Lineage-specific plastid degradation in subtribe Gentianinae (Gentianaceae).

The structure and sequence of plastid genomes is highly conserved across most land plants, except for a minority of lineages that show gene loss and genome degradation. Understanding the early stages of plastome degradation may provide crucial insights into the repeatability and predictability of genomic evolutionary trends. We investigated these trends in subtribe Gentianinae of the Gentianaceae, which encompasses ca. 450 species distributed around the world, particularly in alpine and subalpine environments. We sequenced, assembled, and annotated the plastomes of 41 species, representing all six genera in subtribe Gentianinae and all main sections of the species-rich genus Gentiana L. We reconstructed the phylogeny, estimated divergence times, investigated the phylogenetic distribution of putative gene losses, and related these to substitution rate shifts and species' habitats. We obtained a strongly supported topology consistent with earlier studies, with all six genera in Gentianinae recovered as monophyletic and all main sections of Gentiana having full support. While closely related species have very similar plastomes in terms of size and structure, independent gene losses, particularly of the ndh complex, have occurred in multiple clades across the phylogeny. Gene loss was usually associated with a shift in the boundaries of the small single-copy and inverted repeat regions. Substitution rates were variable between clades, with evidence for both elevated and decelerated rate shifts. Independent lineage-specific loss of ndh genes occurred at a wide range of times, from Eocene to Pliocene. Our study illustrates that diverse degradation patterns shape the evolution of the plastid in this species-rich plant group.

Difference in diel mating time contributes to assortative mating between host plant-associated populations of Chilo suppressalis.

Behavioral isolation in animals can be mediated by inherent mating preferences and assortative traits, such as divergence in the diel timing of mating activity. Although divergence in the diel mating time could, in principle, promote the reproductive isolation of sympatric, conspecific populations, there is currently no unequivocal evidence of this. We conducted different mate-choice experiments to investigate the contribution of differences in diel mating activity to the reproductive isolation of the rice and water-oat populations of Chilo suppressalis. The results show that inter-population difference in diel mating activity contributes to assortative mating in these populations. In the rice population, most mating activity occurred during the first half of the scotophase, whereas in the water-oat population virtually all mating activity was confined to the second half of the scotophase. However, when the photoperiod of individuals from the water-oat population was altered to more closely align their mating activity with that of the rice population, mate choice was random. We conclude that inter-population differences in diel mating time contribute to assortative mating, and thereby the partial reproductive isolation, of these host-associated populations of C. suppressalis.

Thermal effects on development and adult longevity of endoparasitoid Chelonus murakatae Munakata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae).

The effects of temperature on the development duration and longevity of adult of Chelonus murakatae were studied under five constant temperatures including 22.5, 25, 27.5, 30 and 32.5 ± 0.5 °C under laboratory conditions. It was observed that the development time was inversely proportional to the temperature within the range of 22.5 to 32.5 °C. The results indicated that the optimum temperature for development ranged from 25 to 30 °C. Thermal threshold was estimated by a linear model which was recorded as 15.5 and 18.5 °C for males and females, respectively. Number of degree days required to complete the development from egg to adult were 439.6 degree days in males and 336.8 degree days in females. Adult longevity also decreased with increase in temperature. This information can be used for optimizing mass culturing and field release for an efficient biological control of Chilo suppressalis in this specie.

Do differences in life-history traits and the timing of peak mating activity between host-associated populations of Chilo suppressalis have a genetic basis?

The development of host races, genetically distinct populations of the same species with different hosts, is considered to be the initial stage of ecological speciation. Ecological and biological differences consistent with host race formation have been reported between water-oat and rice-associated populations of Chilo suppressalis. In order to confirm whether these differences have a genetic basis, we conducted experiments to determine the extent to which various life-history traits and the time of peak mating activity of these populations were influenced by the species of host plant larvae were raised on. Individuals from each population were reared for three consecutive generations on either water-oat fruit pulp or rice seedlings. Descendants of both populations had higher larval survival rates, shorter larval developmental periods, higher pupal weight, and longer adult forewings, when reared on water-oats than when reared on rice. The time of peak of mating activity differed between the descendants of each population, irrespective of whether they were raised on water-oats or rice. These results indicate that although some life-history traits of host-associated populations of C. suppressalis are influenced by the host plant larvae are raised on, time of peak mating activity is not. Because it is a stable, objective, phenotypic trait, further research on difference in the time of peak mating activity between host-associated populations of C. suppressalis should be conducted to clarify the mechanism responsible for host race formation in this species.

General Assembly of Twisted Trigonal-Prismatic Nonanuclear Silver(I) Clusters.

A general class of C3 -symmetric Ag9 clusters, [Ag9 S(tBuC6 H4 S)6 (dpph)3 (CF3 SO3 )] (1), [Ag9 (tBuC6 H4 S)6 (dpph)3 (CF3 SO3 )2 ]⋅CF3 SO3 (2), [Ag9 (tBuC6 H4 S)6 (dpph)3 (NO3 )2 ] ⋅NO3 (3), and [Ag9 (tBuC6 H4 S)7 (dpph)3 (Mo2 O7 )0.5 ]2 ⋅2 CF3 COO (4) (dpph=1,6-bis(diphenylphosphino)hexane), with a twisted trigonal-prism geometry was isolated by the reaction of polymeric {(HNEt3 )2 [Ag10 (tBuC6 H4 S)12 ]}n , 1,6-bis(diphenylphosphino)hexane, and various silver salts under solvothermal conditions. The structures consist of discrete clusters constructed from a girdling Ag9 twisted trigonal prism with the top and bottom trigonal faces capped by diverse anions (i.e., S(2-) and CF3 SO3 (-) for compound 1, 2×CF3 SO3 (-) for compound 2, 2×NO3 (-) for compound 3, and tBuC6 H4 S(-) and Mo2 O7 (2-) for compound 4). This trigonal prism is bisected by another shrunken Ag3 trigon at its waist position. Interestingly, two inversion-related Ag9 trigonal-prismatic clusters are dimerized by the Mo2 O7 (2-) ion in compound 4. The twist is amplified by the bulkier thiolate, which also introduces high steric-hindrance for the capping ligand, that is, the longer dpph ligand. Four more silver-sulfur clusters (namely, compounds 5-8) with their nuclearity ranging from 6-10 were solely characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction to verify the above-described synergetic effect of mixed ligands in the construction of Ag9 twisted trigonal prisms. Surprisingly, only cluster 1 emits yellow luminescence at λ=584 nm at room temperature, which may be attributed to a charge transfer from the S 3p orbital to the Ag 5s orbital, or mixed with metal-centered (MC) d(10) →d(9) s(1) transitions. Upon cooling from 300 to 80 K, the emission intensity was enhanced along with a hypsochromic shift. The good linear relationship between the maximum emission intensity and the temperature for compound 1 in the range of 180-300 K indicates that this is a promising molecular luminescent thermometer. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetric studies indicated that the diffusion- and surface-controlled redox processes were determined for compounds 1 and 3 as well as compound 4, respectively.