贵州草海的越冬鹤类

贵州威宁草海自然保护区是一个天然淡水湖泊,为我国鹤类的重要越冬地。在这里越冬的鹤类有黑颈鹤(Grus nigricollis)、白头鹤(Grus monacha)和灰鹤(Grus grus lilfordi)三种。现将有关研究及其数量消长规律概述如下。1灰鹤的研究在草海所见的三种鹤中,以灰鹤的发现最早(彭燕章等,1963)。王有辉(1986)和吴至康、王有辉(1986)对灰鹤的栖息条件、迁徙时间、生活习性、数量分布、食性、天敌、寄生羽虱,分别作了报道。嗣后,李若贤和李凤山1987年冬与1988年春,对草海灰鹤的越冬行为进行了研究。认为灰鹤在白天活动的时间分配比例是取食占49.7%,…     

鄱阳湖4种鹤类集群特征与成幼组成的时空变化

2014年10月—2015年4月,采用样点法对鄱阳湖45个样点的白鹤(Grus leucogeranus)、白头鹤(G.monacha)、白枕鹤(G.vipio)和灰鹤(G.grus)的集群大小、集群类型和成幼组成进行调查。结果显示,白鹤的平均集群大小(23.86±10.26)只(集群数N=104),白头鹤(6.42±1.63)只(N=98),白枕鹤(6.09±2.55)只(N=105),灰鹤(5.55±1.26)只(N=246)。仅白头鹤中期集群大小显著小于后期,其余鹤类各时期及灰鹤各地区的集群大小差异不显著。鄱阳湖鹤类的集群大小并不符合警戒行为对集群大小的预测,生境质量差异可能是影响鄱阳湖鹤类集群大小的主要原因之一。4种鹤类均在1—5只个体的小集群中出现频度最高。白鹤在35只个体集群中的个体比例最高,而白头鹤、白枕鹤和灰鹤在1—5只个体集群和35只个体集群均有较高的个体比例。白鹤、白头鹤、白枕鹤和灰鹤均以家庭群为主,其家庭群所占比例分别为(64.29%,总集群数N=98)、(71.91%,N=89)、(70.77%,N=65)和(63.11%,N=206)。鄱阳湖鹤类以家庭群为主表明,保证充足的食物供应可能比花费更多的觅食时间更为重要。白鹤家庭群以2成1幼为主(65.08%),白头鹤(51.56%)、白枕鹤(52.17%)和灰鹤(47.69%)以2成为主。白鹤、白头鹤、白枕鹤和灰鹤群体的幼鸟比例分别为12.27%(个体数N=1695)、14.42%(N=416)、16.59%(N=229)和20.46%(N=655)。2成2幼集群比例极低表明,白鹤家庭同时抚养2个幼鸟成活的难度较其它3种鹤类大。4种鹤类在各时期的幼鸟比例差异不显著。在灰鹤个体数较多的3个地区中,都昌候鸟省级自然保护区(25.25%)和东鄱阳湖国家级湿地公园(25.14%)的幼鸟比例分别显著和极显著地高于鄱阳湖国家级自然保护区(14.24%)。鄱阳湖白鹤的幼鸟比例多年来均处于较低水平,白头鹤的幼鸟比例较2012—2013年冬季明显下降,灰鹤和白枕鹤种群可能处于稳定或增长状态。     

三门峡湿地成幼大天鹅昼间越冬行为差异分析

冬季幼鸟与成鸟面临着不同的生存压力,成鸟负责照顾幼鸟使其获得最大的生存率,这使得它们的行为选择不同。2016年12月—2017年3月,在河南省三门峡湿地,采用瞬时扫描法记录了成、幼大天鹅Cygnus cygnus的行为类型,并对越冬期成、幼大天鹅昼间行为选择的差异进行了分析。结果表明,在整个越冬期,成鸟占比最高的行为是警戒(29.1%),并高于幼鸟(18.5%);幼鸟占比最高的行为是运动(22.7%),并高于成鸟(18.2%)。对不同越冬阶段的行为差异分析表明,成鸟在越冬初期占比最高的行为是警戒(27.6%),幼鸟的是觅食(26.5%)。在越冬初期,幼鸟经过长时间的迁徙,急需补充能量,因此觅食行为占比最高,此时成鸟为保护幼鸟的安全,在警戒上的时间较其他行为更多;进入越冬中期,成、幼鸟的警戒行为均有所增加(成鸟:32.3%;幼鸟:20.8%),占比最高,此时湖面结冰,大天鹅受到天敌攻击的几率增加,因此成、幼鸟警戒行为均有所增加,且此时天然食物减少,成、幼鸟的觅食行为有所下降(成鸟:8.8%;幼鸟:13.5%),并增加了休息时间,以减少能量消耗来抵御严寒;到了越冬后期,成鸟的警戒行为(27.2%)仍是占比最高的行为,但与前期、中期相比,后期有所下降,幼鸟占比最高的行为是运动(26.3%),如飞行等,此时春季迁徙即将来临,幼鸟需要增加运动来锻炼飞行能力;成鸟此时也需积累能量,因此警戒行为与其他2个时期相比有所下降。在整个越冬阶段,成鸟警戒的比例都是最高的,表明成鸟始终以减少觅食和休息时间来保证幼鸟的安全作为首要任务。     

鄱阳湖稻田生境中越冬灰鹤行为模式及其影响因素

2018年10月—2019年3月,采用焦点动物法研究了鄱阳湖区稻田生境中灰鹤(Grus grus)越冬期的行为模式及其影响因素。结果表明:越冬期灰鹤的主要行为是觅食(77.45%)、警戒(11.17%)和修整(7.82%);行为模式以取食-警戒-取食或取食-修整-取食为主;幼鹤取食行为的时间分配和持续时间均极显著高于成鹤(P0.01),推测幼鹤取食效率低,单次取食持续时间和总时间较长;成鹤警戒行为(P0.01)极显著高于幼鹤,成、幼鹤警戒行为的持续时间无显著差异,取食间隔的警戒频次和时间分配均显著高于幼鹤(P0.05),说明成鹤是通过增加警戒次数来确保幼鹤的安全;取食行为的持续时间和时间分配在整个越冬期均显著升高,取食间隔期间的行走行为也逐渐上升,这与食物资源的可获得性有关;建议适当降低家鸭放牧等人类活动,减少灰鹤越冬期的取食难度;灰鹤不同家庭群的行走行为和取食间隔的行走行为均有显著性差异,推测与各家庭群占有的食物资源质量相关;行为节律上,灰鹤各时段取食行为占总行为的比例均较高,在10:00—10:59、12:00—12:59和16:00—16:59出现取食小高峰;警戒行为保持在一个稳定水平,修整行为高峰出现在取食行为高峰之后,这是因为灰鹤保持取食行为积累疲劳后进行修整;成鹤的取食行为节律性较幼鹤明显,幼鹤的取食行为曲线随机性强,这与幼鹤取食经验不足有关;幼鹤警戒行为的高峰出现在成鹤警戒的低谷,推测与保持整个家庭群较高的总体警戒水平有关。     

云南大山包越冬黑颈鹤调查简报

云南大山包是昭通市辖区西部79km的一个乡,属高原缓丘草甸地貌的贫困农牧业高寒山区,是近二年新发现的国家一类保护动物黑颈鹤(Grus nigricollis)分布数量最大的越冬地。在这里越冬的黑颈鹤主要栖息在跳礅河水库和大海子水库。1990年2月,进行多次分组同步调查结果,计有黑颈鹤181只。其中跳礅河稳定栖息的为141只,种群结构为2只亲鸟带2只幼鹤的家庭2家,2只亲鸟带1只幼鹤的家庭8家,配对的非繁殖成鹤家庭11家,孤成鹤2只,亚成鹤85只。另有11只灰鹤。大海子稳定栖息的为40只,种群结构仅有2只亲鸟带1只幼鹤的1家,余下的37只均为亚成鹤。另计有2只…     

宁夏中卫黄河沿岸迁徙灰鹤停歇模式

中途停歇地是候鸟重要的能量补给地及休息站,对其顺利完成迁徙有着重要作用。为了解灰鹤(Grus grus)迁徙途中的停歇模式,于2013年和2015年冬季,采用卫星跟踪技术在贵州草海保护区成功跟踪了4只灰鹤。结果显示,其中3只灰鹤在宁夏中卫市境内的黄河和清水河流域湿地停歇,表明该地区为灰鹤迁徙时的重要停歇地。春季迁徙时,灰鹤在2月初至3月初到达中卫,平均停留(24.5?6.7)d(15~30 d,n=4),2月底至3月底迁离;秋季迁徙时,10月末至11月初到达,平均停留(32.0?4.2)d(29~35 d,n=2),至11月底迁离。停留期间主要的活动范围为中宁县境内的长山头水库、黄河河心岛及同心县境内的清水河周边区域。2017年3月18日,采用夜栖地直接计数法进行实地调查,共发现灰鹤636只,其日间活动范围和卫星跟踪结果类似。此次发现的灰鹤停歇地均未纳入自然保护体系,建议当地林业部门在灰鹤迁徙期间加强管理,可适当投食,以减少灰鹤误食耕地中经农药包衣处理的玉米(Zea mays)种子造成的死亡。     

甘肃黑河内陆河湿地自然保护区候鸟多样性

甘肃黑河为我国第二大内陆河,位于其中游的黑河湿地自然保护区为内陆河流湿地生态系统自然保护区。2008年分季节采用样线法和样点法调查该保护区湿地、农田村庄、人工林和荒漠4种生境的鸟类种类和数量。调查共记录保护区分布的鸟类17目35科116种,其中夏候鸟73种(占鸟类种类的62.93%),迁徙过路鸟20种(占17.24%),留鸟17种(占14.66%),冬候鸟6种(占5.17%)。其中,属于《湿地公约》的水禽56种。在湿地生境共记录鸟类70种,占保护区鸟类种数的60.34%,其中繁殖期在湿地生境栖息的鸟类有50种,绝大部分为夏候鸟(47种),留鸟只有3种;迁徙季节分布有44种鸟类,其中迁徙过路鸟(只在迁徙季节见到)有17种,占迁徙季节鸟类种类数的38.64%。村庄农田、人工林以及荒漠生境中,繁殖期和迁飞期共记录鸟类57种,夏候鸟有33种,留鸟有17种,迁徙过路鸟只有3种。甘肃张掖黑河湿地保护区是众多水禽在我国西北地区的重要繁殖地和迁徙停歇地,是我国候鸟迁徙西部路线上的关键区域。     

白鹤幼鹤行为发育

2012年10月至2013年5月,采用焦点取样法对在吉林莫莫格国家级自然保护区内秋季和春季迁徙停歇的以及在江西鄱阳湖国家级自然保护区内越冬的白鹤(Grus leucogeranus)幼鹤行为进行了研究。结果表明,幼鹤取食行为比例从秋季迁徙时的23.0%增加到越冬晚期时的82.7%,但春季迁徙期减少为61.9%;幼鹤乞食行为比例从秋季迁徙时的58.2%减少至春季迁徙时的1.2%;幼鹤警戒行为比例从秋季迁徙时的1.0%增加至春季迁徙时的7.1%。幼鹤在春季迁徙期的理羽及静栖行为显著高于越冬期,这种行为的差异可能与食物的丰富度相关。环境因子中,风速对幼鹤静栖行为有显著影响,幼鹤取食及警戒行为与气温呈显著正相关。秋季迁徙及越冬晚期,幼鹤行为日节律在13:00—14:00时出现明显的取食低谷期,而春季迁徙期时则推后1小时。整个观察期间,幼鹤从雄鹤和雌鹤获得食物频次无显著差异,但不同时间段幼鹤从雄、雌成鹤处获得食物频次差异是显著的。研究从行为学的角度展示白鹤幼鹤的生长过程及不同性别成鹤对幼鹤生长的贡献。     

盐城灰鹤(Grus grus)越冬种群动态及行为观察

为解盐城灰鹤(Grus grus)的越冬种群动态及行为特征,在盐城保护区设置两条样线,自2008年12月始,连续5个冬季每月一次作种群监测,并观察灰鹤家族群的越冬行为。结果显示,近5年来,盐城越冬灰鹤种群(303~707只)较为稳定,沿海开发对其种群似乎并无负面影响,这可能与灰鹤的食性及生境偏好有关。年龄对灰鹤越冬行为影响显著,幼鹤相较成鹤将花费更多的时间用于采食,而用于警戒的时间较少,这与幼鹤所处的生长及学习阶段有关。家族群大小对灰鹤的采食、警戒及群体警戒效率等均无显著影响,说明对于灰鹤而言,两只幼鹤并未显著增加其在警戒行为上的投入。     

新疆青格达湖湿地自然保护区及周边地区的鸟类

青格达湖位于新疆天山以北、乌鲁木齐市附近。采用样线调查法、定点取样法、瞬时扫描统计法等,同时借助鸟网捕捉,分析青格达湖自然保护区及周边区域鸟类分布与数量状况。结合近10年(2002~2013年)上百次野外调查的资料,共记录鸟类225种,分属18目53科124属。这几乎占新疆鸟类资源的48%。全部18个目中,体型较小的雀形目种类数量最多(约83种),占37%。而非雀形目的种类,以隼形目(猛禽)、雁形目(游禽)、鸻形目(涉禽)等排在前列,种类都超过20种。然而,它们多属于候鸟,停留期短暂。居留型分析,留鸟为28种、夏候鸟52种、冬候鸟24种、旅鸟87种、漂泊鸟(迷鸟)约34种。同样可见青格达湖区是鸟类迁徙的一个重要驿站或停留地(水鸟104种,占46%),而不是主要繁殖地或越冬地,候鸟(包括旅鸟、迷鸟等)达197种,占总鸟种数的87%,多数属于季节性出没的种类。种群数量消长具有周期性(大小年)、季节性(双峰)、突变性、不确定性及难预测等特点。在天山北部地区,受高山和沙漠阻隔,鸟类迁徙的方向不都是"南来北往",而是沿着天山山脉北部湖群呈东西方向迁徙,多与气流方向一致。北疆漫长的冬季,有半年时间,鸟类数量和活动频率下降,是一个相对平静的"鸟荒"时期。夏季,因为农业灌溉,青格达湖几乎被排空,水鸟难以栖息。另外,有约43种鸟类(占19%)属于国家重点保护物种,需要格外加强管理和种群保育。但由于兵团农六师军垦区单一化种植模式、机械化耕作制度及大量使用农药等,造成一些地区鸟类绝迹,种群数量和季节性活动受到了遏制,希望有关部门予以关注。     

Ex vivo Live Imaging of Lung Metastasis and Their Microenvironment

Metastasis is a major cause for cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Metastasis is a multistep process and due to its complexity, the exact cellular and molecular processes that govern metastatic dissemination and growth are still elusive. Live imaging allows visualization of the dynamic and spatial interactions of cells and their microenvironment. Solid tumors commonly metastasize to the lungs. However, the anatomical location of the lungs poses a challenge to intravital imaging. This protocol provides a relatively simple and quick method for ex vivo live imaging of the dynamic interactions between tumor cells and their surrounding stroma within lung metastasis. Using this method, the motility of cancer cells as well as interactions between cancer cells and stromal cells in their microenvironment can be visualized in real time for several hours. By using transgenic fluorescent reporter mice, a fluorescent cell line, injectable fluorescently labeled molecules and/or antibodies, multiple components of the lung microenvironment can be visualized, such as blood vessels and immune cells. To image the different cell types, a spinning disk confocal microscope that allows long-term continuous imaging with rapid, four-color image acquisition has been used. Time-lapse movies compiled from images collected over multiple positions and focal planes show interactions between live metastatic and immune cells for at least 4 hr. This technique can be further used to test chemotherapy or targeted therapy. Moreover, this method could be adapted for the study of other lung-related pathologies that may affect the lung microenvironment.     

Global Network Analysis of Lipid-Raft-Related Proteins Reveals Their Centrality in the Network and Their Roles in Multiple Biological Processes

Lipid rafts are specialized cholesterol-enriched microdomains in the cell membrane. They have been known as a platform for protein-protein interactions and to take part in multiple biological processes. Nevertheless, how lipid rafts influence protein properties at the proteomic level is still an open question for researchers using traditional biochemical approaches. Here, by annotating the lipid raft localization of proteins in human protein-protein interaction networks, we performed a systematic analysis of the function of proteins related to lipid rafts. Our results demonstrated that lipid raft proteins and their interactions were critical for the structure and stability of the whole network, and that the interactions between them were significantly enriched. Furthermore, for each protein in the network, we calculated its “lipid raft dependency (LRD),” which indicates how close it is topologically associated with lipid rafts, and we then uncovered the connection between LRD and protein functions. Proteins with high LRD tended to be essential for mammalian development, and malfunction of these proteins was inclined to cause human diseases. Coordinated with their neighbors, high-LRD proteins participated in multiple biological processes and targeted many pathways in diseases pathogenesis. High-LRD proteins were also found to have tissue specificity of expression. In summary, our network-based analysis denotes that lipid raft proteins have higher centrality in the network, and that lipid-raft-related proteins have multiple functions and are probably concerned with many biological processes in disease development.     

Molecular Analysis of the Interactions between Cyst Nematodes and Their Hosts

In order to complete its life cycle, a cyst nematode must stimulate the production of a specialized syncytial feeding site within host root tissues. This process is characterized by major changes in local root morphology, including enlargement of affected nuclei and nucleoli, cell wall degradation, and proliferation of subcellular organelles. At the molecular level very little is known about the processes involved in this host response, but recent evidence suggests that cyst nematodes are able to regulate specific host genes. The host-parasite model system provided by Arabidopsis thaliana and Heterodera schachtii will be fundamental to our future understanding of the formation of syncytia. Molecular biology now offers us the opportunity to study this complex host-parasite interaction in great detail. A better understanding of the host genes regulated by cyst nematodes and the mechanisms by which this regulation is achieved will facilitate the engineering of crop cultivars that possess novel forms of resistance to these adept parasites.     

Synthesis of Non-uniformly Pr-doped SrTiO3 Ceramics and Their Thermoelectric Properties

We demonstrate a novel synthesis strategy for the preparation of Pr-doped SrTiO₃ ceramics via a combination of solid state reaction and spark plasma sintering techniques. Polycrystalline ceramics possessing a unique morphology can be achieved by optimizing the process parameters, particularly spark plasma sintering heating rate. The phase and morphology of the synthesized ceramics were investigated in detail using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microcopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It was observed that the grains of these bulk Pr-doped SrTiO₃ ceramics were enhanced with Pr-rich grain boundaries. Electronic and thermal transport properties were also investigated as a function of temperature and doping concentration. Such a microstructure was found to give rise to improved thermoelectric properties. Specifically, it resulted in a significant improvement in carrier mobility and the thermoelectric power factor. Simultaneously, it also led to a marked reduction in the thermal conductivity. As a result, a significant improvement (> 30%) in the thermoelectric figure of merit was achieved for the whole temperature range over all previously reported maximum values for SrTiO₃-based ceramics. This synthesis demonstrates the steps for the preparation of bulk polycrystalline ceramics of non-uniformly Pr-doped SrTiO₃.     

Learning Retention Mechanisms and Evolutionary Parameters of Duplicate Genes from Their Expression Data

Learning about the roles that duplicate genes play in the origins of novel phenotypes requires an understanding of how their functions evolve. A previous method for achieving this goal, CDROM, employs gene expression distances as proxies for functional divergence and then classifies the evolutionary mechanisms retaining duplicate genes from comparisons of these distances in a decision tree framework. However, CDROM does not account for stochastic shifts in gene expression or leverage advances in contemporary statistical learning for performing classification, nor is it capable of predicting the parameters driving duplicate gene evolution. Thus, here we develop CLOUD, a multi-layer neural network built on a model of gene expression evolution that can both classify duplicate gene retention mechanisms and predict their underlying evolutionary parameters. We show that not only is the CLOUD classifier substantially more powerful and accurate than CDROM, but that it also yields accurate parameter predictions, enabling a better understanding of the specific forces driving the evolution and long-term retention of duplicate genes. Further, application of the CLOUD classifier and predictor to empirical data from Drosophila recapitulates many previous findings about gene duplication in this lineage, showing that new functions often emerge rapidly and asymmetrically in younger duplicate gene copies, and that functional divergence is driven by strong natural selection. Hence, CLOUD represents a major advancement in classifying retention mechanisms and predicting evolutionary parameters of duplicate genes, thereby highlighting the utility of incorporating sophisticated statistical learning techniques to address long-standing questions about evolution after gene duplication.     

甲壳动物血细胞及其在免疫防御中的功能

甲壳动物的免疫反应主要依靠吞噬、包囊和凝集,属于非特异性免疫。血细胞在甲壳动物的免疫系统中具有重要作用。造血组织和造血干细胞为血细胞的生成、补充和更新提供了保障。血细胞成熟后分为不同类型,对血细胞分型的研究正在从采用传统的形态学方法向采用生物技术方法的方向发展,单克隆抗体技术已经应用于血细胞分型,结果更为客观准确。不同类型的血细胞在细胞化学特性与功能方面表现出明显差异。在甲壳动物的免疫反应中,血细胞数量在不同的免疫应激状态下发生明显变化。当外来病原体较小时,血细胞通过吞噬作用吞入病原体,在细胞内部将病原杀灭;而当入侵的病原体或寄生虫的个体大于10μm时则以多个血细胞的包囊作用或凝集作用来完成。甲壳动物的免疫反应是一个交互作用的复杂过程,必然涉及多层次、多个因子的参与。其中造血组织的结构,血细胞的产生及调控机理,采用单克隆抗体技术对血细胞进行分型标准的建立,免疫因子在免疫反应中的功能及它们之间的相互作用的网络关系等尚需深入研究。     

Integration of New Genes into Cellular Networks,and Their Structural Maturation

It has been recently discovered that new genes can originate de novo from noncoding DNA, and several biological traits including expression or sequence composition form a continuum from noncoding sequences to conserved genes. In this article, using yeast genes I test whether the integration of new genes into cellular networks and their structural maturation shows such a continuum by analyzing their changes with gene age. I show that 1) The number of regulatory, protein–protein, and genetic interactions increases continuously with gene age, although with very different rates. New regulatory interactions emerge rapidly within a few million years, while the number of protein–protein and genetic interactions increases slowly, with a rate of 2–2.25 × 10⁻⁸/year and 4.8 × 10⁻⁸/year, respectively. 2) Gene essentiality evolves relatively quickly: the youngest essential genes appear in proto-genes ∼14 MY old. 3) In contrast to interactions, the secondary structure of proteins and their robustness to mutations indicate that new genes face a bottleneck in their evolution: proto-genes are characterized by high β-strand content, high aggregation propensity, and low robustness against mutations, while conserved genes are characterized by lower strand content and higher stability, most likely due to the higher probability of gene loss among young genes and accumulation of neutral mutations.     

Alkaloids from Cephalotaxus lanceolata and Their Cytotoxicities

A phytochemical investigation of the branches and leaves of Cephalotaxus lanceolata resulted in the isolation of three new cephalotaxus alkaloids, cephalancetines A, B, and D ( 1, 2 , and 4 , resp.), together with ten known alkaloids, 3 and 5 – 13 . The structures of the alkaloids were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses, including 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR, and HR‐ESI‐MS, and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. All isolated compounds were tested for their cytotoxicities against four human tumor cell lines, A549, HCT116, SK‐BR‐3, and HepG2. Compounds 12 and 13 showed remarkable activities against A549, HCT116, and HepG2 cell lines.     

Generation of Mature Murine Monocytes from Heterogeneous Bone Marrow and Description of Their Properties

Monocytes are involved in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes, many of which are studied in mouse models. Current protocols to isolate murine monocytes are few and result in unsatisfactory cell yield and purity. Here, we describe a novel approach to efficiently differentiate large numbers of mature inflammatory monocytes from heterogeneous bone marrow cell suspensions. Bone marrow cell suspensions were isolated by flushing femurs and tibias from Balb/c and C57Bl/6 mice, supplemented with macrophage colony–stimulating factor (M-CSF), and were cultured on ultra-low attachment surfaces to inhibit adherence-mediated maturation. Cells were harvested at indicated time points, underwent time-line analysis of the differentiation processes, and were subsequently extensively phenotyped to verify their monocytotic properties. In order to confirm downstream compatibility, we tested for typical monocyte behavior. Our protocol yielded 24 ± 6 × 10⁶ differentiated cells per donor mouse, 10-fold higher than yields obtained using previously described peripheral blood isolation methods. Differentiated cells consisted of approximately 47% ± 12% monocytes, the rest being mature macrophages. We increased monocyte purity to 86% ± 6% by depleting adherent macrophages. Our findings indicate that bone marrow–derived monocytes (BMDMs) are an attractive tool to study, for example, the innate and adaptive immune system, atherosclerosis, and cellular migration during infection. Moreover, BMDM transplantation could be used to test novel, therapeutic in vivo approaches in mice disease models.