Is incest common in gray wolf packs?

Wolf packs generally consist of a breeding pair and their maturingoffspring that help provision and protect pack young. Becausethe reproductive tenure in wolves is often short, reproductivelymature offspring might replace their parents, resulting in siblingor parent-offspring matings. To determine the extent of incestuouspairings, we measured relatedness based on variability in 20microsatellite loci of mated pairs, parent-offspring pairs,and siblings in two populations of gray wolves. Our 16 sampledmated pairs had values of relatedness not overlapping thoseof known parent-offspring or sibling dyads, which is consistentwith their being unrelated or distantly related. These resultssuggest that full siblings or a parent and its offspring rarelymate and that incest avoidance is an important constraint ongray wolf behavioral ecology     

The frequency distribution of Oculotrema hippopotami (Monogenea: Polystomatidae) on Hippopotamus amphibius

Oculotrema hippopotami Stunkard is a monogenean that is found around the nictitating membrane and under the eyelids of the hippopotamus. When specimens of O. hippopotami were collected from both eyes of 42 hippopotamuses in Uganda, 90.5% of the hippopotamuses were found to be infested. The maximum number of parasites on one hippopotamus was 41, and the mean number of parasites per hippopotamus was 8.26. The frequency distribution did not follow a Poisson distribution and is therefore considered to be non-random. Both mature and small immature worms were found in the same eye, therefore the infection does not immediately confer immunity on the host.     

Glyphosate utilization byPseudomonas sp. andAlcaligenes sp. isolated from environmental sources

A total of 21 bacterial cultures were isolated that could utilize glyphosate (N-phosphonomethyl glycine) as a sole source of phosphorus in a mineral salts medium. Sources of inocula for enrichment cultures included aerobic digester liquid, raw sewage, trickling filter effluent, pesticide disposal pit liquid, and soil. Eleven cultures were identified asPseudomonas sp., one asPseudomonas stutzeri, and nine asAlcaligenes sp. Aminomethylphosphonic acid, the major metabolic intermediate of glyphosate degradation in soil, could also serve as a sole phosphorus source for all 21 isolates. Neither glyphosate nor aminomethylphosphonic acid could serve as carbon sources in mineral salts media. Experiments withPseudomonas sp. SG-1 (isolated from aerobic digester liquid) suggested that enzymatic activity responsible for glyphosate degradation was intracellular, inducible, and required the cofactors pyruvate and pyridoxal phosphate. The degradation pathway for glyphosate in this culture may be similar to that previously reported for aminoethylphosphonic acid.