Makonde woodcarving gains an audience in China through couple Li Songshan and Han Rong THE Makonde are an ethnic group living along the Tanzania-Mozambique border.They are considered some of Africa’s most talented wo...Makonde woodcarving gains an audience in China through couple Li Songshan and Han Rong THE Makonde are an ethnic group living along the Tanzania-Mozambique border.They are considered some of Africa’s most talented woodcarvers and their craftsmanship has been passed down from generation to generation.Makonde woodcarving is often referred to as the grandfather of modern African wood sculpture.Its exaggerated human and animal patterns reflect the essence of traditional African culture,full of imagination and inspired by nature.展开更多
Insect body pigmentation and coloration are critical to adaption to the environment. To explore the mechanisms that drive pigmentation, we used the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CR...Insect body pigmentation and coloration are critical to adaption to the environment. To explore the mechanisms that drive pigmentation, we used the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) genome editing system to target the ebony gene in the non-model insect Spodoptera litura. Ebony is crucial to melanin synthesis in insects. By directly injecting Cas9 messenger RNA and ebony-specific guide RNAs into S. litura embryos, we successfully induced a typical ebony-deficient phenotype of deep coloration of the puparium and induction of melanin formation during the pupal stage. Polymerase chain reaction-based genotype analysis demonstrated that various mutations had occurred at the sites targeted in ebony. Our study clearly demonstrates the function of ebony in the puparium coloration and also provides a potentially useful marker gene for functional studies in S. litura as well as other lepidopteran pests.展开更多
The lady beetle Coleomegilla maculata is a common New World insect that is naturally colored pink to red or orange with black spots on the forewings of the adult stage. Previous laboratory in-breeding resulted in sele...The lady beetle Coleomegilla maculata is a common New World insect that is naturally colored pink to red or orange with black spots on the forewings of the adult stage. Previous laboratory in-breeding resulted in selection for a strain lacking red pigment in the cuticle and eyes. An additional strain selected for a novel spotting pattern is described here. The inheritance of the new trait, “ten spotted” (10sp), was determined by classical crossing experiments. Inheritance of the trait was autosomal and exhibited incomplete dominance. Bionomic strain measurements were compared to the parental strains and were similar overall. Two expressed sequences from C. maculata that may be related to the new phenotype were compared to model insect genes encoding a melanin biosynthesis enzyme and a patterning transcription factor.展开更多
文摘Makonde woodcarving gains an audience in China through couple Li Songshan and Han Rong THE Makonde are an ethnic group living along the Tanzania-Mozambique border.They are considered some of Africa’s most talented woodcarvers and their craftsmanship has been passed down from generation to generation.Makonde woodcarving is often referred to as the grandfather of modern African wood sculpture.Its exaggerated human and animal patterns reflect the essence of traditional African culture,full of imagination and inspired by nature.
文摘Insect body pigmentation and coloration are critical to adaption to the environment. To explore the mechanisms that drive pigmentation, we used the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) genome editing system to target the ebony gene in the non-model insect Spodoptera litura. Ebony is crucial to melanin synthesis in insects. By directly injecting Cas9 messenger RNA and ebony-specific guide RNAs into S. litura embryos, we successfully induced a typical ebony-deficient phenotype of deep coloration of the puparium and induction of melanin formation during the pupal stage. Polymerase chain reaction-based genotype analysis demonstrated that various mutations had occurred at the sites targeted in ebony. Our study clearly demonstrates the function of ebony in the puparium coloration and also provides a potentially useful marker gene for functional studies in S. litura as well as other lepidopteran pests.
文摘The lady beetle Coleomegilla maculata is a common New World insect that is naturally colored pink to red or orange with black spots on the forewings of the adult stage. Previous laboratory in-breeding resulted in selection for a strain lacking red pigment in the cuticle and eyes. An additional strain selected for a novel spotting pattern is described here. The inheritance of the new trait, “ten spotted” (10sp), was determined by classical crossing experiments. Inheritance of the trait was autosomal and exhibited incomplete dominance. Bionomic strain measurements were compared to the parental strains and were similar overall. Two expressed sequences from C. maculata that may be related to the new phenotype were compared to model insect genes encoding a melanin biosynthesis enzyme and a patterning transcription factor.
