Long duplication of 18S ribosomal DNA in Cynoglossus lineolatus(Pleuronectiformes： Cynoglossidae)： novel molecular evidencefor unequal crossing over model

Although 18 S r DNA sequence is extremely conservative, the polymorphism still has been found in few species.In the present study, three types(Type A, B and C) of 18 S r DNA sequence coexisted in Cynoglossus lineolatus genome, suggesting a non-concerted evolution process, rather than a strictly concerted evolution fashion.Based on the differences of sequence variation, GC content, secondary structure and minimum free energy,Types A and B were speculated as the potential pseudogenes. Additionally, a fascinating finding was a 189-bp duplication of 18 S r DNA in Type A sequence. To our knowledge, this is the first report on such a long duplication in teleostean ribosomal DNA. Compared with several theories accounting for the formation of tandem repeats, the unequal crossing over model was thought to be the most likely mechanism to generate the189-bp duplication of 18 S r DNA. These results not only provide a novel molecular evidence for the unequal crossing over model, but also benefit for the further study on 18 S r DNA in fishes.

Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Steppe Ribbon Racer(Psammophis lineolatus):The First Representative from the Snake Family Psammophiidae and its Phylogenetic Implications

Comparisons of vertebrate mitochondrial genomes(mitogenomes)may yield significant insights into the evolution of organisms and genomes.However,no complete mitogenome from the snake family Psammophiidae has been reported.In this study,we sequenced and annotated the complete mitogenome of Psammophis lineolatus,representing the first mitogenome of Psammophiidae.The total length is 17166 bp,consisting of 13 protein-coding genes(PCGs),22 transfer RNAs(tRNAs),two ribosomal RNAs(12 S rRNA and16 S rRNA),and duplicate control regions(CRs).This gene arrangement belongs to the TypeⅢpattern,which is a widely shared gene order in Alethinophidian snakes.All tRNAs exhibit cloverleaf structures with the exception of tRNA-Ser^(AGY) and tRNA-Pro,which lack a dihydrouridine(DHU)arm/stem and TΨC loop,respectively.The 13 PCGs include five start codons(ATG,GTG,ATA,ATT,and ATC),two complete stop codons(TAA and AGG),and two incomplete stop codon(T--and TA-).In addition,the Ka/Ks ratios indicate that all PCGs had undergone a strong purifying selection.Four types of CR domains rearrangement occurred among eight species of Elapoidea.The phylogenetic reconstructions with both Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods support the placement of Psammophiidae in the Elapoidea superfamily,with Homalopsidae being the sister taxon to Elapoidea and Colubroidea.However,the sister taxon of Psammophiidae is unclear due to the availability of Elapoidea mitogenomes being limited to the family Elapidae.More mitogenomes from different taxonomic groups in Elapoidea are needed to better understand the phylogenetic relationships within Elapoidea.

Silencing of odorant binding protein gene AlinOBP4 by RNAi induces declining electrophysiological responses of Adelphocoris lineolatus to six semiochemicals

Odorant binding proteins （OBPs） are believed to be important for transporting semiochemicals through the aqueous sensillar lymph to the olfactory receptor cells within the insect antennal sensilla. Here, we injected AlinOBP4-siRNA into the conjunctivum between prothorax and mesothorax of the lucerne plant bug, Adelphocoris lineolatus and evaluated the silencing of AlinOBP4 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） analysis, quantitative real-time PCR （qPCR） test and electroantennogram （EAG） assay. The combination of RT-PCR and qPCR analyses revealed that the levels of mes- senger RNA transcript were significantly reduced ~95% in AlinOBP4-siRNA-treated A. lineolatus males and ~75% in RNAi-treated females within 48 hours. It was found that there are different EAG responses between male and female bugs when the AlinOBP4 gene was silenced by RNAi. The EAGs of A. lineolatus to two plant volatiles, tride- canal and hexyl alcohol, were reduced 9.09% and 79.45% in RNAi-treated males, 62.08% and 62.08% in RNAi-treated females compared to the controls, separately. Antennae of RNAi-treated bugs showed significantly lower electrophysiological responses to four sex pheromone analogs, butyl butanoate, 1-hexyl butyrate, （E）-2-hexenyl butyrate and hexyl hexanoate. The EAG recordings were reduced 35.43%, 35.24%, 39.96% and 78.47% in RNAi-treated males and 64.52%, 18.13%, 36.88% and 49.52% in RNAi-treated females, respectively. The results suggested that AlinOBP4 might play dual-roles in the identifi- cation of plant volatiles and sex pheromones. It was suspected that AlinOBP4 may have different functions in odor perception between male and female A. lineolatus.

Performance of Three Adelphocoris spp.(Hemiptera: Miridae) on Flowering and Non-flowering Cotton and Alfalfa

The genus Adelphocoris（Hemiptera： Miridae） is a group of key insect pests in cotton fields in China that includes three dominant species： A. suturalis（Jakovlev）, A. lineolatus（Goeze） and A. fasciaticollis（Reuter）. Previous field surveys have found that adults of these Adelphocoris species usually move onto specific host plants when the plants enter the flowering stage. To determine the potential trade-offs for this host-plant preference behavior, the performance of these three Adelphocoris spp. on flowering and non-flowering cotton and alfalfa were compared in the laboratory. The results showed that Adelphocoris spp. had significantly higher nymphal developmental and survival rates, along with increased adult longevity and fecundity on flowering cotton and alfalfa than on non-flowering plants of either species. In addition, compared with cotton plants, alfalfa generally promoted better performance of these three Adelphocoris species, especially for A. lineolatus. Simple correlation analysis indicated that female adult longevity was positively correlated to male adult longevity and female fecundity, and female fecundity was positively correlated to nymphal development and survival rates. This study demonstrated a positive correlation between adult preference and offspring/adult performance for all three Adelphocoris species, with no evidence of any trade-offs for this preference for flowering host plants. These findings support the hypothesis that hemimetabolous insects such as mirid bugs have positive adult preference-adult/nymphal performance relationships, which is likely due to the similar feeding habits and nutritional requirements of adults and nymphs.