Tuning of color contrast signals to visual sensitivity maxima of tree shrews by three Bornean highland Nepenthes species

Three species of Nepenthes pitcher plants (Nepenthes rajah, Nepenthes lowii and Nepenthes macrophylla) specialize in harvesting nutrients from tree shrew excreta in their pitchers. In all three species, nectaries on the underside of the pitcher lid are the focus of the tree shrews' attention. Tree shrews are dichromats, with visual sensitivity in the blue and green wavebands. All three Nepenthes species were shown to produce visual signals, in which the underside of the pitcher lid (the area of highest nectar production) stood out in high contrast to the adjacent area on the pitcher (i.e., was brighter), in the blue and green wavebands visible to the tree shrews. N. rajah showed the tightest degree of “tuning,” notably in the green waveband. Conversely, pitchers of Nepenthes burbidgeae, a typical insectivorous species sympatric with N. rajah, did not produce a color pattern tuned to tree shrew sensitivity maxima.     

Biological methods for speciation of heavy metals: different approaches

Heavy metals are found in their different forms in the environment. The distribution, mobility, and toxicity of metals are strongly related to these different forms. This necessitates the exploration of different methods for the remediation and speciation of heavy metals. Some direct and indirect physico-chemical methods such as filtration, chemical precipitation, ion-exchange, electro deposition, and membrane systems have been used for the last four decades. However, it is only in last few years that reliable biological methods have also been used. The biological methods include the use of microorganisms (fungi, algae, bacteria), plants (live or dead) and biopolymers. The use of these methods for the speciation of heavy metals is reviewed here.     

A new species of Callispa Baly (Coleoptera,Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae,Callispini) infesting coconut?palm ( Cocos nucifera L.) in India

Callispa keram sp. n. infesting coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) in Kerala, India is described and illustrated. Livistona chinensis R.Br. and Syagrus romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glassman are reported as additional host plants.     

华南地区22种园林植物耐旱性分级筛选

以华南地区22种常见园林植物为研究对象，研究人工模拟干旱胁迫环境对植物叶片叶绿素、丙二醛、过氧化物酶、相对电导率等生理指标的影响，通过主成分分析、聚类分析对22种植物耐旱性进行综合分析评价和耐旱等级划分。结果表明：(1) 在干旱梯度胁迫期间，植物叶片的叶绿素含量总体上呈不同程度的下降趋势，少数呈上升趋势，丙二醛含量和相对电导率均呈不同程度的上升趋势，多数植物过氧化物酶活性呈不同程度先升后降趋势，少数呈持续上升趋势。(2) 22种植物耐旱性分为3个等级：A级强耐旱植物4种，包括灰莉(Fagraea ceilanica)、鸭脚木(Schefflera octophylla)、桂花(Osmanthus fragrans var. fragrans)、鸢尾(Iris tectorum)；B级中耐旱植物6种，包括翠芦莉(Ruellia simplex)、栀子花(Gardenia jasminoides)、变叶木(Codiaeum variegatum)、红车(Syzygium hancei)、红背桂(Excoecaria cochinchinen)、茉莉花(Jasminum sambac)；C级不耐旱植物12种，包括福建茶(Carmona microphylla)、米仔兰(Aglaia odorata)、大红花(Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)、琴叶珊瑚(Jatropha integerrima)、龙船花(Ixora chinensis)、黄蝉(Allamanda schottii)、假连翘(Duranta erecta)、红檵木(Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum)、紫薇(Lagerstroemia indica)、风车草(Cyperus involucratus)、小花月季(Rosa chinensis var. minim)、铜钱草(Hydrocotyle chinensis)。     

Localisation of nickel and mineral nutrients Ca,K, Fe,Mg by Scanning Electron Microscopy microanalysis in tissues of the nickel-hyperaccumulator Alyssum bertolonii Desv. and the non-accumulator Alyssum montanum L.

Plants of the nickel-hyperaccumulator Alyssum bertolonii Desv. and of the non-accumulator A. montanum L. growing on a serpentine site in Tuscany, Italy, and plants of A. montanum from a nearby non-serpentine site were analysed for metal concentration and localisation. The leaves of A. bertolonii contained 160 times more nickel than those of A. montanum from the same site, thus demonstrating its hyperaccumulation capacity towards this metal. On the other hand, both species showed an inversion of the Ca/Mg ratio in their organs relative to the soil. Nickel localisation in plant tissues was examined by Scanning Electron Microanalysis (SEM/EDX). In A. bertolonii, a specific pattern of nickel distribution was detected, with the highest concentrations present in parenchyma and sclerenchyma cells for the roots; in the shoots, the highest amounts of nickel were found in the stem epidermis, the leaf epidermal surface, and the leaf trichome base. This particular nickel tissue distribution pattern was not found in the non-accumulator A. montanum growing on serpentine soil. Other mineral nutrients, namely Mg, Ca, K, Fe, instead, had a similar distribution in the two species. The A. montanum plants from the non-serpentine site had very low nickel levels in their tissues, and these were of the same magnitude as those found in A. bertolonii plants grown in a greenhouse on commercial horticultural soil with low nickel concentration. In A. bertolonii plants, the tissue-specific allocation patterns appeared to depend on the degree of nickel hyperaccumulation, which is, in turn, directly linked to the soil characteristics.     

Influence of host plants on development, fecundity and egg hatchability of the arctiid moth Diacrisia casignetum

Measurements were made of the differences between sunflower and climbing hempweed leaves for development, fecundity and egg hatchability of Diacrisia casignetum Kollar. Developmental time and weight gains of sunflower-fed larvae were respectively longer and greater than those of hempweed-fed ones. The development time and weight gain, attributable to differences in host plants, were statistically heterogeneous (P<0.05-<0.10). Relative fecundity and egg hatchability of sunflower reared insects were greater than those of hempweed reared ones, and these were also statistically heterogeneous (P<0.1 and <0.05, respectively). Hempweed leaves contained relatively high titres of phenols and low ratios of proteins to phenols. Ovaries were heavier in insects reared on sunflower than on hempweed, whereas the level of phenols incorporated into the ovary was higher in insects fed on hempweed than those on sunflower. The differences in these parameters may be due to variations in nutritional quality of these hosts and incorporation of ingested phenolic materials to ovary and insect biomass.

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Résumé L'étude a porté sur l'évaluation de l'influence des feuilles de tournesol (Helianthus annuus) et de Mikana cordata sur le développement, la fécondité et l'éclosion des oeufs de D. casignetum Kollaz. La durée de développement et le gain de poids sur tournesol étaient plus importants que sur M. cordata. La durée de développement était statistiquement hétérogène (P<0.05), ce qui peut être dû à des différences entre plantes. La fécondité et le taux d'éclosion chez les insectes élevés sur tournesol étaient plus élevés que ceux observés sur M. cordata, dont les résultats étaient aussi hétérogènes (P<0.1 et<0.05 respectivement). Les feuilles de M. cordata contenaient des taux relativement élevés de phénols et des rapports protéines sur phénols bas. Tout ceci suggère que les différences observées sont attribuables à des variations dans la qualité nutritive de ces hôtes et dans l'incorporation à la biomasse de l'insecte de matériaux phénologiques ingérés.

     

Mechanisms of carbohydrate‐fuelled ecological dominance in a tropical rainforest canopy‐foraging ant

1. Canopy‐foraging ants have carbohydrate‐rich diets and the stoichiometric excess of carbon may result in energetic allocation decisions that facilitate ecological dominance. 2. If dietary carbohydrates facilitate ecological dominance in canopy ants, then the mechanism for this relationship is unknown. 3. Four hypotheses were posit that may explain how a carbohydrate‐rich diet might facilitate ecological dominance in canopy ants: Aggressive Defense, Metabolic Fuel, Foraging Success, and Prey Acquisition. 4. To assess these hypotheses, experiments were conducted on the canopy‐foraging bullet ant, Paraponera clavata (Fabricius), an omnivorous species that demonstrates high variability in the relative contribution of carbohydrates to the diets of colonies. 5. No support was found for the Aggressive Defense, Metabolic Fuel and Prey Acquisition hypotheses. 6. The Foraging Success hypothesis was supported, as the proportion of nectar in the diet predicted the overall foraging success. 7. It was argued that there is no explicit advantage in the exploitation of nectar over other food resources, other than the fact that it is the most accessible food resource in the rainforest canopy.     

Cell division study in ‘pollen mother cells’ and ‘pollen grains’ of in vivo and ex vitro plants in Drimiopsis botryoides

The various normal and abnormal stages of meiosis and pollen mitosis of Drimiopsis botryoides are described, and a comparison between naturally propagated in vivo and tissue culture derived ex vitro plants in respect to their cytological behaviour presented. We also describe the floral morphology and investigate the relationship between the floral developmental stages and the progression of microgametogenesis. In total, 33 bivalents are observed in diakinesis, which indicate the diploid number 2n = 66 and this number is cross-checked by a haploid set of n = 33 chromosomes in pollen mitosis. Only 6.8% and 4.9% meiotic abnormalities were recorded on in vivo and ex vitro plants, respectively, which led to the formation of non-viable pollen. Finally, the microspores have to develop into tri-cellular male gametophyte. Only 0.2% pollen grains are found with a micro-nucleus. Though the higher pollen viability was recorded on both in vivo (89.3 ± 4.1%) and ex vitro (92.1 ± 4.6%) plants, but surprisingly the pollen germination rate is extremely low with 13.6 ± 1.74% and 21.3 ± 1.55%, respectively. The present study obviously enriches the cytological database of D. botryoides and may help future research on androgenesis and genetic improvement.     

Randomness and Order in a Forest with Trees in Rows-a Case Study

The correlations between intertree distances and stem volumina of trees in an artificial pine wood with trees in rows are studied. Several stochastic models are suggested, and methods of the theory of random measures are used. A method for estimating the produce of woods of the type considered is suggested.