Fitness of juvenile lizards depends on seasonal timing of hatching,not offspring body size

To understand how selection shapes life-history traits, we need information on the manner in which offspring phenotypes influence fitness. Life-history allocation models typically assume that “bigger offspring are better”, but field data paint a more complex picture: larger offspring size sometimes enhances fitness, and sometimes not. Additionally, higher survival and faster growth of larger offspring might be due to indirect maternal effects (e.g., mothers allocate hormones or nutrients differently to different-sized eggs), and not to offspring size per se. Alternative factors, such as seasonal timing of hatching, may be more important. We examined these issues using 419 eggs from captive jacky dragon lizards (Amphibolurus muricatus). The mothers were maintained under standardized conditions to minimize variance in thermal and nutritional history, and the eggs were incubated under controlled conditions to minimize variance in offspring phenotypes due to incubation temperature and moisture. We reduced the size of half the eggs (and, thus, the size of the resultant hatchlings) from each clutch by yolk extraction. The hatchlings were marked and released at a field site over a 3-month period, with regular recapture surveys to measure growth and survival under natural conditions. Growth rates and survival were strongly enhanced by early-season hatching, but were not affected by hatchling body size.     

川西亚高山粗枝云杉人工林地上凋落物对土壤呼吸的贡献

采用Li-8100土壤碳通量分析仪对川西亚高山典型的粗枝云杉(Picea asperata)人工林土壤呼吸(凋落物去除和对照)及其环境因子进行为期1年的连续观测。结果表明:凋落物去除处理和对照土壤呼吸速率均具有显著的季节动态变化,并呈现一致的动态特征,变动范围分别为0.35—4.39μmol m-2s-1和0.40—5.15μmol m-2s-1。整个观测期间,凋落物去除对土壤温度、水分以及土壤呼吸速率产生的差异均不显著。与对照相比,凋落物去除分别使土壤呼吸速率和土壤水分平均下降了14.21%和4.95%。两种处理的土壤呼吸速率和土壤温度均呈显著指数相关,与土壤水分呈显著线性相关。凋落物去除和对照的土壤温度敏感性(Q10)分别为3.84和4.09。凋落物对土壤呼吸速率的年均贡献率为14.93%,且存在明显季节动态。可见,地表凋落物是亚高山森林土壤呼吸的重要组成部分。     

龙种金鱼和蛋种金鱼线粒体DNA控制区的序列分析

利用PCR技术扩增了红龙睛、墨龙睛、虎头和水泡眼4种金鱼线粒体DNA控制区部分核苷酸序列,长度分别为724、724、720、722bp.测序结果显示,龙种金鱼红龙睛、墨龙睛的线粒体DNA控制区的序列完全相同,同源性为100%;蛋种金鱼虎头、水泡眼的序列相差4个碱基,同源性为99.4%.研究表明,这4个金鱼品种之间的同源性都很高,而同品系金鱼的亲缘关系相对较近.引用Genbank中鲫鱼的序列,构建了金鱼和鲫鱼的NJ分子系统树,从分子水平证实了金鱼起源于鲫鱼.     

Sex‐ And tissue‐specific differences in telomere length in a reptile

The usage of telomere length (TL) in blood as a proxy for the TL of other tissues relies on the assumption that telomere dynamics across all tissues are similar. However, telomere attrition can be caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) which may vary with metabolic rate, which itself varies across organs depending upon the life history strategy of an organism. Thus, we chose to measure the telomeres of various cell types in juvenile painted dragon lizards, Ctenophorus pictus, given their unusual life history strategy. Individuals typically only experience a single mating season. We measured the TL of male and female dragons using qPCR and observed that TL varied with tissue type and sex. Telomeres of blood cells were longer than those of liver, heart, brain, and spleen, and females had longer telomeres than males. Brain telomeres in males were approximately half the length of those in females. Telomeric attrition in the male brain may be due to the need for rapid learning of reproductive tactics (territory patrol and defense, mate‐finding). Significant correlations between the TL of tissue types suggest that blood TL may be a useful proxy for the TL of other tissues. Our comparison of organ‐specific telomere dynamics, the first in a reptile, suggests that the usage of blood TL as a proxy requires careful consideration of the life history strategy of the organism.     

The adaptive significance of temperature-dependent sex determination: experimental tests with a short-lived lizard

Abstract Why is the sex of many reptiles determined by the temperatures that these animals experience during embryogenesis, rather than by their genes? The Charnov‐Bull model suggests that temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) can enhance maternal fitness relative to genotypic sex determination (GSD) if offspring traits affect fitness differently for sons versus daughters and nest temperatures either determine or predict those offspring traits. Although potential pathways for such effects have attracted much speculation, empirical tests largely have been precluded by logistical constraints (i.e., long life spans and late maturation of most TSD reptiles). We experimentally tested four differential fitness models within the Charnov‐Bull framework, using a short‐lived, early‐maturing Australian lizard (Amphibolurus muricatus) with TSD. Eggs from wild‐caught females were incubated at a range of thermal regimes, and the resultant hatchlings raised in large outdoor enclosures. We applied an aromatase inhibitor to half the eggs to override thermal effects on sex determination, thus decoupling sex and incubation temperature. Based on relationships between incubation temperatures, hatching dates, morphology, growth, and survival of hatchlings in their first season, we were able to reject three of the four differential fitness models. First, matching offspring sex to egg size was not plausible because the relationship between egg (offspring) size and fitness was similar in the two sexes. Second, sex differences in optimal incubation temperatures were not evident, because (1) although incubation temperature influenced offspring phenotypes and growth, it did so in similar ways in sons versus daughters, and (2) the relationship between phenotypic traits and fitness was similar in the two sexes, at least during preadult life. We were unable to reject a fourth model, in which TSD enhances offspring fitness by generating seasonal shifts in offspring sex ratio: that is, TSD allows overproduction of daughters (the sex likely to benefit most from early hatching) early in the nesting season. In keeping with this model, hatching early in the season massively enhanced body size at the beginning of the first winter, albeit with a significant decline in probability of survival. Thus, the timing of hatching is likely to influence reproductive success in this short‐lived, early maturing species; and this effect may well differ between the sexes.     

Postoccupancy evaluation of staff,visitors, and three species of animals in a zoo setting

Postoccupancy evaluation (POE) was used to assess newly constructed zoo exhibits from the perspective of three user groups: zoo staff, zoo visitors, and the animals. Staff represents a generally understudied user group in zoo-based POEs. We asked staff to rate the animals' space, the visitors' space, and the staff's space at previous and new exhibits. We also compared zoo visitors' ratings of the animals' behavior and environments, overall exhibit impressions, and the time visitors spent viewing previous and new exhibits. Lastly, we compared activity and space use of a Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), two red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), and one rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) in their previous and new exhibits. Staff rated animal, visitor, and staff areas higher at the new exhibits compared to the previous exhibits. Visitors also rated several factors higher and spent more time at the new exhibits. The most naturalistic exhibit received the most favorable ratings in all categories and animal activity increased visitor stay time. We found that red pandas were less active in their new exhibit, and the Komodo dragon and rhino showed no difference in activity. The red pandas and the Komodo dragon used more available space in their new exhibits; however, we recommend using Electivity index to examine resource preferences for these species, whose enclosure use has been less studied than large mammals. We emphasize the importance of including staff in zoo-based POE, make other recommendations for future POE studies, and discuss various factors that could have influenced our results.     

Telomere dynamics in a lizard with morph‐specific reproductive investment and self‐maintenance

Telomeres in human fibroblasts shorten progressively during in vitro culturing and trigger replicative senescence. Furthermore, shortened telomeres can be used as biomarkers of disease. These observations have led to the suggestion that telomere dynamics may also be associated with viability and selection for life history variation in non‐human taxa. Model systems to examine this suggestion would particularly benefit from the coexistence of multiple phenotypes within the same species with different life history trade‐offs, since those could be compared in terms of telomere characteristics. This scenario also provokes the classic question of why one morph does not have marginally higher fitness and replaces the others. One explanation is that different morphs have different reproductive tactics with equal relative fitness. In Australian painted dragons (Ctenophorus pictus), males differ in head color, the presence or absence of a gular bib, and reproductive expenditure. Red males out‐compete yellow males in dominance contests, while yellow males copulate quickly and have higher success in sperm competition than red males. Males with bibs better defend partners against rival matings, at the cost of loss of body condition. We show that yellow‐headed and bib‐less males have longer telomeres than red, blue and bibbed males, suggesting that telomere length is positively associated with higher investment into self‐maintenance and less reproductive expenditure.     

火龙果致腐菌的分离鉴定及生物拮抗防腐措施

[背景]红心火龙果在常温下贮藏3 d鳞片就会出现黄化、萎蔫、果柄发霉,贮藏8d果实腐烂率高于55％,贮藏16 d果实腐烂率达95.5％以上.[目的]对红心火龙果主要致腐微生物进行分离鉴定,并筛选出防腐效果最佳的拮抗菌株.[方法]采用传统纯培养法对红心火龙果的致腐微生物进行分离纯化;通过致腐菌回接火龙果试验,找出主要致腐...