AlepPBPs (AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3) for sex pheromone components and host plant (maize) volatiles were measured by fluorescence ligand-binding assay. The results demonstrated that AlepPBP2 had a high affinity with two pheromones [(Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.11 ± 0.1 μM, (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.32 ± 0.15 μM] and ten plant volatiles, including (-)-limonene, α-pinene, myrcene, linalool, benzaldehyde, nonanal, 2-hexanone, 3-hexanone, 2-heptanone and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one. In contrast, we found that none of these chemicals could bind to AlepPBP3. Our results clearly show no significant differences in the functional characterization of the binding properties between AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3 to sex pheromones and host plant volatiles. Furthermore, molecular docking was employed for further detail on some crucial amino acid residues involved in the ligand-binding of AlepPBP2. These findings will provide valuable information about the potential protein binding sites necessary for protein-ligand interactions which appear as attractive targets for the development of novel technologies and management strategies for insect pests.

The majority of plant viral disease is transmitted and spread by insect vectors in the field. The small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén), is the only efficient vector for rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV), a devastating plant virus that infects multiple grain crops, including rice, maize, and wheat. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) transporters participate in various biological processes. However, little is known about whether ABC transporters affect virus infection in insects. In this study, RBSDV accumulation was significantly reduced in L. striatellus after treatment with verapamil, an effective inhibitor of ABC transporters. Thirty-four ABC transporter genes were identified in L. striatellus and expression analysis showed that LsABCF2 and LsABCG9 were significantly upregulated and downregulated, respectively, after RBSDV infection. LsABCF2 and LsABCG9 were expressed during all developmental stages, and LsABCG9 was highly expressed in the midgut of L. striatellus. Knockdown of LsABCF2 promoted RBSDV accumulation, while knockdown of LsABCG9 suppressed RBSDV accumulation in L. striatellus. Our data showed that L. striatellus might upregulate the expression of LsABCF2 and downregulate LsABCG9 expression to suppress RBSDV infection. These results will contribute to understanding the effects of ABC transporters on virus transmission and provide theoretical basis for virus management in the field.

The present study evaluated effects of dietary supplementation with tryptophan (Trp) on muscle growth, protein synthesis and antioxidant capacity in hybrid catfish Pelteobagrus vachelli♀ × Leiocassis longirostris♂. Fish were fed six different diets containing 2·6 (control), 3·1, 3·7, 4·2, 4·7 and 5·6 g Trp/kg diet for 56 d, respectively. Results showed that dietary Trp significantly (1) improved muscle protein content, fibre density and frequency of fibre diameter; (2) up-regulated the mRNA levels of PCNA, myf5, MyoD1, MyoG, MRF4, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF-IR, PIK3Ca, TOR, 4EBP1 and S6K1; (3) increased phosphorylation levels of AKT, TOR and S6K1; (4) decreased contents of MDA and PC, and increased activities of CAT, GST, GR, ASA and AHR; (5) up-regulated mRNA levels of CuZnSOD, CAT, GST, GPx, GCLC and Nrf2, and decreased Keap1 mRNA level; (6) increased nuclear Nrf2 protein level and the intranuclear antioxidant response element-binding ability, and reduced Keap1 protein level. These results indicated that dietary Trp improved muscle growth, protein synthesis as well as antioxidant capacity, which might be partly related to myogenic regulatory factors, IGF/PIK3Ca/AKT/TOR and Keap1/Nrf2 signalling pathways. Finally, based on the quadratic regression analysis of muscle protein and MDA contents, the optimal Trp requirements of hybrid catfish (21·82–39·64 g) were estimated to be 3·94 and 3·93 g Trp/kg diet (9·57 and 9·54 g/kg of dietary protein), respectively.

A one-dimensional steady-state model for stimulated Raman backscatter (SRS) and stimulated Brillouin backscatter (SBS) processes in laser-irradiated plasmas is presented. Based on a novel “predictor-corrector” method, the model is capable to deal with broadband scattered light and inhomogeneous plasmas, exhibiting robustness and high efficiency. Influences of the electron density and temperature on the linear gains of both SRS and SBS are investigated, which indicates that the SRS gain is more sensitive to the electron density and temperature than that of the SBS. For the low-density case, the SBS dominates the scattering process, while the SRS exhibits much higher reflectivity in the high-density case. The nonlinear saturation mechanisms and competition between SRS and SBS are included in our model by a phenomenological method. The typical anti-correlation between SRS and SBS versus electron density is reproduced in the model. Calculations of the reflectivities are qualitatively in agreement with the typical results of experiments and simulations.

Effects of dietary supplemental stachyose on caecal skatole concentration, hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP450, CYP) mRNA expressions and enzymatic activities in broilers were evaluated. Arbor Acre commercial mixed male and female chicks were assigned randomly into six treatments. The positive control (PC) diet was based on maize–soyabean meal, and the negative control (NC) diet was based on maize–non-soyabean meal. The NC diet was then supplemented with 4, 5, 6 and 7 g/kg stachyose to create experimental diets, named S-4, S-5, S-6 and S-7, respectively. Each diet was fed to six replicates of ten birds from days 1 to 49. On day 49, the caecal skatole concentrations in the PC, S-4, S-5, S-6 and S-7 groups were lower than those in the NC group by 42·28, 23·68, 46·09, 15·31 and 45·14 % (P < 0·01), respectively. The lowest pH value was observed in the S-5 group (P < 0·05). The stachyose-fed groups of broilers had higher caecal acetate and propionate levels compared with control groups, and propionate levels in the S-6 and S-7 groups were higher than those in the S-4 and S-5 groups (P < 0·001). The highest CYP3A4 expression was found in the S-7 group (P < 0·05), but this was not different from PC, S-4, S-5 and S-6 treatments. There was no significant difference in CYP450 (1A2, 2D6 and 3A4) enzymatic activities among the groups (P > 0·05). In conclusion, caecal skatole levels can be influenced by dietary stachyose levels, and 5 g/kg of stachyose in the diet was suggested.

With more and more missions around the Moon, a communication/navigation constellation around the Moon is necessary. Halo orbits, due to their unique geometry, are extensively studied by researchers for this purpose. A dedicated survey is carried out in this work to analyse the coverage ability of halo orbits. It is found that a two-satellite constellation is enough for continuous one-fold coverage of the north or the south polar regions but never both. A three-satellite constellation is enough for continuous one-fold coverage of both north and south polar regions. A four-satellite constellation can cover nearly 100% of the whole lunar surface. In addition, the coverage ability of another special orbit – distant retrograde orbit (DRO) – is analysed for the first time in this study. It is found that three satellites on DROs can cover 99·8% of the lunar surface, with coverage gaps at polar caps. A four-satellite constellation moving on spatial DROs can cover nearly the whole lunar surface. By combining halo orbits and DROs, we design a five-satellite constellation composed of three halo orbit satellites and two DRO satellites. This constellation can provide 100% continuous one-fold coverage of the whole lunar surface.

Oxidative stress is closely related to metabolic disorders, which can lead to various diseases. Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a central regulator of oxidative stress. Sodium butyrate (NaB) has been shown to alleviate oxidative stress and insulin resistance, yet how Nrf2 is involved in the action of NaB remains unclear. In the present study, rats were rendered obese by feeding a high-fat diet for 9 weeks. NaB (300 mg/kg), which was gavaged every 2 d for 7 weeks, significantly alleviated high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress and insulin resistance. Additionally, the insulin signalling pathway in the liver was activated by NaB, associated with significant activation of Nrf2, superoxide dismutase and glutathione. Furthermore, hepatic up-regulation of Nrf2 in NaB-treated rats was associated with reduced protein content of histone deacetylase 1 and increased histone H3 acetyl K9 (H3K9Ac) modification on the Nrf2 promoter. The actions of NaB were completely abolished when Nrf2 was knocked down in vitro. Taken together, NaB acts as a histone deacetylase inhibitor to up-regulate Nrf2 expression with enhanced H3K9Ac modification on its promoter. NaB-induced Nrf2 activation stimulates transcription of downstream antioxidant enzymes, thus contributing to the amelioration of high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress and insulin resistance.

Palaeoproterozic metasedimentary rocks, also referred to as khondalites, characterized by Al-rich minerals, are extensively exposed in the nucleus of the Yangtze craton, South China block. Samples of garnet–sillimanite gneiss in the khondalite suite were collected from the Kongling complex for Nd isotopic and elemental geochemical study. These rocks are characterized by variable SiO2 contents ranging from 35.71 to 58.07 wt%, and have low CaO (0.45–0.84 wt%) but high Al2O3 (18.56–29.04 wt%), Cr (174–334 ppm) and Ni (42.5–153 ppm) contents. They have high CIW (Chemical Index of Weathering) values (90.4–94.7), indicating intense chemical weathering of the source material. The samples display light rare earth elements (LREE) enrichment with negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu*=0.40–0.68), and have flat heavy rare earth elements (HREE) patterns. The high contents of transition elements (e.g. Cr, Ni, Sc, V) and moderately radiogenic Nd isotopic compositions suggest that the paragneisses might be those of first-cycle erosion products of predominantly mafic rocks mixing with small amounts of felsic moderately evolved Archaean crustal source. Geochemical and Nd isotopic compositions reveal that at least some of the protoliths of Kongling khondalite were sourced from local pre-existing mafic igneous rocks in a continental arc tectonic setting. Combined with documented zircon U–Pb geochronological data, we propose that the Palaeoproterozoic high-pressure granulite-facies metamorphism, rapid weathering, erosion and deposition of the khondalites in the interior of the Yangtze craton might be related to a Palaeoproterozoic collisional orogenic event during 2.1–1.9 Ga, consistent with the worldwide contemporary orogeny, implying that the Yangtze craton may have been an important component of the Palaeoprotorozoic Columbia supercontinent.

In this paper, the recent studies of laboratory astrophysics with strong magnetic fields in China have been reviewed. On the Shenguang-II laser facility of the National Laboratory on High-Power Lasers and Physics, a laser-driven strong magnetic field up to 200 T has been achieved. The experiment was performed to model the interaction of solar wind with dayside magnetosphere. Also the low beta plasma magnetic reconnection (MR) has been studied. Theoretically, the model has been developed to deal with the atomic structures and processes in strong magnetic field. Also the study of shock wave generation in the magnetized counter-streaming plasmas is introduced.

The objective of this study was to determine the protective effect of glutamate (Glu) in Cu-induced oxidative injury in fish intestine in vivo and enterocytes in vitro. The results indicated that exposure to 6 mg/l Cu for 72 h induced the production of reactive oxygen species, thereby increasing protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation in enterocytes of grass carp in vitro. Cells exposed to Cu alone resulted in a significant increase in lactate dehydrogenase release, which is accompanied by depletions of antioxidants, including total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR), anti-superoxide anion (ASA), anti-hydroxy radical (AHR) activities and GSH content. Pre-treatment with Glu remarkably prevented the toxic effects of Cu on the T-SOD, GST, GR, AHR, and ASA activities and GSH content in enterocytes. However, Cu induced an adaptive increase in the activities of catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Glu supplementation further increased GPx activity in enterocytes. Interestingly, the experiment in vivo showed that Glu pre-supplementation significantly elevated SOD, GPx, GST, GR, ASA and AHR activities, as well as GSH content. Further results showed that pre-treatment with Glu could alleviate Cu-induced oxidative injury by elevating antioxidant enzyme activities through regulating the expression of NF-E2-related nuclear factor 2 (Nrf2) mRNA. Together, these results indicated that Glu could attenuate Cu-induced cellular oxidative damage in fish intestine, likely mediated through Nrf2 signalling pathways regulating mRNA expressions of antioxidant enzyme genes and synthesis of GSH.

Thermoluminescence (TL) and radioluminescence (RL) are reported over the temperature range 25–673 K from MgSiO4:Tb and MgSiO4:Eu. The dominant signals arise from the transitions within the Rare Earth (RE) dopants, with limited intensity from intrinsic or host defect sites. The Tb and Eu ions distort the lattice and alter the stability of the TL sites and the peak TL temperature scales with the Tb and Eu ion size. The larger Eu ions stabilize the trapped charges more than for the Tb, and so the Eu TL peak temperatures are ∼20% higher. There are further size effects linked to the TL driven by the volume of the upper state orbitals of the rare earth transitions. For Eu the temperatures of the TL peaks are wavelength dependent since higher excited states couple to distant traps via more extensive orbits. The same pattern of peak temperature data is encoded in RL during heating. The data imply that there are sites in which the rare earth and charge stabilizing defects are closely associated within the host lattice, and the stability of the entire complex is linked to the lattice distortions from inclusions of impurities.

Oocyte-specific linker histone, H1foo, is localized on the oocyte chromosomes during the process of meiotic maturation, and is essential for mouse oocyte maturation. Bovine H1foo has been identified, and its expression profile throughout oocyte maturation and early embryo development has been established. However, it has not been confirmed if H1foo is indispensable during bovine oocyte maturation. Effective siRNAs against H1foo were screened in HeLa cells, and then siRNA was microinjected into bovine oocytes to down-regulate H1foo expression. H1foo overexpression was achieved via mRNA injection. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results indicated that H1foo was up-regulated by 200% and down-regulated by 70%. Based on the first polar body extrusion (PB1E) rate, H1foo overexpression apparently promoted meiotic progression. The knockdown of H1foo significantly impaired bovine oocyte maturation compared with H1foo overexpression and control groups (H1foo overexpression = 88.7%, H1foo siRNA = 41.2%, control = 71.2%; P < 0.05). This decrease can be rescued by co-injection of a modified H1foo mRNA that has escaped from the siRNA target. However, the H1e (somatic linker histone) overexpression had no effect on PB1E rate when compared with the control group. Therefore we concluded that H1foo is essential for bovine oocyte maturation and its overexpression stimulates the process.

Progenies derived from rice (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica) plants pollinated by Oenothera biennis exhibited numerous morphological and developmental traits. Some variant individuals appeared in generation D2. From generations D3 to D6, a large number of variants were observed, showing distinct variable traits including giant embryos. Statistical analysis on D6 lines showed significant differences between progenies and their rice parental line in several main traits, including plant height (49.2–164.5 cm), panicle number (12.1–38.2), panicle length (20.3–30.3 cm), length of sword leaf (13.8–57.5 cm), leaf width (11.1–25.2 mm), grain number of main panicle (142.0–367.0), percentage of seed setting (0.8–99.0%), 1000-grain weight (19.7–33.8 g) and time from germination to panicle emergence (90.0–108.0 days). Most of the variable coefficients were above 20% (the highest was 40.8%). Through pedigree selection of these plants, genetically stable lines were obtained, which are useful for rice breeding. Results from amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis showed that several rice lines contained extensive genetic variations, which included disappearance of rice parental bands and/or appearance of novel bands.

The Lc regulatory gene affects the formation of anthocyanin in plants. XY355 promoter, a petal-specific promoter, was obtained from the genome of rape (Brassica napus) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A plant expression vector, pXY60, was constructed, which contained the maize Lc regulatory gene under the control of the XY355 promoter. The vector was introduced into tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and petunia (Petunia hybrida) by an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated method. The flower colour of some transgenic tobacco plants was changed from light red to deep red and that of some transgenic petunia plants had changed from white to light purple.

The oocyan (O) gene determines blue shell pigmentation of domesticated chicken. The O locus is closely linked to ALEV1 on chromosome 1 with a genetic distance of 2.3 cM. Blue eggshells contain a protoporphyrin, biliverdin and zinc biliverdin chelating complex, which belongs to the porphyrin metabolic pathway. A bio-informatic approach was first used to BLAST for the genes of the enzymes in the porphyrin pathway; no gene was detected to specify the O locus. Due to a limited number of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers around the O locus, polymerase chain reaction–single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was then employed to search for candidate single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The sequence bearing a marker was found to consist of two transversions at Chr1:61754089T→A and Chr1:61754175A→T, respectively. Population screening showed that 81% of homozygous blue-shelled layers (OO) were classified as AA genotype at the SNP loci, while 89% of heterozygous blue-shelled layers (Oo) were AB genotype and 93% of tinted layers (oo) were BB genotype. The results indicated that there is a close association between O locus and SNP locus, suggesting that the marker locus could be used as a molecular marker in breeding for blue-shelled chickens.