Genetic diversity, demographic history, and selective signatures of Silkie chicken.

Background: Silkie is a traditional Chinese chicken breed characterized by its unique combination of specialized morphological traits. While previous studies have focused on the genetic basis of these traits, the overall genomic characteristics of the Silkie breed remain largely unexplored. In this study, we employed whole genome resequencing data to examine the genetic diversity, selective signals and demographic history of the Silkie breed through comparative analyses with seven other Chinese indigenous breeds (IDGBs), a commercial breed, and the wild ancestor Red Jungle Fowl.

Firefly toxin lucibufagins evolved after the origin of bioluminescence.

Fireflies were believed to originally evolve their novel bioluminescence as warning signals to advertise their toxicity to predators, which was later adopted in adult mating. Although the evolution of bioluminescence has been investigated extensively, the warning signal hypothesis of its origin has not been tested. In this study, we test this hypothesis by systematically determining the presence or absence of firefly toxin lucibufagins (LBGs) across firefly species and inferring the time of origin of LBGs.

Dual Transcriptome Analysis Reveals That Is Required for Fungal Development, Melanization and Pathogenicity during the Interaction between and .

Anthracnose disease of cruciferous plants caused by is a serious fungal disease that affects cruciferous crops such as Chinese cabbage, Chinese flowering cabbage, broccoli, mustard plant, as well as the model plant . Dual transcriptome analysis is commonly used to identify the potential mechanisms of interaction between host and pathogen. In order to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in both the pathogen and host, the conidia of wild-type (ChWT) and mutant (Δ) strains were inoculated onto leaves of , and the infected leaves of at 8, 22, 40, and 60 h post-inoculation (hpi) were subjected to dual RNA-seq analysis.

Systematic review of the firefly genus Fu, Ballantyne & Lambkin, 2012 (Coleoptera, Lampyridae) from China.

The Luciolinae genus Fu, Ballantyne & Lambkin, 2012 is reviewed. Phylogenetic relationships based on DNA barcoding sequences from 42 fireflies and 2 outgroup species are reconstructed. The dataset included three main Lampyridae subfamilies: Luciolinae, Photurinae and Lampyrinae, and was recovered within Luciolinae.

Two new species of Pyrocoelia Gorham (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) from Southwest China.

Two new species of the genus Pyrocoelia Gorham, 1880, Pyrocoelia cenwanglaoensis sp. nov. and P.

The Genetic Network of Forkhead Gene Family in Development of Brown Planthoppers.

We identified 18 distinct Fox genes in the genome of the brown planthopper, , and further found a novel insect-specific subfamily that we temporarily named FoxT. A total of 16 genes were highly expressed in the eggs, while and are female- and male-specific genes, respectively. Large scale RNAi and RNA-seq analyses were used to reveal the functions and potential targets of s.

Essential Balm: A Strong Repellent Against Foraging and Defending Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

In the present study, the repellent effects of essential balm, a traditional medicine product in China, was tested against foraging and defending red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren, under laboratory and field conditions. The laboratory study showed that both band- (width = 1 cm) and patch-smearing of essential balm at each concentration (0.5, 1, or 2 μl/cm(2)) significantly decreased the number of S.

Analysis of Tea Geometrid (Ectropis grisescens) Pheromone Gland Extracts Using GC-EAD and GC×GC/TOFMS.

The tea geometrid, Ectropis grisescens Warren, is one of the most severe defoliator insect pests in tea plantations, China. The use of insecticides, etc., is forbidden on organic tea plantations.