Protandrous migration and variation in morphological characters in Emberiza buntings at an East Asian stopover site

The effect of the timing of spring migration on reproductive success differs between the sexes. As a consequence, various sex‐specific tactics relating to the timing of migration have evolved in migratory avian groups. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain differential migration to breeding or wintering grounds, and inter‐ and intrasexual size differences are often considered one of the proximate mechanisms. We investigated arrival patterns in the spring by individuals of each sex, sexual size dimorphism and related morphological variables, and the relationship between size variation and arrival date in five bunting species that passed through an East Asian migratory flyway stopover site in 2006–08. Males of all the study species arrived before females, and significant sexual dimorphism was observed. Several morphological characters, including total length, wing‐length and tail‐length, contributed to the size variation. Although larger males arrived earlier, there was no relationship between arrival date and size in females. Our study confirmed that East Asian buntings display a discriminated protandrous migration pattern at the stopover site as well as at the breeding grounds. This is consistent with the view that larger body size in males is favoured due to its association with early arrival to help ensure access to the best resources and hence enhanced mating success.     

Singlet oxygen scavenging activity of tocopherol and plastochromanol in Arabidopsis thaliana: relevance to photooxidative stress

In the present study, singlet oxygen (¹O₂) scavenging activity of tocopherol and plastochromanol was examined in tocopherol cyclase‐deficient mutant (vte1) of Arabidopsis thaliana lacking both tocopherol and plastochromanol. It is demonstrated here that suppression of tocopherol and plastochromanol synthesis in chloroplasts isolated from vte1 Arabidopsis plants enhanced ¹O₂ formation under high light illumination as monitored by electron paramagnetic resonance spin‐trapping spectroscopy. The exposure of vte1 Arabidopsis plants to high light resulted in the formation of secondary lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde as determined by high‐pressure liquid chromatography. Furthermore, it is shown here that the imaging of ultra‐weak photon emission known to reflect oxidation of lipids was unambiguously higher in vte1 Arabidopsis plants. Our results indicate that tocopherol and plastochromanol act as efficient ¹O₂ scavengers and protect effectively lipids against photooxidative damage in Arabidopsis plants.     

Inhibition of Gravitropism in Etiolated Radish Hypocotyls by Chloramphenicol

The hypocotyls of radish seedlings can grow at an almost normalrate when the roots are immersed in 10^–4 M chloramphenicol(CAP) although there is a reduction in the length of the roots.However, when 4-d-old seedlings are placed horizontally, thehypocotyls of those growing in water bend completely uprightwithin 3 h, whereas those growing in CAP react slowly or notat all. The elongation rate of these gravitropically stimulatedhypocotyls is about 0.87 and 0.72 mm h^–1 in water andin CAP, respectively, and both these values are higher thanthose of unstimulated seedlings, where a rate of 0.29 mm h^–1occurred in both water and CAP treatments. The effect of CAPon gravitropism occurs only when CAP is applied to seedlingsin the first 24 h after sowing. At the cell level the main characteristicof the hypocotyls of CAP-treated seedlings not showing geocurvatureis the absence of starch in the cell layer surrounding the vasculartissues. From a comparison between the presence of starch andgravitropic reaction it is suggested that amyloplasts containedin endodermal cells are the receptors of the gravitational stimulus. Raphanus sativus, radish, gravitropism, amyloplasts, chloramphenicol     

Genbank accession #: AJ133707

Plant Molecular Biology -     

Genbank accession #: AJ237597

Plant Molecular Biology -