On the degree of genetic divergence in Drosophila ananassae populations transferred to laboratory conditions

Twelve natural populations of Drosophila ananassae were sampled and laboratory populations were derived. All the populations were maintained in food bottles in the laboratory for ten generations by transferring fifty flies (females and males in equal number) in each generation. After ten generations they were analysed chromosomally to determine the frequency of different chromosome arrangements. The results show that there is significant variation in the frequencies of chromosome arrangements and in the level of inversion heterozygosity. Although some of the populations became mo-nomorphic for certain inversions, in general all populations remained polymorphic even after ten generations. The degree of genetic differentiation in the populations after they were transferred to laboratory conditions has been estimated by calculating genetic identity and distance between the initial and final populations based on the differences in chromosome arrangement frequencies. The estimates of I and D suggest that there is considerable variation in the degree of genetic divergence in D. ananassae populations. Some populations have remained unchanged while others have diverged to a considerable extent.     

How important is seed predation to recruitment in stable populations of long-lived perennials?

Summary The many evolutionary modifications to seed biology in response to seed predation do not necessarily imply that seed predators have an important impact on population recruitment. This is because competition between individual plants for rare safe sites can cause an oversupply of seeds so far as a population is concerned. The importance of seed losses to population recruitment at any point in time is related to the abundance of safe sites (Fig. 1): it is zero when safe sites are absent, negligible when safe sites are rare, and greatest when safe sites are numerous enough for recruitment to be limited by seed supply. Here I interpret the impact of severe seed losses on population recruitment in four species of long-lived perennials (Eucalyptus baxteri, Leptospermum juniperinum, Casuarina pusilla and L. myrsinoides) by considering these losses in terms of the overall seed dynamics of the populations. I focus on seed supply and seedling survival, as a measure of the current abundance of safe sites, and the maintenance of seed banks, as a measure of the ability of populations to exploit any future changes in safe site abundance. Insect seed predators destroyed about 95% of total seeds in each case. However, these losses do not necessarily have an important impact on population recruitment, because: (i) in most years recruitment appears to be limited by a rarity of safe sites, and not by seed supply (which was as high as 43 germinable seeds/m²/yr); and (ii) the losses did not prevent the establishment of large seed banks (ranging from >30 to >1000 viable seeds/m²) potentially capable of exploiting temporary conditions favourable for recruitment. In contrast to the situation with many annual plants, patterns of recruitment in stable populations of long-lived perennials are often extremely complex, and the significance of seed losses therefore difficult to determine.     

Induction of hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes by DL-methionine in rats

A single intraperitoneal injection of DL-methionine (500 mg/kg body wt.) to adult male Wistar rats was shown to significantly induce all the components of the hepatic microsomal mixed function oxidase system such as NADPH cytochrome C reductase activity, cytochromes P-450 and b₅, as well as activities of drug metabolizing enzymes such as aminopyrine demethylase and uridine 5′ -diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase. Combined administration of nicotinamide (250 mg/kg body wt.) and DL-methionine (500 mg/kg body wt.) was shown to bring about an additional increase (25-30%) in the activities of these enzymes as compared to their induction on independent administration of the two endobiotics. In rats bearing Yoshida sarcoma (ascites) tumour as well as in normal rats injected with serum from tumour bearing animals, the decreased activities of hepatic mixed function oxidases could be restored to their normal levels by administration of DL-methionine (500 mg/kg body wt.) to these rats. Whereas actinomycin D (1 mg/kg body wt.) had no effect on the increased incorporation of [¹⁴C] labelled leucine into microsomal proteins following administration of nicotinamide, the enhanced incorporation of the label following DL-methionine administration was completely inhibited by the same dose of actinomycin D. Administration of cycloheximide (0·5 mg/kg body wt.) to rats could completely inhibit the increased incorporation of [¹⁴C] leucine into hepatic microsomal proteins following independent administration of nicotinamide and DL-methionine. Similar inhibitory pattern with actinomycin D and cycloheximide was also demonstrated in case of induction of NADPH cytochromeC reductase activity by both these endobiotics.     

Breeding Systems in American and Asian Trillium Species by Means of Chromosome Analyses

Abstract Species of Trillium have a disjunct distribution occurring in both North America and eastern Asia. In North America all 36 species are diploid. The 11 species of eastern Asia, however, include only a single diploid with all the other species being polyploids. Why do different patterns of speciation develop in North America and in eastern Asia? The breeding systems of populations in the North American T. erectum, T. grandiflorum and T. ovatum , and in Asian T. kamtschaticum were investigated by estimating the inbreeding coefficient from cold-induced banding patterns which reveal homozygotes and heterozygotes. From the analyses of the inbreeding coefficients, T. erectum, T. grandiflorum and the Pacific coastal species, T. ovatum are predominantly inbreeding species. T. ovatum populations from the Rocky Mountain region are outbreeders. However the Japanese species, T. kamtschaticum has a mixture of outbreeding and inbreeding among populations. The development of polyploid systems in Asia is possibly the result of the diversity of the breeding systems among the populations. The shift from outbreeding to inbreeding appears to be an important key step in the occurrence of poliploids by hybridization between the different species.     

Statistical techniques for detection of major genes in animal breeding data

Summary Statistical techniques for detection of major loci and for making inferences about major locus parameters such as genotypic frequencies, effects and gene action from field-collected data are presented. In field data, major genotypic effects are likely to be masked by a large number of environmental differences in addition to additive and nonadditive polygenic effects. A graphical technique and a procedure for discriminating among genetic hypotheses based on a mixed model accounting for all these factors are proposed. The methods are illustrated by using simulated data.Journal Paper No. J-12733 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 1901     

Morphological variation among widely dispersed larval populations of anadromous southern hemisphere lampreys (Geotriidae and Mordaciidae)

Larvae of all three southern hemisphere anadromous parasitic lampreys were collected from rivers in Australia, New Zealand and South America. Body intervals were measured, trunk myomeres counted and the frequency of pigmentation in different body regions recorded. Morphometric data were subjected to multiple group principal components analysis (MGPCA) which took into account changes during growth. The components (together with myomere counts) and the pigmentation data were both subjected to discriminant analysis. Ordination and rank correlation tests revealed no evidence for either latitudinal clines or a continuum of circumpolar change amongst larval lamprey populations. Clustering of population centroids clearly distinguished between Mordacia lapicida (Gray) from Chile and M. mordax (Richardson) from south-eastern Australia. Populations of Geotria australis Gray divided into groups representing three geographical regions, namely Argentina, Chile and Australasia (Western Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand). Ammocoetes from Argentina were the most divergent, possessing a more posterior cloaca, taller dorsal fins, a greater gap between dorsal fins, and distinctive pigmentation on the head and caudal fin. Within the Australasian group, Western Australian and New Zealand populations clustered closer than either did with those from Tasmania. The cluster analyses for larval populations of G. australis suggest that, during their marine trophic phase, the adults of this species originating from Argentinian and Chilean rivers follow different migratory routes, whereas those from Western Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, Tasmania intermix.     

Zinc tolerance in populations ofDeschampsia cespitosa (Gramineae) beneath electricity pylons

Patterns of zinc tolerance were examined in eightDeschampsia cespitosa (L.)Beauv. populations from normal and zinc-contaminated soils, using solution culture methods. Zinc-tolerant populations have evolved beneath pylons, and their tolerance patterns (degree, variance, heritability) vary. Tolerance is genetically based in all of them. In contrast to the cases of other species previously reported, some within-population differences are considerable, and may be due to both heterogeneity of the soils zinc contents, various gene combinations and gene recombinations between genotypes. One control population contains many tolerant plants, an original result which is discussed.     

Compensatory growth in shoot populations of young white pine trees

Summary White pine (Pinus strobus L.) trees have shoot populations composed of subpopulations of terminal and lateral shoots. I tested whether the subpopulations would show compensatory (increased) growth when separated from each other. Ten-year-old white pine (Pinus strobus L.) trees growing under an oak (Quercus) overstory were untreated or treated in winter by removing either all terminal, or all lateral buds (10 trees per treatment). Growth was compared between control and treated shoot subpopulations. In the 1st year, shoot-length frequency distributions were similar between control and treated subpopulations. There was significant compensatory shoot elongation (mean of 1.5 cm per shoot) in both treated subpopulations. In the 2nd year each subpopulation produced both terminal and lateral shoots. Shoot-length frequency distributions were similar, but shifted toward longer shoots in treated populations. Shoot number, mean length and total shoot length were greater in treated populations. The increased growth in treated subpopulations was due both to differences in parent shoot length and to compensatory shoot production and elongation.     

氧化塘中细菌种群组成动态

对武汉地区氧化塘中的细菌数量、细菌种类、种群组成、优势种及群落多样性进行了初步研究。从氧化塘中分离的细菌经鉴定属于12个属,主要有假单胞菌属(Pseudomonas)、棒杆菌属(corynebacterium)、无色杆菌属(Achromobacter)和微杆菌属(Microbacterium),其它菌属是芽孢杆菌属(Bacillus)、色杆菌属(Chromobacterium)、短杆菌属(Brevibacterium)、葡萄球菌属(Staphylococcus)、微球菌属(Micrococcus)、黄杆菌属(Flavobacterium)、埃希氏菌属(Escherichia)和链球菌属(Streptococcus)。在5个小塘中,细菌数量、种群组成和群落多样性指数都有不同,这与各塘的污染程度有关。由此,多样性指数可用于监测氧化塘的净化效果。     

Genetic variation in relation to demography of peripheral pool frog populations (Rana lessonae)

Summary Genetic variation in an isolated northern metapopulation of the pool frog (Rana lessonae) in Sweden was compared to that of Central European populations using enzyme electrophoresis and literature data. Of the 31 loci scored, two (EST-2 andIDH-2) were polymorphic while no variation occurred in seven of the eight loci which are polymorphic in Central European populations.The heterozygosity level of the Swedish pool frogs is very low compared to that of other anuran populations, but their mean proportion of fertilized eggs within egg masses (97.5%) was not lower than in more heterozygous species, and their body size-specific fecundity did not differ from that of Polish conspecifics. The low genetic variability of the Swedish pool frogs is discussed in relation to features of the local populations such as size (N), calculated effective size (N _e ) reproductive success and probable history. It is concluded that long-term strong fluctuations in population size caused by reporductive failure in cold years have contributed more to the low genetic variability than could a single founder event due to a recent introduction by man.