A boy with 46, X, del, Y, due to a de nove mutation.

A newborn male referred for genetic investigation because of a large sized head and dysplastic ears, but with apparently normal male genitalia was found to have a deletion of all of the brightly fluorescent part of the long are of chromosome Y and absence of the Y fluorescent body on buccal smear. His father and his two brothers had normal Y chromosomes. Social and family history as well as marker investigation make illegitimacy most unlikely and leaves an occurrence of a new chromosomal mutation in the father the most probably interpretation. Follow-up of the infant to the age of 9 months revealed a large baby with normal development.     

CRITERIA OF FEMALE MATE CHOICE IN DROSOPHILA LITTORALIS,D. MONTANA,AND D. EZOANA

We examined sexual selection by Drosophila littoralis, D. montana, and D. ezoana females on male courtship sounds to determine whether the females use absolute or relative criteria when choosing their mates. Behavior of the females was observed, when they were courted by a single male producing normal sounds, or by a single wing-manipulated male producing abnormal sounds; and when they were courted by one or both of these males in a choice situation. The females usually accepted short-winged (but not wingless) males producing abnormal sounds, if they had no alternatives. However, if they heard the sound produced by a normal male, they rejected the deficient male. Drosophila littoralis and D. ezoana females selected between two wing-manipulated males with different wing areas. Our results suggest that the females choose their mates on the basis of relative criteria if the signals emitted by the courting males are within the range of acceptable cues.     

Face to face with the woolly spider monkey. Review of faces in the forest: The Endangered Muriqui Monkeys of Brazil,by Karen B. Strier. New York,Oxford University Press,Inc., 1992, 138 pp, $49.50

During an intertroop encounter, an infanticide was observed in a population of ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta) at Berenty Reserve, Madagascar. The killer was a male that had not been previously observed to mate with any females in the infant's troop. This observation, combined with other observations of infanticidal behavior by males at Berenty Reserve and the Duke University Primate Center, is consistent with the hypothesis that infanticide is a reproductive tactic for some male ringtailed lemurs. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

中国河北省弱蛛科一新属新种记述(蜘蛛纲,蜘蛛目)

记述了采自于中国河北省赞皇县嶂石岩风景区(九女峰景区)的弱蛛科1新属新种:宽跗皱弱蛛Rhysscoleptoneta latitarsa gen.nov.et sp. nov..皱弱蛛属Rhyssoleptoneta gen.nov.与该科其它属的主要区别在于雄性触肢跗节较宽,端部无分叉,背面具1个短小的突起;雄性触肢生殖球结构复杂等.模式标本保存于中国科学院动物研究所.     

Brother/sister pairs affected with early-onset, progressive muscular dystrophy: molecular studies reveal etiologic heterogeneity.

An autosomal recessive (AR) form of muscular dystrophy that clinically resembles Duchenne/Becker types exists, but its frequency is unknown. We have studied three unrelated affected brother/sister pairs and their families for deletions and polymorphisms with the entire dystrophin cDNA and other DNA probes from the Xp21 region to test for involvement of the DMD locus. In family 1 a large intragenic deletion was found in the affected male. The affected sister was heterozygous for this deletion, but the mother was not, implying germinal mosaicism. In family 2, no deletion was detected in the affected male. RFLP analysis revealed that the affected male and an unaffected sister shared a complete Xp21 haplotype while the affected sister had inherited a recombinant Xp21 region resulting from a crossover between pERT 87-15 and J-Bir. Only the 5' region of the dystrophin gene was shared with the affected boy. X-inactivation studies using a polymorphism in the 5'-flanking region of the HPRT gene, in conjunction with methylation-sensitive enzymes, revealed random X inactivation in the affected girl's leukocytes. In a muscle biopsy from the affected male, the dystrophin protein was present in normal amount and size. Family 3 was informative for four RFLPs detected with dystrophin cDNA probes which span the entire gene. The affected male was found to share the complete dystrophin RFLP haplotype with his unaffected brother, while his affected sister had inherited the other maternal haplotype. It is concluded that the clinical presentation of early-onset, progressive muscular dystrophy in a male and in his karyotypically normal sister can be caused by mutations at different loci. While in family 1 a deletion in the dystrophin gene is responsible, this gene does not appear to be involved in families 2 and 3.     

Myxinidocotyle gen.n. and Lophocotyle Braun (Platyhelminthes, Monogenea, Acanthocotylidae) with descriptions of three new species from hagfishes (Chordata, Myxinidae)

Three new species of monogencans parasitizing hagfish are described: Myxinidocotyle californica gen. et sp.n., M. japonica sp.n. and Lophocotyle novaezeelandica sp.n. The pseudohaptor of Myxinidocotyle has 8+8 transverse ridges that never attain the radial arrangement characterizing Lophocotyle and Acanthocotyle . There are no sclerites in the pseudohaptoral ridges of Myxinidocotyle and Lophocotyle . The male reproductive system of Myxinidocotyle and Lophocotyle differs from that of Acanthocotyle in having a bilateral accessory gland apparatus and an armed copulatory organ. The femrle reproductive system has a large vaginal receptaculum scminis; in Myxinidocotyle with two vagino-intestinal canals. The uterine pore and the male genital pore are close together and the vaginal pore is situated posterior to them, on the left ventral side of the body. We conclude that Myxinidocotyle, Lophocotyle and Acunrkocotyle represent different levels of acanthocotylid evolution. Myxinidocotyle being the most primitive. The family Acanthocotylidac is divided into the subfamilies Myxinidoeutylinae subfam.n., Lophocotylinae and Acanthoeutylinae.     

Boeckella antiqua n. sp. (Copepoda,Calanoida, Centropagidae) from Patagonia

Boeckella antiqua n. sp. from samples collected in an ephemeral pond on the Patagonian plateau is described and illustrated. Diagnostic features of B. antiqua are almost exclusively related to the male fifth pair of legs, females being almost indistinguishable from those of the closely related B. poppei. The two-segmented, spine-bearing left endopod of the male fifth leg suggests that it may be the basal species in the genus.     

Sexual maturation in female gray short-tailed opossums, Monodelphis domestica, is dependent upon male stimuli.

The development of physiological responsiveness to male stimuli in peripubertal female gray short-tailed opossums was examined in this study. Prepubertal females were exposed directly or indirectly to male chemicals (odors) or to no male stimuli. All females exposed directly to deposited male stimuli (22/22) showed estrus at a mean (+/- SEM) age of 127 +/- 2 days. Only 59% (13/22) of females exposed indirectly showed estrus, and at an older mean age of 162 +/- 5 days (p less than 0.01). Vaginal estrus was not observed in any of the females isolated from male stimuli (0/11). Direct exposure of prepubertal females to male odors was associated with higher uterine weights compared to those of indirectly exposed and isolated females. Reproductive success, measured as litter production, of peripubertal females greater than 140 days old was comparable to adult reproductive success. This study has shown that reproductive maturation in pubertal female opossums requires male stimuli, that this stimulus appears to be pheromonal, and that direct exposure to deposited male odors is the most effective stimulus for female reproductive maturation.     

Changes in skin structure associated with elevated androgen levels in maturing male brown trout, Salmo trutta L.

Increases in epidermal and dermal thickness, and a reduction in the number of superficial goblet cells, occur in the skin of maturing male brown trout. These changes are correlated with rising levels of plasma 11-ketotestosterone and it is suggested that control of integumental structure in male fish is mediated by androgenic steroids during sexual maturation.     

The effects of gonadectomy on the hepatic activities of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase, epoxide hydratase, and glutathione S-transferase in Wistar rats pretreated with oral methadone . HCl.

Methadone . HCl given in the drinking water for 4 weeks increased microsomal epoxide hydratase activity in the liver of adult male Wistar rats, with no change in aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity. In contrast, in female rats it raised aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase with no change in epoxide hydratase activity. Gonadectomy altered the effect of methadone on epoxide hydratase, but not on aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity, in both sexes. In ovariectomized rats, but not in controls, methadone nearly doubled the epoxide hydratase activity, whereas in male rats castration decreased the inductive effect of methadone. Gonadectomy had a significant effect on the results of methadone treatment with respect to glutathione S-transferase activity in female rats. A sex difference was noted in the control levels of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase and glutathione S-transferase, but not of epoxide hydratase activity. The glutathione S-transferase and aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activities were decreased in castrated male rats, whereas epoxide hydratase activity was unaltered. It is concluded that sex hormones play an important role in the induction of epoxide hydratase and glutathione S-transferase by methadone, but not of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase, at this particular dosage regime.     

Two new spider species of the genus Chrysso O. P.-Cambridge, 1882 (Araneae, Theridiidae) in Hainan Island, China

Two new spider species of the genus Chrysso O. P.-Cambridge, 1882 are reported from Hainan Island, China, Chrysso bifurcasp. n. (male, female) and Chrysso bicuspidatasp.n. (male, female). Chrysso bimaculata Yoshida, 1998is recorded from China for the first time.     

Mounting behavior and lordosis behavior in castrated male rats treated with testosterone propionate, or with estradiol benzoate or dihydrotestosterone in combination with testosterone propinonate.

Treatment of prepuberally castrated male rats with testosterone propionate (TP, 50, 200, 500, or 1000 μg for 30 days) in adulthood stimulated the display of both mounting behavior and lordosis behavior. No correlation between mounting and lordosis behavior could be detected at any TP dose level. Treatment of prepuberally castrated male rats with either 1 μg estradiol benzoate (EB) or 500 μg dihydrotestosterone (DHT) for 60 days stimulated the display of mounting behavior in three of eight and four of eight rats, respectively. Treatment with 200 μg TP for the last 30 days of rats receiving either EB or DHT for 60 days resulted in an abrupt onset on mounting behavior as compared to rats treated with oil for 60 days. These results show additive effects of EB or DHT and TP upon mounting behavior by male rats and are interpreted as a support for the suggestion that testosterone to estrogen as well as testosterone to DHT conversion may be involved in the mechanism whereby testosterone activates the mounting behavior of castrated rats.     

Zamia grijalvensis sp. nov. (Zamiaceae,Cycadales) from Chiapas,Mexico with notes on hybridization and karyology

Zamia grijalvensis, a new cycad species from Chiapas, México, is described and illustrated. This species is similar to Z. lacandona with respect to leaves, but differs in habit, morphology and colour of the female and male cones. The female cone of Z. grijalvensis is reddish brown to orange brown, whereas that of Z. lacandona is dark brown with lighter beige tomentum. The male cone of Z. grijalvensis is erect, whereas that of Z. lacandona is decumbent. The new species may be of natural hybrid origin and is discussed in the light of other findings among cycads. Preliminary diploid chromosome counts for Z. grijalvensis 2n = 19, 20 and karyotypes appear variable, as previously found in its congeners with wide distribution, such as Z. paucijuga and Z. prasina, both of which are characterised by high diploid numbers with a high number of telocentric and few metacentric chromosomes. These changes in chromosome number are probably the result of stressful environmental factors.     

Alterations in plasma concentrations of testosterone, LH, and prolactin associated with mating in the male rat.

The hormonal response of the male rat to sexual activity was investigated in two studies. In the first, no evidence of a chronic elevation in plasma levels of testosterone (T), LH, or prolactin (PRL) was observed in sexually experienced rats compared to naive controls. Both groups showed an acute increase in plasma levels of all three hormones following mating, but the increases shown by the experienced group were more pronounced. In the second study, plasma levels of T, LH and PRL rose in sexually experienced male rats following exposure to a mating arena whether it contained an estrous female, an anestrous female, or no other animal. However, the increases were considerably larger in the group exposed to estrous females. It is suggested that plasma hormones rise in anticipation of mating, although not to the same extent as following mating, and that the anticipatory rise may function to initiate or facilitate mating behavior.     

Copulatory behavior and fertility of male house musk shrews (Suncus murinus) paired with one, two and four females each.

In order to improve the productivity of house musk shrews, we investigated whether a male could impregnate more than one female within 24 h. Eighteen males and 40 females aged one year were used in this experiment. The mating systems were as follows: one male was paired with one female, one male was paired with two females, and one male was paired with four females. In the fertility rate, six out of 6, 4 of 12 and 4 of 20 females became pregnant and gave birth under three systems, respectively. In the copulatory behavior, numbers of intromissions and ejaculations were more in the 1:1 mating group as compared with the 1:2 and 1:4 groups. We conclude that it is possible for a male to impregnate about one female within 24 h.     

Pseudophysaloptera enigmatica sp. nov. (Nematoda: Physalopteridae) from Dactylopsila trivirgata Gray, 1858 (Marsupialia: Petauridae) in Australia, with a review of the genus

The nematode Pseudophysaloptera enigmatica sp. nov. is described from the stomach of Dactylopsila trivirgata Gray, 1858, in Queensland, Australia. The new species is distinguished from congeners by its size and features present on the tail of the male. P. enigmatica sp. nov. is considerably larger than virtually all congeners, and can be differentiated by the presence of spicules and the shape and distribution of caudal papillae in the male tail. This is the first record of the genus in Australia and in marsupials. A review of the genus is provided.     

Activities of glutathione-S-transferase and ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase in tissues of camels, sheep, goats and rats.

1. The activities of the drug metabolizing enzymes ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase, glutathione-S-transferase, and protein concentrations were measured in vitro in the liver, kidney and duodenal mucosa of camels, sheep, goats and rats. 2. Enzyme activities were generally higher in the liver than in the kidney and duodenal mucosa in the four species studied. 3. The activities of ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase and glutathione-S-transferase in liver of male kids were about one third and half of that in adult male goats, respectively. In the kidney and duodenal mucosa of male kids, the activity of glutathione-S-transferase was about 70% and 53% of that in the mature male goat, respectively. In the latter tissues, however, there was no detectable activity of ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase. 4. In general, goats and sheep had similar activities of the two enzymes which were significantly higher than those found in camels and rats. 5. Some sex-related differences were noted in the activity of the two enzymes studied. Female sheep had significantly higher hepatic glutathione-S-transferase than the male: while the enzyme activity in the kidney and duodenal mucosa of male goats was significantly higher than in females. Male rats had higher hepatic ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase activity than females.     

Spermatogonial stem cell transplantation, cryopreservation and culture.

Testis cells of a fertile male mouse can be transplanted to the seminiferous tubules of an infertile male, where the donor spermatogonial stem cells will establish spermatogenesis and produce spermatozoa that transmit the donor haplotype to progeny. In addition, stem cells can be cryopreserved for long periods, thereby making male germ lines immortal. Recently, mouse testis cells have been cultured for longer than 3 months and, following transplantation, produced spermatogenesis. These techniques are likely to be applicable to many species, since rat testis cells can be cryopreserved and generate spermatogenesis in the seminiferous tubules of immunodeficient mice.