EVOLUTION AND MORPHOGENETIC RULES: THE SHAPE OF THE VERTEBRATE LIMB IN ONTOGENY AND PHYLOGENY

The notion of a “developmental constraint” has become a catchphrase for a collection of poorly defined notions about how ontogeny affects phylogeny. In this paper, we shall attempt to define this idea more precisely by examining the vertebrate limb from three viewpoints. First, theoretical models of morphogenesis suggest several generalizations about how limb geometry is laid down during development. Comparative studies and experimental manipulations of developing limbs independently confirm these generalizations, which amount to a set of “construction rules” for determining how the major features of limb architecture are established in ontogeny. Armed with these rules, we can inquire how limb morphology can be varied during evolution and suggest a more precise operational definition of “developmental constraints” on morphological evolution.     

EXPRESSION AND PURIFICATION OF RECOMBINANT HUMAN BONE MORPHOGENETIC PROTEIN-7 IN Escherichia coli

Bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) is a multifunctional cytokine of the transforming growth factor β superfamily, which induces bone formation and plays an important role during bone tissue repair and embryonic development. In this study, human BMP-7 (hBMP-7) cDNA was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and its yield was approximately 30% of the total bacterial protein. After the bacteria were lysed by ultrasonication and repeated washing, inclusion bodies were extracted and dissolved using a high-strength denaturant. The monomer of rhBMP-7 was purified by ion-exchange chromatography, and the purity coefficient was approximately 96%. The protein was renatured with refolding buffers at different pH values. The renatured rhBMP-7 dimer protein in this study increased the alkaline phosphatase activity of NIH3T3 cells. This study may be helpful for the in vitro production and biomedical application of rhBMP-7 protein expressed in an E. coli expression system.     

GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION AND THE EVOLUTION OF PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY

Studies of spatial variation in the environment have primarily focused on how genetic variation can be maintained. Many one-locus genetic models have addressed this issue, but, for several reasons, these models are not directly applicable to quantitative (polygenic) traits. One reason is that for continuously varying characters, the evolution of the mean phenotype expressed in different environments (the norm of reaction) is also of interest. Our quantitative genetic models describe the evolution of phenotypic response to the environment, also known as phenotypic plasticity (Gause, 1947), and illustrate how the norm of reaction (Schmalhausen, 1949) can be shaped by selection. These models utilize the statistical relationship which exists between genotype-environment interaction and genetic correlation to describe evolution of the mean phenotype under soft and hard selection in coarse-grained environments. Just as genetic correlations among characters within a single environment can constrain the response to simultaneous selection, so can a genetic correlation between states of a character which are expressed in two environments. Unless the genetic correlation across environments is ± 1, polygenic variation is exhausted, or there is a cost to plasticity, panmictic populations under a bivariate fitness function will eventually attain the optimum mean phenotype for a given character in each environment. However, very high positive or negative correlations can substantially slow the rate of evolution and may produce temporary maladaptation in one environment before the optimum joint phenotype is finally attained. Evolutionary trajectories under hard and soft selection can differ: in hard selection, the environments with the highest initial mean fitness contribute most individuals to the mating pool. In both hard and soft selection, evolution toward the optimum in a rare environment is much slower than it is in a common one. A subdivided population model reveals that migration restriction can facilitate local adaptation. However, unless there is no migration or one of the special cases discussed for panmictic populations holds, no geographical variation in the norm of reaction will be maintained at equilibrium. Implications of these results for the interpretation of spatial patterns of phenotypic variation in natural populations are discussed.     

PATTERN OF PHENOTYPIC VIABILITY AND FECUNDITY SELECTION IN A NATURAL POPULATION OF IMPATIENS PALLIDA

Estimates of viability and fecundity selection of 13 phenotypic characters for 1,536 individuals of Impatiens pallida growing in 24 locations within a single natural population were compared. Directional viability selection of cotyledon area, day of initial leaf production, number of leaves, and stem length was detected throughout this population. Directional fecundity selection of cotyledon area, day of initial flower production, number of leaves present on day of initial flower production, stem length on day of initial flower production, number of leaves, and stem length was also detected. Phenotypic selection of these characters was strong in some cases, and the strength of selection was significantly heterogeneous among locations. For several of the characters, directional phenotypic selection within the population was significantly positive in some locations and significantly negative in others separated by only a few meters. Fecundity selection was stronger than viability selection for some characters, implying that fecundity selection was at least as important as viability selection within this population. Soil moisture levels and light intensities played a larger role than soil nutrient levels in determining the patterns of both viability and fecundity selection, and differences in directional viability selection were more strongly related to environmental variation than were differences in fecundity selection. The pattern of phenotypic selection could not be reliably inferred from the patterns of mortality and reproduction alone.     

QUANTITATIVE GENETIC MODELS FOR DEVELOPMENT,EPIGENETIC SELECTION,AND PHENOTYPIC EVOLUTION

Herein we describe a general multivariate quantitative genetic model that incorporates two potentially important developmental phenomena, maternal effects and epigenetic effects. Maternal and epigenetic effects are defined as partial regression coefficients and phenotypic variances are derived in terms of age-specific genetic and environmental variances. As a starting point, the traditional quantitative genetic model of additive gene effects and random environmental effects is cast in a developmental time framework. From this framework, we first extend a maternal effects model to include multiple developmental ages for the occurrence of maternal effects. An example of maternal effects occurring at multiple developmental ages is prenatal and postnatal maternal effects in mammals. Subsequently, a model of intrinsic and epigenetic effects in the absence of maternal effects is described. It is shown that genetic correlations can arise through epigenetic effects, and in the absence of other developmental effects, epigenetic effects are in general confounded with age-specific intrinsic genetic effects. Finally, the two effects are incorporated into the basic quantitative genetic model. For this more biologically realistic model combining maternal and epigenetic effects, it is shown that the phenotypic regressions of offspring on mother and offspring on father can be used in some cases to estimate simultaneously maternal effects and epigenetic effects.     

EVOLUTION AND COADAPTATION OF THERMOREGULATORY BEHAVIOR AND WING PIGMENTATION PATTERN IN PIERID BUTTERFLIES

This paper addresses the question of how the relationship between morphological structure and functional performance differs in related groups of organisms. I describe the relationship between a suite of phenotypic characters (behavioral posture and the pattern of wing pigmentation) and one function of these characters (thermoregulatory performance) for two groups of butterflies in the family Pieridae, focusing on how behavior and wing pattern interact to affect specific aspects of thermoregulation. Using both natural and experimentally created variation in wing-melanization patterns, I develop and test a series of predictions about the relations among thermoregulatory posture, melanization pattern, body temperature, and flight activity. Results show that increased melanization in different wing regions has positive, negative, or neutral effects in increasing body temperature of Pieris butterflies. The angle of the wings used during basking alters the relative importance of different modes of heat transfer and thereby determines the contribution of different dorsal wing regions to thermoregulation. Experimentally increased dorsal melanization can either increase or decrease the onset of flight activity and can directly alter thermoregulatory posture. For Pieris, dorsal melanization affects basking and flight, while ventral melanization primarily affects overheating. These results are used to generate a functional map relating melanization pattern to thermoregulatory performance in Pieris. Reflectance-basking posture, white background color, and melanization pattern represent coadapted characters in Pieris that interact to determine thermoregulatory performance. The differences in thermoregulatory posture and background color between pierid butterflies in the subfamilies Pierinae and Coliadinae have led to a reorganization and partial reversal of the thermoregulatory effects of melanization pattern. I suggest that this change in the physical mechanism of thermoregulatory adaption in pierids has qualitatively altered the nature of selection on wing-melanization pattern.     

论三白草科的系统演化和地理分布

根据细胞学、孢粉学、花器官发生和发育、花部维管结构、胚胎学、比较形态及解剖学等方面的证据,对三白草科４属６种的系统演化关系进行了详细论证。并联系古地理、古气候和古植物的有关史料对三白草科分布区的起源作了据理推论。三白草科大约起源于早白垩纪古北大陆东南部。它的原始类型可能与现代三白草属的形态大体相似,为一种多年生具根状茎的草本,花小、无被、具苞片。白垩纪末期三白草的原始类群已完成它在古北大陆的迁移和     

日本鳗鲡IFN-γ基因的鉴定、表达模式及启动子活性分析

为揭示鱼类IFN-γ的生物学功能, 研究从日本鳗鲡(Anguilla japonica)中克隆获得了IFN-γ基因, 命名为AjIFN-γ。AjIFN-γ具有脊椎动物IFN-γ的典型特征: 包括4外显子/3内含子的基因结构、C端的IFN-γ特征性氨基酸基序和1个核定位信号, 以及6个α-螺旋反向平行构成的二级结构。AjIFN-γ在日本鳗鲡所有组织中均低水平转录表达, 其中肝脏中表达量最高, 其次是皮肤和头肾。Poly I:C刺激和迟缓爱德华氏菌感染均可显著诱导AjIFN-γ在鳃、头肾、体肾和(或)脾脏中的转录表达, 表明AjIFN-γ能够参与日本鳗鲡抗菌和抗病毒的免疫过程。此外, 研究还克隆了AjIFN-γ基因的5′调控区序列共1536 bp, 并构建了一系列Aj IFN-γ 5′调控区删节突变体, 分析其启动子活性, 结果表明, 上游–240/+136区域中含有起始AjIFN-γ转录的关键启动子调控元件, –1062/–814区域存在转录的正调控元件, 而–1252/–1062区域存在转录的负调控元件。上述结果进一步丰富了鱼类IFN-γ的基础知识。     

mir-34a在神经元中的表达特征及功能研究

本研究采用Northern Blotting、ISH／FISH等手段首次发现mir-34a在恒河猴大脑神经元中呈年龄梯度表达的规律。同时我们发现mir-34a在大鼠前额叶原代培养神经元中的表达亦呈随培养时程增加而递增的趋势。进一步研究表明,过表达mir-34a可能通过抑制BCL-2而引起神经元凋亡。我们的研究结果提示mir-34a可能在神经元的发育与衰老机制中起着重要作用。     

COLOR PATTERN EVOLUTION,ASSORTATIVE MATING,AND GENETIC DIFFERENTIATION IN BRIGHTLY COLORED BUTTERFLYFISHES (CHAETODONTIDAE)

In butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae), color pattern evolves rapidly and is often the only morphological trait separating closely related species. Vivid coloration is frequently assumed to provide critical signals for mate recognition and mate choice, but few direct experimental tests are available. Here we analyze the relationship between color pattern change, mate choice, and genetic differentiation in a group of three very closely related allopatric butterflyfishes. We found that in only one member of this group, Chaetodon multicinctus, is color pattern evolution associated with mate preference and genetic divergence. For its two sister species, C. punctatofasciatus and C. pelewensis, color pattern change has not resulted in assortative mating (based on laboratory pairing experiments and field observations) or in significant mtDNA or allozyme differentiation. In a contact zone on reefs in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, hybridization between the two forms has nearly homogenized color pattern differences. Outside these areas, however, color pattern remains distinct. Genetic variation is homogeneous over a much larger geographic scale. Sequence variation in the tRNA-proline end of the mitochondrial control region and allozyme variation was distributed widely within C. punctatofasciatus and C. pelewensis, which suggests few constraints to mitochondrial or nuclear gene flow across the color pattern boundary. These contrasting patterns strongly suggest that selection is maintaining color pattern differences in allopatry in the face of potentially homogenizing levels of gene flow. The mating pattern data show that this selection is not operating on mate recognition in the strictest sense, but probably on some other aspect of the social system of these territorial fish. In this case, divergence in mating preference can follow color pattern evolution, but is not contemporaneous with it.     

QUANTITATIVE GENETICS OF BRYOZOAN PHENOTYPIC EVOLUTION. III. PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY AND THE MAINTENANCE OF GENETIC VARIATION

Cheilostome bryozoan species show long-term morphologic stasis, implying stabilizing selection sustained for millions of years, but nevertheless retain significant heritable variation in traits of skeletal morphology. The possible role of within-genotype (within-colony) phenotypic variability in preserving genetic diversity was analyzed using breeding data for two species of Stylopoma from sites along 110 km of the Caribbean coast of Panama. Variation among zooids within colonies accounts for nearly two-thirds of the phenotypic variance on average, increases with environmental heterogeneity, and includes significant genotype-environment interaction. Thus, within-colony variability apparently represents phenotypic plasticity, at least some of which is heritable, rather than random “developmental noise.” Almost all of the among-colonies component of phenotypic variance is accounted for by additive genetic differences in trait means, suggesting that within-colony plasticity includes virtually all of the environmental component of phenotypic variance in these populations of Stylopoma. Thus, heritable within-colony plasticity could play a significant part in maintaining genetic diversity in cheilostomes, but it is also possible that rates of polygenic mutation alone are sufficient to balance the effects of selection.     

PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY OF BRANCHING PATTERN IN SUGAR MAPLE (ACER SACCHARUM)

Branching patterns of leader shoots and lower branches were compared in 15 sugar maple trees. The number of first-order branches per second-order branch (R_1:2) differed very significantly between leader shoots and lower branches. Values of R_1:2 averaged 6.47 for leaders and 4.06 for lower branches. Stepwise bifurcation ratios between successive higher orders did not differ significantly. The difference in R_1:2 between leader shoots and lower branches within individual trees is the result of developmental-phenotypic interactions, such that the number of leaf-bearing shoots per support shoot decreases over time. These results indicate that branching patterns within individual trees are not stationary, as has commonly been claimed.     

巴西固氮螺菌Yu62nifA基因克隆、测序及功能分析

用TD-PCR法克隆了巴西固氮螺菌(Azospirillun brasilense)Yu62的nifA基因.序列分析表明它与巴西固氮螺菌Sp7的nifA序列高度同源(96.5%),其编码的产物NifA蛋白与Sp7菌株NifA的氨基酸序列同源性为97.6%.该基因可以完全互补巴西固氮螺菌Sp7 nifA-突变株的Nif-表型.研究了NH4+和O2对Yu62 nifA基因的表达及NifA活性的影响.结果表明mfA基因在Yu62菌株中是部分组成型表达的,氨和氧不能完全阻遏其表达,在5mmol/LNH4Cl与微氧(0.5%O2)条件下表达最高;NifA蛋白在0.4%～0.5%O2时活性最高,氧分压降低和提高都使NifA活性下降,1mmol/L NH4Cl足以抑制NifA的活性.     

LIFE-HISTORY EVOLUTION IN GUPPIES (POECILIA RETICULATA): 1. PHENOTYPIC AND GENETIC CHANGES IN AN INTRODUCTION EXPERIMENT

Previous investigations (Reznick and Endler, 1982; Reznick, 1982a, 1982b) demonstrated that genetic differences in guppy life histories were associated with differences in predation. Guppies from localities with the pike cichlid Crenicichla alta and associated predators matured earlier, had greater reproductive efforts, and produced more and smaller offspring than did guppies from localities with only Rivulus harti as a potential predator. Crenicichla preys primarily on large, sexually mature size-classes of guppies, while Rivulus preys primarily on small, immature size-classes. These patterns of predation are hypothesized to alter mean age-specific survival. Theoretical treatments of such differences in survival predict the observed trends in age at maturity and reproductive effort. We are using introduction experiments to evaluate the role of predators in selecting for these life-history patterns. The experiment whose results are presented here was conducted in a tributary to the El Cedro River (Trinidad), where a waterfall was the upstream limit to the distribution of all fish except Rivulus. Guppies collected from the Crenicichla locality immediately below the waterfall (the downstream control) were introduced over the waterfall in 1981. This introduction released the guppies from Crenicichla predation, exposed them instead to Rivulus predation only, and also introduced them to a different environment, since the introduction site has greater canopy cover than the site of origin. Changes in guppy life-history patterns can be attributed to predation and/or the environment. Evidence from fish collected and preserved in the field demonstrated that, by mid-1983, guppies from the introduction site above the waterfall matured at larger sizes and produced fewer, larger offspring. There were no consistent differences in reproductive allotment (weight of offspring/total weight). With the exception of reproductive allotment, these patterns are identical to previous comparisons between Rivulus and Crenicichla localities. A laboratory genetics experiment demonstrated that males from the introduction site matured at a later age and at a larger size than did males from the control site downstream, as predicted from the “age-specific predation” hypothesis. No differences between localities were observed for female age and size at maturity or for reproductive effort. The trends for fecundity and offspring size were the reverse of those observed in the field. Because only the males changed in the predicted fashion, it is not possible either to reject or to accept the hypothesis of age-specific predation at this time. We discuss the possible causes for these patterns and the high degree of plasticity in the life history, as evidenced by the differences in fecundity and offspring size between the field and laboratory results.     

MNNG、3''''-MeDAB体外诱发大鼠肝细胞系NRL-84表型改变及对甲胎蛋白基因表达的影响

化学物质诱发实验性肝癌,过去多从整体水平也即体内诱变。这一方法,由于体内环境错综复杂,影响因素和作用环节较多,不便分析结果。即便体外诱变,除极个别报道外,绝大多数为原代培养物。这些材料,由于所获细胞不够纯一、存活时间较短、传代困难,因此限制了使用范围和价值。另一方面,已知甲胎蛋白(AFP)是哺乳类胚胎期出现于血清的一种蛋白质,它与肝癌的关系十分密切。成年期一旦发生肝癌,那么已降至低水平的AFP量又复上升,可达到胚胎期的高水平程度。因此,AFP的变动可用作判别实验诱变的一个有效指征。鉴于上述,我们新建立了一个能够反映AFP动态变化的正常新生大鼠肝细胞系NRL-     

STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SIEVE ELEMENTS IN PSILOTUM NUDUM

Shoot tissue of Psilotum nudum (L.) Griseb. was fixed in glutaraldehyde and postfixed in osmium tetroxide for electron microscopy. Young sieve elements can be distinguished from contiguous parenchyma cells by their distinctive plastids, the presence of refractive spherules, and the overall dense appearance of their protoplast. The refractive spherules apparently originate in the intracisternal spaces of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). With increasing age the sieve-element wall undergoes a marked increase in thickness. Concomitantly, a marked increase occurs in the production of dictyosome vesicles, many of which can be seen in varying degrees of fusion with the plasmalemma. Other fibril- and vesicle-containing vacuoles also are found in the cytoplasm. In many instances the delimiting membrane of these vacuoles was continuous with the plasmalemma. Vesicles and fibrillar materials similar to those of the vacuoles were found in the younger portions of the wall. At maturity the plasmalemma-lined sieve element contains a parietal network of ER, plastids, mitochondria, and remnants of nuclei. The protoplasts of contiguous sieve elements are connected by solitary pores on lateral walls and pores aggregated into sieve areas on end walls. All pores are lined by the plasmalemma and filled with numerous ER membranes which arise selectively at developing pore sites, independently of the ER elsewhere in the cell. P-protein and callose are lacking at all stages of development.