LONG-TERM CORRELATED RESPONSE,INTERPOPULATION COVARIATION,AND INTERSPECIFIC ALLOMETRY

A model of long-term correlated evolution of multiple quantitative characters is analyzed, which partitions selection into two components: one stabilizing and the other directional. The model assumes that the stabilizing component is less variable than the directional component among populations. The major result is that, within a population, the responses of characters to selection in the short term differ qualitatively from those in the long term. In the short term, the responses depend on genetic correlations between characters, but in the long term they are only determined by the fitness functions of stabilizing and directional selection, independent of genetic and phenotypic correlations. Treating the stabilizing component as a constant and assuming the directional component to vary among populations, I present formulas for the interpopulation covariation and interspecific allometry, which are functions of the intensity matrix of stabilizing selection. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between intra- and interpopulation correlations.     

Primordial germ cell development in zebrafish

In sexually reproducing organisms, primordial germ cells (PGCs) give rise to gametes that are responsible for the development of a new organism in the next generation. These cells follow a characteristic developmental path that is manifested in specialized regulation of basic cell functions and behavior making them an attractive system for studying cell fate specification, differentiation and migration. This review summarizes studies aimed at understanding the development of this cell population in zebrafish and compares these results with those obtained in other model organisms.     

A model for analyzing insect stage-frequency data when mortality varies with time

A model is developed for the analysis of insect stage-frequency data which may be applied to populations with age-dependent mortality. The analysis of stage-frequency data is divided into two steps. In the first step, the number of different mortality rates and their values are estimated. The second step provides estimates of developmental rates and variances for each developmental stage and in addition provides estimates of the number of recruits to each stage. The model may be used both in analysis and prediction of insect stage frequencies. Hence, in addition to estimating developmental and mortality rates from stage-frequency data, it may also be used as a simulation model for an insect population. The model is applied to two populations of Hemileuca oliviaeCockerell , a lepidopterous pest of New Mexico grasslands. The model identifies, in the two populations, different mortality rates that are related to plant productivity.     

Quantitative character dynamics: Gametic model

A gametic model of quantitative character dynamics is introduced that fills the gap between the two existing models: genic and zygotic/phenotypic. In this model, a gamete is treated as the elementary unit of evolution, all biological processes at the levels below gametic remain unspecified, and a gamete is characterized by its effect on the quantitative character rather than by the genotype. The hereditary and developmental processes are accounted for in a generalized form by gametogenetic and developmental functions defined for a pair of gametic effects representing an individual. A parameterization of these functions is suggested that imposes constraints on the heredity of quantitative characters similar to the constraints imposed by traditional genic models. It is shown that this parameterization can be derived for some polygenic additive models. General expressions for the dynamics of the mean and variance of additive quantitative characters are obtained, and the dynamics under random mating for sex-independent, sex-controlled, and sex-linked characters are considered. Comparisons with the dynamics predicted by genic models are made.     

昆虫多状态发育的生存分析

针对昆虫种群变态发育过程,本文给出了一个多状态生存函数的模型。使用生存分析的方法对模型进行丁分析。本文还对有关的生存参数如各状态的死亡风险,发育风险,年龄特征死亡率,年龄特征发育率以及状态发育历期等进行了讨论并且给出了它们的极大似然估计值。关于马铃薯块茎蛾数值例子的分析表明所提出的摸型用来描述昆虫种群的发育过程是有效的。本文的结论可以做为组建描述昆虫种群多状发育的年龄一状态特征生命表的理论基础。     

稻纵卷叶螟种群系统动态模拟

本文组建了稻纵卷叶螟种群系统模似模型,它由系统亚模型和总模型二个部分组成.系统亚模型包括发育、死亡和繁殖三个子模块.系统总模型是作者提出的新模型,它综合了前人所提出的种群模型的优点,以差分方程形式给出,以生理时间为单位,考虑了种群内个体间发育速率的差异,不仅能模拟种群数量动态,而且能模拟种群年龄结构,同时能预测发生期.模型有效性检验表明,模拟结果基本上能吻合实测结果.文中还对5个影响因子进行了灵敏性分析.     

Quantitative tests of general models for the evolution of development

Comparative developmental biologists have proposed models to describe patterns of conserved features in vertebrate ontogeny. The hourglass model suggests evolutionary change is most difficult at an intermediate "phylotypic" stage, the adaptive penetrance model suggests change is easiest at an intermediate stage, and the early conservation model suggests change is easier later in ontogeny. Although versions of some of these models have been discussed since the nineteenth century, quantitative approaches have been proposed only recently. Here we present quantitative phylogenetic approaches to evaluating trends in the evolution of ontogeny. We apply these approaches to the proposed models and demonstrate that an existing approach to assessing these models is biased. We show that the hourglass, adaptive penetrance, and early conservation models are unnecessarily complex explanations of the patterns observed in developmental event data for 14 species of vertebrates. Rather, a simpler model that postulates that evolutionary change is easier between ontogenetically adjacent events is adequate.     

GENETICS OF FLUCTUATING ASYMMETRY: A DEVELOPMENTAL MODEL OF DEVELOPMENTAL INSTABILITY

Although numerous studies have found that fluctuating asymmetry (FA) can have a heritable component, the genetic and developmental basis of FA is poorly understood. We used a developmental model of a trait, according to a diffusion-threshold process, whose parameters are under genetic control. We added a small amount of random variation to the parameter values of this model to simulate developmental noise. As a result of the nonlinearity of the model, different genotypes differed in their sensitivity to developmental noise, even though the noise is completely random and independent of the genotype. The heritable component of FA can thus be understood as genetically modulated expression of variation that is itself entirely nongenetic. The loci responsible for this genetic variation of FA are the same that affect the left/right mean of the trait, showing that genetic variation for FA does not require genes that specifically control FA. Furthermore, the model offers alternative explanations for phenomena widely discussed in the literature on FA, for instance, the correlations between FA and heterozygosity and between FA and trait size. The model underscores the importance of dominance and epistasis, and therefore unites the study of FA with the classical theory of quantitative genetics.     

A dysmorphology score system for assessing embryo abnormalities in rat whole embryo culture

BACKGROUND: The rodent whole embryo culture (WEC) system is a well‐established model for characterizing developmental toxicity of test compounds and conducting mechanistic studies. Laboratories have taken various approaches in describing type and severity of developmental findings of organogenesis‐stage rodent embryos, but the Brown and Fabro morphological score system is commonly used as a quantitative approach. The associated score criteria is based upon developmental stage and growth parameters, where a series of embryonic structures are assessed and assigned respective scores relative to their gestational stage, with a Total Morphological Score (TMS) assigned to the embryo. This score system is beneficial because it assesses a series of stage‐specific anatomical landmarks, facilitating harmonized evaluation across laboratories. Although the TMS provides a quantitative approach to assess growth and determine developmental delay, it is limited to its ability to identify and/or delineate subtle or structure‐specific abnormalities. Because of this, the TMS may not be sufficiently sensitive for identifying compounds that induce structure or organ‐selective effects. METHOD: This study describes a distinct morphological score system called the “Dysmorphology Score System (DMS system)” that has been developed for assessing gestation day 11 (approximately 20–26 somite stage) rat embryos using numerical scores to differentiate normal from abnormal morphology and define the respective severity of dysmorphology of specific embryonic structures and organ systems. This method can also be used in scoring mouse embryos of the equivalent developmental stage. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: The DMS system enhances capabilities to rank‐order compounds based upon teratogenic potency, conduct structure‐ relationships of chemicals, and develop statistical prediction models to support abbreviated developmental toxicity screens. Birth Defects Res (Part B) 89:485–492, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A COMPUTER SIMULATION MODEL OF POPULATION DYNAMICS OF BROWN PLANTHOPPER, NILAPARVATA WGENS STÅL

Abstract A comprehensive computer model, based on the concept and analysis of the population life system, was developed to simulate effects of major environmental variables on the population dynamics of brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Still. The basic frame of the model consists of a multiple column matrix, which was used to describe the stage overlapping phenomenon and the age-stage-structure of the BPH population, and a set of difference equations, which was employed to calculate the growth of individuals from one age-class and stage to the next in the BPH population. The life cycle of BPH was incremented in the model into 10 degree-days age classes and simulations were run with daily time steps. The model incorporates 1) temperature-dependent developmental rates or eggs, nymphs, and adults; 2) stage-specific survival rates obtained from the life table data of BPH; 3) immigration patterns and rates of macropterous adults; and 4) female fecundity. General validation of the model was established by comparisons between simulated and observed population densities for five years at three locations, which represent plain, hilly, and mountainous aresa in Fujian Province, using actual daily weather data and immigration patterns of macropterous adults for each year as model inputs. Simulation results from the model output were also compared by varying the model inputs within realistic limits in order to analyze the model behavior. We think that this model may serve as the framework for further studies on biology and ecology of BPH, and used to study various integrated BPH management strategies. Moreover, this model could be adapted to describe the population life systems of other insects with minor modification.     

昆虫种群动态模拟方法的一点改进──三化螟种群动态模拟模型的研究

以Ｒｕｅｓｉｎｋ（１９７６）的模型为基础,根据昆虫个体一般不同步地进入下一发育阶段的状况,当昆虫各虫态发育到完成该虫态发育所需要的最低年龄级数后,假定各年龄级的昆虫种群均以一定的概率分布函数值进入下一个发育阶段,同时根据有效积温向前推进。据此,对昆虫种群动态模拟方法作了一点改进。该方法综合了已有的种群模型的优点,因而较Ｒｕｅｓｉｎｋ（１９７６）和ＣｈｉＨｓｉｎ等（１９８５）提出的方法更真实地反映了昆虫种群动态的变化规律。根据三化螟自然种群生命表的资料,分析和确定逐日存活率、逐日发育率和逐日生殖率,对三化螟种群进行逐日动态模拟和预测,同时引入环境因素对种群的控制作用,研究不同环境条件下的种群动态,经验证,模型基本能够反映田间三化螟的发生规律。     

Studies of threespine stickleback developmental evolution: progress and promise

A promising route for understanding the origin and diversification of organismal form is through studies at the intersection of evolution and development (evo-devo). While much has been learned over the last two decades concerning macroevolutionary patterns of developmental change, a fundamental gap in the evo-devo synthesis is the integration of mathematical population and quantitative genetics with studies of how genetic variation in natural populations affects developmental processes. This micro-evo-devo synthesis requires model organisms with which to ask empirical questions. Threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus), long a model for studying behavior, ecology and evolution, is emerging as a prominent model micro-evo-devo system. Research on stickleback over the last decade has begun to address the genetic basis of morphological variation and sex determination, and much of this work has important implications for understanding the genetics of speciation. In this paper we review recent threespine stickleback micro-evo-devo results, and outline the resources that have been developed to make this synthesis possible. The prospects for stickleback research to speed the micro-(and macro-) evo-devo syntheses are great, and this workhorse model system is well situated to continue contributing to our understanding of the generation of diversity in organismal form for many more decades.     

egl-4 acts through a transforming growth factor-beta/SMAD pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans to regulate multiple neuronal circuits in response to sensory cues

Sensory cues regulate several aspects of behavior and development in Caenorhabditis elegans, including entry into and exit from an alternative developmental stage called the dauer larva. Three parallel pathways, including a TGF-beta-like pathway, regulate dauer formation. The mechanisms by which the activities of these pathways are regulated by sensory signals are largely unknown. The gene egl-4 was initially identified based on its egg-laying defects. We show here that egl-4 has many pleiotropies, including defects in chemosensory behavior, body size, synaptic transmission, and dauer formation. Our results are consistent with a role for egl-4 in relaying sensory cues to multiple behavioral and developmental circuits in C. elegans. By epistasis analysis, we also place egl-4 in the TGF-beta-like branch and show that a SMAD gene functions downstream of egl-4 in multiple egl-4-regulated pathways, including chemosensation.     

Genetic mapping of developmental instability: design, model and algorithm

Developmental instability or noise, defined as the phenotypic imprecision of an organism in the face of internal or external stochastic disturbances, has been thought to play an important role in shaping evolutionary processes and patterns. The genetic studies of developmental instability have been based on fluctuating asymmetry (FA) that measures random differences between the left and the right sides of bilateral traits. In this article, we frame an experimental design characterized by a spatial autocorrelation structure for determining the genetic control of developmental instability for those traits that cannot be bilaterally measured. This design allows the residual environmental variance of a quantitative trait to be dissolved into two components due to permanent and random environmental factors. The degree of developmental instability is quantified by the relative proportion of the random residual variance to the total residual variance. We formulate a mixture model to estimate and test the genetic effects of quantitative trait loci (QTL) on the developmental instability of the trait. The genetic parameters including the QTL position, the QTL effects, and spatial autocorrelations are estimated by implementing the EM algorithm within the mixture model framework. Simulation studies were performed to investigate the statistical behavior of the model. A live example for poplar trees was used to map the QTL that control root length growth and its developmental instability from cuttings in water culture.     

松嫩平原碱化草甸天然翅碱蓬种群的密度制约模型

翅碱蓬是一年生藜科植物,耐碱性极强。本文根据在单—种群落随机取样的调查数据,从种群水平分析了松嫩平原碱化草甸天然翅碱蓬种群的密度制约特征。结果表明,翅碱蓬种群在不同生长期及不同数量性状的密度制约模型均可由多种函数形式同时较好地表达出来。但本文仅以相关性最好的拟合方程作为种群某一性状密度制约特征的模型。孕蕾期的平均植株重和单位面积籽实重的密度制约表现为变形双曲线函数y=a+b/x形式;籽实成熟期的平均植株重、平均植株籽实重、平均植株种子数和单位面积种子数均表现为幂函数y=ax-b形式;地上生物量在孕蕾期为变形双曲线函数y=1/(a+bx)形式,在籽实成熟期为对数函数y=a-blnx形式。     

The expansion of information in ecological systems: Emergence as a quantifiable state

Although the term ‘emergence’ has received wide attention in the literature, most of this attention has been focused on epistemological discussions about the nature of what might be considered emergent behavior in self-organizing systems. For the concept of emergence to have any great utility for biologists, it must (1) be perceptible as a physical, quantitative property rather than just a philosophical one; (2) have a quantitative definition applicable to all levels of biological organization; and (3) be an essential component of biological system performance or evolution. Using an independent, cellular population model (running in the StarLogo system), we have developed a mutual information calculation to measure the information expansion when considering the interactions between a population of herbivores and an environment in comparison to the interactions between the individual herbivores and that environment. In self-organizing biological systems, the collective action of massively parallel units generates a greater potential complexity in the information processing capacity of the ‘whole’ system relative to the ‘individual’ parts, and as such, there is a demonstrable increase in mutual information content. From this perspective, we consider emergence to exist as a simple information expansion that is a default behavior of any system with multiple, component parts governed by a simple, probabilistic rule set. It is not a first principle of self-organizing biological systems, but rather a collective behavior that can be quantitatively described in practical terms for experimental biologists. With a quantitative formulation, the concept of emergence may become a useful information statistic in assessing the structure of biological systems.     

Patterns of protein synthesis in the chick blastula: A comparison of the component areas of the epiblast and the primary hypoblast

The patterns of protein synthesis are examined in the hypoblast and in the areas that comprise the epiblast, that is, the area opaca, the marginal zone, and the central area, during the blastula stage which marks the beginning of the interaction between the epiblast and hypoblast for induction of the primitive streak. The results demonstrate that there are distinct qualitative and quantitative differences in protein patterns in individual areas of blastoderm, the differences being most distinct between the hypoblast and any of the component areas of the epiblast. These differences in patterns of proteins suggest that the component areas of the chick blastula have already diverged to different developmental fates before any apparent morphogenetic differentiation, that is, the appearance of the primitive streak.     

Ultrastructural localization of antigenic determinants conserved during Perkinsus atlanticus trophozoite to prezoosporangium differentiation

Trophozoite, prezoosporangium and zoospore are the 3 main developmental stages that form the life cycle of protozoa of the genus Perkinsus. Several studies have shown that the differentiation of Perkinsus species from the trophozoite to the prezoosporangium stage involves a substantial modification of the antigenic characteristics of these molluscan parasites. With the aim of determining the presence and distribution of antigenic determinants conserved during trophozoite to prezoosporangium differentiation, a polyclonal serum was raised against trophozoites of P. atlanticus purified from parasitized gills of the clam Tapes semidecussatus. Immunocytochemical analyses showed that the serum generated against P. atlanticus trophozoites strongly cross-reacted with the prezoosporangium stage. Immunogold electron microscopy studies revealed that the granular component of the nucleolus, chromatin, cell wall, plasmalemma, lomasomes and vacuolar membrane are the main subcellular structures where the immunodominant epitopes consistently expressed by trophozoites and prezoosporangia are located. Furthermore, analysis of the immunogold staining pattern revealed that the labelling density obtained for prezoosporangia in the nucleolus, cell wall, plasmalemma and lomasomes was significantly higher than that obtained for trophozoites. The most immunoreactive structure in trophozoites was the granular component of the nucleolus, whereas in prezoosporangia it was the lomasome. Interestingly, the main antigenic compartment of P. atlanticus, considering both developmental stages, was the lomasome of the prezoosporangium. These findings show that P. atlanticus trophozoite to prezoosporangium differentiation is accompanied by significant qualitative and quantitative changes in the ultrastructural distribution of the immunodominant antigens shared by these 2 developmental stages.