2020年经济学人 根瘤蚜虫(1)

A century and a half ago an alien insect alighted in Europe.

一个半世纪以前，一种外来昆虫飞落欧洲。

It displaced millions, ruined local economies and forced scientists, politicians and ordinary folk into a frenzy¹ of defensive² activity.

它让数百万人流离失所，对当地经济造成破坏，还迫使科学家、政治家和普通民众陷入疯狂的防御活动。

Phylloxera, a member of the group known to entomologists as Hemiptera, or "true" bugs⁴

根瘤蚜虫，昆虫学家口中半翅目家族的一员，或称真虫

(as opposed to all the other critters known colloquially⁵ as bugs),

（与所有其他他俗称虫子的生物截然相反），

appeared in France in the 1860s and proceeded to eat its way through many of the Old World's vines.

于19世纪60年代出现在法国，并逐渐侵蚀了许多旧世界的葡萄藤。

It then spread to pastures new. It was first recorded in Australia in 1875 and in South Africa in 1886,

然后蔓延到新的地方。最早的记录是在1875年的澳大利亚以及1886年的南非，

threatening similar devastation⁶ to the vineyards of those European colonies.

对欧洲殖民地的葡萄园造成了类似的破坏威胁。

Eventually, French and American scientists found a solution by grafting⁷ European vines onto the imported roots of American ones.

最终，法国和美国科学家找到了一个解决办法，他们把欧洲的葡萄藤嫁接到美国葡萄藤的根上。

Now, a more recent group of French and American researchers report in BMC Biology that they have sequenced phylloxera's genome,

近期，法美研究团队在《BMC Biology》上报告称，他们对根瘤蚜虫的基因组进行了排序，

and that hidden within this lie clues to the insect's origins and spread.

并且基因组中隐藏着这种昆虫起源和传播的线索。

Nineteenth-century agronomists⁸ rapidly divined that phylloxera had come from North America.

19世纪的农学家迅速推断称，根瘤蚜虫来自北美。

That fact provided the rationale behind their graft-based answer to the problem—which is still all that stands between cultivated vines and the bug³.

这一事实为他们通过嫁接解决问题提供了理论基础——这个问题仍是种植葡萄与这种昆虫之间的唯一障碍。

This is that having co-evolved with the insect, American vines had developed resistance to it.

也就是说，在与这种昆虫共同进化的过程中，美国的葡萄树已经对它产生了抗性。

But where exactly it came from on that continent, nobody knew.

但是，没有人知道这种昆虫到底来自那个大陆的哪个地方。

One theory held British gardeners responsible because they had brought wild American vines to Europe for decorative⁹ purposes.

一种理论认为英国园丁因为此负责，因为他们将野生美国葡萄藤作为装饰品带到了欧洲。

From Britain, this theory went, phylloxera reached the European mainland via the south of France, the first place where it devastated¹⁰ vineyards.

该理论认为，根瘤蚜虫从英国经法国南部传入欧洲大陆。它首先是破坏了法国的葡萄园。

That, though, turns out to be a calumny¹¹ against les Anglais.

但事实证明，这是对英国人的诽谤。

By comparing the genetic¹² sequence of European phylloxera with those of populations from wild vines in the United States,

通过将欧洲根瘤蚜虫的基因序列与美国野生葡萄藤的种群的基因序列进行对比，

Claude Rispe and Fabrice Legeai of the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE)

来自法国国家农业、食品和环境研究所（INRAE）的Claude Rispe和Fabrice Legeai

and their colleagues have narrowed the search to the once-French territory of the Mississippi Valley

以及他们的同事将研究范围搜索范围缩小到曾经属于法国的密西西比河谷

(the upper Mississippi, to be precise—though one of the paper's authors,

（准确的说是，上密西西比河——虽然该论文的作者之一，

Paul Nabity of the University of California, Riverside, plans to keep following the river south, sampling phylloxera as he goes, so the matter is not closed).

美国加州大学河滨分校的Paul Nabity计划继续沿着河流南下，对根瘤蚜进行取样，所以这个任务还没结束）。

The evidence is that there is a striking similarity between the European sequence

证据表明，欧洲基因序列与野生葡萄藤——河岸葡萄——

and that of two phylloxera populations on a wild vine called Vitis riparia in Wisconsin and Illinois.

的两个根瘤蚜虫群（分别在威斯康星州和伊利诺斯州）的基因序列之间存在惊人的相似性。

This is enough, Dr Nabity says, to indicate that V. riparia was the bug's original host and the upper Midwest its source.

Nabity博士表示，这就足以证明河岸葡萄是这种昆虫的原宿主，上中西部地区是其源头。

1 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

2 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

4 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 colloquially   

adv.用白话，用通俗语

参考例句：

• For some little time the Jurymen hang about the Sol's Ams colloquially. 那些陪审员在太阳徽酒店里呆着，东拉西扯地谈了一会儿。 来自辞典例句
• This building is colloquially referred to as the barn. 这个建筑，用通俗的话来说就是一个谷仓。 来自互联网

6 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 grafting   

嫁接法，移植法

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。
• Burns can often be cured by grafting on skin from another part of the same body. 烧伤常常可以用移植身体其它部位的皮肤来治愈。

8 agronomists   

n.农（艺）学家( agronomist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Agronomists are concerned with the production of crops for food, feed, and fibre. 农学工作者应学习食物、饲料和纤维作物的生产。 来自辞典例句
• Agronomists and farmers use the pictures to study crops. 农学家和农民利用图片来研究庄稼。 来自互联网

9 decorative   

adj.装饰的，可作装饰的

参考例句：

• This ware is suitable for decorative purpose but unsuitable for utility.这种器皿中看不中用。
• The style is ornate and highly decorative.这种风格很华丽，而且装饰效果很好。

10 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

11 calumny   

n.诽谤，污蔑，中伤

参考例句：

• Calumny is answered best with silence.沉默可以止谤。
• Calumny require no proof.诽谤无需证据。

12 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。