THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF SAHNIA POLLEN (PENTOXYLALES)

The micromorphology and fine structure of in situ pentoxylalean pollen are described from the holotype of Sahnia laxiphora Drinnan and Chambers 1985 collected from the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian-Aptian) of Victoria, southeastern Australia. Pollen grains are ovoid, monosulcate, and relatively small, averaging 26 μm in length. Exine ornamentation is psilate. The sporoderm is two-parted with the sexine staining lightly throughout and approximately six times the thickness of the more darkly staining nexine. The exine over the sulcus is typically strongly invaginated, and may or may not include an extremely thin sexine layer. The outer part of the sexine is homogeneous, while the inner part is composed of relatively large granules separated by irregular lacunae of various sizes; lacunae are most pronounced at the sexinenexine interface. Faint lamellae characterize the nexine in both apertural and nonapertural regions. Granular orbicules are often associated with the exine surfaces and also occur appressed to pollen sac walls along with lamellated tapetal membranes. Sporoderm ultrastructure is compared to that of nonsaccate pollen of other groups, and particularly to pollen of Bennettitales, Gnetales, angiosperms, and similar plants, to which the Pentoxylales have been thought to be closely related. Although Sahnia laxiphora pollen is not identical to that of any of these taxa, the strongest similarity is with pollen of Bennettitales.     

Regional Comparison of the Shapes of Later Acheulean Handaxes

This article documents an unexpected regional difference in the shapes of later Acheulean hand-axes. Almost 1,200 handaxes from 17 sites located in Europe, East Africa, India, and the Near East were measured using a polar coordinate technique and compared using discriminant analysis and analysis of variance. One group of handaxes, those from Israel, clearly stood apart. The reasons for this distinction are unclear but may relate to raw material, time, or, perhaps, cultural tradition.     

NATURAL SELECTION ON BILL CHARACTERS IN THE TWO BILL MORPHS OF THE AFRICAN FINCH PYRENESTES OSTRINUS

Evidence for natural selection on seven bill and body characters is examined in the two bill morphs of the African estrildid finch Pyrenestes ostrinus. Two regression methods are used in examining natural selection in association with survivorship: a parametric (Lande and Arnold, 1983) and a non-parametric (Schluter, 1988) method. Selection was estimated in adult males, females and juveniles over a four-year period in a population in south-central Cameroon. Selection was common among groups but patterns differed and depended on the method used in detecting selection. The non-parametric method revealed evidence for disruptive selection occurring on bill width and is explained within the context of known feeding efficiencies and the hardness of important seeds in finch diets. Directional selection was common on bill characters in all groups, but infrequent on other characters. There was no evidence of selection on generalized size or shape characters. Selection on bill characters was common across groups despite low annual variation in rainfall. This contrasts with studies of Galápagos finches in which selection is frequently associated with dramatic changes in food supply caused by high variance in annual rainfall. Patterns of selection on bill traits in P. ostrinus also differ from those in song sparrows and Galápagos finches by exhibiting evidence for natural selection on all bill dimensions.     

Development of the large nucleolus in the oocytes of the copepod Acanthocyclops vernalis: an electron microscope study

A central feature of oogenesis in the copepod crustacean, Acanthocyclops vernalis, is the development of a very large nucleolus in the oocytes. This nucleolus appears to be the only source of rRNA for the oocyte, as no helper cells are present. Previous work has suggested that ribosomal DNA sequences other than those found at the morphological nucleolar organizers are participating in the elaboration of this nucleolus. It has been hypothesized that chromatin diminution, which occurs during early embryonic development, may involve the loss of these rDNA sequences, which are needed only for the production of ribosomes during oogenesis. The present study examines the development of the large oocyte nucleolus at the electron microscopic level. Nucleologenesis in A. vernalis was found to proceed through 5 stages. During the first 3 stages nucleolar morphology resembled that described in other organisms. In the last 2, however, nucleolar morphology changed radically and the nucleolus was seen to increase greatly in size while breaking up into multiple subunits. The subunits initially resemble active nucleoli, although in the last stage, synthesis appears to stop, as the nucleolus was found to consist only of dense areas containing ribosome-like particles. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that diminuted DNA contains ribosomal RNA genes.     

POLLEN REMOVAL AND POLLEN DEPOSITION AFFECT THE DURATION OF THE STAMINATE AND PISTILLATE PHASES IN CAMPANULA RAPUNCULOIDES

We examined factors affecting the duration of the staminate and pistillate phases in the protandrous flowers of Campanula rapunculoides L. (Campanulaceae). Under conditions of natural pollinator visitation, flowers experiencing low rates of pollen removal lasted significantly longer than flowers that had faster rates of pollen removal. Experimental manipulations showed that low levels of pollen removal resulted in extension of the staminate phase. Hand-pollinations in which we varied the amount and source of pollen showed that when the number of fertilized ovules within an ovary is low, senescence of the flower is delayed, resulting in extension of the pistillate phase. We also report on pollinator foraging patterns within the vertical inflorescences of C. rapunculoides and the limiting factor for seed set in this population. The results are relevent to recent suggestions that floral characters often serve to reduce interference between the sexual functions in cosexual plants.     

Temporal Variation in the Relative Abundance of Fruit Bats (Megachiroptera: Pteropodidae) in Relation to the Availability of Food in a Lowland Malaysian Rain Forest

The aims of this study were to investigate the diet and relative abundance of fruit bats in a lowland Malaysian rain forest and to test the hypothesis that the local assemblage structure of fruit bats varies significantly over time in relation to the availability of food. In total, 352 fruit bats of eight species were captured during 72,306 m² mist‐net hours of sampling between February 1996 and September 1999. Three species of fruit bats (Balionycteris maculita, Chironax melanocephalus, and Cynopterus brachyotis) that fed on a wide range of “steady state” and “big bang” food resources were captured continuously throughout the study period, with no significant variation in capture rates over time. In contrast, five species that fed exclusively or almost exclusively on “big bang” food resources were sampled intermittently, with significant temporal variation in the capture rates of two species (Cynopterus horsfieldi and Megaerops ecaudatus). Significant variation in the capture rates of the remaining three species (Dyacopterus spadiceus, Eonycteris spelaea, and Rousettus amplexicaudatus) could not be detected due to small sample sizes. Since ephemeral “big bang” food resources were only sporadically available within the study area and were associated with large canopy trees and strangler figs, these results suggest that food abundance, or the availability of specific food items, may be important factors limiting local fruit bat species diversity in old‐growth Paleotropical rain forest. Thus, only three fruit bat species were locally resident within the forest throughout the study period. Therefore, further studies on the ranging behavior and habitat requirements of Malaysian fruit bats are required to assess the adequacy of existing reserves and protected areas.     

Apoptosis of circulating tumor cells in prostate cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The prescence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood of cancer patients and their frequency has been correlated with disease status. METHODS: In this study, CTCs were characterized by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy after immunomagnetic enrichment from 7.5-ml blood samples collected from patients with prostate cancer in evacuated blood-draw tubes that contained an anticoagulant and a preservative. Events were classified as tumor cell candidates if they expressed cytokeratin, lacked CD45, and stained with the nucleic acid dye 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. RESULTS: In the blood of prostate cancer patients, only few of these events were intact cells. Other CTC events appeared as damaged cells or cell fragments by microscopy. By flow cytometry, these events stained variably with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and frequently expressed the apoptosis-induced, caspase-cleaved cytokeratin 18. Similar patterns of cell disintegration were observed when cells of the prostate line LNCaP were exposed to paclitaxel before spiking the cells into normal blood samples. CONCLUSIONS: The different observed stages of tumor cell degradation or apoptosis varied greatly between patients and were not found in blood of normal donors. Enumeration of CTCs and identification of CTCs undergoing apoptosis may provide relevant information to evaluate the response to therapy in cancer patients.