Ethnobotanical study on ritual plants used by Hani people in Yunnan, China.

BACKGROUND: The Hani people, who reside in Yuanyang County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, rely on rice terrace farming as their primary livelihood. They utilize plants in various traditional ritual practices. The Hani people have categorized the value of plants based on their natural attributes and have refined the ways of using different plants in specific rituals through practical observations and experiences derived from their agricultural culture. Although the plants used in these rituals hold significant cultural value, they have yet to be studied from the perspective of ethnobotany. This study aims to approach the ritual plants using ethnobotanical methods. METHODS: Ethnobotanical fieldwork was conducted in 10 villages in Yuanyang County between 2021 and 2023. Data were collected from the local Hani people through semi-structured interviews and participatory observations and 41 informants were interviewed during the field investigations. The frequency of citation (FC) and relative frequency of citation (RFC) were utilized to evaluate the relative importance of ritual plants among the local communities. RESULTS: A total of 36 plant species, belonging to 18 families and 34 genera, were recorded as being used in 11 ritual practices by the Hani people. Rosaceae, Poaceae, and Fabaceae were found to have the highest number of species. Most of the ritual plants used by the Hani people were collected from the wild. FC and RFC analysis showed that the preferred plants for Hani rituals were Rhus chinensis Mill, Oryza sativa L., Phyllostachys sulphurea (Carr.) A. et C. Riv. and Musa basjoo Siebold & Zucc. ex Iinuma. The 11 rituals are all centered around the performance of people, crops and livestock. The Hani people use plants in different rituals mainly based on their biological attributes. CONCLUSIONS: Many rituals of the Hani people are closely related to their production and livelihood, and the plants used in these rituals are deeply rooted in Hani's traditional ecological knowledge and beliefs. The Hani people's reverence for nature, respect for life, gratitude towards ancestors, and seeking blessings and disaster prevention for their families, crops, and livestock are all reflected in these rituals and their utilization of ritual plants. The Hani people showcase their agricultural culture in the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces through plant-based ritual performances. Studying ritual plants in the core area of the Hani Rice Terraces is of great significance for protecting the Hani Terrace farming culture. In the future, it is essential to pay more attention to the role of traditional knowledge in biodiversity conservation.

Inhibition of Canonical Transient Receptor Potential 5 Channels Polarizes Macrophages to an M1 Phenotype.

BACKGROUND: Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are widely expressed in the mammals. However, the functions of canonical TRP (TRPC) in inflammatory responses are largely unknown. The present study was focused on the effect of canonical TRP5 (TRPC5) channel on the polarization of macrophage to an M1 phenotype. METHODS: Polarization of macrophages was studied in TRPC5 knockout (TRPC5-/-) mice and in Raw264.7, a mouse macrophage cell line. Indicators of M1 type polarized macrophage were measured in the aorta of mice. Inhibition of TRPC5 in macrophages was achieved by the administration of ML204 (a non-selective TRPC5 antagonist) or the silencing of the TRPC5 gene with short hairpin RNA. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to stimulate Raw264.7 cells to an M1 type polarization. Proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1ß, and IL-6 were measured in mice or cells, and protein expressions of Akt, phosphorylated (p)-Akt, IκBα, p-IκBα, and NF-κB were analyzed in Raw264.7 cells. RESULTS: In TRPC5-/- mice the number of M1 type polarization of macrophages infiltrating into the aortic walls were significantly increased. The serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IL-6 were also increased. Furthermore, after treated with ML204 or silenced the gene of TRPC5, the releases of TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6 from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 cells were significantly increased. Meanwhile, phosphorylations of Akt and IκBα were upregulated, and the shift of NF-κB from the cytoplasm to nucleus was markedly enhanced. CONCLUSION: The activation of TRPC5 may inhibit the polarization of macrophage to an M1 phenotype by regulating Akt/IκB/NF-κB signaling pathways.

Origin and expansion of the Yunnan Shoot Borer, Tomicus yunnanensis (coleoptera: scolytinae): a mixture of historical natural expansion and contemporary human-mediated relocation.

The Yunnan shoot borer, Tomicus yunnanensis, is a recently-discovered, aggressive pest of the Yunnan pine stands in southwestern China. Despite many bionomics studies and massive controlling efforts, research on its population genetics is extremely limited. The present study, aimed at investigating the origin and dispersal of this important forestry pest, analyzed the population genetic structure and demographic history using a mitochondrial cox1 gene fragment. Our results showed that T. yunnanensis most likely originated from the Central-Yunnan Altiplano, and the divergence time analysis placed the origin approximately 0.72 million-years ago. Host separation and specialization might have caused the speciation of T. yunnanensis. Genetic structure analyses identified two population groups, with six populations near the origin area forming one group and the remaining six populations from western and eastern Yunnan and southwestern Sichuan comprising the other. Divergence time analysis placed the split of the two groups at approximately 0.60 million-years ago, and haplotype phylogenetic tree, network, as well as migration rate suggested that populations of the latter group were established via a small number of individuals from the former one. Migration analysis also showed a certain degree of recent expansion from southwestern Sichuan to eastern Yunnan. Our findings implied that T. yunnanensis underwent both historical expansion and recent dispersal. The historical expansion may relate to the oscillation of regional climate due to glacial and interglacial periods in the Pleistocene, while human-mediated transportation of pine-wood material might have assisted the relocation and establishment of this pest in novel habitats.

Dispersal of the Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), in mainland China as inferred from molecular data and associations to indices of human activity.

The Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is an important forest pest as well as the principal vector of the pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhrer), in mainland China. Despite the economic importance of this insect-disease complex, only a few studies are available on the population genetic structure of M. alternatus and the relationship between its historic dispersal pattern and various human activities. The aim of the present study was to further explore aspects of human activity on the population genetic structure of M. alternatus in mainland China. The molecular data based on the combined mitochondrial cox1 and cox2 gene fragments from 140 individuals representing 14 Chinese populations yielded 54 haplotypes. Overall, a historical (natural) expansion that originated from China's eastern coast to the western interior was revealed by the haplotype network, as well as several recent, long-distant population exchanges. Correlation analysis suggested that regional economic status and proximity to marine ports significantly influenced the population genetic structure of M. alternatus as indicated by both the ratio of shared haplotypes and the haplotype diversity, however, the PWN distribution in China was significantly correlated with only the ratio of shared haplotypes. Our results suggested that the modern logistical network (i.e., the transportation system) in China is a key medium by which humans have brought about population exchange of M. alternatus in mainland China, likely through inadvertent movement of infested wood packaging material associated with trade, and that this genetic exchange was primarily from the economically well-developed east coast of China, westward, to the less-developed interior. In addition, this study demonstrated the existence of non-local M. alternatus in new PWN-infested localities in China, but not all sites with non-local M. alternatus were infested with PWN.