Inbreeding avoidance in animals

The phenomenon of inbreeding depression is well documented and behavioral adaptations for inbreeding avoidance have been described. However, there is debate over whether inbreeding depression is always an important selective force on behavior. Here, we summarize recent evidence for inbreeding depression under natural conditions, review inbreeding avoidance mechanisms, and discuss how these are influenced by social structure. We also examine the idea that animals have evolved mechanisms to avoid outbreeding.     

Worm burdens in schistosome infections

Schistosomiasis, caused by fluke worms of Schistosoma spp, is one of the most common tropical diseases. Despite decades of research and progress towards the control of the disease, many aspects of the dynamics of infection and immunity remain unresolved. There is, in fact, not even an approximate measure of how many worms are harboured by infected humans. Epidemiological, mathematical and biomedical arguments indicate that individual worm burdens in endemic areas number hundreds to thousands of adult schistosomes, instead of the few to dozens generally assumed on the basis of available autopsy data. As Bruno Gryseels and Sake de Vlas here discuss, this hypothesis has important consequences for research and control, as many constants in schistosomiasis research have to be reconsidered.     

Dosimetric mapping in BIORACK on IML2

Seven detector packages consisting of plastic nuclear track detectors, nuclear emulsions and thermoluminescence dosimeters were exposed in different locations inside BIORACK during the IML2 mission. The detectors supplement each other in their registration characteristics and cover well the different contributions of the space radiations to the dose. In this report, results are given on total dose measurements, cosmic ray flux and neutron dose. Total doses differ by up to a factor of 1.5 and heavy ion fluxes by more than a factor of 6 in the different locations. The results are compared with those of previous missions. The mission equivalent dose for the astronauts was calculated from the measurements to be 3.8 mSv.     

Effects of gravitropic stress on the development of the primary root of lentil seedlings grown in space

Root growth and cell differentiation were analysed in lentil seedlings grown (1) in microgravity (F microg), (2) on the 1 x g centrifuge (F1 x g), (3) in microgravity and placed on the 1 x g centrifuge for 4 h [F(microg + 1 x g)], (4) on the 1 x g centrifuge and placed in microgravity for 4 h [F(1 x g + microg)]. In microgravity, there were strong oscillations of the root tip, even when the seedlings were grown first on the 1 x g centrifuge [F(1 x g + microg)]. In the [F(microg + 1 x g)] sample, the roots grown in microgravity were oblique with respect to the 1 x g acceleration when the seedlings were placed on the centrifuge. They were therefore gravistimulated. However, root length was similar in the 4 samples after 29 h of growth and growth rate of the root was the same between 25 h and 29 h although it appeared to be slightly greater in the [F(microg + 1 x g)] sample. Cell elongation was analysed as a function of the distance from the root cap junction. Cell length was similar in the seedlings grown in microgravity or on the 1 x g centrifuge. The transfer from the 1 x g centrifuge to microgravity [F(1 x g + microg)] did not modify cell elongation in the roots. Cell length in the roots which were grown in microgravity and gravistimulated [F(microg + 1 x g)] was different from that observed in microgravity but this was only due to gravistimulation. Thus, gravity does not have an effect on cell elongation when the roots are strictly oriented in the vertical position but it does as soon as the root tip deviates from this orientation.     

Acceleration-sensitivity threshold of Physarum

Free-living cells show distinct gravisensitivities and often use the gravity ('g') vector for their spatial orientation. The rhythmic contractions of the ameboid Myxomycete (acellular slime mold) Physarum polycephalum are a sensitive parameter which can be modified by external stimuli. Space experiments and ground-based 0 x g simulation studies established that the contraction period transiently decreases after a transition from 1 x g to 0 x g with a back-regulating process starting after 30 min. For determination of the threshold of acceleration sensitivity, a slow-rotating centrifuge microscope (NIZEMI--Niedergeschwindigkeits-Zentrifugenmikroskop) was used, providing in space accelerations from 0 x g to 1.5 x g. A stepwise acceleration increase revealed that the lowest acceleration level capable of inducing a response was 0.1 x g. The response to the acceleration increase was an increase in contraction period, in contrast to a stimulus deprivation, which led to a period decrease. The time schedule of the acceleration responses and back-regulating process seems to be fixed, suggesting that every acceleration being above the threshold can induce a complete response-regulation process. The low acceleration-sensitivity threshold favors rather large and dense cell organelles as candidates for the gravity receptor in Physarum.