Background:The capacity for thermogenesis is considered part of an animal's adaptive strategy for survival,and basal metabolic rate(BMR) is one of the fundamental physiological standards for assessing the energy c...Background:The capacity for thermogenesis is considered part of an animal's adaptive strategy for survival,and basal metabolic rate(BMR) is one of the fundamental physiological standards for assessing the energy cost of thermoregulation in endotherms.BMR has been shown to be a highly flexible phenotypic trait both between,and within,species,but the metabolic mechanisms involved in the regulation of BMR,which range from variation in organ mass to biochemical adjustments,remain unclear.In this study,we investigated the relationship between organ mass,biochemical markers of metabolic tissue activity,and thermogenesis,in three species of small passerines:wild Bramblings(Fringilla montifringilla),Little Buntings(Emberiza pusilla) and Eurasian Tree Sparrows(Passer montanus),caught in Wenzhou,southeastern China.Methods:Oxygen consumption was measured using an open-circuit respirometry system.Mitochondrial state-4 respiration and cytochrome c oxidase(COX) activity in liver and pectoral muscle were measured with a Clark electrode.Results:Our results show that Eurasian Tree Sparrows had significantly higher BMR,digestive organ mass,mitochondrial state-4 respiration capacity and COX activity in liver and muscle,than Bramblings and Little Buntings.Furthermore,interspecific differences in BMR were strongly correlated with those indigestive tract mass,state-4 respiration and COX activity.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that the digestive organ mass,state-4 respiration and COX activity play an important role in determining interspecific differences in BMR.展开更多
Outbreaks of severe virus infections with the potential to cause global pandemics are increasingly concerning. One type of those commonly emerging and re-emerging pathogens are coronaviruses(SARS-Co V, MERS-Co V and S...Outbreaks of severe virus infections with the potential to cause global pandemics are increasingly concerning. One type of those commonly emerging and re-emerging pathogens are coronaviruses(SARS-Co V, MERS-Co V and SARS-Co V-2).Wild animals are hosts of different coronaviruses with the potential risk of cross-species transmission. However, little is known about the reservoir and host of coronaviruses in wild animals in Qinghai Province, where has the greatest biodiversity among the world's high-altitude regions. Here, from the next-generation sequencing data, we obtained a known beta-coronavirus(beta-Co V) genome and a novel delta-coronavirus(delta-Co V) genome from faecal samples of 29 marmots, 50 rats and 25 birds in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China in July 2019. According to the phylogenetic analysis, the beta-Co V shared high nucleotide identity with Coronavirus HKU24. Although the novel delta-Co V(Mt Co V) was closely related to Sparrow deltacoronavirus ISU42824, the protein spike of the novel delta-Co V showed highest amino acid identity to Sparrow coronavirus HKU17(73.1%). Interestingly, our results identified a novel host(Montifringilla taczanowskii) for the novel delta-Co V and the potential cross-species transmission. The most recent common ancestor(t MRCA) of Mt Co Vs along with other closest members of the species of Coronavirus HKU15 was estimated to be 289 years ago. Thus, this study increases our understanding of the genetic diversity of beta-Co Vs and deltaCo Vs, and also provides a new perspective of the coronavirus hosts.展开更多
基金financially supported by Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31470472)the National Undergraduate "Innovation" Project and Zhejiang Province’s "Xinmiao" Project
文摘Background:The capacity for thermogenesis is considered part of an animal's adaptive strategy for survival,and basal metabolic rate(BMR) is one of the fundamental physiological standards for assessing the energy cost of thermoregulation in endotherms.BMR has been shown to be a highly flexible phenotypic trait both between,and within,species,but the metabolic mechanisms involved in the regulation of BMR,which range from variation in organ mass to biochemical adjustments,remain unclear.In this study,we investigated the relationship between organ mass,biochemical markers of metabolic tissue activity,and thermogenesis,in three species of small passerines:wild Bramblings(Fringilla montifringilla),Little Buntings(Emberiza pusilla) and Eurasian Tree Sparrows(Passer montanus),caught in Wenzhou,southeastern China.Methods:Oxygen consumption was measured using an open-circuit respirometry system.Mitochondrial state-4 respiration and cytochrome c oxidase(COX) activity in liver and pectoral muscle were measured with a Clark electrode.Results:Our results show that Eurasian Tree Sparrows had significantly higher BMR,digestive organ mass,mitochondrial state-4 respiration capacity and COX activity in liver and muscle,than Bramblings and Little Buntings.Furthermore,interspecific differences in BMR were strongly correlated with those indigestive tract mass,state-4 respiration and COX activity.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that the digestive organ mass,state-4 respiration and COX activity play an important role in determining interspecific differences in BMR.
基金supported by grants from National Science and Technology Major Project of China (2018ZX10712001-018, 2017ZX10303405-002, 2017ZX10303405005-002)National Science and Technology of China (2017FY101202)+2 种基金National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFC1200500 and 2019YFC1200505)Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen (SZSM201811071)Research Units of Discovery of Unknown Bacteria and Function (2018RU010)。
文摘Outbreaks of severe virus infections with the potential to cause global pandemics are increasingly concerning. One type of those commonly emerging and re-emerging pathogens are coronaviruses(SARS-Co V, MERS-Co V and SARS-Co V-2).Wild animals are hosts of different coronaviruses with the potential risk of cross-species transmission. However, little is known about the reservoir and host of coronaviruses in wild animals in Qinghai Province, where has the greatest biodiversity among the world's high-altitude regions. Here, from the next-generation sequencing data, we obtained a known beta-coronavirus(beta-Co V) genome and a novel delta-coronavirus(delta-Co V) genome from faecal samples of 29 marmots, 50 rats and 25 birds in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China in July 2019. According to the phylogenetic analysis, the beta-Co V shared high nucleotide identity with Coronavirus HKU24. Although the novel delta-Co V(Mt Co V) was closely related to Sparrow deltacoronavirus ISU42824, the protein spike of the novel delta-Co V showed highest amino acid identity to Sparrow coronavirus HKU17(73.1%). Interestingly, our results identified a novel host(Montifringilla taczanowskii) for the novel delta-Co V and the potential cross-species transmission. The most recent common ancestor(t MRCA) of Mt Co Vs along with other closest members of the species of Coronavirus HKU15 was estimated to be 289 years ago. Thus, this study increases our understanding of the genetic diversity of beta-Co Vs and deltaCo Vs, and also provides a new perspective of the coronavirus hosts.
