Fox colors in relation to colors in mice and sheep

Color inheritance in foxes is explained in terms of homology between color loci in foxes, mice, and sheep. The hypothesis presented suggests that the loci A (agouti), B (black/chocolate brown pigment) and E (extension of eumelanin vs. phaeomelanin) all occur in foxes, both the red fox, Vulpes vulpes, and the arctic fox, Alopex lagopus. Two alleles are postulated at each locus in each species. At the A locus, the (top) dominant allele in the red fox, Ar, produces red color and the corresponding allele in the arctic fox, Aw, produces the winter-white color. The bottom recessive allele in both species is a, which results in the black color of the silver fox and a rare black color in the Icelandic arctic fox when homozygous. The B alleles are assumed to be similar in both species: B, dominant, producing black eumelanin, and b, recessive, producing chocolate brown eumelanin when homozygous. The recessive E allele at the E locus in homozygous form has no effect on the phenotype determined by alleles at the A locus, while Ed, the dominant allele is epistatic to the A alleles and results in Alaska black in the red fox and the dark phase in the arctic fox. Genetic formulae of various color forms of red and arctic fox and their hybrids are presented.     

Phenotypic effects of the Y chromosome are variable and structured in hybrids among house mouse recombinant lines

Hybrid zones between divergent populations sieve genomes into blocks that introgress across the zone, and blocks that do not, depending on selection between interacting genes. Consistent with Haldane's rule, the Y chromosome has been considered counterselected and hence not to introgress across the European house mouse hybrid zone. However, recent studies detected massive invasion of M. m. musculus Y chromosomes into M. m. domesticus territory. To understand mechanisms facilitating Y spread, we created 31 recombinant lines from eight wild‐derived strains representing four localities within the two mouse subspecies. These lines were reciprocally crossed and resulting F1 hybrid males scored for five phenotypic traits associated with male fitness. Molecular analyses of 51 Y‐linked SNPs attributed ~50% of genetic variation to differences between the subspecies and 8% to differentiation within both taxa. A striking proportion, 21% (frequencies of sperm head abnormalities) and 42% (frequencies of sperm tail dissociations), of phenotypic variation was explained by geographic Y chromosome variants. Our crossing design allowed this explanatory power to be examined across a hierarchical scale from subspecific to local intrastrain effects. We found that divergence and variation were expressed diversely in different phenotypic traits and varied across the whole hierarchical scale. This finding adds another dimension of complexity to studies of Y introgression not only across the house mouse hybrid zone but potentially also in other contact zones.     

The naked fox: hypotrichosis in arctic foxes (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Alopex lagopus</Emphasis>)

We describe the manifestations and occurrence of hypotrichosis in arctic foxes and compare it to the Samson character in red foxes. During 1979–2005, we collected carcasses of both normal and hypotrichotic arctic foxes from foxhunters in Iceland for macroscopic and microscopic examination and study of demography. We obtained live pups for breeding and transmission experiments in captivity during 1985–1992. Placental scar counts showed that hypotrichotic vixens were more fertile than normal vixens and generally all their pups were hypotrichotic. Fertility in hypotrichotic vixens was positively correlated with winter air temperature but not in normal vixens. Hypotrichotic males were less likely to breed than normal males and probably had a higher mortality rate than either hypotrichotic females or normal foxes. Hypotrichosis can be transmitted between adult foxes. Microscopic examination revealed prominent chronic inflammation of the dermis in hypotrichotic specimens, degenerative changes, vacuolisation and necrosis of hair follicles. Hypotrichosis persists in coastal areas with mild winters and may become more common with global warming.     

Antigenic relationship betweenHaemophilus influenzae andHaemophilus isolated from porcine pleuropneumonia

Comparative double immunodiffusion techniques were used to study capsular and O antigenic relationships betweenHaemophilus influenzae types a-fandH. pleuropneumoniae types 1–5 and a strain (202) closely related toH. pleuropneumoniae. Culture fluids or culture supernatants were used as antigens and rabbit antisera were produced against cell suspensions of the strains tested. A reaction of identity was obtained between the capsular precipitate ofH. influenzae c and a precipitate formed by strain 202, when developed with anti-H. influenzae c serum or the serum produced against strain 202. Mutual cross-absorption of capsular antibodies was also demonstrable. No other capsular or O antigenic cross-reactivity was demonstrable between the strains tested.     

Managing the invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii: Is manual sterilisation the solution?

1. Management of invasive alien crayfish is challenging, as once established their eradication or control is difficult, even impossible in some areas. Sterile male release technique has been previously assessed in crayfish with encouraging results, however, the methods have not demonstrated the complete sterility of released competitive males. The present study explores whether manual removal of male gonopods, i.e. the appendages responsible for sperm transfer, as a sterilisation technique, might affect male competitiveness and sexual behaviour as well as reproductive potential in the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii.
2. Under controlled laboratory conditions, we analysed the agonistic and sexual behaviour of 64 treated and 64 control males both coupled with a female in single pairs, and 40 treated and 40 control males together with 80 females in a natural-like social context.
3. Removal of gonopods partly altered sexual behaviour, affecting duration of copulation and competitiveness in treated males. However, male readiness to initiate sexual interaction with females was not affected by the treatment. Treated males needed to invest more in agonistic interactions with females to successfully dominate a female for the copulation to take place. Females coupled with treated males did not produce any offspring, compared to females coupled with control males. Treated males were able to regenerate removed gonopods, even if sometimes only partially or malformed. Females that mated with 11 treated males with regenerated gonopods did not produce any juveniles.
4. Although treated males managed to mate with females and impair their reproductive capability under the laboratory conditions, shorter copulation and elevated number of abdominal extensions were observed in treated couples. This indicates that males and/or females are able to sense the lack of gonopods and/or lack of the contact. We believe that female receptivity after an initial mating requires further investigation. Assessment of receptivity in an experimental setting where females are provided with refuges (e.g. burrows) would help us to elucidate whether there is a compensation for unsuccessful copulation. More research is needed on underlying biological mechanisms to better assess male competitiveness, technique effectiveness and limits of technique application.

     

When to go with the crowd: Modelling synchronization of all-or-nothing activity transitions in grouped animals

For groups of animals to keep together, the group members have to perform switches between staying in one place and moving to another place in synchrony. However, synchronization imposes a cost on individual animals, because they have to switch from one to the other behaviour at a communal time rather than at their ideal times. Here we model this situation analytically for groups in which the ideal times vary quasinormally and grouping benefit increases linearly with group size. Across the parameter space consisting of variation in the grouping benefit/cost ratio and variation in how costly it is to act too early and too late, the most common optimal solutions are full synchronization with the group staying together and zero synchronization with immediate dissolution of the group, if the group is too small for the given benefit/cost ratio. Partial synchronization, with animals at the tails of the distribution switching individually and the central core of the group in synchrony, occurs only at a narrow stripe of the space. Synchronization cost never causes splitting of the group into two as either zero, partial or full synchronization is always more advantageous. Stable solutions dictate lower degree of synchrony and lower net benefits than optimal solutions for a large range of the parameter values. If groups undergo repeated synchronization challenges, they stay together or quickly dissolve, unless the animals assort themselves into a smaller group with less variation in the ideal times. We conclude with arguing that synchronization cost is different from other types of grouping costs since it does not increase much with increasing group size. As a result, larger groups may be more stable than smaller groups. This results in the paradoxical prediction that when the grouping benefit/grouping cost ratio increases, the average group sizes might decrease, since smaller groups will be able to withstand synchronization challenges.