A new species of the genus Achalinus (Squamata: Xenodermidae) from Nanning, Guangxi, China.

We describe a new species of the genus Achalinus Peters, 1869 from Daming Mountain, Shanglin County, Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, based on a single adult male specimen. It can be distinguished from all the other species in Achalinus by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) a bright yellow collar around the neck, extending forward to the ventral of the head; (2) tail length comparatively long, TaL/Tol ratio 0.25; (3) DSR 23-23-23, moderately keeled; (4) VS 3+162; (5) SC 74, unpaired; (6) cloacal plate entire; (7) SPL 6, the fourth and fifth in contact with the eye; (8) IFL 6, the first three touching the first pair of chin shields; (9) a single loreal; (10) length of suture between internasal significantly longer than that between prefrontal, LSBI/LSBP ratio 1.34; (11) two pairs of chin shields; (12) longitudinal vertebral line absent. In addition, the uncorrected p-distances between the new species and other known congeners ranged from 6.3% to 25.4% for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1). With the addition of the new species the total number of described Achalinus species is increased to 23 of which 17 are found in China.

A new species of the Genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 (Squamata: Colubridae) from Baise, Guangxi, China.

A new species of the genus Hebius Thompson, 1913 is described from Youjiang District, Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, based on a single adult female specimen. It can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal scale rows 19-17-17, feebly keeled except the outermost row; (2) tail length comparatively long, TAL/TL ratio 0.30 in females; (3) ventrals 160 (+ 3 preventrals); (4) subcaudals 112; (5) supralabials 9, the fourth to sixth in contact with the eye; (6) infralabials 10, the first 5 touching the first pair of chin shields; (7) preocular 1; (8) postoculars 2; (9) temporals 4, arranged in three rows (1+1+2); (10) maxillary teeth 30, the last 3 enlarged, without diastem; (11) postocular streak presence; (12) background color of dorsal brownish black, a conspicuous, uniform, continuous beige stripe extending from behind the eye to the end of the tail; (13) anterior venter creamish-yellow, gradually fades to the rear, with irregular black blotches in the middle and outer quarter of ventrals, the posterior part almost completely black. The discovery of the new species increases the number of species in the genus Hebius to 51.

A new species of the genus Achalinus (Squamata: Xenodermidae) from Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, China.

A new species of odd-scaled snake in the genus Achalinus is described from Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, China, based on seven female specimens. Morphologically, the new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsum iridescent and uniformly dark brown in preservative, longitudinal vertebral line absent; (2) light brown beneath; (3) dotted black streak in the middle of the subcaudals absent; (4) tail length relatively short, TaL/ToL 12-16%, in females; (5) fewer subcaudals, 41-46 in females; (6) dorsal scales 23 rows throughout, strongly keeled; the outer-most rows on both sides are also keeled and slightly enlarged; (7) one loreal; (8) internasal not fused to prefrontal; (9) suture between internasals is similar in size when compared to the suture between prefrontals; (10) preocular and postocular absent; (11) 6 supralabials; (12) 5 infralabials, the first 3 (rarely 2) touching the first pair of chin shields; (13) 3 pairs of chin shields. A phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial gene, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1), showed that this new species forms a monophyletic group with strong support. In addition, the uncorrected p-distances between the new species and other known congeners ranged from 3.4% to 13.0%. The recognition of the new species increases the number of described Achalinus species to 21.

Narciclasine inhibits LPS-induced neuroinflammation by modulating the Akt/IKK/NF-κB and JNK signaling pathways.

BACKGROUND: Neuroinflammation is defined as innate immune system activation in the central nervous system, and is a complex response involved in removing pathogens, toxic components, and dead cells by activating microglial cells. However, over-activated microglia have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, because they release large amounts of neurotoxic factors. Thus, inhibiting microglial activation may represent an attractive approach for preventing neuroinflammatory disorders. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of narciclasine (NA) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuroinflammation by evaluating related markers and neurotoxic factors. METHODS: BV-2 cells were pre-incubated with NA at 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 µM for 1h, and then co-treated with LPS for 12 h. Cellular medium and lysates were measured using a nitric oxide assay, enzyme-link immunosorbent assay (ELISA), western blotting, kinase activity assay, luciferase assay, and immunofluorescence assay. C57BL/6N mice were orally administered NA and intraperitoneally injected with LPS, and the cerebral cortex was examined using western blotting and immunofluorescence assays. RESULTS: NA showed novel pharmacological activity, inhibiting pro-inflammatory factors, including TNF-α, IL-6, IL-18, NO, and PGE2, but increasing the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TGF-ß1 in LPS-induced microglial cells. Moreover, NA also attenuated the LPS-induced mRNA and proteins of iNOS and COX-2. The mechanistic study indicated that NA attenuates the secretion of pro-inflammatory factor by down-regulating the Akt/IKK/NF-κB and JNK signaling pathways, and directly inhibits the catalytic activity of IKKα/ß. Furthermore, we found that NA also reduced the expression of the microglial markers Iba-1, COX-2, and TNF-α in the mouse brain. CONCLUSION: NA inhibits the over-expression of pro-inflammatory factors but it promotes anti-inflammatory cytokines by down-regulating the Akt/IKK/NF-κB and JNK signaling pathways in experimental models. Thus, NA may be a potential candidate for relieving neuroinflammation.

Effects of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) and loading duration on the shoot tip cryopreservation of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica).

Two cryoprotectant solutions, including trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and several loading durations were used to evaluate the cryopreservation of the shoot tip of Eriobotrya plants. The best results for regrowth (59.91%) were obtained from 10% TMAO compared to 10% DMSO as cryoprotectant, although nonsignificant differences were found for survival between the two cryoprotectants. We detected pronounced effects of loading duration on survival and regrowth rates of shoot tips. The maximum regrowth (56.36%) was observed at 9 h of loading duration. The cryoprotectants and loading durations greatly affected the regrowth of Eriobotrya shoot tips, and TMAO could be introduced as a nontoxic and efficient cryoprotectant. These results could lay a foundation for the cryopreservation of Eriobotrya.