Survival and Recovery Rate of Canada Geese Staging in Interior Alaska

Abstract: Lesser Canada geese (Branta canadensis parvipes) are indistinguishable from other subspecies of small Canada geese on the wintering grounds using current survey methods. Consequently, managers are unable to adequately measure their abundance. Without direct estimates of abundance, researchers often use estimates of vital rates that influence abundance (e.g., annual survival) to monitor potential impact of harvest on the population. Based on capture and re-sighting data records of 567 geese marked from 1994 through 1998, we calculated annual survival and recovery rates for different age and sex classes of white-cheeked geese staging in interior Alaska. We compared those survival and recovery rates with those of other neck-collared white-cheeked geese. The best approximating model allowed survival to vary by age class while holding Seber's recovery probability (r̂) constant over sex, age class, and time. We estimated annual survival to be 0.49 (SE = 0.05) for hatch-year geese and 0.68 (SE = 0.03) for after-hatch-year geese based on the weighted average of all models with a change in Akaike's Information Criterion adjusted for small sample size and lack of fit < 4. Estimates of annual survival of white-cheeked geese in this study are among the lowest and recovery estimates are among the highest for migratory populations of neck-collared geese. Low survival estimates of Canada geese in our study suggest that harvest rates may be higher than in many other populations. Surveys to estimate abundance or other population parameters such as reproductive success and recruitment are necessary to determine whether this population is self-sustaining. Furthermore, we recommend monitoring abundance and harvest of small white-cheeked geese east and west of the Cascade Mountain Range separately to better determine harvest pressure on white-cheeked geese wintering east of the Cascades.     

Do Embedded Shotgun Pellets Have a Chronic Effect on Body Condition of Pink-Footed Geese?

Abstract: Hunting with shotguns inevitably causes wounding of game that are hit by pellets but not retrieved by the hunter. We examined the effects of pellets on body condition in a total of 2,164 pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) that were captured by cannon-nets, x-rayed, and banded with neck collars after the closure of the hunting season in Denmark. All geese were sexed, aged, weighed, and wing lengths measured. In the overall material, 23.8% and 11.6% of adults and first-winter birds, respectively, carried pellets outside the gizzard. We derived an index of the body condition of individual birds as the residuals of linear regression of log-transformed wing length and weight. Statistical analyses showed a highly significant relationship between body condition, sex, and year, whereas number of pellets was not significantly related to body condition. The results suggest that geese that have been hit by shotgun pellets but have survived the hunting season, so-called lightly crippled individuals, are not injured to an extent to have detectable chronic effects.     

抑制素α基因表达下调对鹅卵泡颗粒细胞凋亡和增殖的影响

抑制素α基因是控制家禽排卵率的一个重要候选基因。为研究抑制素α基因对体外培养的鹅卵泡颗粒细胞增殖凋亡的遗传作用,构建psiRNA-INHα1和psiRNA-INHα2两个抑制素α基因干扰载体,以降低抑制素α基因表达。体外培养鹅F1和闭锁卵泡的颗粒细胞,经抑制素α基因干扰48h后,荧光显微镜检测转染效率,同时用流式细胞术检测抑制素α基因表达水平,以及细胞生长周期、细胞凋亡指数和增殖指数的变化,用放免法测定细胞培养上清中雌激素和孕酮水平。结果表明,抑制素α基因干扰后卵泡颗粒细胞抑制素表达水平比对照组降低30%～40%（P〈0.05）;细胞凋亡指数和增值指数显著高于对照组（P〈0.05）;细胞分泌雌激素水平显著下降（P〈0.05）。由此推断,抑制素α基因对颗粒细胞具有显著的抗凋亡效应。     

鹅星状病毒江苏分离株JSSQ遗传特征分析

【背景】自2016年以来,我国山东、安徽、江苏、广东等养鹅地区暴发了一种以痛风为主要特征的急性传染病。【目的】研究引起江苏某鹅场雏鹅痛风的鹅星状病毒(goose astrovirus,GAstV)的基因组特征。【方法】从疑似患有痛风的雏鹅肝脏样品中分离到一株GAstV,命名为JSSQ,并对JSSQ全基因组序列及遗传特征进行分析。【结果】GAstV JSSQ株可在LMH细胞上稳定传代,无明显细胞病变;该毒株基因组全长7 175 nt,与其他已报道的鹅星状病毒参考株相似性为57.3%-99.1%。系统进化分析显示,JSSQ与参考毒株AHAU3亲缘关系最近,处于同一分支。重组分析显示,在GAstVJSSQ基因组中的第807和2818位点发生了2次重组,起源于GD AHAU2(major parent)和AHAU4(minor parent)。抗原表位分析显示,在ORF2区出现多处氨基酸突变,存在P64S、A224T、A228S、Q229P等独特突变,可引起抗原表位的变化。【结论】不同地区GAstV可能存在不同生物学特性,在防控中应予以注意。     

Increase in XET activity in bean (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phaseolus vulgaris</Emphasis> L.) cells habituated to dichlobenil

Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cells have been habituated to grow in lethal concentrations of dichlobenil (DCB), a specific inhibitor of cellulose biosynthesis. Bean callus cells were successively cultured in increasing DCB concentrations up to 2 μM. The 2-μM DCB habituated cells were impoverished in cellulose and xyloglucan, had an increased xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (XET; EC 2.4.1.207) activity, together with an increased growth rate and a decreased molecular size of xyloglucan. However, the application of lethal concentrations of two different cellulose-biosynthesis inhibitors (DCB and isoxaben) for a short period of time produced little effect on XET activity and xyloglucan molecular size. We propose that the weakening of plant cell wall provoked by decrease in cellulose content might promote the xyloglucan tethers and increase the ability of xyloglucan to bind to cellulose in order to give rigidity to the wall.     

菜豆病程相关蛋白基因在重金属胁迫下的表达分析

为探讨植物抗重金属的分子机理 ,差别筛选了 Hg Cl2 胁迫的菜豆 ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.)叶片 c DNA库 ,分离出一个重金属胁迫响应基因 Pv SR4克隆 .c DNA和氨基酸序列分析表明 Pv SR4编码一种细胞内病程相关蛋白 ,该蛋白具有 RNase活性 .Northern blot分析表明 Pv SR4基因在正常生长条件下的叶片中不表达 ,重金属 ( Hg、Cd、As、Zn和 Cu等 )和水杨酸能强烈地诱导其基因的表达 ,受伤也能促进该基因的转录 ,而热胁迫几乎没有调节作用 .推测 Pv SR4蛋白在诱导植物的抗逆性和抵抗重金属胁迫方面有重要作用     

Nodulation and growth ofPhaseolus vulgaris in solution culture

Summary Conditions and techniques for achieving good nodulation ofPhaseolus vulgaris L. in continuously aerated solution were developed from greenhouse experiments.If nodules had been established, their growth and activity and the growth of the plant were at least as good in solution culture as in gravel culture. Nodule formation was observed within 10 days of inoculation in small volumes of solution culture (1 liter). In large volumes (19 liters), similarly prompt nodulation occurred only if the plants were inoculated before or immediately after the seedlings were transferred to the solution from gravel or vermiculite; and the nodules were restricted to the roots that had been present at the time of transfer. Delayed inoculation, 2 days after transfer to large volume solutions, led to sparse nodulation observed only after 3 weeks. Delay or inhibition of nodulation in large volumes of solution could not be explained by failute of bacteria to colonize roots or by sparsity of root hairs.Nodule initiation in solution culture was severely inhibited at pH below 5.4. An additional problem in growing N₂-dependent bean in solution culture was the buildup of Cl^– to toxic levels in the plant in nitrate-free media, even at solution concentrations as low as 0.4 mM Cl^–. Daily addition of 0.5 to 1.0 mg N per plant delayed nodule growth and activity slightly, but increased plant growth and alleviated the severe N-deficiency that otherwise developed before the onset of N₂-fixation.     

Effect of drought stress on proteolytic activities in Phaseolus and Vigna leaves from sensitive and resistant plants

Although much information is available concerning the effect of senescence on cell proteolytic activities, few reports are devoted to the impact of drought stress. Our aim was to study the influence of water deficit on the cell proteolytic potential, and to determine whether or not it could be used as a physiological parameter for screening varieties for tolerance to drought. We have used Phaseolus and Vigna species differing in their senstivity to water deficit: V. unguiculata L. Walp. cv. EPACE (resistant), V. unguiculata L. Walp. cv. IT83D (moderately senstive) and P. vulgaris L. cv. Carioquinha (sensitive). The plants were subjected to controlled water conditions. Proteolytic activities were assayed using azocasein in the case of leaf extracts and [¹⁴C]-methylated casein in the case of cell compartments: soluble fraction, membrane fraction and isolated, purified chloroplasts. The results indicate that the leaf extracts contained 3 groups of proteinases with optimum pH at 4.5, 5-6 and 8.5 for the Vigna cultivars and 5.0, 6.5 and 9.0 for the Phaseolus cultivar. The sensitive P. vulgaris Carioquinha showed higher caseinolytic activities than the other tow cultivars in response to water deficit. As regards cell fractions, proteolytic activities were determined for pH values of 4.5, 6.0 and 9.0. In soluble fractions of stressed plants, proteolytic activities increased at all the pH values tested; this clearly correlated with the drought sensitivity level of the plants, especially at pH 4.5. The same phenomenon was observed in the case of membranes and purified chloroplasts of the sensitive cultivar. Under drought stress, the proteolytic potential of the cell increased especially in the vaculoar sap (soluble fraction). The higher activities observed for all the cell compartments in the sensitive cultivar could be responsible, at least partly, for the rapid degradation of leaf and chloroplast proteins under drought. The use of [¹⁴C]-methylated casein and soluble cell fractions seem to allow a clear differentiation between cultivars with respect to the drought tolerance at the cellular level.     

Tissue-specific expression of the chalcone synthase multigene family in Phaseolus vulgaris: development of a RT-PCR method for the expression profiling of the chs isogenes

Chalcone synthase is a key metabolic control point in the biosynthesis of a large number of flavonoids and isoflavonoid metabolites. Chs genes in bean comprise a multigene family, of which certain individual members can be differentially induced with respect to kinetics and extent of accumulation. A RT-PCR technique, based on primers designed complementary to a common conserved region and divergent 3′ sequences of the bean chs family, was developed to detect the expression of individual members of the chs family. The semi-quantitative technique is based on the amplification of short, overlapping sequences differing in size. The method was found to be sensitive, rapid, and capable of distinguishing among the individual chs members (chs 1, 4, 14, and 17). The tissue-specific expression of chs isogenes in bean seedlings, flowers and callus, as well as the effect of light on chs expression in etiolated tissue was documented.