Polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers for the rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata)

Eight polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated from the partial genomic library of the rhinoceros auklet Cerorhinca monocerata. The heterozygosities observed at the isolated loci using eight primer sets in 46 nestlings from one breeding colony in Japan ranged from 0.311 to 0.773, and all but one locus did not deviate from the Hardy–Weinberg expectations. Cross‐species amplification in the tufted puffin Fratercula cirrhata was successfully performed using six of the eight primer sets, indicating their applicability to this species.     

New distributional and host records for the parasitoid Gronotoma adachiae (Hymenoptera: Figitidae: Eucoilinae) in Asia

The parasitoid Gronotoma adachiae is reported from Vietnam for the first time. The vegetable leaf miner Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae) is a new host record. The G. adachiae specimens collected in Yunnan Province are the second record of this parasitoid from China.     

BEHAVIOR OF SECONDARY SPERMATOGONIA OF THE NEWT, CYNOPS PYRRHOGASTER, IN IN VITRO CULTURE

Several cell types migrated cut from small pieces of newt testes cultivated in vitro. Flat fibroblastic cells migrated out within a few days. Then, secondary spermatogonia, identified by the presence of germ cell-specific substances and by the shape and appearance of their nucleus and subcellular organelles, migrated out over the sheet of fibroblastic cells. Sertoli cells co-migrated with secondary spermatogonia, maintaining a similar cellular arrangement to that of testicular cells in vivo. Mitosis of secondary spermatogonia both in clusters and as single cells was frequent from the third day until about 2 weeks after inoculation. During mitosis, active and periodic rotation of chromosomes was observed. Identification of the cell types and studies on their behavior were performed by electron microscopy and phase contrast microscopy.     

Temporal photosynthetic carbon isotope signatures revealed in a tree ring through 13CO2 pulse-labelling

Using a combined method of pulse-labelling trees and analysing detailed distribution of ¹³C tracer within tree rings, we studied how photo-assimilates incorporated on a given day are then distributed in a tree ring. A branch of a 4-year-old Cryptomeria japonica D.Don tree growing in Tsukuba, Japan was pulse-labelled with non-radioactive ¹³CO₂ on two occasions: 29 May 2001 and 18 September 2001. Two discs were cut from the stem on 4 March 2002, one immediately under and the other 0.5 m below the branch and put through high-resolution δ ¹³C analysis. δ ¹³C peaks were observed in both the earlywood and latewood of the concerned tree ring, corresponding to each pulse-labelling date. The earlywood peaks was broader than the latewood peaks, possibly reflecting seasonal variation of the width of wood developing zone. Half-widths of the peaks were measured and used as indicators for the potential time resolution of tree-ring isotope analysis. The half-widths of the peaks indicated a time resolution no finer than 8.7–28 and 33–42 d in the early and latewood, respectively. Holocellulose extraction yielded only a slight change to the shape of the δ ¹³C peaks. ¹³C tracer pulse-labelled in May and September reached tangentially different locations in the lower disc, suggesting a seasonal change in the pathway of carbohydrates. Local consumption of spring assimilates and long-distance downward transport of autumn assimilates were also suggested.