HOW TO MEASURE MATURATION: A COMPARISON OF PROBABILISTIC METHODS USED TO TEST FOR GENOTYPIC VARIATION AND PLASTICITY IN THE DECISION TO MATURE

Maturation is a developmental trait that plays a key role in shaping organisms’ life‐history. However, progress in understanding how maturation phenotypes evolve has been held back by confusion over how best to model maturation decisions and a lack of studies comparing genotypic variation in maturation. Here, we fitted probabilistic maturation reaction norms (PMRNs) to data collected from five clones of Daphnia magna and five of Daphnia pulex collected from within and between different populations. We directly compared the utility of modeling approaches that assume maturation to be a process with an instantaneous rate with those that do not by fitting maturation rate and logistic regression models, and emphasize similarities and differences between them. Our results demonstrate that in Daphnia, PMRNs using a logistic regression approach were simpler to use and provided a better fit to the data. The decision to mature was plastic across a range of growth trajectories and dependent upon both body size and age. However, the age effect was stronger in D. magna than D. pulex and varied considerably between clones. Our results support the idea that maturation thresholds can evolve but also suggest that the notion of a threshold based on a single fixed state is an oversimplification that underestimates the adaptability of these important traits.     

PHYLOGENETIC IMPLICATIONS OF CHLOROPLAST DNA RESTRICTION SITE VARIATION IN THE MUTISIEAE (ASTERACEAE)

Phylogenetic relationships among 13 species in the tribe Mutisieae and a single species from each of three other tribes in the Asteraceae were assessed by chloroplast DNA restriction site mapping. Initially, 211 restriction site mutations were detected among 16 species using 10 restriction enzymes. Examination of 12 of these species using nine more enzymes revealed 179 additional restriction site mutations. Phylogenetic analyses of restriction site mutations were performed using both Dolio and Wagner parsimony, and the resulting monophyletic groups were statistically tested by the bootstrap method. The phylogenetic trees confirm an ancient evolutionary split in the Asteraceae that was previously suggested by the distribution of a chloroplast DNA inversion. The subtribe Barnadesiinae of the tribe Mutisieae is shown to be the ancestral group within the Asteraceae. The molecular phylogenies also confirm the paraphyly of the Mutisieae and provide statistical support for the monophyly of three of its four currently recognized subtribes (Barnadesiinae, Mutisiinae, and Nassauviinae). The fourth subtribe, Gochnatiinae, is shown to be paraphyletic. Within the subtribes, several closely related generic pairs are identified. Chloroplast DNA sequence divergence among genera of the Asteraceae ranges between 0.7 and 5.4%, which is relatively low in comparison to other angiosperm groups. This suggests that the Asteraceae is either a relatively young family or that its chloroplast DNA has evolved at a slower rate than in other families.     

不同环境对蔊菜群体变异式样的影响

蔊菜(Rorippa indica(L.)Hiern))和无瓣蔊菜(R.dubia(Pers.Hara)是两个形态相似的近缘种,还是同一种植物的不同变异式样,分类学家历来有不同看法。本文通过不同生境的7个自然群体取样和2个人工控制的栽培群体栽种,以群体为单位,分别测算花蕾中花瓣数和果实内种子列数;对具代表性不同生境的群体取花粉粒进行电镜扫描。结论是:蔊菜和无瓣蔊菜可能是同一种植物的不同变异式样,作为同一种植物来对待也许是合适的。     

CHLOROPLAST DNA RESTRICTION SITE VARIATION IN THE FERN GENUS PELLAEA: PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF THE PELLAEA GLABELLA COMPLEX

The cheilanthoid ferns have long resisted efforts to circumscribe well-defined, phylogenetically natural generic and infrageneric groups, presumably because of homoplastic morphologies associated with their xeric habitats. This cladistic analysis of phylogenetically informative chloroplast DNA restriction site data from 14 enzymes and seven taxa in the cheilanthoid genus Pellaea provides new insights into the phylogenetic relationships of the P. glabella complex. It also assesses the congruence of results based on restriction site data at inter- and intraspecific levels in these sexually and apogamously reproducing ferns with those of earlier morphological and isozyme analyses of the same group. Wagner parsimony yielded a single most parsimonious tree of 187 steps and 11% homoplasy, based on a data matrix of 166 restriction sites of which 66 were phylogenetically informative. Phylogenetic analysis based on user-defined stepmatrix character-state weighting of site gains over losses produced an identical single most parsimonious tree. Dollo parsimony yielded two most parsimonious trees, one of which was topologically identical to the Wagner tree. Specific and infraspecific relationships in the P. glabella complex determined by the completely independent restriction site and isozyme data sets are identical. This lends confidence to the ongoing use of restriction site data in a broader study of Pellaea and other cheilanthoid taxa and to the present conclusions that P. atropurpurea is sister to the P. glabella complex, whereas P. breweri, previously considered the closest relative of this complex, is actually more distantly related to it than are the other taxa in this study.     

Merocyanine 540对亚线粒体能量化过程膜电位变化的荧光响应

研究了Ｍｅｒｏｃｙａｎｉｎｅ５４０对亚线粒体能量化过程膜电位变化的荧光响应的“ｏｎ－ｏｆｆ”机制,揭示了其快、慢双相反应的特征,探讨了该荧光响应的影响因素,如膜结合二聚体对膜上单体荧光的猝灭,探针与膜的相对浓度以及激发波长的影响。     

枕骨圆枕的变异

对印第安人,阿留申人,华北人和云南人总共５０７具头骨的枕骨圆枕发育程度进行观察,结果表明枕骨圆枕任一发育级别的出现率在相同人种且性别相同的人群之间并无显著差别,枕骨圆枕的发育程度可以被认为是“遗传标记”。作者认为在化石人类中枕骨圆枕的发育程度会有较大的变异;枕骨圆枕的发育程度不是一个有效的鉴别性状。     

DIURNAL VARIATION IN PROLIFERATIVE COMPARTMENTS AND THEIR RELATION TO CRYPTOGENIC CELLS IN THE MOUSE COLON

The depth of the crypts in mouse descending colon varied diurnally, between twenty-six cells at 24.00 hours and thirty-eight cells at 12.00 hours. Cell loss from the colon was greatest immediately before the maximum faeces production, at the beginning of the dark period. The labelling index of the colon also changed, from 9% at 20.00 hours to 16% at 12.00 hours. The greatest variation in labelling index occurred at the top of the zone of proliferative cells, between the ninth and eighteenth cell position up the crypt. In this region a synchronized cohort of about forty cells apparently entered S phase once a day. Although the length of the proliferative zone doubled at 12.00 hours, that of the non-proliferative zone remained fairly constant all day. The number of cryptogenic cells per crypt was estimated by comparing single and split-dose X-ray survival curves. This gave a mean value of two cryptogenic cells per crypt. Crypts rarely regenerated from the base after irradiation. The cryptogenic cells probably lay between cell positions Nos 9 and 18 up the crypt and probably did not function as stem cells in the normal crypt.     

THE CONTRIBUTION OF SPONTANEOUS MUTATIONS TO THERMAL SENSITIVITY CURVE VARIATION IN DROSOPHILA SERRATA

Many traits studied in ecology and evolutionary biology change their expression in response to a continuously varying environmental factor. One well‐studied example are thermal performance curves (TPCs); continuous reaction norms that describe the relationship between organismal performance and temperature and are useful for understanding the trade‐offs involved in thermal adaptation. We characterized curves describing the thermal sensitivity of voluntary locomotor activity in a set of 66 spontaneous mutation accumulation lines in the fly Drosophila serrata. Factor‐analytic modeling of the mutational variance–covariance matrix, M , revealed support for three axes of mutational variation in males and two in females. These independent axes of mutational variance corresponded well to the major axes of TPC variation required for different types of thermal adaptation; “faster‐slower” representing changes in performance largely independent of temperature, and the “hotter‐colder” and “generalist‐specialist” axes, representing trade‐offs. In contrast to its near‐absence from standing variance in this species, a “faster‐slower” axis, accounted for most mutational variance (75% in males and 66% in females) suggesting selection may easily fix or remove these types of mutations in outbred populations. Axes resembling the “hotter‐colder” and “generalist‐specialist” modes of variation contributed less mutational variance but nonetheless point to an appreciable input of new mutations that may contribute to thermal adaptation.     

VARIATION IN THE CAPPED WHEATEAR

Williams, A. J. 1980. Aspects of the breeding biology of the Subantarctic Skua at Marion Island. Ostrich 51:160-167.

The breeding biology of the Subantarctic Skua Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi was studied in two austral summers at Marion Island. Eggs were laid between 23 October and 19 December. The clutch size was one (6%) or two (94%) eggs. The laying interval was two (20%) or three (80%) days and the incubation period was 29 days. Chicks could fly at 50–65 days after hatching. Chicks from first and second hatched eggs in the same brood had similar growth rates. Chicks in one- and two-chick broods had similar growth rates until 50 days after hatching when chicks reared singly were heavier. Egg mortality was 15,8%, chick mortality was 34,8% and the overall breeding success was 50,9%. The results are discussed in comparison with previous studies of Subantarctic and South Polar C. maccormicki Skuas.     

ON THE SITE OF SULFATION IN THE CHONDROCYTE

As observed autoradiographically in the cartilage of embryonic rats, radiosulfate is bound and concentrated only in vesicles of the juxtanuclear Golgi apparatus of secreting chondrocytes within 3 minutes of its presentation. From this area, vacuoles migrate peripherally and lodge in the subcortex; their sulfated contents are thence discharged via stomata to the extracellular matrix. The label, apparently often associated with microvesicles at 10 and 20 minutes, is subsequently localized in the dense contents of the larger vacuoles. Bound radiosulfate is not detectable in other organelles. It is concluded that the vesicular component of the Golgi apparatus is the actual site of sulfation. Intracellular hyaluronidase-sensitive metachromatic granules are found chiefly at the cell periphery or mantle, rarely juxtanuclear in the main Golgi zone.     

根茎克隆植物羊草体内可溶性碳水化合物的时间变异及其对去叶干扰的响应

该研究针对根茎型克隆植物羊草(Leymus chinensis)考察了以下内容:1)地上枝条和根茎中可溶性碳水化合物含量的时间动态及其对去叶干扰的响应;2)特定阶段植物体内一定部位的可溶性碳水化合物浓度差异;3)植物体各部分(地上部分、直立茎地下部分及根茎)间可溶性碳水化合物浓度变化之间的关联。基于上述研究结果,作者试图弄清碳水化合物对于羊草克隆分株和整个基株生长和存活的意义。实验共有4个处理:1个对照和3个不同频度(在整个实验进行期间分别去叶1次、3次和5次)的去叶处理。所有去叶处理都采取一个统一的强度,即留茬15 cm。地上枝条和根茎的取样频次为每10 d 1次。植物体各部分可溶性碳水化合物浓度以高效液相色谱法(HPLC)测定。对不同去叶频度处理间的碳水化合物含量差异显著性进行ANOVA分析。结果表明:不去叶对照处理在生长季盛期可溶性碳水化合物浓度的显著下降归因于植物体快速的生长而引起植物叶片旺盛的呼吸消耗,而去叶处理中植物的可溶性碳水化合物浓度并没有大的降低甚至在最频繁的去叶处理下还有所上升,主要是由于去叶处理减少叶片而造成地上部分总呼吸量下降所致。一次性去叶处理并没有影响植物地上部分最终的可溶性碳水化合物浓度,但是连续数次的去叶处理对地上部分可溶性碳水化合物浓度产生了一定的影响。在秋季气温下降时,碳水化合物自地上向地下的转移在去叶频度越大的处理下表现越为迅速。这表明当植物体接受到气温降低的信号后,去叶干扰加速碳水化合物自地上向地下的转移。可能由于地下枝条存在一定的贮藏功能,在实验过程中地下枝条中可溶性碳水化合物浓度比地上枝条中表现的更加稳定。根茎中的可溶性碳水化合物必要时会转移到地上以供应地上枝条的生长,而旺盛的生长会消耗可溶性碳水化合物,然而自未接受去叶处理的分株向接受去叶处理的分株的克隆整合(常常在较高频次的去叶处理中发生)可能会在一定程度上缓解这种消耗所造成的影响。