Grooming and Anxiety in Barbary Macaques

Grooming is a fundamental component of sociality in many gregarious animal species, and elucidating the costs and benefits of this behaviour is crucial for understanding its function. There is evidence that animals giving grooming pay a cost in terms of the time and energy they invest, while recipients benefit not just from the removal of dirt and parasites, but also from the relaxing effects of being groomed. Recently, however, studies of primates have indicated that giving grooming may also provide such hedonic benefits, reducing levels of stress or anxiety in the groomer. In this study of free‐ranging adult female Barbary macaques at Trentham Monkey Forest (Stoke‐on‐Trent, UK), we tested the hypothesis that grooming reduces anxiety in the donor and/or the recipient. During focal follows, we quantified females' rates of self‐scratching as a behavioural index of their anxiety levels. Self‐scratching rates in the 2‐min periods after bouts of grooming (given, received and reciprocated) were compared to overall mean self‐scratching rates; we predicted that if grooming reduces anxiety, self‐scratching rates would be significantly lower after grooming bouts than mean levels. We first analysed all grooming bouts and then analysed separately grooming bouts with adult males, with all adult females, with subordinate adult females and with dominant adult females. Contrary to our prediction, self‐scratching rates were never seen to be lower after grooming than mean levels. In fact, for the majority of grooming partner–direction combinations, we found significantly higher rates of self‐scratching after grooming compared to mean levels. The hypothesis that grooming reduces anxiety was therefore not supported. Grooming seems in some cases to increase, not alleviate, anxiety. We explore possible explanations for these unexpected results.     

Physical and Functional Characteristics of R-Factor Deoxyribonucleic Acid Segregated into Escherichia coli Minicells

Both fi(+) and fi(-) type R factors function as intact replicative units when segregated into Escherichia coli minicells. Hybridization studies demonstrate that at least 95% of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in R(+) minicells is episomal in origin. About half of the DNA can be extracted in a closed circular form and about 75% of the DNA is membrane associated. DNA, ribonucleic acid, and protein synthesis proceeds in R(+) minicells in contrast to R(-) minicell controls. The system offers a unique opportunity to study a relatively small replicative unit in a native cell environment and a simple means of isolating large quantities of episomal DNA.     

Germination and Emergence of Primed Grass Seeds Under Field and Simulated-field Temperature Regimes

Seed priming may enhance establishment success of cool-seasonrange grasses which must compete with annual weeds for earlyspring moisture. Previous priming studies have confirmed germinationrate enhancement for these species but relative treatment effectsunder field-temperature conditions have not been assessed. Weprimed seeds of thickspike wheatgrass [Elymus lanceolatus(Scribn.and J. G. Smith) Gould], bluebunch wheatgrass [Pseudoroegneriaspicata(Pursh) Löve], Sandberg bluegrass (Poa sandbergiiVasey.) and bottlebrush squirreltail [Elymus elymoides(Raf.)Swezey] and evaluated their relative emergence rate in threesoil types as a function of spring-planting date. Germinationresponse was simultaneously evaluated in laboratory germinatorsthat were programmed to simulate the field-temperature regimeat planting depth. Seed priming enhanced both germination andemergence rate with the greatest effect occurring during theearlier, cooler planting dates. Total emergence and emergencerate in the field were lower than for the equivalent germinationresponse in the laboratory. Thermal-germination response wasmodelled and predictions developed for evaluating potentialgermination under late winter/early spring soil-temperatureregimes. Modelling results predicted that greater germinationenhancement would have been possible at earlier planting datesthan were measured in the field experiment.Copyright 2000 Annalsof Botany Company Bunchgrass, germination, emergence, priming, rate, temperature     

Past,present and future utilisation ofMyrica gale (Myricaceae)

The development ofM. gale oil as an insect repellent has created a requirement for cultivation of the plant. Botanical evidence indicates thatM. gale is likely to thrive on well—aerated acid peatland and could become a valuable crop on land of low agricultural value. Plant growth would be enhanced by the prevention of grazing and could be combined with softwood forestry since the trees would benefit from soil nitrogen enrichment thanks to the symbiotic association ofM. gale andFrankia. The economics of oil production would be improved if additional compounds of value such as pharmacologically active fiavonoids could be extracted from the by-products.