DNA and protein content of mouse sperm: Implications regarding sperm chromatin structure

A variety of biochemical and histochemical techniques have been used to compare the composition of chromatin in sperm nuclei isolated from the epididymides of five mouse strains. The DNA content was determined by phosphorus analysis, deoxyribose analysis, absorption spectroscopy at 260 nm, and cytomorphometry following gallocyanine chrome alum staining. All four methods indicate that the mouse sperm nucleus contains approx. 3.3 pg DNA and that the DNA content does not vary significantly among the strains tested. Three different techniques, quantitative amino acid analysis, absorption spectroscopy at 230 nm, and sperm head density analysis in cesium chloride, were used to determine the protein content. Sperm nuclei from each strain of mouse were found to have a protein to DNA ratio of 0.9 and a chromatin protein content of 3 pg/nucleus. Comparisons of the basic proteins by disc gel electrophoresis demonstrate that the sperm nuclei contain only protamine and lack significant levels of somatic histones or transition proteins. The sperm from each strain contained both mouse protamine variants and the relative distribution of the two proteins did not appear to differ among strains. Using this information, we have been able to draw certain conclusions regarding DNA-protamine interactions and the mode of DNA packaging in the sperm nucleus. The most important of these is that the DNA in the mouse sperm nucleus cannot be packaged in nucleosomes. The protamines in sperm chromatin do not function as structural proteins, providing a subunit core around which the DNA is wrapped, but appear to completely neutralize the phosphodiester backbone of the DNA molecule, thereby minimizing the repulsion between neighboring segments of DNA and allowing it to be condensed into a biochemically inactive particle of genetic information.     

圈养黑猩猩血液生理生化指标测定

正动物园作为综合保护、科普宣传与公众教育的重要场所,在濒危物种的迁地保护工作中发挥着十分重要的作用(Kleiman et al.,2010)。然而,不同的濒危物种在生理学及生活史方面存在很大差异;加之部分物种的生物学信息匮乏,使得动物园的饲养繁育和疾病防控工作面临重大挑战。在常规体检及疾病诊断时,血液参数值有助于对动物机体的临床检查与诊断,解读动物的生理、营养和病理状态(胡翊群,2004;Etim et al.,2014),是及时发现动物     

Effect of physiological parameters of blood on magnetophoretic mobility of erythrocytes

Magnetophoresis is the process of the particle motion under the influence of a magnetic field. The magnetic particle and medium are considered responsive to the imposed magnetic field, and the material property that describes the response to the external magnetic field is relative magnetic permeability, and the magnetic susceptibility. The present work aims to evaluate the effect of internal and external physiological parameters on the erythrocytes' magnetophoretic mobility (MM) using Cell Tracking Velocimetry (CTV). The results of this study showed that there are a strong correlation between MM and several physiological blood parameters such as mean corpuscle hemoglobin (MCH), red blood cells distribution width (RDW), mean corpuscle hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and fibrinogen.     

Host thermoregulatory constraints predict growth of an amphibian chytrid pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis)

1. The course and outcome of many wildlife diseases are context-dependent, and therefore change depending on the behaviour of hosts and environmental response of the pathogen.2. Contemporary declines in amphibian populations are widely attributed to chytridiomycosis, caused by the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Despite the thermal sensitivity of the pathogen and its amphibian hosts, we do not understand how host thermal regimes experienced by frogs in the wild directly influence pathogen growth.3. We tested how thermal regimes experienced by the rainforest frog Litoria rheocola in the wild influence pathogen growth in the laboratory, and whether these responses differ from pathogen growth under available environmental thermal regimes.4. Frog thermal regimes mimicked in the laboratory accelerated pathogen growth during conditions representative of winter at high elevations more so than if temperatures matched air or stream water temperatures. By contrast, winter frog thermal regimes at low elevations slowed pathogen growth relative to air temperatures, but not water temperatures.5. The growth pattern of the fungus under frog thermal regimes matches field prevalence and intensity of infections for this species (high elevation winter > high elevation summer > low elevation winter > low elevation summer), whereas pathogen growth trajectories under environmental temperatures did not match these patterns.6. If these laboratory results translate into field responses, tropical frogs may be able to reduce disease impacts by regulating their body temperatures to limit pathogen growth (e.g., by using microhabitats that facilitate basking to reach high temperatures); in other cases, the environment may limit the ability of frogs to thermoregulate such that individuals are more vulnerable to this pathogen (e.g., in dense forests at high elevations).7. Species-specific thermoregulatory behaviour, and interactions with and constraints imposed by the environment, are therefore essential to understanding and predicting the spatial and temporal impacts of this global disease.     

The highest kingdom of Anolis: Thermal biology of the Andean lizard Anolis heterodermus (Squamata: Dactyloidae) over an elevational gradient in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia

Vertebrate ectotherms may deal with changes of environmental temperatures by behavioral and/or physiological mechanisms. Reptiles inhabiting tropical highlands face extreme fluctuating daily temperatures, and extreme values and intervals of fluctuations vary with altitude. Anolis heterodermus occurs between 1800 m to 3750 m elevation in the tropical Andes, and is the Anolis species found at the highest altitude known. We evaluated which strategies populations from elevations of 2200 m, 2650 m and 3400 m use to cope with environmental temperatures. We measured body, preferred, critical maximum and minimum temperatures, and sprint speed at different body temperatures of individuals, as well as operative temperatures. Anolis heterodermus exhibits behavioral adjustments in response to changes in environmental temperatures across altitudes. Likewise, physiological traits exhibit intrapopulation variations, but they are similar among populations, tended to the “static” side of the evolution of thermal traits spectrum. The thermoregulatory behavioral strategy in this species is extremely plastic, and lizards adjust even to fluctuating environmental conditions from day to day. Unlike other Anolis species, at low thermal quality of the habitat, lizards are thermoconformers, particularly at the highest altitudes, where cloudy days can intensify this strategy even more. Our study reveals that the pattern of strategies for dealing with thermal ambient variations and their relation to extinction risks in the tropics that are caused by global warming is perhaps more complex for lizards than previously thought.     

Potency of Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus subtilis against the cotton leafworm,Spodoptera littoralis (Bosid.) Larvae

The biological activities of two species of bacteria isolated from soil of cotton fields identified as Bacillus subtilis strain NRC313 (BS NRC313) and Bacillus thuringiensis strain NRC335 (BT NRC335) were evaluated against the third larval instar of the cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.). The different entomopathogenic bacteria of BS NRC313and BT NRC335 contained 10 × 10⁸ cell/ml, and caused mortality of 100 and 97.3% for the above mentioned strains, respectively. Concentrations of 2.5 × 10⁸ to 10 × 10⁸ cell/ml of strains BS NRC313 and BT NRC335 were applied to the larvae: LC₅₀ were 3.3 × 10⁸ and 3.9 × 10⁸ cell/ml respectively. The influence of exposure to toxin concentrations manifested in terms of decreasing the adult emergence and prolongation of the generation period. The percentage of larvae that survived and succeeded to pupate increased by decreasing the concentration. The longevity of adult emergence that resulted from larvae treated with Bacillus subtilis were 6.0 ± 0.51 and 9.0 ± 0.63 days at 5 × 10⁸ and 2.5 × 10⁸ cell/ml, respectively compared with 9.8 ± 0.47 in control. The results indicated that Bacillus subtilis was more potent than Bacillus thuringiensis. Field applications of B. thuringiensis, B. subtilis and Reldan achieved 55.6, 67.4 and 89.4% reduction of the cotton leafworm larvae Spodoptera littoralis in clover plants under field conditions.     

The Caribou Migration Model for Arctic Hadrosaurs (Dinosauria: Ornithischia): A Reassessment

The recovery of abundant dinosaur fossils from high paleolatitudes of northern Alaska has raised some hard questions in relation to any available model of dinosaur physiology. To explain the occurrence of hadrosaurs at high ancient latitudes, a model involving long-distance migration analogous to that of the modern caribou has been proposed. The model calls for seasonal movements over great latitudinal distances by these Cretaceous hadrosaurs. This model is reassessed in terms of the growth, body sizes, and inferred physiological ecology of the hadrosaurs and the caribou. Histological data suggest that juvenile hadrosaurs obtained from northern Alaska were greater than 1 year in age. Comparison of the relative sizes of juvenile and adult hadrosaurs with juvenile and adult caribou suggests, based on qualitative energetics, that the juvenile hadrosaurs were too small to participate in long-distance migration. The "hadrosaurs as caribou" model provides clues to the feeding ecology of North Slope hadrosaurs, if they are reinterpreted as year-round residents of high latitudes. However, it does not constitute a satisfactory basis on which to infer long-distance seasonal migrations by these animals.     

宁乡花猪原代和第一代血液生理生化指标比较

目的比较原代宁乡花猪与其第一代仔猪血液生理生化指标的变化。方法常规方法测定宁乡花猪F0代16头,F1代16头血液18项生理指标和13项生化指标。结果F0代与F1代部分血液生理指标如白细胞（WBC）、红细胞（RBC）、血红蛋白（HGB）、红细胞积压（HCT）等13项有显著性差异（P〈0．05）;部分血液生化指标如总胆红素（TBIL）,尿素氮（BUN）,总蛋白（TP）,白／球蛋白（ALB／GLB）,葡萄糖（GLU）,有显著性差异（P〈0．05）;其他指标均无统计学差异。结论2代宁乡花猪之间部分血液生理生化指标有显著性差异。得到的数据可以为实验动物化研究提供相应的基础生理参考数据。     

Der Einfluß von Vitamin A und β-Carotin auf die Fruchtbarkeit bei suboptimalen und optimalen Vitamin-B-Gaben

Die vorliegenden Untersuchungen sind Bestandteil eines komplexen Forschungsprogramms zur Weiterentwicklung der energetischen Futterbewertung im Nettoenergie‐Fett‐System. Sie wurden mit dem Ziel durchgeführt, neue Ergebnisse zur Erfassung des Zusammenhanges zwischen Ort und Art der Nährstoffverdauung und der energetischen Verwertung von Rationen bei der Tierart Rind zu erarbeiten. Für 9 Rationsvarianten mit jeweils 3 Varianten der Stärkeherkunft (Gerste, Mais, Kartoffeln) und ihres Rationsanteiles (50, 25 und 10 %) wurde an weitgehend ausgewachsenen Ochsen mit Hilfe von duodenalen Brückenfisteln auf dem Ernährungsniveau 1.7 die ruminale Nährstoffverdaulichkeit gemessen. Bei Stärkeeinnahmen zwischen 484 und 2573 g je Tier und Tag wurden Mengen an ruminai und postruminal verdauter Stärke zwischen 444 und 2336 bzw. 10 und 284 g je Tier und Tag bestimmt. Für die organische Substanz, Stärke, wasserlöslichen Kohlenhydrate und N‐freien Reststoffe wurden hohe relative Anteile der ruminai verdauten an den scheinbar verdauten Nährstoffen mit Werten zwischen 78 und 88, 83 und 98, 93 und 97 bzw. 88 und 100% ermittelt.     

Sustaining biological welfare for our future through consistent science

Physiological anthropology presently covers a very broad range of human knowledge and engineering technologies. This study reviews scientific inconsistencies within a variety of areas: sitting posture; negative air ions; oxygen inhalation; alpha brain waves induced by music and ultrasound; 1/f fluctuations; the evaluation of feelings using surface electroencephalography; Kansei; universal design; and anti-stress issues. We found that the inconsistencies within these areas indicate the importance of integrative thinking and the need to maintain the perspective on the biological benefit to humanity. Analytical science divides human physiological functions into discrete details, although individuals comprise a unified collection of whole-body functions. Such disparate considerations contribute to the misunderstanding of physiological functions and the misevaluation of positive and negative values for humankind. Research related to human health will, in future, depend on the concept of maintaining physiological functions based on consistent science and on sustaining human health to maintain biological welfare in future generations.