PATTERN DETERMINATION OF THE EXINE IN CAESALPINIA JAPONICA (LEGUMINOSAE: CAESALPINIOIDEAE)

Exine development in Caesalpinia japonica Sieb. et Zucc. (Leguminosae) was studied by a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) using a freeze-fracture method, with special attention to the initial process of exine pattern formation. The present study confirmed that the exine pattern is determined by the plasma membrane of microspores enclosed in the callose wall at the early tetrad stage. The plasma membrane, exclusive of the future apertures, invaginates and takes the form of a reticulate pattern. The reticulate pattern corresponds to the mature exine ornamentation. Protectum is the first to be laid down on the reticulate patterned plasma membrane. Probacules are initiated under the protectum and elongate basally on protruding sites of the plasma membrane. Primexine matrix is formed in coincidence with the probacules. After the protectum and probacules are completed within the callose wall, the invaginating plasma membrane becomes smooth. After the dissolution of the callose wall, endexine is organized by the accumulation of lamellated structures, and a foot layer is formed by the deposition of nonlamellated components on the developing endexine.     

THE NATURE OF THREADLIKE STRUCTURES AND OTHER MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS IN JACQUESHUBERIA POLLEN (LEGUMINOSAE: CAESALPINIOIDEAE)

Threadlike structures were observed on many pollen grains of Jacqueshuberia amplifoliola, J. purpurea, and J. quinquangulata of the Leguminosae/Caesalpinioideae. Each end was attached to the highly reticulate polar exine surface of different grains. The consistency of this observation, hence, the absence of free thread ends, is interpreted to mean that they should be considered as either exine bridges or exinial connections rather than viscin threads, although, most likely functionally homologous to viscin threads. Other significant morphological characters were the tricolporate apertures and strikingly lamellate foot layer and endexine.     

STOMATA ON SEEDS AND FRUITS OF BAUHINIA (LEGUMINOSAE: CAESALPINIOIDEAE)

Seeds of 45 species of Bauhinia (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) were studied by scanning electron microscopy. Seeds of eight species have stomata which are mostly normal in appearance but lack subsidiary cells and are slightly recessed. Varying degrees of distortion or obscuring cuticular deposits were found in some species. This is the first unambiguous report of stomata on seeds of Leguminosae. Fruits of two of the eight species were also examined. Raised stomata with conspicuous subsidiary cells were found only on the outer pericarp surface.     

CAESALPINIA SUBGENUS MEZONEURON (LEGUMINOSAE,CAESALPINIOIDEAE) FROM THE TERTIARY OF NORTH AMERICA

Legume fruits from the Eocene of Tennessee and Wyoming and the Miocene of Idaho are described and assigned to Caesalpinia subgenus Mezoneuron (Caesalpinioideae), an extant Paleotropical taxon that does not occur in North or South America today. Morphological and anatomical details of the fruits are used in evaluating their systematic relationships. The features of the fossil fruits are accommodated only within this extant subgenus. These fossils represent the only reliable known occurrence of C. subgenus Mezoneuron in the paleobotanical record. These fossils suggest that subgenus Mezoneuron was distinct from subgenus Caesalpinia by the Middle Eocene. Further, they document the widespread occurrence of this currently Paleotropical group for at least 30 million years in North America.     

THE SENSORY BASIS OF SEXUAL SELECTION FOR COMPLEX CALLS IN THE TÚNGARA FROG,PHYSALAEMUS PUSTULOSUS (SEXUAL SELECTION FOR SENSORY EXPLOITATION)

Male túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus) vocalize to attract females, and enhance the attractiveness of their simple, whine-only call by adding chucks to produce complex calls. Complex calls contain more total energy and are of longer duration. By virtue of the greater frequency range of the chuck, complex calls also simultaneously stimulate both the amphibian papilla and the basilar papilla of the frog's inner ear. Female phonotaxis experiments using synthetic stimuli demonstrate that an increase in the call's acoustic energy is not sufficient to account for the enhanced attractiveness of the complex call. However, the stimulation of either or both of the female's sound-sensitive inner-ear organs is sufficient to elicit her preference. We suggest that the female's sensory system generates selection that equally favors at least three evolutionary alternatives for enhancing call attractiveness and that historical constraints imposed by the male's morphology determined which of the alternatives was more likely to evolve. These data are consistent with our hypothesis of sensory exploitation, which states that selection favors those traits that elicit greater stimulation from the female's sensory system and which emphasizes the nonadaptive nature of female preference.     

THE HERITABLE BASIS OF VARIATION IN LARVAL DEVELOPMENTAL PATTERNS WITHIN POPULATIONS OF THE WOOD FROG (RANA SYLVATICA)

This study compares the heritable basis of variation in larval developmental patterns of mountain and lowland populations of the wood frog, Rana sylvatica. Additive genetic variances, heritabilities, and genetic correlations for larval developmental time and size at metamorphosis are estimated from half-sib and full-sib crosses. Considerable additive-genetic variances and high heritabilities are revealed for developmental time in both the mountain and the lowland population. There was a high level of additive-genetic variance and high heritability for body size at metamorphosis in the mountain population, but these were very low in the lowland population. The genetic correlations between developmental rate and larval body size are negative for the mountain population and near zero for the lowland population. It is argued that the differences in genetic structure between these two populations reflect differences in the selective regimes of their respective environments.     

SUBEPIDERMAL AIR SPACES: BASIS FOR THE PHENOTYPIC EXPRESSION OF THE ARGENTEUM MUTANT OF PISUM

The Argenteum (Arg) mutant of pea is characterized by a gray-green, silvery cast of the leaves and stipules. Light and electron microscopy showed that the nature of the silvery cast was due to extensive intercellular air space between the epidermis and palisade parenchyma. Adaxial epidermal strips from mutant leaves were free of palisade cell wall fragments, whereas similar strips from normal leaves had remnants of the torn palisade cells attached to the epidermal cell walls. The periphery of the epidermal-palisade cell wall interfaces showed a more electron-opaque middle lamella in the normal leaves than in the Arg mutant leaves.     

THE GENETIC BASIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL STABILITY IN APIS MELLIFERA: HETEROZYGOSITY VERSUS GENIC BALANCE

The genetic basis for developmental stability in the haplo-diploid honeybee Apis mellifera was determined by comparing the level of asymmetry between diploid females and haploid males both among and within inbreeding levels. There was no significant relationship between the level of inbreeding and the level of fluctuating asymmetry for both females and males. It is therefore argued that the general level of genomic heterozygosity is not an important factor for the determination and maintenance of developmental stability in this system, but rather that the balance of genes within chromosomes plays the major role. The observation that males were generally more asymmetric than females suggests that developmental stability in females may also be influenced by additional factors such as gene dosage, sex-limited genes or cytoplasmic elements.     

FLORAL DEVELOPMENT IN CAESALPINIA (LEGUMINOSAE)

Utilizing scanning electron microscopy, we studied the early floral ontogeny of three species of Caesalpinia (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae): C. cassioides, C. pulcherrima, and C. vesicaria. Interspecific differences among the three are minor at early and middle stages of floral development. Members of the calyx, corolla, first stamen whorl, and second stamen whorl appear in acropetal order, except that the carpel is present before appearance of the last three inner stamens. Sepals are formed in generally unidirectional succession, beginning with one on the abaxial side next to the subtending bracts, followed by the two lateral sepals and adaxial sepal, then lastly the other adaxial sepal. In one flower of C. vesicaria, sepals were helically initiated. In the calyx, the first-initiated sepal maintains a size advantage over the other four sepals and eventually becomes cucullate, enveloping the remaining parts of the flower. The cucullate abaxial sepal is found in the majority of species of the genus Caesalpinia. Petals, outer stamens, and inner stamens are formed unidirectionally in each whorl from the abaxial to the adaxial sides of the flower. Abaxial stamens are present before the last petals are visible as mounds on the adaxial side, so that the floral apex is engaged in initiation of different categories of floral organs at the same time.     

THE EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS AND DEVELOPMENTAL BASIS OF WING PATTERN VARIATION IN THE BUTTERFLY BICYCLUS ANYNANA

We have studied interactions between developmental processes and genetic variation for the eyespot color pattern on the adult dorsal forewing of the nymphalid butterfly, Bicyclus anynana. Truncation selection was applied in both an upward and a downward direction to the size of a single eyespot consisting of rings with wing scales of differing color pigments. High heritabilities resulted in rapid responses to selection yielding divergent lines with very large or very small eyespots. Strong correlated responses occurred in most of the other eyespots on each wing surface. The cells at the center of a presumptive eyespot (the “focus”) act in the early pupal stage to establish the adult wing pattern. The developmental fate of the scale cells within an eyespot is specified by the “signaling” properties of the focus and the “response” thresholds of the epidermis. The individual eyespots can be envisaged as developmental homologues. Grafting experiments performed with the eyespot foci of the selected lines showed that additive genetic variance exists for both the response and, in particular, the signaling components of the developmental system. The results are discussed in the context of how constraints on the evolution of this wing pattern may be related to the developmental organization.     

EVIDENCE FOR SEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN THE PRIMITIVE GREEN ALGA NEPHROSELMIS OLIVACEA (PRASINOPHYCEAE)1

Evidence for a specialized sexual process in Nephroselmis olivacea Stein is presented. This alga is a member of the Prasinophyceae, which is regarded by some as the most primitive Class of green plants. N. olivacea has a heterothallic type of mating system. Plus and minus gametes were morphologically similar but showed different behaviors during the mating process. The minus gamete settled to the substratum, attaching by its ventral side. The plus gamete attached to the dorsal side of the minus gamete by the region near the flagellar bases of the plus gamete. The mature zygotes were spherical and strongly adhered to the substratum. After zygote germination, two biflagellate daughter cells, each with two pyrenoids were liberated. These cells divided, resulting in four vegetative cells, each with a single pyrenoid.     

编码日本血吸虫抱雌沟蛋白及肌动蛋白的基因性别间的表达差异性

研究了所克隆的日本血吸虫两个基因的性别间的表达差异性。分别将所克隆到的编码日本血吸虫抱雌沟蛋白的cDNA(SjGCP1)和肌动蛋白的cDNA(SjAct)制成DNA探针,利用Southern blotting,Northern blotting和斑点印迹法对其相应基因性别间的表达差异性进行了研究。结果显示,日本血吸虫抱雌沟蛋白的基因在雄虫中转录而雌虫中不转录,血吸虫肌动蛋白基因在雄虫中转录量高于雌虫,表现出转录量的差异。证明这两个基因转录具有性别间的表达差异性。     

GENETIC VARIATION IN LATHYRUS LATIFOLIUS (LEGUMINOSAE)

Lathyrus latifolius (everlasting pea) is a perennial vine native to Europe. Naturalized populations of L. latifolius occur in fields and on roadsides over large areas of the United States. Widely cultivated as a garden flower, L. latifolius produces abundant racemes of showy flowers that are bumblebee-pollinated. The seeds are heavy, large, and round, and exhibit no specialized means of dispersal. Allozyme diversity and population structure were determined for 32 populations of L. latifolius—30 from the southeastern United States and two from Oregon. Results from 21 allozyme loci indicate that genetic diversity is higher and population divergence is lower than expected based on the life history characteristics of the species. No association was found between genetic identity statistics and geographic distance between populations. Although the range in genetic diversity statistics among populations was unusually large, genetic drift did not appear to play a major role in structuring genetic variation. We conclude that the level of genetic diversity maintained within L. latifolius populations, and the level of population divergence found, is strongly influenced by its status as a cultivated garden flower and its human-associated mode of gene flow via seed dispersal.     

DECIPHERING THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS OF A COMPLEX SEXUAL ORNAMENT: THE ABDOMINAL APPENDAGES OF SEPSIDAE (DIPTERA)

Male abdomen appendages are a novel trait found within Sepsidae (Diptera). Here we demonstrate that they are likely to have evolved once, were lost three times, and then secondarily gained in one lineage. The developmental basis of these appendages was investigated by counting the number of histoblast cells in each abdominal segment in four species: two that represented the initial instance of appendage evolution, one that has secondarily gained appendages, and one species that did not have appendages. Males of all species with appendages have elevated cell counts for the fourth segment, which gives rise to the appendages. In Perochaeta dikowi, which reacquired the trait, the females also have elevated cell count on the fourth segment despite the fact that females do not develop appendages. The species without appendages has similar cell counts in all segments regardless of sex. These results suggest that the basis for appendage development is shared in males across all species, but the sexual dimorphism is regulated differently in P. dikowi.     

甾体激素合成快速调节蛋白mRNA在卵泡发育和闭锁过程的表达

以孕马血清促性腺激素（ＰＭＳＧ）激发的ＳＤ大鼠卵巢为模型,用３′－末端原位标记和形态健康卵泡和闭锁卵泡,用原侠杂交方法研究了在卵泡发育和闭锁过程中甾体激素合成快速调节蛋白（ＳｔＡＲ）ｍＲＮＡ的表达规律。发现ＳｔＡＲｍＲＮＡ在膜－间质细胞和黄体化颗粒细胞中表达,未黄体化颗粒细胞和卵母细胞均无表达。ＰＭＳＧ注射后１２小时卵巢内已有ＳｔＡＲｍＲＮＡ的表达,２４小时表达量升高,７２小时表达量达高峰。ＰＭＳ     

POLLINATOR LIMITATION IN THE FACULTATIVELY AUTOGAMOUS ANNUAL,LUPINUS NANUS (LEGUMINOSAE)

The importance of pollinator visitation for determining both maternal reproductive success and outcrossing rates was investigated in the facultatively autogamous annual, Lupinus nanus. Sixty plants in each of two adjacent sites were assigned to either a pollinator-exclusion, pollen-augmentation, or open-pollinated (control) treatment. Flower, fruit, and seed production were recorded for each plant, and outcrossing rates were determined for plants in all three treatments at each site. Pollinator-exclusion reduced the reproductive success of plants at Site 1, but had no effect on reproduction for plants at Site 2. Pollen-augmentation increased fruit production by 22% and seed production by 45% at Site 2, but had no effect on reproduction for plants at Site 1. Plants in the open-pollinated, control treatment outcrossed at intermediate rates at both sites, with plants at Site 2 (outcrossing rate, t = 0.66) outcrossing at a significantly higher rate than plants at Site 1 (t = 0.40). The pollen-augmentation treatment increased the outcrossing rate for plants at both sites (Site 1, t = 0.72; Site 2, t = 0.78). These results indicate that pollinator availability can limit maternal reproductive success for this facultatively autogamous plant species. Additionally, the intermediate outcrossing rates observed in nature for this species are not a consequence of plant characters alone, but instead result from plant characters combined with the local pollination ecology.     

SEXUAL SELECTION,VIABILITY SELECTION,AND DEVELOPMENTAL STABILITY IN THE DOMESTIC FLY MUSCA DOMESTICA

Associations between developmental stability, sexual selection, and viability selection were studied in the domestic fly Musca domestica (Diptera, Muscidae). Developmental stability of the wings and tibia of flies of both sexes, measured in terms of their level of fluctuating asymmetry, was positively associated with mating success in free ranging populations and in sexual selection experiments. Mated individuals may have obtained indirect fitness benefits from sexual selection of two different kinds. First, the entomopathogenic fungus Enthomophthora muscae (Zygomycetes, Entomophthorales) infects and kills adult domestic flies, and flies dead from fungus infections had more asymmetric wings than flies dead for other reasons. Experimental deposition of fungus spores on uninfected flies demonstrated that flies with asymmetric wings were more susceptible to fungus infections than flies with symmetric wings. Second, domestic flies were frequently eaten by insectivorous barn swallows Hirundo rustica, and flies depredated by birds had more asymmetric wings and tibia than surviving flies.     

ZINC-TOLERANT ECOTYPES IN MELILOTUS ALBA (LEGUMINOSAE)

Melilotus alba (Leguminosae) populations from mine sites in southwestern Wisconsin were shown to be ecotypically adapted to high levels of zinc in the soil. In greenhouse experiments using high-zinc soil and high levels of zinc in sand culture, seedlings from mine populations grew better and suffered less mortality than did seedlings from roadside populations.