Anti-FST (full length) polyclonal antibody

Invasive species often cause serious economic and ecological damage. Despite decades of extensive impacts of invasives on bio-diversity and agroforestry, the mechanisms underlying the genetic adaptation and rapid evolution of invading populations remain poorly understood. The black locust gall midge, Obolodiplosis robiniae, a highly invasive species that originated in North America, spread widely throughout Asia and Europe in the past decade. Here, we used 11 microsatellite DNA markers to analyze the genetic variation of 22 O. robiniae populations in China (the introduced region) and two additional US populations (the native region). A relatively high level of genetic diversity was detected among the introduced populations, even though they exhibited lower diversity than the native US populations. Evidence for genetic differentiation among the introduced Chinese populations was also found based on the high Fst value compared to the relatively low among the native US populations. Phylogenetic trees, structure graphical output, and principal coordinate analysis plots suggested that the Chinese O. robiniae populations (separated by up to 2,540 km) cluster into two main groups independent of geographical distance. Genetic variation has been observed to increase rapidly during adaptation to a new environment, possibly contributing to population establishment and spread. Our results provide insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying successful invasion, and identify factors that have contributed to colonization by an economically important pest species in China. In addition, the findings improve our understanding of the role that genetic structure plays during invasion by O. robiniae.

Depression is a serious global affective disorder and one of the most common neurological diseases. Tanshinone IIA (TSA) is the mainly active constituent of Salvia miltiorrhiza and has diverse biological effects, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and significant neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia and Alzheimer's disease. However, whether TSA has an antidepressant effect remains unknown. The present study attempted to explore the antidepressant effects and the mechanism of TSA by examining the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the hippocampus of depressive mice. The tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST) showed that TSA can significantly reduce the immobility time of depressed mice. Chronic administration of TSA increased p-ERK and p-CREB, BDNF proteins in mice hippocampus. We further explored the potential mechanism of TSA' antidepressant effect. TSA significantly increased the expression of p-ERK, p-CREB and BDNF proteins in dexamethasone-treated PC12 cells, and this enhancement was suppressed by pretreatment with the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitor SL327. Moreover, we observed that SL327 treatment markedly suppressed the increased levels of p-ERK, p-CREB and BDNF in mice hippocampus induced by TSA, preventing the antidepressant effects of TSA. Taken together, our results suggest that the antidepressant-like effects of TSA were mediated by ERK-CREB-BDNF pathway in mice hippocampus. (C) 2020 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.