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Dicer is a highly conserved ribonuclease in evolution. It belongs to the RNase III family and can specifically recognize and cleave double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). In this study, the genome and transcriptome of Chilo suppressalis were analyzed, and it was found that there were two members in the Dicer family, named Dcr1 and Dcr2. The dsRNAs of Dcr1 and Dcr2 genes were synthesized and fed to C. suppressalis larvae. The C-factor of C. suppressalis was selected as the marker gene. The results showed that both Dcr1 and Dcr2 genes were significantly knocked down. The larval mortality was significantly reduced by 43.50% (p < 0.05) after feeding on dsC-factor and dsDcr1. The transcription levels of C-factor genes were significantly increased by 33.95% (p < 0.05) and 32.94% (p < 0.05) when the larvae fed with dsDcr2 + dsC-factor for 72 h and 96 h, respectively. Furthermore, the mortality was significantly decreased by 79% (p < 0.05) after feeding dsC-factor and dsDcr2. These findings imply that Dcr1 can decrease the lethal effect of C-factor gene but cannot affect its RNAi efficiency and Dcr2 can decrease the lethal effect of C-factor gene by inhibiting RNAi efficiency., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Brown planthopper (BPH; Nilaparvata lugens) is one of the most serious pests of rice in the world. Insect-resistant genetic engineering is a very effective technology to control BPH. The promoters and cis-regulatory elements inducible by plant-feeding insects are critical for genetic engineering of insect-resistant crops., Results: In this study, we cloned a promoter Ptps31 and a 7 bp cis-regulatory sequence that up-regulated downstream genes induced by BPH feeding. The promoter of OsTPS31 (Ptps31) unresponsive to physical damage but responsive to BPH feeding was cloned and functionally verified. The results showed that expression of the OsBPH14 gene driven by the promoter region from -510 to -246 bp in rice could significantly improve the resistance to BPH. The promoter region from -376 to -370 bp (TAGTGTC) was identified as a cis-regulatory sequence related to BPH feeding induction of downstream gene expression., Conclusion: The findings provide a new promoter and a new cis-regulatory sequence tool for the research on and application of rice BPH resistance genes, as well as a new perspective for functional analysis of the OsTPS31 gene. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: Stool DNA test has been emerged as an effective noninvasive method for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, but the real-world performance of stool DNA test in Chinese population has rarely been reported., Methods: A total of 36,527 subjects were recruited in Haining City from January 2021 to December 2021. Participants underwent primary screening by taking both two-samples fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) and high-risk factor questionnaire (HRFQ), and those who tested either positive by FITs or evaluated to be high risk by HRFQ were recommended to undertake subsequent stool DNA test and colonoscopy., Results: Of 36,527 participants, 34,778 (95%) completed both HRFQ and FITs, 9947 (29%) showed positive results during primary screening, and the colonoscopy compliance rate was 49%. Of primary screening positives, 8733 (88%) completed stool sample collections, and colonoscopy results from 4293 eligible participants were used for analyzing the performance of stool DNA test. The sensitivities for detecting CRC and advanced adenomas (AA) were 100% (95% CI: 60-100%) and 40% (95% CI: 34-46%), and the area under curve (AUC) was 0.961 (95% CI:0.954-0.967) and 0.625 (95% CI: 0.609-0.641), respectively. The specificity of stool DNA test was 84% (95% CI: 82-85%). The false-positive rate for stool DNA test is about 10% less than that of primary screening., Conclusion: Stool DNA test is a cost-effective and promising alternative strategy for CRC screening in China., (© 2022 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Temperature and humidity are important factors affecting the honeybees physiological metabolism. When honeybees are stressed by high temperature and high humidity, various physiological stress mechanisms evolved by bees are activated in response to injury. The accumulation of some sugars, polyols, and free amino acids can effectively protect cell structure stability and resist temperature stress. In this study, the changes of glucose, trehalose, cholesterol, sorbitol, sorbitol dehydrogenase, mannitol, and free amino acids content of worker honeybees [Apis cerana cerana Fabricius and Apis mellifera Ligustica (Hymenoptera: Apidae)] under different temperature and humidity conditions were measured. Our research results show that high temperature has an important impact on the metabolism of honeybees. Heat stress can cause the accumulation of various antistress substances in worker. The contents of sugars, polyols, and some free amino acids accumulated in high temperature were significantly higher than those in the control, while the influence of high humidity was less. Although high humidity was improved compared with the control, the difference was not obvious. It provides a theoretical basis for exploring the physiological mechanism of individual heat resistance of honeybees., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.)

Heat shock proteins (Hsps) function as molecular chaperones that enable organisms to withstand stress and maintain normal life activities. In this study, we identified heat shock protein 70 (encoded by hsp70 ), which exhibits a higher expression in the mature male testis than in the unmature testis of Ophraella communa . Tissue expression profile revealed that Ochsp70 levels in males were highest in the testis, whereas those in females were highest in the head. Moreover, the expression of Ochsp70 was found to be significantly induced in female bursa copulatrix after mating. Double-stranded RNA ds Ochsp70 was injected into males to performance RNA interference, which significantly decreased the male Ochsp70 expression levels within 20 d post-injection, whereas no effect was observed on the Ochsp70 expression level in the females after mating with ds Ochsp70 -injected males. However, significant downregulation of female fertility was marked simultaneously. Furthermore, knockdown of female Ochsp70 expression also led to a significant reduction in fertility. Finally, comparative transcriptomic analysis identified glucose dehydrogenase and insulin-like growth factor binding protein as putative downstream targets of Ochsp70 . Overall, we deduced that Ochsp70 is an indispensable gene and a potential male mating factor in O. communa , which regulates reproduction., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer CZ declared a shared affiliation with the author(s). ZZ, YZ, CM, QZ, TZ, ZT, HC, JG, and FW to the handling editor at the time of review., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Ma, Ma, Zhang, Tian, Tian, Chen, Guo, Wan and Zhou.)

An innovative strategy to control nitrogen oxide emission from flue gas was developed using the wet flue gas denitrification technology. The use of cyclodextrin (CD) as an additive facilitated NO 2 absorption by the sulfite absorbent. Compared with absorption by a sulfite solution (59.12%), the instantaneous absorption efficiencies employing CD improved to 94.57%. Moreover, 48 h of continuous absorption indicated cyclic utilization of CD. The favorable role of CD was ascribed to facilitating the limiting step for the entire NO 2 absorption-dissolution process which included both water solubility and gas-liquid mass transfer. Furthermore, we propose a potential mechanism of CD/sulfite mixed solution absorbing NO 2 , among which the favorable role of the additive is related to its amphiphilic behavior toward gas and liquid phases. Additionally, a kinetic model describing the rates of gas-liquid transfer and macro absorption was established based on various operating conditions. This model explains the absorption improvement in the kinetic aspect and provides theoretical guidance for practical applications.

Objectives: Quantitative faecal immunochemical tests (FITs) are widely used for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in the Western countries, whereas qualitative FITs are preferred in China. The present study aimed to compare the screening yield between one-sample quantitative FIT and two-sample qualitative FIT for CRC screening., Design: A cross-sectional study., Setting: A population-based CRC screening programme was conducted in 28 communities in Haining City, Zhejiang Province, China., Participants: Consecutive participants aged 40-74 years were invited to undergo the CRC screening programme. Two-sample qualitative FITs were offered between January 2019 and December 2019, and one-sample quantitative FIT was offered between August 2019 and February 2020., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: Primary outcomes were detection rates of advanced neoplasms, including CRCs and advanced adenomas. Secondary outcomes were positivity rates and colonoscopy resource demand for the two FITs. The positivity thresholds were 20 µg and 1-5 µg haemoglobin per gram of faeces for the quantitative and qualitative FITs, respectively., Results: A total of 19 131 and 28 804 invitees were assigned to the two-sample qualitative and one-sample quantitative groups, respectively. Positivity rates were 14.2% for the two-sample qualitative FIT and 5.4% for the one-sample quantitative FIT. Detection rates of advanced colorectal neoplasms at colonoscopy using one-sample quantitative FIT and two-sample qualitative FIT were 17.6% (95% CI: 14.6% to 20.6%) and 10.5% (95% CI: 8.7% to 12.4%), respectively. Both detection rates of cancer and advanced adenoma were higher in the one-sample quantitative FIT group than those in the two-sample qualitative FIT group. Moreover, one-sample quantitative FIT significantly reduced the colonoscopy load for detection of one advanced neoplasm case (5, 95% CI: 5 to 7) than the two-sample qualitative FIT (10, 95% CI: 8 to 11)., Conclusions: The one-sample quantitative FIT for CRC screening increases the detection rate of advanced neoplasia and reduces the colonoscopy workload compared with the two-sample qualitative FIT., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: The striped stem borer (SSB), Chilo suppressalis Walker, is a major pest of rice worldwide. Breeding of transgenic rice expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins is a powerful strategy to control SSB. However, pests may evolve certain resistance to Bt toxins in transgenic plants. Hence, new controlling strategies must be continuously developed., Results: We successfully generated SSB-resistant rice (csu-53) expressing the artificial microRNA (amiRNA) of SSB endogenous miRNA (csu-novel-miR53) through the RNAi-based technology. Feeding assays demonstrated that csu-53 rice inhibited larval growth, delayed pupation time, and reduced pupal weight and eclosion rate of SSB larva. In a 10-day feeding experiment, the miRNA mimic of csu-novel-miR53 also suppressed larval growth and more importantly increased larval mortality. Transcriptome analysis identified 28 differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) in the midgut between SSB larvae fed on csu-53 rice and the wild type. One DEG (DN90065&#95;c0&#95;g12) validated by qRT-PCR had a predicted target site of csu-novel-miR53. In addition, in vitro double-stranded RNA synthesis and further feeding assay proved that DN90065&#95;c0&#95;g12 is most likely the target of csu-novel-miR53., Conclusion: amiRNA-mediated strategy can be applied to the development of insect-resistant crops, and the novel amiRNA csu-novel-miR53 of SSB has important application potential in developing SSB resistant rice. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: Although the striped stem borer (SSB, Chilo suppressalis Walker) is a devastating pest of rice that causes significant economic losses, management options are currently limited. Plant-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) is an emerging crop protection technique in which transgenic plants are modified to express insect-specific double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) that trigger RNAi silencing in target pests., Result: In this study, an RNAi-based screen of 35 candidate SSB genes identified a small heat shock protein gene (CssHsp) as a potential plant-based RNAi target. To assess its utility in planta, a total of 39 transgenic rice plants were generated, with 11 independent transformants found to contain a single copy of the dsCssHsp expression cassette. In life-time feeding bioassays, three transgenic lines (DS10, DS35, DS36) were found to have significant negative impacts on SSB populations. After feeding for 8 days, mortality in the three transgenic lines exceeded 60%. By pupation, mortality further increased to 90% and few SSB survived to eclosion. Gene expression analyses confirmed that CssHsp transcript levels were significantly reduced after feeding on the transgenic dsCssHsp rice., Conclusion: These results demonstrate the potential for developing a plant-mediated RNAi strategy targeting CssHsp as a more biorational field-based approach for SSB control. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.)

This paper investigates the problem of using multiple microsatellites to control the attitude of a target spacecraft losing control ability. Considering external disturbance and unknown system dynamics, a data-driven robust control method based on game theory is proposed. Firstly, the attitude takeover control of the target using multiple microsatellites is modeled as a robust differential game among disturbance and multiple microsatellites, in which microsatellites can obtain the worst-case control policies. Subsequently, policy iteration algorithm is put forward to acquire the robust Nash equilibrium control policies of microsatellites with known dynamics, which is a basis of data-driven algorithm. Then, by employing off-policy integral reinforcement learning, a data-driven online controller without information about system dynamics is developed to get the feedback gain matrices of microsatellites by learning robust Nash equilibrium solution from online input-state data. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed control method, numerical simulations are provided., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Involvement of toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) in the immune response has been reported in diverse inflammatory diseases. However, the role of TLR7 in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) is poorly understood. In this study, we sought to investigate the contribution of TLR7 in regulating chondrocyte apoptosis, inflammation, and degradation of the extracellula matrix (ECM), and its underlying mechanisms. We found that TLR7 expression was increased in cartilage tissues of OA patients and in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced chondrocytes. Silencing of TLR7 alleviated LPS-induced chondrocyte apoptosis, inflammation, and ECM degradation. Mechanistically, TLR7 silencing inhibited the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway by inducing p21 expression. Moreover, p21 knockdown and colivein (an activator of JAK2/STAT3 signaling) partially rescued the suppressive role of TLR7 silencing on chondrocyte apoptosis, the inflammatory response, and ECM underproduction. Taken together, our data revealed that knockdown of TLR7 attenuated chondrocyte apoptosis and injury by blocking the p21-mediated JAK2/STAT3 pathway, suggesting that TLR7 may be a therapeutic target in OA., Competing Interests: None., (AJTR Copyright © 2021.)

One of the most intriguing concepts in animal ecology is the reproductive advantages offered by larger body size, and the females prefer to mate with larger males to gain reproductive advantage. Currently, it is not clear how females recognize signs of male 'quality' and what mechanisms are involved in producing offspring with direct or indirect benefits. Our study aims to assess the preferences of females for males in Ophraella communa, determine the reproductive benefits and reveal the underlying mechanism behind this advantage. We demonstrate that male body size is an important determinant in the evolutionary process of O. communa, affecting female mate choice. Moreover, our study establishes that females prefer males with a larger body size, and this could further improve the developmental and reproductive fitness of their offspring. Finally, we focus on the seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) in O. communa, determine differentially expressed genes (i.e. OcACE, OcCBP and OcSFP) by analysing their proteomes and transcriptomes, and define the role of these SFPs-related genes through RNAi. Our study proved that the reproductive benefit of large males may be regulated by biased expression of crucial SFPs genes. The present study advances our understanding of the biological significance of preferential mating., (© 2021 British Ecological Society.)

Objective: Integration of risk stratification into fecal immunochemical test (FIT) might aid in the suboptimal detection of advanced neoplasms by FIT in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. A comparative study was conducted to evaluate the participation and diagnostic yield of the parallel combination of questionnaire-based risk assessment (QRA) and FIT, FIT-only and QRA-only strategies in a CRC screening program in China., Methods: The study included 29,626 individuals aged 40-74 years and invited to participate in a CRC screening program in China. Participants were first invited to undertake QRA and one-time FIT (OC-sensor). Participants with positive QRA or FIT were deemed to be high-risk individuals who were recommended for subsequent colonoscopy. Participation, detection rate, and resource demand for colonoscopy were calculated and compared., Results: Of the 29,626 invitees, 20,203 completed the parallel combination, 8,592 completed the QRA-only, and 11 completed the FIT-only strategy. For the parallel combination, FIT-only, and QRA-only strategies, the overall positivity rates were 10.2% (2,928/28,806), 5.4% (1,096/20,214), and 6.8% (1,944/28,795), respectively; the yield of advanced neoplasm per 10,000 invitees were 46.9 [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 39.8-55.4], 36.8 (95% CI: 30.5-44.4), and 12.2 (95% CI: 8.8-16.8), respectively; the positive predictive values for detecting advanced neoplasms among participants who completed colonoscopy were 4.7% (95% CI: 4.0%-5.6%), 9.9% (95% CI: 8.3%-11.9%), and 1.9% (95% CI: 1.3%-2.6%), respectively; the number of colonoscopies required to detect one advanced neoplasm was 11.4 (95% CI: 9.8-13.4), 5.7 (95% CI: 4.8-6.7), and 28.4 (95% CI: 20.7-39.2), respectively., Conclusions: The parallel combination of QRA and FIT did not show superior efficacy for detecting advanced neoplasm compared with FIT alone in this CRC screening program., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright ©2021Chinese Journal of Cancer Research. All rights reserved.)

Weeds are one of the main factors that affect the yield and quality of rice. The combination of glyphosate-resistant transgenic crops and glyphosate is regarded as an important strategy for weed management in modern agriculture. In this study, a codon-optimized glyphosate oxidase gene WBceGO-B3S1 from a variant BceGO-B3S1 and a glyphosate-tolerant gene I. variabilis-EPSPS* from the bacterium Isoptericola variabilis were transformed into an Oryza sativa subsp . geng rice variety Zhonghua11 by Agrobacterium -mediated genetic transformation. Molecular detection and field agronomic trait analysis contributed to the selection of three homozygous lines with stable expression of a single copy of the transferred genes integrated into the intergenic region. Under the treatment of glyphosate at a test amount in the field, transgenic lines exhibited no differences in agronomic traits. Under the treatment by 3600 g ha -1 glyphosate, the glyphosate residues in the aboveground tissues of the three candidate transgenic homozygous lines were significantly lower than those in the transgenic homozygous line with I. variabilis-EPSPS* alone at 1, 5, and 10 days. The transgenic line coexpressing I. variabilis-EPSPS* and WBceGO-B3S1 has great application value in breeding of transgenic rice varieties with high glyphosate resistance and low glyphosate residues. This study is a step forward in solving the problem of herbicide residues in food crops by taking advantage of genes that degrade glyphosate.

Background: Weeds, diseases and pests pose serious threats to rice production and cause significant economic losses. Cultivation of rice varieties with resistance to herbicides, diseases and pests is believed to be the most economical and environmentally friendly method to deal with these problems., Results: In this study, a highly efficient transgene stacking system was used to assembly the synthetic glyphosate-tolerance gene (I. variabilis-EPSPS*), lepidopteran pest resistance gene (Cry1C*), brown planthopper resistance genes (Bph14* and OsLecRK1*), bacterial blight resistance gene (Xa23*) and rice blast resistance gene (Pi9*) onto a transformable artificial chromosome vector. The construct was transferred into ZH11 (a widely used japonica rice cultivar Zhonghua 11) via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and 'multiresistance rice' (MRR) with desirable agronomic traits was obtained. The results showed that MRR had significantly improved resistance to glyphosate, borers, brown planthopper, bacterial blight and rice blast relative to the recipient cultivar ZH11. Besides, under the natural occurrence of pests and diseases in the field, the yield of MRR was significantly higher than that of ZH11., Conclusion: A multigene transformation strategy was employed to successfully develop rice lines with multiresistance to glyphosate, borers, brown planthopper, bacterial blight and rice blast, and the obtained MRR is expected to have great application potential. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

The brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, white-backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera, and small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus are three major insect pests of rice. They are genetically close; however, they differ in several ecological traits such as host range, migration capacity, and in their sex chromosomes. Though the draft genome of these three planthoppers have been previously released, the quality of genome assemblies need to be improved. The absence of chromosome-level genome resources has hindered in-depth research of these three species. Here, we performed a de novo genome assembly for N. lugens to increase its genome assembly quality with PacBio and Illumina platforms, increasing the contig N50 to 589.46 Kb. Then, with the new N. lugens genome and previously reported S. furcifera and L. striatellus genome assemblies, we generated chromosome-level scaffold assemblies of these three planthopper species using HiC scaffolding technique. The scaffold N50s significantly increased to 77.63 Mb, 43.36 Mb and 29.24 Mb for N. lugens, S. furcifera and L. striatellus, respectively. To identify sex chromosomes of these three planthopper species, we carried out genome re-sequencing of males and females and successfully determined the X and Y chromosomes for N. lugens, and X chromosome for S. furcifera and L. striatellus. The gene content of the sex chromosomes showed high diversity among these three planthoppers suggesting the rapid evolution of sex-linked genes, and all chromosomes showed high synteny. The chromosome-level genome assemblies of three planthoppers would provide a valuable resource for a broad range of future research in molecular ecology, and subsequently benefits development of modern pest control strategies., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Promoters play a key role in driving insect-resistant genes during breeding of transgenic plants. In current transgenic procedures for breeding rice resistance to striped stem borer (Chilo suppressalis Walker, SSB), the constitutive promoter is used to drive the insect-resistant gene. To reduce the burden of constitutive promoters on plant growth, isolation and identification of insect-inducible promoters are particularly important. However, few promoters are induced specifically by insect feeding., Results: We found rice hydroperoxide lyase gene (OsHPL2) (LOC&#95;Os02g12680) was upregulated after feeding by SSB. We subsequently cloned the promoter of OsHPL2 and analysed its expression pattern using the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. Histochemical assays and quantitative analyses of GUS activity confirmed that P HPL2 :GUS was activated by SSB, but did not respond to brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål, BPH) infestation, mechanical wounding or phytohormone treatments. A series of 5' truncated assays were conducted and three positive regulatory regions (-1452 to -1213, -903 to -624, and -376 to -176) induced by SSB infestation were identified. P2R123-min 35S and P2TR2-min 35S promoters linked with cry1C of transgenic plants showed the highest levels of Cry1C protein expression and SSB larval mortality., Conclusion: We identified an SSB-inducible promoter and three positive internal regions. Transgenic rice plants with the OsHPL2 promoter and its positive regions driving cry1C exhibited the expected larvicidal effect on SSB. Our study is the first report of an SSB-inducible promoter that could be used as a potential resource for breeding insect-resistant transgenic crops. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: Although the utility of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-mediated knockdown as an environmentally friendly pest management strategy has gained traction in recent years, its overall efficacy has been limited by poor stability and limited cellular uptake. Encapsulation of dsRNAs with various nanomaterials, however, has shown promise in overcoming these limitations. This study sought to investigate the biological efficacy of an oral dsRNA nanomaterial mixture targeting the CYP15C1 gene product in the economically important rice pest, Chilo suppressalis., Results: A putative CYP15C1 ortholog was cloned from C. suppressalis midguts. The transcript is downregulated in fifth-instar larvae and is most highly expressed in heads. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated knockdown of CsCYP15C1 was associated with significantly increased mortality. More importantly, feeding a dsRNA-nanomaterial mixture significantly increased larval mortality compared with feeding dsRNA alone., Conclusion: A critical role for CsCYP15C1 function in molting is supported by sequence similarity with known juvenile hormone epoxidases, its expression profile, and abnormal molting phenotypes associated with RNA-mediated knockdown. CsCYP15C1 is thus a prime target for controlling C. suppressalis. Furthermore, RNAi-mediated characterization of candidate gene function can be enhanced by incorporating an enveloping nanomaterial. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

The rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis, is one of the most damaging insect pests to rice production worldwide. Although C. suppressalis has been the focus of numerous studies examining cold tolerance and diapause, plant-insect interactions, pesticide targets and resistance, and the development of RNAi-mediated pest management, the absence of a high-quality genome has limited deeper insights. To address this limitation, we generated a draft C. suppressalis genome constructed from both Illumina and PacBio sequences. The assembled genome size was 824.35 Mb with a contig N 50 of 307 kb and a scaffold N 50 of 1.75 Mb. Hi-C scaffolding assigned 99.2% of the bases to one of 29 chromosomes. Based on universal single-copy orthologues (BUSCO), the draft genome assembly was estimated to be 97% complete and is predicted to encompass 15,653 protein-coding genes. Cold tolerance is an extreme survival strategy found in animals. However, little is known regarding the genetic basis of the winter ecology of C. suppressalis. Here, we focused our orthologous analysis on those gene families associated with animal cold tolerance. Our finding provided the first genomic evidence revealing specific cold-tolerant strategies in C. suppressalis, including those involved in glucose-originated glycerol biosynthesis, triacylglycerol-originated glycerol biosynthesis, fatty acid synthesis and trehalose transport-intermediate cold tolerance. The high-quality C. suppressalis genome provides a valuable resource for research into a broad range of areas in molecular ecology, and subsequently benefits developing modern pest control strategies., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The ambient temperature and relative humidity affect the metabolic and physiological responses of bees, thus affecting their life activities. However, the physiological changes in bee due to high temperature and high humidity remain poorly understood. In this study, we explored the effects of higher temperature and humidity on the epiphysiology of bees by evaluating the survival, tolerance and body water loss in two bee species (Apis cerana and Apis mellifera). We also evaluated the changes in the activity of antioxidant and detoxification enzymes in their body. We observed that under higher temperature and humidity conditions, the survival rate of A. mellifera was higher than that of A. cerana. On the other hand, a comparison of water loss between the two species revealed that A. mellifera lost more water. However, under extremely high temperature conditions, A. cerana was more tolerant than A. mellifera. Moreover, under higher temperature and humidity conditions, the activity of antioxidant and detoxification enzymes in bees was significantly increased. Overall, these results suggest that high temperatures can adversely affect bees. They not only affect the survival and water loss, but also stimulate oxidative stress in bees. However, unlike our previous understanding, high humidity can also adversely affect bees, although its effects are lower than that of temperature., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Transgenic crops expressing Cry toxins are effective and considered environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic pesticides, but assessment of environmental risks of their application on nontarget organisms is ongoing. The main risk is the transfer of Cry toxins to natural enemies through the food chain. There is reported evidence supporting that Cry toxins can be detected in the body and gut of some natural enemy insects. Considering that binding of Cry toxins to insect proteins is an essential step in the intoxication process, this work was conducted to evaluate interactions between Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa toxins with proteins from larvae/nymphs and adults of two important predatory natural enemies in cotton fields, Harmonia axyridis and Orius similis. Results support the absence of Cry1Ac or Cry2Aa binding proteins in immature stages of H. axyridis and O. similis, as well as in imaginal stage of H. axyridis. One same binding band about 70 kDa was found in imaginal total protein of O. similis when probed with the two Cry proteins, with the best match to Hsc70 of O. sauteri in the Uniprot database. However, nonspecific binding was verified by following competitive binding assays between the two Cry proteins and imaginal total protein of O. similis. From these results, we may infer that Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa have no likely detrimental effects on H. axyridis and O. similis.

The widespread cultivation of transgenic Bt cotton makes assessing the potential effects of this recombinant crop on non-target organisms a priority. However, the effect of Bt cotton on many insects is currently virtually unknown. The plant bug Adelphocoris suturalis is now a major pest of cotton in southern China and the beetle Haptoncus luteolus is one of the most ancient cotton pollinators. We conducted laboratory experiments to evaluate the toxicity of the Bt cotton varieties ZMSJ, which expresses the toxins Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab, and ZMKCKC, which expresses Cry1Ac and EPSPS, on adult A. suturalis and H. luteolus. No significant increase in the mortality of either species was detected after feeding on Bt cotton leaves or pollen for 7 days. Trace amounts of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab proteins could be detected in both species but in vitro binding experiments found no evidence of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab binding proteins. These results demonstrate that feeding on the leaves or pollen of these two Bt cotton varieties has no toxic effects on adult A. suturalis or H. luteolus., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In social insects, the foraging gene (for) regulates insect age- and task-based foraging behaviors. We studied the expression and localization of the for gene (Acfor) in Apis cerana cerana workers to explore whether the differential regulation of this gene is associated with the behaviors of nurses and foragers. The expression profiles of Acfor in different tissues and at different ages were examined using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Cellular localization in the brain was detected using in situ hybridization. Acfor transcripts in different ages workers showed that Acfor expression was detected in all the heads of 1- to 30-d-old worker bees. Acfor expression reached a peak at 25 d of age, and then declined with increasing age. The results showed that Acfor gene expression in five tissues was respectively significantly higher in foragers than in nurses. In nurses, the relative expression of Acfor was the highest in the antennae. There was a highly significant difference in expression between antennae, legs, and the other three tissues. In foragers, Acfor expression was the highest in the thorax, which was significantly different from all other tissues. In situ hybridization showed that Acfor was highly expressed in the lamina of the optic lobes, in a central column of Kenyon cells in the mushroom bodies of the brain of workers, and in the antennal lobes. This suggested that Acfor expression affects age-related foraging behavior in Apis cerana cerana, and that it may be related to flight activity.

One important concern regarding the use of transgenic cotton expressing insecticidal toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is its potential detrimental effect on non-target organisms. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the most important pollinator species worldwide and it is directly exposed to transgenic crops by the consumption of genetically modified (GM) pollen. However, the potential effects of Bt cotton on A. mellifera remain unclear. In the present study, we assessed the effects of two Bt cotton varieties; ZMSJ expressing the Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab insecticidal proteins, and ZMKCKC producing Cry1Ac and EPSPS, on A. mellifera. Feeding on pollen from two Bt cotton varieties led to detection of low levels of Cry toxins (<10 ng/g fresh weight) in the midgut of A. mellifera adults, yet expression of detoxification genes did not change significantly compared to feeding on non-Bt cotton. Binding assays showed no Cry1Ac or Cry2Ab binding to midgut brush border membrane proteins from A. mellifera adults. Taken together, these results support minimal risk for potential negative effects on A. mellifera by exposure to Bt cotton., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry toxins play an important role in the management of insect pests. Resistance to Bt toxins has been reported in many pest insects but the mechanism responsible for this resistance in rice crop pests remains largely unknown. Cadherin is one of several Bt toxin receptors. At present, only one cadherin gene, CsCAD1, has been documented in the striped rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis. We amplified a nearly full-length transcript of another C. suppressalis cadherin gene, CsCAD2, and found that it has a different expression pattern to CsCAD1. CsCAD1 was highly expressed in fifth and sixth instar larvae, especially in the midgut, while the expression levels of CsCA2 were equably in each developmental stage. Newly hatched larvae were fed on rice smeared with synthesized siRNA to knockdown either CsCAD1 or CsCAD2, and then were fed transgenic rice expressing either the Cry2A or Cry1C toxins. The siRNA-treatment groups had lower mortality and higher survival rates than the control group, suggesting that reduced expression of CsCAD1 or CsCAD2 increased resistance to Cry2A and Cry1C. We conclude that CsCAD1 and CsCAD2 interact with Bt toxins in C. suppressalis and that this interaction could be the mechanism underlying Bt resistance in this insect.

Transgenic rice expressing cry genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt rice) is highly resistant to lepidopteran pests. The brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens) is the main non-target sap-sucking insect pest of Bt transgenic rice. The pond wolf spider (PWS, Pardosa pseudoannulata) is one of the most dominant predators of BPH in rice fields. Consequently, the safety evaluation of Bt rice on BPH and PWS should be conducted before commercialization. In the current study, two experiments were performed to assess the potential ecological effects of Bt rice on BPH and PWS: (1) a tritrophic experiment to evaluate the transmission of Cry1Ac, Cry2Aa and Cry1Ca protein in the food chain; and (2) binding assays of Cry1Ac, Cry2Aa and Cry1Ca to midgut brush border membrane proteins from BPH and PWS. Trace amounts of the three Cry proteins were detected in BPH feeding on Bt rice cultivars, but only Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa proteins could be transferred to PWS through feeding on BPH. In vitro binding of biotinylated Cry proteins and competition assays in midgut protein vesicles showed weak binding, and ligand blot analysis confirmed the binding specificity. Thus, we inferred that the tested Bt rice varieties have negligible effects on BPH and PWS.

In this study, Cu2O-CuO/ZSM-5 nanocomposite was synthesized by the impregnation method, and its catalytic performance for the destruction of AO7 in aqueous solutions was investigated. The morphology, structure and surface element valence state of Cu2O-CuO/ZSM-5 were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The operating conditions on the degradation of AO7 by Cu2O-CuO/ZSM-5, such as initial pH values, concentration of AO7 and catalyst dosage were investigated and optimized. The results showed that the sample had good catalytic activity for destruction of AO7 in the absence of a sacrificial agent (e.g. H2O2): it could degrade 91% AO7 in 140 min at 25 °C and was not restricted by the initial pH of the AO7 aqueous solutions. Cu2O-CuO/ZSM-5 exhibited stable catalytic activity with little loss after three successive runs. The total organic carbon and chemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies increased rapidly to 69.36% and 67.3% after 120 min of treatment by Cu2O-CuO/ZSM-5, respectively.

Insects use olfaction to recognize a wide range of volatile cues, to locate food sources, mates, hosts and oviposition sites. These chemical volatiles are perceived by odorant receptors (ORs) expressed on the dendritic membrane of olfactory neurons, most of which are housed within the chemosensilla of antennae. Most insect ORs are tandemly arrayed on chromosomes and some of them are formed by gene duplication. Here, we identified a pair of duplicated Or genes, AcerOr1 and AcerOr3, from the antennae of the Asian honeybee, Apis cerana cerana, and reported their molecular characterization and temporal expression profiles. The results showed that these two genes shared high similarity both in sequence and the gene structure. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of temporal expression pattern indicated that in drones the expression pattern of these two genes were very similar. The transcripts expressed weakly in larvae and pupae, then increased gradually in adults. In workers, the expression level of AcerOr1 changed more drastically and expressed higher than that of AcerOr3. However, both reached their highest expression level in one-day-old adults. In addition, the expression profiles between different sexes revealed that AcerOr3 appear to be expressed biased in male antennae. These results suggest that AcerOr1 may perceive odours of floral scents, while AcerOr3 may detect odours critical to male behaviour, such as the queen substance cues.

We sequenced the antenna transcriptome of the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), a global rice pest, and performed transcriptome analysis on BPH antenna. We obtained about 40million 90bp reads that were assembled into 75,874 unigenes with a mean size of 456bp. Among the antenna transcripts, 32,856 (43%) showed significant similarity (E-value <1e(-5)) to known proteins in the NCBI database. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were used to classify functions of BPH antenna genes. We identified 10 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), including 7 previously unidentified, and 11 chemosensory proteins (CSPs), including two new members. The expression profiles of 4 OBPs and 2 CSPs were determined by q-PCR for antenna, abdomen, leg and wing of insects of different age, gender, and mating status including two BPH adult wing-morphology types. NlugCSP10 and 4 OBPs appeared to be antenna-specific because they were highly and differentially expressed in male and female antennae. NlugCSP11 was expressed ubiquitously, with particularly high expression in wings. The transcript levels of several olfactory genes depended on adult wing form, age, gender, and mating status, although no clear expression patterns were determined., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The proteomic approach has proven to be an useful tool for understanding insect diapause processes. Using 2D gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser/desorption ionization (MALDI) time of flight (TOF), we identified 24 proteins in the head of Helicoverpa armigera pupae with diverse functional characteristics, including cytoskeleton proteins, heat-shock proteins, insect development regulation factors, ATPases, proteins regulating signal pathway and enzymes involved in metabolism, etc. A proteomic comparison between nondiapausing and diapausing pupae revealed three proteins that were present only in nondiapausing pupae, and six proteins represented >or=2.0-fold or

Genetic regulation on body color of a mutant strain, JBM of Helicoverpa armigera with black body color of pupae and adults, was investigated. Reciprocal crosses between JBM and JBW (a wild strain with yellow brown body color of pupae and adults) were used to determine the inheritance characteristics of body color. Analysis of the ratio of phenotype segregation from the F1 generation, F2 generation, F3 generation, BC1 (F1 x JBM) generation and F1 generation of BC1 indicated that the black body color was controlled by one recessive gene.