Evolution of cooperation: cooperation defeats defection in the cornfield model

"Cooperation" defines any behavior that enhances the fitness of a group (e.g. a community or species), but which, by its nature, can be exploited by selfish individuals, meaning, firstly, that selfish individuals derive an advantage from exploitation which is greater than the average advantage that accrues to unselfish individuals. Secondly, exploitation has no intrinsic fitness value except in the presence of the "cooperative behavior". The mathematics is described by the simple Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG). It has previously been shown that koinophilia (the avoidance of sexual mates displaying unusual or atypical phenotypic features, such as mutations) stabilizes any inherited strategy in the simple or iterated PDG, meaning that it cannot be displaced by rare forms of alternative behavior which arise through mutation or occasional migration. In the present model equal numbers of cooperators and defectors (in the simple PDG) were randomly spread in a two-dimensional "cornfield" with uniformly distributed resources. Every individual was koinophilic, and interacted (sexually and in the PDG tournaments) only with individuals from within its immediate neighborhood. This model therefore tested whether cooperation can outcompete defection or selfishness in a straight, initially equally matched, evolutionary battle. The results show that in the absence of koinophilia cooperation was rapidly driven to extinction. With koinophilia there was a very rapid loss of cooperators in the first few generations, but thereafter cooperation slowly spread, ultimately eliminating defection completely. This result was critically dependent on sampling effects of neighborhoods. Small samples (resulting from low population densities or small neighborhood sizes) increase the probability that a chance neighborhood comes to consist predominantly of cooperators. A sexual preference for the most common phenotype in the neighborhood then makes that phenotype more common still. Once this occurs cooperation's spread becomes almost inevitable.     

Temperature-dependence of metabolic rate in Glossina morsitans morsitans (Diptera, Glossinidae) does not vary with gender, age, feeding, pregnancy or acclimation

While variation in metabolic rate at a single temperature can occur for a variety of reasons and the effect of temperature is well established in insects, within-generation variation of metabolic rate-temperature relationships has been relatively poorly explored. In this study, we investigate the effects of gender, age, feeding and pregnancy, as well as three acclimation temperatures (19, 24, 29 degrees C), on standard metabolic rate and its temperature-dependence within post-developmental (i.e. non-teneral) adult G. morsitans morsitans. Although most of the independent variables influenced metabolic rate at a single test temperature (P<0.001 in most cases), and cold-acclimation resulted in significant up-regulation of metabolic rate at all test temperatures relative to 24 and 29 degrees C acclimation (P<0.0001), mass-independent metabolic rate-temperature relationships were surprisingly invariant over all experimental groups (P>0.05 in all cases). Slopes of log10 metabolic rate (ml CO2h(-1)) against temperature ( degrees C) ranged from a minimum of 0.03035 (+/-S.E.=0.003) in young fasted females to a maximum of 0.03834 (+/-0.004) in mature fasted males. These findings have implications for predicting the metabolic responses of tsetse flies to short-term temperature variation and may also have applications for modelling tsetse population dynamics as a function of temperature.     

A comparative study on the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency and supplementation on endurance and mitochondrial oxidative capacities in various tissues of the guinea pig

The aim of this study was to ascertain the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency and supplementation on endurance and mitochondrial oxidative capacities in various tissues of guinea pigs. Endurance capacity was significantly reduced by ascorbic acid deficiency and supplementation. Oxidative capacities were reduced in heart, liver and brown adipose tissue but it seems as if skeletal muscle is protected against ascorbic acid deficiency and supplementation-induced oxidative damage. Skeletal muscle and liver but not heart appear to be susceptible to exercise-induced oxidative damage. To a certain extent oxidative capacities could be related to the glutathione status in the various tissues.     

Recent advances in hormonal response to exercise

1. This is an article concerning the maintenance of homeostasis during varying metabolic responses to different forms of physical stress. This can be considered the task of the nervous and endocrine systems. 2. Research during the past decade in the field of hormonal response to exercise (as a form of stress) in both exercise-trained and untrained subjects (mostly in the human and rat) is discussed. 3. The responses of the various hormones are discussed in three categories according to the broad chemical classification of the hormones, viz. the polypeptides, the amines and the steroids, although of course, these responses are highly integrated. 4. From the literature it is evident that exercise-trained individuals maintain homeostasis more efficiently than untrained individuals because of an improved integrated endocrine response to changes in homeostatic balance. 5. There seems to be insufficient research being conducted into the steroid hormones--especially in view of the increasing misuse of anabolic steroids in enhancing sports performance these days.     

Isolation and partial characterization of rat muscle fructose bisphosphatase

Fructose bisphosphatase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.11) has been isolated in homogeneous form from rat muscle by a simple and convenient procedure, including adsorption on carboxymethylcellulose and substrate elution. The resultant enzyme preparation has a specific activity comparable to that of the enzymes isolated from rabbit liver, rabbit muscle and rat liver. The native relative molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated by sedimentation equilibrium centrifugation to be approx. 138 000, and the enzyme appears to be a tetramer containing subunits of Mr approx. 34 500. The amino acid composition is distinctly different from that of the rabbit muscle, rabbit liver and rat liver enzymes. The purified enzyme contains no tryptophan and has a blocked amino terminal.     

Population structure of the invasive ambrosia beetle,Euwallacea fornicatus,indicates multiple introductions into South Africa

Biological Invasions - The ambrosia beetle Euwallacea fornicatus (Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer; PSHB), native to Asia, was documented in South Africa for the first time in 2012. Death of susceptible...     

Investigating population differentiation in a major African agricultural pest: evidence from geometric morphometrics and connectivity suggests high invasion potential

The distribution, spatial pattern and population dynamics of a species can be influenced by differences in the environment across its range. Spatial variation in climatic conditions can cause local populations to undergo disruptive selection and ultimately result in local adaptation. However, local adaptation can be constrained by gene flow and may favour resident individuals over migrants—both are factors critical to the assessment of invasion potential. The Natal fruit fly (Ceratitis rosa) is a major agricultural pest in Africa with a history of island invasions, although its range is largely restricted to south east Africa. Across Africa, C. rosa is genetically structured into two clusters (R1 and R2), with these clusters occurring sympatrically in the north of South Africa. The spatial distribution of these genotypic clusters remains unexamined despite their importance for understanding the pest's invasion potential. Here, C. rosa, sampled from 22 South African locations, were genotyped at 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci and assessed morphologically using geometric morphometric wing shape analyses to investigate patterns of population structure and determine connectedness of pest‐occupied sites. Our results show little to no intraspecific (population) differentiation, high population connectivity, high effective population sizes and only one morphological type (R2) within South Africa. The absence of the R1 morphotype at sites where it was previously found may be a consequence of differences in thermal niches of the two morphotypes. Overall, our results suggest high invasion potential of this species, that area‐wide pest management should be undertaken on a country‐wide scale, and that border control is critical to preventing further invasions.