Termite queens and kings live longer than nonreproductive workers.Several molecular mechanisms contributing to their long lifespan have been investigated;however,the underlying biochemical explanation remains unclear....Termite queens and kings live longer than nonreproductive workers.Several molecular mechanisms contributing to their long lifespan have been investigated;however,the underlying biochemical explanation remains unclear.Coenzyme Q(CoQ),a component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain,plays an essential role in the lipophilic antioxidant defense system.Its beneficial effects on health and longevity have been well studied in several organisms.Herein,we demonstrated that long-lived termite queens have significantly higher levels of the lipophilic antioxidant CoQ_(10) than workers.Liquid chromatography analysis revealed that the levels of the reduced form of CoQ_(10) were 4 fold higher in the queen's body than in the worker's body.In addition,queens showed 7 fold higher levels of vitamin E,which plays a role in antilipid peroxidation along with CoQ,than workers.Furthermore,the oral administration of CoQ_(10) to termites increased the CoQ_(10) redox state in the body and their survival rate under oxidative stress.These findings suggest that CoQ_(10) acts as an efficient lipophilic antioxidant along with vitamin E in long-lived termite queens.This study provides essential biochemical and evolutionary insights into the relationship between CoQ_(10) concentrations and termite lifespan extension.展开更多
When We Ruled In this book,Black British historian and writer Paula Akpan brings to life the powerful,often overlooked histories of 12 African queens and warriors who shaped their nations and defied expectations.From ...When We Ruled In this book,Black British historian and writer Paula Akpan brings to life the powerful,often overlooked histories of 12 African queens and warriors who shaped their nations and defied expectations.From Njinga Mbande of Angola to Nana Yaa Asantewaa of Ghana,Ranavalona I of Madagascar to Makobo Modjadji VI of South Africa,these rulers led with strategy,courage,and resilience across centuries of African history.展开更多
Vitellogenin （Vg） is an egg yolk protein that is produced primarily in the fat body of most female insects. In the advanced social structure of eusocial honeybees, the presence of the queen inhibits egg maturation i...Vitellogenin （Vg） is an egg yolk protein that is produced primarily in the fat body of most female insects. In the advanced social structure of eusocial honeybees, the presence of the queen inhibits egg maturation in the workers＇ ovaries. However in the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata, the workers always develop ovaries and lay a certain amount of eggs while provisioning the brood cells with larval food during what is known as the worker nurse phase. The present work is a comparative study of the presence of Vg in homogenates of the fat bodies and ovaries of the nurse workers, and the virgin and physogastric queens of M. quadrifasciata. The presence of Vg was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and irnmunoblotting using Apis mellifera anti-egg antibody. Vg was not detected in the fat bodies or ovaries of the workers, but it was found in the ovaries of virgin and physogastric queens and in the fat body ofphysogastric queens. The results are discussed, taking into account the reproductive state of the individuals and the other possible roles of Vg, such as a storage protein for metoabolism of other organs.展开更多
在最近几年里,一些引人入胜的电影,如关于一位战胜紧张情绪的天才钢琴家的《闪耀》(Shine),关于想成为一只牧羊犬的《猪宝宝》 (Babe),关于一群奔波于澳大利亚内地的表演者的《沙漠女王普利希里亚历险记》(TheAdventure of Pricilla,Que...在最近几年里,一些引人入胜的电影,如关于一位战胜紧张情绪的天才钢琴家的《闪耀》(Shine),关于想成为一只牧羊犬的《猪宝宝》 (Babe),关于一群奔波于澳大利亚内地的表演者的《沙漠女王普利希里亚历险记》(TheAdventure of Pricilla,Queen of the Desert)。展开更多
1.Queen of Sheba示巴女王[喻]美貌而富有的贵妇人示巴(Sheba)是古代国名,在阿拉伯南部,即今日也门(Yemen)一带,因做香料、宝石生意而著名。据《旧约全书·列王纪》(Old Testment,Kings)记载:示巴女王(Queenof Sheba)以美丽而宫有...1.Queen of Sheba示巴女王[喻]美貌而富有的贵妇人示巴(Sheba)是古代国名,在阿拉伯南部,即今日也门(Yemen)一带,因做香料、宝石生意而著名。据《旧约全书·列王纪》(Old Testment,Kings)记载:示巴女王(Queenof Sheba)以美丽而宫有闻名遐迩,听说以色列国王所罗门(Solomon)智慧过人,她决定去拜访所罗门,了解个究竟。示巴女王带领随从用骆驼驮着大批香料。展开更多
This paper presents the different categories of communicative names of cities and streets with some examples all over the world. The commemorative role is playing also by the names of some continents, like America, fr...This paper presents the different categories of communicative names of cities and streets with some examples all over the world. The commemorative role is playing also by the names of some continents, like America, from the Amerigo Vespucci＇s name. But many countries and states particularly in the Americas remember the Columbus＇ name. Many city names remember political leaders of great significance, like Washington after Georg Washington, Monrovia after James Monroe, Leningrad （today Saint Petersburg, which remembered the tsar Peter I）. Two soviet leaders, Lenin and Stalin were remembered by two Russian cities, Leningrad and Stalingrad, nowadays Saint Petersburg and Volgograd. The name Ho Chi Minh, after the North Vietnamese leader. The names of other regions and cities have been considered, like many cities and islands named Georgia after some kings. Also Louisiana, The Carolinas, Lfopoldville, Elisabethville were named after other kings and queens. Some cities and islands＇ names remember explorers, like Cook, Stanley, Louren^o Marques （today Maputo, after the name of a fiver）, Brazzaville after, Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Bra77h etc. Rio de Janeiro is named after the date of its discovery. Many place names were named after Alexander the Great, outer than the Italian Alesssandria, named after the Pope Alexander III. Many place names remember Saints, particularly in Latin America, but also in North America, like St. Francisco. The streets＇ names are many all over the world. In Rome we have streets names to politicians, like Camill Benso di Cavour, Giuseppe Mazzini and Palmiro Togliatti; writers like Alessandro Manzoni and Torquato Tasso. A name like Giuseppe Garibaldi is extremely diffused in all Italy and also in other countries.展开更多
Maize landraces White Dent and Golden Queen played a very important role in the pre-hybrid era of maize production in China. However, dozens of accessions with the same names of White Dent and Golden Queen are preserv...Maize landraces White Dent and Golden Queen played a very important role in the pre-hybrid era of maize production in China. However, dozens of accessions with the same names of White Dent and Golden Queen are preserved in China National Genebank （CNG）. The present study investigated the genetic diversity of these two important groups of maize landraces, as well as the relationships within and among them. Thirty-four landrace accessions with the name of White Dent and 10 with Golden Queen preserved in CNG were fingerprinted with 52 simple sequence repeats with tailed primer M13. Summary statistics including average number of alleles per locus, gene diversity/expected heterozygosity, and observed heterozygosity were carried out using PowerMarker ver. 3.25 software. The test of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium （HWE） and linkage disequilibrium （LD） of all the 44 maize landrace accessions were also performed by PowerMarker. We observed a significant differentiation in terms of the average number of alleles between White Dent and Golden Queen （6.44 alleles per locus in White Dent, 4.48 in Golden Queen）, while both groups of maize landraces had a relatively high but similar gene diversity （0.61 of White Dent, 0.63 of Golden Queen）. The fixation index （FST） was only 0.0044, while the percentage of loci deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium within these two groups of White Dent and Golden Queen was 32.69 and 3.92%, respectively. The rather high genetic diversity and average number of alleles per locus confirmed that both groups of landraces had a rather broad germplasm base. The extremely low fixation index showed that there was little genetic variation between White Dent and Golden Queen and the molecular variation within these two groups was remarkably high, indicating no genetic drift between White Dent and Golden Queen and suggesting different improvement approaches to these two important groups of landraces. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium test revealed that the group of White Dent was deviated from HWE, whereas Golden Queen was under HWE.展开更多
In social insects,it has been suggested that reproduction and the production of particular fertilitylinked cuticular hydrocarbons(CHC)may be under shared juvenile hormone(JH)control,and this could have been key in pre...In social insects,it has been suggested that reproduction and the production of particular fertilitylinked cuticular hydrocarbons(CHC)may be under shared juvenile hormone(JH)control,and this could have been key in predisposing such cues to later evolve into full-fledged queen pheromone signals.However,to date,only few studies have experimentally tested this“hormonal pleiotropy”hypothesis.Here,we formally test this hypothesis using data from four species of Polistine wasps,Polistes dominula,Polistes satan,Mischocyttarus metathoracicus,and Mischocyttarus cassununga,and experimental treatments with JH using the JH analogue methoprene and the anti-JH precocene.In line with reproduction being under JH control,our results show that across these four species,precocene significantly decreased ovary development when compared with both the acetone solvent-only control and the methoprene treatment.Consistent with the hormonal pleiotropy hypothesis,these effects on reproduction were further matched by subtle shifts in the CHC profiles,with univariate analyses showing that in P.dominula and P.satan the abundance of particular linear alkanes and mono-methylated alkanes were affected by ovary development and our hormonal treatments.The results indicate that in primitively eusocial wasps,and particularly in Polistes,reproduction and the production of some CHC cues are under joint JH control.We suggest that pleiotropic links between reproduction and the production of such hydrocarbon cues have been key enablers for the origin of true fertility and queen signals in more derived,advanced eusocial insects.展开更多
亚瑟·哈图,全名亚瑟·托马斯·哈图（Arthur Thomas Hatto）,是20世纪西方著名的史诗专家。哈图是一位百岁世纪老人,1910年2月11日出生在伦敦的一个律师家庭,2010年去世,享年100岁。他一生经历丰富任职多数,其中,历时最长...亚瑟·哈图,全名亚瑟·托马斯·哈图（Arthur Thomas Hatto）,是20世纪西方著名的史诗专家。哈图是一位百岁世纪老人,1910年2月11日出生在伦敦的一个律师家庭,2010年去世,享年100岁。他一生经历丰富任职多数,其中,历时最长的是在母校伦敦大学玛丽皇后学院（Queen Mary,University of London）的任职。展开更多
基金This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science(JSPS)KAKENHI grants No.JP20K06074 to Y.I.and JP22K14830 to E.T.We sincerely thank Yuuki Kiya,Tomonori Masui,and Daigo Ogawa at Tokyo University of Technology for their technical support as well as Kenji Matsuura and the members of the Laboratory of Insect Ecology at Kyoto University for valuable suggestions and comments.We also thank our laboratory colleagues at Yamaguchi University and Tokyo University of Technology for their cooperation during this study.
文摘Termite queens and kings live longer than nonreproductive workers.Several molecular mechanisms contributing to their long lifespan have been investigated;however,the underlying biochemical explanation remains unclear.Coenzyme Q(CoQ),a component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain,plays an essential role in the lipophilic antioxidant defense system.Its beneficial effects on health and longevity have been well studied in several organisms.Herein,we demonstrated that long-lived termite queens have significantly higher levels of the lipophilic antioxidant CoQ_(10) than workers.Liquid chromatography analysis revealed that the levels of the reduced form of CoQ_(10) were 4 fold higher in the queen's body than in the worker's body.In addition,queens showed 7 fold higher levels of vitamin E,which plays a role in antilipid peroxidation along with CoQ,than workers.Furthermore,the oral administration of CoQ_(10) to termites increased the CoQ_(10) redox state in the body and their survival rate under oxidative stress.These findings suggest that CoQ_(10) acts as an efficient lipophilic antioxidant along with vitamin E in long-lived termite queens.This study provides essential biochemical and evolutionary insights into the relationship between CoQ_(10) concentrations and termite lifespan extension.
文摘When We Ruled In this book,Black British historian and writer Paula Akpan brings to life the powerful,often overlooked histories of 12 African queens and warriors who shaped their nations and defied expectations.From Njinga Mbande of Angola to Nana Yaa Asantewaa of Ghana,Ranavalona I of Madagascar to Makobo Modjadji VI of South Africa,these rulers led with strategy,courage,and resilience across centuries of African history.
文摘Vitellogenin （Vg） is an egg yolk protein that is produced primarily in the fat body of most female insects. In the advanced social structure of eusocial honeybees, the presence of the queen inhibits egg maturation in the workers＇ ovaries. However in the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata, the workers always develop ovaries and lay a certain amount of eggs while provisioning the brood cells with larval food during what is known as the worker nurse phase. The present work is a comparative study of the presence of Vg in homogenates of the fat bodies and ovaries of the nurse workers, and the virgin and physogastric queens of M. quadrifasciata. The presence of Vg was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and irnmunoblotting using Apis mellifera anti-egg antibody. Vg was not detected in the fat bodies or ovaries of the workers, but it was found in the ovaries of virgin and physogastric queens and in the fat body ofphysogastric queens. The results are discussed, taking into account the reproductive state of the individuals and the other possible roles of Vg, such as a storage protein for metoabolism of other organs.
文摘在最近几年里,一些引人入胜的电影,如关于一位战胜紧张情绪的天才钢琴家的《闪耀》(Shine),关于想成为一只牧羊犬的《猪宝宝》 (Babe),关于一群奔波于澳大利亚内地的表演者的《沙漠女王普利希里亚历险记》(TheAdventure of Pricilla,Queen of the Desert)。
文摘1.Queen of Sheba示巴女王[喻]美貌而富有的贵妇人示巴(Sheba)是古代国名,在阿拉伯南部,即今日也门(Yemen)一带,因做香料、宝石生意而著名。据《旧约全书·列王纪》(Old Testment,Kings)记载:示巴女王(Queenof Sheba)以美丽而宫有闻名遐迩,听说以色列国王所罗门(Solomon)智慧过人,她决定去拜访所罗门,了解个究竟。示巴女王带领随从用骆驼驮着大批香料。
文摘This paper presents the different categories of communicative names of cities and streets with some examples all over the world. The commemorative role is playing also by the names of some continents, like America, from the Amerigo Vespucci＇s name. But many countries and states particularly in the Americas remember the Columbus＇ name. Many city names remember political leaders of great significance, like Washington after Georg Washington, Monrovia after James Monroe, Leningrad （today Saint Petersburg, which remembered the tsar Peter I）. Two soviet leaders, Lenin and Stalin were remembered by two Russian cities, Leningrad and Stalingrad, nowadays Saint Petersburg and Volgograd. The name Ho Chi Minh, after the North Vietnamese leader. The names of other regions and cities have been considered, like many cities and islands named Georgia after some kings. Also Louisiana, The Carolinas, Lfopoldville, Elisabethville were named after other kings and queens. Some cities and islands＇ names remember explorers, like Cook, Stanley, Louren^o Marques （today Maputo, after the name of a fiver）, Brazzaville after, Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Bra77h etc. Rio de Janeiro is named after the date of its discovery. Many place names were named after Alexander the Great, outer than the Italian Alesssandria, named after the Pope Alexander III. Many place names remember Saints, particularly in Latin America, but also in North America, like St. Francisco. The streets＇ names are many all over the world. In Rome we have streets names to politicians, like Camill Benso di Cavour, Giuseppe Mazzini and Palmiro Togliatti; writers like Alessandro Manzoni and Torquato Tasso. A name like Giuseppe Garibaldi is extremely diffused in all Italy and also in other countries.
基金supported by the Special Program for Crop Germplasm Resources of the Ministry of Agriculture [(NB07-2130135-(25-30)-05]Natural Science Foundation of Beijing (6071003)+1 种基金Innovation Platform Program for Basic Research of Agricultural Breeding in Beijing (YZPT02-06)Scientific and Technological Key Project in Chongqing for Elite Variety Innovation of Rice and Maize (CSTC 2007AB1045)
文摘Maize landraces White Dent and Golden Queen played a very important role in the pre-hybrid era of maize production in China. However, dozens of accessions with the same names of White Dent and Golden Queen are preserved in China National Genebank （CNG）. The present study investigated the genetic diversity of these two important groups of maize landraces, as well as the relationships within and among them. Thirty-four landrace accessions with the name of White Dent and 10 with Golden Queen preserved in CNG were fingerprinted with 52 simple sequence repeats with tailed primer M13. Summary statistics including average number of alleles per locus, gene diversity/expected heterozygosity, and observed heterozygosity were carried out using PowerMarker ver. 3.25 software. The test of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium （HWE） and linkage disequilibrium （LD） of all the 44 maize landrace accessions were also performed by PowerMarker. We observed a significant differentiation in terms of the average number of alleles between White Dent and Golden Queen （6.44 alleles per locus in White Dent, 4.48 in Golden Queen）, while both groups of maize landraces had a relatively high but similar gene diversity （0.61 of White Dent, 0.63 of Golden Queen）. The fixation index （FST） was only 0.0044, while the percentage of loci deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium within these two groups of White Dent and Golden Queen was 32.69 and 3.92%, respectively. The rather high genetic diversity and average number of alleles per locus confirmed that both groups of landraces had a rather broad germplasm base. The extremely low fixation index showed that there was little genetic variation between White Dent and Golden Queen and the molecular variation within these two groups was remarkably high, indicating no genetic drift between White Dent and Golden Queen and suggesting different improvement approaches to these two important groups of landraces. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium test revealed that the group of White Dent was deviated from HWE, whereas Golden Queen was under HWE.
基金This research was funded by the Research Foundation Flanders to C.A.O.(postdoctoral fellowship FWO-12V6318N,international mobility grant FWO V449117N and research grant 1513219N)R.C.d.S.was funded by the S~ao Paulo Research Foundation(FAPESP)under the grant 2018/22461-3 and Coordenac¸~ao de Aperfeic¸oamento de Pessoal de Nı´vel Superior,Brasil(CAPES),Finance Code 001+1 种基金C.A.O.,H.M.F.,and T.W.were funded by the research grant(FWO-G064120N)All authors were funded by Bilateral grant FWO-FAPESP(FWO GOF8319N and FAPESP 2018/10996-0)。
文摘In social insects,it has been suggested that reproduction and the production of particular fertilitylinked cuticular hydrocarbons(CHC)may be under shared juvenile hormone(JH)control,and this could have been key in predisposing such cues to later evolve into full-fledged queen pheromone signals.However,to date,only few studies have experimentally tested this“hormonal pleiotropy”hypothesis.Here,we formally test this hypothesis using data from four species of Polistine wasps,Polistes dominula,Polistes satan,Mischocyttarus metathoracicus,and Mischocyttarus cassununga,and experimental treatments with JH using the JH analogue methoprene and the anti-JH precocene.In line with reproduction being under JH control,our results show that across these four species,precocene significantly decreased ovary development when compared with both the acetone solvent-only control and the methoprene treatment.Consistent with the hormonal pleiotropy hypothesis,these effects on reproduction were further matched by subtle shifts in the CHC profiles,with univariate analyses showing that in P.dominula and P.satan the abundance of particular linear alkanes and mono-methylated alkanes were affected by ovary development and our hormonal treatments.The results indicate that in primitively eusocial wasps,and particularly in Polistes,reproduction and the production of some CHC cues are under joint JH control.We suggest that pleiotropic links between reproduction and the production of such hydrocarbon cues have been key enablers for the origin of true fertility and queen signals in more derived,advanced eusocial insects.
文摘亚瑟·哈图,全名亚瑟·托马斯·哈图（Arthur Thomas Hatto）,是20世纪西方著名的史诗专家。哈图是一位百岁世纪老人,1910年2月11日出生在伦敦的一个律师家庭,2010年去世,享年100岁。他一生经历丰富任职多数,其中,历时最长的是在母校伦敦大学玛丽皇后学院（Queen Mary,University of London）的任职。
