Cleavage and survival of Xenopus embryos exposed to 8 T static magnetic fields in a rotating clinostat

In this study, we examined cleavage and survival of fertilized Xenopus embryos exposed to 8 T static magnetic fields (SMFs). We investigated fertilized Xenopus embryos exposed to magnetic field either in static chamber or in a rotating culture system. Our results showed that the exposure to the strong magnetic field of 8 T changed the third cleavage furrow from the usual horizontal one to a perpendicular one; however, when the direction of gravity was randomized by exposing embryos to magnetic field in a rotating culture system, the third cleavage furrow were formed horizontally, a finding which suggests that the observed distortion of the third cleavage furrow in magnetism-exposed embryos was accomplished by altering gravity effects which were elicited by diamagnetic force due to high gradient magnetic field. Our results also showed that the exposure to the strong magnetic field did not damage survival. These results demonstrate that SMF and altering gravity cause distortion of the third cleavage furrow and show that effects of exposing cleavage embryos to magnetic field were transient and did not affect the post-cleavage development. We also showed that strong magnetic field is not hazardous to the cleavage and blastula-gastrula transition of developing embryonic cells.     

黄颡鱼卵水霉病病原的分离鉴定及其无性繁殖特性

【目的】对黄颡鱼卵水霉病病原进行分离鉴定,并对其无性繁殖特性进行研究。【方法】采用传统方法从患水霉病的黄颡鱼卵上进行丝状真菌的分离,然后通过人工感染实验证实分离菌株的致病性,通过形态学观察和ITS rDNA序列分析对致病菌株进行鉴定,并进一步通过单因子法研究其无性繁殖特性。【结果】从患水霉病的黄颡鱼卵上分离了4株丝状真菌,经人工感染试验证实其中一株丝状真菌HP对黄颡鱼卵具有致病性,并进一步研究了其形态与无性繁殖特性,开展了ITS rDNA序列分析。实验结果表明,菌株HP菌丝为透明管状结构,中间无横隔,分枝较少;游动孢子囊多数呈棒状,游动孢子发育成熟后从孢子囊中释放出来,并迅速游离;能够产生第二孢孢子;新孢子囊以内层出的方式产生;藏卵器呈球形,与雄器同枝或异枝。菌株HP的ITS rDNA序列与GenBank基因库中水霉属菌株自然聚类,同源性高达99%,与多子水霉菌株Arg4S(GenBank登录号GQ119935)的亲缘关系最近。结合形态特征与ITS序列鉴定的结果,判定菌株HP为多子水霉(Saprolegnia ferax)。此外,菌株HP在5°C-35°C、pH 4-10范围内均能产生游动孢子,产生游动孢子的最适温度和pH分别为20°C和7,而且5-25 mg/L福尔马林和0.25 1.25 mg/L二硫氰基甲烷对菌株HP产生游动孢子具有明显的抑制作用。【结论】分离鉴定了黄颡鱼卵水霉病病原,并确定了其无性繁殖特性,可以作为该病防治用药的依据。     

Effects of winter conditions on Daphnia dynamics and genetic diversity in a dimictic temperate reservoir

1. Winter conditions shape plankton dynamics and community composition in temperate regions, but their effect on dynamics and genetic composition of cyclical parthenogens like Daphnia is largely unclear. 2. For 5 years, we studied the dynamics, hatching from resting eggs and genetic structure of a D. galeata × longispina hybrid complex in a dimictic, temperate reservoir. Our main hypothesis was that higher spring densities and an earlier population peak will be observed after warmer winters, with a lower genetic diversity because of a lower contribution of resting eggs to population growth. 3. The study period could clearly be categorised into cold‐winter years (n = 3) and warm‐winter years (n = 2). Daphnia densities at the end of spring overturn were ～10‐fold lower after cold winters than after warm ones, but no pattern emerged concerning the timing and the height of the population peak in early summer. 4. Hatching intensity from resting eggs was higher and contributed up to 8.5% to Daphnia abundance in a cold‐winter year compared to a negligible contribution in a warm‐winter year. Consistent with this finding, new multilocus genotypes (MLGs) adding to the overwintering stock after the end of spring overturn and presumably originating from resting eggs increased genetic diversity and attained high frequencies within the population only after a cold winter. New MLGs were recorded also after warm winters, but they never gained dominance and no shift in genetic diversity was observed. However, genetic diversity was not generally reduced after warm winters. 5. Our results confirm earlier findings that winter conditions have only a limited effect on the main growth phase and the peak of Daphnia during late spring and early summer. However, winter conditions determine the contribution of resting eggs to the population development, which may profoundly alter the genetic composition of the population compared to the previous season.     

A reliable method for sexing unincubated bird eggs for studying primary sex ratio

In birds, offspring sex ratio manipulation by mothers is now well established with potentially important consequences for evolution and animal breeding. In most studies on primary sex ratio of birds, eggs are sexed after incubation by the use of PCR methods targeted to the sex-linked CHD1 genes. Sexing of unincubated eggs would be preferred, but as fertile and infertile blastodiscs cannot be distinguished macroscopically, errors could arise from PCR amplifications of parental DNA associated with the vitelline membrane of infertile eggs. In this study, we stained blastodiscs without the vitelline membrane with Hoechst 33342. This allowed unequivocal distinction between fertile and infertile blastodiscs. Fertile blastodiscs contained thousands of fluorescent nuclei, whereas no nuclei were seen in infertile eggs. In addition, after nucleic acid analysis, fertile blastodiscs yielded much stronger chromosomal DNA and CHD1-targeted PCR bands on agarose gels compared with infertile blastodiscs. These findings indicate that fertile blastodiscs contain much more embryonic DNA than parental DNA, allowing reliable sexing of the fertile eggs. The differences between fertile and infertile blastodiscs in chromosomal DNA and CHD1 PCR banding intensities alone could also be used to distinguish fertile from infertile eggs without using Hoechst staining. We conclude that identifying fertile blastodiscs either by Hoechst staining or by analyzing the yield of chromosomal DNA and CHD1-PCR products, combined with CHD1-targeted PCR amplification, presents an easy and reliable method to sex unincubated eggs.     

小鼠受精卵微注射Cdc25b mRNA可提高卵裂率并促进受精卵发育

为了观察Cdc25B蛋白及PKA/Cdc25B 信号途径在小鼠受精卵发育中的作用,将突变型和野生型Cdc25b转录成 mRNA,显微注射到小鼠受精卵中,放入含有或不含有dbcAMP的M16中,相差显微镜下观察受精卵卵裂情况;用蛋白激酶活性测定方法检测MPF的活性;利用Western 印迹检测Cdc2-Tyr15的磷酸化状态.结果显示,未加dbcAMP的Cdc25b- S321A mRNA注射组与Cdc25b-WT组相比,能够提前使受精卵发生G ₂/M期转变,导致卵裂,并明显提高卵裂率;MPF的活性测定和Cdc2-Tyr15磷酸化状态的检测结果也显示,Cdc25b-S321A组先于Cdc25b-WT组提前激活MPF.此外, Cdc25b-S321A mRNA注射组可以有效恢复由PKA引起的受精卵G ₂期阻滞,显著增加卵裂率;MPF的活性测定和Cdc2-Tyr15磷酸化状态的检测结果也显示,在PKA持续激活的情况下,对比于Cdc25b-WT组,Cdc25b-S321A组提前激活MPF.因此,在小鼠受精卵发育过程中PKA主要通过磷酸化Cdc25B的321位丝氨酸,从而调控MPF的激活与失活来控制有丝分裂进程.     

Goldsinny wrasse (Ctenolabrus rupestris) is an extreme vtgAa-type pelagophil teleost

During oocyte maturation in the goldsinny wrasse (Ctenolabrus rupestris) extensive proteolysis of yolk proteins generates a large pool of free amino acids that drive hydration of the pelagic egg. By cloning hepatic vitellogenins (vtg) and using mass spectrometry, N-terminal microsequencing, and Western-immunoblotting to identify the yolk proteins (Yp), we show that multiple forms of vitellogenin mRNAs (vtgAa, vtgAb, and vtgC) are expressed in the liver, but only a single major class of the Yps derived from vtgAa predominates in the oocytes. Some Yps derived from vtgAb and vtgC appear also to be incorporated in the oocytes and eggs, but only at background levels. During oocyte hydration the vtgAa-derived lipovitellin heavy chain (LvH-Aa) and its cleavage variants are completely degraded leaving only a processed lipovitellin light chain (LvL-Aa) fragment as the major yolk protein for embryonic development. The maturational cleavage site of the LvL-Aa is identified as two amino acids downstream from the conserved Tyr(1168) of VtgAa in Atlantic halibut. In addition, although a beta'-component (approximately 18 kDa) is present in the oocytes, it is not fully degraded during the hydration process.     

枝角类休眠卵形成和萌发的研究进展

综述了多年来国内外对枝角类休眠卵的研究概况,重点介绍了休眠卵的形态、形成的条件、保存方式及萌发条件等.休眠卵通常呈圆形或椭圆形,外被一层厚的卵膜.休眠卵的形成主要依赖于生物因子(遗传因素、种群密度等)和非生物因子(温度、食物、光照等)的作用.影响休眠卵萌发的因子有休眠卵的保存方式、保存时间、萌发阶段的光照及温度等.     

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor 1, a widespread Ca2+ channel, is a novel substrate of polo-like kinase 1 in eggs

To initiate embryo development, the sperm induces in the egg release of intracellular calcium ([Ca²⁺]_i). During oocyte maturation, the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP₃R1), the channel implicated, undergoes modifications that enhance its function. We found that IP₃R1 becomes phosphorylated during maturation at an MPM-2 epitope and that this persists until the fertilization-associated [Ca²⁺]_i responses cease. We also reported that maturation without ERK activity diminishes IP₃R1 MPM-2 reactivity and [Ca²⁺]_i responses. Here, we show that IP₃R1 is a novel target for Polo-like kinase1 (Plk1), a conserved M-phase kinase, which phosphorylates it at an MPM-2 epitope. Plk1 and IP₃R1 interact in an M-phase preferential manner, and they exhibit close co-localization in the spindle/spindle poles area. This co-localization is reduced in the absence of ERK activity, as the ERK pathway regulates spindle organization and IP₃R1 cortical re-distribution. We propose that IP₃R1 phosphorylation by Plk1, and possibly by other M-phase kinases, underlies the delivery of spatially and temporally regulated [Ca²⁺]_i signals during meiosis/mitosis and cytokinesis.     

沙棘木蠹蛾卵和幼虫空间分布的地统计学分析

沙棘木蠹蛾(H olcocerushippophaecolus Hua,Chou ,Fang et Chen)是近几年在内蒙古、辽宁、山西、宁夏和陕西等地大面积爆发的一种钻蛀性害虫,其危害发生在幼虫期,主要危害沙棘(H ippophae rhamnoidea)的根干部。为了有效地控制其危害,深入了解种群的空间结构,利用地统计学方法分析了两种受害程度不同的林分内沙棘木蠹蛾幼虫种群和重度受害林分内卵块的空间分布特性。结果表明:两种受害程度不同的林分内,沙棘木蠹蛾的危害具有显著差异,轻度受害林分内无虫样本所占的比例较大,达70 % ,而重度受害林分内不到2 0 % ;虫口密度在轻度受害林分内超过6头/株的只有6 .9% ,而重度受害林分内高达31.9%。根据全方向的变异函数曲线图分析得知:重度受害林分和轻度受害林分内幼虫种群的空间依赖范围分别为7.3m和87.4 18m,而局部空间连续性强度分别为0 .914和0 .178。重度受害林分内幼虫表现较强的空间聚集性,而轻度受害林分则表现为随机分布。在重度受害林分中,单株沙棘树上沙棘木蠹蛾卵块数量最多的为11个,最少的为1个,有卵株率达72 %。分别采用四种不同的理论模型来拟合卵块的实际变异曲线图,得知其全方向的变异函数曲线为指数型,空间依赖范围大小为3.6 m,局部空间连续性强度为0 .876 ,卵块在重度受害林分中呈现较强     

中华绒螯蟹受精卵、流产卵氨基酸及脂肪酸组成的比较研究

采用气相色谱仪和氨基酸分析仪测定中华绒螯蟹不同种群 (太湖种群和温州种群 )受精卵和温州种群流产卵脂肪酸及氨基酸的组成。结果表明 ,中华绒螯蟹太湖种群受精卵、温州种群受精卵和温州种群流产卵在必需氨基酸和半必需氨基酸的含量上无显著差异 ,而谷氨酸 (Glu)、胱氨酸 (Cys)和丝氨酸 (Ser)三种非必需氨基酸的含量差异显著。太湖种群受精卵、温州种群受精卵及温州种群流产卵的脂肪酸种类分别为 16、13和 14种。饱和脂肪酸(SFA)占脂肪酸总量的 18 96 %— 2 3 0 9% ,单烯酸 (MUFA)占 5 1 76 %— 6 2 6 5 % ,多不饱和脂肪酸 (PUFA)占14 2 7%— 2 8 96 % ,其中最主要的脂肪酸为C16∶0、C16∶1和C18∶1。除C2 0∶1外 ,其他脂肪酸含量在三者之间都有显著差异。太湖种群受精卵的C18∶2、C18∶3显著高于温州种群受精卵 ,而温州种群流产卵的DHA要显著高于太湖种群受精卵。温州种群受精卵和流产卵在C16以下的脂肪酸 ,其含量均无显著差异。此外 ,本文还讨论了脂肪酸及氨基酸含量与流产的关系及脂肪酸组成对出苗率的影响。