Rank relations among sisters in semi-free-ranging Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

Although semi-free-ranging Barbary macaque females are able to outrank older females from lower-ranking matrilines (matrilineal rank acquisition), they do not systematically outrank their older sisters, as is known to be the case for semi-free-ranging rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). We test the hypothesis that differences in the support received by younger sisters against their older sisters and against older lower-ranking females might account for this interspecific difference. Thirty-one sister dyads, members of a group of 109 Barbary macaques living at La Montagne des Singes, France, were observed during 16 months. The results indicate that (1) all females were dominant to their younger sisters, and the latter were never observed to challenge their older sisters; (2) younger sisters received as much kin support against their older sisters as against older lower-ranking females; (3) only very young females received support from their kin against their older sisters; (4) younger sisters received much more support from nonkin females against lower-ranking females than against their older sisters; and (5) Barbary macaque females appear to be supported against their older sisters less frequently than rhesus macaque females are. We conclude that the lack of nonkin support is the main factor accounting for the failure of younger sisters to outrank their older sisters in Barbary macaques. Initially this might result from kin support not being sufficient to induce younger sisters to challenge and to solicit support against their older sisters.     

Reproductive competition between females in the matrilineal Mosuo of southwestern China

The matrilineal Mosuo of southwestern China live in communal households where brothers and sisters of three generations live together (duolocal residence), and men visit their wives, who reside elsewhere, only at night in ‘visiting’ marriages. Here we show that these communally breeding sisters are in reproductive conflict, in the sense that they share the resources needed to reproduce. We analyse determinants of reproductive success in females and males, and show that co-resident female kin are in competition; the more female kin reside in the household, the more reproductive success is reduced. Male reproductive success, however, is not determined by the kin in his natal household; duolocal males are not in reproductive conflict with their siblings. Competition with female cousins can be worse than that between sisters. We also find that female work on the farm (which is the main communal resource) is not equal. We use a ‘tug-of-war’ model of reproductive skew generated by incomplete control, to model the patterns of effort put into competition between sisters and cousins. The model predicts that more dominant (older) sisters will put less effort into reproductive conflict than will less dominant (younger) sisters; but younger sisters will also have lower reproductive success because they are less efficient at gaining access to the shared resource. Both predictions are consistent with our data. Younger sisters work less in the fields than do older sisters, which may represent a form of conflict or may be because their average relatedness to the household is lower than that of their more fertile older sisters.     

The effects of relatedness on progeny sex ratio in spider mites

Theory predicts that optimal sex allocation in subdivided populations is dependent on the genetic relatedness among competing offspring such that when relatedness is high, progeny sex allocation should be more biased than when relatedness is low. In the laboratory we compared the progeny sex ratio of four groups of five ovipositing females of various presumed degrees of relatedness (sisters of inbred laboratory population, sisters of outbred field population, non-sisters of the same field population and non-sisters each from a different, geographically distant field population). We found a greater female bias in the progeny of inbred sisters than for sisters from the field population; the progeny sex ratio was also more strongly female biased for sisters than for non-sisters from the field population. These differences in sex ratio are in line with theoretical predictions. Our results indicate that spider mites are capable of some method of discrimination between kin and non-kin.     

Grooming relationships of adolescent orphans in a free-ranging group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) at Katsuyama: a comparison among orphans with sisters, orphans without sisters, and females with a surviving mother

The present study examined grooming relationships of adolescent females in a free-ranging group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) at Katsuyama. To assess whether the loss of the mother influenced the grooming relationships of adolescent females (5–7 years old), we compared the time spent in grooming interactions and the number of grooming partners among the following three groups: 6 adolescent orphans with sisters, 9 adolescent orphans without sisters, and 11 adolescent non-orphans with surviving mothers. In Japanese macaques, grooming most frequently occurs between mothers and their daughters. Therefore, it is expected that if the mother is lost, orphans will devote less time to grooming interactions than non-orphans. However, the time spent in overall grooming interactions did not differ among the three groups. While non-orphans maintained grooming relationships with their mothers, orphans acquired alternative grooming relationships with other group members. Orphans adopted two kinds of tactics to compensate for the loss of the mother. First, adolescent orphans with sisters developed more affiliative grooming relationships with their sisters than non-orphans with sisters. Secondly, adolescent orphans without sisters spent more time in grooming interactions with same-aged females and non-related adult females. Moreover, regarding grooming interactions with same-aged females and non-related adult females, orphans without sisters had a larger number of grooming partners than non-orphans. These results indicate that adolescent females have enough flexibility to develop their grooming network after the loss of their mothers, and that the lack of mother and sisters might accelerate socialization of adolescent females and enable them to be integrated in reciprocal adult grooming relationships.     

Nestmate recognition in Camponotus floridanus callow worker ants: are sisters or nestmates recognized?

Callow workers of the Florida carpenter ant, Camponotus floridanus Buckley, reared with their sisters displayed more aggressive acts towards unrelated unfamiliar foragers than towards related unfamiliar foragers. When callows were reared with foreign nurses they were more aggressive towards their own unfamiliar sisters than towards the unfamiliar sisters of their nurses. Thus callow workers recognized the sisters of the workers they were reared with as nestmates. This ability was not dependent on whether or not callows received cues from older ants during their emergence. Similarly, a forager was less aggressive towards unfamiliar callows reared with its sisters than towards those reared with nurses unrelated to itself. In addition, foragers were less aggressive towards their callow sisters than towards unrelated callows, regardless of the relatedness between the foragers and the rearing nurses.     

Manifestations of X-linked congenital stationary night blindness in three daughters of an affected male: demonstration of homozygosity.

X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB1) is a hereditary retinal disorder in which clinical features in affected males usually include myopia, nystagmus, and impaired visual acuity. Electroretinography demonstrates a marked reduction in b-wave amplitude. In the study of a large Mennonite family with CSNB1, three of five sisters in one sibship were found to have manifestations of CSNB1. All the sons of these three sisters were affected. Each of the two nonmanifesting sisters had at least one unaffected son. Analysis of Xp markers in the region Xp21.1-Xp11.22 showed that the two sisters who were unaffected had inherited the same maternal X chromosome (i.e., M2). Two of the daughters who manifested with CSNB had inherited the other maternal X chromosome (M1). The third manifesting sister inherited a recombinant X chromosome with a crossover between TIMP and DXS255, which suggests that the CSNB1 locus lies proximal to TIMP. One of the affected daughters' sons had inherited the maternal M1 X chromosome, a finding consistent with that chromosome carrying a mutant CSNB gene; the other affected sons inherited the grandfather's X chromosome (i.e., P). Molecular analysis of DNA from three sisters with manifestations of CSNB is consistent with their being homozygous at the CSNB1 locus and with their mother being a carrier of CSNB1.     

Benedictine monastery on the Island of Rab hides the mystery of sunlight influence on development of macular degeneration (AMD). Is a harmful sunlight, risk factor or cause of macular degeneration?

Benedictine Monastery of St. Andrew is probably the oldest existing Benedictine monastery in this area. According to hundreds of years of legend, it was founded in 1018 year. In clinical examination about the possibility of the macular degeneration occurrence in 15 Benedictine sisters, we found the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in two cases only. In 13 other sisters aging 27, 60, 67years, the fundus picture was like in a baby, vision, visual field and meridian thresholds were normal. What is the explanation for this phenomenon? Two sisters with AMD work and live as the farm workers, but the other sisters live in closed monastery with very low natural sunlight, approximately 300-500 lx. In conclusion, the earlier author's experimental and clinical works follow the consequence that without exposure of eyes to harmful higher doses of sunlight, it is not possible to develop AMD. The harmful cumulative dose of sunlight is not the risk factor but the cause, including the inheritance, for AMD development.     

Height correlation analysis between women with Turner syndrome, their sisters and parents

INTRODUCTION: The most frequent physical features associated with Turner syndrome is short stature. The main goal of the research was to estimate the height of women with Turner syndrome and to analyze the correlation between their height and their sisters and parents height. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research was based on the 176 women with Turner syndrome (number of parents = 176; number of sisters = 122). The data was collected from 1995 to 2002 in Out-patient Clinic for Women with Turner's Syndrome in Bytom. RESULTS: Average height in the group of women non treated with growth hormone and anabolic drugs was 144.1 +/- 6.8 cm (n = 105), mothers average height: 162 +/- 5.3 cm, fathers average height: 172.4 +/- 6.1 cm, sisters: 164.9 +/- 5.2 cm (n = 79). The height of women with karyotype 45,X was slightly shorter: 143.1 +/- 6.9 cm, while the height of the family have remained unchanged. Contrary to all untreated women with Turner syndrome where the height was correlated with the mothers and fathers height (pearson's r = 0.32 and 0.34 respectively), sisters height was correlated mainly with fathers height (pearson's r = 0.47 and 0.34 respectively). In the group with karyotype 45,X patients' height was correlated mainly with mothers height (r = 0.55). In this group sisters height is correlated stronger with fathers' height (r = 0.45) than with mothers' height (r = 0.35). CONCLUSIONS: 1. The height of non treated women with Turner syndrome is correlated with both parents height while the height of sisters is correlated mainly with fathers. 2. The height of Turner syndrome women with karyotype 45,X is correlated with their mothers height.     

Honey bee kin recognition: learning self and nestmate phenotypes

It is known that there is a genetic basis to the labelling of individuals for kin recognition in the honey bee, Apis mellifera. This study shows that individual workers reared in total isolation are able to discriminate between their full sisters and maternal half sisters. When individuals were reared with a half sister, recognition of their own patritype persisted, together with a comparable awareness of the patritype of their half sisters. Workers, when reared in mixed patritype groups of 10, showed no tendency to discriminate between full and half sisters, i.e. they appeared to learn both nestmate patritypes equally well. However, the labelling phenotypes of individuals reared together became more uniform, possibly through the transfer of substances during trophallaxis and mutual grooming. Workers exposed to 10 patritypes from their full sister patriline were more likely to accept an unfamiliar full sister than workers exposed to only five. Finally, workers reared in the hive appeared to retain an ability to discriminate their own patritype; i.e., even though the hive consisted of two worker patritypes, they discriminated between unfamiliar full and half sisters that had been reared under the same controlled conditions in an incubator.     

Gender,family configuration,and the effect of family background on educational attainment

Abstract

A comprehensive model of family influences on educational resemblance of siblings expands the traditional sibling pair model to a full sibship model in order to investigate how gender, gender composition of sibships, and a measure of ordinal position moderate the effect of social origins on educational attainments of siblings. One common family factor is sufficient to explain the variation of educational attainment among brothers and sisters. Although effects of social origin variables on brothers are larger than on sisters, the relative effects of measured social origins are virtually the same among sisters and brothers. The disparity between educational attainments of brothers and sisters persists across sex composition and family size. Ordinal position does not alter the effects of social origins on educational attainment nor does it directly affect educational attainment. Father's and mother's education are equally important for all siblings regardless of birth order, gender composition, and family size.     

Mother-infant relationships in bonnet macaques: Sources of variation in proximity

Family composition is an important predictor of variation in proximity among captive bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata) mothers and their infants. Infants that have several immature sisters in the group are initially more independent that infants with fewer sisters, but as they reach 6 months of age infants with several sisters become less independent than their peers. The effects of the presence of juvenile females on the relative independence of their infant siblings seem to be related to the fact that the members of families with several immature females are the targets of more aggression than are the members of other families.     

On testing the role of genetic asymmetries created by haplodiploidy in the evolution of eusociality in the Hymenoptera

The haplodiploid genetic system found in all Hymenopterans creates an asymmetry in genetic relatedness so that full-sisters are more closely related to each other than a mother is to her daughters. Thus Hymenopteran workers who rear siblings can obtain higher inclusive fitness compared to individuals who rear offspring. However, polyandry and polygyny reduce relatedness between workers and their sisters and thus tend to break down the genetic asymmetry created by haplodiploidy. Since the advent of electrophoretic analysis of variability at enzyme loci, several estimates of intra-colony genetic relatedness in the Hymenoptera have been published. To test the role of the genetic asymmetry created by haplodiploidy in the evolution of eusociality, I assume that workers are capable of investing in their brothers and sisters in their ratio of relatedness to them. I then compute ahaplodiploidy threshold, which is the threshold relatedness to sisters required for workers to obtain a weighted mean relatedness of 0.5 to siblings and thus break even with solitary foundresses. When workers rear mixtures of sisters and brothers in an outbred population, the value of this threshold is 0.604. An examination of the distribution of 185 estimates of mean genetic relatedness between sisters in Hymenopteran colonies shows that the values are well below the expected 0.75 for full sisters, both in higly eusocial as well as in primitively eusocial species although relatedness values in the latter are higher than in the former. Of the 177 estimates with standard error, 49 are significantly lower than the haplodiploidy threshold and 22 are significantly higher. Of the 35 species studied only 6 have one or more estimates that are significantly higher than the haplodiploidy threshold. For more than half the estimates, the probability of the relatedness value being above the haplodiploidy threshold is less than 0.5. Reanalysis of these data using 0.5 as the threshold does not drastically alter these conclusions. I conclude that the genetic asymmetry created by haplodiploidy is, in most cases, insufficient by itself either topromote the origin of eusociality or tomaintain the highly eusocial state.     

Hydroxyproline metabolism in two sisters with hydroxyprolinemia

Hydroxyproline metabolism was evaluated in two sisters with hydroxyprolinemia and their mother. 33 and 21% of an oral hydroxyproline load (200 mg/kg) was excreted by the sisters, 5.4% by the mother, and 1.3% by normal subjects. Plasma and erythrocyte values in the sisters and their mother were elevated, indicating that extra- and intracellular hydroxyproline pools were increased. Analysis for urinary glycolate and oxalate (metabolic products of hydroxyproline) showed no increased excretion by the two sisters, although the mother's excretion was normal. A deficiency of hydroxyproline oxidase in the two sisters was indicated by the lack of delta 1-pyrroline-3-hydroxy-5-carboxylic acid excretion.     

Heights and weights of Da-an boys: did sisters really make a difference?

This study further examined the negative association between boys' growth and the presence of sisters within a relatively affluent community in Taipei, Taiwan. Among 596 boys born in 1976-77, differences in height and log-transformed weight were judged using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with measurement age as a covariate, and parental education level (four levels), number of sisters (0, 1, 2 or 3+) and number of brothers (0, 1, 2+) as predictors. The relative importance of birth order and sibling sex was examined among the near majority of boys with one sibling (47%, 278/596). The sibling composition variable was defined using mutually exclusive categories representing individuals with one sibling: either one older or younger brother or sister. All boys contributed information before leaving middle school at a mean age of 14.9 +/- 0.4 years SD. The results were compared with similar analyses of data for 154 of these same boys for whom measurements were available from primary school entry at a mean age of 64 +/- 0.3 years SD onward. Results were also compared with data for a cohort of 153 boys who entered primary school later in 1986. Results confirm that boys from the Da-an area born in the mid-1970s who did not have sisters were significantly taller (2.2-2.5 cm, p < or = 0.008) and heavier (3.0-3.9 kg, p < or = 0.016) than those with one or two sisters. However, the 26 boys with three or more sisters, most of whom were last-born, were somewhat taller than those with one or two sisters. The same curvilinear relationships in height and weight appeared both among boys as they prepared to leave middle school and among the subset also measured just after entering primary school. When numbers of sisters were statistically controlled, the presence of two or more brothers was also significantly negatively associated with mean stature, but not weight, among middle school boys. Analyses among boys with one sibling revealed that birth order was associated with mean stature, but only if the sibling was female; an older sister was associated with a greater deficit in mean stature than a younger sister. Evidence of rising educational expectations, continued declines in family size with fewer gender-related differences in numbers of siblings, and a clear secular increase in body size in this community among children entering primary school from 1982 to 1986 suggest a possible explanatory model.     

A new Rett syndrome family consistent with X-linked inheritance expands the X chromosome exclusion map.

Although familial recurrences of Rett syndrome (RTT) comprise only approximately 1% of the reported cases, it is these cases that hold the key for the understanding of the genetic basis of the disorder. Families in which RTT occurs in mother and daughter, aunt and niece, and half sisters are consistent with dominant inheritance and variable expressivity of the phenotype. Recurrence of RTT in sisters is likely due to germ-line mosaicism in one of the parents, rather than to recessive inheritance. The exclusive occurrence of classic RTT in females led to the hypothesis that it is X-linked and may be lethal in males. In an X-linked dominant disorder, unaffected obligate-carrier females would be expected to show nonrandom or skewed inactivation of the X chromosome bearing the mutant allele. We investigated the X chromosome inactivation (XCI) patterns in the female members of a newly identified family with recurrence of RTT in a maternal aunt and a niece. Skewing of XCI is present in the obligate carrier in this family, supporting the hypothesis that RTT is an X-linked disorder. However, evaluation of the XCI pattern in the mother of affected half sisters shows random XCI, suggesting germ-line mosaicism as the cause of repeated transmission in this family. To determine which regions of the X chromosome were inherited concordantly/discordantly by the probands, we genotyped the individuals in the aunt-niece family and two previously reported pairs of half sisters. These combined exclusion-mapping data allow us to exclude the RTT locus from the interval between DXS1053 in Xp22.2 and DXS1222 in Xq22.3. This represents an extension of the previous exclusion map.     

A novel nonsense mutation of the GTP cyclohydrolase I gene in a family with dopa-responsive dystonia

We report a new nonsense mutation in the GTP cyclohydrolase I (GCH1) gene in a family with dopa-responsive dystonia. Two sisters and three children of the sisters are affected. The exons of the GCH1 gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced. The substitution of thymine for cytosine at nucleotide position 142 causing a nonsense mutation (Q48X) in exon 1 was identified in all of the five affected patients. There were three asymptomatic carriers of the mutation in the family.     

Sexual dichronism and intersexual phoresy in gall-forming coccoids

Summary Coccoid gall-formers from the genus Cystococcus exhibit sexual dichronism, producing the males of a brood well before their sisters. This ensures the coexistence in the maternal gall of winged adult males and their first instar wingless sisters. Females disperse by clinging to the attenuate abdomens of their brothers, and the efficiency of this dispersal is reflected in an even dispersion on host trees. Evolution of this form of phoresy may be associated with the paternal genome loss prevalent in the Coccoidea.     

Discrepancy in hormone binding and information transfer between sister cells of Tetrahymena clones

Tetrahymena cells treated with insulin in mass cultures were separated to single-cell clones or one of the "sister-cells" of dividing Tetrahymena (in single-cell culture) was treated with insulin. In both cases the FITC-insulin binding of sister-cells were compared. The insulin imprinting significantly increased the insulin binding of cells. There was also a significant difference between the imprinted and not imprinted sisters as well as between the not imprinted sisters. This demonstrates the existence of a difference (in hormone binding) between sister-cells and justifies that the information of the first hormone treatment (imprinting) is not equally divided between the sister-cells.     

An analysis of seven infants with Brachmann-de Lange syndrome, of whom two identical twin sisters

An analysis of seven infants with Brachmann-de Lange syndrome, of whom two identical twin sisters: Brachmann-de Lange syndrome (BDLS) is characterized by typical facial features, intrauterine growth retardation, short stature, microbrachycephaly, hirsutism and limb anomalies. Here, we reviewed the findings of seven infants with BDLS, of whom two were identical twin sisters of normal parents. All of the infants' parents were normal, and no consanguinity between the parents was noted although the ratio of consanguineous marriages is very high (21.1%) in Turkey. It is well known that most cases of BDLS are sporadic, some cases of this disorder are inherited in an autosomal dominant trait. Our findings suggested that familial cases of BDLS were infrequent, and vast majority of cases appeared to be sporadic and the occurrence of the syndrome in the identical twin sisters of normal parents was also thought a heterogeneity in this condition, overlapping with other conditions and syndromes as mentioned by Fryns et al.     

Dosage of the Maternal Effect Gene Associated with the Tumorous-Head Abnormality in DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

The penetrance of tuh-3 observed in the progeny of triploids with two doses of tuh-1 was not statistically different from that occurring in the progeny of their diploid sisters with two doses. A higher penetrance was observed in the progeny of triploids with three doses of tuh-1 than in the progeny of their diploid sisters with two doses. These observations suggest that the maternal effect responsible for increasing the penetrance of tuh-3, the gene causing the tumorous-head abnormality, is caused by a specific gene product of tuh-1, the maternal-effect allele. In addition there is probably a maternal-effect threshold, lying between amounts produced by one and two doses of tuh-1, below which no increased penetrance of tuh-3 is observed.