Effect of Trap Color, Height, and Orientation on the Capture of Yellow and Stick Tea Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and Nontarget Insects in Tea Gardens.

Two thrips species-the yellow tea thrips ( Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood) and the stick tea thrips ( Dendrothrips minowai Priesner)-are serious pests affecting tea plants in southern China. Although the stick tea thrips is primarily restricted to southern China, the yellow tea thrips is gradually proliferating worldwide. Colored sticky card traps may be useful for monitoring and capturing these species, but a systematic analysis has not been conducted to identify the most effective trap color, height, and orientation. We performed indoor experiments using an orthogonal experimental design, as well as field tests in tea gardens, to identify the color most attractive to the two thrips species. Field tests were then conducted using color-optimized traps-lawngreen (RGB: 124, 252, 0) for yellow thrips and lime (RGB: 0, 255, 0) for stick tea thrips-to determine the most effective trap height and orientation. The greatest numbers of both yellow and stick tea thrips were captured on traps positioned 0-20 cm above the tea canopy in an east-west orientation. We also evaluated the performance of the color-optimized sticky card traps compared with commercially available yellow ones. Significantly more yellow and stick tea thrips and fewer natural enemies were captured on the color-optimized traps than on commercial ones. Although additional research is needed to explain the responses of the two different species and to increase trap effectiveness, our findings should assist in the control of these harmful insects.

[Expression pattern of mRNA for follistatin and inhibin/activin beta B-subunit during follicular and testicular development in duck].

Follistatin and inhibin/activin were closely related glycoprotein hormones. The quantitative competitive RT-PCR was used to investigate the expression of follistatin and inhibin/activin beta B-subunit mRNA in the developing ovarian follicles, immature and mature testes. The results revealed all samples showed the expression of mRNA for the two proteins, and the expression is more abundantly in the small follicles than in the large preovulatory follicles. Competitive RT-PCR revealed that the expression of follistatin is the highest in small yellow follicles (SYF), the mean relative content for the F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6-8, LWF (large white follicle), TI(immature testes), and TM(mature testes) was 0.011 +/- 0.004, 0.019 +/- 0.006, 0.021 +/- 0.009, 0.028 +/- 0.007, 0.075 +/- 0.023, 0.15 +/- 0.072, 0.29 +/- 0.068, 0.037 +/- 0.011, and 0.012 +/- 0.004, respectively, compared to a mean relative content of 1.00 for the SYF. The highest level of inhibin/activin beta B mRNA was also found in the SYF, the mean relative content for the F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6-8, LWF, TI, and TM was 0.009 +/- 0.003, 0.013 +/- 0.005, 0.019 +/- 0.007, 0.023 +/- 0.006, 0.29 +/- 0.084, 0.84 +/- 0.093, 0.031 +/- 0.008, 0.38 +/- 0.072, and 0.046 +/- 0.013, respectively, compared to a mean relative content of 1.00 for the SYF. Our data suggested that the expression pattern of mRNA for follistatin and inhibin/activin beta B-subunit was quite similar during follicular and testicular development. The great co-expression of mRNA for the two proteins in small follicles indicated that activin B(beta B-beta B) availability was tightly regulated by follistatin, and the two proteins might both play important roles in early follicular development.

[cDNA cloning and mRNA expression pattern in follicles of the mature inhibin alpha subunit from Xianju chicken].

The mature region of Xianju chicken inhibin alpha-subunit was amplified from the total RNA of follicle granulosa cells by RT-PCR using the primer pair designed according to the reported cDNA sequence of chicken inhibin alpha-subunit, and this fragment of alpha-subunit was cloned and sequenced subsequently. The results revealed that the mature alpha-subunit of Xianju chicken was a fragment of 113 amino acids containing one glycosylation site and seven cysteine residues. It was approximately 98% and 61.4%-68.7% identical in nucleotide sequence, 97.3% and 64.6%-69% similar in deduced amino acid sequence, respectively, in the mature region to the chicken and mammalian inhibin alpha-subunit cDNA clone. As for the mature chicken inhibin alpha-subunit, the number of potential glycosylation site and cysteine residues was the same, and their corresponding positions in the amino acid sequences were almost identical as compared to chicken and mammalian inhibin alpha-subunit, which indicated that the inhibin alpha-subunit was highly conserved among different species, implying an important role of inhibin alpha-subunit in various animals. The quantitative analysis of competitive RT-PCR for inhibin alpha-subunit revealed that the expression of alpha-subunit decreased with further follicle maturity from SYF to F1 follicle. The highest level of inhibin alpha-subunit mRNA was found in the SYF and F6-8 follicles, which indicated that inhibin alpha-subunit played an important role during the course of follicular recruitment, selection and dominance.

[Expression of inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta A subunits in the developing follicles of the duck].

The very sensitive quantitative competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to investigate the expression of mRNA for the inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta A subunit in the developing ovarian follicles of the duck. The results indicated all follicles showed the expression of mRNA for the inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta A. The inhibin alpha subunit mRNA is expressed more abundantly than the beta A subunit in the large preovulatory follicles. Competitive RT-PCR revealed that the expression of inhibin alpha subunit is the highest in small yellow follicles (SYF), the mean relative content for the F1, F2, F3, F4/5 and LWF (large white follicle) was 0.26 +/- 0.05, 0.28 +/- 0.07, 0.57 +/- 0.12, 0.98 +/- 0.09 and 0.026 +/- 0.006, respectively, compared to a mean relative content of 1.00 for the SYF. The highest level of inhibin/activin beta A mRNA was found in the F1 follicle, the mean relative content for the F2, F3, F4/5, SYF and LWF was 0.218 +/- 0.09, 0.111 +/- 0.03, 0.058 +/- 0.011, 0.053 +/- 0.013 and 0.005 +/- 0.002, respectively, compared to a mean relative content of 1.00 for the F1 follicle. Our data suggest that the expression of the alpha subunit is reduced with follicular development whereas beta A subunit expression is dramatically enhanced, which indicates the expression of inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta A subunit is differentially regulated during follicular development. In addition, the highest level of beta A mRNA in F1 follicle indicates the production of dimeric inhibin and/or activin primarily occurred in the largest F1 follicle.

Anthracyclines disrupt telomere maintenance by telomerase through inducing PinX1 ubiquitination and degradation.

Telomere maintenance is essential for cancer growth. Induction of telomere dysfunction, for example, by inhibition of telomeric proteins or telomerase, has been shown to strongly enhance cancer cells' sensitivity to chemotherapies. However, it is not clear whether modulations of telomere maintenance constitute cancer cellular responses to chemotherapies. Furthermore, the manner in which anti-cancer drugs affect telomere function remains unknown. In this study, we show that anthracyclines, a class of anti-cancer drugs widely used in clinical cancer treatments, have an active role in triggering telomere dysfunction specifically in telomerase-positive cancer cells. Anthracyclines interrupt telomere maintenance by telomerase through the downregulation of PinX1, a protein factor responsible for targeting telomerase onto telomeres, thereby inhibiting telomerase association with telomeres. We further demonstrate that anthracyclines downregulate PinX1 by inducing this protein degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent pathway. Our data not only reveal a novel action for anthracyclines as telomerase functional inhibitors but also provide a clue for the development of novel anti-cancer drugs based on telomerase/telomere targeting, which is actively investigated by many current studies.

Preovulatory follicles in the ovary as the source of circulating inhibin in the duck.

Inhibin secretion in the adult female duck was investigated. The bovine inhibin radioimmunoassay (RIA) system and human enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of inhibin A and inhibin B were first validated for use in the duck. In both RIA and ELISA, the dilution curves of plasma and homogenate of the first largest follicle (F1) were parallel to each standard curve, indicating that plasma and the F1 follicle contained immunoreactive (ir) and dimeric inhibins. Short-term food deprivation caused follicular atresia in the ovary and significantly depressed the plasma concentration of ir-inhibin. Positive immunostaining for inhibin alpha-, betaA-, and betaB-subunits was clearly detected in the granulosa cells of the four largest preovulatory follicles. Immunolocalization of these three inhibin subunits was also weakly seen in the interna theca cells of these follicles. These results demonstrate that inhibin alpha-, betaA-, and betaB-subunit proteins are colocalized in the granulosa cell and theca cell of the four largest preovulatory follicles in the duck ovary. The present results, therefore, indicate that the four largest follicles in the ovary are the main source of circulating inhibin in the female duck.