免疫学走向荒野——浅说生态免疫学

200多年前,人们对免疫学还一无所知,英国詹纳医生就为人们接种牛痘从而成功地预防了天花。后来科学家逐渐阐明了免疫反应的重要机理,而时至今日,多数研究免疫的科学家仍然夜以继日地待在实验室里研究那些未被发现的信号通路和免疫机理,以及免疫系统在自然中的实际效力。     

鱼类免疫学研究进展

鱼类免疫学研究进展李亚南,陈全震,邵健忠,毛树坚王冀平（杭州大学生物与技术系杭州３１００１２）（浙江省测试技术研究所杭州３１００１２）关键词鱼类,免疫学,进展ＡＤＶＡＮＣＥＳＩＮＲＥＳＥＡＲＣＨＯＦＦＩＳＨＩＭＭＵＮＯＬＯＧＹ￥Ｋｅｙｗｏｒｄｓ：Ｆｉ...     

松鸦的繁殖生态

在安徽合肥紫蓬山区,对松鸦的繁殖生态进行了观察,并研究了雏鸟的生长发育特征。结果表明,松鸦4月初开始营巢,巢筑在阔叶树或针叶树主干顶端枝杈处,巢呈碗状,由细树枝、须根、苔藓和草编织而成。4月中下旬开始产卵,平均每窝产5枚卵,孵化期16－17d,育雏期19d。体重、嘴峰、翅、跗跖、尾、飞羽及飞羽羽缨等形态学参数适合用Logistic曲线方程拟合,对应的拟合方程分别为：W＝120／[1 e^-0.329(t-8.1)]、L=23/[1 e^-0.2011(t-4.5)]、L=107/[1 e^-0.334(t-9.1)]、L=40/[1 e^-0.293(t-4.5)]、L=49/[1 e^-0.377(t-13.7)]、L=76/[1 e^-0.462(t-12.4)]、L=49/[1 e^-0.544(t-17.8)]。曲线的增长率和拐点的参数分析表明,与飞行密切相关的器官在雏鸟发育的后期仍有较大程度的增长,而与取食相关的器官在雏鸟早期就有较大程度的发育。     

灰喜鹊的繁殖生态和巢位选择：Ⅱ.巢位选择

灰喜鹊在吉林省梅河口市海龙水库地区是常见的留鸟。利用灰喜鹊防治森林虫害已经取得了一定的效果［１～３］,但对灰喜鹊的繁殖习性,生态规律及食性的研究还尚少［４～７］,对灰喜鹊巢位选择的研究亦属空白。因此,本文在吉林省环保局“梅河口市海龙水库水源涵养林保护...     

巨细胞病毒的免疫学研究进展

巨细胞病毒（ＣＭＶ）感染可引起机体的免疫功能降低，特别是细胞免疫。本文综述了ＣＭＶ对胸腺发育，对脾细胞、单核巨噬细胞、ＮＫ细胞、ＣＴＬ细胞的免疫调节、效应功能的影响。     

生态补偿权衡关系研究进展

生态补偿是以市场机制解决环境外部性问题的方法,其典型特征是通过经济激励而实现生态系统保护和减贫的双赢,因此在世界范围内得到了广泛实施。权衡关系是生态补偿理论和实践中面临的问题和困境之一。生态补偿存在4种权衡关系:生态系统服务之间的权衡、监测成本与交易成本之间的权衡、公平与效率之间的权衡以及生态系统服务供应与减贫之间的权衡。分析了权衡关系的产生源于生态系统服务产生过程的不确定性、自然和社会经济系统的耦合性以及生态补偿实施背景的异质性,并提出应该在理论基础、实践模式和评估系统3个方面加强权衡关系的研究。     

2010年来黄土高原景观生态研究进展

严重的水土流失以及不合理的土地利用加剧了黄土高原土地资源的退化,导致该地区生态环境脆弱、生态系统服务不断下降。针对黄土高原地区存在的问题,我国学者基于景观生态学原理和方法,围绕"景观格局演变-驱动机制-水土流失过程-生态系统服务"的框架开展了大量研究,取得了一系列研究成果。通过梳理和总结2010年以来黄土高原地区景观生态学研究的现状和特点,指出了目前研究中存在的问题和不足,突出表现在区域比较研究、景观格局与生态过程耦合研究、生态服务权衡方法和模型构建等方面比较缺乏。建议未来黄土高原的景观生态学研究应加强区域尺度上的综合研究和不同地区之间的比较研究,深化景观格局演变的形成机理;进一步开展景观格局与过程的定量识别方法学研究,开发格局-过程耦合模型;加强生态系统过程与服务研究,同时开展相应的实证性研究,研发适宜的生态服务权衡模型,进而深入探讨区域生态系统服务的权衡机制。     

粘孢子虫免疫学研究进展

粘孢子虫(Myxosporean)除少数种类寄生在蠕虫、两栖类和爬行类外1,绝大部分寄生于鱼类(包括海水鱼类和淡水鱼类),可以说粘孢子虫是鱼类特有的一类寄生原生动物       

Sexual dimorphism in immunocompetence: what does life-history theory predict?

Sexual dimorphism in immunocompetence, usually in the directionof inferior male immunocompetence, has historically been explainedas the result of proximate physiological mechanisms such asthe immunosuppressive effects of the male hormone testosterone.More recently, it has been argued that this pattern is bestunderstood as a result of resource-based trade-offs betweenmale mating effort and immune defense, a trade-off that femalesdo not make. The central prediction of this hypothesis is thatas the strength of sexual selection on males increases, themagnitude of the sex differences in immunocompetence will increase.Two implicit assumptions of this argument are that 1) longevityis of more importance for female than for male fitness and 2)that the primary benefit of immunocompetence is increased longevity.However, both of these assumptions may not be as broadly applicableas has been argued. We have modeled the optimal allocation toimmunocompetence for males and females without making theseassumptions. We find that the optimal allocation to immune defensefor males decreases as the strength of sexual selection increases,as predicted. However, males may still invest more, relativeto females, into immunocompetence if the impact of parasiteson condition differs for the sexes and/or if the relationshipbetween condition and reproduction differs for the sexes. Weargue that these previously overlooked assumptions may be criticalfor predicting sex-specific patterns of immunocompetence.     

Experimental evolution reveals differences between phenotypic and evolutionary responses to population density

Group living can select for increased immunity, given the heightened risk of parasite transmission. Yet, it also may select for increased male reproductive investment, given the elevated risk of female multiple mating. Trade‐offs between immunity and reproduction are well documented. Phenotypically, population density mediates both reproductive investment and immune function in the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella. However, the evolutionary response of populations to these traits is unknown. We created two replicated populations of P. interpunctella, reared and mated for 14 generations under high or low population densities. These population densities cause plastic responses in immunity and reproduction: at higher numbers, both sexes invest more in one index of immunity [phenoloxidase (PO) activity] and males invest more in sperm. Interestingly, our data revealed divergence in PO and reproduction in a different direction to previously reported phenotypic responses. Males evolving at low population densities transferred more sperm, and both males and females displayed higher PO than individuals at high population densities. These positively correlated responses to selection suggest no apparent evolutionary trade‐off between immunity and reproduction. We speculate that the reduced PO activity and sperm investment when evolving under high population density may be due to the reduced population fitness predicted under increased sexual conflict and/or to trade‐offs between pre‐ and post‐copulatory traits.     

Ecological immunology: life history trade-offs and immune defense in birds

There has been considerable recent interest in the effects oflife-history decisions on immunocompetence in birds. If immunocompetenceis limited by available resources, then trade-offs between investmentin life-history components and investment in immunocompetencecould be important in determining optimal life-history traits.For this to be true: (1) immunocompetence must be limited byresources, (2) investment in life-history components must benegatively correlated with immunocompetence, and (3) immunocompetencemust be positively correlated with fitness. To gather such empiricaldata, ecologists need to be able to measure immunocompetence.We review techniques used to measure immunocompetence and howthey are applied by ecologists. We also consider the componentsof the immune system that constitute immunocompetence and evaluatethe possible consequences of measuring immunocompetence in differentways. We then review the empirical evidence for life-historytrade-offs involving immune defense. We conclude that thereis some evidence suggesting that immunocompetence is limitedby resources and that investment in certain life-history componentsreduces immunocompetence. However, the evidence that immunocompetenceis related to fitness is circumstantial at present, althoughconsistent with the hypothesis that immunocompetence and fitnessare positively correlated. We argue that future work needs toexamine the fitness effects of variation in immunocompetenceand suggest that artificial selection experiments offer a potentiallyimportant tool for addressing this issue.     

Host tolerance and resistance to parasitic nest flies differs between two wild bird species

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Ecological immunology in a fluctuating environment: an integrative analysis of tree swallow nestling immune defense

Evolutionary ecologists have long been interested by the link between different immune defenses and fitness. Given the importance of a proper immune defense for survival, it is important to understand how its numerous components are affected by environmental heterogeneity. Previous studies targeting this question have rarely considered more than two immune markers. In this study, we measured seven immune markers (response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), hemolysis capacity, hemagglutination capacity, plasma bactericidal capacity, percentage of lymphocytes, percentage of heterophils, and percentage of eosinophils) in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings raised in two types of agro‐ecosystems of contrasted quality and over 2 years. First, we assessed the effect of environmental heterogeneity (spatial and temporal) on the strength and direction of correlations between immune measures. Second, we investigated the effect of an immune score integrating information from several immune markers on individual performance (including growth, mass at fledging and parasite burden). Both a multivariate and a pair‐wise approach showed variation in relationships between immune measures across years and habitats. We also found a weak association between the integrated score of nestling immune function and individual performance, but only under certain environmental conditions. We conclude that the ecological context can strongly affect the interpretation of immune defenses in the wild. Given that spatiotemporal variations are likely to affect individual immune defenses, great caution should be used when generalizing conclusions to other study systems.     

Contrasting patterns of sexually selected traits in Mediterranean and continental populations of European mouflon

The expression of sexually selected traits in highly dimorphic ungulates may be influenced by environmental quality. Variations in habitat conditions can impose different constraints on the allocation of energy resources to male life‐history traits, and possibly alter the female preferences for specific features. Here, we compared the horn growth patterns in male European mouflon Ovis aries musimon living in different habitats (Mediterranean vs. continental) but sharing a common genetic origin. We hypothesized that the expression of sexually selected traits such as horn development should be promoted in more favorable habitat conditions (i.e., Mediterranean). Using linear mixed models on data retrieved from individuals harvested under the same hunting regime, we found longer horns and greater individual variance in horn segment length in the Mediterranean population than in the continental one. Furthermore, Mediterranean rams showed no evidence of compensatory horn growth, as opposed to the continental rams. Unexpectedly, horn base circumference was greater in the continental habitat than in the Mediterranean one. The overall results suggest different patterns of investment in horns in the two populations, with seemingly stronger pressure and consequences of sexual selection on mouflon rams living in more favorable environments. Although the role of hunters' selectivity cannot be excluded a priori, our data suggest that the differences in the expression of sexually selected traits in our study populations may be influenced by environmental conditions. Because sexual selection can impose substantial fitness costs on individuals, further investigations on the trade‐offs between reproduction and survival would improve our understanding of the dynamics of mouflon populations living in different environmental conditions.     

Context-dependent expression of sperm quality in the fruitfly

In most species, females mate multiply within a reproductive cycle, invoking post-copulatory selection on ejaculatory components. Much research has focused on disentangling the key traits important in deciding the outcomes of sperm competition and investigating patterns of covariance among these traits. Less attention has focused on the degree to which such patterns might be context-dependent. Here, we examine whether the expression of sperm viability—a widely used measure of sperm quality—and patterns of covariance between this trait and male reproductive morphologies, change across distinct age classes and across naturally occurring genotypes, when expressed in both heterozygotic (extreme outbred) and homozygotic (extreme inbred) states in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. Older males, and heterozygous males, generally exhibited higher sperm viability. The male age effect seems at least partly explained by a positive association between sperm numbers and viability. First, old males possessed more stored sperm than young males, and second, sperm numbers and viability were also positively associated within each age class. Furthermore, we found a positive association between sperm viability and testis size, but only among heterozygous, old males. These results suggest that sperm quality is a labile trait, with expression levels that are context-dependent and shaped by multiple, potentially interacting, factors.     

植物雌配子体发育研究进展

高等植物雌配子体的形成涉及孢原细胞和大孢子母细胞的确立与分化、大孢子发生、功能大孢子以及胚囊的形成和发育等多种复杂调控过程。随着当代生物技术及功能基因组学的发展,近年对雌配子体发育的研究已从细胞学描述逐渐过渡到对基因和发育调控分子机理的探索。以拟南芥、水稻和玉米等模式植物为材料进行的相关研究,丰富了人们对于植物雌配子体和其它有性生殖过程遗传调控机理的认识。本文着重阐述了植物雌配子体发生和发育过程,并综述了这一领域最新研究进展。