The Cost of Being Bright

Male ornaments are predicted to be a signal of the genetic quality of a male but often the relationship between ornaments and the physiological performances of males is unclear. Males of Metichnogaster cillipennis, a hover-wasp, during their courtship flights send luminous signals to females by using two abdominal reflectors. Malpighian tubules, an essential organ in the physiology of insects, participate in the building of the larger of these reflectors but at a physiological cost. By evaluating the capacity of light reflection from males during their courtship, females can assess directly the physiological quality of males.     

Dynamic reconstruction of the fish locomotor wave

Theoretical modeling substantiates the bionic solution of an optimal wave propulsor for water transport, which must have the amplitude and phase characteristics of the fish bending locomotor waves. Use is made of a computer model of multilink chain bending waves where arbitrary distributions can be set for amplitudes and phases of separate segments. With the linear increase in the amplitude of segmental oscillations, a numerical experiment determines the optimal phasing whereby each segment provides a maximal longitudinal component of the motive force. Two versions of hydrodynamic interaction of the segments with water are compared, implying (i) linear and (ii) quadratic drag: the optimal phasing of the transverse and longitudinal oscillations proves to be (i) orthogonal and (ii) nearly orthogonal. The computed bending wave shapes corresponding to dynamic optimization are consistent with the experimental data.     

A PCA-based method for ancestral informative markers selection in structured populations

Identification of population structure can help trace population histories and identify disease genes. Structured association (SA) is a commonly used approach for population structure identification and association mapping. A major issue with SA is that its performance greatly depends on the informativeness and the numbers of ancestral informative markers (AIMs). Present major AIM selection methods mostly require prior individual ancestry information, which is usually not available or uncertain in practice. To address this potential weakness, we herein develop a novel approach for AIM selection based on principle component analysis (PCA), which does not require prior ancestry information of study subjects. Our simulation and real genetic data analysis results suggest that, with equivalent AIMs, PCA-based selected AIMs can significantly increase the accuracy of inferred individual ancestries compared with traditionally randomly selected AIMs. Our method can easily be applied to whole genome data to select a set of highly informative AIMs in population structure, which can then be used to identify potential population structure and correct possible statistical biases caused by population stratification.     

优质荔枝新品种‘草莓荔’开花与落果特性观察

从植株群体和单穗调查分析‘草莓荔’雌雄花开花特性,结果表明,‘草莓荔’雌雄花交替开放的顺序主要是雌→雄,即前期开雌花,后期开雄花;但也有少量交替开放顺序是雄→雌→雄,即先开雄花,中期开雌花后再开雄花。植株群体的花期和雌雄花开放相遇时间比单穗长,更有利于传粉受精。落果从花后15d开始出现,并在花后18～25d出现第一次落果高峰,落果最多,开花后51～58d为第二次落果高峰。     

淀粉样前体蛋白（APP）相互作用及其生物学意义

淀粉样前体蛋白（amyloid precursor protein,APP）是一类与阿尔茨海默氏病（Alzheimer＇s disease,AD）的发生、发展密切相关的I型跨膜蛋白,具有膜受体样结构,但迄今人们对APP真正的生理功能仍知之甚少。近年来研究发现,APP分子间可以进行二聚化,并且反式的二聚化作用有促进细胞黏附的功能。而APP的降解产物β-淀粉样蛋白（β—amyloid protein,Aβ）反过来又可以加速APP的聚集,经过一系列反应,最终引发细胞凋亡。本文综述这一领域的研究进展,特别是APP的相互作用,以及这些相互作用对细胞状态和行为的影响。     

骨髓间充质干细胞源神经细胞移植治疗帕金森病大鼠模型

目的探讨骨髓间充质干细胞（mesenchymal stemcells,MSCs）源神经细胞脑内移植对帕金森病（Parkinson s disease,PD）大鼠的治疗作用。方法贴壁培养法分离、培养大鼠骨髓MSCs,脑匀浆上清诱导第3代MSCs向神经细胞分化,采用免疫细胞化学法鉴定诱导分化后细胞的性质,激光共聚焦显微镜检测诱导前后细胞Ca2＋浓度变化,6只PD大鼠行纹状体内MSCs源神经细胞移植作为细胞移植组,6只PD大鼠作为对照组。细胞移植术后4周检测PD大鼠的行为变化,观察移植细胞在脑内的分布情况。结果倒置显微镜下可见MSCs呈纺锤形和多角形,有1～2个核仁,MSCs经脑匀浆上清诱导后其胞体折光性增强,发出数个细长突起,互相交织成网,有的似轴突。诱导后细胞表达神经元特异性标志物神经元特异性烯醇化酶（NSE）和神经丝蛋白（NF）,胞质Ca2＋荧光强度显著增强,可推测诱导后的细胞为MSCs源神经细胞,将BrdU标记的MSCs源神经细胞移植到PD大鼠纹状体治疗4周后,可见细胞散在分布于注射侧脑组织,有少量细胞可迁移到对侧脑组织,PD大鼠的旋转行为得到显著改善。结论MSCs源神经细胞移植治疗帕金森病大鼠可使其旋转行为得到改善。     

星形胶质细胞在MPTP帕金森小鼠脑内的变化研究

目的：研究神经毒素1-甲基-4-苯基-1,2,3,6-四氢吡啶（1-methy-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahy-dropyridine,MPTP）对小鼠脑内星形胶质细胞及肿瘤坏死因子-α（Tunlomecrosis factor alpha,TNF-α）的影响,了解MPTP致帕金森病发病机制。方法：将神经毒素MPTP注入C57BL／6小鼠腹腔内,制备帕金森病动物模型。观察注药后小鼠行为学变化,免疫组化检测各时间点多巴胺能神经元缺失和星形胶质细胞增生与激活情况,以及TNF-α表达水平的变化。结果：MPTP组黑质多巴胺（dopamine,DA）能神经元的数量随注射天数增加而持续减少,星形胶质细胞数量明显增高,GFAP及TNF-α在模型组黑质内有中强阳性表达,与对照组相比差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。结论：MPTP可诱导星形胶质细胞的激活和增生,启动脑内炎症反应而介导DA神经元死亡。     

The lysosome and neurodegenerative diseases

It has long been believed that the lysosome is an important digestive organelle. There is increasing evidence that the lysosome is also involved in pathogenesis of a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer＇s disease, Parkinson＇s disease, Huntington＇s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Abnormal protein degradation and deposition induced by iysosomal dysfunction may be the primary contributor to age-related neurodegeneration. In this review, the possible relationship between lysosome and various neurodegenerative diseases is described.