Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Theories of beauty were evaluated by requiring subjects to “evolve” a beautiful female face using a Genetic Algorithm. In this procedure, a computer program generated a small population of faces (first generation of phenotypes) from a set of random binary strings (genotypes). Genotypes specified the shapes and soft tissue anthropometrics of facial features. Each of the first generation of faces was rated by a subject (relative fitness measure) for beauty. The fittest genotypes then bred in proportion to their fitness, with crossover and mutation of the binary strings, to produce offspring which were again rated by the subject. This process continued until the most beautiful face, for that subject, was evolved. Forty Caucasian subjects (20 M, 20 F) were required to evolve their idealized beautiful female face using this procedure. The features and soft tissue anthropometrics of their final composites were compared to population norms. Also, the final composites, and different faces generated from the same data base, were rated for beauty by independent judges. The results support the conclusion that the concept of facial beauty is the result of sexual selection, and a beautiful female face has features and proportions indicative on high fertility.     

Biotechnology of ornamental plants: when beauty joins science—preface from the editors

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) -     

Mastering health: liberating beauty: Will the cosmetics of tomorrow be genetic?

Systems that have yet to stand the test of time carry imperfections that need to be skillfully addressed with the least amount of authoritarianism as possible. The communication and transmission of knowledge that we hold dear are essential pillars to social progress. As such, it is necessary to analyze with the greatest scientific objectivity the applications arising from the deep revolution rooted in the total sequencing of the human genome which affects all aspects of our societies. This extraordinary advance in human knowledge and the resulting technological achievements should not lend themselves to the fears or fantasies often fueled by those who criticize all scientific progress calling into question the most established dogmas. Certain supposedly scholarly analyses of the health situation with which we are currently confronted worldwide are a perfect illustration of this unfortunate trend. It is undeniable that the progress of molecular genetics has opened up a wide range of applications in many fields, affecting the well-being of humans, their mental and physical health. The apparent universal and individual interest for the most advanced genetic profile analyzing technologies is a testimony to this strong common desire to better understand one’s genetic heritage and to control their usage. Despite this movement, little attention is given to the recent advances in genetics applied to essential aspects of the social life of individuals through their inter-personal interactions. It is particularly distressing that the contributions of molecular biology and genetics to the daily well-being of individuals have not yet allowed open-access non-medical genetic testing to gain the recognition it deserves and are still viewed as recreational applications. Through an analysis of the cross influences that genetic biotechnologies have had since the beginning of the century in the fields of nutrition and cosmetics, we have tried to project ourselves into the near future which should witness major behavioral and social upheavals.     

Changing dynamics of the pine beauty moth (Panolis flammea) in Britain: the loss of enemy free space?

1 The pine beauty moth Panolis flammea has two main host plants in Britain: Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine), which is the ancestral food plant where the insect is never abundant enough to cause tree mortality, and Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine), an introduced host tree that has experienced periodic widespread tree mortality due to this pest.
2 We review the recent literature, published mostly after the year 2000, regarding the impact of natural enemies on the population dynamics of P. flammea in Britain.
3 The natural enemies of P. flammea are more diverse and abundant in Scots pine habitat than in lodgepole pine habitat and some of them show differential selection for P. flammea larvae in Scots pine habitat over those located in lodgepole pine habitat.
4 It is concluded that the difference in the population dynamics of this insect in the two different habitats was probably the result of the P. flammea finding enemy-free space in lodgepole pine habitat.
5 Recent evidence on the diversity and impact of natural enemies on lodgepole pine has demonstrated that they currently have a much more significant impact on this pest than they did in the 1970s and 1980s, when outbreaks were frequent.     

Beauty will save the world,but will the world save beauty? The case of the highly endangered Vavilovia formosa (Stev.) Fed.

Main conclusion

Vavilovia formosa (Stev.) Fed. is a scientifically valuable common ancestor of the plant tribe Fabeae and also important in breeding and agronomy studies of the cultivated Fabeae, but it is close to extinction. A concerted academic and geovernmental effort is needed to save it.

Abstract

Since 2007, an informal international group of researchers on legumes has been working to increase awareness of Vavilovia formosa (Stev.) Fed., a relict and endangered wild-land relative to crop plant species. A majority of the modern botanical classifications place it within the tribe Fabeae, together with the genera vetchling (Lathyrus L.), lentil (Lens Mill.), pea (Pisum L.) and vetch (Vicia L.). V. formosa is encountered at altitudes from 1,500 m up to 3,500 m in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Russia, Syria and Turkey. This species may be of extraordinary importance for broadening current scientific knowledge on legume evolution and taxonomy because of its proximity to the hypothetical common ancestor of the tribe Fabeae, as well as for breeding and agronomy of the cultivated Fabeae species due to its perenniality and stress resistance. All this may be feasible only if a concerted and long-term conservation strategy is established and carried out by both academic and geovernmental authorities. The existing populations of V. formosa are in serious danger of extinction. The main threats are domestic and wild animal grazing, foraging, and early frosts in late summer. A long-term strategy to save V. formosa from extinction and to sustain its use in both basic and applied research comprises much improved in situ preservation, greater efforts for an ex situ conservation, and novel approaches of in vitro propagation.     

Effect of cortisone on the developmental pattern of the neutral and the acid β-galactosidases of the small intestine of the rat

1. The developmental pattern and effect of cortisone on acid beta-galactosidase and neutral beta-galactosidase were studied in postnatal rats by a recently proposed method for their independent determination. 2. After birth the acid beta-galactosidase activity increases in the ileum, whereas it decreases slightly in the jejunum. On day 16 after birth the activity in the ileum decreases and in 20-day-old rats activity in both parts of the intestine decreases to adult values. In suckling animals the activity in the ileum exceeds the jejunal activity severalfold and in adult animals the activity in the jejunum is slightly higher than that in the ileum. 3. Neutral beta-galactosidase activity is high after birth and decreases in both jejunum and ileum after day 20 after birth. In 12-20-day-old rats activity in both parts is essentially the same, but in adult animals jejunal activity exceeds ileal activity four-to five-fold. 4. Cortisone (0.5, 2.0 or 5.0mg/100g body wt. daily for 4 days) does not influence the activity of either enzyme in 60-day-old rats. Acid beta-galactosidase activity is decreased after cortisone treatment in 8-, 12-, 16-and 18-day-old rats, with sensitivity to cortisone increasing with the approach of weaning. No effect of cortisone on acid beta-galactosidase is seen in 8-day-old rats. Neutral beta-galactosidase activity is increased in the ileum of 8-, 12-, 16- and 18-day old rats, but only in the jejunum of 8-and 12-day-old rats.     

Association of the subunits of the calcium-independent receptor of α-latrotoxin

CIRL-1 also called latrophilin 1 or CL belongs to the family of adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). As all members of adhesion GPSR family CIRL-1 consists of two heterologous subunits, extracellular hydrophilic p120 and heptahelical membrane protein p85. Both CIRL-1 subunits are encoded by one gene but as a result of intracellular proteolysis of precursor, mature receptor has two-subunit structure. It was also shown that a minor portion of the CIRL-1 receptor complexes dissociates, producing the soluble receptor ectodomain, and this dissociation is due to the second cleavage at the site between the site of primary proteolysis and the first transmembrane domain. Recently model of independent localization p120 and p85 on the cell surface was proposed. In this article we evaluated the amount of p120-p85 complex still presented on the cellular membrane and confirmed that on cell surface major amount of mature CIRL-1 presented as a p120-p85 subunit complex.     

PAT： waking up a lazy sleeping beauty

Once upon a time, there was an unusual corn; and unlike its normal siblings, its stalk grew towards the ground rather than in an upward direction. The sleeping stature of the corn was portrayed in early 1930s as ＂lazy＂ by Jenkins and Gerhardt. Later, lazy appeared to be a fashion in the plant kingdom, found in rice, barley, tomato and several other species . These seemingly magic spellchanted plants have drawn considerable interests of plant biologists and breeders for many decades. To breeders, the lazy phenotype, viewed as tillering or branching angles of stems （or termed as culms in crop plants）, represents a key characteristic important for controlling photosynthesis efficiency and planting density, and thus a crucial factor in determining crop production .     

Phylogeography of the harlequin beetle-riding pseudoscorpion and the rise of the Isthmus of Panamá

Molecular and geological evidence indicates that the emergence of the Isthmus of Panamá influenced the historical biogeography of the Neotropics in a complex, staggered manner dating back at least 9 Myr bp. To assess the influence of Isthmus formation on the biogeography of the harlequin beetle-riding pseudoscorpion, Cordylochernes scorpioides, we analysed mitochondrial COI sequence data from 71 individuals from 13 locations in Panamá and northern South America. Parsimony and likelihood-based phylogenies identified deep divergence between South American and Panamanian clades. In contrast to low haplotype diversity in South America, the Panamanian Cordylochernes clade is comprised of three highly divergent lineages: one clade consisting predominantly of individuals from central Panamá (PAN A), and two sister clades (PAN B1 and PAN B2) of western Panamanian pseudoscorpions. Breeding experiments demonstrated a strictly maternal mode of inheritance, indicating that our analyses were not confounded by nuclear-mitochondrial pseudogenes. Haplotype diversity is striking in western Atlantic Panamá, where all three Panamanian clades can occur in a single host tree. This sympatry points to the existence of a cryptic species hybrid zone in western Panamá, a conclusion supported by interclade crosses and coalescence-based migration rates. Molecular clock estimates yield a divergence time of approximately 3 Myr between the central and western Panamanian clades. Taken together, these results are consistent with a recent model in which a transitory proto-Isthmus enabled an early wave of colonization out of South America at the close of the Miocene, followed by sea level rise, inundation of the terrestrial corridor and then a second wave of colonization that occurred when the Isthmus was completed approximately 3 Myr bp.     

Did the evolution of the phytoplankton fuel the diversification of the marine biosphere?

We discuss the possible links between the fossil record of marine biodiversity, nutrient availability and primary productivity. The parallelism of the fossil records of marine phytoplankton and faunal biodiversity implicates the quantity (primary productivity) and quality (stoichiometry) of phytoplankton as being critical to the diversification of the marine biosphere through the Phanerozoic. The relatively subdued marine biodiversity of the Palaeozoic corresponds to a time of relatively low macronutrient availability and poor food quality of the phytoplankton as opposed to the diversification of the Modern Fauna through the Mesozoic–Cenozoic. Increasing nutrient runoff to the oceans through the Phanerozoic resulted from orogeny, the emplacement of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), the evolution of deep-rooting forests and the appearance of more easily decomposable terrestrial organic matter that enhanced weathering. Positive feedback by bioturbation of an expanding benthos played a critical role in evolving biogeochemical cycles by linking the oxidation of dead organic matter and the recycling of nutrients back to the water column where they could be re-utilized. We assess our conclusions against a recently published biogeochemical model for geological time-scales. Major peaks of marine diversity often occur near rising or peak fluxes of silica, phosphorus and dissolved reactive oceanic phosphorus; either major or minor ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr peaks; and frequently in the vicinity of major (Circum-Atlantic Magmatic Province) and minor volcanic events, some of which are associated with Oceanic Anoxic Events. These processes appear to be scale-dependent in that they lie on a continuum between biodiversification on macroevolutionary scales of geological time and mass extinction.     

Imperfect Batesian mimicry—the effects of the frequency and the distastefulness of the model

Batesian mimicry is the resemblance between unpalatable models and palatable mimics. The widely accepted idea is that the frequency and the unprofitability of the model are crucial for the introduction of a Batesian mimic into the prey population. However, experimental evidence is limited and furthermore, previous studies have considered mainly perfect mimicry (automimicry). We investigated imperfect Batesian mimicry by varying the frequency of an aposematic model at two levels of distastefulness. The predator encountered prey in a random order, one prey item at a time. The prey were thus presented realistically in a sequential way. Great tits (Parus major) were used as predators. This experiment, with a novel signal, supports the idea that Batesian mimics gain most when the models outnumber them. The mortalities of the mimics as well as the models were significantly dependent on the frequency of the model. Both prey types survived better the fewer mimics there were confusing the predator. There were also indications that the degree of distastefulness of the model had an effect on the survival of the Batesian mimic: the models survived significantly better the more distasteful they were. The experiment supports the most classical predictions in the theories of the origin and maintenance of Batesian mimicry.