Two new species of larval Erythraeidae (Parasitengona) ectoparasites of leafhoppers from Southwestern China.

In this study, three species were examined. Among them, two new species, and from Southwestern China, were described and illustrated based on larvae. The two new species can be distinguished from the known species by the following characteristics: the anterior sensilla are nude, and the gnathosoma has two pairs of nude hypostomalae in ; the anterior sensilla and posterolateral scutalae are located in the posterior half of the scutum, and the posterior hypostomalae with barbs on the proximal half in In addition, a new host and distribution range of Xu & Jin, 2022 is reported.

Four new species of Gallerucida Motschulsky, 1861 from China (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae).

Four new species of the genus Gallerucida Motschulsky, 1861 from China, G. mantillerii sp. nov.

Cla4A, a Novel Regulator of Gene Expression Networks Required for Asexual and Insect-Pathogenic Lifecycles of .

Cla4, an orthologous p21-activated kinase crucial for non-entomopathogenic fungal lifestyles, has two paralogs (Cla4A/B) functionally unknown in hypocrealean entomopathogens. Here, we report a regulatory role of Cla4A in gene expression networks of required for asexual and entomopathogenic lifecycles while Cla4B is functionally redundant. The deletion of resulted in severe growth defects, reduced stress tolerance, delayed conidiation, altered conidiation mode, impaired conidial quality, and abolished pathogenicity through cuticular penetration, contrasting with no phenotype affected by deletion.

Photoreactivation Activities of Rad5, Rad16A and Rad16B Help to Recover from Solar Ultraviolet Damage.

In budding yeast, Rad5 and Rad7-Rad16 play respective roles in the error-free post-replication repair and nucleotide excision repair of ultraviolet-induced DNA damage; however, their homologs have not yet been studied in non-yeast fungi. In the fungus , a deficiency in the Rad7 homolog, Rad5 ortholog and two Rad16 paralogs (Rad16A/B) instituted an ability to help the insect-pathogenic fungus to recover from solar UVB damage through photoreactivation. The fungal lifecycle-related phenotypes were not altered in the absence of , or while severe defects in growth and conidiation were caused by the double deletion of and .

Physiological and genetic responses of the benthic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima to polystyrene microplastics.

Microplastics are well known as contaminants in marine environments. With the development of biofilms, most microplastics will eventually sink and deposit in benthic environment. However, little research has been done on benthic toxic dinoflagellates, and the effects of microplastics on benthic dinoflagellates are unknown.

Computational Screening of Promising Deep-Ultraviolet Light Emitters.

Deep-ultraviolet (DUV) light sources are technologically highly important, but DUV light-emitting materials are extremely rare; AlN and its alloys are the only materials known so far, significantly limiting the chemical and structural spaces for materials design. Here, we perform a high-throughput computational search for DUV light emitters based on a set of carefully designed screening criteria relating to the sophisticated electronic structure. In this way, we successfully identify 5 promising material candidates that exhibit comparable or higher radiative recombination coefficients than AlN, including BeGeN, MgNF, KCaBr, KHS, and RbHS.

High photoreactivation activities of Rad2 and Rad14 in recovering insecticidal Beauveria bassiana from solar UV damage.

Anti-ultraviolet (UV) roles of Rad2 and Rad14 depend on nucleotide excision repair (NER) of UV-induced DNA lesions in budding yeast but remain unexplored yet in filamentous fungi. Here, nucleus-specific Rad2 and Rad14 orthologs are shown to recover Beauveria bassiana, a main source of wide-spectrum mycoinsecticides, from solar UV damage through photorepair-depending photoreactivation. As a photorepair index, photoreactivation (germination) rates of lethal UVB dose-irradiated conidia via a 3- or 5-h light plus 9- or 7-h dark incubation at 25 °C were drastically reduced in the Δrad2 and Δrad14 mutants versus a wild-type strain.

Rad6, a ubiquitin conjugator required for insect-pathogenic lifestyle, UV damage repair, and genomic expression of Beauveria bassiana.

The E2 ubiquitin conjugator Rad6 is required for DNA damage bypass in budding yeast but remain functionally unknown in filamentous fungi. Here, we report pleiotropic effect of Rad6 ortholog in Beauveria bassiana, a wide-spectrum fungal insecticide. Global ubiquitination signal was greatly attenuated in the absence of rad6.

Only one of three hydrophobins (Hyd1-3) contributes to conidial hydrophobicity and insect pathogenicity of Metarhizium robertsii.

Class I/II hydrophobins constitute a family of small amphiphilic proteins that mediate cell hydrophobicity and adhesion to host or substrata and have pleiotropic effects in filamentous fungi. Here we report that only class I Hyd1 is essential for conidial hydrophobicity and insect pathogenicity among three hydrophobins (Hyd1-3) characterized in Metarhizium robertsii, an insect-pathogenic fungus. Aerial conidiation levels of three Δhyd1 mutants were much more reduced in 5-day-old cultures than in 7-day-old cultures, which were wettable (hydrophilic), but restored to a wild-type level in 15-day-old cultures.

Co-Regulatory Roles of WC1 and WC2 in Asexual Development and Photoreactivation of .

The white collar proteins WC1 and WC2 interact with each other to form a white collar complex acting as a well-known transcription regulator required for the operation of the circadian clock in , but their roles in insect-pathogenic fungal lifecycles remain poorly understood. Here, we report that WC1 and WC2 orthologs co-regulate the conidiation capacity and conidial resistance to solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) irradiation in , after their high activities in the photorepair of UVB-induced DNA damages were elucidated previously in the insect mycopathogen, which features non-rhythmic conidiation and high conidiation capacity. The conidial yield, UVB resistance, and photoreactivation rate of UVB-impaired conidia were greatly reduced in the null mutants of and compared to their control strains.

Essential Role of WetA, but No Role of VosA, in Asexual Development, Conidial Maturation and Insect Pathogenicity of Metarhizium .

Conidial maturation, which is crucial for conidial quality, is controlled by the asexual development activator WetA and the downstream, velvety protein VosA in Aspergillus. Their orthologs have proved functional in conidial quality control of Beauveria bassiana, as seen in Aspergillus, but are functionally unexplored, in Metarhizium , another hypocrealean insect pathogen. Here, WetA and VosA prove essential and nonessential for 's life cycle, respectively.

Notes on spotted-elytron species of Motschulsky with the description of six new species from China (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae).

In this study, fifteen species of Motschulsky, 1860 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae), with spotted elytra, from China are reviewed, including one new record: (Duvivier, 1885), six new species: Xu & Yang, , Xu & Nie, , Xu & Yang, , Xu & Yang, , Xu & Yang, , Xu & Nie, , and (Chen, 1942), . is removed from genus . A key to the spotted-elytron species of from China is given as well as habitus photographs of the related species and and photographs of the aedeagus of each new species.

Four New Species of Larval and (Acari: Trombidiformes: Erythraeidae), with a Checklist of the Two Genera and Their Hosts from China.

Four new species, Xu and Jin , () Xu and Jin , () Xu and Jin , and () Xu and Jin are described and illustrated based on larvae. All four new species are from biodiversity hotspots, . (.

Additional evidence of HS5-1 enhancer eRNA PEARL for protocadherin alpha gene regulation.

The regulation of target genes by distal enhancers usually determines the fate and function of cells. Active enhancers in specific regions of chromatin may transcribe bidirectionally to produce long non-coding enhancer RNA (eRNA) to regulate gene expression. We recently found that an antisense enhancer eRNA PEARL (Pcdh eRNA associated with R-loop formation) regulates gene expression of members of the Pcdhα cluster via R-loop formation.

Toxicity and underlying mechanism of the toxic dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus caribaeus to the fish Oryzias melastigma.

Gambierdiscus spp. is mainly responsible for the ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) around the world. The gambiertoxin produced by Gambierdiscus can be passed through the food chain to form ciguatoxins (CTXs) that cause ciguatoxins poisoning.

Roles of BrlA and AbaA in Mediating Asexual and Insect Pathogenic Lifecycles of Metarhizium robertsii.

BrlA and AbaA are key activators of the central developmental pathway (CDP) that controls asexual development in Aspergillus but their roles remain insufficiently understood in hypocerealean insect pathogens. Here, regulatory roles of BrlA and AbaA orthologs in Metarhizium robertsii (Clavicipitaceae) were characterized for comparison to those elucidated previously in Beauveria bassiana (Cordycipitaceae) at phenotypic and transcriptomic levels. Time-course transcription profiles of brlA, abaA, and the other CDP activator gene wetA revealed that they were not so sequentially activated in M.

Two New Species and a New Combination of the Subfamily Erythraeinae Based on Larval Stage (Acari: Trombidiformes: Erythraeidae) from China.

The species Eatoniana yangshuonicus (Haitlinger) comb. nov. is transferred from the genus Erythraeus to Eatoniana based on the basifemoral setal formula 2-2-1.

Optional strategies for low-risk and non-risk applications of fungal pesticides to avoid solar ultraviolet damage.

Background: Solar ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is harmful to formulated conidia as active ingredients of fungal pesticides and hence restrains their field application in sunny days of summer, a season requiring frequent pest controls. This conflict makes it necessary to explore optimal strategies for the application of fungal pesticides to suppress pest populations but avoid solar UV damage during summer.

Results: The conidia of Beauveria bassiana, a wide-spectrum fungal pesticide, were tolerable to UVB (major solar UV wavelengths) damage of ≤0.

Characterization of BbKlf1 as a novel transcription factor vital for asexual and infection cycles of Beauveria bassiana.

The large family of C2H2-type zinc finger transcription factors (TFs) comprise the Kruppel-like factors (KLFs) that evolved relatively late in eukaryotes but remain unexplored in filamentous fungi. Here, we report that an orthologue (BbKlf1) of yeast Klf1 mediating cell wall integrity (CWI) is a wide-spectrum TF evidently localized in nucleus and cytoplasm in Beauveria bassiana. BbKlf1 features conserved domains and multiple DNA-binding motifs predicted to bind multiple promoter DNA fragments of target genes across asexual developmental and stress-responsive pathways.

Three Small Cysteine-Free Proteins (CFP1-3) Are Required for Insect-Pathogenic Lifestyle of .

Unique CFP (cysteine-free protein; 120 aa) has been identified as an extraordinary virulence factor in (Cordycipitaceae), a main source of wide-spectrum fungal insecticides. Its homologs exclusively exist in wide-spectrum insect pathogens of Hypocreales, suggesting their importance for a fungal insect-pathogenic lifestyle. In this study, all three CFP homologs (CFP1-3, 128-145 aa) were proven essential virulence factors in (Clavicipitaceae).

Five new species of the leaf-beetle genus Chevrolat (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae) from China.

In this study, five new species of the leaf-beetle genus Chevrolat, 1836 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae) are described from China: , , , , and A key and catalogue to the 68 Chinese species of with the second and third antennomeres of equal length are given as well as photographs of the habitus and aedeagus of the new species and type habitus images of 37 known species.

Taxonomic study of the Oriental genus Bierman, 1910 (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Tropiduchidae), with description of a new species from China.

The tropiduchid genus Bierman, 1910 is redescribed and illustrated. includes two species, Bierman, 1910 (the type species) and Zhu, Wang & Song, A key to the species of the genus is provided.

Balaustium medicagoense Meyer amp; Ryke, 1959 newly discovered in New Zealand (Acari: Erythraeiddae): descriptions of all life stages.

Balaustium medicagoense Meyer Ryke, 1959 is reported from New Zealand for the first time. Field collected specimens were reared successfully on pollen grains of Typha orientalis in the laboratory. All life stages of this species are described and illustrated from laboratory-reared specimens as well as field-collected specimens.