Isolation of polymorphic microsatellite loci in Livistona chinensis (Jacq.) R.Br. ex Mart. var. boninensis Becc., an endemic palm species of the oceanic Bonin Islands, Japan

A set of microsatellites markers were developed for Livistona chinensis var. boninensis, an endemic palm tree of the Bonin Islands. We obtained 123 sequences containing unique microsatellites from an enriched library. Twelve loci were screened for their feasibility using 32 trees. They showed polymorphisms with two to nine alleles per locus. No significant deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was observed for 11 loci. No genotypic disequilibrium was detected between any two of the loci. Total exclusionary powers for the first and the second parents were 0.978774 and 0.998987, respectively. These markers will allow us to investigate the gene flow within/among populations of the species.     

Analysis of threatened endemic trees of the Western Ghats of India sheds new light on the Red Data Book of Indian Plants

The Red Data Book of Indian Plants (RDB) is a reference manual that lists threatened angiosperms, gymnosperms and pterydophytes. Because it is widely used as an analytical tool and is a major reference for impact assessments on vegetation, it is important that the RDB be as comprehensive and up to date as possible. This study is an attempt to cross-check the listings in the RDB using vegetation inventories and another reference manual, the Atlas of Endemics of the Western Ghats, India []. Field inventories across the Western Ghats gave an estimate of the species relative abundances and the Atlas provided quantitative information on the number of records for the endemic species in herbaria, literature, and during field surveys. The results of this analysis indicate that the RDB and the Atlas agree statistically regarding the conservation status of endemic trees. However, the proportion of threatened species per Atlas record category behaves erratically, indicating that some threatened endemic trees are not listed in the RDB. Our results suggest that the status of threatened plant species should be reexamined on a priority basis using quantitative methodology. An updating of the RDB is urgently needed, particularly for the endemic plants of the Western Ghats. We provide a list of species that are likely to be threatened, yet are not listed.     

羊蹄甲属中国特有种的花粉形态学

对羊蹄甲属植物11种中国特有种的花粉形态进行了研究。结果表明,花粉萌发孔类型均为三孔沟,少数还有合沟;花粉均具半覆盖层,表面纹饰有皱波状、皱波状-穿孔、疣状、孔穴-穿孔、穿孔-网状。依据Larsen(1975)的划分,这11种植物的花粉隶属于Integrifolia型、Glauca型和Curtisii型,我们根据花粉纹饰的差异在Integrifolia型下进一步划分了Auma亚型和Paucinervata亚型。     

Mating behavior of the rock catfish, Silurus lithophilus

The mating behavior of the rock catfish Silurus lithophilus (Siluriformes: Siluridae), a species endemic to the Lake Biwa system, was observed from May to July in 1989–1994 along the rocky shore of the lake's outlet, the Seta River. The mating behavior of S. lithophilus involved a certain behavioral sequence: “chasing,”“clinging,” and “enfolding” while “squeezing” by the male; and “circling” by the spawned pair. The mating behavior of this species was basically similar to that of S. biwaensis, but greatly different from that of S. asotus, which spawns in running water (in ditches). The mating behavior of S. lithophilus (and S. biwaensis) might have developed as an adaptation to lentic environments such as the shores of the large river or the lake. Received: October 25, 2000 / Revised: February 25, 2001 / Accepted: March 8, 2001     

中国淡水双壳类特有种的地理分布

通过查阅有关文献整理得出,中国淡水双壳类特有种计有58种,隶属于双壳纲(Bivalvia)2科17属,其中主要是蚌科(Unionidae)的种类(16属57种)。我国淡水双壳类特有种的组成和区系成分,以东洋界华中区的种类占绝对优势,仅有少数种类渗透到古北界;特有种在我国16个省有分布,但主要集中分布于江西、湖南、安徽、浙江、江苏五省。双壳类特有种的形成和保存可能与我国古地理环境及其生活的水域环境有关。     

Cephaloziella tahora Bever. & Glenny,a new species of Cephaloziella (Jungermanniopsida,Cephaloziellaceae) from eastern Taranaki,New Zealand

Cephaloziella tahora, a new species of Cephaloziella is described and illustrated from a lowland forest habitat in eastern Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand. It has similarities to six other New Zealand species of Cephaloziella, and appears closest in New Zealand to Cephaloziella aenigmatica R.M.Schust. It is defined by a unique combination of features and distinguished from C. aenigmatica and other New Zealand species by having entire, distant leaves that reach the dorsal stem mid-line, and have large conspicuous hemispherical and hemi-ellipsoidal papillae, underleaves on gemmiparous and gynoecial shoots, and by its dioecy. The addition brings the number of New Zealand species of Cephaloziella to 18, 12 of which are endemic to New Zealand.     

Mycorrhizal association and symbiotic germination of the terrestrial orchid Bipinnula fimbriata (Poepp.) Johnst (Orchidaceae)

In this study mycorrhizal fungi were isolated from the roots of the endemic terrestrial orchid Bipinnula fimbriata. Seven isolates were previously identified as the form-genus Rhizoctonia, a polyphyletic group known to form mycorrhizal associations with Orchidaceae. Two other isolates were included in the study: #793 isolated from Chloraea crispa, and #1325 Rhizoctonia solani, isolated from potato. After morphological and molecular characterization of the nine isolates, they were divided into three groups, Ceratobasidium sp., Tulasnella calospora and Thanatephorus cucumeris, to determine the diversity between isolates. Consensus ITS sequences were used for a blast search on the GenBank database, which confirmed the results of the morphological observations. Once the isolates were identified, an in vitro germination test was done with four plates of oatmeal agar inoculated with each fungus, plus an asymbiotic control. The germination stages of the seeds were recorded 30 days after sowing. All isolates obtained from B. fimbriata, and the isolate #793 from Chloraea crispa, promoted seed germination. However, the isolate #1325 Rhizoctonia solani, which is known as both a pathogen and an orchid symbiont, did not promote germination. This shows that B. fimbriata is associated with more than one mycorrhizal fungus in its habitat and has a broader potential specificity in vitro. The results support the hypothesis that at least one fungal isolate promotes the germination of B. fimbriata, permitting the conservation of this species in ex situ conditions.     

江西特有植物区系、地理分布及生活型研究

对江西特有植物的种类、区系成分、地理分布、生活型进行了研究,并绘制了江西特有植物分布图。研究结果表明,江西省内共有124种特有植物分布,隶属于40科60属,以鳞毛蕨科Dryopteridaceae、蔷薇科Rosaceae、槭树科Aceraceae、山茶科Theaceae、金星蕨科Thelypteridaceae、禾本科Gramineae、木兰科Magnoliaceae等类群最为集中;区系组成上以热带-亚热带成分与温带成分并重,两种类型的区系成分所占比重为76.5%,构成江西特有植物区系的主体;特有植物省内分布不均衡,明显呈现出庐山、井冈山、南岭山地、武夷山四大分布中心;特有植物生活型分析显示,多年生草本植物、落叶乔木、落叶灌木3种类型为生活型谱的主体。     

Age-structured homogeneous epidemic systems with application to the MSEIR epidemic model

In this paper, we develop a new approach to deal with asymptotic behavior of the age-structured homogeneous epidemic systems and discuss its application to the MSEIR epidemic model. For the homogeneous system, there is no attracting nontrivial equilibrium, instead we have to examine existence and stability of persistent solutions. Assuming that the host population dynamics can be described by the stable population model, we rewrite the basic system into the system of ratio age distribution, which is the age profile divided by the stable age profile. If the host population has the stable age profile, the ratio age distribution system is reduced to the normalized system. Then we prove the stability principle that the local stability or instability of steady states of the normalized system implies that of the corresponding persistent solutions of the original homogeneous system. In the latter half of this paper, we prove the threshold and stability results for the normalized system of the age-structured MSEIR epidemic model.      

Biodiversity of living benthic foraminifera: How many species are there?

In ecological studies involving the analysis of  2.4 million living (stained) individual tests, to date  2140 species of benthic foraminifera have been recorded. Of these 602 species are agglutinated, 341 porcelaneous and 1197 hyaline. The numbers of species in the major environments are: marginal marine 701 (in  1.5 million individuals), shelf 989 (in  0.6 million individuals) and deep sea 831 (in  0.3 million individuals). 381 species occur in more than one major environment. Overall  33% have abundance of > 10% while  67% are of minor abundance (< 10%). The majority of species are rare, most are endemic and very few are cosmopolitan (5% or less). To estimate the potential total number of living species the following factors need to be quantified: the proportion of species already named (here considered unlikely to be less than 50% of the potential total), the number of species currently known to be dead but for which living representatives may yet to be found (assumed to be 5% = 107 species), and the proportion of species that are synonyms (10–25% = 214 to 535 species). Assuming that 50% of species have already been named (2140 + 107 = 2247), the potential total ranges from  3959 to  4280 species for 10% synonymy to  3210 to  3531 species for 25% synonymy.