The rearranged mitochondrial genome of Podagrion sp. (Hymenoptera: Torymidae), a parasitoid wasp of mantis.

The complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome of Podagrion sp. (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) is described. The mitogenome was 15,845 bp in size, and contained typical sets of mitochondrial genes. The base composition of the Podagrion sp. mitogenome was also biased toward A + T bases (81.8%). The mitochondrial genome of Podagrion sp. has a weak AT skew (0.07) and a strong GC skew (-0.26). Podagrion sp. exhibits a novel rearrangement compared with the ancestral order, including six protein-coding genes (nad3, cox3, atp6, atp8, cox2 and cox1), which have inverted to the minor strand from the major strand. The A + T-rich region of Podagrion sp., which is located between trnN and trnI, have five tandem repeats. The apomorphic rearrangements, including the conserved block "cox3-atp6-atp8-cox2-cox1-nad5-nad4-nad4l-nad6-cob" and the special locations of trnV and trnA, were mapped onto the phylogeny of Proctotrupomorpha.

[Chemical constituents from rhizome of Menispermum dauricum and their anti-hypoxic activities].

To study the chemical constituents from the rhizome of Menispermum dauricum,fifteen compounds,N-methylcorydaldine( 1),thalifoline( 2),stepholidine( 3),acutumine( 4),daurisoline( 5),acutumidine( 6),dauricicoline( 7),bianfugecine( 8),6-O-demethylmenisporphine( 9),bianfugedine( 10),dauricoside( 11),eleutheroside D( 12),aristolactone( 13),aristoloterpenateⅠ( 14) and aristolochic acid( 15) were isolated from 75% ethanol extract of Menispermi Rhizoma by using thin layer chromatography and column chromatography methods. Their structures were identified based on their physicochemical properties and spectral data. Among them,compounds 12-15 were obtained from the genus Menispermum for the first time. Six alkaloids with higher contents were subjected to evaluate the anti-hypoxic activities by using MTT method. As a result,six alkaloids exhibited significant anti-hypoxia activities.

Quantitative analysis of cellular proteome alterations of Pseudomonas putida to naphthalene-induced stress.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether genes other than the operons nahAaAbAcAdBFCED and nahGTHINLOMKJ of Pseudomonas putida are involved in the tolerance of the bacterium to naphthalene. RESULTS: Cellular responses of P. putida ND6 grown with 2 and 4 g naphthalene/l were investigated using a quantitative proteomic-based approach. Comparative analysis of the proteome data identified that the expression levels of 22 proteins involved in heat shock and universal stress response, naphthalene degradation, cell envelope synthesis, and motility were up-regulated; while the expression levels of 26 proteins involved in protein and fatty acid synthesis, carbon compound, nucleotide, and amino acid metabolism, and small molecule transport were down-regulated. CONCLUSION: Our findings offer insights into the cellular response of P. putida to high naphthalene concentrations at the protein level.

Catalytic Asymmetric Diels-Alder Reaction of 2'-Hydroxychalcone as a Dienophile with a VANOL-Borate Ester Complex.

Numerous flavonoid Diels-Alder-type natural products have been isolated and received great attention from the synthetic community. Herein, we reported a catalytic strategy for an asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of 2'-hydroxychalcone with a range of diene substrates using a chiral ligand-boron Lewis acid complex. This method enables the convenient synthesis of a wide range of cyclohexene skeletons in excellent yields with moderate to good enantioselectivities, which is critical to prepare natural product congeners for further biological studies.

The impact of air pollution on the transmission of pulmonary tuberculosis.

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the air pollution and tuberculosis cases and its prediction in Jiangsu, China by using the time-series analysis method, and find that the seasonal ARIMA(1, 1, 0)×(0, 1, 1)12 model is the preferred model for predicting the TB cases in Jiangsu, China. Furthermore, we evaluate the relationship between AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and the number of TB cases, and find that the prediction accuracy of the ARIMA model is improved by adding monthly PM2.5 with 0-month lag as an external variable, i.e., ARIMA(1, 1, 0)×(0, 1, 1)12+PM2.5. The results show that ARIMAX model can be a useful tool for predicting TB cases in Jiangsu, China, and it can provide a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of TB.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Euplatypus parallelus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

Beetles in the weevil subfamily Platypodinae are among the dominant groups of insects in wet tropical forests, which together with bark and ambrosia beetles in the subfamily Scolytinae. Easily recognised by the circle-shaped entrance holes in fallen logs and a very elongated body shape, they have earned the common name, "pinhole borers". All except two Platypodinae species are ambrosia beetles that cultivate fungi in wood tunnels as the sole food for their larvae. Platypodinae is a peculiar weevil subfamily of species that cultivate fungi in tunnels excavated in dead wood. The Platypodinae is likely the oldest known lineage of fungus-cultivating insects, with an origin of the ambrosial habit more than 80 Ma. Here, we sequenced and characterized the complete mitochondrial genome of E. parallelus, which was collected from logs imported from SierraLeone. The complete circular mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Euplatypus parallelus is 16,095 bp in size, containing 37 typical genes and one non-coding AT-rich region. The AT content of the AT-rich region is 87.5%. All protein-coding genes (PCGs) start with standard ATN initiation codons except for nad1and end with complete termination codons TAA except for cox1genes using an incomplete stop codon T. tRNA genes are predicted with a characteristic cloverleaf secondary structure except for trnS1(AGN) , whose dihydrouridine (DHU) arm is replaced by a simple loop. The size of the large and small ribosomal RNA genes are 1386 and 741 bp, respectively.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Coptotermes testaceus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae).

The complete circular mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Coptotermes testaceus is 15 752bp in size, containing 37 typical genes and one non-coding AT-rich region. The AT content of the AT-rich region is 68.3%. All protein coding genes (PCGs) start with standard ATN initiation codons and end with complete termination codons TAA or TAG except for cox2, atp8, and nad5 genes using an incomplete stop codon T. tRNA genes are predicted with a characteristic cloverleaf secondary structure except for trnS1(()(AGN)()), whose dihydrouridine (DHU) arm is replaced by a simple loop. The size of the large and small ribosomal RNA genes are 1315 and 818 bp, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis found that (i) the C. testaceus clade formed the sister group with another clade containing Coptotermes lacteus and Coptotermes formosanus; and (ii) Coptotermes lacteus had a close relationship with Coptotermes clade, but with lower credibility than other clades, the bootstrap value was 97%.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the confused flour beetle Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

Flour beetles of the genus Tribolium are economically important as destructive cosmopolitan pests of stored flour, corn, peanuts, and other dried agricultural products. The confused flour beetle Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val (1868) is one of the most important pest species of flour beetle. Here we sequenced and characterized the complete mitochondrial genome of T. confusum, the entire sequence is 15,813 bp in size with 72.8% AT content. It consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA), 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and one major non-coding AT-rich region. The mitogenome of T. confusum exhibits a gene arrangement and content identical to the most common type in insects. All PCGs are start with a typical ATN initiation codon, except for the cox1, which use AAC as its start codon instead of ATN. Ten genes use standard complete termination codon (six TAA, three TAG), whereas the cox2, cox3, nad4 and nad5 genes end with single T. Except for trnS1 ((AGN)), all tRNA genes display typical secondary cloverleaf structures as those of other insects. The sizes of the large and small ribosomal RNA genes are 1277 and 773 bp, respectively. The AT content of the AT-rich region is 79.5%. The 5 bp conserved motif TACTA was found in the intergenic region between trnS2 ((UCN)) and nad1.