To our knowledge, few reports on Demodex studied at the molecular level are available at present. In this study our group, for the first time, cloned, sequenced and analyzed the chitin synthase (CHS) gene fragments of Demodex folliculorum, Demodex brevis, and Demodex canis (three isolates from each species) from Xi’an China, by designing specific primers based on the only partial sequence of the CHS gene of D. canis from Japan, retrieved from GenBank. Results show that amplification was successful only in three D. canis isolates and one D. brevis isolate out of the nine Demodex isolates. The obtained fragments were sequenced to be 339 bp for D. canis and 338 bp for D. brevis. The CHS gene sequence similarities between the three Xi’an D. canis isolates and one Japanese D. canis isolate ranged from 99.7% to 100.0%, and those between four D. canis isolates and one D. brevis isolate were 99.1%–99.4%. Phylogenetic trees based on maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods shared the same clusters, according with the traditional classification. Two open reading frames (ORFs) were identified in each CHS gene sequenced, and their corresponding amino acid sequences were located at the catalytic domain. The relatively conserved sequences could be deduced to be a CHS class A gene, which is associated with chitin synthesis in the integument of Demodex mites.

Tidal flats are soil resources of great significance. Nitrification plays a central role in the nitrogen cycle and is often a critical first step in nitrogen removal from estuarine and coastal environments. We determined the abundance as well as composition of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in different soils during land reclamation process. The abundance of AOA was higher than that of AOB in farm land and wild land while AOA was not detected in tidal flats using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The different abundances of AOB and AOA were negatively correlated with the salinity. The diversities of AOB and AOA were also investigated using clone libraries by amplification of amoA gene. Among AOB, nearly all sequences belonged to the Nitrosomonas lineage in the initial land reclamation process, i.e., tidal flats, while both Nitrosomonas and Nitrosospira lineages were detected in later and transition phases of land reclamation process, farm land and wild land. The ratio of the numbers of sequences of Nitrosomonas and Nitrosospira lineages was positively correlated with the salinity and the net nitrification rate. As for AOA, there was no obvious correlation with the changes in the physicochemical properties of the soil. This study suggests that AOB may be more import than AOA with respect to influencing the different land reclamation process stages.

Litsea elliptica Blume has been traditionally used to treat headache, fever, and stomach ulcer, and has also been used as an insect repellent. The acute and subacute toxicities of L. elliptica essential oil were evaluated orally by gavage in female Sprague-Dawley rats. For the acute toxicity study, L. elliptica essential oil was administered in doses from 500 to 4000 mg/kg (single dose), and in the subacute toxicity test, the following doses were used: 125, 250, and 500 mg/kg, for 28 consecutive days. In the acute toxicity study, L. elliptica essential oil caused dose-dependent adverse behaviours and mortality. The median lethal dose value was 3488.86 mg/kg and the acute non-observed-adversed-effect level value was found to be 500 mg/kg. The subacute toxicity study of L. elliptica essential oil did not reveal alterations in body weight, and food and water consumptions. The haematological and biochemical analyses did not show significant differences between control and treated groups in most of the parameters examined, except for the hemoglobin, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, mean cell volume, mean cell hemoglobin, serum albumin, and serum sodium. However, these differences were still within the normal range. No abnormalities or histopathological changes were observed in the liver, pancreatic islet of Langerhans, and renal glomerulous and tubular cells of all treated groups. In conclusion, L. elliptica essential oil can be classified in the U group, which is defined as a group unlikely to present an acute hazard according to World Health Organization (WHO) classification.

Total dissolved gas (TDG) supersaturation caused by dam sluicing can result in gas bubble trauma (GBT) in fish and threaten their survival. In the present study, Chinese suckers (Myxocyprinus asiaticus Bleeker) were exposed to TDG supersaturated water at levels ranging from 120% to 145% for 48 h. The median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) and the median lethal time (LT₅₀) were determined to evaluate acute lethal effects on Chinese suckers. The results showed that the LC₅₀ values of 4, 6, 8, and 10 h were 142%, 137%, 135%, and 130%, respectively. The LT₅₀ values were 3.2, 4.7, 7.8, 9.2, and 43.4 h, respectively, when TDG supersaturated levels were 145%, 140%, 135%, 130%, and 125%. Furthermore, the biological responses in Chinese suckers were studied by assaying the catalase (CAT) activities in gills and muscles at the supersaturation level of 140% within LT₅₀. The CAT activities in the gills and muscle tissues exhibited a regularity of a decrease after an increase. CAT activities in the muscles were increased significantly at 3/5LT₅₀ (P<0.05) and then came back to the normal level. However, there were no significant differences between the treatment group (TDG level of 140%) and the control group (TDG level of 100%) on CAT activities in the gills before 3/5LT₅₀ (P>0.05), but the activities were significantly lower than the normal level at 4/5LT₅₀ and LT₅₀ (P<0.05).

Two reef margin species of tropical sea urchins, Echinometra sp. C (Ec) and Echinometra oblonga (Eo), occur sympatrically on Okinawa intertidal reefs in southern Japan. Hybridization between these species was examined through a series of cross-fertilization experiments. At limited sperm concentrations, where conspecific crosses reached near 100% fertilization, both heterospecific crosses showed high fertilization rates (81%–85%). The compatibility of the gametes demonstrated that if gamete recognition molecules are involved in fertilization of these species, they are not strongly species-specific. We found that conspecific crosses reached peak fertilization levels much faster than did heterospecific crosses, indicating the presence of a prezygotic barrier to hybridization in the gametes. Larval survival, metamorphosis, and juvenile and adult survival of hybrid groups were nearly identical to those of their parent species. Hybrids from crosses in both directions developed normally through larval stages to sexually mature adults, indicating that neither gametic incompatibility nor hybrid inviability appeared to maintain reproductive isolation between these species. In adults, Ec×Ec crosses gave the highest live weight, followed by Eo (ova)×Ec (sperm), Ec (ova)×Eo (sperm), and Eo×Eo. Other growth performance measures (viz., test size, Aristotle’s lantern length, and gonad index) of hybrid groups and their parental siblings showed the same trends. The phenotypic color patterns of the hybrids were closer to the maternal coloration, whereas spine length, tube-foot and gonad spicule characteristics, pedicellaria valve length, and gamete sizes showed intermediate features. Adult F₁ hybrids were completely fertile and displayed high fertilization success in F₁ backcrosses, eliminating the likelihood that hybrid sterility is a postzygotic mechanism of reproductive isolation. Conversely, intensive surveys failed to find hybrid individuals in the field, suggesting the lack or rarity of natural hybridization. This strongly suggests that reproductive isolation is achieved by prezygotic isolating mechanism(s). Of these mechanisms, habitat segregation, gamete competition, differences in spawning times, gametic incompatibility or other genetic and non-genetic factors appear to be important in maintaining the integrity of these species.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are potent regulators of photosynthesis and crop yield in agricultural crops; however, the mechanism by which BRs increase photosynthesis is not fully understood. Here, we show that foliar application of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) resulted in increases in CO₂ assimilation, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) accumulation, and leaf area in cucumber. H₂O₂ treatment induced increases in CO₂ assimilation whilst inhibition of the H₂O₂ accumulation by its generation inhibitor or scavenger completely abolished EBR-induced CO₂ assimilation. Increases of light harvesting due to larger leaf areas in EBR- and H₂O₂-treated plants were accompanied by increases in the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Φ_PSII) and photochemical quenching coefficient (q_P). EBR and H₂O₂ both activated carboxylation efficiency of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate oxygenase/carboxylase (Rubisco) from analysis of CO₂ response curve and in vitro measurement of Rubisco activities. Moreover, EBR and H₂O₂ increased contents of total soluble sugar, sucrose, hexose, and starch, followed by enhanced activities of sugar metabolism such as sucrose phosphate synthase, sucrose synthase, and invertase. Interestingly, expression of transcripts of enzymes involved in starch and sugar utilization were inhibited by EBR and H₂O₂. However, the effects of EBR on carbohydrate metabolisms were reversed by the H₂O₂ generation inhibitor diphenyleneodonium (DPI) or scavenger dimethylthiourea (DMTU) pretreatment. All of these results indicate that H₂O₂ functions as a secondary messenger for EBR-induced CO₂ assimilation and carbohydrate metabolism in cucumber plants. Our study confirms that H₂O₂ mediates the regulation of photosynthesis by BRs and suggests that EBR and H₂O₂ regulate Calvin cycle and sugar metabolism via redox signaling and thus increase the photosynthetic potential and yield of crops.

The objective of this study was to investigate the geographical origin of Chinese teas using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio technology. The results showed that inter-provincial dispersion of teas in Guangdong (GD), Guangxi (GX), Hainan (HA), Fujian (FJ), Shandong (SD), Sichuan (SC), Chongqing (CQ), and Henan (HN) provinces was high, while in Zhejiang (ZJ), Hubei (HB), Yunnan (YN), and Anhui (AH) provinces, it was low. Tea samples from GD, GX, HA, and FJ provinces were clustered in one group and separated from those from AH and HB provinces. Thus, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio technology could discriminate teas from among some provinces of China, but not from among others. Better separation might be obtained with a combination of isotopic ratios and other indexes, such as elemental data and organic components.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure the kinematics of the lower limbs of Chinese people during normal kneeling activity, as such data could be valuable in designing joint prosthesis and arthroplasty that meet the needs of Chinese citizens’ daily activities. Methods: Thirty young and twenty elderly Chinese participants with no personal history of joint diseases were recruited, and matched by age (average age: 23.8 years for the young group, 60.8 years for the elderly group). Each participant performed six trials during which three-dimensional (3D) kinematics data were collected and the means of the 3D angles of the ankle, knee, and hip joints of two groups were calculated. Results: There were no obvious differences between the two groups in the knee and ankle joints. The mean range of knee flexion was 139.6° for the young group and 140.9° for the elderly group. The mean range of ankle flexion was 35.7° for the young group and 37.6° for the elderly group. The maximal eccentric flexion at the hip joint was 67.5° for the young group compared to 100.5° for the elderly group. Conclusions: The elderly uses more hip flexion angles than the young when assuming the kneeling posture. The ranges of motion obtained during kneeling activity are greater than the reported mean ranges of motion achieved following joint arthroplasty. The data could be valuable in establishing criteria for lower limb prosthetics and rehabilitation protocol for the Chinese population.

The active metabolite in the post-harvested biomass of zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii Hance from phytoextraction is of great interest in China. The current study demonstrates that a salidroside-type metabolite can be yielded from the Zn/Cd hyperaccumulator S. alfredii biomass by means of sonication/ethanol extraction and macroporous resin column (AB-8 type) isolation. The concentrations of Zn and Cd in the salidroside-type metabolite were below the limitation of the national standards.

Objective: To examine the structure of the oviduct of the shrimp Penaeus monodon. Methods: The oviducts of P. monodon with three different major groups of ovarian development (Group (Gr.) 1: Stages I & V; Gr. 2: Stages II & III; and Gr. 3: Stage IV) were examined by light, transmission electron, and scanning electron microscopies, respectively. Results: The epithelium of the oviduct in Gr. 1 was composed of tall simple columnar cells with their basal nuclei located on the basement membrane and its thick collagen fibers. In Gr. 2, the oviduct seemed to produce some substances and their epithelial cells became transitional with centrally located nuclei and formed some vacuoles. Obviously, the epithelial cells in Gr. 3 (at Stage IV) were disorganized, disrupted, and shed accumulated spherical secretory substances including some cellular contents into the lumen. Conclusions: The structural changes of the P. monodon oviduct were related to ovarian maturation stages (Grs. 1–3). Prior to spawning, only the oviduct epithelium at ovary Stage IV produced and secreted a number of spherical secretion substances into the lumen. These substances may act as the oviductal lubricants to facilitate the spawning process.

Chinese bayberry Myrica rubra is a very popular fruit in southeastern China. In spite of its wide consumption, no allergies to this fruit have been reported previously. Here we report on a 40-year-old woman suffering from anaphylaxis to Chinese bayberry fruit. Prick-prick skin tests revealed strong reactions to fresh Chinese bayberry fruits as well as to peach, and weaker reactions to some other fruits including apple, melon, and banana. ImmunoCAP analysis revealed identical titers of specific IgE (4.3 kU_A/L) to peach extract and its lipid transfer protein (LTP, rPru p 3), which was confirmed by detection of a 9 kD band following immunoblotting. Immunoblot analysis with Chinese bayberry extract gave bands of 22, 45, and 90 kD, but no 9 kD band was recognized. There was also no evidence of LTP recognition for loquat (36 kD) or melon (24 kD). This first report of a severe allergic reaction to Chinese bayberry fruit in a patient with LTP-mediated peach allergy indicates that other as yet unidentified non-pollen related fruit allergens are involved in this new severe fruit allergy.