[Characteristics of soil animal community with different garden plants and various planting periods in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, China].

In order to provide scientific guidance for soil quality evaluation and optimum management of flower and seedling industry, we investigated the characteristics of soil animal community with different garden plants and various planting periods in Wenjiang District, Chengdu. A total of 10258 soil animals belonging to 26 orders and 78 families were captured in four sampling times. There were significant differences in the taxonomic richness in the plots with different garden plants, generally highest in plots with var or and lowest in plot with .

One-step generation of composite soybean plants with transgenic roots by Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation.

Background: Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated (ARM) transformation is a highly efficient technique for generating composite plants composed of transgenic roots and wild-type shoot, providing a powerful tool for studying root biology. The ARM transformation has been established in many plant species, including soybean. However, traditional transformation of soybean, transformation efficiency is low.

The evolution of insecticide resistance in the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål) of China in the period 2012-2016.

The brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, is an economically important pest on rice in Asia. Chemical control is still the most efficient primary way for rice planthopper control. However, due to the intensive use of insecticides to control this pest over many years, resistance to most of the classes of chemical insecticides has been reported.

Inheritance mode and realized heritability of resistance to imidacloprid in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Homoptera: Delphacidae).

Background: The brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), is a serious pest that causes enormous losses to the rice crop in Asia. The genetic basis of imidacloprid resistance was investigated in N. lugens.

Imidacloprid susceptibility survey and selection risk assessment in field populations of Nilaparvata lugens (Homoptera: Delphacidae).

Imidacloprid has been used for many years to control planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Homoptera: Delphacidae) in China. To provide resistance assessment for the national insecticide resistance management program, we collected a total of 42 samples of the planthoppers from 27 locations covering eight provinces to monitor their dose responses and susceptibility changes to imidacloprid over an 11-yr period (1996-2006). Results showed that most field populations maintained susceptibility from 1996 to 2003 except for a population from Guilin, Guangxi, in 1997, which showed a low level of resistance to imidacloprid.

Survey of susceptibilities to monosultap, triazophos, fipronil, and abamectin in Chilo suppressalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).

To provide a foundation for national resistance management of the Asiatic rice borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), a study was carried out to determine dose-response and susceptibility changes over a 5-yr period in the insect from representative rice, Oryza sativa L., production regions. In total, 11 populations were collected from 2002 to 2006 in seven rice-growing provinces in China, and they were used to examine their susceptibility levels to monosultap, triazophos, fipronil, and abamectin.

Comparison of dose responses and resistance ratios in four populations of the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), to 20 insecticides.

Background: Chemical control is a major strategy for suppressing the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker). Owing to their high toxicity and increasing resistance development in the target insect, many insecticides will be phased out entirely in 2007 in China. Alternatives with relatively low toxicity are urgently needed to replace traditional chemicals for rice stem borer control.

Molecular characterization and developmental expression of the gene encoding the prothoracicotropic hormone in the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua.

Prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH), a neuropeptide hormone stimulating the prothoracic glands to synthesize ecdysone, plays an important role in regulating postembryonic development in insects. The cDNA encoding PTTH was isolated and sequenced from the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Spe). The deduced amino acid sequence is composed of a signal peptide, a peptide (65 amino acids) of unknown function, and a mature PTTH molecule (111 amino acids).

Cloning and expression of the gene encoding the diapause hormone and pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua.

Diapause hormone (DH) and pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN), two important insect neuropeptides, regulate insect development and sex pheromone biosynthesis, respectively. DH-like immunoreactivity has been detected in the suboesophageal ganglion (SG) of pharate adult of Spodoptera exigua (Spe) by using an antiserum against Helicoverpa armigera DH. A full-length of Spe-DH-PBAN cDNA was obtained based on reverse transcription-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends strategies.

Structural characterization and transcriptional regulation of the gene encoding diapause hormone and pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide in the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera.

We have cloned the gene encoding the diapause hormone and the pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide in Helicoverpa armigera (Har-DH-PBAN). The Har-DH-PBAN gene contains six exons and five introns that fall in the same positions as in the Bombyx mori DH-PBAN gene (Bom-DH-PBAN). The transcription initiation site lays 29 bp upstream of the translation initiation site.

Cloning and expression of the cDNA encoding the FXPRL family of peptides and a functional analysis of their effect on breaking pupal diapause in Helicoverpa armigera.

Diapause hormone (DH) and pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) are encoded by a single mRNA in the suboesophegeal ganglion (SG) and are responsible for induction of embryonic diapause in Bombyx mori and sex pheromone biosynthesis in lepidopteran insects. PBAN cDNA analyses revealed that the DH-like peptide is present in several species that have a pupal diapause. However, the function of the DH-like peptide remains unknown.