FluG-BrlA途径参与构巢曲霉无性发育机制的研究进展

构巢曲霉是丝状真菌的模式生物,已对其无性发育机制进行了比较充分的研究。本文以FluG-BrlA途径参与构巢曲霉无性发育机制的研究为切入点,综述了构巢曲霉无性发育中心调控路径中各主要成员如brlA、abaA、wetA,中心调控路径修饰基因如stuA、medA及中心调控路径激活因子fluG、flbA-E的研究进展,绘制出构巢曲霉无性发育相关基因遗传位置模式图。研究将为其它丝状真菌无性发育机制的研究提供参考。     

Directional asymmetry and the measurement of developmental instability

Three widely used methods of estimating fluctuating asymmetry may yield serious overestimates if directional asymmetry is present. When two sides of a bilateral trait grow at different rates, then the asymmetry variance (Var[l-r]) increases with size, even when developmental noise is nil. But the residual variance around a population's mean developmental trajectory is invariant with respect to size. Thus, it can be used as a measure of developmental instability. We introduce a measure of developmental instability, the residual variance (s²δ), obtainable from either a major axis regression, which is equivalent to a principal component analysis on l and r, or a general structural model. This residual variance can be estimated from directionally asymmetric or even antisymmetric traits. We present examples of developmental instability estimated from directionally asymmetric mandibles (house mouse) and leaves (soybean), and antisymmetric claws (fiddler crab).     

Developmental genetic basis for the evolution of pelvic fin loss in the pufferfish Takifugu rubripes

Paired appendages were a key developmental innovation among vertebrates and they eventually evolved into limbs. Ancient developmental control systems for paired fins and limbs are broadly conserved among gnathostome vertebrates. Some lineages including whales, some salamanders, snakes, and many ray-fin fish, independently lost the pectoral, pelvic, or both appendages over evolutionary time. When different taxa independently evolve similar developmental morphologies, do they use the same molecular genetic mechanisms? To determine the developmental genetic basis for the evolution of pelvis loss in the pufferfish Takifugu rubripes (fugu), we isolated fugu orthologs of genes thought to be essential for limb development in tetrapods, including limb positioning (Hoxc6, Hoxd9), limb bud initiation (Pitx1, Tbx4, Tbx5), and limb bud outgrowth (Shh, Fgf10), and studied their expression patterns during fugu development. Results showed that bud outgrowth and initiation fail to occur in fugu, and that pelvis loss is associated with altered expression of Hoxd9a, which we show to be a marker for pelvic fin position in three-spine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus. These results rule out changes in appendage outgrowth and initiation genes as the earliest developmental defect in pufferfish pelvic fin loss and suggest that altered Hoxd9a expression in the lateral mesoderm may account for pelvis loss in fugu. This mechanism appears to be different from the mechanism for pelvic loss in stickleback, showing that different taxa can evolve similar phenotypes by different mechanisms.     

Heterochrony in plant evolutionary studies through the twentieth century

The evolution of plant morphology is the result of changes in developmental processes. Heterochrony, the evolutionary change in developmental rate or timing, is a major cause of ontogenetic modification during evolution. It is responsible for both interspecific and intraspecific morphological differences. Other causes include heterotopy, the change of structural position, and homeosis, the replacement of a structure by another. This paper discusses and reviews the role of heterochrony in plant evolution at the organismal, organ, tissue, cellular, and molecular levels, as well as the relationships among heterochrony, heterotopy, and homeosis. An attempt has been made to include all published studies through late 1999. It is likely that most heterochronic change involves more than one of the six classic pure heterochronic processes. Of these processes, we found neoteny (decreased developmental rate in descendant), progenesis (earlier offset), and acceleration (increased rate) to be more commonly reported than hypermorphosis (delayed offset) or predisplacement (earlier onset). We found no reports of postdisplacement (delayed onset). Therefore, although rate changes are common (both neoteny and acceleration), shifts in timing most commonly involve earlier termination in the descendant (progenesis). These relative frequencies may change as more kinds of structures are analyzed. Phenotypic effects of evolutionary changes in onset or offset timing can be exaggerated, suppressed, or reversed by changes in rate. Because not all developmental changes responsible for evolution result from heterochrony, however, we propose that plant evolution be studied from a viewpoint that integrates these different developmental mechanisms.     

Development of the human cerebral cortex: a histochemical study

In recent years, improvement in diagnostic techniques has led to better recognition of "disorders of cortical development". These disorders constitute a significant cause of epilepsy, mental retardation, developmental delay and neurological deficits in childhood, and may also contribute to the pathogenesis of psychological and neurodegenerative diseases in adults. Hitherto, however, few systematic studies of the human fetal cortex have been performed, and little is known about the ontogenetic processes of the neocortex in man. The aim of the study is to establish an understanding of the developmental events that occur in the second and third trimesters of gestation, by investigating the biochemical patterns of development of the human neocortex during this period. The temporal and spatial patterns of expression of the neuronal markers gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH), dopamine receptor DR1 and synaptophysin, as well as the glial cell markers glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), S100B and excitatory amino acid transporter protein GLT-1 are delineated in the fetal cortex using immunohistochemistry. Results of this study showed that different neuronal and glial cell proteins follow different developmental patterns and many show inter- or intra-regional variations in expression. Details of these patterns are described and discussed. The early expression of these proteins suggests that they play important roles in the developmental processes of cell proliferation, migration and differentiation. Both neurotransmitters and glial cell proteins probably function outside the confines of synapses in the fetal brain, as paracrine/autocrine factors. Early developmental events seem to be dictated by an innate programme, whereas late events may be more susceptible to extrinsic influences. It is hoped that knowledge of the normal developmental process can lead to better understanding of the causes and mechanisms of "disorders of cortical development", and to better treatments.     

Do precocial mammals develop at a faster rate? A comparison of rates of skull development in Sigmodon fulviventer and Mus musculus domesticus

Variation in neonatal maturity among mammals is often explained by variation in gestation length, but species may also differ in developmental rate, a quantity that is difficult to measure because the conventional formalism makes two important and potentially unrealistic assumptions: (1) ontogeny of form can be described by a single line, and (2) species have the same ontogeny of form. We examine two species, one precocial (Sigmodon fulviventer), the other altricial (Mus musculus domesticus), and find that neither assumption is met. Therefore, we introduce an alternative metric, the rate of shape differentiation away from the average neonate. We find that S. fulviventer has a lower developmental rate than M. m. domesticus; consequently, while more mature at birth, S. fulviventer loses ground to M. m. domesticus over time. Surprisingly, despite differences in gestation length and developmental rate, these species reach developmental and life-history milestones at nearly identical degrees of skull shape maturity.     

Timing of gene expression from different genetic systems in shaping leucine and isoleucine contents of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) meal

Experiments were conducted on rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) using a diallel design with nine parents: Youcai 601, Double 20-4, Huashuang 3, Gaoyou 605, Zhongyou 821, Eyouchangjia, Zhong R-888, Tower and Zheshuang 72. The seed developmental process was divided into five stages, namely initial (days 1-15 after flowering), early (days 16-22 after flowering), middle (days 23-29), late (days 30-36), and maturing (days 37-43) developmental stages. The variation of dynamic genetic effects for leucine and isoleucine contents of rapeseed meal was analysed at five developmental stages, across different environments using the genetic models with time-dependent measures. The results from unconditional and conditional analyses indicated that the expression of diploid embryo, cytoplasmic and diploid maternal plant genes were important for leucine and isoleucine contents at different developmental stages of rapeseed, particularly at the initial and early developmental stages. Among different genetic systems, nutrition quality traits were mainly controlled by the accumulative or net maternal main effects and their GE interaction effects, except at maturity when the net diploid embryo effects were larger. The expression of genes was affected by the environmental conditions on 15, 22, 29 or 36 days after flowering, but was more stable at mature stage. For the isoleucine content the narrow-sense heritabilities on 15, 22, 29, 36, and 43 days after flowering were 43.0, 65.7, 60.1, 65.5 and 78.2%, respectively, while for the leucine content the corresponding narrow-sense heritabilities were relatively smaller. The interaction heritabilities were more important than the general heritabilities at the first three developmental times. The improvement for isoleucine content could be achieved by selection based on the higher narrow-sense heritabilities. Various genetic systems exhibited genetic correlations among the developmental times or leucine and isoleucine contents. A simultaneous improvement of leucine and isoleucine contents seems possible because of the significant positive genetic correlation components from different genetic systems at different developmental times.     

Effects of constant and varying temperatures on the development of blue swimmer crab (Portunus pelagicus) larvae: Laboratory observations and field predictions for temperate coastal waters

Temperature is widely held to be a critical factor for the development of marine invertebrate larvae. We investigated three specific aspects of this relationship for the blue swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus, in a temperate gulf: (1) the effects of different but temporally constant temperatures on the survival and developmental period of larvae reared in the laboratory, (2) the effects of varying temperatures on the survival and developmental period of larvae reared in the laboratory, and (3) prediction of larval developmental periods under seasonal temperature changes found in the field. Temperature had a marked effect on larval survival. At constant temperatures of 22.5 and 25 °C larval survival was far greater than at lower temperatures down to 17 °C, and developmental period of the larval period was inversely related to (constant) temperature. However, larvae in temperate coastal waters will usually be exposed to seasonally varying, rather than constant, temperatures. To account for this, a larval developmental period model was created and then verified in the laboratory by rearing larvae under varying temperatures. Results of this work demonstrated that developmental periods were markedly different under constant versus varying temperature regimes. Using different temperature simulations for a temperate gulf (Gulf St Vincent, South Australia), the developmental period model predicted that in years of ‘average’ seasonal temperature changes, total larval developmental period could range from 26 to 45 days depending on the day of hatching. In such cases, peak postlarval settlement was predicted to occur between mid January and mid March. Results from this study also predict that larval survival (and thus postlarval settlement) will be maximised in years with abnormally warm summers. Whilst the developmental period model was used to make predictions of developmental period for P. pelagicus in a temperate gulf, it could readily be adapted to predict developmental periods in other coastal environments.     

Mtss1抗体制备及小脑中不同亚型磷酸化水平的检测

肿瘤转移抑制蛋白(Metastasis suppressor1,Mtss1),又名肿瘤转移消失蛋白(Missing in metastasis,MIM)在小脑神经元发育中受到调控,依次表达两种亚型:包含Src磷酸化位点的广泛表达亚型;含Src磷酸化位点片段经RNA剪接去除的神经元特异亚型.为检测这两种Mtss1亚型的酪氨酸磷酸化水平是否因Src磷酸化位点的去除存在明显区别,制备了灵敏度较高并可特异性沉淀外源和内源表达的Mtss1的兔多克隆抗体,对发育时期与成年大鼠小脑内源Mtss1酪氨酸磷酸化水平进行检测,发现成年后的Mtss1与出生后发育时期的Mtss1均发生明显的酪氨酸磷酸化,表明剪接去除包含有Src磷酸化位点中的神经元特异亚型中,还有其他的酪氨酸残基被磷酸化,提示其他酪氨酸磷酸化激酶信号通路对Mtss1神经元亚型的调控作用.     

A comparison of different thermal performance functions describing temperature-dependent development rates

The impact of temperature on developmental duration of insects has been long kept a high profile in the studies of insect pests. The relationship between developmental rate, which is the reciprocal of developmental duration, is generally represented by a straight line over a range of moderate temperature; over two ranges of extreme temperature (i.e., low temperatures and high temperatures), the relationship cannot be accurately reflected by a straight line (Campbell et al., 1974). For describing the effect of constant temperature on developmental rate over the full range of temperature, some non-linear models were proposed. To analyze the effect of temperature on ectothermic performance, twelve non-linear functions, including Gaussian, Logan1, Logan2, Performance, Wang–Lan–Ding, Sharpe–Schoolfield, Ratkowsky, Brière1, Brière2, Weibull, modified Gaussian and exponentially modified Gaussian functions, are compared using the coefficient of determination, adjusted coefficient of determination, Akaike information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC), corrected Akaike information criterion (AICC) and a new method best on a weighted average of the five listed indicators. These models were compared using the development rate data of two species of insects at the egg stage. We found that the Performance, Brière1 and Brière2 functions are all very suitable for explaining temperature-dependent development rates. The three functions both belong to the asymmetrical skew thermal performance curves, and show better goodness-of-fit than the symmetrical Gaussian function. The Performance function might be the best function, because it can reflect the linearity between temperatures and developmental rates below the optimal developmental temperature.     

温度对扶桑绵粉蚧生长发育的影响

【目的】扶桑绵粉蚧Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley是近年在我国新发现的一种重要外来入侵害虫,对我国棉花生产具有潜在的巨大威胁。本研究以棉花作为寄主,探索恒温及变温条件对扶桑绵粉蚧生长发育的影响。【方法】在光周期为12L∶12D,RH 70%±5％,在系列恒温及变温（温度波动范围为±1℃）条件下,用棉花饲养扶桑绵粉蚧,观察和分析了不同温度下各龄虫态的发育历期、发育速率、存活率和繁殖力及发育起点温度、有效积温、最适发育温度、极限高温等。【结果】在恒温17~32℃范围内,扶桑绵粉蚧各虫态的发育历期随温度升高而逐渐缩短,当温度达到27℃时发育速率值增幅最大,其中在恒温22~32℃范围内,该虫具有较高的生长发育速率和存活率,且繁殖能力较强,而在恒温37℃条件下,该虫不能完成整个生活史而死亡。在循环变温条件（25~40℃）下,该虫表现出更好的适应性：发育历期更短,速率更快,存活率更高,繁殖力也达到了恒温条件下的平均水平。雌雄虫的发育起点温度分别为9.0℃和8.1℃,而达到成虫时所需有效积温分别为322.6日度和344.8日度。通过拟合发育速率与温度之间的非线性回归关系求出雌雄虫最适发育温度分别为30.5℃和29.9℃,而极限高温分别为36.6℃和35.8℃。【结论】扶桑绵粉蚧适温范围广泛,特别是在变温条件下的适应性非常强。这些结果为预测扶桑绵粉蚧在我国主要棉区的分布提供了依据。     

Assessing Level of Development and Successional Stages in Biological Soil Crusts with Biological Indicators

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) perform vital ecosystem services, but the difference in biological components or developmental level still affects the rate and type of these services. In order to differentiate crust successional stages in quantity and analyze the relationship between crust developmental level and successional stages, this work determined several biological indicators in a series of different developmental BSCs in the Shapotou region of China. The results showed that crust developmental level (level of development index) can be well indicated by crust biological indicators. Photosynthetic biomass was the most appropriate to differentiate crust successional stages, although both photosynthetic biomass and respiration intensity increased with the development and succession of BSCs. Based on of the different biological compositions, BSCs were quantificationally categorized into different successional stages including cyanobacterial crusts (lichen and moss coverages <20 %), lichen crusts (lichen coverage >20 % but moss coverage <20 %), semi-moss crusts (moss coverage >20 % but <75 %), and moss crusts (moss coverage >75 %). In addition, it was found that cyanobacterial and microalgal biomass first increased as cyanobacterial crusts formed, then decreased when lots of mosses emerged on the crust surface; however nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria and heterotrophic microbes increased in the later developmental BSCs. The structural adjustment of biological components in the different developmental BSCs may reflect the requirement of crust survival and material transition.     

Developmental regulatory genes and echinoderm evolution

Modified interactions among developmental regulatory genes and changes in their expression domains are likely to be an important part of the developmental basis for evolutionary changes in morphology. Although developmental regulatory genes are now being studied in an increasing number of taxa, there has been little attempt to analyze the resulting data within an explicit phylogenetic context. Here we present comparative analyses of expression data from regulatory genes in the phylum Echinodermata, considering the implications for understanding both echinoderm evolution as well as the evolution of regulatory genes in general. Reconstructing the independent evolutionary histories of regulatory genes, their expression domains, their developmental roles, and the structures in which they are expressed reveals a number of distinct evolutionary patterns. A few of these patterns correspond to interpretations common in the literature, whereas others have received little prior mention. Together, the analyses indicate that the evolution of echinoderms involved: (1) the appearance of many apomorphic developmental roles and expression domains, some of which have plesiomorphic bilateral symmetry and others of which have apomorphic radial symmetry or left-right asymmetry; (2) the loss of some developmental roles and expression domains thought to be plesiomorphic for Bilateria; and (3) the retention of some developmental roles thought to be plesiomorphic for Bilateria, although with modification in expression domains. Some of the modifications within the Echinodermata concern adult structures; others, transient larval structures. Some changes apparently appeared early in echinoderm evolution (> 450 Ma), whereas others probably happened more recently (< 50 Ma). Cases of likely convergence in expression domains suggest caution when using developmental regulatory genes to make inferences about homology among morphological structures of distantly related taxa.     

不同环境下籼型杂交稻穗干物质重的发育遗传分析

选用穗干物质重性状差异较大的 4个籼型不育系 (A)和相应的保持系 (B)以及 5个籼型恢复系(R) ,按不完全双列杂交设计 (4× 5 ) ,配成一套亲本和F12个世代的遗传群体 .采用包括基因型×环境互作的加性 显性发育遗传模型 ,分析了两年的籼型杂交稻不同发育时期穗干物质重的遗传表现 .结果表明 ,穗干物质重的发育全过程均受到遗传主效应和基因型与环境互作效应的控制 .在穗干物质重发育的前、中期 (15d前 )主要由显性效应控制 ,显性效应基因的表达量最大 ,环境因素的正向影响也较明显 ,可通过采取适当的栽培管理措施为稻穗发育创造良好的环境条件 ,促进杂种优势潜力的充分发挥 ;在发育的中后期 (15d后 )加性效应转为主要作用 ,加性效应基因的表达也呈最活跃状态 ,这一时期对穗重进行遗传选择会获得较好的遗传进度 .     

A Standard System to Study Vertebrate Embryos

Staged embryonic series are important as reference for different kinds of biological studies. I summarise problems that occur when using ‘staging tables’ of ‘model organisms’. Investigations of developmental processes in a broad scope of taxa are becoming commonplace. Beginning in the 1990s, methods were developed to quantify and analyse developmental events in a phylogenetic framework. The algorithms associated with these methods are still under development, mainly due to difficulties of using non-independent characters. Nevertheless, the principle of comparing clearly defined newly occurring morphological features in development (events) in quantifying analyses was a key innovation for comparative embryonic research. Up to date no standard was set for how to define such events in a comparative approach. As a case study I compared the external development of 23 land vertebrate species with a focus on turtles, mainly based on reference staging tables. I excluded all the characters that are only identical for a particular species or general features that were only analysed in a few species. Based on these comparisons I defined 104 developmental characters that are common either for all vertebrates (61 characters), gnathostomes (26), tetrapods (3), amniotes (7), or only for sauropsids (7). Characters concern the neural tube, somite, ear, eye, limb, maxillary and mandibular process, pharyngeal arch, eyelid or carapace development. I present an illustrated guide listing all the defined events. This guide can be used for describing developmental series of any vertebrate species or for documenting specimen variability of a particular species. The guide incorporates drawings and photographs as well as consideration of species identifying developmental features such as colouration. The simple character-code of the guide is extendable to further characters pertaining to external and internal morphological, physiological, genetic or molecular development, and also for other vertebrate groups not examined here, such as Chondrichthyes or Actinopterygii. An online database to type in developmental events for different stages and species could be a basis for further studies in comparative embryology. By documenting developmental events with the standard code, sequence heterochrony studies (i.e. Parsimov) and studies on variability can use this broad comparative data set.     

Differences in protocols of craniofacial development related to twinship and zygosity

Using 56 adult dental diameters as a subsystem model for craniofacial development, we show that monozygotic (MZ), dizygotic (DZ), and singleton groups differ significantly in developmental relationships assessed by multivariate statistical methods under commonly accepted assumptions. Given the differences observed, we suggest that any assumption of developmental equivalence between MZ and DZ twins, or between twins of either group and singletons, for variables of craniofacial or behavioral development, may be subject to serious doubt. Implications for twin study theory and methodology, and for study of early human development, are discussed.     

Developmental system drift and flexibility in evolutionary trajectories

SUMMARY The comparative analysis of homologous characters is a staple of evolutionary developmental biology and often involves extrapolating from experimental data in model organisms to infer developmental events in non-model organisms. In order to determine the general importance of data obtained in model organisms, it is critical to know how often and to what degree similar phenotypes expressed in different taxa are formed by divergent developmental processes. Both comparative studies of distantly related species and genetic analysis of closely related species indicate that many characters known to be homologous between taxa have diverged in their morphogenetic or gene regulatory underpinnings. This process, which we call "developmental system drift" (DSD), is apparently ubiquitous and has significant implications for the flexibility of developmental evolution of both conserved and evolving characters. Current data on the population genetics and molecular mechanisms of DSD illustrate how the details of developmental processes are constantly changing within evolutionary lineages, indicating that developmental systems may possess a great deal of plasticity in their responses to natural selection.     

Closely related DNA sequences specify distinct patterns of developmental expression in Drosophila melanogaster.

Three short synthetic DNA sequences, which are closely related to one another, confer three distinct patterns of developmental expression on the heat shock hsp70 gene in transgenic Drosophila melanogaster lines. These results show that small variations or even single base pair changes in a repeated element of a regulatory sequence can create promoters that display new specificities of tissue and developmental regulation. Interestingly, the three patterns of developmental expression conferred by the synthetic DNAs resemble in part those of the known developmental genes: glucose dehydrogenase (Gld), Dopa decarboxylase (Ddc), and salivary gland secretory proteins (Sgs), respectively. In each case, the defined regulatory region of the known developmental gene contains multiple sequences that are similar or identical to the synthetic sequence that confers a similar pattern of developmental expression on the hsp70 gene. Thus, these results are congruent with the view that short sequence elements in multiple copies can confer either simple or relatively complex patterns of developmental expression on a receptive promoter like that of hsp70. Furthermore, the fact that the three variants tested produced three distinct patterns of expression in transgenic animals suggests that the number of different elements is large.     

Developmental and protein modification defects caused by mutations in the Drosophila gene l(3)c21R

A temperature-sensitive Drosophila mutation, l(3)c21RRW630 (abbreviated RW630), has been previously shown to have biochemical as well as developmental defects. To analyze further the relationship between the biochemical and developmental defects, recombinational mapping, deletion analysis, and complementation studies with other l(3)c21R alleles were performed. These experiments showed that the biochemical and developmental defects in RW630 can be attributed to a single mutation. Four non-temperature-sensitive l(3)c21R alleles were found to have biochemical defects similar to those seen in RW630 at restrictive temperature. In RW630 and in these four other l(3)c21R alleles, the severity of expression of the biochemical and the developmental defects was closely correlated. Temperature-shift studies of the expression of the RW630 maternal lethal effect on embryogenesis in females transheterozygous for RW630 and other l(3)c21R alleles yielded results which indicated that these defects must accumulate over a period of time before the maternal lethal effect can be detected. These data provide further support for the hypothesis that defects in protein modification produce developmental defects in l(3)c21R mutants.