A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura, Megophryidae) from Mount Pu Ta Leng, northwest Vietnam

The Hoang Lien Range in northwest Vietnam is known to harbour five species of Leptobrachella, a specious genus of terrestrial frogs. We collected specimens of Leptobrachella from Mount Pu Ta Leng on the second highest peak in the Hoang Lien Range and use morphological and molecular data to show that this population represents a previously undescribed species which we name Leptobrachella graminicola sp. nov. after the abundance of calling males on sedge-like plants. This new species is closely related to L. bourreti but the new species is distinguished from L. bourreti and other congeneric species by a combination of the following characters: (1) a body size range of 23.1–24.6 mm in six adult males and 28.6–32.9 mm in five adult females; (2) skin on dorsum smooth, with many tubercles and lacking dermal ridges; (3) toes with rudimentary webbing and broad lateral fringes; (4) belly white with brown spots; (5) throat dark brown with light grey-brown flecks and spots; (6) a row of large white spots on the outer edge of the tarsus extending from the heel to the inner metatarsal tubercle, sometimes forming a long white stripe; and (7) a bicoloured iris. The new, high-elevation species is likely to be range-restricted and threatened by habitat loss and the activities of tourists.

Rice Lesion Mimic Mutants (LMM): The Current Understanding of Genetic Mutations in the Failure of ROS Scavenging during Lesion Formation

Rice lesion mimic mutants (LMMs) form spontaneous lesions on the leaves during vegetative growth without pathogenic infections. The rice LMM group includes various mutants, including spotted leaf mutants, brown leaf mutants, white-stripe leaf mutants, and other lesion-phenotypic mutants. These LMM mutants exhibit a common phenotype of lesions on the leaves linked to chloroplast destruction caused by the eruption of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the photosynthesis process. This process instigates the hypersensitive response (HR) and programmed cell death (PCD), resulting in lesion formation. The reasons for lesion formation have been studied extensively in terms of genetics and molecular biology to understand the pathogen and stress responses. In rice, the lesion phenotypes of most rice LMMs are inherited according to the Mendelian principles of inheritance, which remain in the subsequent generations. These rice LMM genetic traits have highly developed innate self-defense mechanisms. Thus, although rice LMM plants have undesirable agronomic traits, the genetic principles of LMM phenotypes can be used to obtain high grain yields by deciphering the efficiency of photosynthesis, disease resistance, and environmental stress responses. From these ailing rice LMM plants, rice geneticists have discovered novel proteins and physiological causes of ROS in photosynthesis and defense mechanisms. This review discusses recent studies on rice LMMs for the Mendelian inheritances, molecular genetic mapping, and the genetic definition of each mutant gene.

Variation in Leaf Morphology of Sago Trees (Metroxylon sagu) in South Borneo Province, Indonesia.

Natural populations of sago (Metroxylon sagu) in Indonesia show morphological variations in its organs, particularly the leaves. The existing variations resulted in sago type names provided by the locals. The sago plant types include Mahang, Buntal, Salak, Madang and Gandut. Sago leaves are economically important in Indonesia, mainly because they provide a potentially profitable and environment-friendly source of house roofing materials. Determining leaf variation among sago plants would provide information for a better way of choosing which among the current accessions/varieties of sago has the best leaf quality and production. Leaf variations in sago were recorded in shape, size, and color. The aim of this study are a) to compare differences in leaf morphology among sago types obtained from different geographic areas, and b) to determine whether these different sago types correspond to certain sago plant grouping. The qualitative and quantitative analysis showed variations in leaf characteristics of sago trees. Additionally, this study shows that based on leaf variations, the sago of South Borneo Province can be separated into two groups. The first group is Mahang and Gandut, which have long rachis, leaflets and leaves, and largest leaf area. The second group composed of Buntal, Salak and Madang accessions, which have short rachis and leaves, and smallest leaf area. Other results showed that there were characters that contributed significantly to the diversity of sago plants in the study area including spines, white stripe or banding on the rachis and petiole length. In line with our results, Mahang and Gandut accessions are the best accessions to be cultivated in the area, because they have wider leaves which support higher rates of photosynthesis. Further study should be conducted on phylogenetic using DNA sequencing to confirm divisions of the two sago groups.

Mosquito metallomics reveal copper and iron as critical factors for Plasmodium infection

Iron and copper chelation restricts Plasmodium growth in vitro and in mammalian hosts. The parasite alters metal homeostasis in red blood cells to its favor, for example metabolizing hemoglobin to hemozoin. Metal interactions with the mosquito have not, however, been studied. Here, we describe the metallomes of Anopheles albimanus and Aedes aegypti throughout their life cycle and following a blood meal. Consistent with previous reports, we found evidence of maternal iron deposition in embryos of Ae. aegypti, but less so in An. albimanus. Sodium, potassium, iron, and copper are present at higher concentrations during larval developmental stages. Two An. albimanus phenotypes that differ in their susceptibility to Plasmodium berghei infection were studied. The susceptible white stripe (ws) phenotype was named after a dorsal white stripe apparent during larval stages 3, 4, and pupae. During larval stage 3, ws larvae accumulate more iron and copper than the resistant brown stripe (bs) phenotype counterparts. A similar increase in copper and iron accumulation was also observed in the susceptible ws, but not in the resistant bs phenotype following P. berghei infection. Feeding ws mosquitoes with extracellular iron and copper chelators before and after receiving Plasmodium-infected blood protected from infection and simultaneously affected follicular development in the case of iron chelation. Unexpectedly, the application of the iron chelator to the bs strain reverted resistance to infection. Besides a drop in iron, iron-chelated bs mosquitoes experienced a concomitant loss of copper. Thus, the effect of metal chelation on P. berghei infectivity was strain-specific.

A Modified Two-Way Active Avoidance Test for Combined Contextual and Auditory Instrumental Conditioning

Available two-way active avoidance paradigms do not provide contextual testing, likely due to challenges in performing repetitive trials of context exposure. To incorporate contextual conditioning in the two-way shuttle box, we contextually modified one of the chambers of a standard two-chamber rat shuttle box with visual cues consisting of objects and black and white stripe patterns. During the 5 training days, electrical foot shocks were delivered every 10 s in the contextually modified chamber but were signaled by a tone in the plain chamber. Shuttling between chambers prevented an incoming foot shock (avoidance) or aborted an ongoing one (escape). During contextual retention testing, rats were allowed to freely roam in the box. During auditory retention testing, visual cues were removed, and tone-signaled shocks were delivered in both chambers. Avoidance gradually replaced escape or freezing behaviors reaching 80% on the last training day in both chambers. Rats spent twice more time in the plain chamber during contextual retention testing and had 90% avoidance rates during auditory retention testing. Our modified test successfully assesses both auditory and contextual two-way active avoidance. By efficiently expanding its array of outcomes, our novel test will complement standard two-way active avoidance in mechanistic studies and will improve its applications in translational research.

A new species of Ahaetulla Link, 1807 (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

A new vine snake, genus Ahaetulla, from Soc Trang Province, southern Vietnam is described based on morphological data and nucleotide sequences from COI and Cytb. Ahaetulla rufusoculara sp. nov. is diagnosed by the following morphological characters: bright red eyes; snout without dermal appendage; internasal separated from supralabial by loreal; body scale rows 15-15-13; ventrals 186–190 in males and 182–185 in females; subcaudals 143–153 in males and 128 or 129 in females; 8 (rarely 9) supralabials, fourth and fifth or fourth to sixth entering orbit; 12–14 maxillary teeth; hemipenis short, reaching 6th or 7th SC; cloacal plate divided; dorsum bright green; and yellow or white stripe along the lower flank. The new species differs from its congeners by an uncorrected p-distance in COI and Cytb sequences of at least 7.7% and 7.5%, respectively.

Isolation, characterization, and genomic investigation of a phytopathogenic strain of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is ubiquitous in diverse environmental habitats. It alerts significant concern due to its increasing incidence of nosocomial and community-acquired infection in immunocompromised patients and multiple drug resistance. It is rarely reported as a phytopathogen except causing white stripe disease of rice in India and postharvest fruit rot of Lanzhou Lily. Recently, Dickeya zeae and S. maltophilia strains were simultaneously isolated from soft rot leaves of Clivia miniata in Guangzhou, China, and were both demonstrated pathogenic to the host. Compared with the D. zeae strains, S. maltophilia strains propagated faster for greater growth in LB medium and produced no cellulases or polygalacturonases, more proteases and fewer extracellular polysaccharides. Furthermore, S. maltophilia strains swam and swarmed dramatically less on semi-solid media, but formed extraordinarily more biofilms. Both D. zeae and S. maltophilia strains isolated from clivia caused rot symptoms on other monocot hosts, but not on dicots. Similar to previously reported S. maltophilia strains isolated from other sources, strain JZL8 survived under many antibiotic stresses. Complete genome sequence of S. maltophilia strain JZL8 consists of a chromosome of 4,635,432 bp without plasmid. Pan-genome analysis of JZL8 and 180 other S. maltophilia strains identified 50 JZL8-unique genes, seven of which implicates potential contribution of JZL8 pathogenicity on plants. JZL8 also contains 3 copies of T1SS, likely responsible for its greater production of proteases. Findings from this study extend our knowledge on the host range of S. maltophilia and provide insight into phenotypic and genetic features underlying the plant pathogenicity of JZL8.

Target Constraints Influence Locomotion Pattern to the First Hurdle

The study examined to what extent the manipulation of hurdle height (0.76-m hurdle, low hurdle 0.50 m, and white stripe) would affect visual regulation strategies and kinematic reorganization when approaching the first hurdle. In addition, the impact of constraints as a training tool in terms of creating movement patterns functional for and representative of competitive movement models was assessed. The approach phase to the first hurdle of 13 physical education students with no previous experience in hurdling was video recorded and analyzed. Emergence of different footfall variability curves and movement coordination patterns suggests that participants interact differently with features of the performance context. Contrary to the white stripe, the hurdle height required participants to initiate regulation and distribute adjustments over a larger number of steps, and afforded the preparation for takeoff in order to clear the hurdle. In task design, manipulation of task constraints should offer valuable information regarding the dynamics of movement.

Еще раз о Босом волке в тюрко-монгольском эпосе и «Слове о полку Игореве»

The article analyses the names of the wolf in the eposes of the Mongolian and Turkic nations, which is of interest for defining the Mongolian and Turkic epic traditions and perceptions related to the wolf. One of the problems discussed by the author is the understanding of the Old Russian word-combination ‘босый волк’(off-white wolf) which appears in “The Song of Igor’s Campaign”. In the Mongolian folklore, a name of the wolf includes the word hалзн ‘a white mark or white stripe on the forehead of the animal’ which is inherent in the definition of a wolf by color. This specification allows us to eliminate all the fancy translations of the word combination ‘босый волк’(off-white wolf) and matches well the notion of the color of the wolf in the real life.