Liver size reveals social status in the African cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher

Wild groups ( n = 167) of the cooperatively breeding Lake Tanganyika cichlid, Neolamprologus pulcher , were used to investigate how social status and sex influence liver investment. In contrast to expectations, males and females (controlling for body size) had similar liver investment and subordinates (both sexes) had relatively larger livers compared with dominants. Three hypotheses were considered for why social status results in liver size disparity: liver mass might reflect status-dependent differences in (1) energy expenditure, (2) energy storage and (3) energy acquisition. First, dominants performed more energetically costly behaviours ( e.g . social policing and care) compared with subordinates, supporting the notion that energy expenditure drives liver investment. Moreover, dominants in large groups (with many subordinates to monitor) and those holding multiple territories (with large areas to patrol), tended to have smaller livers. Second, subordinates did not appear to use the liver as a strategic energy storage organ. In laboratory and field experiments, subordinates ascending in rank had similar or larger livers during periods of rapid growth compared with non-ascending controls. Third, although subordinates fed more frequently than dominants, a negative relationship was found between feeding rates and liver size. Hence, these results contrast with previous liver studies and suggest that liver investment patterns were linked to status-driven differences in energy expenditure but not to energy intake or storage in N. pulcher .     

Ecological and life-history correlates of cooperative breeding in South African birds

Our analyses of the incidence of cooperative breeding among South African birds differ from previous studies performed elsewhere in two respects. First, we distinguish between obligate (i.e. regular) and facultative (i.e. opportunistic) cooperative breeding species (OCS and FCS). Second, we have restricted our analyses to 217 South African bird species considered to be sufficiently well-studied in terms of their basic biology and life-history characteristics. This was done in order to control for the well-known bias against the often poorly-studied avifaunas of extreme environments such as rainforests and deserts. The results of our analysis do not accord fully with those of Australian birds by Ford et al. (1988). Cooperative breeding in South Africa is associated with seasonal environments, whereas in Australia the opposite is the case. Analyses of ecological factors that promote cooperative breeding among South African birds suggest that the evolutionary pathway to obligate and facultative breeding may be fundamentally different. First, OCS live mainly in savanna habitats that have predictable seasonal peaks in food availability, yet where the baseline level of food availability during the nonbreeding season is sufficient to support permanent residence by groups. Small to medium-sized birds of the African savannas are particularly vulnerable to avian predators, and foraging and roosting in permanent groups may enhance their survival. We propose that the benefits of obligate cooperative breeding are derived chiefly from survival of individuals away from the nest (i.e. during the nonbreeding season). Secondly, FCS live largely in unpredictable, seasonal steppe habitats. Under these conditions it may be impossible for birds to maintain permanent group territories, and variation in the tendency to breed cooperatively may depend largely on the opportunistic assessment of environmental conditions. We therefore suggest that birds (i.e. FCS) will opt to breed cooperatively only when conditions are unfavourable for independent breeding, and that the benefits thus accrued are chiefly related to reproduction.     

Net costs of group living in a solitary forager, the Eurasian badger (Meles meles)

Group living is expected to evolve under two extreme conditions:when there are net benefits to the individual of living in agroup and when there are net costs to living in a group togetherwith strong ecological constraints on dispersal and independentbreeding. A third condition may facilitate group formation:when the territorial defense of resources that are dispersedwidely or renewed at high rates allows groups to form at nocost to group members. Eurasian badgers are solitary over alarge part of their geographic distribution and forage aloneeven where diey live in territorial groups. To determine whichof the three conditions best explains group living in badgers,we analyzed dispersal and breeding patterns. Using these datawe describe the mechanism of group formation and the net costsor benefits of group living in 16 badger groups in one population.Groups form primarily by the retention of young on their natalterritory. Typically, groups contain one or more sexually maturebut nonbreeding females in addition to one or more breedingfemales. Females do not benefit from group living as indicatedby the lack of relationships, or perhaps negative relationships,between the proportion of adult females that bred in a groupand mean reproductive success, on the one hand, and group sizeand components of group size, on the other. A high reproductivefailure rate among females in this and other populations ofsocial badgers, as compared with a population of solitary badgers,suggests that there is a cost of group living to females. Wepropose that if badgers defend resources whose spatial distributionor high renewal rates allow groups to form on a territory atlitde or no cost to group members, weak ecological constraintson dispersal and independent breeding are sufficient to explainthe formation of groups. Badgers appear to have not evolvedcooperative breeding in response to these ecological conditions,perhaps because badger groups represent an early stage in theevolution of carnivore sociality.     

Aspects of the breeding ecology of the Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio in the wetland complex of Guerbes-Sanhadja,north-east Algeria

The Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio is a common rail that previously was little investigated in North Africa. From 2011 to 2013, its breeding ecology was studied at two natural wetlands in north-east Algeria, namely Garaet Hadj Tahar and Garaet Messaoussa. Numbers of Purple Swamphens at both localities peaked in late April and early May. Egg-laying started in early March, whereas hatching started in late March. Peak egg-laying took place in late March and early April, and peak hatching from mid-April to early May. There were significant differences in the size and weight of eggs between years and localities. The mean clutch size was 2.75 ± 0.70 eggs and it was not signifi- cantly different between localities and years. Mean hatching success was 51% and it was positively correlated to nest depth only at Garaet Hadj Tahar. Most nests were built in dense tufts of Typha angustifolia and Phragmites australis. The main nesting materials were Phragmites australis and Scirpus maritimus.     

链霉菌育种进展

链霉菌是放线菌中最重要的一属,它产生绝大部分抗生素和其它众多活性物质。随着分子生物学的发展,链霉菌育种技术也日益多样。本文从基因突变与育种,遗传重组与育种、基因表达调控与代谢调节育种、基因工程与定向育种等四个方面综述链霉菌育种的进展。     

黄鳝的繁殖生态学研究

以洞庭湖稻区黄鳝为调查研究对象 ,通过野外调查和室内实验系统研究了黄鳝的繁殖生态。对黄鳝的性腺发育周年变化、繁殖行为、自然产卵过程、产卵条件及繁殖洞穴的构造进行了观察和记录 ,产卵室是黄鳝繁殖洞穴特有的构造 ,繁殖洞穴泥土p H平均值为 6 .73± 1.0 12。亲鳝有护卵习性 ,通过对 30尾守洞亲鳝的性腺观察和切片验证 ,守洞鳝多为雄鳝 (占 6 1.3% ) ,少数为兼性偏雄性 (占 38.7% ) ,守洞鳝 1:0 0～ 2 :0 0全在外面活动 ,守洞鳝体长 L (cm)与体重 W (g)回归方程为 :W=1.2 5×10 - 2 L1 .4 2 (r=0 .76 )。人工模拟条件下 ,泡沫组受精卵的平均孵化率 (85 .2 % )极显著地高于对照组 (2 5 .4 % ) (t=8.18,t0 .0 5=2 .4 5 ) ,仔鱼平均成活率 (6 4 .0 % )显著高于对照组 (14 .0 % ) (t=3.73) ,同时对繁殖季节黄鳝为孵卵而所吐的泡沫的作用进行了分析。另外 ,证实了黄鳝产卵的最适放养密度为 2～ 3尾 / m2。为黄鳝的全人工繁殖和半人工繁殖提供了合理化的建议     

中国肉牛分子与基因修饰育种研究进展

随着世界肉牛产业科技的快速发展,我国肉牛产业的整体水平得到明显提高并取得丰硕成果。肉牛育种技术实现了由常规杂交育种向分子标记辅助育种、全基因组选择育种和基因组修饰育种的技术跨越,揭示出大量与生长发育、肉质品质、繁殖与疾病等相关的候选基因与分子标记,并逐步应用于肉牛育种实践。与生长发育性状相关的基因或分子标记主要集中在生长激素基因、生肌调节因子家族、肌肉生长抑制因子和胰岛素样生长因子等;参与肉质形成的基因主要集中在脂肪酸运输与沉积相关信号通路、钙蛋白酶信号通路、生肌调节因子家族与肌肉生长抑制因子等;繁殖性状相关基因或分子标记主要集中在GnRH-FSHR-LH、生长分化因子9、催乳素受体和FoxO1等;抗病相关基因主要有MHC基因家族、TOLL样受体4基因等。目前,利用精准基因编辑技术已培育出促生长发育与提高肉品质的肉牛育种新材料。本文总结了近年来我国在肉牛分子与基因组修饰育种领域取得的研究进展,以期为我国肉牛遗传育种技术研究提供参考和借鉴。     

Banded mongooses avoid inbreeding when mating with members of the same natal group

Inbreeding and inbreeding avoidance are key factors in the evolution of animal societies, influencing dispersal and reproductive strategies which can affect relatedness structure and helping behaviours. In cooperative breeding systems, individuals typically avoid inbreeding through reproductive restraint and/or dispersing to breed outside their natal group. However, where groups contain multiple potential mates of varying relatedness, strategies of kin recognition and mate choice may be favoured. Here, we investigate male mate choice and female control of paternity in the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo), a cooperatively breeding mammal where both sexes are often philopatric and mating between relatives is known to occur. We find evidence suggestive of inbreeding depression in banded mongooses, indicating a benefit to avoiding breeding with relatives. Successfully breeding pairs were less related than expected under random mating, which appeared to be driven by both male choice and female control of paternity. Male banded mongooses actively guard females to gain access to mating opportunities, and this guarding behaviour is preferentially directed towards less closely related females. Guard–female relatedness did not affect the guard's probability of gaining reproductive success. However, where mate‐guards are unsuccessful, they lose paternity to males that are less related to the females than themselves. Together, our results suggest that both sexes of banded mongoose use kin discrimination to avoid inbreeding. Although this strategy appears to be rare among cooperative breeders, it may be more prominent in species where relatedness to potential mates is variable, and/or where opportunities for dispersal and mating outside of the group are limited.     

微生物激光育种学的新进展

本文综述1972年至2002年有关微生物激光育种学的新进展。     

Monsoon-dependent breeding in the field crab Paratelphusa hydrodromous (Herbst)

The reproductive cycle of the field crab Paratelphusa hydrodromous (Herbst) was determined by direct field observations as well as by calculating the percentage of ovigerous females in a Madras population for a period of three years. The females breed annually in a single spawning. These observations, corroborated by histological studies on the nature of the ovary, indicate that gametogenic activity starts in December and vitellogenesis is completed during January-May. Spawning commences in the last week of June or first week of July with the release of brood in the month of September (1979), October (1978) or November (1980) during northeast monsoon. The smallest female crab showing spawning had a carapace width of 3.1 cm and the largest spawning crabs measured 5.5 mm. The mean number of eggs spawned in the smallest crab was 247 and that in the largest crab was 417. Mean incubation was 41 ± 12.388 days. Vitellogenesis and spawning occurred at peak temperature conditions. Though the time taken for vitellogenesis and commencement of spawning were constant for the study period, the duration of retention of the juveniles in the brood varied with the onset of monsoon.     

Drivers of the breeding success of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus frazari) at a critical site in Sinaloa,Mexico

Understanding breeding phenology and success can elucidate population dynamics, which is especially important for species in need of conservation. We describe the factors affecting the breeding biology of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus frazari) at El Rancho Island, a critical site that contains ~ 7% of the total estimated population, on the coast of Sinaloa, Mexico. We monitored 192 nests over four years (2016–2019). The breeding season lasted from March to June and mean laying dates differed among years, with the mean laying date in 2019 an average of 20 days earlier than in 2016. Clutch sizes decreased as the breeding season progressed. Both breeding success and productivity differed among years, with the lowest values in 2016 (30% hatching success and 0.6 chicks/nest) and the highest in 2019 (66% hatching success and 1.2 chicks/nest). Hatching success was affected by year, laying date, type of habitat, and distance to the high tide line. American Oystercatchers that laid eggs earlier in the season, used mixed marsh and dune habitat, and with nests relatively close to the waterline (< 50 m) had greater breeding success. Overall, however, the breeding success of American Oystercatchers was low and influenced by a combination of several intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Management measures may be required to increase breeding success and ensure the conservation of this subspecies.     

近年来国内外橡胶树育种研究新进展

从常规育种、高产育种和抗性育种方面综述近年来国外橡胶树育种研究的新进展,并结合我国橡胶树育种现状,提出我国橡胶树育种的方向,以期为我国橡胶树产量性状、遗传改良和抗逆性育种等提供借鉴.     

中国食用向日葵育种国产化历程及研究进展

中国食用向日葵育种近40年来取得了巨大成就,实现了从自留农家种、选育常规品种、引进国外杂交种以及培育国产杂交种4 次品种更新。中国向日葵种植面积基本保持在59万hm²左右,种植区主要集中在北方10个省区,其中内蒙古自治区种植面积约占全国总面积的四分之三,其次是新疆。中国以食用向日葵种植为主,约占总面积的95%以上,是世界上食用向日葵主要生产国。食用向日葵主要用于休闲嗑食,除高产外,商品外观品质(粒型、色泽、口感等)仍将是当今主要育种目标。另外,向日葵生产区因长期连作种植,病原菌、列当等生物逆境因素与向日葵发生协同进化,加之食用向日葵遗传背景狭窄,病虫草害日趋严重。该文通过对中国食用向日葵育种历程进行回顾,尤其对国内外有关向日葵抗病育种研究进展进行综述,为解析食用向日葵抗性育种机制以及前瞻性抗性品种储备提供重要的理论与技术支持,以推动食用向日葵产业的高效优质发展。     

The rôle of photoperiod in the initiation of breeding and brood development in the amphipod Talitrus saltator Montagu

The supralittoral amphipod Talitrus saltator Montagu has a discrete breeding period between late May and August. Individuals were maintained at five experimental photoperiods of constant dark, LD 12:12, LD 14:10, LD 16:8, and LD 18:6 at ambient temperature for 225 days between March and October. During this time the onset of reproductive activity and aspects of brood development were monitored. Data provide evidence of a “critical daylength” influencing reproduction. Photoperiods in excess of LD 14:10 were necessary to induce reproductive behaviour comparable to that of a field population. At these photoperiods reproductive activity was sustained over a longer period than observed in natural populations.Amphipods were also held in LD 16:8 and constant dark for 163 days between October and March, at ambient temperature. After an 80 to 100-day period, resting stage females exhibited “normal” reproductive activity.Photoperiod is suggested to have a direct effect on the onset of reproductive activity and probably on the duration of activity in Talitrus. Temperature appears to have a limited influence on the onset of reproduction.     

环境因子对笼养朱鹮自然繁殖的影响

2004年3~7月,在陕西省洋县对人工饲养条件下朱鹮(Nipponia nippon)的自然繁殖进行了研究。18对繁殖鸟的窝卵数平均为(3.10±0.54)枚,孵化率26.2%,育雏成功率64.7%。当笼舍面积低于某一阈值时,窝卵数与笼舍面积呈明显正相关(Pearson,r=0.591,P<0.01)。出壳数、出飞数均与巢距遮荫树的距离呈负相关(Pearson,r1=-0.674,P1<0.05;r2=-0.677,P2<0.05)。亲鸟的繁殖经验对繁殖成功率没有显著影响,营巢环境是影响自然繁殖成功率的重要因素。