Proximate basis of the covariation between a melanin-based female ornament and offspring quality

In contradiction to sexual selection theory, several studies showed that although the expression of melanin-based ornaments is usually under strong genetic control and weakly sensitive to the environment and body condition, they can signal individual quality. Covariation between a melanin-based ornament and phenotypic quality may result from pleiotropic effects of genes involved in the production of melanin pigments. Two categories of genes responsible for variation in melanin production may be relevant, namely those that trigger melanin production (yes or no response) and those that determine the amount of pigments produced. To investigate which of these two hypotheses is the most likely, I reanalysed data collected from barn owls (Tyto alba). The underparts of this bird vary from immaculate to heavily marked with black spots of varying size. Published cross-fostering experiments have shown that the proportion of the plumage surface covered with black spots, a eumelanin composite trait so-called plumage spottiness, in females positively covaries with offspring humoral immunocompetence, and negatively with offspring parasite resistance (i.e. the ability to reduce fecundity of ectoparasites) and fluctuating asymmetry of wing feathers. However, it is unclear which component of plumage spottiness causes these relationships, namely genes responsible for variation in number of spots or in spot diameter. Number of spots reflects variation in the expression of genes triggering the switch from no eumelanin production to production, whereas spot diameter reflects variation in the expression of genes determining the amount of eumelanin produced per spot. In the present study, multiple regression analyses, performed on the same data sets, showed that humoral immunocompetence, parasite resistance and wing fluctuating asymmetry of cross-fostered offspring covary with spot diameter measured in their genetic mother, but not with number of spots. This suggests that genes responsible for variation in the quantity of eumelanin produced per spot are responsible for covariation between a melanin ornament and individual attributes. In contrast, genes responsible for variation in number of black spots may not play a significant role. Covariation between a eumelanin female trait and offspring quality may therefore be due to an indirect effect of melanin production.     

中国部分地方鸡种MHC B-G基因第二外显子的遗传多态性

根据鸡主要组织相容性复合体BG基因序列设计特异性引物,在9个中国地方鸡种和1个国外引进鸡种基因组中扩增了包括其第一内含子和第二外显子在内、长度为401bp的DNA片段。经PCRSSCP分型筛选后,对该片段的核苷酸序列进行克隆测序和直接PCR测序及比对分析,发现了31个MHCBG新等位基因;各等位基因主型所含有的亚型数及其在不同品种间的分布极不均衡。第二外显子核苷酸序列和其所编码的MHCBG抗原类IgV结构域氨基酸序列比较表明,在中国地方鸡种BG基因第二外显子的207bp序列中有37个多态性变异位点,其中简约性信息位点29个,单个位点的变异8个;等位基因间的遗传变异范围0.0013-0.1433;各变异位点的核苷酸变异指数0.206-1.462。该编码区核苷酸的异义替换率为9.26%±1.92%,高于同义替换率2.34%±0.90%。所估计的核苷酸转换数和颠换数随着遗传距离的增加而逐渐增加,当核苷酸转换数和颠换数达到平衡后,该片段核苷酸转换数的增加幅度逐渐高于颠换数。在其所编码的类IgV结构域氨基酸序列中,多态变异位点有22个,其中简约性信息位点6个,单变异位点16个;所估测的等电点为8.45,疏水性氨基酸占40.3%,亲水性氨基酸占29.9%;该序列具有明显的疏水性特点。等位基因间的系统发生分析表明,31个BG等位基因分为两个群,相同主型的等位基因首先聚类。本研究为鸡BG基因的免疫功能和遗传进化研究提供了分子依据     

大石鸡兰州亚种的mtDNA种群遗传结构、单倍型分布和遗传多样性

大石鸡(Alectorismagna)是中国西北部的特有种。我们测定了大石鸡兰州亚种(A.m.lanzhouensis)8个地理种群106个样本的线粒体DNA控制区5′端458bp序列,研究其种群遗传结构和遗传多样性。27个变异位点共确定25种单倍型,其中单倍型M2广泛分布,而许多单倍型为一些地方种群特有。单倍型分布沿着南北方向变化,存在明显的地理结构。8个种群中核苷酸多样性最高的是定西种群,0.0069,最低的是海原种群,0.0028;单倍型多样性最高的是武山种群,0.86,最低的是北道种群,0.52。北方种群比南方种群具有更高的遗传多样性。系统发生树和单倍型分布表明,大石鸡兰州亚种存在两个明显的分支。溯祖理论、更新世冰期和花粉支持兰州亚种起源于兰州盆地,这个盆地是其遗传多样性的中心。     

分子标记在猕猴遗传多样性研究中的应用

分子标记目前已成为研究遗传多样性的主要工具,为此,简要综述了几种常用的分子标记(RFLPs、RAPD、mtDNA、微卫星DNA、SNPs)的检测方法及其在猕猴种群遗传多样性研究中的应用,为国内猕猴遗传多样性的研究提供参考。     

Measuring natural and sexual selection on breeding values of male display traits in Drosophila serrata

Fundamental to many theories of sexual selection is the expectation that sexual traits, which males use in an attempt to increase mating success, confer costs as well as benefits to individual males. Although evolution of exaggerated male traits is predicted to be halted, by costs applied by natural selection, there is a lack of empirical work devoted to quantitatively establishing whether natural selection opposes sexual selection generated by the preferences of females. In this study, we quantified natural and sexual selection gradients on breeding values for cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) components of male contact pheromones in Drosophila serrata. As male sexual traits may often be environmentally condition dependent, breeding values were used in the selection analysis to remove the possibility of environmental correlations between the measured trait and fitness biasing estimates of selection. The direction of natural selection was found to oppose sexual selection on a subset of CHCs examined. Opposing natural and sexual selection suggests that further evolution of the male pheromone may in part be limited by costs associated with attractive male CHC blends.     

Provisioning in wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia): benefits to omnivorous young

Provisioning may act to cushion weaned young from dietary insufficiencyand errors during the period in which they are mastering complexforaging techniques or learning to identify appropriate dietaryitems. That is, young mammals who receive food from others maygain nutritional and/or informational benefits. I conducteda longitudinal study of 13 wild golden lion tamarins 11–56weeks of age in six groups to evaluate hypotheses regardingthe functions of provisioning. All members belonging to thisprimate taxonomic family (the Callitrichidae) are cooperativebreeders and are known to provision their young more frequentlythan do other primate species, except humans. My results, togetherwith experimental findings, suggest that juveniles receive bothnutritional and informational benefits from being provisioned.My juvenile study subjects received animal prey (invertebratesand small vertebrates) from others more frequently than plantresources (fruits and hardened exudates). Apparently difficult-to-handlefruits were more likely to be transferred than readily processedfruits. These results support the nutritional benefits hypothesisbecause the young received items, particularly lipid- and protein-richprey, that they might not otherwise have acquired. That juvenilesfed independently on, and were provisioned with, the same fruitson the same day is counterevidence to the nutritional benefitshypothesis, however. The informational benefits hypothesis wassupported because juveniles received a large variety of foods(including more than 20% of fruit species eaten) and receiveduncommon fruits that were easily acquired. Adults emitted food-offeringcalls to encourage the transfer of prey to juveniles, particularlywhen the prey was whole and alive.     

Female eviction, abortion, and infanticide in banded mongooses (Mungos mungo): implications for social control of reproduction and synchronized parturition

Most cooperatively breeding species exhibit high reproductiveskew, where reproduction within the social group is monopolizedby a dominant pair. In many of these species, social controlof reproduction is the mechanism driving reproductive skew:individuals within the social group actively reduce the reproductivesuccess of others. In species where females do not suppressconception in other females, alternative routes to skewing thesocial group's reproductive output include inducing abortionin rivals, evicting them, or killing their young. This studyexamines instances of female eviction, abortion, and infanticidein a cooperatively breeding species with low preparturitionreproductive skew, the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo). Althoughinstances of these behaviors are rare in this species, aspectsof their occurrence have implications for social control ofreproduction. Abortion can be induced by the stress of beingevicted. The readmittance of females that abort suggests thatreducing communal litter size is a possible selective pressurefor eviction. This is supported by the occurrence of evictionevents in groups with relatively high numbers of reproductivefemales and by the eviction of young reproductive females. Thetiming of abortion events suggests that synchronization of parturitionwith other females in the group is a major selective pressure.Infanticide could represent the selective pressure for synchronizedparturition. Alternatively, synchronization may minimize competitiveasymmetry between pups born to different females. This paperalso describes incidences where a female aborts or gives birthto her litter over different days in order to synchronize parturition:behavior previously unrecorded in mammals.     

Genetic diversity within and among populations of Shorea leprosula Miq. and Shorea parvifolia Dyer (Dipterocarpaceae) in Indonesia detected by AFLPs

The genetic diversity within and among populations of Shorea leprosula and Shorea parvifolia from Indonesia was investigated using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). The results indicated that S. leprosula is genetically more variable than S. parvifolia. At the population level, a higher level of genetic diversity was revealed for S. leprosula with a percentage of polymorphic loci (PPL_p) of 53.32% and an expected heterozygosity (H _ep) of 0.16 in comparison with S. parvifolia showing PPL_p of 51.79% and H _ep of 0.14. At the species level, S. leprosula showed PPL_s of 92.86% and H _es of 0.21, while S. parvifolia showed PPL_s of 85.71% and H _es of 0.21. Genetic differentiation (G _st) indicated that 25 and 31% of total genetic diversity in S. leprosula and S. parvifolia, respectively, were attributed to the differences among populations. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) at two hierarchical levels exhibited that most genetic variation resided within populations with proportion of 70.2% for S. leprosula and 66.2% for S. parvifolia. The AMOVA at three hierarchical levels performed for S. leprosula and S. parvifolia together revealed that the genetic difference between the two species was remarkably higher with a proportion of 44.1% than the differences within and among populations (38.1 and 17.8%, respectively). The genetic differentiation between islands was significant for S. leprosula but not for S. parvifolia. The observed genetic diversity agreed with the life history traits of Shorea species. Highly differentiating individual AFLP markers were found for each species, which will serve as diagnostic markers for the identification of wood of different species, from different islands and regions.     

Rapid genetic identification of local provenance seed collection zones for ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation

The ecological restoration of native plant communities requires the collection of large amounts of seed. Use of non-local provenance seed can have detrimental consequences for the success of restoration if there is a home-site advantage, and for nature conservation through the erosion of natural patterns of population genetic structuring and/or genetic swamping (and extirpation) of locally significant genotypes. As part of an ongoing project to genetically delineate local provenance seed collection zones for species within a large urban bushland remnant of high conservation value, we assessed population genetic differentiation in two widespread coastal leguminous species, Acacia rostellifera and A. cochlearis (Fabaceae), commonly used in restoration programmes in SW Australia. Using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), we found very high levels of genetic differentiation among populations, with an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showing more than 50% of the total genetic variance to be partitioned among populations (Φ_ST=0.58 and 0.51 for A. rostellifera and A. cochlearis, respectively), and marked non-overlap of almost all potential seed source populations from the local population in ordinations. Our results suggest extremely restricted natural dispersal among populations, possibly due to a combination of low seed set, seed dispersal by ants, clonality, a linear distribution of naturally fragmented populations and possibly low outcrossing rates. We suggest a narrow seed collection zone should be applied to these species for the conservation of genetic diversity and natural patterns of population genetic structure, and we highlight the value and importance of provenance evaluation to ecological restoration.     

Spatial structure and genetic diversity of three tropical tree species with different habitat preferences within a natural forest

Analyses of the spatial distribution pattern, spatial genetic structure and genetic diversity were carried out using a 33-ha plot in a hill dipterocarp forest for three dipterocarps with different habitat preferences, i.e. Shorea curtisii on the ridges, Shorea leprosula in the valleys and Shorea macroptera both on the ridges and in the valleys. The significant spatial aggregation in small-diameter trees of all the three species was explained by limited seed dispersal. At the large-diameter trees, only S. macroptera showed random distribution and this might further prove that S. macroptera is habitat generalist, whilst S. curtisii and S. leprosula are habitat specific. The levels of genetic diversity estimated based on five microsatellite loci were high and comparable in all the three studied species. As the three studied species reproduced mainly through outcrossing, the observed high levels of genetic diversity might support the fact that the plant mating system can be used as guideline to infer the levels of genetic diversity, regardless of whether the species is habitat specific or habitat generalist. The lack of spatial genetic structure but significant aggregation in the small-diameter trees of all the three species might indicate limited seed dispersal but extensive pollen flow. Hence, if seed dispersal is restricted but pollen flow is extensive, significant spatial aggregation but no spatial genetic structure will be observed at the small-diameter trees, regardless of whether the species is habitat specific or habitat generalist. The inferred extensive pollen flow might indicate that energetic pollinators are involved in the pollination of Shorea species in the hill dipterocarp forests.