Life-history variation within a three-spined stickleback population in the Camargue

Among individuals of female three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus from a population in the Camargue, southern France, studied in 12 successive years, adult L _T ranged from 31–64 mm, clutch size ranged from 33–660 eggs, and mean egg diameter per clutch ranged from 1.15–1.67 mm. Because the population was strictly annual, inter-annual variation corresponded to variation among generations having experienced different environmental conditions. Body mass varied significantly among years, suggesting an effect of varying environmental conditions. Gonad mass and clutch size increased with body mass, but mean egg diameter was not correlated to body mass. Body mass-adjusted gonad mass, interpreted as reproductive effort per clutch, did not vary significantly among years, suggesting that this trait was not influenced by environmental conditions. Body mass-adjusted clutch size and egg size varied significantly among years. Inter-annual variation in body length at breeding, clutch size and egg size was of the same order of magnitude as inter-population variation reported by other authors for this species. During the breeding season, reproductive effort and clutch size tended to increase. Egg size tended to decrease during the breeding season but this seasonal pattern varied among years. Observed life-history variation is discussed both in terms of its evolutionary significance and methodological implications in the study of life-history variation among populations.     

Population size and identity influence the reaction norm of the rare,endemic plant Cochlearia bavarica across a gradient of environmental stress

Habitat degradation and loss can result in population decline and genetic erosion, limiting the ability of organisms to cope with environmental change, whether this is through evolutionary genetic response (requiring genetic variation) or through phenotypic plasticity (i.e., the ability of a given genotype to express a variable phenotype across environments). Here we address the question whether plants from small populations are less plastic or more susceptible to environmental stress than plants from large populations. We collected seed families from small (<100) versus large natural populations (>1,000 flowering plants) of the rare, endemic plant Cochlearia bavarica (Brassicaceae). We exposed the seedlings to a range of environments, created by manipulating water supply and light intensity in a 2 x 2 factorial design in the greenhouse. We monitored plant growth and survival for 300 days. Significant effects of offspring environment on offspring characters demonstrated that there is phenotypic plasticity in the responses to environmental stress in this species. Significant effects of population size group, but mainly of population identity within the population size groups, and of maternal plant identity within populations indicated variation due to genetic (plus potentially maternal) variation for offspring traits. The environment x maternal plant identity interaction was rarely significant, providing little evidence for genetically- (plus potentially maternally-) based variation in plasticity within populations. However, significant environment x population-size-group and environment x population-identity interactions suggested that populations differed in the amount of plasticity, the mean amount being smaller in small populations than in large populations. Whereas on day 210 the differences between small and large populations were largest in the environment in which plants grew biggest (i.e., under benign conditions), on day 270 the difference was largest in stressful environments. These results show that population size and population identity can affect growth and survival differently across environmental stress gradients. Moreover, these effects can themselves be modified by time-dependent variation in the interaction between plants and their environment.     

Root iron plaque formation and characteristics under N2 flushing and its effects on translocation of Zn and Cd in paddy rice seedlings (Oryza sativa)

Background and Aims

Anoxic conditions are seldom considered in root iron plaque induction of wetland plants in hydroponic experiments, but such conditions are essential for root iron plaque formation in the field. Although ferrous ion availability and root radial oxygen loss capacity are generally taken into account, neglect of anoxic conditions in root iron plaque formation might lead to an under- or over-estimate of their functional effects, such as blocking toxic metal uptake. This study hypothesized that anoxic conditions would influence root iron plaque formation characteristics and translocation of Zn and Cd by rice seedlings.

Methods

A hydroponic culture was used to grow rice seedlings and a non-disruptive approach for blocking air exchange between the atmosphere and the induction solution matrix was applied for root iron plaque formation, namely flushing the headspace of the induction solution with N₂ during root iron plaque induction. Zn and Cd were spiked into the solution after root iron plaque formation, and translocation of both metals was determined.

Key Results

Blocking air exchange between the atmosphere and the nutrient solution by N₂ flushing increased root plaque Fe content by between 11 and 77 % (average 31 %). The N₂ flushing treatment generated root iron plaques with a smoother surface than the non-N₂ flushing treatment, as observed by scanning electron microscopy, but Fe oxyhydroxides coating the rice seedling roots were amorphous. The root iron plaques sequestrated Zn and Cd and the N₂ flushing enhanced this effect by approx. 17 % for Zn and 71 % for Cd, calculated by both single and combined additions of Zn and Cd.

Conclusions

Blocking of oxygen intrusion into the nutrient solution via N₂ flushing enhanced root iron plaque formation and increased Cd and Zn sequestration in the iron plaques of rice seedlings. This study suggests that hydroponic studies that do not consider redox potential in the induction matrices might lead to an under-estimate of metal sequestration by root iron plaques of wetland plants.     

Induction of diapause and seasonal morphs in butterflies and other insects: knowns,unknowns and the challenge of integration

The ‘choice’ of whether to enter diapause or to develop directly has profound effects on the life histories of insects, and may thus have cascading consequences such as seasonal morphs and other less obvious forms of seasonal plasticity. Present knowledge of the control of diapause and seasonal morphs at the physiological and molecular levels is briefly reviewed. Examples, mainly derived from personal research (primarily on butterflies), are given as a starting point with the aim of outlining areas of research that are still poorly understood. These include: the role of the direction of change in photoperiod; the role of factors such as temperature and diet in modifying the photoperiodic responses; and the role of sex, parental effects and sex linkage on photoperiodic control. More generally, there is still a limited understanding of how external cues and physiological pathways regulating various traits are interconnected via gene action to form a co‐adapted complete phenotype that is adaptive in the wild despite environmental fluctuation and change.     

百日草根尖和花药愈伤组织染色体制片技术

以种子萌发根尖和花药愈伤组织为材料,研究了取样时间、预处理方法对百日草染色体制片的影响。结果表明:根尖上午8:00～9:00,花药愈伤继代3～5d上午9:00～10:00为最佳取样预处理时间;采用三种药剂预处理活体根尖,以4℃下饱和对二氯苯溶液或0.002mol/L的8-羟基喹啉液预处理8h效果最佳,花药愈伤则以饱和对二氯苯溶液预处理6h效果最佳。本实验的预处理温度是固定的,可克服预处理随季节和时间温度的变化而带来的不稳定性,且百日草花药愈伤染色体观察为首次报道。     

Characteristics of store-operated calcium channels activated by depletion of the endoplasmic reticulum ryanodine-sensitive calcium stores in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons

In neurons of the rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG), using a patch-clamp technique in the whole-cell configuration, we studied the characteristics of calcium channels activated by depletion of the ryanodine-sensitive calcium stores of the endoplasmic reticulum. Current-voltage (I-V) relationships of these store-operated calcium channels were obtained by subtraction of the integral I-V characteristics after application of caffeine from the integral I-V characteristics of calcium channels in the control. Currents through store-operated calcium channels could be induced by application of a series of hyperpolarization current pulses to the cell under conditions of replacement of a calcium-free solution containing caffeine by a caffeine-free solution containing 2 mM Ca²⁺. In this case, the following two main conditions were abserved: Voltage-operated calcium channels were inactivated, while a gradient of the electrochemical potential for calcium ions was increased, which made easier passing of these currents through store-operated calcium channels. Therefore, we found that in DRG neurons, despite the presence of great numbers of both voltage-operated and receptor-dependent calcium channels, one more mechanism underlying the entry of calcium through store-operated channels does exist. Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 195–200, May–June, 2007.     

玉米农田土壤呼吸作用的空间异质性及其根系呼吸作用的贡献

基于4月底到9月底东北地区玉米农田土壤呼吸作用全生长季的观测,阐明了土壤呼吸作用的空间异质性特征,综合分析了水热因子、土壤性质、根系生物量及其测定位置对土壤呼吸作用空间异质性的影响,并对生长季中根系呼吸作用占土壤呼吸作用的比例进行了估算。结果表明,在植株尺度上,土壤呼吸作用存在着明显的空间异质性,较高的土壤呼吸速率通常出现在靠近玉米植株的地方。根系生物量的分布格局是影响土壤呼吸作用空间异质性的关键因素。在空间尺度上,土壤呼吸作用与根系生物量呈显著的线性关系,而土壤湿度、土壤有机质、全氮和碳氮比对土壤呼吸作用空间异质性的影响并不显著。通过建立土壤呼吸作用与玉米根系生物量的回归方程,对根系呼吸作用占土壤呼吸作用的比例进行了间接估算。玉米生长季中,根系呼吸作用占土壤呼吸作用的比例在43．1％～63．6％之间波动,均值为54．5％。     

Root turnover as determinant of the cycling of C,N, and P in a dry heathland ecosystem

Root production and turnover were studied using sequential core sampling and observations in permanent minirhizotrons in the field in three dry heathland stands dominated by the evergreen dwarfshrub Calluna vulgaris and the grasses Deschampsia flexuosa and Molinia caerulea, respectively. Root biomass production, estimated by core sampling, amounted to 160 (Calluna), 180 (Deschampsia) and 1380 (Molinia) g m^-2 yr^-1, respectively. Root biomass turnover rate in Calluna (0.64 yr^-1) was lower compared with the grasses (Deschampsia: 0.96 yr^-1; Molinia 1.68yr^-1)). Root length turnover rate was 0.75–0.77 yr^-1 (Deschampsia) and 1.17–1.49 yr^-1 (Molinia), respectively. No resorption of N and P from senescing roots was observed in either species. Input of organic N into the soil due to root turnover, estimated using the core sampling data, amounted to 1.8 g N m^-2 yr^-1(^Calluna), 1.7 g N m^-2 yr^-1 (Deschampsia) and 19.7 g N m^-2 yr^-1 (Molinia), respectively. The organic P input was 0.05, 0.07 and 0.55 g P M^-2 yr^-1, respectively. Using the minirhizotron turnover estimates these values were20–22% (Deschampsia) and 11–30% (Molinia) lower.When the biomass turnover data were used, it appeared that in the Molinia stand root turnover contributed 67% to total litter production, 87% to total litter nitrogen loss and 84% to total litter phosphorus loss. For Calluna and Deschampsia these percentages were about three and two times lower, respectively.This study shows that (1) Root turnover is a key factor in ecosystem C, N, and P cycling; and that (2) The relative importance of root turnover differs between species.