Kinship between parents reduces offspring fitness in a natural population of Rhododendron brachycarpum

Background and Aims

A reduction in offspring fitness resulting from mating between neighbours is interpreted as biparental inbreeding depression. However, little is known about the relationship between the parents'' genetic relatedness and biparental inbreeding depression in their progeny in natural populations. This study assesses the effect of kinship between parents on the fitness of their progeny and the extent of spatial genetic structure in a natural population of Rhododendron brachycarpum.

Methods

Kinship coefficients between 11 858 pairs of plants among a natural population of 154 R. brachycarpum plants were estimated a priori using six microsatellite markers. Plants were genotyped, and pairs were selected from among 60 plants to vary the kinship from full-sib to unrelated. After a hand-pollination experiment among the 60 plants, offspring fitness was measured at the stages of seed maturation (i.e. ripening) under natural conditions, and seed germination and seedling survival under greenhouse conditions. In addition, spatial autocorrelation was used to assess the population''s genetic structure.

Key Results

Offspring fitness decreased significantly with increasing kinship between parents. However, the magnitude and timing of this effect differed among the life-cycle stages. Measures of inbreeding depression were 0·891 at seed maturation, 0·122 (but not significant) at seed germination and 0·506 at seedling survival. The local population spatial structure was significant, and the physical distance between parents mediated the level of inbreeding between them.

Conclusions

The level of inbreeding between individuals determines offspring fitness in R. brachycarpum, especially during seed maturation. Genetic relatedness between parents caused inbreeding depression in their progeny. Therefore, biparental inbreeding contributes little to reproduction and instead acts as a selection force that promotes outcrossing, as offspring of more distant (less related) parents survive better.     

Identification and characterization of the water gap in physically dormant seeds of Geraniaceae, with special reference to Geranium carolinianum

Background and Aims

Physical dormancy in seeds of species of Geraniaceae is caused by a water-impermeable palisade layer in the outer integument of the seed coat and a closed chalaza. The chalazal cleft has been reported to be the water gap (i.e. location of initial water entry) in innately permeable seeds of Geraniaceae. The primary aim of this study was to re-evaluate the location of the water gap and to characterize its morphology and anatomy in physically dormant seeds of Geraniaceae, with particular reference to G. carolinianum.

Methods

Length, width, mass, anatomy and germination of two seed types (light brown and dark brown) of G. carolinianum were compared. Location, anatomy and morphology of the water gap were characterized using free-hand and microtome tissue sectioning, light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dye tracking, blocking and seed-burial experiments.

Key Results

Treatment with dry heat caused a colour change in the palisade cells adjacent to the micropyle. When placed in water, the ‘hinged valve’ (blister) erupted at the site of the colour change, exposing the water gap. The morphology and anatomy in the water-gap region differs from those of the rest of the seed coat. The morphology of the seed coat of the water-gap region is similar in G. carolinianum, G. columbinum, G. molle and G. pusillum and differs from that of the closely related species Erodium cicutarium.

Conclusions

Dislodgment of swollen ‘hinged valve’ palisade cells adjacent to the micropyle caused the water gap to open in physically dormant seeds of G. carolinianum, and it was clear that initial water uptake takes place through this gap and not via the chalazal opening as previously reported. This water gap (‘hinged valve gap’) differs from water gaps previously described for other families in morphology, anatomy and location in the seed coat.     

家蚕小热激蛋白家族成员Hsp23.7基因的克隆与分析

Hsp23.7基因是小热激蛋白家族的成员,本文研究了家蚕BombyxmoriL.的Hsp23.7基因,并对其进行了原核表达,获得了相应分子量的表达产物。推导的开放阅读框编码210个氨基酸,分子量为23.7ku,等电点为5.17。同时,利用实时定量PCR技术对Hsp23.7基因在家蚕不同组织的表达谱进行了鉴定。结果显示Hsp23.7基因在5龄幼虫时期的各组织中都有表达,在卵巢中表达量最高,达到3.64×107拷贝数/μg,其次在脂肪体,翅原基,马氏管中表达量也较高,在血淋巴中表达量最低,仅为7.11×103拷贝数/μg。     

家蚕细胞色素P450基因Bmcyp6u1的克隆、序列分析与表达谱

细胞色素P450第6亚家族基因为昆虫所特有,与抗性相关。为了检测家蚕Bombyx mori cyp6u1基因是否与耐氟性相关,首先克隆了cyp6u1基因。采用生物信息学方法获得与黑腹果蝇Drosophila melanogaster cyp6u1基因同源的家蚕B. mori cyp6u1基因序列, 预测该序列的开放阅读框（ORF）为1 476 bp, 编码491个氨基酸, 推定的蛋白质分子质量为56.15 kD, 等电点为9.23。以家蚕5龄第3天幼虫精巢cDNA为模板, 设计特异引物PCR扩增出一条约1 500 bp的条带, 大小与家蚕cyp6u1序列的ORF预测值接近, 命名为Bmcyp6u1基因（GenBank登录号：HM130560）。同源性分析表明, Bmcyp6u1基因与蜜蜂Apis mellifera的同源基因cyp6AS13的相似性为56%, 与拟南芥Arabidopsis thaliana的cyp72A82的相似性为48%, 与人Homo sapiens的cyp3A7基因的相似性为50%。芯片数据分析表明, Bmcyp6u1基因在家蚕5龄第3天幼虫各组织表达量很低, 只在精巢组织(5龄第3天)稍有表达, 推测该基因具有组织特异性。     

松突圆蚧及友恩蚜小蜂空间分布型和种群消长动态研究

通过对广东省试验林区内松突圆蚧Hemiberlesia pitysophila Takagi及其本地种寄生蜂友恩蚜小蜂Encarsia amicula Viggiani et Ren林间空间分布型和种群消长动态的调查研究发现:两者空间分布型相吻合,都为均匀分布;两者在林间全年种群消长曲线均呈"S"型变化。松突圆蚧种群密度高峰期出现在3月下旬至4月下旬,友恩蚜小蜂种群密度高峰期则分别出现在2月下旬和4月下旬至5月中旬。另外友恩蚜小蜂对松突圆蚧的寄生率全年共出现2个高峰期,分别是2月下旬和4月下旬至6月上旬。结果表明,友恩蚜小蜂和寄主松突圆蚧在林间时空发生规律具有高度一致性。     

荔枝蝽田间种群消长动态及空间分布型研究

对海南省儋州地区荔枝园中荔枝蝽Tessaratoma papillosa(Drury)种群动态及空间分布进行了系统调查与分析。结果表明,在2005—2006与2008—2009年期间,荔枝蝽的产卵高峰期分别为4月与2月,若虫高峰期为3月,成虫高峰期分别为4月及7月;分析表明荔枝蝽各虫态在荔枝园中均为聚集分布,且成虫个体间相互排斥。     

Evolutionary bet-hedging in the real world: empirical evidence and challenges revealed by plants

Understanding the adaptations that allow species to live in temporally variable environments is essential for predicting how they may respond to future environmental change. Variation at the intergenerational scale can allow the evolution of bet-hedging strategies: a novel genotype may be favoured over an alternative with higher arithmetic mean fitness if the new genotype experiences a sufficiently large reduction in temporal fitness variation; the successful genotype is said to have traded off its mean and variance in fitness in order to ‘hedge its evolutionary bets’. We review the evidence for bet-hedging in a range of simple plant systems that have proved particularly tractable for studying bet-hedging under natural conditions. We begin by outlining the essential theory, reiterating the important distinction between conservative and diversified bet-hedging strategies. We then examine the theory and empirical evidence for the canonical example of bet-hedging: diversification via dormant seeds in annual plants. We discuss the complications that arise when moving beyond this simple case to consider more complex life-history traits, such as flowering size in semelparous perennial plants. Finally, we outline a framework for accommodating these complications, emphasizing the central role that model-based approaches can play.     

景观格局的影响——以新疆玛纳斯河流域为例

国家重点基础研究发展计划资助项目（2009CB825105）;中国科学院研究生科技创新与社会实践资助专项（2009）;中国科学院“西部之光”人才培养计划资助项目(XBBS200903)     

基于土地利用空间格局的区域生态系统健康评价——以舟山岛为例

土地利用空间格局是影响区域生态系统健康状态的重要因素。构建适用于舟山岛生态系统健康诊断的"活力-组织结构-恢复力-生态系统服务功能"评价指标体系,其活力以植被相对密度指数表征、组织结构以蔓延度等4个景观格局指数表征。选择镇、乡或街道等行政区作为评价单元,以遥感数据和土地利用调查数据为基础,采用G IS和RS技术,提取舟山岛17个乡镇1970-2005年间5个时期的土地利用空间格局和指标信息,采用综合参数评价模型对研究区生态系统健康进行时空动态评价。研究结果表明:(1)35 a来舟山岛生态系统健康整体状况呈下降趋势,相对较好的区域面积下降了18%,相对一般的下降了8%,而相对较差的上升了26%;(2)城市化、滩涂围垦与沿海工业的发展是舟山岛生态系统健康状态下降的主要原因。     

辽宁双台河口黑嘴鸥的迁徙模式与种群生存率

1996-2008年6月份,对辽宁双台河口国家级自然保护区黑嘴鸥使用特定编码的彩色旗标,共标记2820只。其中成鸟31只,幼鸟2789只。根据23个越冬地点2729条彩色旗标的重见记录,推测辽宁双台河口黑嘴鸥的迁徙路线主要有两条:一条向东迁徙至韩国西南沿海及日本西部沿海越冬;另一条向南迁徙至我国天津以南的东部沿海,包括台湾西部沿海越冬。依据1996-2007年双台河口标记的黑嘴鸥幼鸟当年在日本西部沿海重见记录,计算12a间其相对生存率为(7.77±4.00)%(1.67%-14.89%)。其中1997、2001、2004、2006和2007年的相对生存率均低于平均水平,特别是2006年达到12年来的最低值(1.67%)。采用MARK软件中的Cormack-Jolly-Seber(CJS)模型,估计黑嘴鸥亚成体和成体的年生存率分别为0.613±0.058和0.746±0.042,重见率分别为0.897±0.04和0.799±0.053。亚成体较成体的重见率高,可能与亚成体到达越冬地相对比较集群有关。同时建议开展更多的彩色旗标观察活动,便于进一步了解同一越冬地中不同年龄段黑嘴鸥的移动规律。