Heterospecific courtship,minority effects and niche separation between cryptic butterfly species

Species interacting in varied ecological conditions often evolve in different directions in different local populations. The butterflies of the cryptic Leptidea complex are sympatrically distributed in different combinations across their Eurasian range. Interestingly, the same species is a habitat generalist in some regions and a habitat specialist in others, where a sibling species has the habitat generalist role. Previous studies suggest that this geographically variable niche divergence is generated by local processes in different contact zones. By varying the absolute and relative densities of Leptidea sinapis and Leptidea juvernica in large outdoor cages, we show that female mating success is unaffected by conspecific density, but strongly negatively affected by the density of the other species. Whereas 80% of the females mated when a conspecific couple was alone in a cage, less than 10% mated when the single couple shared the cage with five pairs of the other species. The heterospecific courtships can thus affect the population fitness, and for the species in the local minority, the suitability of a habitat is likely to depend on the presence or absence of the locally interacting species. If the local relative abundance of the different species depends on the colonization order, priority effects might determine the ecological roles of interacting species in this system.     

种子发育相关基因的研究进展

种子发育是被子植物繁殖的中心环节,涉及众多基因及其互作.新近的研究集中在雌雄基因组的差异表达、后生过程的控制机理和发育调控网络等方面.对胚和胚乳发育相关基因的研究,可使人们在分子水平上解析种子发育和无融合生殖的分子机制,更有效地开展植物种子产量和品质改良的基因工程.     

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of Taraxacum platycarpum and changes of morphological characters

Transformed hairy roots were efficiently induced from seedlings of Taraxacum platycarpum by infection with Agrobacterium rhizogenes 15834. Root explants produced transformed roots at a higher frequency (76.5±3.5%) as compared to stem (32.7±4.8%) or cotyledon (16.2±5.7%). Hairy roots exhibited active elongation with high branching of roots on growth regulator-free medium. The competence of plant regeneration from non-transformed adventitious roots and transformed hairy roots was compared. The frequency of adventitious shoot formation from transformed roots was much higher (88.5±9.8%) than that of non-transformed roots (31.7 ±9.5%) on hormone-free medium. Rooting of hairy root-derived adventitious shoots occurred easily on growth regulator-free medium but no rooting was observed on non-transformed shoots. The stable introduction of rol genes into Taraxacum plants was confirmed by PCR and Southern hybridization. Transgenic plantlets showed considerable differences in their morphology when compared to the corresponding wild-type (non-transgenic) plants. Plantlets formed from transformed roots had numerous fibrous roots with abundant lateral branches instead of the thickened taproots in non-transformed plants. The differences observed may reflect the modification of morphological root characters by introduction of rol genes.Communicated by M.R. Davey     

水稻温敏失绿突变体的Rubisco活化酶活性、蛋白质与氨基酸组分的变化

在水稻温敏失绿突变性状表达过程中,对其Rubsico 含量、Rubsico 活化酶活性,全叶蛋白及游离氨基酸组分变化进行测定。结果表明:突变体的Rubisco 结构和含量与野生型一样,保持相对稳定;而其Rubisco 活化酶活性则随一个分子量为56.2kD(PI=4.5)的特异蛋白质的存在与消失发生明显改变。当突变性状表达时,分子量为56.2kD(PT=4.5)的特异蛋白消失,其Rubisco 活化酶活性下降;当叶片失绿区域复绿时,56.2kD(PI=4.5)特异蛋白出现,则Rubisco 活化酶活性上升。这一密切地相关关系表明,突变体的Rubisco 活化酶活性变化在光合作用过程中,除与自身结构和含量有关外,还与叶片中这一特异蛋白的存在密切相关,它可能是Rubisco 活化酶活性的调节蛋白。这种调节具体表现在氨基酸代谢上,是对上游氨基酸的阻遏调控,从而使叶绿体的结构物质合成受阻,最终导致类囊体膜的退化。     

A new natural allotriploid,Lycoris × hubeiensis hybr. nov. (Amaryllidaceae), identified by morphological,karyological and molecular data

A new natural hybrid, Lycoris × hubeiensis K. Liu, is confirmed and described based on morphological, karyological and molecular data. The new natural hybrid displays remarkable morphological differences relative to the putative parents L. radiata (2n = 22 = 22A) and L. aurea (2n = 14 = 8m + 6T), and has a karyotype of 3n = 29 = 4m + 22A + 3T. Two chloroplast intergenic regions of ndhF‐rpl32R and rpl32F‐trnL were sequenced with three haplotypes found in the three taxa. The putative hybrid and L. radiata shared the same haplotype (H1), while L. aurea had two other haplotypes (H2 and H3). Combined with the morphological, karyological and molecular data, we conclude that the hybrid is an allotriploid with L. radiata being the maternal parent offering an unreduced gamete and L. aurea being the male parent.     

A Dominant Negative Heterozygous G87R Mutation in the Zinc Transporter, ZnT-2 (SLC30A2), Results in Transient Neonatal Zinc Deficiency

Zinc is an essential mineral, and infants are particularly vulnerable to zinc deficiency as they require large amounts of zinc for their normal growth and development. We have recently described the first loss-of-function mutation (H54R) in the zinc transporter ZnT-2 (SLC30A2) in mothers with infants harboring transient neonatal zinc deficiency (TNZD). Here we identified and characterized a novel heterozygous G87R ZnT-2 mutation in two unrelated Ashkenazi Jewish mothers with infants displaying TNZD. Transient transfection of G87R ZnT-2 resulted in endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi retention, whereas the WT transporter properly localized to intracellular secretory vesicles in HC11 and MCF-7 cells. Consequently, G87R ZnT-2 showed decreased stability compared with WT ZnT-2 as revealed by Western blot analysis. Three-dimensional homology modeling based on the crystal structure of YiiP, a close zinc transporter homologue from Escherichia coli, revealed that the basic arginine residue of the mutant G87R points toward the membrane lipid core, suggesting misfolding and possible loss-of-function. Indeed, functional assays including vesicular zinc accumulation, zinc secretion, and cytoplasmic zinc pool assessment revealed markedly impaired zinc transport in G87R ZnT-2 transfectants. Moreover, co-transfection experiments with both mutant and WT transporters revealed a dominant negative effect of G87R ZnT-2 over the WT ZnT-2; this was associated with mislocalization, decreased stability, and loss of zinc transport activity of the WT ZnT-2 due to homodimerization observed upon immunoprecipitation experiments. These findings establish that inactivating ZnT-2 mutations are an underlying basis of TNZD and provide the first evidence for the dominant inheritance of heterozygous ZnT-2 mutations via negative dominance due to homodimer formation.     

Floral and mating system divergence in secondary sympatry: testing an alternative hypothesis to reinforcement in Clarkia

Background and Aims

Reproductive character displacement (RCD) is often an important signature of reinforcement when partially cross-compatible taxa meet in secondary sympatry. In this study, floral evolution is examined during the Holocene range expansion of Clarkia xantiana subsp. parviflora from eastern Pleistocene refugia to a western zone of sympatry with its sister taxon, subsp. xantiana. Floral divergence between the two taxa is greater in sympatry than allopatry. The goal was to test an alternative hypothesis to reinforcement – that floral divergence of sympatric genotypes is simply a by-product of adaptation to pollination environments that differ between the allopatric and sympatric portions of the subspecies'' range.

Methods

Floral trait data from two common garden studies were used to examine floral divergence between sympatric and allopatric regions and among phylogeographically defined lineages. In natural populations of C. x. parviflora, the magnitude of pollen limitation and reproductive assurance were quantified across its west-to-east range. Potted sympatric and allopatric genotypes were also reciprocally translocated between geographical regions to distinguish between the effects of floral phenotype versus contrasting pollinator environments on reproductive ecology.

Key Results

Sympatric populations are considerably smaller flowered with reduced herkogamy. Pollen limitation and the reproductive assurance value of selfing are greater in sympatric than in allopatric populations. Most significantly, reciprocal translocation experiments showed these differences in reproductive ecology cannot be attributed to contrasting pollinator environments between the sympatric and allopatric regions, but instead reflect the effects of flower size on pollinator attraction.

Conclusions

Floral evolution occurred during the westward range expansion of parviflora, particularly in the zone of sympatry with xantiana. No evidence was found that strongly reduced flower size in sympatric parviflora (and RCD between parviflora and xantiana) is due to adaptation to limited pollinator availability. Rather, floral divergence appears to have been driven by other factors, such as interactions with congenerics in secondary sympatry.     

1.5代杉木种子园不同无性系生长和结实性状的评价

为进一步优化1.5代杉木种子园的质量,通过对福建漳平杉木种子园内21个杉木无性系生长和球果特征的调查,分析不同无性系生长和结实性状的差异及其相互关系,采用层次分析法对不同无性系的生长性状和结实性状进行综合评价。结果表明:1.5代杉木种子园不同无性系之间的生长和结实性状存在明显差异;不同无性系的结实量、球果体积、球果鲜重与其种子产量显著相关,生长性状与结实量、结实量与种子发芽率的相关性不显著。根据不同无性系生长性状和结实性状的综合评价结果,有6个无性系具有生长快且结实量高的特性,可作为重建1.5代杉木种子园的材料。     

人小肠三叶因子缺失半胱氨酸57突变体的构建及其生物活性

用 PCR方法构建了一个不能形成二聚体的 C端缺失半胱氨酸 57的 h ITF突变体 .将其克隆到大肠杆菌表达载体 p GEX- 4T- 1中 ,ITPG诱导表达 ,融合蛋白经 Glutathione- Sepharose 4B亲和层析 ,凝血酶酶切和 Sephacryl S 1 0 0纯化 ,得到突变体蛋白 .SDS- PAGE,氨基酸组成 ,飞行质谱 ,N端氨基酸序列测定结果与期望值一致 .研究表明突变体的生物学活性有所降低 .对胃蛋白酶作用的稳定性降低 .     

低免疫原性的新型葡激酶ΔNMSak在大肠杆菌中的高效表达和分离纯化

为了降低野生型葡激酶 (wild- type staphylokinase,wt- Sak)的免疫原性 ,对已构建的葡激酶N端缺失突变体 (ΔNSak) c DNA进行改造 ,将其主要的抗原决定簇编码序列突变为丙氨酸密码子 .该突变体 (ΔNMSak) c DNA与原核表达载体 p LY- 4重组后 ,转化大肠杆菌 JF1 1 2 5.经温度诱导 ,ΔNMSak获得高效表达 ,重组蛋白占全菌总蛋白的 60 % ,以包涵体形式存在 .包涵体经洗涤 ,8mol/L尿素溶解 ,稀释复性 ,离子交换色谱一步分离至电泳纯 ,纯度达 95%以上 ,分子量与理论值相符 ,比活性 8.5× 1 0 4 HU/mg.经 ELISA法、发色底物法测定 ,ΔNMSak与 wt- Sak制备的兔抗wt- Sak抗血清的免疫反应性显著降低 ,经抗血清温育后 ,wt- Sak活性下降程度远高于 ΔNMSak.ΔNMSak、wt- Sak分别免疫豚鼠 ,以 ELISA法测定豚鼠血清中相应抗体的效价 ,ΔNMSak组的抗体效价明显低于 wt- Sak组 ,表明 ΔNMSak的免疫原性显著下降 .