The role of refuge areas in the phenology of Rhopalosiphum padi in low rainfall cropping areas of South Australia

Extensive surveys of possible aphid habitats in South Australia indicated that irrigated perennial grass pastures in the Mount Lofty Ranges and Lower Murray Valley were summer refuges for Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Large numbers of aphids build up in these pastures each year during autumn (April and May) with numbers peaking in May. The size of the May peak was related to the number of aphids surviving the summer. The proportions of alates were highest in May and August/September. Both peaks coincided with a photoperiod of between 11.2 and 11.5 h, and partial correlations suggested that aphid density, photoperiod and temperature were all significant determinants of alate production.     

The restricted distribution of potato leafroll luteovirus antigen in potato plants with transgenic resistance resembles that in clones with one type of host genemediated resistance

The distribution of virus-infected cells was examined, by fluorescence microscopy, within plants of a range of potato clones infected with potato leafroll luteovirus (PLRV). This range included nine PLRV-resistant clones, of which four were transgenic lines carrying the PLRV coat protein gene and five were conventionally bred. Plants of these clones were resistant to PLRV multiplication and accumulated less virus antigen in leaf tissue than did susceptible clones. Indirect fluorescent antibody staining of thin sections from carbodiimide-fixed petiole tissue revealed that in plants of PLRV-susceptible clones, virus-infected cells were abundant within both external (abaxial) and internal (adaxial) phloem bundles. In plants of the PLRV-resistant conventionally bred clones and in resistant transgenic lines of cv. Pentland Squire, virus-infected cells were much fewer in number and largely restricted to internal phloem bundles. In resistant transgenic lines of cv. Désirée, this restricted distribution of PLRV antigen was only detected in petioles of young leaves. The results suggest that the transgenic and a host-mediated type of resistance that restricts virtis multiplication have underlying similarities.     

Territorial behaviour in an Australian nectar-feeding bird

The red wattlebird, a large Australian honey eater, defends feeding territories from other nectar-feeding birds. One such territory decreased in size and experienced fewer intruders as the density of flowers increased. Daily energy production from the nectar in the territory closely approximated the energy requirements of the territory holder. The bird was probably minimizing energetic costs rather than maximizing energy intake.     

Evolutionary Genetics of Animal Migration

Three primary approaches have been used to study the geneticsof migration: the analyses of population differences, of singlelocus effects, and of polygenic influences. Studies of populationsreared under similar conditions in "common garden" experimentsfrequently reveal gene effects contributing to differences inmigratory tendency. Single locus effects are known, but arenot common, a result to be expected given that migration iscomplex. Quantitative genetic studies reveal that heritabilitiesfor migration related traits are often high (approximately 0.5or more) suggesting significant amounts of genetic variationon which natural selection can act. Analyses of genetic correlationsdemonstrate that migratory behavior is part of a syndrome thatincludes aspects of both physiology and life history traits.The latter are characteristically those which contribute tocolonizing ability. Migratory behavior thus does not evolvein isolation. New migration patterns are still evolving, aswould be predicted from observed environmental changes and thegenetic variation present in migratory species.     

Coevolution of mistletoes and frugivorous birds?*

Small frugivorous birds that feed largely on the fruits of stem-parasitic mistletoes have independently evolved in various parts of the world. Local populations of mistletoes may be dispersed almost exclusively by these birds. Four attributes of mistletoe dispersal systems may have enhanced the evolution of reciprocal dependence between mistletoes and specialized dispersers: (1) Safe sites for mistletoe seeds (i.e. the young branches of a compatible host) are precisely defined in space and time. (2) The viscidity of mistletoe seeds induces smaller dispersers to deposit seeds in safe sites. (3) Frugivores differ markedly in the efficiency with which they disperse mistletoe seeds to safe sites. (4) Relatively large viscid fruits and adaptive fruiting displays exclude or deter most members of the potential disperser guild. Some birds have anatomical adaptations as a result of dietary specialization on mistletoe fruit, and some mistletoes have fruiting displays that target specialized birds or a narrow disperser spectrum. Coevolution between guilds of mistletoes and specialized dispersers is therefore probable. The uncoupled selective pressures that might have driven their coevolution are the mistletoes’ provision of fruit crops that are unavailable to more generalized frugivores, in return for seed dispersal to the small stems most suitable for infection. As in other mutualistic seed dispersal systems, phylogenetic, ecological and life history factors constrain the evolution of monophyletic interdependence, resulting in varying degrees and patterns of reciprocal specificity between mistletoes and dispersers.     

Intercellular communication in Chara: factors affecting transnodal electrical resistance and solute fluxes

The permeability of plasmodesmata in the nodal complex of branch cells of Chara corallina was examined by measuring both the transnodal electrical resistance and transnodal fluxes of ³⁶CI and ¹⁴C-buty-rate. Under normal circumstances, the resistance across the node was low, but increased rapidly in response to metabolic inhibition, pressure gradients across the node or excision of one of the cells. For each of these treatments, there was a substantial reduction in solute transport between the cells. Acidification of the cytoplasm by weak acids or alkalinization by amines did not affect either the electrical resistance or the flux of solutes through the node between whorl cells. The transnodal resistance was significantly higher in older cell pairs, but was unaffected by large transnodal voltage differences or by the passage of action potentials. There was no evidence that short-term increases in cytoplasmic calcium have any effect on plasmodesmatal permeability.