Agonistic Behaviour and Sexual Conflict in Atypical Reproductive Groups: The Case of Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus Polyandrous Trios

Social behaviour in species forced to form atypical breeding coalitions is poorly documented. The saturation of optimum territories in the Bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus population in the Pyrenees has led floating males to settle in already occupied territories, thereby forming polyandrous trios. We examined the patterns of intrasexual aggression in five trios (nine reproductive events in total) during courtship. Alpha males initiated 82% of agonistic encounters that were mainly aimed at preventing or disrupting copulations. During the fertile period in recently formed groups, intrasexual aggression had a negative influence on the frequency of heterosexual copulations, which may be a contributing factor to the lower productivity of polyandrous trios. Females rejected a higher proportion of beta male- than alpha male-initiated copulations, and rejected copulations with both alpha and beta males more often when the other male was present close by. These results indicate that alpha males cannot effectively prevent all copulation attempts by beta males and that females avoid harassment by minimizing sexual activity when both males are present. Aggression between males decreased with time, occurring less often in established than in recent trios, despite the fact that the frequency of heterosexual copulations – the cause of conflicts – was similar. The frequency of homosexual interactions tended to increase in established trios, suggesting that this behaviour may help to regulate aggression within these groups, although no significant relationship between homosexual interactions and aggression was found. In summary, reproductive conflicts in trios seem to be unavoidable, although they tend to decrease if the group is maintained. This suggests that, for birds in these groups, the maintenance of a quality territory is more important than solving sexual conflicts.     

Cost of reproduction, T-lymphocyte mediated immunocompetence and health status in female and nestling barn swallows Hirundo rustica

We investigate the trade-off between reproductive effort, health status and T-lymphocyte acquired immunity in female and nestling barn swallows Hirundo rustica using a brood size manipulation experiment. Maternal and total feeding effort increased with experimental brood size. Parents did not fully compensate for the increased food demand of the enlarged broods and as a consequence the per capita feeding rate of nestlings decreased with increasing experimental brood size. Body mass and a measure of T-cell mediated immunity in 12 days old nestlings also decreased with increasing experimental brood size. Different leucocyte concentrations and the heterophile/lymphocyte ratio – an index of stress – of nestlings did not change in relation to experimental brood size, suggesting that within brood competition did not affect stress to nestlings. The brood size manipulation had a significant effect on maternal T-cell mediated immunity, measured by the phytohemagglutinin skin test, but not on maternal body mass, haematocrit or differential or total white blood cell counts. Our results seem to support the prediction that under mild work stress females respond first by reducing the energetically expensive acquired immunity. Different leucocyte types and the heterophile/lymphocyte ratio appear less sensitive to parental workload.     

Paternity exclusion by DNA fingerprinting,and mate guarding in the hooded seal Cystophora cristata

Hooded seal Cystophora cristata trios consist of an adult female, her pup, and an attending adult male. Using DNA fingerprinting, we excluded the possibility that the attending males within hooded seal trios were the fathers of the pups, proving that these hooded seals did not remain paired from one breeding season to the next. Behavioural observations of the trios after capture and release revealed that male hooded seals displace one another in attending nursing females. Mate guarding appears to be the preferred mating strategy available to male hooded seals given intense competition for females, a very brief nursing period, and oestrus occuring soon after weaning, but its effectiveness remains unclear.     

Rare de novo germline copy-number variation in testicular cancer

Although heritable factors are an important determinant of risk of early-onset cancer, the majority of these malignancies appear to occur sporadically without identifiable risk factors. Germline de novo copy-number variations (CNVs) have been observed in sporadic neurocognitive and cardiovascular disorders. We explored this mechanism in 382 genomes of 116 early-onset cancer case-parent trios and unaffected siblings. Unique de novo germline CNVs were not observed in 107 breast or colon cancer trios or controls but were indeed found in 7% of 43 testicular germ cell tumor trios; this percentage exceeds background CNV rates and suggests a rare de novo genetic paradigm for susceptibility to some human malignancies.     

Male‐Biased Mate Competition in King Penguin Trio Parades

Darwin devised sexual selection theory to explain sexual dimorphisms. Further developments of the theory identified the operational sex‐ratio (OSR) as one of its cornerstones, and it was commonly admitted that an OSR biased toward one sex would lead to stronger selection pressures toward that sex. Recent theoretical developments have challenged this view and showed that the OSR alone does not determine the direction of sexual selection, more particularly in mutually ornamented species exhibiting high and similar parental investment by both sexes. These developments, however, focused on mutual intersexual selection, and little is known about intrasexual selection of both males and females in species exhibiting such characteristics. The first aim of our study was to test the relative involvement of males and females in same‐sex contest over mates in the king penguin, a species exhibiting mutual ornamentation of the sexes, high parental investment by both sexes, and a male‐biased OSR. We investigated the sex composition of trio parades, which are groups of three individuals that compete for mates during pair formation. We found that these trios consist of a female trailed by two fighting males in 19 of 20 cases; the 20th trio was all male. The second aim of our study was to investigate the existence of within‐sex differences in colour ornaments between individuals involved in such trios and individuals already paired. While limited sample sizes precluded detection of statistically significant differences between trios vs. pairs, reflectance measurements suggested that the beak spot of males in trios were more strongly ultraviolet than the beak spot of males in pairs. We concluded that intrasexual selection in our colony follows the typical pattern of mate competition observed in species in which sexual dimorphisms and OSR are male biased, and discussed the ultraviolet difference within the framework of the king penguins' colour perception.     

Effect of competition and leaf age on visible and infrared reflectance in pine foliage

Abstract. The effect of plant competition on spectral reflectance in the 400–2500 nm wavelength region was determined for 3-month-old and 15-month-old leaves of loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.). Strong competition decreased water potentials and Mg concentrations, and increased K in young and old leaves. Also, competition decreased Ca and total chlorophyll in young leaves. As measured with a scanning radiometer, reflectance in young leaves at 551 nm decreased from 20 to 14% as water potentials increased from -2.2 to -0.9 MPa (r²= 0.82). For young and old leaves reflectance at 551 nm decreased from 20 to 10% with increasing total chlorophyll (r²= 0.64). Reflectance decreased slightly with increasing K in young leaves (401 nm, r²= 0.55), and with increasing Mg in old leaves (470 nm, r²= 0.57). Increased visible reflectance under strong competition may have resulted primarily from decreased water potentials. Reflectances were much greater in young versus old leaves in the 750–1300 nm range, and were greater in old rather than young leaves from 1400–2500 nm. Infrared reflectances were not, however, significantly affected by competition.     

青藏高原东缘红桦-岷江冷杉次生林中大径级保留木对其他林木的影响

为了研究森林采伐后保留木在次生群落恢复过程中对其他林木的影响, 采用Hegyi单木竞争指数(CI)和标记相关点格局k_d(r)函数对4 hm ²红桦-岷江冷杉(Betula albosinensis-Abies faxoniana)次生林样地中大径级保留木与其他林木的空间关系进行了分析。结果表明: 1)优势树种红桦(Betula albosinensis)与岷江冷杉(Abies faxoniana)的种间、种内竞争中, 种间Hegyi单木竞争指数(CI) (2.484) >红桦种内CI (1.711) >岷江冷杉种内CI (1.548); 2)大径级保留木与其他径级林木间的竞争指数中, 红桦大径级保留木与红桦小树的竞争指数最大, 红桦大径级保留木与岷江冷杉小树、岷江冷杉大径级保留木与红桦小树和岷江冷杉小树这三组的竞争指数之间无显著差异, 且三者的值最小; 3)在14.5-15.5 m尺度上, 红桦大径级保留木与岷江冷杉幼树呈显著的空间正关联; 在6.5-7.5 m的尺度上, 岷江冷杉大径级保留木与岷江冷杉幼树呈显著的空间负关联; 0-100 m尺度上, 岷江冷杉幼苗(树龄≥4年)与两种大径级保留木均呈相互独立的空间关系。     

Using DNA pools for genotyping trios

The genotyping of mother–father–child trios is a very useful tool in disease association studies, as trios eliminate population stratification effects and increase the accuracy of haplotype inference. Unfortunately, the use of trios for association studies may reduce power, since it requires the genotyping of three individuals where only four independent haplotypes are involved. We describe here a method for genotyping a trio using two DNA pools, thus reducing the cost of genotyping trios to that of genotyping two individuals. Furthermore, we present extensions to the method that exploit the linkage disequilibrium structure to compensate for missing data and genotyping errors. We evaluated our method on trios from CEPH pedigree 66 of the Coriell Institute. We demonstrate that the error rates in the genotype calls of the proposed protocol are comparable to those of standard genotyping techniques, although the cost is reduced considerably. The approach described is generic and it can be applied to any genotyping platform that achieves a reasonable precision of allele frequency estimates from pools of two individuals. Using this approach, future trio-based association studies may be able to increase the sample size by 50% for the same cost and thereby increase the power to detect associations.     

Genetic Evidence for Possible Involvement of the Calcium Channel Gene CACNA1A in Autism Pathogenesis in Chinese Han Population

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders. Recent studies suggested that calcium channel genes might be involved in the genetic etiology of ASD. CACNA1A, encoding an alpha-1 subunit of voltage-gated calcium channel, has been reported to play an important role in neural development. Previous study detected that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in CACNA1A confers risk to ASD in Central European population. However, the genetic relationship between autism and CACNA1A in Chinese Han population remains unclear. To explore the association of CACNA1A with autism, we performed a family-based association study. First, we carried out a family-based association test between twelve tagged SNPs and autism in 239 trios. To further confirm the association, the sample size was expanded to 553 trios by recruiting 314 additional trios. In a total of 553 trios, we identified association of rs7249246 and rs12609735 with autism though this would not survive after Bonferroni correction. Our findings suggest that CACNA1A might play a role in the etiology of autism.     

Intrasexual mounting in the beetle Diaprepes abbreviatus (L.).

The weevil Diaprepes abbreviatus shows three kinds of same-sex mountings: males mount other unpaired males, males mount males already engaged in copulation and females mount other females. Four hypotheses were evaluated in order to explain same-sex matings by males: (i) female mimicry by inferior males, (ii) dominance of larger males which affects the behaviour of small males, (iii) sperm transfer in which smaller males gain some reproductive success by 'hitchhiking' their sperm with the sperm of larger males, and (iv) poor sex recognition. Data from mate choice and sperm competition experiments rejected the female mimicry, dominance and sperm transfer hypotheses and supported the poor sex recognition hypothesis. We tested three hypotheses in order to explain female mounting behaviour: (i) females mimic male behaviour in order to reduce sexual harassment by males, (ii) females mount other females in order to appear larger and thereby attract more and larger males for mating, and (iii) female mimicry of males. The results of our mate choice experiments suggested that the female mimicry of males hypothesis best explains the observed female mounting behaviour. This result is also consistent with the poor sex recognition hypothesis which is the most likely explanation for male and female intrasexual mating behaviour in many insect species.     

The power of the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) with both case-parent and control-parent trios

The transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) customarily uses affected children and their parents (often case-parent trios, TDTD). Control-parent trios are necessary to guard against spurious significant results due to segregation distortion but are not generally utilized in the identification of disease susceptibility loci (DSL). Controls are often easy to recruit and the TDT can easily be extended to include control-parent trios into the analyses with unrelated case-parent trios. We present an extension of the TDT (TDTDC) that incorporates unrelated cases and controls and their parents into a single analysis. We develop a simple and accurate analytical method for computing the statistical power of various TDT (e.g. the TDTD, TDTDC, TDTDC and TDTC that employ control-parent trios only) under any genetic model. We investigated the power of these TDT, and particularly compared the relative power of the TDTD and TDTDC. We found that the TDTDC is almost always more powerful than the TDTC and TDTD. The relative power of the TDTDC and TDTD depends largely upon a number of parameters identified in the study. This study provides a basis for efficient use of control-parent trios in DSL identification.     

Can interaction coefficients be determined from census data? Testing two estimation methods with Negev Desert rodents

Two approaches based on regression models are proposed to estimate competition from census data. The "static" approach is based on censuses of population sizes among species at one point in time over many sites. The "dynamic" approach relies on a time series of species abundance data to examine whether per capita changes in one species are associated with the abundance of other species. We estimated competition interactions in a Negev rodent community consisting of 10 species using both approaches, basing on 8 years (16 half-year periods) of observations. The static approach revealed significant competitive interactions in four of 45 pairs of species, whereas the dynamic approach did so in the same four plus two more pairs. For each species pair, both approaches revealed significant negative interactions in only 1–4 of 16 seasons. The static approach provided nearly symmetric estimations of competition, whereas estimations of dynamic approach were asymmetric. Moreover, estimations of the two approaches did not coincide in time. Cases of negative interactions recorded by the static approach were more frequent at peak and increase phases of population density dynamics, whereas those recorded by the dynamic approach were more frequent at peak and decline phases. Results of field removal experiments with Mus musculus and Gerbillus dasyurus supported predictions of dynamic but not static approaches. We hypothesized that in harsh and fluctuating desert environments that disrupt equilibrium, the dynamic approach indicates true (exploitation) competition, whereas the static approach reflects negative interspecific spatial association (interference).     

Grooved Stones from Zawi Chemi Shanidar, a Protoneolithic Site in Northern Iraq

Grooved stones appear as a new cultural element in Epipaleolithic-Protoneolithic sites (dating from ca. 9000–6000 B.C.) in a broad geographic zone from Southwest Asia to North Africa. Similar objects have been recorded from archeological and ethnographic contexts in both the Old World and the New World. Ethnographic and other evidence has shown that the several types of grooved stones are associated with a variety of functions, mainly related to the manufacture and use of arrows and arrow shafts. It is suggested that these tools may be associated with the discovery and diffusion of the bow and arrow .     

A demographic study of the apomictic blackberry, Rubus nessensis (Rosaceae)

Ten stands of Rubus nessensis , an apomictic blackberry, were studied. Perennial stools produce biennial shoots that flower in their second year. The stools tend to produce shoots of similar height for several consecutive years. Flowering, but not relative fruit set, is dependent on shoot height. Shoot height and density appear to be positively related, implying that intraspecific competition is of little importance for plant vigour. Depletion time varies greatly between stands (4–29 years), being comparatively longer in stands with short shoots. New establishment is sparse and takes place mostly by root suckering.     

A family-based association study of congenital left-sided heart malformations and 5,10 methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase

BACKGROUND: Aortic valve stenosis (AVS), coarctation of the aorta (CoA), and hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) are obstructive malformations of the left ventricular outflow tract that account for a significant proportion of infant mortality. Two previous small case-control studies suggested methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms may be associated with this group of malformations. METHODS: We used a family-based association design with inclusion criteria of nonsyndromic diagnosis of AVS, CoA, and HLHS, powered to detect an odds ratio for the heterozygote of <1.5. A total of 207 affected offspring-parent trios were genotyped by restriction fragment length polymorphisms at the two common polymorphic loci C677T and A1298C. RESULTS: Error rate estimation based on replicate samples was 0.76%. Mendelian inconsistency at either polymorphism was noted in 10 trios, for a calculated undetected error rate of 1.95%. A total of 197 trios were analyzed using the transmission disequilibrium test. Significant association was not found between both the C677T or A1298C polymorphisms and presence of a heart defect, whether analyzed as a group, or by sex, ethnicity, or specific diagnosis. A log-linear analysis did not find increased relative risk based on the maternal genotype. CONCLUSIONS: We were unable to replicate previous association studies and concluded that neither the affected nor the maternal MTHFR genotype, by itself, is a major risk factor for congenital left ventricular outflow tract malformations.     

Changes in the species composition of anglers' catches in the River Trent (England) between 1969 and 1984

Data on anglers' catches on the River Trent were collected for the seasons 1969/70 to 1983/84 using postal questionnaires. During this period 60.4t of fish were caught during a total fishing effort of 526 871 man-h or 60.15 man-years, and more than 20 species of fish were recorded. The percentage of anglers making a catch (70–80%) and the catch per unit effort, mean 114.7g man-h ⁻¹, were comparable with those reported for other waters.
Roach and gudgeon were the most commonly captured species with chub, bleak, bream, eels and dace also forming major components of anglers' catches. Since 1969 chub, bream, eels and perch have made an increasingly greater contribution to catches, coupled with a decline in numbers of roach and dace. It is suggested that improvement in water quality and its implication on interspecific competition was the most likely cause of the changes.     

Over-Expression of the DM-20 Myelin Proteolipid Causes Central Nervous System Demyelination in Transgenic Mice

Abstract: We have created transgenic mice bearing varying copy numbers of a transgene coding for normal DM-20, the alternatively spliced quantitatively minor isoform of myelin proteolipid protein. Demyelination of the CNS occurs as a consequence of 70 copies of this transgene. Overt symptoms begin at ∼3 months with a wobbling gait. Occasional seizures lasting a few seconds begin at 3–4 months. These symptoms progress in severity with age. Death occurs by 8–10 months. Myelination in 2-month-old animals, before the onset of any overt symptoms, appears morphologically normal at the electron microscopic level. However, the myelin in these 2-month-old animals has a reduced amount of the major myelin proteolipid protein and about three times as much DM-20 as normal animals. In 7-month-old animals that appear to be undergoing demyelination in the CNS, both the major myelin proteolipid protein and DM-20 are greatly reduced relative to the 2-month-old animal. Mice with 17 copies of the transgene also have a reduced amount of the major myelin proteolipid protein but appear to be otherwise normal and have normal life spans (>2 yr). Mice with low copy numbers of the transgene (2–4 copies) appear to be unaffected and have normal life spans.     

Seasonal variation in freezing tolerance of the New Zealand alpine cockroach Celatoblatta quinquemaculata

1. The cold hardiness of the alpine cockroach Celatoblatta quinquemaculata was investigated. This species is found at 1360 m a.s.l. beneath schist slabs on the Rock and Pillar Range (Central Otago, New Zealand). Cockroaches were collected monthly from January to December 1996, and their LT₅₀ and supercooling points determined.
2. Celatoblatta quinquemaculata was freezing tolerant throughout the year, with a lower lethal temperature in winter of – 8.9 °C. Celatoblatta quinquemaculata was also found frozen under rocks in the field when the under-rock temperature was below – 3 °C, and could survive being frozen at – 5 °C for 4 days in the laboratory.
3. There was a marked decrease in LT₅₀ temperature from – 5.5 °C in April to – 7.5 °C in May. This coincides with decreasing temperatures from summer through autumn to winter, during which temperatures beneath snow-covered rocks may reach – 7.3 °C.
4. Supercooling points fluctuated during the year, with an increase from – 4.2 °C in autumn to – 3.4 °C in winter. Supercooling point was highest in spring, and changes in supercooling point do not appear to be related to changes in LT₅₀.
5. Recordings of environmental temperatures from the Rock and Pillar Range suggest that cockroaches may undergo up to twenty-three freeze–thaw cycles in the coldest month of the year, and that they may remain frozen for periods of up to 21 h. Maximum cooling rates recorded in the field (0.01 °C min^–1) were 100-fold slower than laboratory cooling rates, so survival estimates from laboratory experiments may be underestimates.     

A Unified Approach to Genotype Imputation and Haplotype-Phase Inference for Large Data Sets of Trios and Unrelated Individuals

We present methods for imputing data for ungenotyped markers and for inferring haplotype phase in large data sets of unrelated individuals and parent-offspring trios. Our methods make use of known haplotype phase when it is available, and our methods are computationally efficient so that the full information in large reference panels with thousands of individuals is utilized. We demonstrate that substantial gains in imputation accuracy accrue with increasingly large reference panel sizes, particularly when imputing low-frequency variants, and that unphased reference panels can provide highly accurate genotype imputation. We place our methodology in a unified framework that enables the simultaneous use of unphased and phased data from trios and unrelated individuals in a single analysis. For unrelated individuals, our imputation methods produce well-calibrated posterior genotype probabilities and highly accurate allele-frequency estimates. For trios, our haplotype-inference method is four orders of magnitude faster than the gold-standard PHASE program and has excellent accuracy. Our methods enable genotype imputation to be performed with unphased trio or unrelated reference panels, thus accounting for haplotype-phase uncertainty in the reference panel. We present a useful measure of imputation accuracy, allelic R², and show that this measure can be estimated accurately from posterior genotype probabilities. Our methods are implemented in version 3.0 of the BEAGLE software package.     

持久性土壤种子库种子萌发的个体竞争能力会衰减吗?——以紫茎泽兰为例

持久性土壤种子库(PSSB)是一种重要的植物生活史对策, 很多学者就这种对策对物种适应和进化的影响进行过推理。但种子在土壤中的长时间存留是一种风险行为, 所有的PSSB影响的推理都取决于一个假设, 即PSSB种子萌发的个体的竞争能力没有因为存留损耗而显著降低。为验证这一假设, 该文以紫茎泽兰(Eupatorium adenophorum)为研究材料, 比较了埋藏1年和3年的PSSB种子萌发的个体与同母体的当年新种子萌发的个体之间在无竞争和4种密度制约竞争条件下的株高和生物量的差异。结果显示, 无论株高还是生物量, PSSB种子萌发的个体较同母体的新种子萌发的个体均有所降低, 但在多数检测时间内的降低程度未达到显著水平, 表明紫茎泽兰PSSB种子萌发的个体相对于同母体的新种子萌发的个体的竞争能力无显著下降。