Publications by authors named "Wen-wu Zhou"

Background: The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, is one of the most destructive pests of rice. Owing to the rapid adaptation of BPH to many pesticides and resistant varieties, identifying putative gene targets for developing RNA interference (RNAi)-based pest management strategies has received much attention for this pest. The glucoprotein papilin is the most abundant component in the basement membranes of many organisms, and its function is closely linked to development.

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Forest canopy closure (FCC) is an important parameter to evaluate forest resources and biodiversity. Using multi-source remote sensing collaborative means to achieve regional forest canopy closure inversion with low cost and high-precision is a research hotspot. Taking ICESat-2/ATLAS data as the main information source and combined with data of 54 measured plots, we estimated FCC value by the Bayesian optimization (BO) algorithm improved random forest (RF), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), and gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT) model at footprint-scale.

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Pulmonary hypertension, a common complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a major global health concern. Green tea is a popular beverage that is consumed all over the world. Green tea's active ingredients are epicatechin derivatives, also known as "polyphenols," which have anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.

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Ceramidases (CDases) are vital sphingolipid enzymes involved in organismal growth and development. They have been reported as key mediators of thermal stress response. However, whether and how CDase responds to heat stress in insects remain unclear.

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small single-stranded non-coding RNAs involved in a variety of cellular events by regulating gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Several core genes in miRNA biogenesis have been reported to participate in a wide range of physiological events, in some insect species. However, the functional significance of miRNA pathway core genes in Nilaparvata lugens remains unknown.

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Ceramides are bioactive sphingolipids that have been implicated in insect development; however, their role in insect reproduction remains poorly understood. Here, we report the pivotal role of neutral ceramidase (NCER) in the female reproduction of the brown planthopper (BPH), (Stål), a significant pest in rice cultivation in Asia. LC-MS/MS demonstrated that, among different developmental stages of BPH, the levels of ceramides were highest in 1st instar nymphs and lowest in adults.

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Salinity stress triggers changes in plant morphology, physiology and molecular responses which can subsequently influence plant-insect interactions; however, these consequences remain poorly understood. We analyzed plant biomass, insect population growth rates, feeding behaviors and plant gene expression to characterize the mechanisms of the underlying interactions between the rice plant and brown planthopper (BPH) under salinity stress. Plant bioassays showed that plant growth and vigor losses were higher in control and low salinity conditions compared to high salinity stressed TN1 (salt-planthopper susceptible cultivar) in response to BPH feeding.

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Salinization is one of the most critical abiotic stress factors for crops and a rising setback in agro-ecosystems. Changes in weather, land usage, and the salinization of irrigation water are increasing soil salinity of many farmlands. Increased soil salinity alters the plant quality, which subsequently may trigger bottom-up effects on herbivorous insect.

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Planthoppers (Nilaparvata lugens, Sogatella furcifera, and Laodelphax striatellus) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) are the most important pests affecting rice production. Pesticide spraying for its control may cause harmful effects on human health and the environment, especially the loss of biodiversity. The consequences of these changes on biodiversity and ecological services are well studied in tropical irrigated paddy fields, but are largely unknown in subtropical areas.

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Background: The insect gustatory system plays a central role in the regulation of multiple physiological behaviors and the co-evolution between insects and their hosts. The gustatory receptors (Gr) are important to allow insects to sense their environment. It is critical to the selection of foods, mates and oviposition sites of insects.

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Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an important egg predator of planthoppers which are destructive rice pests. The chemosensory genes in the mirid antennae play important roles in mating and prey-seeking behaviors. To gain a better understanding of the olfaction of C.

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Most living organisms developed the innate clock system to anticipate daily environmental changes and to enhance their chances of survival. timeless (tim) is a canonical clock gene. It has been extensively studied in Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae) as a key component of the endogenous circadian clock, but its role is largely unknown in some agriculture pests.

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Most living organisms have developed internal circadian clocks to anticipate the daily environmental changes. The circadian clocks are composed of several transcriptional-translational feedback loops, in which cryptochromes (CRYs) serve as critical elements. In insects, some CRYs act as photopigments to control circadian photoentrainment, while the others act as transcriptional regulators.

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Ceramidases (CDases) are vital enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of sphingolipids, which are essential components of eukaryotic membranes. The function of these enzymes in insects, however, is poorly understood. We identified a neutral ceramidase (NlnCDase) from the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, one of the most destructive hemipteran pests of rice.

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Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an important predatory natural enemy of planthopper and leafhopper eggs in Asian rice paddy fields. Cyrtorhinus lividipennis is known to rely largely on herbivore-induced plant volatiles to identify eggs embedded in rice stem tissues for feeding and on pheromones for mating. However, exactly how C.

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In plants, sphingolipids, such as long-chain bases (LCBs), act as bioactive molecules in stress responses. Until now, it is still not clear if these lipids are involved in biotic stress responses to herbivore. Herein we report that a rice LCB gene, encoding a subunit of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), a key enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of sphingolipids, plays a critical role in plant defense response to the brown planthopper (BPH) attack and that its up-regulation protects plants from herbivore infestation.

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The rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a serious pest species both in its original distribution region of northern America and its invaded regions of eastern Asia and southern Europe. The odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and the chemosensory proteins (CSPs) play important roles in host and mate locating, thus might play a significant role in the success of the species as an invader, which has not been characterized yet. We identified 10 OBPs and 5 CSPs in L.

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Background: Previous studies showed that genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) were involved in glutathione metabolism and genetic polymorphisms of ribonucleotide reductase (RRM1) were correlated with DNA synthesis. Here we explored the effects of these polymorphisms on the chemosensitivity and clinical outcome in Chinese non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with gemcitabine-cisplatin regimens.

Materials And Methods: DNA sequencing was used to evaluate genetic polymorphisms of GSTP1 Ile105Val and RRM1 C37A-T524C in 47 NSCLC patients treated with gemcitabine-cisplatin regimens.

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In this study, we constructed a high-quality cDNA library from the antennae of the Chilo suppressalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). A total of 1,235 colonies with inserts greater than 0.7 kb were sequenced and analyzed.

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Background: The brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, the most destructive pest of rice, is a typical monophagous herbivore that feeds exclusively on rice sap, which migrates over long distances. Outbreaks of it have re-occurred approximately every three years in Asia. It has also been used as a model system for ecological studies and for developing effective pest management.

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Background: NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is essential for numerous biological reactions catalysed by microsomal cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s). Knockdown of CPR in several insects leads to developmental defects and increased susceptibility to insecticides. However, information about the role of CPR in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, is still unavailable.

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NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is one of the most important components of the cytochrome P450 enzyme system. It catalyzes electron transfer from NADPH to all known P450s, thus plays central roles not only in the metabolism of exogenous xenobiotics but also in the regulation of endogenous hormones in insects. In this study, a full-length cDNA encoding of a CPR (named CsCPR) was isolated from the Asiatic rice striped stem borer, Chilo suppressalis, by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) methods.

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Article Synopsis
  • Glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes in insects help manage toxins, including insecticides, and contribute to the rapid adaptability of pests like the rice planthoppers Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera, which have caused significant outbreaks in eastern Asia.
  • The study mapped the complete GST gene family in N. lugens, noting it has fewer GST genes than other insects, and identified nine orthologs in S. furcifera, with some GST genes showing increased expression when exposed to insecticides.
  • By using RNA interference on specific GST genes in N. lugens, researchers found that silencing certain genes increased the pest's sensitivity to chlorpyrifos, helping
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Sensory neuron membrane proteins (SNMPs), which are located on the dendritic membrane of olfactory neurons, were considered as important components involved in pheromone reception in insects. In Drosophila melanogaster, mutants without SNMP are unable to evoke neuronal activities in the presence of pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA). So deeply understanding the SNMPs functions may help to develop pheromone-mediated insect pest management tactics.

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Background: Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) have received considerable attention in insects for their roles in insecticide resistance. Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén) is a serious rice pest. L.

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