History and status of embryology and developmental biology at Polish Medical Faculties and Schools

In Poland, medical embryology (both scientific research and teaching of the subject) has traditionally involved Chairs of Histology and Embryology rather than Obstetrics and Gynecology. Before World War II, the most buoyant centers for embryological research among the five universities at the time (in Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Lvov and Vilnius), were the Chairs of Embryology and Histology at Medical Faculties of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and the University of Vilnius. After World War II, eleven Medical Academies (Universities of Medicine) came into being (Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Lodz, Gdansk, Bialystok, Bydgoszcz, Szczecin, Wroclaw, Katowice and Lublin). They conduct scientific research on normal development of the human embryo as well as teratology studies. In the XX century, eminent medicine-related embryologist included professors Emil Godlewski Jr., Stanislaw Hiller and Stefan Baginski.     

When Did I Begin? Conception of the Human Individual in History,Philosophy and Science by Norman M. Ford,Cambridge & New York,Cambridge University Press.

Coughlan reviews Norman M. Ford's When Did I Begin? Conception of the Human Individual in History, Philosophy and Science (Cambridge University Press; 1988). Ford, master of a Catholic theological college, has written a critique of the view that the life of the human person begins at the fertilization of the ovum. He believes that "when does a human being begin?" is an ontological question, and that attainment of personhood is a fact which calls for appropriate moral and legal attitudes, rather than a product of moral or legal attitudes or conventions. Ford bases his arguments on a detailed analysis of both the biological facts and the significance of early human embryology. Coughlan, while taking issue with some of Ford's reasoning, praises the book for its spirit of honesty, its well-argued transitions, and its instructiveness in human embryology. Ford's response to Coughlan follows the review.     

Integrating self-organization theory into an advanced course on morphogenesis at Moscow State University

A lecture course on morphogenesis for fourth-year Moscow State University Specialist Diploma students specializing in embryology is described. The main goal of the course is to give the students an extensive theoretical background based on the tenets of the modern theory of Self-Organization and to show them how important this theory is for the proper understanding of developmental events. The corresponding mathematics are bound as tightly as possible to the actual morphogenetic processes. All of the lectures take the format of an active dialogue between the students and a tutor.     

A new genus and four new species of quill mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Syringophiudae) from phasianid birds (Galuformes: Phasianidae)

A new genus and four new species of the quill mites are described. Galliphilopsis gen. n. (G. francolinus sp. n., type species) differs from the closely related Dissonus Skoracki, 1999 by loss of leg setae dGII, the slightly divergent tips of epimeres I and the stylophore constricted posteriorly. Three new species of the genus Galliphilopsis gen. n. and one new species of the genus Mironovia Chirov and Kravtsova, 1995 are described from galliform birds (Phasianidae) collected at the Museum of Natural History, Wroclaw University (Poland): G. lophurus sp. n. from Lophura leucomelanos, G. bochkovi sp. n. from Tragopan sp. and Alectoris barbara, G. francolinus sp. n. from Francolinus levalliantoides, and Mironovia rouloul sp. n. from Rollulus rouloul.     

On the 60th anniversary of the Department of Embryology of Moscow State University

The Department of Embryology of Moscow State University is 60 years old on September 1, 2000. This is not all that old, especially in comparison with the almost 250-year history of the university itself or the 150-year history of embryology in Russia, but it is sufficient, in looking back, to grasp our present situation in the common flow of events and time.     

REVIEWS

Panbiogeography . By L eon C roizat .
Evolution of Genetic Systems . By C. D. D arlington
Les Urédinées (ou Rouills des Végétaux) . Tome 3. Genre Uromyces. By A. L. G uyot
Comparative Morphology of Vascular Plants . By A driance S. F oster and E rnest M. G ifford , J r
Die Frühdiagnose in der Züchtung und Züchtungsforschung: Beitrage zur Methodik der Zuchtung langlebiger Pflanzen . Edited by H. S tubbe and W. S chmidt
On Jurassic Taxads and Conifers from North-Western Europe and Eastern Greenland . By R udolf F lorin
Nutrition of the Legumes . Proceedings of the University of Nottingham Fifth Easter School in Agricultural Science, 1958. Edited by E. G. H allsworth
Taschenbuch der Botanik (begrundet von Hugo Miehe). Vol. II, Systematik . By W alter M evius
Cytology and Cytogenetics . By C. P. S wanson
Lower Miocene Pollen Flora from the valley of Klodnica near Gliwice (Upper Silesia) . Published in Publications of the Scientific Society in Wroclaw, Series B, No. 88 (Prace Wroclawskiego Towarzystwa Naukowego). Wroclaw 1957, by S. M acro
Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology . Vol. XXII. Population Studies: Animal Ecology and Demography.
Handbuch der Pflanzenphysiologie . Edited by W. R uhland . Band VIII: Der Stick-stoffumsatz     

Edmund Beecher Wilson, Class of '81

Edmund Beecher Wilson was born in Geneva, Illinois in 1856.He attended Antioch College, the University of Chicago, Yale,and Johns Hopkins (Ph.D. 1881). Most of his professional lifewas spent in the Zoology Department of Columbia University togetherwith his close friend, Thomas Hunt Morgan. They were dominantfigures in developing the Chromosome Theory of Heredity. Wilsonbegan his professional life as a conventional 19th century biologiststudying problems of systematics, morphology, and phylogeny.Soon he became a key figure in the newer experimental disciplinesof embryology, cytology, and heredity. He is remembered todaylargely for his superb synthesis of these three fields in TheCell in Development and Heredity. He died in 1939.     

Evidence for an increased distribution range of Dermacentor reticulatus in south-west Poland

The expansion of Dermacentor reticulatus to new geographical areas has been observed in several countries in Europe, including Poland and it’s neighbors. In 2011 and 2012, a total of 148 host-seeking D. reticulatus ticks were collected after flagging the vegetation in Lower Silesia, south-western Poland. Tick monitoring was conducted in mixed and deciduous forest, on meadows, in river valleys and ecotones between forested and grassy areas. The ornate dog ticks were found in 10 out of 33 sites located in five districts: Legnica, Wroclaw, ?roda ?l?ska, Lubin and Boleslawiec County. All sites where D. reticulatus ticks were found are located to the south-west of the Odra River. The greatest distance between these disconnected localities was approximately 90 km. It seems that at present the southern boundary of the range is Wroclaw district. This study indicates that D. reticulatus can be ranked as a typical element of the fauna in Lower Silesia in southwestern Poland.     

植物胚胎学在中国的发展

植物胚胎学在中国的发展大体可划分为 3个时期 :(1)初始时期 ,主要在裸子植物胚胎发育的观察和实验研究方面开展了一些工作。(2 )在 2 0世纪 5 0年代后的十几年是学科的建立时期。这期间培养了一些植物胚胎学的人才和开展了许多胚胎发育的描述性研究。 (3)近二十几年 ,随着国际上这一学科的发展 ,进入植物生殖生物学的发展时期。在这一时期中 ,以被子植物为对象开展了多方面的研究。第一 ,在结构与功能关系方面 ,研究小孢子发生过程中细胞质改组 ,雄配子体发育中营养核与生殖细胞的关系 ;雄性生殖单位与雌性生殖单位的结构 ,细胞质遗传的细胞学机理 ;生殖系统中的细胞骨架和传递细胞的结构与分布 ;胚珠中细胞衰退与其物质的迁移。第二 ,生理活动方面 ,研究钙在受精过程中的作用 ,ATP酶在胚珠物质运输中的参与 ,受精过程中与识别作用相关的柱头表膜和精细胞质膜蛋白的分离与组分的分析。第三 ,与育种相关的胚胎学研究 ,包括雄性不育性、无融合生殖及远缘杂交等。在以裸子植物为对象的研究中 ,首先是对许多我国特有的属种的胚胎发育作出详细的描述 ,以及为讨论系统位置提供胚胎学佐证。这方面的研究是独具特色的。其次 ,在受精作用和精细胞的光镜和电镜的研究也获得了突出的成果     

Kowalevsky, comparative evolutionary embryology, and the intellectual lineage of evo-devo

Alexander Kowalevsky was one of the most significant 19th century biologists working at the intersection of evolution and embryology. The reinstatement of the Alexander Kowalevsky Medal by the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists for outstanding contributions to understanding evolutionary relationships in the animal kingdom, evolutionary developmental biology, and comparative zoology is timely now that Evo-devo has emerged as a major research discipline in contemporary biology. Consideration of the intellectual lineage of comparative evolutionary embryology explicitly forces a reconsideration of some current conceptions of the modern emergence of Evo-devo, which has tended to exist in the shadow of experimental embryology throughout the 20th century, especially with respect to the recent success of developmental biology and developmental genetics. In particular we advocate a sharper distinction between the heritage of problems and the heritage of tools for contemporary Evo-devo. We provide brief overviews of the work of N. J. Berrill and D. T. Anderson to illustrate comparative evolutionary embryology in the 20th century, which provides an appropriate contextualization for a conceptual review of our research on the sea urchin genus Heliocidaris over the past two decades. We conclude that keeping research questions rather than experimental capabilities at the forefront of Evo-devo may be an antidote to any repeat of the stagnation experienced by the first group of evolutionary developmental biologists over one hundred years ago and acknowledges Kowalevsky's legacy in evolutionary embryology.     

My perpetual cycle: from student to researcher to teacher to student ..

This contribution stems from the personal experience of the author regarding how he became acquainted with embryology and how he finally entered the field of developmental biology. It reports his feelings as a student of the Histology and Embryology course as it was taught in the late 1970s, and his present efforts in teaching developmental biology to university students. In the Developmental Biology course at Pisa University today, students are taught the tissue, molecular and genetic mechanisms that regulate development of several model systems. Drosophila is introduced at the beginning, because of the great knowledge that it has brought to the unraveling of the molecular aspects of development and because it allows several basic concepts to be introduced, and vertebrate systems follow. Other topics include the classic experiments on amphibian systems, which are explained in the light of recent molecular advances, as well as the genetically more versatile vertebrate systems such as the mouse.     

Are Research Schools Necessary? Contrasting Models of 20th Century Research at Yale Led by Ross Granville Harrison, Grace E. Pickford and G. Evelyn Hutchinson

This paper compares and contrasts three groups that conducted biological research at Yale University during overlapping periods between 1910 and 1970. Yale University proved important as a site for this research. The leaders of these groups were Ross Granville Harrison, Grace E. Pickford, and G. Evelyn Hutchinson, and their members included both graduate students and more experienced scientists. All produced innovative research, including the opening of new subfields in embryology, endocrinology and ecology respectively, over a long period of time. Harrison's is shown to have been a classic research school; Pickford's and Hutchinson's were not. Pickford's group was successful in spite of her lack of department or institutional position or power. Hutchinson and his graduate and post-graduate students were extremely productive but in diverse areas of ecology. His group did not have one focused area of research or use one set of research tools. The paper concludes that new models for research groups are needed, especially for those, like Hutchinson's, that included much field research.     

Activity Budgets of Captive Cape Fur Seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) Under a Training Regime

Ethograms and time budgets are crucial for the behavioral assessment of nonhuman animals in zoos, and they serve as references for welfare research. This study was conducted to obtain detailed time budgets of trained Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) in captivity, to evaluate variations of these patterns, and to determine whether abnormal behaviors had been displayed. Behavioral data for 3 Cape fur seals in the Wroclaw Zoo were collected, and more than 300 observation hours (during a 12-month period) per individual were analyzed. The studied animals exhibited a diversified repertoire of natural behaviors with apparent seasonal and daily patterns, and they did not present stereotypic behaviors. Significant differences of interaction rates between individuals suggest more frequent affiliative interactions among related animals. The absence of stereotypic behaviors, good health of individuals, and the presence of diversified natural behaviors indicated relatively good welfare of Cape fur seals kept in the Wroclaw Zoo.     

Stanislaw Smreczynskis legacy and the Department of Zoology of the Jagiellonian University of Krakow (Poland)

This article covers the origin and development of scientific interest in insect and amphibian developmental biology at the Department of Systematic Zoology and Zoogeography of the Jagiellonian University. The greater part of this historical account is devoted to Professor Stanislaw Smreczynski (1899-1975), the founding father of the Department, and comments on his biography and research achievements in the field of animal experimental embryology. A particular emphasis is on Smreczynski's contributions to contemporary understanding of early embryonic development of amphibians and insects as well as his expertise in Pleistocene and extant weevils (Curculionidae). A concise survey of developmental phenomena studied by some of Smreczynski's co-workers and followers is also presented, including the early embryogenesis of entognathans as well as germ cell determination and gonad formation in Drosophila virilis conducted by Jura; analysis of oogenesis in Collembola carried out by Krzysztofowicz; investigations of insects and tradigrades by Weglarska, and finally research into various aspects of ovary structure in diverse insect taxa by the Bilinski group.     

Balfour, Garstang and de Beer: The First Century of Evolutionary Embryology

Evolution has been integrated with embryology during two greatperiods: the latter half of the 19th C as evolutionary morphology/embryology,and the latter third of the 20th C as evolutionary developmentalbiology. My mandate was to use the contributions of three embryologists/morphologists:Francis (Frank) Balfour (1851–1882), Walter Garstang (1868–1949)and Gavin de Beer (1899–1972) to discuss the foundationsof evolutionary embryology in the UK from 1870 (when "everyaspiring zoologist was an embryologist, and the one topic ofprofessional conversation was evolution," Bateson, 1922, p.56), through the 1920s ("ontogeny does not recapitulate phylogeny,it creates it," Garstang, 1922, p. 81) to the 1970s ("homologyof phenotypes does not imply similarity in genotypes," de Beer,1971, p. 15). Evolutionary embryology was driven by a comparativeembryological approach that sought homology of adult structuresin germ layers and ancestry in embryos, and sought to differentiatelarval adaptations from retained ancestral characters. An initialemphasis on a phylogenetic mechanism (recapitulation) slowlygave way to more mechanistic approaches that included heterochronyand the integration of embryology with physiological genetics.Germ layers, homology, larval evolution, larval origins of thevertebrates, paedomorphosis and heterochrony underpinned theorigins of evolutionary embryology, and so I discuss each ofthese topics.     

Teaching embryology to undergraduates in the Faculty of Education at Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir,Turkey

This report reviews the way in which classical embryology is taught and interpreted at the Buca Faculty of Education, in Dokuz Eylul University (Turkey). This university is one of the leading teacher-education institutions in Turkey. My course is taught with appreciation of the fact that students are thinking ideologically rather than scientifically with regard to creationism and evolution in both cognitive and educational processes. However, this ideological orientation, along with lack of classroom time and material resources, hinders my goal of a student-centered education. Being flexible with regard to philosophical and metaphysical issues on which concepts of evolution and creationism are in conflict, is constructive for student development and represents the approach I endeavor to pursue.     

The role of convection in the standard fluid-mechanical model for morphogenesis

The effect of convection on reaction-diffusion instabilities in a visco-elastic medium is studied by using the standard continuum theory of a fluid mixture. The medium is assumed to be in local mechanical equilibrium, and convection is generated by pressure forces which arise if the equilibrium density of the medium changes with its composition. A linear stability analysis shows that reaction-diffusion instabilities proceeding from homogeneous steady states at rest are unmodified by induced convection to first order in concentration changes. We suggest that a non-linear analysis would show convection produces no new instabilities, as a linear analysis of inhomogeneous non-convecting stationary states shows that reaction-diffusion growth rates are reduced by convection at long wavelengths and are otherwise unchanged. For applications in embryology, numerical estimates suggest that convection can be ignored in reaction-diffusion mechanisms for pattern formation, and this conclusion is supported by a dimensional analysis.On leave from Department of Physics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia     

植物胚胎学在中国的发展

植物胚胎学在中国的发展大体可划分为3个时期: (1) 初始时期, 主要在裸子植物胚胎发育的观察和实验研究方面开展了一些工作. (2) 在20世纪50年代后的十几年是学科的建立时期.这期间培养了一些植物胚胎学的人才和开展了许多胚胎发育的描述性研究.(3)近二十几年,随着国际上这一学科的发展,进入植物生殖生物学的发展时期.在这一时期中,以被子植物为对象开展了多方面的研究.第一,在结构与功能关系方面,研究小孢子发生过程中细胞质改组,雄配子体发育中营养核与生殖细胞的关系;雄性生殖单位与雌性生殖单位的结构,细胞质遗传的细胞学机理;生殖系统中的细胞骨架和传递细胞的结构与分布;胚珠中细胞衰退与其物质的迁移.第二,生理活动方面,研究钙在受精过程中的作用,ATP酶在胚珠物质运输中的参与,受精过程中与识别作用相关的柱头表膜和精细胞质膜蛋白的分离与组分的分析.第三,与育种相关的胚胎学研究,包括雄性不育性、无融合生殖及远缘杂交等.在以裸子植物为对象的研究中,首先是对许多我国特有的属种的胚胎发育作出详细的描述,以及为讨论系统位置提供胚胎学佐证.这方面的研究是独具特色的.其次,在受精作用和精细胞的光镜和电镜的研究也获得了突出的成果.     

From field to gel blot: teaching a holistic view of developmental phenomena to undergraduate biology students at the University of Tokyo

We present here an outline of the lectures and laboratory exercises for undergraduate developmental biology students at the University of Tokyo. The main aim of our course is to help students fill the gap between natural history, classical embryology and molecular developmental biology. To achieve this aim, we take up various topics in the lectures, from fertilization and early development to developmental engineering. Our laboratory exercises begin with an introduction to the natural history of the organism. The entire class and the instructors collect newts in the field and discuss features of their mating behavior and so on. In the laboratory, students are absorbed by exercises such as a lampbrush chromosome preparation and an in vitro beating heart induction. After that, students choose their own research projects for which they will employ both classical embryological and modern molecular biological techniques. At the end of our course, the connectivity principle from field to gel blot will be part of the students' understanding.