Research Progress

• G-Quadruplex Hinders Translocation of BLM Helicase on DNA

  Mar 21, 2011
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  A new method for measuring the folding equilibrium constant of G-quadruplex from nucleic acids

  Mar 07, 2011
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  Universal DNA barcode preferred for animal species identification

  Feb 23, 2011
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  Stress signal causes abnormal implantation location and pregnancy loss

  Feb 15, 2011
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  Effects of transgenic Bt cotton on overwintering characteristics and survival of Helicoverpa armigera

  The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, is one of the most serious insect pests of cotton, corn, peanut, vegetables, and other crops throughout Asia. There are four or five generations of cotton bollworm per year in northern China and overwinters as a diapausing pupa. Previous research indicated that transgenic Bt cotton affect development and reproduction of the cotton bollworm, and that a marked decrease in regional outbreaks of the cotton bollworm in multiple crops was associated with the planting of transgenicBt cotton. However the effects of transgenic Bt cotton on the overwintering generation of the cotton bollworm are unknown.

  Jan 25, 2011
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  Anti-predator defence drives parallel morphological evolution in ？ea beetles

  Predator–prey interactions are well established as a driving force in organismal evolution, and predator-related natural selection may bring about major changes in morphology and behaviour in evolutionary lineages. Yet, the mechanisms determining the outcome of these evolutionary interactions are unclear: prey and predators may change in response to each other in a coevolutionary‘arms race’, while major predators may trigger the appearance of changes in design in the prey through episodic ‘escalation’. For beetles, varied strategies exist which function to avoid predation.

  Jan 10, 2011
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  Desert hamsters remain homeothermic and very active during cold acclimation when sufficient food supplied

  Desert hamsters (Phodopus roborovskii) are one of the 3 species in genus Phodopus with a body mass of only around 20g. Compared with the plentiful knowledge about Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungrus), which also belong to the same genus and are very famous as a model in seasonal adaptation research, there is only limited information about the energetics and thermal physiology in desert hamsters. To examine the potential effects of cold temperature on thermal physiology and energetics in male desert hamsters, animals were exposed to 5oC for 4 weeks under 16L:8D (light-dark) circles. Core body temperature and gross activity were telemetrically monitored.

  Dec 23, 2010
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  The Fused/Smurf Complex Controls the Fate of Drosophila Germline Stem Cells by Generating a Gradient BMP Response

  Stem cells in adult tissues are viewed as products of their microenvironment or niche. Although the signaling pathways involved in the interaction of stem cells with niche have been identified in many stem cell populations, the mechanisms of how stem cells and their specialized sisters differentially respond to the signals from niche remain poorly understood.

  Dec 15, 2010
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  Discovery of a water channel essential for postcopulatory sperm osmoadaptation

  Dec 08, 2010
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  Elevated CO2 shifts the focus of tobacco plant defences from cucumber mosaic virus to the green peach aphid

  The effects of Elevated CO2 on plant defences to phytophagous insects and plant virus attract increasing attention recently. Elevation in CO2 concentration broadly impacts plant physiological characteristics, which influences herbivores and biotrophic pathogens, which in turn regulate the plant defensive response. In recent study of Ge Feng’s research team, responses of tobacco plants to stress in the form of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), or cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), or both aphid and CMV combined were investigated in open-top chambers under ambient and elevated CO2 concentrations.

  Nov 26, 2010