Gene flow among Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) populations in Greece

Polymorphism of four enzymatic loci has been examined in 27 populations of Tetranychus urticae in relation to their geographical distribution and to two ecological parameters: open field vs. greenhouse habitats, and species of the colonized host plant. Genetic differentiation was significantly correlated to geographical distance in both types of habitat. Mite density and distribution of infested plants appear to be important factors for the population structure of T. urticae . In open field, T. urticae specimens from citrus trees were genetically more similar to other 'citrus' samples collected in different localities than they were from mites collected in the same locality on other plant species.     

Rapid Evolution of the Intergenic T–P Spacer in the mtDNA of Arctic Cod <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arctogadus glacialis</Emphasis>

A noncoding intergenic spacer has previously been reported in mtDNA of Gadiformes. Here we present sequence information from two other cod species and variation within three species to clarify the evolution of this region. A general feature of the T–P spacer is high variation and folding into two or three hairpins. The variation among species both in structure of the region and sequence variation reflects the phylogenetic relationship of the species. A unique pattern is found within Arctic cod, Arctogadus glacialis, in which tandem repeat motifs result in new stable secondary structures. There is large variation in size of the region both within (heteroplasmy) and among individuals. A duplicated insertion is found in Greenland cod, Gadus ogac, at the same position as a corresponding duplication in Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua.     

蛾类昆虫雄性信息素及其功能

昆虫性信息素是两性通讯系统的基础,其中雄性信息素的研究相对较少。本文综述了蛾类昆虫雄性信息素的研究进展。迄今已鉴定出40余种蛾类昆虫的雄性信息素,其行为学功能主要有对雌性的引诱和激欲、对同种雄性的抑制及种间隔离等。     

Genetic heterogeneity in internal transcribed spacer genes of Balantidium coli (Litostomatea, Ciliophora)

The species Balantidium coli is the only ciliate that parasitizes humans. It has been described in other primates, and it has been proposed that the species B. suis from pigs and B. struthionis from ostriches are synonyms of B. coli. Previous genetic analysis of pig and ostrich Balantidium isolates found a genetic polymorphism in the ITS region but its taxonomic relevance was not established. We have extended the genetic analysis to Balantidium isolates of pig, gorilla, human and ostrich origin. We have PCR-amplified and sequenced the ITS region of individual Balantidium cells. The predicted ITS secondary structures of the sequences obtained were transferred by homology modelling to the sequences of other Trichostomatia ciliates (Isotricha, Troglodytella, Lacrymaria and Spathidium) and compared to determine the importance of the differences in the primary sequences. The results show that the ITS2 secondary structure of the species considered follows the general pattern of other ciliates, although with some deviations. There are at least two main types of ITS sequence variants in B. coli which could be present in the same cell and they are common to the mammal and avian hosts studied. These data do not support B. suis and B. struthionis as distinct species.     

沙拐枣属植物同化枝和子叶的解剖学研究

采用石蜡切片技术,对相同生境下的戈壁沙拐枣、柴达木沙拐枣和英吉沙沙拐枣的子叶,及中国特有种柴达木沙拐枣、塔里木沙拐枣、阿拉善沙拐枣和英吉沙沙拐枣同化枝的横切面解剖结构进行观察研究.结果显示:(1)3种沙拐枣子叶均为全栅等面叶;表皮为单层细胞,上下表皮均分布气孔,栅栏组织以内为一圈连续排列的维管束鞘细胞;中脉和小叶脉排列近似M型,包埋于薄壁细胞中.(2)塔里木沙拐枣同化枝的保护组织、栅栏组织较发达,英吉沙沙拐枣同化枝机械组织和输导组织较为发达,阿拉善沙拐枣同化枝的栅栏组织较为发达,相比较柴达木沙拐枣同化枝的保护组织、机械组织和输导组织最不发达.(3)柴达木沙拐枣和英吉沙沙拐枣中子叶与同化枝的横切面各组织分布相似,主要差异为横切面形状、维管束排列方式和机械组织发达程度.研究表明,子叶与同化枝的解剖结构是该属植物在干旱环境下长期适应的结果,解剖结构的差异体现了种间、器官间对相同环境的不同适应策略.     

Adaptive significance of amylase polymorphism in Drosophila XIII. Old World obscura species subgroup divergence according to biochemical properties of alpha-amylase

Biochemical properties of enzyme alpha-amylase were surveyed in Drosophila obscura Old world group of species (D. subobscura, D. ambigua, D. obscura and D. tristis) sampled in the same habitat, with the aim to reveal some ecological and evolutionary aspects of amylase polymorphism, which has been studied extensively in D. subobscura, but not compared with other species in the group. The data obtained show that D. subobscura is distinct from the other three species regarding all biochemical amylase properties. Such a divergence also correlates with the niche breadth and relative abundance of these species in the same habitat.     

Multiple species effects and spatial autocorrelation in detecting species associations

Abstract. The traditional approach to the analysis of species association within a community, based upon co-occurrence in sampling units such as quadrats, has been to test all pairs of species, using a 2 × 2 contingency table for each pair. It has long been recognised that all these tests are not independent of each other, but there is an additional problem in that the association between any particular pair may depend on the combination of the other species that are present or on the environmental factors that determine that combination. We use a 2^k contingency table to examine this problem and find that pairwise associations are not independent of the other species. The second problem that we consider is the effect of spatial autocorrelation in the data which makes the statistical tests too liberal. In the absence of a derived solution for a deflation factor to correct the test statistic calculated from a 2^k table, we describe a Monte Carlo approach that provides an approximate solution to this problem. In our data the amount of deflation that is necessary for a 2^k table is small compared to the amount required for the 2 × 2 tables used to test pairwise association.     

The number of species of rodent coccidia and of other protozoa

About 447 species of coccidia have been named from the 1687 living, known species of rodents; 207 host species, 92 host genera, and 15 host families are represented; this is about 12% of the known species of rodents. About 4600 species of apicomplexan protozoa have been named. Assuming that the same proportion of the total number of apicomplexan species has been named as of the coccidian species, there must actually be about 38,333 species of apicomplexan protozoa. There are 5.4 times as many protozoan genera as of apicomplexan genera. Assuming that the number of species in each genus is the same for all the protozoa as it is for the Apicomplexa, there may actually be 206,998 species of protozoa. This may be too conservative an estimate. Based on other criteria, an estimate of over 20 million species could be made.     

多核织毛虫─新种,无性生殖周期中的形态及形态发生

本新种的典型特征为:表膜较薄但不弯曲,无表膜下颗粒;区别于该属其它种的最突出特点是具有多个大核(5.4±1.4);背触毛6列,在第3-4列之间具有一些额外散在的背触毛.口围由42.3±2.2片小膜组成;额、腹、横、尾棘毛恒为:5:5:3结构;本新种的形态发生结果与该属其它种类相同,6列新背触毛原基分别来源于背部的3列老背触毛和腹部的老右缘棘毛,在第3及第4列新背触毛列之间可见新出现并散在的几根背触毛.       

Genetic Variability and Taxonomical Considerations about Six Species of European Cardueline Finches (Aves, Passeriformes)

Electrophoretic patterns of seven enzyme systems and two nonenzymatic proteins, albumin and haemoglobin, representing 13 loci, have been investigated in six species of cardueline finches with Palearctic distribution. A new locus, SOD-3, has been characterized in this subfamily. The two nonenzymatic proteins turned out to be the best genetic markers. From the analysis of the genetic distances it emerges that the mean values between species are higher than those reported for other groups of birds. However, the same results were obtained for other species of the same subfamily native to North America. In both cases this result is probably due to a classification that disagrees with the real cardueline phylogeny. In the present study, the attribution of the Greenfinch to the genus Carduelis raises the mean value of distance between species.     

Assessment of the preimaginal stages of the ticks collected from small mammals in Western and Northern Caucasus (Acari: Ixodidae)

The exact identification of the preimaginal stages of the ticks collected from small mammals in Western and Northern Caucasus as a result of ten-year route investigations allowed us to obtain new data on the geographic ranges, altitude and biotopic preferences, and host-parasite relations of 11 species. A wide range of the joint occurrence (in the same locality, on the same host species, on the same host individual) is recorded for the first time for 10 species. The cohabitation of the each of 10 species with other 2-9 species has been found. The number of the cases of joint occurrence of different ixodid species on the same host individual is proportionate to the collection period in one locality. The cohabitation did not observed only for the species Ixodes ghilarovi, a high mountain ixodid species, which is for the first time recorded in 7 localities of Northern and Western Caucasus.     

Microsatellite analysis of genetic diversity and population structure of Chinese mitten crab （Eriocheir sinensis）

Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) has higher commercial value as food source than any other species of Eriocheir in China.To evaluate the germplasm resources and characterize the genetic diversity and population structure of the crabs in different water systems,two stocks and two farming populations were assessed with 25 polymorphic microsallite loci available in public GenBank.Basic statistics showed that the average observed heterozygosity (Ho) amongst populations ranged from 0.5789 to 0.6824.However,a remarkable presence of inbreeding and heterozygote deficiencies were observed.To analyze population structure,pairwise FST coefficients explained only ～10.3% variability from the subdivision of mitten crab populations,the remaining variability stems from the subdivision within subpopulations.Although the four populations had slight differentiation,different allelic frequencies resulted in distinct population structures.Two stocks and one farming population were clustered together to the phylogenetic branch of Yangtze crab,with an approximate membership of 95%.Whereas,another fanning population was clustered singly to the phylogenetic branch of the Liaohe crab,with a membership of 97.1%.The tests for individual admixture showed that Yangtze crab had probably been contaminated with individuals from other water systems.Genetic relationships between populations also supported the conclusion that Yangtze crab and Liaohe crab had different gene pools in spite of the origins of the same species.     

西双版纳片断热带雨林30多年来植物种类组成及种群结构的变化

通过对西双版纳景洪曼仰广的“龙山”片断热带雨雨林30年前后植物区系组成和样方调查资料的对比研究,探讨了30年来该“龙山”片断热带雨林植物区系组成、生活型及群落生态成分和乔木树种的种群变化规律。在植物区系组成上,已确认有种子植物7科53属55种从该片断雨林中消失。在消失的这55种植物中,属于群落顶级成分的有18种,属于耐阴的林下和层间植物有30种,喜阳种类有2种,广生态幅的随遇种有5种。初步得出该龙山热带雨林随着30多年的片断化,8．8％的科,26．8％的属和22．4％的种类消失或被后来的成分替换了。在生活型及群落生态成分变化上,群落中小高位芽及一年生植物相对增加,阳性植物明显增加,阴生（耐阴）植物明显减少,亦即雨林固有成分减少,非雨林成分增加。在乔木树种的种群变化上,过去该片断雨林的优势成份,绝大多数现在仍存在,多数仍在优势种之列,少数优势种衰退了,少数变得更优势。首先消失的种类,或为先锋树种（短命）或为种群数量很少的树种。     

Resolution of the structural isomers of partially methylesterified oligogalacturonides by polysaccharide analysis using carbohydrate gel electrophoresis

Pectins differing in their degree and pattern of methylesterification are important in diverse aspects of plant physiology and also in many industrial applications. Determination of methylesterification fine structure and knowledge of enzyme specificities in modification and fragmentation of pectin are key to understanding the relationship between structure and function. The development of methodologies for the detection, separation and sequencing of different partially methylesterified oligogalacturonides (Me-OGAs) is consequently very important. Polysaccharide analysis using carbohydrate gel electrophoresis (PACE) has been shown to be powerful for the quantitative resolution of species different in degree of polymerization (DP) and/or degree of methylesterification (DM). Mass spectrometry (MS) has, to date, been the only tool with which to obtain isomeric information. However, it is not quantitative, and the presence of isobaric species makes the interpretation of the fragmentation patterns complicated. Here, we present evidence that Me-OGAs with the same DP and DM but different patterns of methylesterification (structural isomers) can easily be separated and quantified using PACE.     

基于相邻木排列关系的混交度研究

混交度是反映森林群落中树种相互隔离状况的一个重要指标,目前已提出多种混交度指数.Mg考虑了对象木与最近相邻木的树种异同,Mv和Ms进一步考虑了最近相邻木(空间结构单元)树种数,但仍不能准确描述树种隔离程度.基于相邻木排列关系的混交度Mp,利用“1+4”结构的17个不同空间结构单元和天目山常绿阔叶林数据对Mg、Mv、Ms和Mp4个混交度进行了比较分析.结果表明:Mp的区分能力最强,Mv和Ms次之,Mg最差.Mp最适用于分析混交结构复杂的林分.在天目山常绿阔叶林分析中,混交度水平为中度,4个最近邻体中有2个相同种顺序排列的空间结构单元个数明显多于交错排列的个数.基于相邻木排列关系的混交度Mp能准确区分树种隔离程度,提高了混交度的区分度,可反映森林实际混交状况.     

Brandtia ciliaticola gen. et sp. nov. (Chlorellaceae,Trebouxiophyceae) a common symbiotic green coccoid of various ciliate species

Many freshwater protists harbor unicellular green algae within their cells and these host‐symbiont relationships slowly are becoming better understood. Recently, we reported that several ciliate species shared a single species of symbiotic algae. Nonetheless, the algae from different host ciliates were each distinguishable by their different genotypes, and these host‐algal genotype combinations remained unchanged throughout a 15‐month period of sampling from natural populations. The same algal species had been reported as the shared symbiont of several ciliates from a remote lake. Consequently, this alga appears to play a key role in ciliate‐algae symbioses. In the present study, we successfully isolated the algae from ciliate cells and established unialgal cultures. This species is herein named Brandtia ciliaticola gen. et sp. nov. and has typical ‘Chlorella‐like’ morphology, being a spherical autosporic coccoid with a single chloroplast containing a pyrenoid. The alga belongs to the Chlorella‐clade in Chlorellaceae (Trebouxiophyceae), but it is not strongly connected to any of the other genera in this group. In addition to this phylogenetic distinctiveness, a unique compensatory base change in the SSU rRNA gene is decisive in distinguishing this genus. Sequences of SSU‐ITS (internal transcribed spacer) rDNA for each isolate were compared to those obtained previously from the same host ciliate. Consistent algal genotypes were recovered from each host, which strongly suggests that B. ciliaticola has established a persistent symbiosis in each ciliate species.     

Aminotripeptidase (EC E.4.1.3) activity in the digestive system of some teleost fishes.

Aminotripeptidase (EC 3.4.1.3) has been found to be present in the intestinal mucosa, hepatopancreas and the pyloric caeca of the three fished examined. The pH optimum of the enzyme ranges from 6.6 to 7.6. The pH optimum varies from species to species and also from section to section of the gut in the same species. The enzyme is most active in the carnivorous Channa gachua in comparison to the other fishes studied.     

Further observations on Potamodiscus Gerloff =Pinaciophora Greeff, with special reference to Alaska and arctic Canada

Pinaciophora spiculata sp. nov. is described on the basis of two complete periplasts collected in arctic Canada at—l°C in 1973. One has been tested for silicon by means of X-ray microanalysis with strongly positive results. The species possesses dimorphic scales, the spicular scales and exceptionally small plate-scales being equally diagnostic. The circumstances under which the name has already appeared in the literature are explained. In addition, the known ranges of two other taxa are extended by broken periplasts recovered from other arctic or subarctic areas, notably P. denticulata Thomsen (plate scales only) formerly known from Peru and now from South Alaska (at Homer) while the type species of the genus ( Poturnodiscus kalbei Gerloff 1968= Pinaciophora fluivatilis Greeff 1875) is demonstrated both from South Alaska and from beneath sea ice in North Alaska, in both localities possibly introduced into the sea by freshwater drainage.     

How an ant decides to prey on or to attend aphids

The following results on the behavior decision making of the antLasius niger toward two species of myrmecophilous aphidsLachnus tropicalis andMyzocallis kuricola on chestnut trees have been found. (1) An individual worker consistently attended only one aphid species, even if her nestmates attended other aphid species on the same tree. (2) The ants preyed less on the aphid species which they attended than on other myrmecophilous aphid species. (3) The ants preyed less on the aphids which had been attended by their nestmates, even if both aphids were the same species. (4) The ants preyed less on aphids which had provided honeydew to their nestmates. (5) The increased aphid density per ant led to an increase in the rate of predation on the introduced aphids by the ants. These results suggest that each worker ofL. niger chooses aphid species to attend from her experience. In addition, the workers can recognize whether an aphid has been attended by their nestmates and whether an aphid has given their nestmates honeydew. Through these processes, each worker decides to attend or to prey on the aphid. As a result, they may realize efficient collective foraging dependent on aphid density per worker.