Is a Gall an Extended Phenotype of the Inducing Insect? A Comparative Study of Selected Morphological and Physiological Traits of Leaf and Stem Galls on Machilus thunbergii (Lauraceae) Induced by Five Species of Daphnephila (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Northeastern Taiwan.

Mature galls induced by Daphnephila truncicola, D. taiwanensis, D. sueyenae, D.

Development and characterization of 16 polymorphic microsatellite markers from Taiwan cow-tail fir, Keteleeria davidiana var. formosana (Pinaceae) and cross-species amplification in other Keteleeria taxa.

Background: Keteleeria davidiana var. formosana (Pinaceae), Taiwan cow-tail fir, is an endangered species listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and only two populations remain, both on the Taiwan Island. Sixteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed in an endangered and endemic gymnosperm species, Keteleeria davidiana var.

Better environmental data may reverse conclusions about niche- and dispersal-based processes in community assembly.

Variation partitioning of species composition into components explained by environmental and spatial variables is often used to identify a signature of niche- and dispersal-based processes in community assembly. Such interpretation, however, strongly depends on the quality of the environmental data available. In recent studies conducted in forest dynamics plots, the environment was represented only by readily available topographical variables.

Novel seed adaptations of a monocotyledon seagrass in the wavy sea.

Returning to the sea, just like invasion of land, has occurred in many groups of animals and plants. For flowering plants, traits adapted to the terrestrial environments have to change or adopt a new function to allow the plants to survive and prosper in the sea where water motion tends to rotate and move seeds. In this investigation, how seeds of the seagrass Thalassia hemprichii (Hydrocharitaceae), a common monocotyledon in the Indo-Pacific, adapt to the wavy environment was studied.

Production of Active Nonglycosylated Recombinant B-Chain of Type-2 Ribosome-Inactivating Protein from Viscum articulatum and Its Biological Effects on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells.

Type-2 ribosome-inactivating proteins, composed of a toxic A-chain and lectin-like B-chain, display various biological functions, including cytotoxicity and immunomodulation. We here cloned the lectin-like B-chain encoding fragment of a newly identified type-2 RIP gene, articulatin gene, from Viscum articulatum, into a bacterial expression vector to obtain nonglycosylated recombinant protein expressed in inclusion bodies. After purification and protein refolding, soluble refolded recombinant articulatin B-chain (rATB) showed lectin activity specific toward galactoside moiety and was stably maintained while stored in low ionic strength solution.

Stable oil bodies sheltered by a unique caleosin in cycad megagametophytes.

Stable oil bodies of smaller sizes and higher thermostability were isolated from mature cycad (Cycas revoluta) megagametophytes compared with those isolated from sesame seeds. Immunological cross-recognition revealed that cycad oil bodies contained a major protein of 27 kDa, tentatively identified as caleosin, while oleosin, the well-known structural protein, was apparently absent. Mass spectrometric analysis showed that the putative cycad caleosin possessed a tryptic fragment of 15 residues matching to that of a theoretical moss caleosin.

The inhibition of superoxide anion generation by neutrophils from Viscum articulactum.

Two new flavanones, (2S)-pinocembrin 7-O-[beta-D-apiosyl(1-->2)]-beta-D-glucoside (1), and (2S)-pinocembrin 7-O-[cinnamoyl(1-->5)-beta-D-apiosyl(1-->2)]-beta-D-glucoside (2) together with eighteen known compounds, which include five known flavanones, nine benzenoids, one inositol and three triterpenoids, were isolated and characterized from fresh Viscum articulactum. Structures of new compounds were determined by spectral analysis. Among them, oleanolic acid (18) showed a significant inhibition effect on superoxide anion generation by human neutrophils in response to formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (fMLP).