Ontogeny and Metamorphic Patterns of Female Reproductive Organs of Ephedra sinica Stapf (Ephedraceae)

Ontogeny and metamorphic. development of female reproductive organs in Ephedra sinica Stapf were surveyed. At the end of April, female cones began to initialize from the vegetative buds. Pollination occurred in mid-May and seeds matured at the beginning of July. The ontogenetic pattern of female reproductive organs of E. sin ca is basically similar to that of E. distachya L. The foliar nature of the outer envelope of the ovule in Ephedra is corroborated. Reduction of ovule number as a tendency of speciation in the genus is substantiated by the occurrence of tri-ovulate cones coupled with comprehensive characters of the genus. The metamorphic patterns as well as the leaf nature of the outer envelope indicate that female cones of Ephedra are compound while the female reproductive units of the ovulate cone have been reduced from secondary reproductive shoots similar to those of cordaites by phylogenetic transformation, fusion and reduction. Each fertile bract together with its axillary female reproductive unit composed the Bract Scale and Seed Scale Complex of Ephedra.

Activation of paternally expressed imprinted genes in newly derived germline-competent mouse parthenogenetic embryonic stem cell lines

Parthenogenetic embryonic stem （pES） cells provide a valuable in vitro model system for studying the molecular mechanisms that underlie genomic imprinting. However, the pluripotency of pES cells and the expression profiles of paternally expressed imprinted genes have not been fully explored. In this study, three mouse pES cell lines were established and the differentiation potential of these cells in extended culture was evaluated. The undifferentiated cells had a normal karyotype and homozygous genome, and expressed ES-cell-specific molecular markers. The cells remained undifferentiated after more than 50 passages and exhibited pluripotent differentiation capacity. All three lines of the established ES cells produced teratomas; two lines of ES cells produced chimeras and germline transmission. Furthermore, activation of the paternally expressed imprinted genes Snrpn, U2afl-rsl, Peg3, Impact, Zfp127, Dlkl and Mest in these cells was detected. Some paternally expressed imprinted genes were found to be expressed in the blastocyst stage of parthenogenetically activated embryos in vitro and their expression level increased with extended pES cell culture. Furthermore, our data show that the activation of these paternally expressed imprinted genes in pES cells was associated with a change in the methylation of the related differentially methylated regions. These findings provide direct evidence for the pluripotency of pES cells and demonstrate the association between the DNA methylation pattern and the activa- tion of paternally expressed imprinted genes in pES cells. Thus, the established ES cell lines provide a valuable model for studying epigenetic regulation in mammalian development.

The Occurrence of an Exotic Bisexual Artemia Species, Artemia franciscana, in Two Coastal Salterns of Shandong Province, China

The alien halophilous Artemia species, Artemia franciscana, was found in Chengkou Saltern and Yangkou Saltern of Shandong Province, P.R. China. Although the indigenous parthenogenetic Artemia is detectable, the exotic species is dominant in both salterns. The cross-breeding tests between the exotic A. franciscana and 5 bisexual Artemia species were conducted. The results of hybridization and morphological observations on the exotic A. franciscana are briefly presented in this short communication.

Temperature Effect on the Life History of Three Types of Brachionus calyciflorus Females

The effect of temperature on the life history characteristics of amictic females (AF), unfertilized mictic females (UMF) and fertilized mictic females (FMF) in Brachionus calyciflorus was studied with replicated individual cultures at 20℃,25℃ and 30℃, and with algae Scenedesmus obliquus for their food. There were highly significant effects of both temperature and female type, independently and interactively, on the duration of juvenile and post-reproduction periods, and the number of eggs produced by the rotifer per life cycle. Among all the temperature-female type combinations, all the juvenile periods of FMF, and the post-reproduction periods of UMF and FMF at 20℃, were the longest, and the number of eggs produced by an UMF at 30℃ was the highest. There were highly significant effects of both temperature and female type on the duration of the reproduction period, but no clear correlation was observed between temperature and female type. The reproduction period of AF was longer than that of UMF and FMF. Only temperature influenced significantly the mean life-span of the three types of females. The duration of juvenile, reproduction and post-reproduction periods as well as the life-span of the three types of females were all reduced very significantly with rise of temperature, but the rates of reduction varied with female type. Among the three types of females, the number of eggs produced per life cycle by an UMF was the highest, and that of a FMF was the lowest. A significant relationship between the number of eggs produced per life cycle and temperature was observed only in the UMF.

Long Dan Xie Gan Formula Granule Promotes Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression in Female Guinea Pigs with Recurrent Genital Herpes

Objective To explore the effects of Long Dan Xie Gan formula granule(LDXGFG)on regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in female guinea pigs with recurrent genital herpes(herpes simplex virus 2,HSV-2).Methods Levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in blood of HSV-2-infected guinea pigs,including IL-6,IL-8,IL-10,IL-12,IFN-α,IFN-β,IFN-γ,and TNF-α,were detected by ELISA;corresponding gene expression levels in tissues were detected by real-time PCR.Results IL-6,IL-10,IL-12,IFN-α,IFN-γand TNF-αdecreased significantly in both blood and diseased tissues after infection with recurrent genital herpes.Upon feeding LDXGFG to HSV-2-infected guinea pigs,IL-6,IL-10,IL-12,IFN-α,IFN-γand TNF-αdemonstrated significant increases,similar to the effects of acyclovir(ACV).LDXGFG promoted the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in blood and tissue,with a stronger effect than ACV.Moreover,LDXGFG demonstrated broader effects than ACV.Conclusion The present results suggest that LDXGFG can serve as an alternative,inexpensive,and long-term treatment for HSV-2 infection.