Group decision-making in fission-fusion societies

The prevalent view of group splitting during group decisions is that a beneficial consensus has not been reached because time constraints, different individual information, or inter-individual conflicts lead to fission instead of a compromise. However, societies with high fission-fusion dynamics may allow their members to avoid consensus decisions that are not in their favour without foregoing grouping benefits that arise from collective behaviour. Moreover, by forming temporary subgroups that represent individual preferences better than the group as a whole fission-fusion societies could avoid a permanent break up even in situations where conflicts among their members are to strong to reach a consensus.     

白边油蝠表皮角质化细胞末端分化的超微结构

蝙蝠是一种唯一能够飞行的哺乳动物,其皮肤的超微结构尚未见报道。在电镜下观察了白边油蝠(Pipistrellus kuhlii)背部和翼膜皮肤的超微结构。表皮的厚度较低(10~12μm),角质层下有1~2层的刺细胞,该刺细胞由相似于鸟类无羽表皮的纤细角化细胞形成。颗粒层不连续且仅有少量小型透明角质颗粒(<0.3μm)。在翼膜的若干区域,表皮简化为一层与角质层相连的基底层。过渡期的角化细胞几乎不存在,提示其角质化过程非常迅速。基底膜上的无数半桥粒在真皮下面形成密集的附着点。大量胶原纤维直接维系在半桥粒和基底膜的致密层上,稀疏的弹性纤维使得蝙蝠表皮在飞行时易于伸展、在飞行后易于迅速折叠而不会受到损伤。与鸟类的表皮相似,蝙蝠角化细胞富有大量的脂质。由于脂质有助于蝙蝠皮肤在飞行中与冷空气流的传热绝缘,大量脂质的存在可能是为补偿蝙蝠翼膜的真皮缺乏厚的脂肪层。研究还表明,毛发较薄(4~7μm),并具有与皮层相似的突状物组成的精细表皮,其表皮细胞形成钩状抓握点使毛发紧紧粘结在一起,通过这种方式毛皮保持紧凑以恒定体温。     

The transfer function of a target limits the jitter detection threshold with signals of echolocating FM-bats

The delay jitter discrimination threshold in bats is a disputed subject. Some investigators have obtained results indicating that bats are able to discriminate alternations in delay down to 10 ns, which appears incredible for purely physical reasons. Using actual bat echolocation sequences recorded during an easy detection task to measure simulated delay jitter, it is shown here that jitter detection thresholds in the order of some tens of nanoseconds are actually physically realizable. However, if the transfer function of the target simulating apparatus is not perfect, the lowest thresholds are in the order of hundreds of nanoseconds and variable between individual bats. This phenomenon is shown to arise as a consequence of the variation in signal parameters from call to call. When the transfer function from a real jitter experiment was artificially applied to the echoes, the jitter detection thresholds again were several hundred nanoseconds. This is the first study to point out a limiting role of the transfer function of a system faced with variations in echolocation signal parameters, something that should be considered in evaluating all sonar systems with variable signal structure.     

蝙蝠血清IgG的纯化及兔抗蝙蝠IgG酶标抗体的制备

目的纯化蝙蝠血清IgG,制备兔抗蝙蝠IgG酶标抗体。方法采用亲和层析纯化法纯化蝙蝠血清IgG,SDS-PAGE电泳鉴定蝙蝠IgG纯度。免疫大白兔制备兔抗蝙蝠IgG抗血清,免疫双扩散法测定抗血清效价,亲和层析纯化法纯化抗血清IgG。用改良过碘酸钠标记法制备兔抗蝙蝠IgG酶标抗体,直接ELISA和Western blot法对兔抗蝙蝠IgG酶标抗体进行工作浓度测定。结果纯化的蝙蝠血清IgG,其SDS-PAGE测定纯度大于95%;免疫大白兔所制备的抗血清免疫双扩散效价为1∶64;用改良过碘酸钠标记法制备兔抗蝙蝠IgG酶标抗体,其直接ELISA和Western blot工作浓度分别为1∶12800和大于1∶2000。结论制备了蝙蝠血清IgG的抗血清和酶标抗体,为蝙蝠的血清学检测体系提供了技术和资源储备。     

广东省发现南蝠

2006年9月19日和2012年11月21日分别于广东省乳源县大桥镇东学仙洞(24°58.1'N,113°11.0'E,海拔559 m)和文刀洞(24°56.5'N,113°6.3'E,海拔440 m)各采集到1号雄性和1号雌性蝙蝠标本,经鉴定为南蝠(Ia io),为该种首次在广东省发现.本文给出了此2只蝙蝠的外形和头骨特征及其相关测量数据,对其回声定位信号进行了初步分析,并与海南及贵州的标本进行了对比.标本保存于广东省昆虫研究所.     

Generation and characterization of bat-induced pluripotent stem cells

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were first generated from mouse embryonic fibroblasts in the year 2006. These cells resemble the typical morphology of embryonic stem cells, express pluripotency markers, and are able to transmit through germlines. To date, iPSCs of many species have been generated, whereas generation of bat iPSCs (biPSCs) has not been reported. To facilitate in-depth study of bats at the molecular and cellular levels, we describe the successful derivation of biPSCs with a piggyBac (PB) vector that contains eight reprogramming factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, Nanog, cMyc, Lin28, Nr5a2, and miR302/367. These biPSCs were cultured in media containing leukemia inhibitory factor and three small molecule inhibitors (CHIR99021, PD0325901, and A8301). They retained normal karyotype, displayed alkaline phosphatase activity, and expressed pluripotency markers Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, TBX3, and TRA-1-60. They could differentiate in vitro to form embryoid bodies and in vivo to form teratomas that contained tissue cells of all three germ layers. Generation of biPSCs will facilitate future studies on the mechanisms of antiviral immunity and longevity of bats at the cellular level.     

Morphological and genomic characteristics of two novel halotolerant actinomycetes,Tomitella gaofuii sp. nov. and Tomitella fengzijianii sp. nov. isolated from bat faeces

Four white-pigmented, Gram-staining-positive, strictly aerobic, non-spore-forming, irregular rod-shaped bacteria were isolated from the faeces of bats collected from Guangxi autonomous region (22°20′54″N, 106°49′20″E; July 28, 2011) and Chongqing city (30°02′15″N, 107°07′4″E; September 1, 2011) of South China. The strains shared 99.3–99.9% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity by BLAST search among them, and belonged to genus Tomitella according to 16S rRNA gene and genomic sequence-based phylogenetic/phylogenomic analyses. Strains HY172^T and HY188^T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid, and arabinose, glucose, galactose or ribose in their whole-cell hydrolysates. Besides sharing phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and unidentified glycolipid(s) in their polar lipid profiles, additionally HY172^T had one unidentified phosphoglycolipid and three unidentified phospholipids whereas HY188^T had phosphatidyl inositol mannoside and four unidentified aminolipids. The main cellular fatty acids of strains HY172^T and HY188^T were C_16:0, C_18:0 10-methyl, C_18:1ω9c and summed feature 3. The genomic DNA G + C contents of both strains (HY172^T and HY188^T) were 70.9 %. The genus Tomitella contains 2311 core genes, and resuscitation promoting factor (rpf) genes can be found in all members of Tomitella. The digital DNA-DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values of the four novel strains with other members of the genus Tomitella were within the ranges of 20.1–45.2% and 74.8–91.9%, respectively, all below the respective recommended 70.0% and 95–96% cutoff point. Based on phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic analyses, these four strains could be classified as two novel species of the genus Tomitella, for which the names Tomitella gaofuii sp. nov. and Tomitella fengzijianii sp. nov. are proposed. The type strains are HY172^T (= CGMCC 1.18701^T = JCM 34231^T) and HY188^T (= CGMCC 1.16971^T = JCM 33467^T), respectively.     

Environmental conditions, rather than season, determine torpor use and temperature selection in large mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis)

We tested whether food availability, thermal environment and time of year affect torpor use and temperature selection in the large mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) in summer and winter. Food-deprived bats were torpid longer than bats offered food ad libitum. Bats placed in a gradient of low (0 degrees C-25 degrees C) ambient temperatures (T(a)) spent more time in torpor than bats in a gradient of high (7 degrees C-43 degrees C) T(a)'s. However, we did not observe seasonal variations in the use of torpor. Moreover, even when food deprived in winter, bats never entered prolonged torpor at T(a)'s characteristic of their natural hibernation. Instead, bats preferred shallow torpor at relatively high T(a), but they always maintained a difference between body and ambient temperatures of less than 2 degrees C. Calculations based on respirometric measurements of metabolic rate showed that food deprived bats spent less energy per unit of time in torpor than fed individuals, even when they entered torpor at higher T(a)'s. We conclude that T(a) likely serves as a signal of food availability and daily torpor is apparently an adaptation to unpredictable changes in food availability, such as its decrease in summer or its increase in winter. Thus, we interpret hibernation to be a second step in the evolution of heterothermy in bats, which allows survival in seasonal environments.     

江西省发现泰坦尼亚彩蝠

2013年7月和8月,在江西井冈山国家级自然保护区石溪村(26°37.143′N,114°10.875′E,海拔777 m)和朱砂冲林场(26°33.703'N,114°11.232'E,海拔805 m)使用竖琴网分别采集到7号(6雄1雌)和5号(全雌)森林性蝙蝠标本。上述蝙蝠标本体型较小,前臂长30.16~33.85 mm,颅全长13.90~14.76 mm;无鼻叶,耳廓呈漏斗状,耳屏略呈披针形;脑颅骨略显扁平,齿式为2.1.3.3/3.1.3.3=38;核型中染色体数(2n)为32,常染色体臂数(FN)为52。经鉴定均为泰坦尼亚彩蝠(Kerivoula titania),是江西省翼手目分布新纪录,同时也为中国大陆地区(除海南和台湾)翼手目分布新纪录。本文给出了泰坦尼亚彩蝠的外形和头骨特征及其相关测量数据,并对江西产该种蝙蝠雌雄性标本间的形态数据以及江西产标本与东南亚产该种标本测量数据分别进行t检验,该种性二型分化不明显,但江西和东南亚两地区种群在形态上出现了一定的分化;同时对其染色体核型、生态及保护地位进行了分析和讨论。标本现保存于广州大学生命科学学院。     

Poor effectiveness of Natura 2000 beech forests in protecting forest-dwelling bats

With the establishment of the Natura 2000 (N2000) network, the European Union intends to develop strategies to conserve Europe's threatened habitats and species, including bats. Forest-dwelling bats are highly reliant on forest structures, such as snags and hollow trees, which the bats need as roosts. The decrease in such forest microhabitats significantly affects the habitat use and, therefore, the activity in forests. To determine whether N2000 beech forests under active timber production offer better habitats for bats compared to commercially used non-N2000 forests, we measured the bat activity and assessed the potential roosts in trees and snags in eleven pairs of stands. All survey stands represented mesotrophic beech forests (Fagus sylvatica L.) of the N2000 habitat type 9130 (Asperulo-Fagetum) in three European Biogeographic Regions. The activity of all bat species, the activity of priority N2000 species, the species number, the number of trees with roosts and the snag volume did not differ significantly between the N2000 and non-N2000 stands. We conclude that the current management of the N2000 beech forests is almost identical to that of non-N2000 commercial forests, and thus, the N2000 status has not led to an increase of bat-relevant habitat variables yet. Consequently, additional efforts beyond the administrative assignment of N2000 areas are required to build and ensure an ecologically effective and sustainable network of beech forests in Europe, including increasing important forest requirements for bats, such as roosts and snags.