西双版纳王鼠的染色体研究

本文报道了云南省西双版纳王鼠(Rattur rajah)的核型,染色体数目为52,其中包括18对端着丝粒染色体、7对中着丝粒染色体以及一对性染色体,X为中着丝粒染色体,Y为端着丝粒染色体。不同于Yong的研究结果。此外,文章中还从核型上讨论了王鼠在家鼠属动物中所处的分类地位。     

寄生性膜翅目昆虫毒素的生态机制及应用前景

膜翅目昆虫利用高效的毒素进行自身防卫、攻击猎物和调节寄主生长发育.从寄生性膜翅目昆虫毒素的产生、类别、组份、性质、毒素的生态功能以及毒素的作用机制等方面综述了寄生性膜翅目昆虫毒素的研究概况.膜翅目的泌毒器官起源于外胚层,由生殖系统的附腺演化而来.毒液由成熟雌蜂的毒腺或酸腺所分泌,并贮于毒囊中.昆虫毒素是成分复杂的混合物,已知膜翅目昆虫毒素中含有烃类、醇类、醛类、酮类、羧酸类、酯类、内酯类、酶类等多种化合物.寄生性膜翅目昆虫的毒素在提高自身适应能力方面的作用是巨大的,如通过麻痹寄主提高产卵成功的概率、通过抑制寄主的生长发育和免疫功能提高后代的存活率、通过干扰寄主的生理活动改善后代的营养需求等.体外寄生蜂毒素可造成寄主幼虫停止发育、永久性的麻痹甚至死亡,这类毒素常为抑性的、广谱的,一般作用于中枢神经系统或神经-肌肉连接点.而体内寄生蜂多为容性寄生,其毒液中含有多分DNA病毒（PDV）,PDV通过抑制寄主免疫系统而巧妙地调节寄主的生理活动和发育,影响寄主的正常变态,大多数种类直到寄主结茧或做好蛹室时才将其杀死在安全的场所,从而使寄生蜂后代能够顺利完成发育.容性寄生蜂毒素对PDV的功能具有显著的增效或协同作用,而不会使寄主产生永久性麻痹.PDV对寄生蜂本身是非致病性的,与寄生蜂是一种分子水平上的共生或依生关系.寄生性膜翅目昆虫毒素显示了良好的应用前景,特别是在开发人类医药和特异性生物杀虫剂方面.但分离和纯化毒液中各个活性成分是应用的前提,也是生化和毒理研究的需要.     

云南大叶茶细胞学研究

本文采用去壁低渗法研究了云南大叶茶的染色体核型,间期核形态和多核现象。结果表明大多数染色体是中部着丝粒染色体,5对是近中部着丝粒染色体,第7和12对染色体中各有1条具随体染色体。根据Levan等的分类原则,其核型为2n=20m+8sm+2sm(SAT),属于Stebbins核型分类的“2A”型,同时亦发现有“2B”型的核型。云南大叶茶间期核型为浓密分散型和复杂染色中央微粒型两种;并首次发现茶树中的多核现象,在所观察的1250个细胞中有6个是具双核细胞(占0.48％),有2个是具三核细胞占(0.16％)。另外,本文还对部份山茶属植物的核型进行了讨论。从核型上可以看出:(1)山茶属植物在进化上属于较原始的种系;(2)山茶属植物核型的进化基本符合Stebbins提出的植物界核型进化的规律,即对称—→不对称;(3)山茶属植物的核型在一定范围内变异甚大,这种变异没有一定的规律性。这些观点与张宏达提出的山茶属植物的分类系统基本吻合。带随体的染色体数目在山茶属植物核型的进化上没有什么明显的变化规律。     

北五味子染色体核型分析

本文研究了北五味子的染色体核型.其体细胞染色体数目2n=28,具13对中部着丝点染色体,1对近中部着丝点染色体.在整个染色体中并未发现随.按Levan的染色体分类标准,其染色体核型组成是:K(2n)=2x=28=26m+2Sm.     

染色体核型分析及染色体显微分离技术研究进展

染色体核型分析是遗传学研究的重要手段,也是物种分类和鏊定的基本依据.染色体显微切割技术是细胞遗传学和分子遗传学相结合的一种技术,应用前景广阔.重点综述了染色体核型分析和单染色体显微切割技术的操作规程.     

五种蝽科昆虫的细胞分类学研究（半翅目：异翅亚目）

研究了5种中国蝽科昆虫的核型和染色体的减数分裂行为,并采用核型分析软件对第一次减数分裂中期的染色体进行核型分析。结果表明：驼蝽Brachycerocoris camalus Costa、滴蝽Dybowskyia reticulata(Dallas）和红玉蝽Hoplistodera pulchra Yang3个种的染色体组成均为2n（♂）＝14,具有X－Y性别决定机制;减数分裂行为比较一致,但在中期－Ⅰ时,常染色体和性染色体的排列方式各不相同,可为蝽科昆虫的形态分类及系统发育提供有用的证据。二星蝽Eysarcoris guttiger(Thunberg）的染色体组成为2n（♂）＝15,具有X1X2Y性别决定机制,进一步证明了在半翅目昆虫的性染色体进化中碎片化过程起着很重要的作用;黑斑二星蝽Eysarcoris fabricii(Kirkaldy）的染色体组成为2n（♂）＝16,具有X－Y性别决定机制。后2种的核型结果,可为二星蝽属分类的进一步研究提供参考。     

长叶竹柏核型的初步研究

本文对长叶竹柏核型进行了初步研究,结果表明,长叶竹柏染色体的数目为2n=26。第8、10、11、13对染色体为中部着丝点染色体,其余9对均为近中部着丝点染色体,且在第2对染色体长臂上具次缢痕;按Stebbins的分类标准,属较对称的“zA”核型。其染色体的绝对长度范围为3.32—6.39μm,相对长度范围为5.33—10.26%。     

云南猪屎豆属6种植物的核型初报

本文对猪屎豆属(Crotalaria)6种植物的核型进行了研究(C. yunnanensis仅报道了染色体数目),并结合它们的分类和分布特征,初步探讨了它们的演化关系;其中C. bracteata的染色体数目和核型以及C. yunnanensis的染色体数目均为首次报道。     

西双版纳王鼠的染色体研究*1)

本文报道了云南省西双版纳王鼠(Rattus rajah）的核型，染色体数目为52，其中包括18对端着丝粒染色体、7对中着丝粒染色体以及一对性染色体，X为中着丝粒染色体，Y为端着丝粒染色体。不同于Yong的研究结果。此外，文章中还从核型上讨论了王鼠在家鼠属动物中所处的分类地位。     

核型似近系数的聚类分析方法

本文根据近年来核型分析所积累的大量资料,以及谭远德(1991)提出的似近分析理论,提出了核型似近系数A聚类分析方法,确定了核型计算公式,井应用于lo种淡水鱼核型似近系数聚类分析,获得了与形态分类学非常一致的结果。此外,还提出了染色体带型计算公式,从而使核型公式和校型似近系数从核型的整体结构、染色体形态结构和染色体内部结构等三个层次上,较精确地刻画了物种核型特性和物种间校型的等同性或同源性。以此核型似近系数作为分类依据所获得的物种分类结果,能真实地和客观地反映物种的自然分类模式。     

A new genus of Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from India

A new genus, probably related to Anagyrus, is erected for a new species parasitic on mealy-bugs, the male and female of which are described.     

Social parasites among African allodapine bees (Hymenoptera,Anthophoridae, Ceratinini)*

Among the numerous nonparasitic allodapine bees there are 11 known species with parasitic or probably parasitic habits. These species live in nests of their close relatives, the female parasite replacing an egg-layer of the host. Seven of the parasitic species are distributed among four otherwise nonparasitic genera, while four species of parasites are placed in three exclusively parasitic genera. The parasites have mostly arisen independently from different nonparasitic forms. There is much convergence among the parasitic forms involving such characters as the flattened or concave face, reduced eyes, reduced mouthparts, reduced wing venation, and reduced pollen-carrying scopa. In the most specialized parasitic genera the mouthparts are so small as to be almost surely useless for obtaining food from flowers. Such bees must feed in the host nest, and are not found on flowers. Their wings must be adequate to take them to a new host nest but the reduced venation and eyes must reflect the reduced locomotary and sensory needs of a bee that does not visit flowers. In this paper a new, presumably parasitic Allodapula is described as is a parasitic Braunsapis, a parasitic Allodape, and a Eucondylops. A previously described Macrogalea is recognized as a parasite for the first time. A new genus and species of parasites Nasutapsis straussorum, allied to Braunsapis, is also described. All these forms are from Africa.     

Floaters as intraspecific brood parasites in the grey starling Sturnus cineraceus

The breeding season of the grey starling Sturnus cineraceus is divided into two periods: the early and late breeding season. The birds that breed in each season are referred to as early and late breeders, respectively. In this study, the late breeders mainly consisted of new immigrants that did not breed in the early season. This suggested that these new immigrants were probably floaters in the early breeding season. Because intraspecific brood parasitism occurred frequently, it is possible that the parasites were floaters without nesting boxes. To check for the presence of floaters, two field experiments were conducted and floaters were captured with traps. With additional nesting boxes provided during the breeding season, all new boxes were quickly occupied by floaters from the period of incubation to hatching in the early breeding season, but were not occupied by floaters during the egg laying period of the late breeding season. The addition of boxes before the start of the breeding season significantly decreased the parasitic rate and number of parasitic eggs per nest. There was a positive correlation between the relative occupancy of nesting boxes and the parasitic rate. The removal of boxes again increased the parasitic rate. As for the capture of floaters with traps, the number of trapped birds per day was also related to the relative occupancy of nesting boxes. The floaters trapped between incubation and nesting periods of early breeders became the late breeders. Judging from these results, many floaters were present from the incubation to hatching periods of early breeders, and were probably intraspecific brood parasites.     

Increased genetic diversity in mitochondrial genes is correlated with the evolution of parasitism in the Hymenoptera

A higher AT content and rate of mtDNA sequence divergence was found in parasitic wasps (Apocrita) compared with nonparasitic wasps (Symphyta). The compositional bias was reflected in extreme codon bias for a cytochrome oxidase I protein coding gene fragment as well as in the types of amino acid substitutions that have occurred during the evolution of this gene fragment. In some instances, compositional bias influenced the definition of a conservative amino acid change. The increased rate of mtDNA sequence evolution probably arose during the early Jurassic, coincident with the first appearance of parasitic wasps in the fossil record. Our results suggest a causal link between the rate of sequence divergence and the parasitic lifestyle.Abbreviations AT adenosine-thymine - CO-1 cytochrome oxidase 1 - mtDNA mitochondrial DNA - Myr million years Correspondence to: M. Dowton     

Perforations in the tail features of parasitic Cuckoos

Bouwman, H. 2000. Perforations in the tail features of parasitic Cuckoos. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2): 126.

Perforations in the tail feathers of parasitic cuckoos have been observed in both live and museum specimens. These perforations occurring in the vane of the feather, are longitudinally arranged, and in many cases evenly spaced. The position, arrangement and spacing suggest that the perforations were not caused by feather mites. Anecdotal evidence and literature suggests that these perforations are probably caused by host birds during confrontations. Quantification of perforations in terms of species, age, sex, increase in damage during the breeding season, and in damage from breeding and non-breeding areas, supports this hypothesis. The parasitic species that parasitisc birds with stronger beaks (weavers and shrikes) tended to have more damage.     

Effects of intra- and interspecific brood parasitism on a precocial host, the canvasback, Aythya valisineria

Canvasback ducks (Aythya valisineria) suffer both intra- andinterspecific brood parasitism. During 3 years in Manitoba,80% of canvasback nests (n = 179 nests with completed clutches)were parasitized by redheads (A. americana), other canvasbacks,or both, with an average of 4.7 parasitic eggs per parasitizednest. Parasitism had significant negative effects on the reproductivesuccess of nesting canvasbacks, although the proximate mechanismsinvolved differed from those operating in altricial species.Accidental displacement of eggs when parasitic females forcedtheir way onto host nests was the principal negative effectof parasitism, reducing the number of host eggs that were incubatedand ultimately hatched. Parasitism by redheads was relativelymore costly to canvasbacks than was intraspecific parasitism,with approximately 0.31 and 0.17 host eggs displaced per parasiticredhead and canvasback egg laid, respectively. No additionalnegative effects of parasitism on the hatchability of host eggsoccurred subsequent to parasitic laying. Posthatch survivalof canvasback ducklings was lower in broods from parasitizednests but was unrelated to the presence or absence of redheadducklings. Canvasback hosts resisted intrusions by parasiticfemales but showed no evidence of discrimination against parasiticeggs or ducklings. Because most costs of parasitism in thissystem are inflicted at the time of parasitic laying, subsequentrejection of parasitic eggs or ducklings is probably of littlebenefit to canvasback hosts, while the evolution of behaviorthat might prevent parasitic laying in the first place, suchas more vigorous nest defense, may be constrained by its highcosts     

THE INFLUENCE OF NOSEMA APIS ON THE LARVAL HONEYBEE

In experiments on the infection of bee larvae with Nosema apis , the parasitic spores did not germinate and infected adults did not result. In hives of bees infected with N. apis about 10–20% of the eggs laid did not complete their development probably because of inadequate care and feeding.     

Are blackcaps current winners in the evolutionary struggle against the common cuckoo?

Blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla reject artificial cuckoo eggs, and their eggs vary little in appearance within clutches, whereas among clutches eggs vary considerably. Low variation within clutches facilitates discrimination of parasitic eggs, whereas high variation among clutches makes it harder for the cuckoo to mimic the eggs of a certain host species. These traits have most probably evolved as counteradaptations against brood parasitism by the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus, even though blackcaps are not regularly parasitised today. In this study, we investigated how fine-tuned the rejection of parasitic eggs is in this species by introducing three types of eggs into their nests: a real non-mimetic egg the approximate size of a cuckoo egg, an artificial mimetic egg the size of a cuckoo egg and a real conspecific egg. As the rejection frequency of both mimetic and non-mimetic artificial cuckoo eggs has been shown to be high in previous studies, the variation in rejection behaviour between individuals is low, indicating that most individuals within the population are able to reject parasitic eggs. Thus, we predict that (1) the intraclutch variation in egg appearance should be generally low in all individuals, and that (2) regarding conspecific eggs, rejection decisions should be highly dependent on the degree of mimicry between parasitic and host eggs. We found support for these predictions, which indicates that due to their highly sophisticated countermeasures against brood parasitism, blackcaps can probably be regarded as current winners of the arms race with the common cuckoo. Furthermore, the high and consistent rejection frequency of cuckoo eggs found throughout Europe for this species supports the spatial habitat structure hypothesis, which claims that woodland-nesting species breeding near trees, like blackcaps, presumably experienced a high level of parasitism throughout their range in the past and, therefore, their rejection behaviour, once evolved, spread rapidly to all populations.     

Amphids in Strongyloides stercoralis and other parasitic nematodes

In this review, Francis Ashton and Gerhard Schad examine the ultrastructure of the amphids of several animal parasitic nematodes. These structures are the main chemosensory organs of these worms and probably play an important role in host-finding behavior and the control of development. Reconstructions made from serial micrographs of the neurons in the amphids of the threadworm Strongyloides stercoralis are shown. These stereo images permit three-dimensional visualization of these complex sense organs. The association between each amphidial neuron and its cell body has not been made previously for a parasitic nematode; however, this has been done for the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which served as a model for these studies. Recognition of the cell bodies will provide a point of departure for laser microbeam ablation studies to determine individual neuronal function.     

Tandem arrangement of tubulin genes in the protozoan parasite Leishmania enriettii.

The arrangement of developmentally regulated alpha- and beta-tubulin genes has been studied in the parasitic protozoan Leishmania enriettii by using Southern blot hybridization analysis. The alpha-tubulin genes occur in a tandem repeat whose monomeric unit may be represented by a 2-kilobase PstI fragment. Similarly, the beta-tubulin genes probably occur in a separate tandem repeat consisting of approximately 4-kilobase units unlinked to the alpha-tubulin repeats.