Historical demographic profiles and genetic variation of the East African Butana and Kenana indigenous dairy zebu cattle

Butana and Kenana breeds from Sudan are part of the East African zebu Bos indicus type of cattle. Unlike other indigenous zebu cattle in Africa, they are unique due to their reputation for high milk production and are regarded as dairy cattle, the only ones of their kind on the African continent. In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D‐loop of 70 animals to understand the maternal genetic variation, demographic profiles and history of the two breeds in relation to the history of cattle pastoralism on the African continent. Only taurine mtDNA sequences were identified. We found very high mtDNA diversity but low level of maternal genetic structure within and between the two breeds. Bayesian coalescent‐based analysis revealed different historical and demographic profiles for the two breeds, with an earlier population expansion in the Butana vis a vis the Kenana. The maternal ancestral populations of the two breeds may have diverged prior to their introduction into the African continent, with first the arrival of the ancestral Butana population. We also reveal distinct demographic history between the two breeds with the Butana showing a decline in its effective population size (N_e) in the recent past ~590 years. Our results provide new insights on the early history of cattle pastoralism in Sudan indicative of a large ancient effective population size.     

人工覆盖地表对北京典型绿化树光合特性的影响

地表硬化影响城市绿化树生长及生态服务功能的发挥,研究人工覆盖地表下城市绿化树关键生理过程具有重要意义.采用田间模拟试验方法,布设对照(自然地表)、透水硬化和不透水硬化3种覆盖地表,栽植北京2种典型绿化树白蜡和元宝枫,栽植后第4年野外测定其叶片光合及相关生理生态参数,分析人工覆盖地表对北京典型绿化树光合特性的影响.结果表明:白蜡和元宝枫光合作用对不同人工覆盖地表的响应存在差异,对于白蜡而言,透水硬化和不透水硬化地表均使其净光合速率显著降低,对于元宝枫而言,仅不透水硬化地表导致其净光合速率显著降低,透水硬化地表并未对其造成显著影响.透水硬化和不透水硬化地表的空气相对湿度和土壤体积含水率低于对照,植物可利用水分减少,叶片气孔导度下降是白蜡和元宝枫净光合速率降低的主要原因.透水硬化和不透水硬化地表使白蜡PSⅡ有效光化学量子产量(F_v′/F_m′)下降,不透水硬化地表使元宝枫PSⅡ实际光化学量子效率(Φ_PSⅡ)和表观电子传递速率(ETR)升高.     

The fifteenth- and twentieth-century colonization of the Basin of Mexico by the Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)

Historical evidence indicates that Great‐tailed Grackles colonized the Basin of Mexico from the Gulf Coast lowlands in the fifteenth century. They were probably assisted by an intentional introduction, but colonization succeeded because of anthropogenic habitat alterations over the previous two centuries. During the Colonial period, grackles withdrew from the Basin, only to recolonize it in recent decades. This withdrawal was also due probably to changes in land use, including drainage of much of the water from the Basin's lakes.     

基于叶绿体DNA trnL-F序列研究肋果沙棘的谱系地理学

由于青藏高原的地理效应,第四纪冰期气候的反复变化应对现今该地区生物的地理分布及其居群遗传结构产生重大影响。肋果沙棘Hippophae neurocarpa是青藏高原地区的一个特有种,根据叶上的附属物（星状鳞毛或者鳞片状鳞毛）分为两个亚种：肋果沙棘亚种subsp.neurocarpa和密毛肋果沙棘亚种subsp.stellatopilosa。依据母系遗传的叶绿体DNA片段对该物种谱系地理学进行研究不仅能阐明该物种冰期避难所,而且对于理解两个亚种的母系分化也具有重要意义。共对两个亚种14居群的70个个体的trnL-F序列进行了测序,共发现8种单倍型,其中5种单倍型出现在肋果沙棘亚种中,4种出现在密毛肋果沙棘亚种中,两个亚种共享一种单倍型。种内谱系分化与两个亚种形态上的分化不一致。嵌套进化分支把8种单倍型分为三支：一支为肋果沙棘亚种,其他两支中两个亚种单倍型嵌套组成,且肋果沙棘亚种处于进化末端。我们的研究结果还表明肋果沙棘在冰期可能在高海拔地区存在多个避难所,并且存在来自避难所的邻域扩张。     

广州长岗山森林凋落物土壤动物群落结构及季节变化

为了解华南地区城市森林凋落物土壤动物群落结构特征及季节变化,对广州市长岗山自然保护区森林凋落物层土壤动物群落进行了为期1年的逐月采样调查,共采获凋落物土壤动物21 817头,隶属于3门9纲22类群,其中蜱螨目和弹尾目为优势类群,二者占全年土壤动物个体总数的70.3%;蠕形马陆亚纲、等足目、蜘蛛目、缨翅目、鞘翅目、膜翅目、鳞翅目幼虫和双翅目幼虫为常见类群,它们的个体数占全年土壤动物总个体数的27.0%.这些主要类群的相对多度和密度随采样季节而改变并与凋落物的湿度存在着一定的相关性.蜱螨目的密度高峰期出现在降雨量最多的5-8月;弹尾目的密度高峰出现在2-7月;缨翅目的密度高峰在8-12月,凋落物湿度过高或过低均使缨翅目密度降低;鞘翅目的密度高峰分别出现在5-8月、11月和翌年2月,而蠕形马陆亚纲的密度高峰期集中在5-6月,而其余月份的密度维持在低水平.蜱螨目(A)和弹尾目(C)个体数之比的大小不一定能反映同一气候带土壤动物的分布特征和规律,因为即使在同一地点,不同的采样时间也会造成A/C值差异悬殊.保留城市森林凋落物对提高城市森林土壤动物的多样性具有重要意义.     

Mechanoreceptor synapses in the brainstem shape the central representation of touch

1. Download : Download high-res image (206KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Association of the colistin resistance gene mcr-1 with faecal pollution in water environments in Hanoi,Vietnam

Colistin is one of the antibiotics of last resort for human health. However, the dissemination of the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-1 is of great concern globally. In the One Health framework, the environment is an important component for managing antimicrobial resistance. However, little information is available concerning the prevalence of mcr-1 in water environments. We aimed to reveal the prevalence of mcr-1 in different water environments in Hanoi, Vietnam. Quantitative PCR was applied to detect mcr-1 in four urban drainages receiving untreated domestic wastewater, three rivers, five lakes and two groundwater samples. Urban drainages contained higher concentrations of mcr-1, suggesting that urban residents carry the gene. The class 1 integron-integrase gene was identified as a good surrogate of antibiotic resistance genes including mcr-1. A significant correlation was found between the levels of mcr-1 and the human-specific cross-assembly phage, which is an indicator of human faecal pollution. These results indicated that the primary source of mcr-1 in urban water environments is human faeces, which is consistent with the fact that most domestic wastewater is untreated in Hanoi. The control of untreated wastewater is critical for alleviating the spread of mcr-1 in water environments in Vietnam.     

A protocol for temporal calibration of general area cladograms

Aim To describe a protocol for incorporating a temporal dimension into historical biogeographical analysis, while maintaining the essential independence of all datasets, involving the generation of general area cladograms. Location Global. Methods General area cladograms (GACs) are a reconstruction of the evolutionary history of a set of areas and unrelated clades within those areas. Nodes on a GAC correspond to speciation events in a group of taxa; general nodes are those at which multiple unrelated clades speciate. We undertake temporal calibration of GACs using molecular clock estimates of splitting events between extant taxa as well as first appearance data from the fossil record. We present two examples based on re‐analysis of previously published data: first, a temporally calibrated GAC generated from secondary Brooks parsimony analysis (BPA) of six extant bird clades from the south‐west of North America using molecular clock estimates of divergence times; and second, an analysis of African Neogene mammals based on a phylogenetic analysis for comparing trees (PACT) analysis. Results A hypothetical example demonstrates how temporal calibration reveals potentially critical information about the timing of both unique and general events, while also illustrating instances of incongruence between dates generated from molecular clock estimates and fossils. For the African Neogene mammal dataset, our analysis reveals that most mammal clades underwent geodispersal associated with the Neogene climatic optimum (c. 16 Ma) and vicariant speciation in central Africa correlated with increased aridity and cooler temperatures around 2.5 Ma. Main conclusions Temporally calibrated GACs are valuable tools for assessing whether coordinated patterns of speciation are associated with large‐scale climatic or tectonic phenomena.