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The hilly region in eastern Guangdong, China lacks comprehensive scientific investigations for decades, especially in terms of herpetofauna. In recent years, several highly threatened amphibians have been gradually discovered from this region. In this work, three new species of the genus Boulenophrys are described, which are endemic from only one or two known localities in eastern Guangdong. These discoveries enrich the diversity of Boulenophrys in eastern Guangdong. With the large number of threatened urodeles and anuran species occurring in this densely populated area, the unique herpetological diversity in eastern Guangdong is facing the impacts of habitat degradation and fragmentation, and conservation actions are urgently required.

Radiation pneumonia is a common and intractable side effect associated with radiotherapy for chest cancer and involves oxidative stress damage and inflammation, prematurely halting the remedy and reducing the life quality of patients. However, the therapeutic options for the complication have yielded disappointing results in clinical application. Here, we report an effective avenue for fighting against radiation pneumonia. Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) reduced radiation pneumonia, scavenged oxidative stress and improved lung function in mouse models. Local chest irradiation shifted the gut bacterial taxonomic proportions, which were preserved by FMT. The level of gut microbiota-derived PGF2α decreased following irradiation but increased after FMT. Experimental mice with PGF2α replenishment, via an oral route, exhibited accumulated PGF2α in faecal pellets, peripheral blood and lung tissues, resulting in the attenuation of inflammatory status of the lung and amelioration of lung respiratory function following local chest irradiation. PGF2α activated the FP/MAPK/NF-κB axis to promote cell proliferation and inhibit apoptosis with radiation challenge; silencing MAPK attenuated the protective effect of PGF2α on radiation-challenged lung cells. Together, our findings pave the way for the clinical treatment of radiotherapy-associated complications and underpin PGF2α as a gut microbiota-produced metabolite.

Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. Wang, Zeng, Lyu & Wang Fengshun Horned Toad (in English) / Fēng Shùn Jiǎo Chán (丰NJDzdz in Chinese) Chresonymy: Megophrys sp 14 — Liu et al. 2018 Figures 7–8 Holotype. SYS a004744, adult male, collected by Jian Wang and Zhi-Tong Lyu on 13 May 2016 from Mt. Tongguzhang (24°10'31.12"N, 116°21'2.63"E; ca. 1500 m a.s.l.), Fengshun, Meizhou, Guangdong, China. Paratypes (N=7). Adult males, SYS a004724/ CIB118528, SYS a004725–4728, collected by Jian Wang and Zhi-Tong Lyu on 11 May 2016 from the same locality of the holotype. Adult females, SYS a005220–5221, collected by Jian Wang on 9 August 2016 from the same locality of the holotype. Etymology. The specific epithet “ fengshunensis ” refers to the type locality of the new species, the Fengshun County. Diagnosis. (1) Small body size, SVL 34.3–39.4 mm (36.9 ± 1.7, N = 6) in adult males and SVL 42.5–44.9 mm (N = 2) in adult females; (2) snout pointed in dorsal view; (3) tympanum moderate in size TD/ED 0.56–0.67, tubercles bearing spines on tips present on skin of temporal region including the tympanum; (4) vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth present; (5) margin of tongue rounded, not notched distally; (6) hindlimbs short, heels not meeting and tibio-tarsal articulation reaching forward to the region between tympanum and posterior corner of eye, TIB/SVL 0.37–0.43; (7) a subarticular tubercle present at the base of each fingers; (8) toes without lateral fringes and with rudiment of webbing; (9) distinct sparse enlarged tubercles on the surface of limbs, flanks, posterior part of belly and around the cloaca; (10) tips of the tubercles on ventral surface of thighs and around the cloaca bearing tiny spines; (11) single subgular vocal sac in males; (12) nuptial pads with well-developed villiform black nuptial spines on the dorsal surface of the first and second fingers in breeding males. Comparisons. Comparative data of Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. and the other recognized members of Boulenophrys are listed in Table 3. Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. and Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. having a tympanum with tubercles bearing spines on their tips (vs. tympanic region smooth without granules, tubercles or spines in Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. and Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov.); the presence of both a vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth (vs. absence of vomerine ridge but with vomerine teeth present in Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov.); tubercles on skin of the posterior part of belly without spines (vs. tubercles on skin of the posterior part of belly bearing spines on their tips in both Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. and Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov.). With a smaller body size, SVL 34.3–39.4 mm in adult males and SVL 42.5–44.9 mm in adult females, Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. differs from the seven congeners whose SVL ≥ 50 mm in males or SVL ≥ 60 mm in females, including B. caudoprocta (81.3 mm in a single male), B. jingdongensis (53.0– 56.5 mm in males and 63.5 mm in a single female), B. liboensis (60.5–67.7 mm in males and 60.8–70.6 in females), B. mirabilis (55.8–61.4 mm in males and 68.5–74.8 mm in females), B. omeimontis (56.0– 59.5 mm in males and 68.0– 72.5 mm in females), B. sangzhiensis (54.7 mm in a single male), and B. shuichengensis (102.0– 118.3 mm in males and 99.8–115.6 mm in females). In having relatively shorter shanks with heels that do not meet when the flexed hind limbs are held at right angles to the body axis, Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from the following 35 congeners, i.e. B. angka, B. anlongensis, B. baishanzuensis, B. baolongensis, B. binchuanensis, B. binlingensis, B. boettgeri, B. congjiangensis, B. cheni, B. chishuiensis, B. daiyunensis, B. jiangi, B. jinggangensis, B. jiulianensis, B. leishanensis, B. lini, B. minor, B. mufumontana, B. nanlingensis, B. palpebralespinosa, B. qianbeiensis, B. sanmingensis, B. shimentaina, B. shunhuangensis, B. spinata, B. tongboensis, B. tuberogranulatus, B. wuliangshanensis, B. wushanensis, B. xiangnanensis, B. xianjuensis, B. yaoshanensis, B.yangmingensis, B. yingdeensis and B. yunkaiensis, all of which have relatively longer shanks with the heels meeting or overlapping. By the presence of vomerine teeth, Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. differs from B. acuta, B. brachykolos, B. caobangensis, B. daoji, B. huangshanensis, B. kuatunensis, B. lishuiensis, B. lushuiensis, B. obesa, B. ombrophila, and B. wugongensis, all of which lack vomerine teeth. By having a rounded margin of the tongue that is not notched distally, Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. differs from B. hoanglienensis, B. insularis, which have a notched tongue. By the absence of lateral fringes on toes, Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. differs from B. rubrimera, which has narrow lateral fringes on toes. By the presence of rudimentary webbing on toes, Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. differs from B. daweimontis, B. fansipanensis, B. frigida, and B. rubrimera, all of which lack webbing on toes. Boulenophrys fengshunensi sp. nov. further differs from the remaining B. dongguanensis and B. nankunensis by having raised tubercles on the surface of posterior abdomen (vs. absence of such tubercles in both B. dongguanensis B. nankunensis); the presence of tubercles bearing spines on their tips on the temporal region including the tympanum (vs. temporal region lacking tubercles or spines in both B. dongguanensis and B. nankunensis). Description of holotype. Adult male. Small body size, SVL 37.4 mm; head width slightly larger than head length, HWD/HDL 1.17; snout pointed in dorsal view, projecting, sloping backward to mouth in profile, protruding well beyond margin of lower jaw; top of head flat; eyes moderate in size, ED 0.37 of HDL, pupil vertical, near diamond-shaped; nostril oblique-ovoid; canthus rostralis well developed; loreal region slightly oblique; internasal distance slightly larger than interorbital distance; tympanum moderate in size with an obvious margin, TD/ED 0.65; large ovoid choanae at base of maxilla; vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth present, maxillary teeth present; margin of tongue rounded, not notched distally; presence of single subgular vocal sac, and pair of slit-like openings at posterior of jaw. Forearm (i.e., radioulna) length 0.21 of SVL and hand 0.25 of SVL; hand without webbing, fingers without lateral fringes, relative finger length I = II Dorsal skin rough, granular, with sparse tubercles; skin of dorsal body and limbs bearing tiny spines; sparse large conical tubercles on flanks; single horn-like prominent tubercle on edge of upper eyelid; obvious supratympanic fold curving posteroventrally from posterior corner of eye to level above insertion of arm; dense tubercles on skin of upper lip, upper eyelid, mandibular articulation, loreal, temporal region including tympanum and surface around cloaca; tip of tubercles on skin of temporal region excluding tympanum bearing tiny spine; single discontinuous “X” shaped ridge and few elongated tubercles arranged in longitudinal rows on two sides at mid-dorsum; sparse tubercles on dorsal shank and thigh; ventral skin of throat, chest and anterior part of belly smooth; ventral skin of thighs and posterior part of belly bearing dense tubercles; surface around cloaca with dense tubercles bearing tiny spines; small pectoral gland closer to axilla; single femoral gland positioned on posterior surface of thigh at midpoint between knee and cloaca.. Coloration of holotype in life. Dorsal surface of body dark brown, with incomplete dark brown triangular marking between eyes. Two wide oblique black bands present on forearm. Dorsal surface of fingers and hindlimbs with dark grey transverse bands. Presence of vertical dark brown band below eye. Tip of tubercles on edge of upper eyelid greyish white. Supratympanic fold orangey brown. Ventral surface dark brown, black longitudinal band on surface of throat, posterior part of belly with irregular greyish white patches. Tubercles on ventral surface of posterior part of belly and thighs greyish white; spines on tips of tubercles on temporal region, ventral surface of thighs and around cloaca dark grey. Digits, inner and outer metacarpal tubercles, and inner metatarsal tubercle dark grey. Pectoral glands beige and femoral glands greyish white. Iris orangish brown. Coloration of holotype in preservative. Dorsal surface of body dark brown. Triangular marking between eyes, vertical dark brown band below eye and transverse bands on dorsal forearms and hind limbs become indistinct. Supratympanic fold greyish white. All bands and patterns on ventral surface no longer apparent. Irregular greyish white patches on posterior part of belly become dark grey. Variation. Mensural data of the type series are listed in Table 6. Most of the paratypes are similar to the holotype in morphology and color pattern, except for the following: dorsal surface and ventral surface dark brown, posterior part of belly with irregular greyish white patches, ventral surface of thighs dark grey, triangular marking between eyes is incomplete in the holotype (vs. dorsal surface beige and ventral surface light orange, posterior part of belly and ventral surface of thighs greyish white, triangular marking between eyes is complete in the female paratype SYS a005221 (Fig. 8); tibio-tarsal articulation reaching forward to middle of tympanum when hind limb stretched along body in the holotype (vs. tibio-tarsal articulation reaching forward to posterior margin of tympanum in the paratype SYS a004725; reaching forward to the region between tympanum and eye in the paratype SYS a004726). Females are distinctly larger than the males. Distribution and natural history. Currently, Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. is only known from its type locality, Mt. Tongguzhang of Fengshun. It inhabits flowing montane streams and the nearby forest floor and leaf litter at elevations between 800–1500 m. Boulenophrys fengshunensis sp. nov. is found to be sympatric with Pachytriton granulosus Chang, 1933 and Cynops glaucus Yuan, Jiang, Ding, Zhang & Che, 2013. Advertisement calls of males were heard during April and June. Males were found calling under the leaf litters around the flowing seeps. Tadpoles could be found in this period. Female specimens collected during August had immature eggs; males were not heard calling during this period, but sub-adults were observed.

Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. Wang, Zeng, Lyu, Xiao & Wang Hung-Ta Chang���s Horned Toad (in English) / Jiē Y��ng Ji��o Ch��n (DZffiDzdz in Chinese) Figures 5���6 Holotype. SYS a007578, adult male, collected by Jian Wang, Hong-Hui Chen and Hui-Wen Xiao on 5 January 2019 from Mt. Liwangzhang (23��38'6.42"N, 115��48'51.78"E; ca. 990 m a.s.l.), Jiexi, Jieyang, Guangdong, China. Paratypes (N=12). SYS a007575/ CIB118527, SYS a007576���7577, 7579���7582, 7594���7597, adult males, collected on 5���6 January 2019 from the same stream as the holotype at elevations between 950���1000 m. SYS a008576, adult male, collected by Jian Wang, Hong-Hui Chen, and Shuo Qi on 28 February 2021 from Shuangkeng Forestry Station (23��43'56.25"N, 116��21'26.4"E; ca. 550 m a.s.l.), Jiedong, Jieyang, Guangdong, China. Etymology. The specific epithet ��� hungtai ��� is a patronym in honor of Professor Hung-Ta Chang (=Hong-Da Zhang, �����ffl, 1914���2016), an outstanding botanist who was born in Jiexi. Diagnosis. (1) Small body size, SVL 25.8���33.3 mm (28.2 �� 2.3, N = 12) in adult males; (2) snout pointed in dorsal view; (3) tympanum moderate, TD/ED 0.52���0.61; (4) tympanic region smooth without granules or tubercles; (4) vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth absent; (5) margin of tongue rounded, not notched distally; (6) hindlimbs short, heels not meeting and tibio-tarsal articulation reaching forward to the region between tympanum and posterior corner of eye; (7) a subarticular tubercle present at the base of each fingers; (8) toes without lateral fringes and webbing; (9) distinct enlarged tubercles on the surface of limbs, flanks, chest, belly and around the cloaca; (10) tips of the tubercles on posterior abdomen, ventral thighs and around the cloaca bearing tiny spines; (11) single subgular vocal sac in males; (12) nuptial pads with villiform black nuptial spines on the dorsal surface of the first and second fingers in breeding males. Comparisons. Comparative data of Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. and the other recognized members of Boulenophrys are listed in Table 3. Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. by having a moderately sized tympanum, TD/ED 0.52���0.61 (vs. tympanum large, TD/ED 0.68���0.71); lacking both a vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth (vs. vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth present); lacking webbing on toes (vs. having rudimentary webbing on toes). Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. is strongly supported as the sister taxon to B. insularis, which is stated by Wang et al. (2017a) to be an endemic species of an offshore island in Shantou, China. Though the mean p -distance in the 16S gene is only 2.2 %, B. hungtai differs by having a snout pointed in dorsal view (vs. snout obtusely rounded in dorsal view); by the absence of vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth (vs. presence of strong vomerine ridge bearing vomerine teeth); margin of tongue not notched distally (vs. tongue notched distally); absence of webbing on toes (vs. having rudiment of webbing on toes); distinct enlarged tubercles on the surface of limbs, flanks, chest, belly and around the cloaca (vs. ventral surface smooth). Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. forms a clade with B. ombrophila (mean p -distance 4.9 % in the 16S gene), B. obesa (mean p -distance 3.9 % in the 16S gene), and B. cheni (mean p -distance 2.5 % in the 16S gene) though there is weak support for these relationships. However, the new species differs from the latter two congeners by having no webbing on toes (vs. having rudiment of webbing on toes in B. obesa); no vomerine ridge (vs. presence of vomerine ridges in B. obesa); a pointed snout in dorsal view (vs. snout rounded in dorsal view in B. ombrophila and B. obesa); distinct enlarged tubercles on the surface of limbs, flanks, chest, belly and around the cloaca (vs. ventral surface smooth in B. ombrophila and B. obesa); margin of tongue not notched distally, the shorter shanks with heels not meeting, absence of lateral fringes on toes (vs. tongue notched, heels meeting, presence of wide lateral fringes on toes in B. cheni). With a smaller body size, SVL 25.8���33.3 mm in adult males, Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. differs from the seven congeners whose SVL ��� 50 mm in males, including B. caudoprocta (81.3 mm in a single male), B. jingdongensis (53.0��� 56.5 mm in males), B. liboensis (60.5���67.7 mm in males), B. mirabilis (55.8���61.4 mm in males), B. omeimontis (56.0��� 59.5 mm in males), B. sangzhiensis (54.7 mm in a single male), and B. shuichengensis (102.0��� 118.3 mm in males). In having relatively shorter shanks with heels that do not meet when the flexed hind limbs are held at right angles to the body axis, Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from the following 31 congeners, i.e. B. angka, B. anlongensis, B. baishanzuensis, B. baolongensis, B. binchuanensis, B. binlingensis, B. boettgeri, B. congjiangensis, B. chishuiensis, B. jiangi, B. jinggangensis, B. jiulianensis, B. leishanensis, B. lini, B. minor, B. mufumontana, B. nanlingensis, B. palpebralespinosa, B. qianbeiensis, B. sanmingensis, B. shimentaina, B. shunhuangensis, B. spinata, B. tongboensis, B. wuliangshanensis, B. wushanensis, B. xiangnanensis, B. xianjuensis, B. yaoshanensis, B. yangmingensis, B. yingdeensis and B. yunkaiensis, all of which have relatively longer shanks with the heels meeting or overlapping. By the absence of vomerine teeth, Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. differs from B. daiyunensis, B. daweimontis, B. dongguanensis, B. fansipanensis, B. frigida, B. hoanglienensis, B. nankunensis, and B. rubrimera, all of which have vomerine teeth. By having a rounded margin of the tongue that is not notched distally, Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. differs from B. huangshanensis, B. kuatunensis, and B. lushuiensis, all of which have notched tongues. By the absence of lateral fringes on toes, Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. differs from B. acuta, and B. daoji, all of which have lateral fringes on toes. By the absence of webbing on toes, Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. differs from B. brachykolos, B. caobangensis, B. tuberogranulatus, and B. wugongensis, all of which have rudimentary webbing on toes. Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. further differs from the remaining B. lishuiensis by having raised tubercles bearing spines on their tips on surface of posterior abdomen (vs. surface of belly smooth in B. lishuiensis). Description of holotype. Adult male. Body size small, SVL 28.7 mm. Head width slightly larger than head length, HDW/HDL 1.11; snout pointed in dorsal view, projecting, sloping backward to mouth in profile, protruding well beyond margin of lower jaw; top of head flat; eyes moderate in size, ED 0.34 of HDL, pupil vertical, near diamond-shaped; nostril oblique-ovoid; canthus rostralis well developed; loreal region slightly oblique; internasal distance slightly larger than interorbital distance; tympanum moderate in size with an obvious margin, TD/ED 0.58; large ovoid choanae at base of maxilla; vomerine ridges and vomerine teeth absent, maxillary teeth present; margin of tongue rounded, not notched distally; presence of a single subgular vocal sac, and pair of slit-like openings at posterior of jaw. Forearm (i.e., radioulna) length 0.22 of SVL and hand 0.23 of SVL; hand lacking webbing, fingers lacking lateral fringes, relative finger length I Coloration of holotype in life. Dorsal surface of body maroon, with an incomplete dark brown triangular marking between eyes. Flanks yellowish brown. Two wide oblique black bands present on forearm. Dorsal surface of fingers and hindlimbs with dark grey transverse bands. Presence of vertical dark brown band below eye. Tip of tubercle on the edge of upper eyelid white. Supratympanic fold greyish white with orange mottling. Ventral surface of throat, chest, and sides of belly dark brown with white and orange mottling, black longitudinal band on surface of throat; central and posterior part of belly white, with dark brown patches and orange mottling. Tubercles on ventral surface of chest, belly, and thighs greyish white; spines on tips of tubercles on surface of posterior abdomen, ventral surface of thighs and around cloaca dark grey. Digits, inner and outer metacarpal tubercles, and inner metatarsal tubercle greyish white. Pectoral glands and femoral glands beige. Iris reddish brown. Coloration of holotype in preservative. Maroon fades to dark brown dorsally. Coloration of flanks fades to greyish brown. Triangular marking between eyes and transverse bands on dorsal forearms and hind limbs become indistinct. Orange mottling on the supratympanic fold absent. Color of ventral surface fades; patterns of become indistinct; orange mottling on ventral skin absent. Pectoral glands and femoral glands greyish white. Variation. Mensural data of the type series are listed in Table 5. Most of the paratypes are similar to the holotype in morphology and color pattern, except for the following: coloration of dorsum is light brown and iris is reddish brown in the holotype (vs. dorsum beige and iris greyish white with irregular dark brown and light orange patterns in the paratype SYS a008576 (Fig. 6A���B); central and posterior part of belly white, with dark brown patches and orange mottling in the holotype (vs. ventral skin dark brown, without regular patches in the paratype SYS a008576 (Fig. 6C���D); larger body size in the paratypes SYS a007582 (SVL 32.7 mm) and SYS 008576 (SVL 33.3 mm); tibio-tarsal articulation reaching forward to middle of tympanum when hind limb stretched along body (vs. tibio-tarsal articulation reaching forward to posterior corner of eye in the paratypes SYS a007576, 7582, 7596, 7597, 8576). Distribution and natural history. Currently, Boulenophrys hungtai sp. nov. is known from Mt. Liwangzhang of Jiexi (800���1000 m a.s.l.) and Shuangkeng Forestry Station (500���800 m a.s.l.) of Jiedong, which are ca. 55 km from each other. This toad inhabits flowing montane streams and the nearby forest floor and leaf litter, and is sympatric with Pachytriton brevipes (Sauvage, 1876). Cynops orphicus Risch, 1983 can also be observed in the surrounding area. Advertisement calls of males from Mt. Liwangzhang were heard from November to the following January. A single male (SYS a008576) from Shuangkeng Forestry Station was noticed discontinuously calling on March after the heavy rain. Males were found calling under the leaf litter or in rock crevices in flowing streams., Published as part of Wang, Jian, Zeng, Zhao-Chi, Lyu, Zhi-Tong, Qi, Shuo, Liu, Zu-Yao, Chen, Hong-Hui, Lu, Yu-Hong, Xiao, Hui-Wen, Lin, Can-Rong, Chen, Kai & Wang, Ying-Yong, 2022, Description of three new Boulenophrys species from eastern Guangdong, China, emphasizing the urgency of ecological conservation in this region (Anura, Megophryidae), pp. 91-119 in Zootaxa 5099 (1) on pages 106-110, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5099.1.4, http://zenodo.org/record/6036964, {"references":["Wang, J., Liu, Z. Y., Lyu, Z. T., Zeng, Z. C. & Wang, Y. Y. (2017 a) A new species of the genus Xenophrys (Amphibia: Anura: Megophryidae) from an offshore island in Guangdong Province, southeastern China. Zootaxa, 4324 (3), 541 - 556. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 4324.3.8","Sauvage, H. E. (1876) L'Institut. Journal des Academies et Societes Scientifiques de la France et de l'Etrangers, Paris, 4, 274 - 275.","Risch, J. P. (1983) Cynops orphicus, a new salamander from Guangdong Province, South China (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae). Alytes, Paris, 2, 45 - 52."]}

Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. Wang, Zeng, Lyu, Xiao & Wang Puning Horned Toad (in English) / Pǔ Níng Jiǎo Chán (DṪDzdz in Chinese) Figures 3–4 Holotype. SYS a005770, adult male, collected by Jian Wang on 24April 2017 from Longkeng Village (23°7'54.07"N, 115°51'5.28"E; ca. 120 m a.s.l.), Daping Town, Puning, Jieyang, Guangdong, China. Paratypes (N=5). Adult male, SYS a006755/ CIB118526, collected by Jian Wang, Can-Rong Lin and Hui-Wen Xiao on 14 February 2018; adult males SYS a007649, 7650 and adult females SYS a007647, 7648, collected by Jian Wang, Can-Rong Lin and Hui-Wen Xiao on 18 March 2019, all from the same stream as the holotype at elevations between 250–300 m. Etymology. The specific epithet “ puningensis ” refers to the type locality of the new species in Puning. Three of the authors of this work (Jian Wang, Hui-Wen Xiao and Can-Rong Lin) chose this nomen in honor of their hometown. Diagnosis. (1) Small body size, SVL 31.7–34.6 mm (33.0 ± 1.3, N = 4) in adult males and SVL 37.8–38.3 mm (N = 2) in adult females; (2) snout rounded in dorsal view; (3) tympanum large, TD/ED 0.68–0.71; (4) tympanic region smooth without granules or tubercles; (5) vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth present; (6) margin of tongue rounded, not notched distally; (7) hindlimbs short, heels not meeting and tibio-tarsal articulation reaching forward to the region between tympanum and eye; (8) a subarticular tubercle present at the base of each fingers; (9) toes without lateral fringes and with rudiment of webbing; (10) distinct enlarged tubercles on the surface of limbs, flanks, chest, belly and around the cloaca; (11) tips of the enlarged tubercles on posterior abdomen, ventral thighs and around the cloaca bearing tiny spines; (12) single subgular vocal sac in males; (13) nuptial pads with villiform black nuptial spines on the dorsal surface of the first and second fingers in breeding males. Comparisons. Comparative data of Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. and the other recognized members of Boulenophrys are listed in Table 3. With a smaller body size, SVL 31.7–34.6 mm in adult males and SVL 37.8–38.3 mm in adult females, Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. differs from the eight congeners whose SVL ≥ 50 mm in adult males or females, including B. caudoprocta (81.3 mm in a single male), B. jingdongensis (53.0– 56.5 mm in males and 63.5 mm in a single female), B. liboensis (60.5–67.7 mm in males and 60.8–70.6 in females), B. mirabilis (55.8–61.4 mm in males and 68.5–74.8 mm in females), B. omeimontis (56.0– 59.5 mm in males and 68.0– 72.5 mm in females), B. sangzhiensis (54.7 mm in a single male), B. shuichengensis (102.0– 118.3 mm in males and 99.8–115.6 mm in females), and B. spinata (54.0–55.0 mm in females). Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. shows the least genetic divergence from B. kuatunensis (mean p -distances 5.3 % in the 16S gene) and B. daiyunensis (mean p -distances 6.2 % in the 16S gene). However, the new species distinctively differs from these species by having relatively shorter shanks with the heels not meeting when the flexed hindlimbs are held at right angles to the body axis (vs. heels meeting or overlapping in B. daiyunensis); having rudiment of webbing and no lateral fringes on toes (vs. lateral fringes narrow in B. daiyunensis; webbing absent in B. kuatunensis); having raised and enlarged tubercles with spines on their tips on surface of posterior abdomen, ventral thighs and around the cloaca (vs. such tubercles not enlarged and without spines in B. daiyunensis; ventral surface smooth in B. kuatunensis). Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. is morphologically most similar to B. brachykolos, which is restricted to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China (Liu et al. 2018). The new species differs from B. brachykolos by having vomerine teeth (vs. absent in B. brachykolos); lacking spines on the surface of the tympanic region (vs. having dense tiny spines on the surface of the tympanic region in B. brachykolos); and having different relative finger length formula (I = II Banophrys puningensis sp. nov. vs. II B. brachykolos). In having relatively shorter shanks with heels that do not meet when the flexed hind limbs are held at right angles to the body axis, Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from the following 32 congeners, i.e. B. angka, B. anlongensis, B. baishanzuensis, B. baolongensis, B. binchuanensis, B. binlingensis, B. boettgeri, B. congjiangensis, B. cheni, B. chishuiensis, B. jiangi, B. jinggangensis, B. jiulianensis, B. leishanensis, B. lini, B. minor, B. mufumontana, B. nanlingensis, B. palpebralespinosa, B. qianbeiensis, B. sanmingensis, B. shimentaina, B. shunhuangensis, B. tongboensis, B. wuliangshanensis, B. wushanensis, B. xiangnanensis, B. xianjuensis, B. yaoshanensis, B. yangmingensis, B. yingdeensis and B. yunkaiensis, all of which have relatively longer shanks with the heels meeting or overlapping. By the presence of vomerine teeth, Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. differs from B. acuta, B. caobangensis, B. daoji, B. huangshanensis, B. lishuiensis, B. lushuiensis, B. obesa, B. ombrophila, B. tuberogranulatus, and B. wugongensis, all of which lack vomerine teeth. By having a rounded tongue margin that is not notched distally, Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. differs from B. hoanglienensis, and B. insularis, all of which have notched tongues. By the absence of lateral fringes on toes, Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. differs from B. rubrimera, which has narrow lateral fringes on toes. By the presence of rudimentary webbing on the toes, Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. differs from B. daweimontis, B. fansipanensis, and B. frigida, all of which lack webbing on the toes. Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. further differs from the remaining B. dongguanensis and B. nankunensis by having raised tubercles bearing spines on the surface of the posterior abdomen, ventral thighs, and around the cloaca (vs. absence of such tubercles and spines in B. dongguanensis and B. nankunensis). Description of holotype. Adult male. Body size small, SVL 34.6 mm. Head width slightly larger than head length, HWD/HDL 1.03; snout rounded in dorsal view, projecting, sloping backward to mouth in profile, protruding well beyond margin of lower jaw; top of head flat; eyes moderate in size, ED 0.36 of HDL, pupil vertical, near diamond-shaped; nostril oblique-ovoid; canthus rostralis well developed; loreal region slightly oblique; internasal distance slightly larger than interorbital distance; tympanum large with an obvious margin, TD/ED 0.70; large ovoid choanae at base of maxilla; vomerine ridge and vomerine teeth present, maxillary teeth present; margin of tongue rounded, not notched distally; presence of single subgular vocal sac, and pair of slit-like openings at posterior of jaw. Forearm (i.e., radioulna) length 0.21 of SVL and hand 0.23 of SVL; hand without webbing, fingers without lateral fringes, relative finger length I = II Dorsal skin rough and granular, with raised conical tubercles; sparse large tubercles on flanks; single horn-like prominent tubercle on edge of upper eyelid; obvious supratympanic fold curving posteroventrally from posterior corner of eye to level above insertion of arm; tympanic region smooth without granules or tubercles; dense tubercles on skin of upper lip, upper eyelid, mandibular articulation, loreal, temporal region excluding tympanum and surface around cloaca; a single discontinuous “V” shaped ridge present on occipital region; dense tubercles on shanks and thighs; ventral surface with dense raised tubercles; tubercles on surface of posterior abdomen, ventral surface of thighs and around cloaca bearing tiny spines on their tips; small pectoral gland closer to axilla; single femoral gland positioned on posterior surface of thigh at midpoint between knee and cloaca. Coloration of holotype in life. Dorsal surface of body yellowish brown, with incomplete dark brown triangular marking between eyes. Two wide oblique black bands present on forearm. Dorsal surface of fingers and hindlimbs with dark grey transverse bands. Presence of vertical dark brown band below eye. Tubercles on edge of upper eyelid beige. Supratympanic fold light brown. Ventral surface dark grey, with black longitudinal band on surface of throat; surface of throat and chest mottled with orange patches. Tubercles on ventral surface of chest, belly, and thighs greyish white; spines on tips of tubercles on surface of posterior abdomen; ventral surface of thighs and around cloaca dark grey. Digits, inner and outer metacarpal tubercles and inner metatarsal tubercle greyish white. Pectoral glands and femoral glands beige, mottled with orange patches. Iris yellowish brown, with greyish white patches on upper and lower margin. Coloration of holotype in preservative. Yellowish brown fades to greyish brown dorsally. Color of the triangular marking between eyes, oblique bands on forearms, patterns on ventral surface faded. Orange patches on surface of throat, chest; color of pectoral glands and femoral glands faded. Variation. Mensural data of the type series are listed in Table 4. Most of the paratypes are similar to the holotype in morphology and color pattern, except for the following: dorsal surface of body yellowish brown in the holotype (vs. dorsal surface of body light brown in the paratypes SYS a007647 (Fig. 4C) and SYS a007648 (Fig. 4E); ventral surface dark grey with orange patches (vs. ventral surface lacking bright patches in the paratypes SYS a007649 (Fig. 4B), SYS a007647 (Fig. 4D) and SYS a007648 (Fig. 4F); iris yellowish brown, with greyish white patches on its upper and lower margin in the holotype (vs. iris grey with beige and dark mottling in the paratype SYS a007649 (Fig. 4A); tubercles on posterior part of abdomen of the paratype SYS a007648 (Fig. 4F) are weakly developed. Females are distinctly larger than the males. Distribution and natural history. Currently, Boulenophrys puningensis sp. nov. is only known from its type locality, Longkeng Village of Puning. It inhabits flowing montane streams and the nearby forest floor and leaf litter at elevations between 120– 300 m. Advertisement calls of males were heard from February until April. Males were found calling in rock crevices in the flowing streams. Tadpoles could be found in this period.

Background In prenatal diagnosis, CMA has begun to emerge as a favorable alternative to karyotype analysis, but it could not identify balanced translocations, triploidies, inversion and heteromorphisms. Therefore, conventional cytogenetic and specific staining methods still play an important role in the work-up of chromosome anomaly. This study investigated the application of C-banding and AgNOR-staining techniques in prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal heteromorphisms and some structure abnormalities. Results Among the 2970 samples, the incidence of chromosomal heteromorphisms was 8.79% (261/2970). The most frequent was found to be chromosome Y (2.93%, 87/2970), followed by chromosome 1 (1.65 %, 49/2970), 9 (1.52 %, 45/2970), 22 (0.77 %, 23/2970) and 15 (0.64 %, 19/2970). We compared the incidence of chromosomal heteromorphisms between recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) group and control group. The frequency of autosomal hetermorphisms in RSA group was 7.63% higher than that in control group (5.78%), while the frequency of Y chromosomal heteromorphisms was 4.76% lower than that in control group (5.71%). Here we summarized 4 representative cases, inv (1) (p12q24), psu dic (4;17) (p16.3;p13.3), r(X)(p11; q21) and an isodicentric bisatellited chromosome to illustrate the application of C-banding or AgNOR-staining, CMA or NGS was performed to detect CNVs if necessary. Conclusions This study indicated that C-banding and AgNOR-staining were still effective complementary methods to identify chromosomal heteromorphisms and marker chromosomes or some structural rearrangements involving the centromere or acrocentric chromosomes. Our results suggested that there was no evidence for an association between chromosomal heteromorphisms and infertility or recurrent spontaneous abortions. Undoubtedly, sometimes we needed to combine the results of CMA or CNV-seq to comprehensively reflect the structure and aberration of chromosome segments. Thus, accurate karyotype reports and genetic counseling could be provided.

Wen-Kang Wei and Qin-Ling Chen are also at the Agro-biological Gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences Since the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan city, China, it has been reported in over 200 other countries and caused a global pandemic. Although some studies have suggested that bats and pangolins were potential hosts, the origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains unknown and the infection evidence of transmission from animals to people is not well established.1 On 28 February and 19 March …

Additional file 1: Table S1. List of primers used in this paper. Figure S1. IPA facilitated the proliferation of irradiated HIEC-6 cells and MODE-K cells. Figure S2. Oral gavage of IPA ameliorates TBI-associated hematopoietic system injury. Figure S3. IPA administration improves GI tract function after total abdominal irradiation. Figure 4. IPA protects against radiation toxicity in mouse models without accelerating tumor growth. Figure 5. IPA treatment changes irradiation-shaped intestinal bacterial structure at day 6 after TAI. Figure 6. IPA preserves irradiation-shifted enteric bacterial composition at day 12 after TAI. Figure 7. Impact of antibiotics (ABX) and IPA on GI tract function after total abdominal irradiation. Figure 8. TAI changes the protein expression profile of small intestine. Figure 9. ACBP contributes to the protective function of IPA toward irradiation via PXR. Figure 10. ACBP or PXR inhibition blocked the protective function of IPA toward irradiation. Figure 11. Photographs of the lead shielding apparatus used in this study. The left photograph showed the lead shielding without lid, and the right photograph showed the lead shielding with lid

An efficient transition-metal-free oxidative cyclization reaction using isatins and alkynes for the facile synthesis of structurally diverse 4-quinolones has been developed. Intriguingly, switchable access to substituted 3-carboxylate-4-quinolones and 1-vinyl-3-carboxylate-4-quinolones could be achieved by choosing a different base in the reaction. The obtained products could undergo further transformations, increasing the application potential of the method in organic synthesis.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is considered an important economic pathogen for the international swine industry. At present, both PRRSV-1 and PRRSV-2 have been confirmed to be co-circulating in China. However, there is little available information about the prevalence or distribution of PRRSV-1 in Guangdong province, southern China. In this study, we performed molecular detection of PRRSV-1 in 750 samples collected from 50 farms in 15 major pig farming regions in this province. After RT-PCR testing, 64% (32/50) of farms were confirmed as PRRSV-1-positive. Surprisingly, PRRSV-1 was circulating on at least one pig farm in all 15 regions; of the 750 samples, 186 samples (24.8%) were positive for PRRSV-1. Furthermore, 15 representative PRRSV-1 ORF5 sequences (606 bp) (n = 1 per region) were obtained from those PRRSV-1-positive regions. Sequence alignment analysis indicated that they shared 81.8% ~ 100% nucleotide and 81.2% ~ 100% amino acid similarity with each other. Although all current PRRSV-1 sequences were divided into pandemic subtype 1, most of them had unique glycoprotein-5 amino acid sequences that are significantly different from other known PRRSV-1 isolates. To conclude, the present findings revealed wide geographical distribution of PRRSV-1 in Guangdong province, southern China. This study further extends the epidemiological significance of PRRSV-1 in China.

Molecular tests revealed influenza D viruses of D/OK lineage widely circulating in farmed animal species in Guangdong Province, southern China. In particular, we found high levels of influenza D virus infection in goats and pigs. We also detected viral RNA in serum specimens and feces of animals with certain severe diseases.

In this work, we have made some thermodynamic investigations about the NaNO3–Cd(NO3)2–H2O ternary system. The potential difference method of the battery cell, Na–ISE|NaNO3 (m1), Cd(NO3)2 (m2)|NO3–ISE, was used to study the activity coefficients in this mixed system at 298.15 K in the total ionic strengths range 0.0100–1.0000 mol·kg–1 with different ionic strength fractions yb of Cd(NO3)2 with yb = (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8). There was a good Nernst response between Na–ISE and NO3–ISE in this work, and the mean activity coefficients of NaNO3 can be interpreted well by the Pitzer models. Furthermore, the mixing Pitzer ion interaction parameters of θNa,Cd and ψNa,Cd,NO3 were fitted from Pitzer’s equation, and the two parameters were applied to compute the values of the mean activity coefficients of Cd(NO3)2, the osmotic coefficients, the solvent activity, and the excess Gibbs free energy in this mixed system.

Porcine circovirus (PCV) is one of the smallest known DNA viruses in mammals. At present, PCVs are divided into three species, PCV1, PCV2, and PCV3. PCV1 and PCV2 were found in the 1970s and the 1990s, respectively, whereas PCV3 was discovered recently in 2016. PCV1 does not cause diseases in pigs. However, PCV3, similar to PCV2, is reported to be associated with several swine diseases, including porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS) and reproductive failure. PCVs are very common in domestic pigs as well as wild boars. However, PCVs have been occasionally isolated from non-porcine animals, including ruminants (such as cattle, goats, wild chamois, and roe deers), rodents (such as NMRI mice, BALB/c mice, Black C57 mice, ICR mice, Mus musculus, and Rattus rattus), canines (such as dogs, minks, foxes, and raccoon dogs), insects (such as flies, mosquitoes, and ticks), and shellfish. Moreover, PCVs are frequently reported in biological products, including human vaccines, animal vaccines, porcine-derived commercial pepsin products, and many cell lines. PCVs are also abundant in the environment, including water samples and air samples. Interestingly, PCV1 and/or PCV2 antibody or antigen has also been detected in sera, stool samples and respiratory swab samples of human, revealing zoonotic potential of PCVs. Thus, PCVs inhabit many types of reservoirs. In this review, we summarize the reservoirs of PCVs, and this information would be helpful in understanding the natural circulating status and possible cross-species transmission of PCVs.

Enzootic nasal tumor virus (ENTV) has two types, ENTV-1 in sheep and ENTV-2 in goats, respectively. In China, the incidence of ENTV-2 related diseases has increased year by year. In this study, we reported an outbreak of ENTV-2 in a commercial goat farm in Qingyuan city, Guangdong province, southern China. A full-length genome of ENTV-2 (designated GDQY2017), with 7479 base pairs, was sequenced. Although GDQY2017 shared the highest nucleotide identity with a Chinese ENTV-2 isolate (ENTV-2CHN4, GenBank accession number KU258873), it possesses distinct genome characteristics undescribed, including a non-continuous 21-nucleotide insertion in the gag gene and a non-continuous 12-nucleotide deletion in the env gene. Notably, most of these indel nucleotide sequences were originated from a Chinese jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) isolate (GenBank accession number DQ838494). In the gag and env genes, GDQY2017 was phylogenetically related to those Chinese ENTV-2 isolates and a Chinese JSRV isolate (DQ838494). For GDQY2017-like viruses, more surveillance work should be made to explain their pathogenicity in goat herds. To our knowledge, this study represents the first to demonstrate the circulating pattern of ENTV-2 in Guangdong province, China, which will help to better understand the epidemiology and genetic diversity of ENTV-2.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) was considered as an important pathogen, which caused huge economic losses for the world swine industry annually. Until now, according to antigenic and genetic characteristics, two genotypes were identified, European (EU genotype, or type 1) genotype and North American genotype (NA genotype, or type 2), respectively. In China, both of them co-existed in swine herds, and even some novel viral strains emerged in the lastest years. The aim of the review was to describe genetic diversity of PRRSV based on non-structural protein 2 (Nsp2) in China, which could help us better understand molecular

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is an emerging and rampant arbovirus in Europe, and even Africa and West Asia. Investigating whether SBV existed in new regions or countries, it was very helpful for the early warning and control of SBV. In this study, we collected 317 serum samples (n = 242 for dairy cattle, n = 13 for yellow cattle, n = 21 for buffalo, and n = 41 for goats) from Guangdong province of southern China, which is located in a subtropical region and is an important distribution area for arboviral diseases. A commercial competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) kit and a previously established real-time PCR were used to detect SBV antibody and RNA in those serum samples. Via testing, serological evidence of SBV was confirmed, with total positive rates (57.4, 15.4, 19, and 9.8%) in dairy cattle, yellow cattle, buffalo, and goats, respectively, while no positive signal for SBV RNA was found. To summarize, this study for the first time provided preliminary serological evidence of SBV infection in China, East Asia. Further investigations on molecular evidence, origin, and pathogenesis of SBV in ruminants needed to be studied in China.

Silicon (Si) plays important roles in alleviating heavy metal stress in rice plants. Here we investigated the physiological response of rice at different growth stages under the silicon-induced mitigation of cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) toxicity. Si treatment increased the dry weight of shoots and roots and reduced the Cd and Zn concentrations in roots, stems, leaves and grains. Under the stress of exposure to Cd and Zn, photosynthetic parameters including the chlorophyll content and chlorophyll fluorescence decreased, while the membrane permeability and malondialdehyde (MDA) increased. Catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities increased under heavy metals stress, but superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities decreased. The magnitude of these Cd- and Zn-induced changes was mitigated by Si-addition at different growth stages. The available Cd concentration increased in the soil but significantly decreased in the shoots, which suggested that Si treatment prevents Cd accumulation through internal mechanisms by limiting Cd2+ uptake by the roots. Overall, the phenomena of Si-mediated alleviation of Cd and excess Zn toxicity in two rice cultivars could be due to the limitation of metal uptake and transport, resulting in an improvement in cell membrane integrity, photosynthetic performance and anti-oxidative enzyme activities after Si treatment.

Background Following the initial isolation of porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) from pigs with diarrheal disease in the United States in 2014, the virus has been detected on swine farms in some provinces of China. To date, little is known about the molecular epidemiology of PDCoV in southern China where major swine production is operated. Results To investigate the prevalence of PDCoV in this region and compare its activity to other enteric disease of swine caused by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus (TGEV), and porcine rotavirus group C (Rota C), 390 fecal samples were collected from swine of various ages from 15 swine farms with reported diarrhea. Fecal samples were tested by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) that targeted PDCoV, PEDV, TGEV, and Rota C, respectively. PDCoV was detected exclusively from nursing piglets with an overall prevalence of approximate 1.28 % (5/390), not in suckling and fattening piglets. Interestingly, all of PDCoV-positive samples were from 2015 rather than 2012–2014. Despite a low detection rate, PDCoV emerged in each province/region of southern China. In addition, compared to TGEV (1.54 %, 5/390) or Rota C (1.28 %, 6/390), there were highly detection rates of PEDV (22.6 %, 88/390) in those samples. Notably, all five PDCoV-positive piglets were co-infected by PEDV. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis of spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) gene sequences of PDCoVs revealed that currently circulating PDCoVs in southern China were more closely related to other Chinese strains of PDCoVs than to those reported in United States, South Korea and Thailand. Conclusions This study demonstrated that PDCoV was present in southern China despite the low prevalence, and supported an evolutionary theory of geographical clustering of PDCoVs. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12985-016-0591-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Soil contamination with toxic heavy metals (such as Cd or Zn) is becoming a serious problem worldwide because of the rapid development of social economy. Silicon plays a substantial role in alleviating heavy metal toxicity in crop plants. In this study, two rice varieties, Feng-Hua-Zhan and Hua-Hang-Si-Miao, were chosen to determine the effects of Si application on root morphological traits, cell structure and exudates of rice roots under Cd and/or Zn stress. Single or combined applications of Cd and Zn resulted in significant reduction of total root length, root surface area, root volume, average root diameter and root activity. However, 1.5 mM Si addition reversed these negative effects. Transmission electron microscopy observations showed that rice root cortex cells were heavily damaged under Cd and/or Zn stress for both two varieties, whereas Si addition resulted in improved cell structure integrity. In addition, lower levels of oxalic, acetic, tartaric, maleic and fumaric acids in root exudates were observed for Feng-Hua-Zhan under Cd and/or Zn stress, but addition of Si increased the acid levels. For Hua-Hang-Si-Miao, heavy metal treatments significantly reduced oxalic and fumaric acid levels and increased acetic, tartaric and maleic acid levels, whereas Si treatment showed opposite results. The above results indicated that Si could ameliorate the toxicity of heavy metals (Cd and Zn) for rice which resulted in improving root traits, cell structure and influencing root exudates.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is considered the major etiological pathogen of porcine circovirus-associated diseases (PCVADs) in pigs. Recently, PCV2 was also found in non-porcine animals such as cattle, rats, and mice. However, there was no record of PCV2 in rats in China. The goal of this study was to investigate whether PCV2 was present in rats (Rattus norvegicus, RN) on three swine farms, using molecular tools. PCR results showed that 30 of 95 (31.6 %) rat samples were positive for PCV2. Moreover, further genotype analysis suggested that 10 of 30 (33.3 %) were positive for PCV2a, 19 of 30 (63.3 %) were positive for PCV2b, and only one sample (1/30, 3.33 %) was co-infected by PCV2a and PCV2b. To determine the possible origin of PCV2, 60 serum samples were also collected from weaned pigs on those swine farms, and 23 out of 60 samples were positive for PCV2. In addition, two distinct RN-origin and two distinct porcine-origin PCV2 full-length nucleotide sequences were obtained from the farms. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis indicated that they had the highest nucleotide similarity and closest genetic relationships to each other. In this study, we report the infection and genome characterization of PCV2 in rats and compare RN-origin and porcine-origin PCV2 sequences obtained from the same pig farm, revealing possible cross-species transmission of PCV2.

Reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), an important immunosuppressive pathogen, has many hosts, including chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, and wild birds. Clinically, REV may lead to increased susceptibility to other pathogens, resulting in serious tissue damage (especially tumors) and the death of its host. In this study, we encountered a disease outbreak resulting in a large number of deaths of pigeons in Guangdong Province, Southern China. Histopathological analysis revealed apparent tumor-like lesions in multiple organs of pigeons. PCR assays for detection of tumor-associated pathogens (REV, avian leukosis virus, and Marek's disease virus) in poultry revealed the presence of REV sequences only. Moreover, fowlpox virus (FPV) with an insertion of REV long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences was also considered, but it was excluded using a specific PCR assay. To gain more genetic information, two full-length REV genome sequences were determined and found to have the highest nucleotide sequence similarity (99.9 %) and the closest genetic relationship to a vaccine strain (MD-2) and had a more distant genetic relationship (94.3 %) to a duck-origin strain (ATCC-VR775). To confirm the presence of REVs in pigeons, specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens and healthy pigeons were inoculated with microfiltered tumor tissue homogenates and were found to be susceptible to infection with REV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of REV in pigeons, and the data suggest that pigeons may be the natural host of REV.

Arrays of microhole patterns are fabricated on the surfaces of diamond films through a physical mask in a dual microwave electron cyclotron resonance/radio-frequency oxygen plasma. It is found that nanotips with high aspect ratio form in the microholes, and then through-holes are fabricated with a further increase of etching time. Optical emission spectroscopy was employed to calculate oxygen atom density and evaluate the variation of the plasma excitation temperature. The plasma excitation temperature and the O atom density present significant dependences on the voltage of rf bias Vb at a high frequency of 13.56 MHz, suggesting that the application of the rf bias not only strengthens ion bombardment on the material surface, but also induces the variations of the bulk plasmas including the increase of O atom density. Whereas, both the plasma excitation temperature and the O atom density remain nearly unchanged with Vb under the bias frequency of 400 kHz. The etching process depends on the rf-bias frequency and voltages, which are correlated with the measured plasma characteristics.

The effects of an rf-bias on the Ar plasma in the dual ECR-rf plasma reactor were investigated both experimentally and numerically. It is demonstrated that the application of 13.56-MHz rf bias significantly modifies the characteristics of bulk plasma based on Langnuir probe measurements, which is attributed to the oscillation of rf sheath. Under the rf bias of 400 kHz, there exists negligible reaction between the ECR plasma and the low-frequency bias. By using a hybrid model with simplified rf sheath as the boundary condition, the characteristic of the dual ECR-rf plasma was simulated. Modeling results are consistent qualitatively with experimental measurements.