A human lymphoblastoid cell line from the offspring of a brother-sister mating

A human lymphoblastoid cell line was established from an individual who was the offspring of a brother-sister incestuous mating. Many genes in this cell line are homozygous, including those of the HLA system.     

Inter‐annual and body topographic consistency in the plumage bacterial load of Great Tits

ABSTRACT Plumage bacteria may play an important role in shaping the life histories of birds. However, to design suitable experiments to examine causal relationships between plumage bacteria and the fitness of host birds, natural variation in plumage bacterial communities needs to be better understood. We examined within‐individual consistency of plumage bacterial contamination in Great Tits (Parus major), comparing different body regions (ventral vs. dorsal) and comparing contamination between years. Numbers of free‐living and attached bacteria and the species richness of feather‐degrading bacterial assemblages were studied using flow cytometry and ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (RISA). Numbers of both types of bacteria were higher on dorsal than on ventral feathers. Numbers of free‐living, but not attached, bacteria on the two body regions were highly positively correlated. There was also a strong within‐individual correlation between numbers of attached bacteria during the same breeding stages in different years. These results suggest that, despite variation in absolute levels of feather bacterial loads between years and different body regions, sampling individual birds can provide reliable estimates of relative levels of bacterial contamination, as long as sampling time and body region are carefully standardized.     

Niche divergence of two closely related Carbula species (Insecta: Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) despite the presence of a hybrid zone

1. The extent to which ecologically divergent selection acts to maintain species boundaries in the presence of hybridisation and gene flow is not well understood. Two parapatric taxa, Carbula humerigera (Uhler) and Carbula putoni (Jakovlev), were used to test the extent to which niche differentiation might sustain divergence of related taxa despite ongoing gene flow. 2. Mitochondrial [cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (COII) and cytochrome b (Cytb)] and nuclear [elongation factor 1‐alpha (EF‐1α)] markers were sequenced from 383 individuals. Clusters of morphological variations were estimated and visualised using principal component analysis (PCA). Haplotype networks were constructed using median‐joining and neighbour‐net algorithm methods. Gene flows were estimated using migrate‐n analyses. Suitable habitats for each species and their sympatric distribution were predicted with ecological niche modelling (ENM). Niche comparisons were conducted using Schoener's D and Warren's I. In addition, PCA, multivariate analysis of variance (manova ) and discriminant function analysis were used to test ecological differentiation. 3. Morphological clusters and network analysis indicated that samples were generally divided into three groups (C. humerigera, C. putoni and hybrids). Ongoing gene flow was detected among the three groups, with abundant magnitudes in the sympatric region. Niche comparison and statistical analysis showed ecological differentiation between C. humerigera and C. putoni. Two potential hybrid zones were predicted in the ENM reconstruction, located along the Yanshan‐Taihang‐Qinling and Taishan mountains. 4. These results reveal a geographically delineated hybrid zone between C. humerigera and C. putoni. These two closely related Carbula species still live in different ecological niches despite hybridisation and ongoing gene flow.     

The importance of social dimension and maturation stage for the probabilistic maturation reaction norm in Poecilia reticulata

Maturation is an important event in an organism's life history, with important implications on dynamics of both wild and captive populations. The probabilistic maturation reaction norm (PMRN) has emerged as an important method to describe variation in maturation in wild fish. Because most PMRNs are based on age and size only, it is important to understand limitations of these variables in explaining maturation. We experimentally assessed (i) the sensitivity of age‐ and size‐based PMRNs to unaccounted sources of plasticity, (ii) the role of social environment on maturation and (iii) the significance of estimating PMRNs early and late in the maturation process (initiation and completion of maturation, respectively). We reared male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) under laboratory conditions, subjected to two food levels and three different social cues. We found that growth and social environment affected the maturation in a way that could not be accounted for by their effect on age and size. PMRNs estimated for the initiation stage were less plastic (growth differences and social cues influenced the PMRN shape only little) than those for completion. The initiation of maturation is probably closer to the maturation ‘decision’ and allows determining factors influencing maturation decision most accurately.     

全带瘿蚊属分类学研究及中国一新种记述(双翅目,瘿蚊科)

对全带瘿蚊属Holobremia Kieffer的属征进行修订,编写该属世界分种检索表(雄性),并记述采自云南景东无量山的该属1新种,命名为双突全带瘿蚊Holobremia biprominens sp.nov.,模式标本保存在南开大学昆虫标本馆。双突全带瘿蚊,新种Holobremia biprominens sp.nov.(图1～7)新种与分布于印度的Holobremia cylindrica Kashyap,1987在雄外生殖器的中基瓣及触角未节等特征相似,但区别明显:1)新种阳茎近端部1/8处背面两侧具1对骨化强的伸向端部的角状突,而H.cylindrica无此角状突;2)新种的尾须凹入较深窄,形成两瓣,每瓣长度是其中部宽的1.5～1.6倍;而H.cylindrica尾须中部凹入略宽浅,每瓣长度是其中部宽的1.0～1.1倍。正模♂,云南景东无量山漫湾(24.4°N,100.8°E),海拔2200m,2001-05-29,李军采自蜘蛛网;副模:49♂♂,同正模。模式标本保存在南开大学生命科学学院昆虫标本馆。词源:种名biprominens为一阴性复合拉丁形容词,意为"双突起的",指该种阳茎近端部背面有一对...