动物的亲缘选择和亲缘识别

很多不同类群的动物能够识别亲属和非亲属,甚至远亲和近亲,并表现出行为上的差异,动物怎样完成这种高度准确性分辨是自60年代末期以来日趋活跃的研究领域。亲缘识别(Kin Recognifion)的作用主要在于使重亲行为成为可能,而且可以避免近亲繁殖。但在我国动物亲缘识别的研究几乎还是空白。     

植物根系的身份识别能力、作用及影响机制

自然生境中有些植物的繁殖体传播距离有限, 这类植物更有可能与其亲缘相近的植株相邻。植物个体能否识别邻株的身份并做出相应的反应, 会对植物间的相互作用产生重要影响。亲缘选择理论预测亲缘相近的植物间可以通过亲缘识别和选择作用, 有效地削弱彼此间的干扰和竞争, 从而增加适合度。对植物通过根系进行自我/ 非我和亲缘识别能力、作用及其影响机制进行了综述, 同时指出了当前研究中存在的一些疑点和亟待解决的问题, 对植物身份识别研究的发展方向进行了展望。     

Recent advance of kin recognition in plant

Plants have the ability to discriminate kin members from strangers in competitive interactions and show altruistic behavior towards related individuals. Studies have showed that plants recognize their neighbors and adjust their ecological strategy mainly through leaf volatiles, root secretions and photographic carrier. The target plants can modify their morphological traits (root size, root:shoot ratio, seed numbers etc.) or metabolism characteristics (secondary metabolites, defense-related proteins etc.) when groups of plants shared common resources, so as to minimize competition with close relatives. The density of kin recognition is influenced by environmental conditions. The main reasons for controversial experimental results of kin recognition are associated with plant materials, standard of kin selection, ecological factors and measured indices. Further studies are required to understand the mechanisms of kin interactions in plants from physiological, biochemical, molecular and metabolic levels.     

根系隔离条件下的谷子亲缘识别

在根系隔离情况下, 通过研究邻株身份(亲缘株、非亲缘株、陌生株)及其与种植密度(高、低)和土壤养分水平(高、低)交互作用对谷子(Setaria italica)形态学特征和生物量分配的影响, 探索谷子地上部分是否能够识别亲缘邻株, 以及谷子的这种亲缘识别能力对环境因子如何响应。结果显示: 1)亲缘组谷子叶生物量分配显著降低, 茎秆显著增粗, 暗示着亲缘组谷子植株间减少竞争, 并增强对当地多风气候的适应。而非亲缘组谷子叶生物量分配显著增加, 表明非亲缘组谷子植株间竞争较强。2)与非亲缘组相比, 陌生组谷子种子生物量分配显著增加, 株高显著减少, 表明陌生组谷子植株通过不对称竞争(与邻株糜(Panicum miliaceum)植株相比, 株高显著增加), 进一步限制邻株(糜)生长, 从而增强竞争能力, 同时, 将更多的生物量投资于繁殖, 增加适合度。3)在高密度种植条件下, 谷子茎生物量和叶生物量分配在各邻株身份处理间无显著差异, 而在低密度种植条件下, 与非亲缘组相比, 亲缘组谷子茎生物量显著增加, 叶生物量分配显著减小; 随着种植间距的增大(种植密度减小), 亲缘组谷子叶生物量分配显著减少, 而非亲缘组和陌生组叶生物量分配在高、低种植密度条件下无显著差异。4)在低土壤养分条件下, 亲缘组和非亲缘组谷子叶生物量分配无显著差异, 前者穗长显著小于后者, 而在高土壤养分条件下, 亲缘组谷子叶生物量分配显著小于非亲缘组, 前者穗长显著大于后者。结果表明, 在根系隔离的情况下,谷子能够识别亲缘邻株, 且谷子地上部分竞争信号在亲缘识别过程中扮演重要角色。较低种植密度和较高土壤养分水平有利于谷子亲缘识别能力的表达。     

植物的亲缘选择

亲缘选择是指在一个随机交配群体中的个体基于亲缘关系而以一种非随机性的方式相互作用,其作用结果是亲缘个体得到更大的广义适合度。综述了亲缘选择和亲缘竞争两种观点以及各自的试验支持证据;分析了导致亲缘选择试验结果出现分歧的原因,认为这主要是由于对亲缘选择理解上的模糊以及试验设计的不严谨所致。植物间的亲缘选择研究不仅相对较少,对亲缘选择的机制研究更为欠缺,这就造成了目前对此问题在科学认识上出现不少盲点。综合前期研究,提出今后对亲缘选择的研究应该首先界定"亲缘"程度,同时改良试验设计方案,选择多种不同生境下的物种对亲缘选择进行深入研究,并且考虑环境因子对植物亲缘选择的影响。同时,对植物亲缘识别机制的研究应该从生理生化方面出发,通过定性定量地分析探索植物根系分泌物在植物亲缘识别中的作用和作用途径。     

动物的亲缘选择

总结了亲缘选择的概念并对亲缘系数的计算方法进行了归纳,对利他行为、适合度、广义适合度、亲缘系数的基本概念进行了阐述,另外还总结了基于亲缘选择的利他行为发生的条件,说明了亲缘选择在人类家族企业中的应用,对亲缘选择理论的学术价值和局限性进行了讨论。     

微卫星在种公牛个体识别与亲缘鉴定方面的应用

采用美国ABI公司牛亲子鉴定试剂盒(Bovine Paternity PCR Typing Kit, 包括11个常染色体)和3个自选的Y染色体微卫星座位, 检测我国部分种公牛站肉用种公牛14个微卫星座位的多态性分布, 评估其遗传多样性, 并探讨其用于个体识别与亲缘鉴定的可行性。结果表明: 种公牛在14个微卫星座位中遗传多样性均较高, 其中MCM158座位的平均多态信息含量最高达到0.888, ETH10座位的最低, 为0.482。单个座位的个体识别能力在0.715~0.968之间, 累积个体识别能力为99.99%, 累计非父排除率达到99.99%, 表明采用的14个位点适用于个体识别和亲缘鉴定。     

植物基因识别及克隆策略研究进展

随着基因组数据的积累,同时识别多个基因、解读其功能,正在成为揭示环境信号调控植物组织分化及器官形成分子机制必不可少的途径。我们从基因组水平、转录水平和蛋白质水平,回顾总结了识别发育及代谢相关基因、解读其功能的一般策略,讨论并比较了各主要策略的优缺点,并提出方法选择的一般原则。     

中药贝母的基原植物和药用亲缘学的研究

贝母是一种常用中药,有十分悠久的药用历史。百合科Liliaceae中的贝母属Fritillaria是中药贝母的主要来源,此属全世界约有130种,我国由于近年来发表了大量的新种和新变种,使国产贝母属的种名达到80个,变种名称52个,变型名称6个。大量新分类名称的出现对中药贝母的质量控制和应用方面造成一定困难。通过对中药贝母的历史沿革、植物分类、地理分布、化学成分、现今生产及应用等的综合研究整理,将中药贝母划分为6个类型:浙贝母、川贝母、伊贝母、湖北贝母、平贝母和安徽贝母。这样的划分除安徽贝母尚未收载于药典外,其他均与现行版的中华人民共和国药典(2005版)一部所收载的内容一致。通过此项研究,作者建议,凡是主要经济植物的新名称的出现必须更加慎重,而且从实际应用的观点出发,分类群的划分不宜过细。     

非人灵长类的亲缘选择

亲缘选择是动物进化的重要研究领域之一,非人灵长类因具有丰富的社会网络,是亲缘选择研究领域的重要类群。动物进行亲缘选择的前提是亲缘识别,并常通过社会行为的亲缘偏向表现。因此,本文从非人灵长类的亲缘识别机制和亲缘关系对其社会行为的影响两方面进行了综述:熟悉性和表现型匹配是目前普遍认同的非人灵长类亲缘识别机制,同时这两种机制并不相互排斥,它们可能共同在灵长类的亲缘识别中起作用;在非人灵长类中,亲缘关系是影响社会行为模式的主导因子,它影响着多种灵长类个体的友好行为、攻击行为和性行为的选择,同时亲缘偏向行为在不同物种中表现不尽相同,说明亲缘选择理论可以部分解释灵长类的行为,但存在一定的局限性。本文分析了两种亲缘识别机制的异同以及在实际研究中利用亲缘选择理论解释非人灵长
类社会行为的局限及可能原因。目前,对非人灵长类社会中的亲缘选择研究正逐步深入,其中分子遗传学技术的应用是重要的推动力量。同时,依然存在诸如汉密尔顿规则参数估计和新大陆猴的亲缘选择研究案例的难点,有待研究者进一步探究。     

Olfactory kin recognition in a songbird

The ability to recognize close relatives in order to cooperate or to avoid inbreeding is widespread across all taxa. One accepted mechanism for kin recognition in birds is associative learning of visual or acoustic cues. However, how could individuals ever learn to recognize unfamiliar kin? Here, we provide the first evidence for a novel mechanism of kin recognition in birds. Zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) fledglings are able to distinguish between kin and non-kin based on olfactory cues alone. Since olfactory cues are likely to be genetically based, this finding establishes a neglected mechanism of kin recognition in birds, particularly in songbirds, with potentially far-reaching consequences for both kin selection and inbreeding avoidance.     

Kin recognition in an annual plant

Kin recognition is important in animal social systems. However, though plants often compete with kin, there has been as yet no direct evidence that plants recognize kin in competitive interactions. Here we show in the annual plant Cakile edentula, allocation to roots increased when groups of strangers shared a common pot, but not when groups of siblings shared a pot. Our results demonstrate that plants can discriminate kin in competitive interactions and indicate that the root interactions may provide the cue for kin recognition. Because greater root allocation is argued to increase below-ground competitive ability, the results are consistent with kin selection.     

Developmental aspects of kin recognition

The ability to recognise kin requires the individual to possess a variety of abilities. Individuals must produce a cue which indicates relatedness, they must process this cue to determine relatedness and then must act on this cue. Research has concentrated on the first and final stage of this process, i.e., the cues of kinship and kin correlated behaviour. Little attention has been paid to how individuals process cues to determine relatedness. This paper discusses how individuals ‘recognise’ kin, the exhibition of kin correlated behaviour and considers the role of the MHC in these processes. Two broad theories have emerged to explain how individuals recognise their kin: either a recognition gene(s) or some experiential mechanism. In mammals there is no evidence to suggest that recognition (the processing of the cue) is under genetic control but rather is the result of experience, learning about related individuals during development. Moreover studies on kin recognition in the domestic dog suggest that all kin are not recognised by the same process but different classes of kin, parents, siblings may well be recognised using different means. Studies of kin correlated behaviour suggest that the behaviour exhibited towards kin by Mongolian gerbils is mediated by the environment. Factors of environmental familiarity, sex and developmental age all affect the response of individuals to kin and non‐kin. In these situations the ability to recognise kin does not change but the exhibition of kin correlated behaviour changes according to environmental conditions. These studies indicate that kin recognition may not be the ‘unified’ process previously thought and thus any explanations of the proximate and ultimate causation of kin recognition need to encompass this complexity. The question remains of whether the MHC is complex enough to do so. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Indirect genetic effects and kin recognition: estimating IGEs when interactions differ between kin and strangers

Social interactions among individuals are widespread, both in natural and domestic populations. As a result, trait values of individuals may be affected by genes in other individuals, a phenomenon known as indirect genetic effects (IGEs). IGEs can be estimated using linear mixed models. The traditional IGE model assumes that an individual interacts equally with all its partners, whether kin or strangers. There is abundant evidence, however, that individuals behave differently towards kin as compared with strangers, which agrees with predictions from kin-selection theory. With a mix of kin and strangers, therefore, IGEs estimated from a traditional model may be incorrect, and selection based on those estimates will be suboptimal. Here we investigate whether genetic parameters for IGEs are statistically identifiable in group-structured populations when IGEs differ between kin and strangers, and develop models to estimate such parameters. First, we extend the definition of total breeding value and total heritable variance to cases where IGEs depend on relatedness. Next, we show that the full set of genetic parameters is not identifiable when IGEs differ between kin and strangers. Subsequently, we present a reduced model that yields estimates of the total heritable effects on kin, on non-kin and on all social partners of an individual, as well as the total heritable variance for response to selection. Finally we discuss the consequences of analysing data in which IGEs depend on relatedness using a traditional IGE model, and investigate group structures that may allow estimation of the full set of genetic parameters when IGEs depend on kin.     

Kin recognition by paternal half-siblings in captive Papio cynocephalus

Our objective in this study was to evaluate whether a group of paternally related, subadult baboons (Papio cynocephalus) would preferentially interact with kin or nonkin when they had been raised apart from kin other than their mothers. Subjects and their mothers were removed from the breeding group and placed in alternate housing within 24 h after birth to ensure that the subjects would not have a social history with either their sire or their half-siblings. At 90 days of age, the 23 subjects were separated from their mothers and assigned to a peer–peer social group. Behavioral performance was measured using focal animal sampling techniques and 12 molecular behavioral criteria. Analyses of the data indicate that in dyadic interactions kin did not interact more frequently than nonkin in performance of affiliative, sociosexual, and agonistic behaviors. The hypothesis that baboons recognize kin in the absence of maternal associations was not supported by the data; moreover, we suggest that social learning and social history are the most likely mechanisms for kin recognition. Am. J. Primatol. 43:147–157, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Olfaction and human kin recognition

Humans, like other mammals, are capable of discriminating between kin and non‐kin by olfactory cues alone. Shortly after birth, breastfed infants become familiar with, and respond preferentially to, their mother' unique odor signature. Mothers likewise recognize the characteristic scent of their newborn infant. Close biological relatives share somewhat similar odor signatures (presumably resulting from genetically mediated similarities in bodily biochemistry and metabolism) that could facilitate kin recognition. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Direct fitness for dynamic kin selection

The direct-fitness approach to modelling the evolution of social traits is an alternative to the classical inclusive-fitness-based approach. Despite both its utility and popularity, the direct-fitness approach has not yet been extended to include the analysis of dynamic traits, i.e. traits whose level of expression may vary over time. In this article, I apply the direct-fitness approach to cope with the evolution of a dynamic resource-allocation behaviour when this behaviour influences the fitness of relatives. I am able to implement the direct-fitness approach using components (reproductive value, fitness changes and measures of relatedness) found in standard, social-evolutionary models. I illustrate the modified direct-fitness model with an example studied by previous authors, and I show how the direct-fitness perspective can aid the validation of analytical results by means of a genetic algorithm.     

Evolution of the neuronal substrate for kin recognition in social Hymenoptera

In evolutionary terms, life is about reproduction. Yet, in some species, individuals forgo their own reproduction to support the reproductive efforts of others. Social insect colonies for example, can contain up to a million workers that actively cooperate in tasks such as foraging, brood care and nest defence, but do not produce offspring. In such societies the division of labour is pronounced, and reproduction is restricted to just one or a few individuals, most notably the queen(s). This extreme eusocial organisation exists in only a few mammals, crustaceans and insects, but strikingly, it evolved independently up to nine times in the order Hymenoptera (including ants, bees and wasps). Transitions from a solitary lifestyle to an organised society can occur through natural selection when helpers obtain a fitness benefit from cooperating with kin, owing to the indirect transmission of genes through siblings. However, this process, called kin selection, is vulnerable to parasitism and opportunistic behaviours from unrelated individuals. An ability to distinguish kin from non-kin, and to respond accordingly, could therefore critically facilitate the evolution of eusociality and the maintenance of non-reproductive workers. The question of how the hymenopteran brain has adapted to support this function is therefore a fundamental issue in evolutionary neuroethology. Early neuroanatomical investigations proposed that social Hymenoptera have expanded integrative brain areas due to selection for increased cognitive capabilities in the context of processing social information. Later studies challenged this assumption and instead pointed to an intimate link between higher social organisation and the existence of developed sensory structures involved in recognition and communication. In particular, chemical signalling of social identity, known to be mediated through cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), may have evolved hand in hand with a specialised chemosensory system in Hymenoptera. Here, we compile the current knowledge on this recognition system, from emitted identity signals, to the molecular and neuronal basis of chemical detection, with particular emphasis on its evolutionary history. Finally, we ask whether the evolution of social behaviour in Hymenoptera could have driven the expansion of their complex olfactory system, or whether the early origin and conservation of an olfactory subsystem dedicated to social recognition could explain the abundance of eusocial species in this insect order. Answering this question will require further comparative studies to provide a comprehensive view on lineage-specific adaptations in the olfactory pathway of Hymenoptera.