A new species of Paraputo Laing (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) on Fagaceae from southern China.

A new species of mealybug (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae), Paraputo nanlingensis Li & Wu, sp. n., is recorded on Fagaceae from Guangdong Province, China. The adult female is described and illustrated, and an identification key is provided to separate the adult females of Paraputo species known from China.

A review of the genus Neogreenia MacGillivray (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Qinococcidae) with descriptions of two new species.

The species of Neogreenia MacGillivray (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Qinococcidae) are reviewed. The genus is distributed in the Oriental and Palaearctic Regions and now contains seven species. The present study provides updated generic descriptions of all the developmental stages and a brief account of the biology and life cycle of Neogreenia. The genotype, Neogreenia zeylanica (Green, 1896), is redescribed. The following are described and illustrated for the first time: the second-instar nymph, third-instar female, and male third-instar nymph and pupa of N. zizyphi Tang; the second-instar nymph of N. lonicera Wu & Nan; and the second-instar nymph of N. sophorica Wu. Two new species are described and illustrated: Neogreenia ficus Zheng & Wu, sp. n. based on the adult female and Neogreenia tangi Zheng & Wu, sp. n. based on all female instars. These new species bring the total number of described species of Neogreenia to seven. An identification key to all the developmental stages of Neogreenia, and identification keys to species based on adult females and available nymphal instars are provided.

A chromosome-level genome assembly of the forestry pest Coronaproctus castanopsis.

As an important forestry pest, Coronaproctus castanopsis (Monophlebidae) has caused serious damage to the globally valuable Gutianshan ecosystem, China. In this study, we assembled the first chromosome-level genome of the female specimen of C. castanopsis by merging BGI reads, HiFi long reads and Hi-C data. The assembled genome size is 700.81 Mb, with a scaffold N50 size of 273.84 Mb and a contig N50 size of 12.37 Mb. Hi-C scaffolding assigned 98.32% (689.03 Mb) of C. Castanopsis genome to three chromosomes. The BUSCO analysis (n = 1,367) showed a completeness of 91.2%, comprising 89.2% of single-copy BUSCOs and 2.0% of multicopy BUSCOs. The mapping ratio of BGI, second-generation RNA, third-generation RNA and HiFi reads are 97.84%, 96.15%, 97.96%, and 99.33%, respectively. We also identified 64.97% (455.3 Mb) repetitive elements, 1,373 non-coding RNAs and 10,542 protein-coding genes. This study assembled a high-quality genome of C. castanopsis, which accumulated valuable molecular data for scale insects.

A new genus and species of the scale insect family Qinococcidae (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) from China.

A new genus of Qinococcidae, Abrococcus Zheng & Wu gen. n. is established for a new species Abrococcus cunninghamia Zheng & Wu sp. n., which was collected on Cunninghamia lanceolata (Cupressaceae) from Guizhou Province, P. R. China. Descriptions and illustrations are provided for the adult female and first-, second- and third-instar female nymphs. Keys to the adult females and first-instar nymphs of the genera of Qinococcidae and known developmental stages of A. cunninghamia are provided.

Discovery, structural optimization, and anti-tumor bioactivity evaluations of betulinic acid derivatives as a new type of RORγ antagonists.

Betulinic acid (BA) is a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid that has a wide range of biological and pharmacological effects. Here, computational methods such as pharmacophore screening and reverse docking were used to predict the potential target for BA. Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma (RORγ) was confirmed as its target by several molecular assays as well as crystal complex structure determination. RORγ has been the focus of metabolic regulation, but its potential role in cancer treatment has only recently come to the fore. In this study, rationale optimization of BA was performed and several new derivatives were generated. Among them, the compound 22 showed stronger binding affinity with RORγ (KD = 180 nM), good anti-proliferative activity against cancer cell lines, and potent anti-tumor efficacy with a TGI value of 71.6% (at a dose of 15 mg/kg) in the HPAF-II pancreatic cancer xenograft model. Further RNA-seq analysis and cellular validation experiments supported that RORγ antagonism was closely related to the antitumor activity of BA and 22, resulting in suppression of the RAS/MAPK and AKT/mTORC1 pathway and inducing caspase-dependent apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. RORγ was highly expressed in cancer cells and tissues and positively correlated with the poor prognosis of cancer patients. These results suggest that BA derivatives are potential RORγ antagonists worthy of further exploration.

Morphology of all the developmental stages of Neogreenia osmanthus (Yang & Hu) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha), and transfer of the genera Neogreenia MacGillivray and Jansenus Foldi to the family Qinococcidae.

All the developmental stages of Neogreenia osmanthus (Yang & Hu 1994) are described and illustrated (first- and second-instar nymphs, third-instar male and female nymphs, pupa and adult male), and the adult female is redescribed and re-illustrated. A key to all the developmental stages is provided and a brief biology of N. osmanthus is given. The relationship between the genus Neogreenia MacGillivray and Qinococcus Wu is discussed. Neogreenia (in the family Kuwaniidae) and the genus Jansenus Foldi (in the family Xylococcidae) are transferred to the family Qinococcidae, and the diagnosis of Qinococcidae is revised.

A new genus and species of giant mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Monophlebidae) from eastern China.

A new genus of giant mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha; Monophlebidae), Coronaproctus Li, Xu & Wu gen. nov., is established for the species Coronaproctus castanopsis Li, Xu & Wu sp. nov., collected from Zhejiang province, China on the twigs of Castanopsis eyrei (Fagaceae). The adult female and male are described and illustrated. The new genus is characterized by the adult female possessing quadrilocular disc pores, 13 cicatrices on the venter, and a U-shaped opening of the marsupium, but lacking large bilocular pores.

Phylogenetic Implications of Mitogenomic Sequences and Gene Rearrangements of Scale Insects (Hemiptera, Coccoidea).

Coccoidea (scale insects) are important plant parasites with high diversity of species. However, the phylogenetic relationship within Coccoidea has not been fully determined. In this study, we sequenced mitogenomes of six species belonging to five coccoid families. With the addition of three previously published mitogenomes, a total of 12 coccoid species were adopted for the phylogenetic reconstruction based on the maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. The monophyly of Coccoidea was recovered and Aclerdidae and Coccidae were recovered as the sister group, successively sister to Cerococcidae, Kerriidae, and Eriococcidae. In addition, there were gene rearrangements occurring in all mitogenomes of coccoid species studied here. The novel gene rearrangement ND6-trnP and trnI-ND2-trnY supported the monophyly of Coccoidea and the sister relationship of Aclerdidae and Coccidae. This implies that data from the mitogenome can provide new insight for clarifying the deeper level of phylogenetic relationship within Coccoidea.

Morphology of the preadult stages of Coronaproctus castanopsis Li, Xu & Wu (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Monophlebidae).

All the preadult stages of Coronaproctus castanopsis Li, Xu & Wu, 2023 are described and illustrated (first- and second-instar nymphs, third-instar male and female nymphs, and the male pupa), based on material from Zhejiang Province, China. A key to separate the developmental stages is provided.

DeepPROTACs is a deep learning-based targeted degradation predictor for PROTACs.

The rational design of PROTACs is difficult due to their obscure structure-activity relationship. This study introduces a deep neural network model - DeepPROTACs to help design potent PROTACs molecules. It can predict the degradation capacity of a proposed PROTAC molecule based on structures of given target protein and E3 ligase. The experimental dataset is mainly collected from PROTAC-DB and appropriately labeled according to the DC50 and Dmax values. In the model of DeepPROTACs, the ligands as well as the ligand binding pockets are generated and represented with graphs and fed into Graph Convolutional Networks for feature extraction. While SMILES representations of linkers are fed into a Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory layer to generate the features. Experiments show that DeepPROTACs model achieves 77.95% average prediction accuracy and 0.8470 area under receiver operating characteristic curve on the test set. DeepPROTACs is available online at a web server ( https://bailab.siais.shanghaitech.edu.cn/services/deepprotacs/ ) and at github ( https://github.com/fenglei104/DeepPROTACs ).

Increasing Frequency of G275E Mutation in the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor α6 Subunit Conferring Spinetoram Resistance in Invading Populations of Western Flower Thrips in China.

The western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is an important invasive pest worldwide. Field-evolved resistance to the pesticide spinetoram is an increasing problem in the chemical control of this pest. Here, we examined changes in the frequency of a genetic mutation associated with spinetoram resistance, the G275E mutation in the acetylcholine receptor Foα6, in 62 field populations collected from 2009 to 2021 across areas of China invaded by this pest. We found a low frequency of the G275E mutation in populations collected at the early invasion stage, in contrast to a high frequency in native USA populations. However, the frequency of the G275E mutation has increased to a high level in recently collected populations, with the mutation becoming fixed in some populations. There was a correlation between the frequency of the G275E mutation and resistance to spinetoram as characterized by median lethal concentration, although two populations were outliers. These results showed that G275E mutation is one of the mechanisms conferring spinetoram resistance in many invading populations in China. Ongoing dispersal of the WFT may have facilitated a rapid increase in the G275E mutation across China. Our study highlights the rapid evolution of pesticide resistance in an invasive species and points to a useful marker for molecular diagnostics of spinetoram resistance.

A new coccoid family (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) for an unusual species of scale insect on Podocarpus macrophyllus (Podocarpaceae) from southern China.

A new family, Qinococcidae Wu, fam. n., is established for the species Qinococcus podocarpus gen. n. and sp. n., collected from southern China under the bark of Podocarpus macrophyllus (Podocarpaceae). The adult female and male, egg, and all immature instars including the male pupa of Q. podocarpus sp. n. are described and illustrated. The new family is diagnosed mainly on the adult male possessing an inverted -like post-tergite and unusual venation of the fore wing, with a pterostigma, posterior cubital vein and bifurcate anterior flexing patch. A key to all the developmental stages is provided.

Descriptions of all the female developmental stages of Endernia despoliata Danzig, a gall-inducing pit scale (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Asterolecaniidae).

An updated description of the adult female of a gall-inducing pit scale, Endernia despoliata Danzig (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Asterolecaniidae), is provided, and the immature female stages are described and illustrated for the first time, based on specimens collected from Haicheng city, Liaoning Province, China on Quercus mongolica (Fagaceae). A key to separate the female instars and a brief biology are provided and a key to separate the eight asterolecaniid species known to induce galls is also given.

Recent advances in predicting protein-protein interactions with the aid of artificial intelligence algorithms.

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are essential in the regulation of biological functions and cell events, therefore understanding PPIs have become a key issue to understanding the molecular mechanism and investigating the design of drugs. Here we highlight the major developments in computational methods developed for predicting PPIs by using types of artificial intelligence algorithms. The first part introduces the source of experimental PPI data. The second part is devoted to the PPI prediction methods based on sequential information. The third part covers representative methods using structural information as the input feature. The last part is methods designed by combining different types of features. For each part, the state-of-the-art computational PPI prediction methods are reviewed in an inclusive view. Finally, we discuss the flaws existing in this area and future directions of next-generation algorithms.

A review of the genus Formicococcus Takahashi 1928 (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) of China, with description of a new species.

Sixteen species of the genus Formicococcus (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) are recognized from China. Among them, a new species, F. delonicola Zhang & Wu sp. n., is described and illustrated based on adult females collected from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China on Delonix regia (Fabaceae). The new species is similar to Formicococcus latens Williams 2004 in possessing oral collar tubular ducts on the head and in marginal groups on the posterior abdominal segments. However, it differs from the latter in the morphological character states of dorsal setae on abdominal segment VIII, anal ring setae length and tips morphology of cerarian setae. The monotypic genus Anaparaputo Borchsenius 1962 is recognized as a junior synonym of Formicococcus, and Anaparaputo liui Borchsenius 1962 is transferred to Formicococcus as Formicococcus liui (Borchsenius 1962) comb. n. Three species, Paraputo bambusus (Wu 2001), Paraputo eriobotryae (Wang 1985) and Planococcus mumensis Tang 1977 are here restored to Formicococcus, as F. bambusus (Wu 2001) comb. rev., F. eriobotryae Wang 1985 comb. rev. and F. mumensis (Tang 1977) comb. rev. respectively, bringing the number of Formicococcus species found in China to 16. A key to the Palaearctic and Oriental species of Formicococcus is provided.

Nomenclature of the veins of the fore wings of male scale insects (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha).

The venation of the fore wings of male scale insects is strongly reduced and the nomenclature used for each vein is inconsistent among taxonomists. This paper reviews the different nomenclatural systems in the wing venation of male scale insects that have been suggested previously and puts forward a new system based mainly on newly found wing venation in males of Qinococcuspodocarpus Wu, 2022 (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Qinococcidae).

Updated description of the adult male of Kuwania bipora Borchsenius (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Kuwaniidae) with a discussion on the relationships of Kuwania with some other archaeococcoid genera.

The genus Kuwania Cockerell in Fernald 1903 (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Kuwaniidae) contains seven species worldwide. The only species in the genus for which the adult male has been described is Kuwania bipora Borchsenius 1960, but the description and illustration are inadequate to clarify taxonomic relationships. This paper describes and illustrates the adult male of K. bipora to modern standards. The relationship of Kuwania to three other archaeococcoid genera, based on the male morphology, is discussed; the morphology of the adult male of Kuwania is closest to that of Neosteingelia Morrison 1927.

Ultrastructure of Antennal Sensilla in Adults of Dioryctria rubella Hampson (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).

Antennal sensilla play an essential role in insect life because they receive environmental cues. Dioryctria rubella is an important pine pest in China, but information on the morphology and distribution of its sensilla is limited. To elucidate the mechanism of insect-plant chemical communication, we examined the insect antennae and sensilla by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the antennae of D. rubella were filiform and consisted of a basal scape, a pedicel, and a flagellum with tapered flagellomeres. We identified seven types of sensilla, including trichodea, coeloconica, auricillica, basiconica, styloconica (two subtypes), Böhm's bristles, and squamiformia, all of which were distributed on the antennae of both sexes. Nevertheless, some sensilla exhibited various degrees of sexual dimorphism; for instance, sensilla trichodea, squamiformia, and basiconica were more abundant in males than in females. Many pores were observed on the surface of the cuticular wall in sensilla trichodea and auricillica, and their biological function may be related to olfaction. This study presented a thorough inventory of sensilla on the antennae of D. rubella and laid a solid foundation for future functional studies.

The mitogenome of the scale insect Didesmococcus koreanus Borchsenius, 1955 (Coccoidea: Coccidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Didesmococcus koreanus is described in this study. The complete mitogenome is a 15,162 bp circular DNA molecule with a high A + T content of 82.5%, containing the typical 37 genes. A novel gene rearrangement is detected in the mitogenome. The phylogenetic result supports the monophyly of Coccoidea and the closer relationship between the Ceroplastinae and Coccinae.

Description of a new species of Kermicus Newstead (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) from bamboo in southeast China.

A new species, Kermicus huizhouensis Wu Huang sp. n. (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae), is described and illustrated based on the adult female, second instar female and first-instar nymph. It was collected at Qianfeng village, Huiyang District, Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, P. R. China, inside the stem of bamboo Bambusa rigida (Poaceae) and attended by the ant Tetraponera binghami (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). It differs from K. wroughtoni Newstead, 1897 by the adult female lacking multilocular disc pores in the marginal region of the venter, and both the adult female and first-instar nymph having the anal ring bearing 16-20 setae. Keys to genera of legless mealybugs on bamboo based on adult females, and the immature stages of Kermicus, are provided.