PARTIAL INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN ANTS AND SYMBIOTIC FUNGI IN TWO SYMPATRIC SPECIES OF ACROMYRMEX LEAF-CUTTING ANTS

Abstract We investigate the nature and duration of incompatibility between certain combinations of Acromyrmex leaf‐cutting ants and symbiotic fungi, taken from sympatric colonies of the same or a related species. Ant‐fungus incompatibility appeared to be largely independent of the ant species involved, but could be explained partly by genetic differences among the fungus cultivars. Following current theoretical considerations, we develop a hypothesis, originally proposed by S. A. Frank, that the observed incompatibilities are ultimately due to competitive interactions between genetically different fungal lineages, and we predict that the ants should have evolved mechanisms to prevent such competition between cultivars within a single garden. This requires that the ants are able to recognize unfamiliar fungi, and we show that this is indeed the case. Amplified fragment length polymorphism genotyping further shows that the two sympatric Acromyrmex species share each other's major lineages of cultivar, confirming that horizontal transfer does occasionally take place. We argue and provide some evidence that chemical substances produced by the fungus garden may mediate recognition of alien fungi by the ants. We show that incompatibility between ants and transplanted, genetically different cultivars is indeed due to active killing of the novel cultivar by the ants. This incompatibility disappears when ants are force‐fed the novel cultivar for about a week, a result that is consistent with our hypothesis of recognition induced by the resident fungus and eventual replacement of incompatibility compounds during force‐feeding.     

DYNAMIC AND GENETIC CONSEQUENCES OF VARIATION IN HORIZONTAL TRANSMISSION FOR A MICROPARASITIC INFECTION

Transmission to a new host is a critical step in the life cycle of a parasite. Variation in the characteristics of the transmission process, for example, due to host demography, is assumed to select for different variants of the parasite. We have experimentally tested how variation in the time to transmission (early or late after infection) and exposure to adverse conditions outside the host (immediate or delayed contact with new host) interact to determine the success of the infection in the next host, using the trypanosome Crithidia bombi infecting its bumblebee host, Bombus terrestris. These two experimentally manageable steps mimic the processes of within- and among-host selection for the parasite. We found that early transmission led to higher infection success in the next host as did immediate contact with the new host. However, there was no interaction between the two parameters as would be expected if early-transmitted variants, resulting from rapid multiplication within the host, would be less adapted to the conditions encountered during the between-host transfer or infection of the next host. Furthermore, typing the genetic variability of the parasites with microsatellites showed that the four different transmission routes of our experiment selected for different degrees of allelic diversity of the infecting parasite populations. The results support the idea that variation in the transmission process selects for different genotypic variants of the parasite. At the same time, the relationship of allelic diversity with infection intensity suggested that the coinfection model of May and Nowak (1995) may be appropriate, where each parasite is able to infect and multiply independent of others within the same host.     

THE EVOLUTION OF VIRULENCE IN PATHOGENS WITH VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL TRANSMISSION

The idea that vertical transmission of parasites selects for lower virulence is widely accepted. However, little theoretical work has considered the evolution of virulence for parasites with mixed horizontal plus vertical transmission. Many human, animal, and plant parasites are transmitted both vertically and horizontally, and some horizontal transmission is generally necessary to maintain parasites at all. We present a population-dynamical model for the evolution of virulence when both vertical and horizontal transmission are present. In the simplest such model, up to two infectious strains can coexist within one host population. Virulent, vertically transmitted pathogens can persist in a population when they provide protection against more virulent, horizontally transmitted strains. When virulence is maintained by a correlation with horizontal transmission rates, increased levels of vertical transmission always lower the evolutionarily stable (ESS) level of virulence. Contrary to existing theory, however, increases in opportunities for horizontal transmission also lower the ESS level of virulence. We explain these findings in light of earlier work and confirm them in simulations including imperfect vertical transmission. We describe further simulations, in which both vertical and horizontal transmission rates are allowed to evolve. The outcome of these simulations depends on whether high levels of vertical transmission are possible with low virulence. Finally, we argue against the notion of a virulence-avirulence continuum between horizontal and vertical transmission, and discuss our results in relation to empirical studies of transmission and virulence.     

TRADEOFF BETWEEN HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL MODES OF TRANSMISSION IN BACTERIAL PLASMIDS

It has been hypothesized that there is a fundamental conflict between horizontal (infectious) and vertical (intergenerational) modes of parasite transmission. Activities of a parasite that increase its rate of infectious transmission are presumed to reduce its host's fitness. This reduction in host fitness impedes vertical transmission of the parasite and causes a tradeoff between horizontal and vertical transmission. Given this tradeoff, and assuming no multiple infections (no within-host competition among parasites), a simple model predicts that the density of uninfected hosts in the environment should determine the optimum balance between modes of parasite transmission. When susceptible hosts are abundant, selection should favor increased rates of horizontal transfer, even at the expense of reduced vertical transmission. Conversely, when hosts are rare, selection should favor increased vertical transmission even at the expense of lower horizontal transfer. We tested the tradeoff hypothesis and these evolutionary predictions using conjugative plasmids and the bacteria that they infect. Plasmids were allowed to evolve for 500 generations in environments with different densities of susceptible hosts. The plasmid's rate of horizontal transfer by conjugation increased at the expense of host fitness, indicating a tradeoff between horizontal and vertical transmission. Also, reductions in conjugation rate repeatedly coincided with the loss of a particular plasmid-encoded antibiotic resistance gene. However, susceptible host density had no significant effect on the evolution of horizontal versus vertical modes of plasmid transmission. We consider several possible explanations for the failure to observe such an effect.     

闽南地区TT病毒的变异及经输血传播的初步证据

TT virus(TTV)DNA was tested by nested-PCR from sera of hepatitis patients and volunteer blood donors in Minnan area. The amplified segment was a 189 base pair region in TTV ORF2. A total of six sequences were obtained from three non-A to G hepatits patients and two from volunteer blood donors. The sequences were found to be with 82.9% to 99.3% homology to TTV Japanese strain and Chinese strain. The divergence of sequence in these six segments varied from 0.7% to 17.1%, which indicated that the TTV had been existing for a long time in this area. In the serum of a non-A to G hepatitis patient who was negative for TTV DNA in the 14th day of disease course turned to be positive in the 30th day, two TTV sequences were obtained which showed 92.1% nucleotide homology. It indicated that different TTV strains can co exist in the same person. This patient's blood had been transfused ten times between the collection of his TTV negative sample and his positive serum sample. Seven of the blood donors were traced and sampled for sera, of which three were positive for TTV. For all 161 patients tested, the history of exposure to blood products was associated with an increased risk of TTV infection(relative risk, 3.0; 95% confidence intervals, 1.89～4.81).     

低钙对鲫鱼视网膜中视杆,视锥信号向水平细胞传递的不同作用

本工作应用细胞内记录技术,在灌流的鲫鱼离体视网膜的标本上,研究了低钙对外网状层中视锥、视杆信号向水平细胞传递的不同影响。当降低灌流溶液中Ｃａ（２＋）浓度至０．１ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ时使视锥－和视杆－水平细胞（Ｃｏｎｅ－ＨＣ和Ｒｏｄ－ＨＣ）均去极化,但对两者的光反应性有不同的影响：使Ｌ型Ｃｏｎｅ－ＨＣ对６８０ｕｍ和５００ｕｍ闪光反应的幅度有不同程度的减小,但使Ｒｏｄ－ＨＣ对光反应的幅度显著增大。在０．１ｍｍｏｌ／ＬＣａ（２＋）Ｒｉｎｇｅｒ液灌流时,无论是明视ＰⅢ（反映机锥活动）或暗视ＰⅢ（反映视杆活动）,其反应的幅度均增大,提示发生在低钙时Ｃｏｎｅ－ＨＣ和Ｒｏｄ－ＨＣ光反应性的不同变化产生于突触传递的过程中。进而,磷酸二酯酶抑制剂ＩＢＭＸ对ＰⅢ的影响与０．１ｍｍｏｌ／ＬＣａ（２＋）Ｒｉｎｇｅｒ液的作用相似,而对Ｌ型Ｃｏｎｅ－ＨＣ和Ｒｏｄ－ＨＣ的作用均是使光反应性增大。这提示,在０．１ｍｍｏｌ／ＬＣａ（２＋）的Ｒｉｎｇｅｒ液中,Ｃｏｎｅ－ＨＣ和Ｒｏｄ－ＨＣ光反应性的变化差异可能是由于低钙对视锥和视杆终末Ｃａ２＋内流的不同影响而产生。     

电波传递在嫁接基本理论研究中的应用

研究发现电波从接穗跃过嫁接面向砧木传递与嫁接的组织学变化相关。砧木和接穗愈伤组织细胞突破隔离层互相嵌合之前,接穗中产生的电波不能传到砧木。砧木和接穗细胞间产生次生胞间连丝后,电波即可沿接穗传至砧木,但此时传递速度慢。当砧木和接穗间产生维管束桥时,电波下传的速度加快。由此可见,通过检测电波跃过嫁接面与否及下传的速度,就可推断嫁接接合部组织学变化状况。电波传递法是一种快速鉴定嫁接植株发育过程的新方法。     

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BALANCING SELECTION IN EXPERIMENTAL POPULATIONS OF CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS

The role of balancing selection in maintaining diversity during the evolution of sexual populations to novel environments is poorly understood. To address this issue, we studied the impact of two mating systems, androdioecy and dioecy, on genotype distributions during the experimental evolution of Caenorhabditis elegans. We analyzed the temporal trajectories of 334 single nucleotide polymorphisms, covering 1/3 of the genome, and found extensive allele frequency changes and little loss of heterozygosities after 100 generations. As modeled with numerical simulations, SNP differentiation was consistent with genetic drift and average fitness effects of 2%, assuming that selection acted independently at each locus. Remarkably, inbreeding by self‐fertilization was of little consequence to SNP differentiation. Modeling selection on deleterious recessive alleles suggests that the initial evolutionary dynamics can be explained by associative overdominance, but not the later stages because much lower heterozygosities would be maintained during experimental evolution. By contrast, models with selection on true overdominant loci can explain the heterozygote excess observed at all periods, particularly when negative epistasis or independent fitness effects were considered. Overall, these findings indicate that selection at single loci, including purging of recessive alleles, underlies most of the genetic differentiation accomplished during the experiment. Nonetheless, they also imply that maintenance of genetic diversity may in large part be due to balancing selection at multiple loci.     

硝苯吡啶对腹腔神经节突触传递的阻断作用

本文应用细胞内记录技术,观察了钙通道阻滞剂硝苯吡啶（nifedipine)对离体豚鼠腹腔神经节突触传递的影响,硝苯吡啶（0.1-10umol/L)不影响所检细胞的静息膜电位,膜电阻及细胞内刺激引起的动作电位,但能显著阻断N-型胆碱能的突触传递,并且这种作用可被低钙模拟、高钙拮抗,硝苯吡啶（10umol/L)也不影响突触后膜对乙酰胆碱（ACh)的敏感性;但在高钾克氏液中,能减少微小兴奋性突触后电位（mEPSPs)的频率;在低钙和高镁克氏液中,能减少量子含量,而对量子大小无影响。结果表明,治疗量的硝苯吡啶(0.1umol/L)通过阻滞突触前膜钙内流及ACh的量子性释放,产生突触阻断作用。这可能是硝苯吡啶降压机理的一个组成部分。     

禾谷多粘菌( Polymyxa graminis )侵染及传毒体系的研究

在人工气候箱内,以小麦为寄 主建立了专性寄生禾谷多粘菌（Ｐｏｌｙｍｙｘａ ｇｒａｍｉｎｉｓ）的侵染体系,ｇｒａｍｉｎｉｓ能够快速大量繁殖,生活史缩短为１３￣１５ｄ。简化了单孢子堆分离以及病根表面消毒等分离纯化方法,对接种的菌源材料、寄主苗龄、温度、ｐＨ值及营养液成分等影响因素进行了测定,优化完善了Ｐ．ｇｒａｍｉｎｉｓ的砂培条件。建立了针对小麦黄花叶病毒（ｗｈｅａ４ｔ ｙｅｌｌｏｗ ｍｏｓａｉｃ ｖ