Regulation of gamete release in the economic brown seaweed <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hizikia fusiforme</Emphasis> (Phaeophyta)

Gamete release is an essential event in artificial seeding of the economic brown seaweed, Hizikia fusiforme. Mass egg release occurred in the dark, with few eggs being discharged in the light. Release of eggs was elicited with eight practical salinity units (one PSU ≡ 1 g sea salts l⁻¹) and was inhibited by salinity levels >32 PSU. Egg release was optimal at 23 °C, and was decreased by 72% in agitated seawater compared to unstirred seawater. Inhibitors of photosynthesis and ions channels suppressed egg release, indicating that this process was physiologically associated with photosynthetic activity and ion transport.     

无融合生殖油菜AMR—1花托离体培养的研究

报道了不同激素浓度对无融合生殖没菜花托器官分化效果的研究,结果显示：（１）以ＭＳ为基本培养基,以带有子房和花柄的花托为外植体离体培养,花托、花柄切口部位直接芽诱导的最佳激素配比为４．０ｍｇ／Ｌ６－ＢＡ＋０．０１ｍｇ／Ｌ ＮＡＡ,频率为５８．８２％,花托、花柄部位先形成愈伤组织,继而分化出丛生芽的最佳激素配比为５．０ｍｇ／Ｌ ６－ＢＡ＋０．５ｍｇ／Ｌ ＮＡＡ,频率为８４．００％;（２）腋芽增殖的最佳     

Ultrastructure of spermiogenesis and synthesis of enigmatic cytoplasmic inclusions in the spirally shaped spermatozoon of the polychaete Spio setosa (Annelida: Spionidae)

The sperm of Spio setosa (Polychaeta, Spionidae) are known to be very unusual in form; here, spermiogenesis and the structure of the spermatozoon in this species are described by transmission electron microscopy. While spermiogenesis is similar to that described for many other polychaetes, two notable exceptions to this process include the synthesis of abundant ring‐shaped and tubular, membrane‐bounded cytoplasmic inclusions in the midpiece, and the differentiation of a spirally shaped sperm head. Spermatids develop as free‐floating tetrads in the male's coelom. A microtubular manchette does not develop during chromatin condensation and nuclear elongation, and the spiral acrosome forms as a single Golgi‐derived vesicle that migrates anteriorly to become housed in a deep anterior nuclear fossa. Early in spermiogenesis, numerous Golgi‐derived, membrane‐bounded cytoplasmic inclusions appear in the cytoplasm; these ultimately occupy the sperm midpiece only. The mature spermatozoon in the male has a 15‐μm‐long head consisting of a nucleus coiled like a spring and a spiral acrosome with differentiated substructure, the posterior two thirds of which sits in an anterior nuclear fossa. The midpiece is wider than the rest of the spermatozoon and contains 9–10 spherical mitochondria surrounding the two centrioles, as well as numerous membrane‐bounded conoid and tubular cytoplasmic inclusions. The axoneme has a 9 + 2 arrangement of microtubules. By contrast, stored sperm in the female's seminal receptacles have lost the midpiece inclusions but contain an abundance of glycogen. The function of the midpiece inclusions remains unresolved, and the significance of their absence in stored sperm within the seminal receptacle and the appearance of midpiece glycogen stores remains unclear and requires additional investigation.     

Temperature influences the reproduction of fiddler crabs at the southern edge of their distribution

Understanding the spatial patterns of reproductive biology might provide predictions about fitness and population stability in different locations within the geographical range of a particular species. Leptuca uruguayensis is a fiddler crab that breeds year round in tropical estuaries but only in summer months in temperate salt marshes. In this study, we examined several reproductive attributes of the southernmost population of L. uruguayensis, including the proportion of ovigerous females, the proportion of surface‐active crabs, the developmental status of the gonads and hepatopancreas, and the fullness of seminal receptacles, and related them to environmental factors such as temperature, photoperiod, and sediment organic matter content. We found that temperature was the environmental factor that was most correlated with the reproductive process of the southernmost fiddler crab, since this environmental factor was related to ovarian development, to the fullness of seminal receptacles, and to the hepatosomatic index. At the southern edge of its distribution, the low temperatures of winter restricted reproduction in L. uruguayensis. These winter temperatures might represent the lower limit of the thermal window of this fiddler crab, limiting its extension toward higher latitudes.     

Courtship and sperm transfer in Charinus neocaledonicus Kraepelin, 1895 and Charinus australianus (L. Koch, 1867) (Arachnida, Amblypygi, Charinidae)

The Charinus australianus group is a well-defined species group characterised by rounded, cushion-like female gonopods. Before the present study, the morphology of the gonopods and their function have not been understood. This paper describes courtship behaviour, spermatophore morphology, and the morphology of the female genitalia of Charinus neocaledonicus Kraepelin, 1895 and C. australianus (L. Koch, 1867). Courtship behaviour, though different in details, is similar to that of many other species. The spermatophores are large and soft and carry very small sperm packages, each with a short stalk. After sperm transfer, the spermatophore may be eaten by the female. The spermatophore thus transfers not only spermatozoa but also nutritious paternal investment to the female. Each female gonopod is equipped with a seminal receptacle consisting of an atrium and a spacious inner receptacle. The cover of the atrium can be elevated by high blood pressure and pulled back by a group of muscles attached to the inner part of the receptacle. The female probably picks up the sperm packages with the atria of her receptacles. The observations are compared to those on other amblypygids, and the evolution of different types of spermatophores and of gonopods with seminal receptacles is discussed.     

干出脱水对羊栖菜叶状体与生殖托荧光特性的影响及其在沉水状态下的恢复

在有性繁殖时期,潮间带海藻羊栖菜(Hizikia fusiformis)的叶状体与生殖托遭受低潮干出脱水的影响。为阐明羊栖菜在有性繁殖时期不同部位对干出脱水的耐受能力,研究了羊栖菜的叶状体和雌、雄生殖托在干出脱水过程中以及随后的沉水恢复状态下叶绿素荧光动力学参数变化。实验结果表明,羊栖菜叶状体及其生殖托的PS Ⅱ有效光化学量子产量[Y(Ⅱ)]分别在0—73%和0—60%的脱水率范围内未发生显著变化,而继续脱水则会显著降低藻体的Y(Ⅱ),表明羊栖菜叶状体和生殖托的Y(Ⅱ)下降的脱水界限值分别为73%和60%,对脱水耐受能力较强。在连续干出脱水过程中,叶状体和生殖托的最大相对电子传递速率(rETR_(max))和光强耐受能力(Ⅰ_k)都显著下降,且在严重脱水状态(失水率为75%)下,羊栖菜叶状体和雌、雄生殖托的Y(Ⅱ)分别比干出初始时降低了12%、31%和37%,且复水后其雌、雄生殖托的Y(Ⅱ)无法恢复,甚至持续降低。同时叶状体和生殖托的r ETR_(max)、Ⅰ_k和光能利用效率(α)都显著下降,说明严重脱水使藻体不同部位的PS Ⅱ反应中心受到了不可逆的损伤。在持续大幅度脱水过程(失水率高于60%)中及随后的沉水恢复过程中,比较藻体各部位的Y(Ⅱ)值发现,叶状体雌生殖托雄生殖托,表明严重脱水对雄生殖托的影响最大,对叶状体的影响最小。在有性生殖阶段,为了羊栖菜能有性繁殖成功,应避免藻体,尤其是生殖托经受到严重的干出脱水胁迫。     

Mating and role of seminal receptacles in the reproductive biology of the spider crab Maja squinado (Decapoda, Majidae)

The reproductive biology of the spider crab Maja squinado was analyzed based on monthly samples from an 18-month study carried out in Galicia (NW Spain) and laboratory experiments holding primiparous and multiparous females in captivity with and without males. The seminal receptacles of adult females were analyzed and their relationship with the presence and developmental stage of the eggs and the gonad maturity stage was determined. Gonad maturation in primiparous females began one or two months after the pubertal moult. Females having gonads in an advanced stage of development made their appearance in December and the first spawning took place in mid-winter or early spring. The percentage of ovigerous females from March to September was ∼75%. As the incubation period progressed, the ovaries became mature again in order to carry out the next spawning. Under experimental conditions the breeding cycle started earlier in multiparous females, during their second yearly cycle, than in primiparous ones. After mating, female spider crabs store sperm in seminal receptacles and this sperm is used in the fertilization of eggs immediately prior to spawning. The analyses of seminal receptacles consisted of the estimation of fullness and the number of differentiated sperm masses. The number of masses ranged between 0 and 6 in field samples (median for females with stored sperm=1) and was positively correlated with fullness. Differences in colour and volume of individual masses showed that, at least in some cases, females carried out successive matings with long intervals in between. This storage mechanism allowed females to fertilize successive broods without remating (as was also shown under experimental conditions). Juvenile females from shallow waters did not have developed seminal receptacles which indicated that mating was not possible until the onset of maturity. Postpubertal females in shallow waters (August to October), including animals participating in aggregations, always showed empty receptacles. The seasonality of receptacle fullness showed that mating involved hard-shelled females and occurred in deep water during the autumn migration from juvenile habitats or in the wintering habitats, during the last stages of gonad maturation (November to February). After fertilization ovigerous females continued to store sperm, but the volume was lower than in non-ovigerous females. Mating may occur in ovigerous females, particularly in the final period of incubation, because in females with broods almost ready to hatch, both new and older sperm masses were seen in the receptacles (distinguished by colour and size). The fullness of the receptacles decreased both in ovigerous and non-ovigerous females in the final phase of the annual breeding cycle (August–October), however, some sperm was still available. In the laboratory, mating was observed, and no courtship nor postcopulatory guarding was recorded. The analysis of receptacles from laboratory experiments indicated that primiparous and multiparous females showed differences in the seasonality of mating in the first phase of the breeding cycle (September–January), related to differences in the timing of gonad maturation and hatching. Mating occurred in the final stages of gonad maturation, a short time before hatching, and matings were detected in ovigerous females. Multiple matings were also evident, to a greater extent than in the field, probably due to the higher availability of males. Females underwent over four successive spawnings in the laboratory without having to recopulate, and the incubation lasted on the average from 40 to 58 days (∼18 and 16°C respectively) and the mean duration between hatching and the next spawning was 3.4 days. It is estimated that most females carry out three successive spawnings during the annual cycle.