Passerine mimics often imitate various vocalizations from other bird species and incorporate these sounds into their song repertoires.While a few anecdotes reported that wild songbirds imitated human-associated sounds...Passerine mimics often imitate various vocalizations from other bird species and incorporate these sounds into their song repertoires.While a few anecdotes reported that wild songbirds imitated human-associated sounds,besides captive parrots and songbirds,systemic and quantitative studies on human-made sound mimicry in wild birds remain scarce.In this study,we investigated the mimetic accuracy and consistency of electric moped sounds imitated by an urban bird,the Chinese Blackbird(Turdus mandarinus).We found that:(1)Only one type of electric moped sound was imitated,i.e.,13 of 26 males mimicked the first part of the antitheft alarm,a phrase containing a series of identical notes.(2)The mimicry produced by male Chinese Blackbirds had fewer notes and lower consistency within phrases compared to the model alarms.(3)The mimicry of male Chinese Blackbirds was imperfect,i.e.,most of the acoustic parameters differed from the model alarms.Additionally,mimetic notes were lower in frequency than the models.Mimetic notes from two areas were also different in acoustic structures,suggesting Chinese Blackbirds might learn mimicry mainly from conspecific neighbors within each area respectively rather than electric mopeds,namely the secondary mimicry.Imperfect mimicry of human-made sounds could result from cost and physical constraints,associated with high consistency,frequency,and repetitions.Consequently,Chinese Blackbirds copied a simplified version of electric moped alarms.We recommend further attention to mimic species inhabiting urban ecosystems to better understand vocal mimicry's adaptation to ongoing urbanization.展开更多
Natural and human-made disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods, blasts, and impacts have resulted in more than 1.1 million deaths, affected the lives of more than 2 billion people, and caused an esti...Natural and human-made disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods, blasts, and impacts have resulted in more than 1.1 million deaths, affected the lives of more than 2 billion people, and caused an estimated 1.5 trillion USD in damage worldwide between 2003 and 2013. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake killed 69226 people and left 17923 unaccounted for, it caused a direct loss of 140 billion USD.展开更多
目的可致肿瘤细胞死亡的人α乳清蛋白(human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells,HAMLET)是一种可导致多种癌细胞死亡的强效选择性肿瘤杀伤蛋白质-脂酸复合物。为了使HAMLET应用于肿瘤的治疗并对其杀伤机制进行探讨,我们需...目的可致肿瘤细胞死亡的人α乳清蛋白(human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells,HAMLET)是一种可导致多种癌细胞死亡的强效选择性肿瘤杀伤蛋白质-脂酸复合物。为了使HAMLET应用于肿瘤的治疗并对其杀伤机制进行探讨,我们需要建立和优化简便、快速、规模化制备与纯化HAMLET的方法。方法通过构建人α乳清蛋白分泌型细胞MCF-7的cDNA文库,PCR扩增出编码人α乳清蛋白成熟肽段的全长序列,然后克隆入pET30a(+)表达载体质粒,并转化BL21(DE3)宿主大肠杆菌。经过IPTG诱导,表达细菌的裂解,蛋白体外复性,Ni-NTA亲和层析柱纯化等步骤,获得了高纯度的重组人α乳清蛋白的C端His标签融合蛋白。纯化蛋白经EDTA脱钙后,与油酸(oleic acid,OA)在加热条件下制备HAMLET复合物。同时,对HAMLET的理化特性和生物学活性进行检测。结果通过与经典方法制备的牛α乳清蛋白和OA复合物(BAMLET)进行比较,发现我们制备的HAMLET在紫外吸收光谱、疏水性质特征及肿瘤杀伤活力方面与BAMLET活性相符,并且可引起HeLa肿瘤细胞的凋亡样程序性死亡。结论本研究自主制备的HAMLET成本经济、方法简便且具有较好的规模化放大前景,为日后临床应用奠定基础。展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFC3202104)the Western LightKey Laboratory Cooperative Research Cross-Team Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences(xbzg-zdsys-202207)。
文摘Passerine mimics often imitate various vocalizations from other bird species and incorporate these sounds into their song repertoires.While a few anecdotes reported that wild songbirds imitated human-associated sounds,besides captive parrots and songbirds,systemic and quantitative studies on human-made sound mimicry in wild birds remain scarce.In this study,we investigated the mimetic accuracy and consistency of electric moped sounds imitated by an urban bird,the Chinese Blackbird(Turdus mandarinus).We found that:(1)Only one type of electric moped sound was imitated,i.e.,13 of 26 males mimicked the first part of the antitheft alarm,a phrase containing a series of identical notes.(2)The mimicry produced by male Chinese Blackbirds had fewer notes and lower consistency within phrases compared to the model alarms.(3)The mimicry of male Chinese Blackbirds was imperfect,i.e.,most of the acoustic parameters differed from the model alarms.Additionally,mimetic notes were lower in frequency than the models.Mimetic notes from two areas were also different in acoustic structures,suggesting Chinese Blackbirds might learn mimicry mainly from conspecific neighbors within each area respectively rather than electric mopeds,namely the secondary mimicry.Imperfect mimicry of human-made sounds could result from cost and physical constraints,associated with high consistency,frequency,and repetitions.Consequently,Chinese Blackbirds copied a simplified version of electric moped alarms.We recommend further attention to mimic species inhabiting urban ecosystems to better understand vocal mimicry's adaptation to ongoing urbanization.
文摘Natural and human-made disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods, blasts, and impacts have resulted in more than 1.1 million deaths, affected the lives of more than 2 billion people, and caused an estimated 1.5 trillion USD in damage worldwide between 2003 and 2013. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake killed 69226 people and left 17923 unaccounted for, it caused a direct loss of 140 billion USD.
文摘目的可致肿瘤细胞死亡的人α乳清蛋白(human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells,HAMLET)是一种可导致多种癌细胞死亡的强效选择性肿瘤杀伤蛋白质-脂酸复合物。为了使HAMLET应用于肿瘤的治疗并对其杀伤机制进行探讨,我们需要建立和优化简便、快速、规模化制备与纯化HAMLET的方法。方法通过构建人α乳清蛋白分泌型细胞MCF-7的cDNA文库,PCR扩增出编码人α乳清蛋白成熟肽段的全长序列,然后克隆入pET30a(+)表达载体质粒,并转化BL21(DE3)宿主大肠杆菌。经过IPTG诱导,表达细菌的裂解,蛋白体外复性,Ni-NTA亲和层析柱纯化等步骤,获得了高纯度的重组人α乳清蛋白的C端His标签融合蛋白。纯化蛋白经EDTA脱钙后,与油酸(oleic acid,OA)在加热条件下制备HAMLET复合物。同时,对HAMLET的理化特性和生物学活性进行检测。结果通过与经典方法制备的牛α乳清蛋白和OA复合物(BAMLET)进行比较,发现我们制备的HAMLET在紫外吸收光谱、疏水性质特征及肿瘤杀伤活力方面与BAMLET活性相符,并且可引起HeLa肿瘤细胞的凋亡样程序性死亡。结论本研究自主制备的HAMLET成本经济、方法简便且具有较好的规模化放大前景,为日后临床应用奠定基础。
