安徽野生和自繁恒河猴血液生化指标的测定与分析

目的测定人工饲养条件下安徽野生和自繁恒河猴的血液生化指标,并比较分析两种来源的恒河猴,雌、雄猴间以及感染BV阳性与阴性恒河猴生化指标的差异性。方法采用全自动生化分析仪对安徽野生和自繁恒河猴的14个血液生化指标进行测定,并用统计学方法比较了相同性别的野生猴与自繁猴以及感染BV阳性与阴性恒河猴血液生化值的差异性。结果野生猴与自繁猴雄性的生化指标普遍高于雌性,野生猴碱性磷酸酶、甘油三脂和谷氨酰基转移酶雌雄间差异显著;自繁猴碱性磷酸酶、白蛋白、血清Ca、甘油三脂、肌酐和谷氨酰基转移酶雌雄间差异有显著性。除谷草转氨酶、尿素氮和血清总胆固醇外,感染BV阳性较感染BV阴性的恒河猴所得生化指标高。结论野生猴与自繁猴,雌雄间猴以及感染BV阳性与阴性猴的血液生化指标有一定的差异性。     

野生太行山猕猴血液生理生化指标测定与分析

猕猴华北亚种Macaca mulatta tcheliensis为中国特有亚种,目前主要分布于河南、山西两省交界的太行山南端,常被称为太行山猕猴.2009年11月～2010年1月,在太行山猕猴国家级自然保护区济源管理局所辖范围内对野生太行山猕猴进行生存状况调查的同时,对18只雌体、8只雄体的血液生理与生化指标进行了测定,结果表明:1)雌性的淋巴细胞数(P=0.019)、中间细胞数(P=0.017)均显著地高于雄性;而雌性的平均血小板体积则显著低于雄性(P=0.046);2)雌性的血糖(GLU)、总胆固醇(CH)、甘油三酯(TG)、高密度胆固醇(HDL)、低密度胆固醇(LDL)的测定值均略高于雄性,但其差异未达到显著性水平.并与相关研究作了比较分析.     

南高丛蓝莓快繁技术体系研究简

以南高丛蓝莓试管无菌丛生芽为材料,对南高丛蓝莓丛生芽的诱导与增殖、继代次数对丛生芽诱导增殖的影响、瓶内生根、瓶外生根、不同生根方式试管苗移栽成活率的大小进行了研究。南高丛蓝莓丛生芽诱导与增殖培养基以WPM+ZT 2.0 mg·L^-1较佳,增殖倍数可达3.50;继代6次丛生芽增殖倍数可达24.00;瓶内生根生根培养基以WPM+ZT 0.5 mg·L^-1+IBA 0.1 mg·L^-1为佳,生根率可达80.73%±3.17%,生根周期为100 d;试管芽用25 mg·L^-1 IBA溶液浸蘸10 s,以1/6 WPM为营养液加珍珠岩作基质,生根率可达到80.00%±5.00%,生根周期为40 d;瓶外生根试管苗移栽成活率是瓶内生根试管苗的2倍。基本建立了南高丛蓝莓的试管快繁技术体系,为南高丛蓝莓的工业化育苗奠定了技术基础。     

用于病毒研究的人源化小鼠研究进展简

人源化小鼠从起初的入-鼠嵌合体到目前具有人体免疫活性的模型不断演进,已用于人免疫缺陷病毒、EB病毒、丙型肝炎病毒和登革病毒等病原体的感染、发病机制和防治的研究,取得了很大进展。我们简要介绍几种有代表性的人源化小鼠模型及其在病毒研究中的应用。     

Affiliative and submissive communication in rhesus macaques

This study analyzed the occurrence of selected facial expressions, gestures, and postures, in relation to sex and rank of sender and receiver, context, and responses elicited in a large multi-male multi-female group of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in captivity. The group was observed for 100 hr during the mating and the birth season. Data were collected with the behavior sampling method. The bared-teeth display and the hindquarter presentation were the most prominent signals in the rhesus submissive and affiliative repertoire. Both signals were primarily displayed in response to aggression and approaches; bared-teeth in response to approaches from the front, presentation in response to approaches from the rear. Lip-smack had a submissive component like baredteeth and presentation but was more likely to be displayed by approaching individuals and followed by affiliation than these behaviors. The distribution of hip-touch and mount was different from that of bared-teeth, presentation, and lip-smack, these behaviors mostly occurring between males, irrespective of their dominance rank. Other infrequent signals and behavioral sequences were limited to specific male-female and mother-infant interactions.     

Early maternal recognition of offspring vocalizations in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

This study investigated the development of maternal recognition of infant calls in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Fifteen mothers and their offspring, of age ranging from several hours to 28 days, served as subjects of an experiment in which the offspring's distress vocalizations were recorded and then played back to their mothers simultaneously with those of an age-matched control infant. The proportion of time looking at, but not the proportion of orientations to the speaker playing the offspring's vocalizations increased significantly as a function of infant age. Specifically, mothers of infants older than 1 week of age responded longer to the playback of their own infant's calls than did mothers of younger infants. These findings provide the firt evidence that offspring recognition in macaques develops between the first and second week of the infant's life and are consistent with the hypothesis that mothers need to be exposed to their infants' calls in order to learn their acoustic characteristics.     

Consortships and conceptions in captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

A captive group of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) was observed during the breeding season to determine if consortship behavior, rather than promiscuous matings, resulted in higher reproductive success for either partner. The 38 adult females in this group were observed “in consort” with the 5 adult or 4 subadult males on 179 occasions. Most of these consortships were short-term, lasting less than one day. Six females engaged in consortships with one male that spanned more than three days, but the majority of these long-term associations did not result in a pregnancy with that male. The term “consortship” has been traditionally accepted as a specific nonhuman primate mating pattern, but the exact nature of this behavioral pattern and its evolutionary importance have been less clearly understood. Consort behavior could be considered a precursor to a monogamous mating system if long-term exclusive sexual associations resulted in higher reproductive success for the participants. But this study demonstrates that for rhesus macaques, who exhibit both consort behavior and more promiscuous matings, there is no clear reproductive advantage to long-term consortships. In light of the inconsistent use of the term consortship, the possible adaptive significance of an exclusive male-female sexual association for the evolution of human mating patterns needs to be reevaluated.     

STR polymorphism of mtDNA D-loop in rhesus macaques of Bangladesh

Molecular variation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was investigated for rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) of Bangladesh. A partial sequence (583–599 bp) of mtDNA containing the second variable region of the D-loop was compared for 39 individuals from five localities in the country. A total of seven haplotypes were detected with substitutional or insertion/deletion mutations. They contained a unique polymorphism of pentanucleotide STRs (short tandem repeats). There were at least four different length types, from two to five repeats of the unit nucleotide. One site of substitution and one site of single nucleotide insertion/deletion were also involved in the polymorphism. The mutation hot spots of the STR polymorphism were located between the first and second conserved sequence blocks (CSB1 and CSB2), as observed previously in some other mammals. The geographical distribution of the STR polymorphism revealed local differences; the northeastern population was polymorphic with three STR haplotypes, but other local populations were simply monomorphic with a single STR haplotype. Molecular phylogenetic analysis with reported sequences from outside Bangladesh indicated a low substitution diversity of mtDNA in Bangladesh. Clustering results suggested a close relationship to India and divergence from Laos and China.     

Costs and benefits of maternal aggression in lactating female rhesus macaques

Data from over 400 hr of observation of mother-infant rhesus macaques indicate that during the first 12 weeks of lactation infants are at risk from other group members and that mothers use aggression as well as restraining to protect them. Maternal aggression was negatively correlated with infant restraining. High-ranking mothers reacted aggressively to individuals handling their infants more than did middle- and low-ranking mothers. Conversely, middle- and low-ranking mothers restrained their infants more than did high-ranking mothers. Maternal aggression did not vary with infant age. Maternal aggression was directed toward a higher proportion of higher-ranking adult females and their immature offspring and was more likely to be followed by counter-aggression than nonmaternal aggression, i.e. aggression not related to interactions involving the infant. Middle-and low-ranking mothers suffered higher costs in terms of retaliation than high-ranking mothers. It is argued that the occurrence and distribution of maternal aggression among species and individuals should depend on the risk posed to infants by conspecifics as well as on the characteristics of the social structure (e.g. degree of asymmetry of agonistic contests) and of the mother (e.g. her dominance rank) which may affect the probability of retaliation.     

Social relationships between adult male and immature rhesus macaques

Social relationships of adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were studied over a period of 14 months. Sixteen focal males were chosen from a single group in the Cayo Santiago colony, Puerto Rico. Immatures were defined as infants, yearlings and 2-year-olds. There was a tendency for males to spend more time in proximity to immatures in the birth seasons than in the mating season. Time spent in proximity to immatures was correlated with male dominance rank. Several male-immature dyads had persistent relationships and nine were apparent throughout the study period. Most of the latter involved the top-ranking males. There were no consistent effects of sex or rank of the immature on the distribution of persistent relationships. In almost all male-immature dyads the immature was primarily responsible for maintaining proximity. Two ways were found in which immatures could benefit from these relationships. Protection and agonistic aiding of immatures by adult males were rare, but occurred exclusively in dyads with persistent relationships. In addition, immatures apparently gained greater access to food resources as a result of their relationships with adult males. There was no clear evidence of adult males benefiting from these relationships.     

Social rank and cortisol among female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

In animal societies, some stressful events can lead to higher levels of physiological stress. Such stressors, like social rank, also predict an increased vulnerability to an array of diseases. However, the physiological relationship between social rank and stress varies between different species, as well as within groups of a single species. For example, dominant individuals are more socially stressed at times, while at other times it is the subordinate ones who experience this stress. Together, these variations make it difficult to assess disease vulnerability as connected to social interactions. In order to learn more about how physiological rank relationships vary between groups of a single species, cortisol measurements from hair samples were used to evaluate the effects of dominance rank on long-term stress levels in despotic and less stringent female rhesus macaque hierarchal groups. In despotic groups, cortisol levels were found not to be correlated with social rank, but a negative correlation was found between social rank and cortisol levels in less stringent hierarchies. Low ranking monkeys in less stringent groups secreted elevated levels of cortisol compared to higher ranking animals. These data suggest that variations in the strictness of the dominance hierarchy are determining factors in rank related stress physiology. The further consideration of nonhuman primate social system diversity and the linear degree of their hierarchies may allow for the development of valid rank-related stress models that will help increase our understanding and guide the development of new therapeutics for diseases related to human socioeconomic status.     

Impaired reconciliation in rhesus macaques with a history of early weaning and disturbed socialization

An attempt had been made to create five social groups from rhesus macaques with a history of early separation from their mothers, early weaning and hand feeding and, in most cases, previous housing in single cages. We investigated the exchange of affiliative behaviours after an aggressive encounter and selective attraction to the former opponent, a phenomenon previously well described in rhesus monkeys and called reconciliation. Evidence for reconciliation was only found in one of the five groups studied (corrected conciliatory tendency=13%). This group consisted of younger animals that had, at least temporarily, been living together after separation from their mothers. In the other groups studied, containing animals with a varied background, aggressive interactions were not followed by affiliative behaviours or attraction between former opponents. Our results indicate that the use of reconciliatory behaviours in adult monkeys is dependent upon social training. Lack of functional reconciliation might be one of the explanations to the severe and uncontrolled aggression previously found in groups of rhesus macaques created from animals with disturbed early socialization.     

Social relationships between adult male and female rhesus macaques: 1. Sexual consortships

The sexual relationships of 15 adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), of one social group in the Cayo Santiago colony, Puerto Rico, were studied during the 1981 mating season. Two criteria were used to determine whether or not a focal male was in consort in a given 20-min observational sample. One hundred and thirty-two consortships were recorded. The distribution and duration of all consortships, and the distribution of those consortships that coincided with the estimated time of conception, were positively correlated with male dominance rank and length of tenure. Correlations with dominance were stronger than those with tenure. Older females had more consortships with focal males than younger females. There was no relationship between female rank and the distribution of consortships. Consortships did not give exclusive access to receptive females although they may do in feral situations. Males were primarily responsible for maintaining proximity in about two thirds of consortships. The four top-ranking males were primarily responsible in all but one of their consortships. Almost all of those in which the female was primarily responsible involved younger, slightly lower-ranking males. This pattern may have resulted from the females being attracted to the latter males although other interpretations are possible. The partner who was primarily responsible for maintaining proximity also tended to be the predominant groomer, supporting the view that grooming plays a role in the maintenance of sexual consortships. Almost a third of consortships were with females who had conceived, suggesting that males could not accurately assess female reproductive state. Consortships maintained by the male were longer than those maintained by the female. Males may try to increase their chances of fertilising a female by prolonging the consortship. High-ranking males may have been more successful at this, resulting in the positive correlation between male dominance rank and consortship duration.     

IL-4 increases Simian immunodeficiency virus replication despite enhanced SIV immune responses in infected rhesus macaques

It is widely believed that a Th1 type CD4 response is critical for enhancement of CD8 immunity and for controlling HIV-1 infection. Th2 type responses, such as what might be seen in a chronic parasitic infection, would sacrifice cellular immunity and thus benefit the virus at the expense of the host. However, there has been little direct examination of the hypothesis in a primate model system. Accordingly, the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infected rhesus macaque model was used to investigate the impact of immunisation with SIV expressing DNA constructs and co-injection with IL-4 on the SIV specific immunological responses, lymphocyte cell counts, as well as the impact on viral load. IL-4 is a Th2 type cytokine, which enhances antibody production and inhibits a CD4 Th1 phenotype. Rhesus macaques were infected with 10 AID50 of SIVmac239 and treated with 9-[2-(phosphonomethoxy)propyl]adenine (PMPA) 9 weeks post-infection. During PMPA treatment, animals were immunised with plasmids that expressed the SIV proteins, env, rev, gag and pol. In addition, they were immunised with a construct that encoded the gene for IL-4. IL-4 co-immunisation increased the neutralizing antibody titres in this group. Importantly, the viral loads in animals vaccinated with IL-4 expressing plasmid increased during the immunisation regimens despite the higher neutralizing antibody titres. In addition, neutralizing antibodies did not correlate with viral set point prior to PMPA treatment, however, there was a correlation between viral loads and antibody titres following the treatment with PMPA. Antibody titres decreased following the suppression of viral load. Importantly, vaccination in the absence of IL-4 protected CD4 levels without increasing viral load. The data support the hypothesis that inappropriate immune bias toward a Th2 pathway would ultimately enhance disease progression.