False killer whales and fisheries interactions in Hawaiian waters: Evidence for sex bias and variation among populations and social groups

We assessed scarring patterns as evidence of fisheries interactions for three populations of false killer whales in Hawai‘i. Bycatch of the pelagic population in the tuna longline fishery exceeds their Potential Biological Removal level. Scarring was assessed by seven evaluators as consistent, possibly consistent, or not consistent with fisheries interactions, and average scores computed. Scores were highest for scarred main Hawaiian Island (MHI) false killer whales, followed by pelagic and Northwestern Hawaiian Island (NWHI) individuals. Considering only whales for which the majority of evaluators scored scarring as consistent revealed significant differences among populations in the percentage of individuals scarred; MHI: 7.5%, pelagic: 0%, NWHI: 0%. Assessment by social cluster for the MHI population showed that 4.2% of Cluster 1, 7.1% of Cluster 2, and 12.8% of Cluster 3 individuals had such scarring, although differences between clusters were not statistically significant. There was a significant sex bias; all sexed individuals (n = 7) with injuries consistent with fisheries interactions were female. The higher proportion of MHI individuals with fisheries‐related scarring suggests that fisheries interactions are occurring at a higher rate in this population. The bias towards females suggests that fisheries‐related mortality has a disproportionate impact on population dynamics.     

情绪信息的注意偏向研究

目的:考察被试对消极词和积极词在无意识状态下的注意偏向,探讨被试在无意识状态下对两类情绪词汇诱发的情绪信息所产生的注意选择与偏向问题。方法:以情绪词为材料,采用任务分离范式,考察被试在无意识状态下对情绪词汇的选择率和反应时。结果:(1)无意识注意阶段存在情绪刺激的注意偏向;(2)在选择率上,被试对积极词汇的选择要明显多于对中性词汇或消极词汇,且女性对积极词汇的选择率要明显高于男性;(3)在反应时上,被试对消极词汇的反应时要明显快于中性词汇或积极词汇。结论:该实验结果说明,带情绪信息的词汇都较中性词汇更能引起被试的注意偏向。     

Taxonomic gap in wood-inhabiting fungi: identifying understudied groups by a systematic survey

Despite advances in phylogenetic research and the number of ecological studies focusing on wood-inhabiting fungi, these species still represent a taxonomically poorly known group of organisms. In this study, our overall aim was to detect and characterize the understudied wood-inhabiting fungal groups in the beech forests of Navarre (northern Spain). We present a list of 326 wood-inhabiting fungal species, out of which 36 % are first regional records. Comparing the already recorded fungal species in this territory and the list of firstly recorded species, we found that field-mycologists tend to focus on certain fungal groups, and in general rare species are less frequently encountered. Particularly, species with corticioid fruit body type have been especially overlooked in this territory. We attribute the high proportion of new regional records to the use of a systematic sampling design.     

烟草CONSTANS-like基因家族的鉴定与分析

烟草(Nicotiana tabacum)是基因功能分析的模式植物以及重要的经济作物之一,适宜的生存环境对烟草的生长和繁殖至关重要。COL (CONSTANS-like)基因家族编码蛋白不仅调控植物开花,而且在植物生物/非生物胁迫响应中发挥重要作用。该研究通过鉴定烟草COL基因家族成员,分析其基因结构、进化关系、转录调...     

Assessing reproductive biology of Macrobrachium lamarrei in the Ganges River (NW Bangladesh) in relation to environmental parameters

Macrobrachium lamarrei (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837) is a well-known freshwater prawn species of Bangladesh. The aim of the research is to explore various reproductive aspects (size at sexual maturity, reproductive period and fecundity) of M. lamarrei in the Ganges River, Bangladesh through October 2012 to September 2013. We also study the environmental parameters and their impact on reproduction of M. lamarrei. A total 391 (ovigerous = 141, non-ovigerous = 250) female specimens were collected using Drag net. The TL₅₀ (the TL at which 50% of individuals become mature) was calculated by a logistic equation as 5.20 cm. Based on the availability of ovigerous females the spawning season was February-November with the peak June-July. Further, 50% and 90% ovigerous females were observed when Fulton’s condition factor (K_F) was 0.85 and 1.03, respectively. The total fecundity (F_T) was ranged from 65 to 370 where TL was 4.20–6.40 cm and BW was 0.84–2.50 g. Fecundity was found to be highly correlated with TL (r² ≥ 0.96, r_s = 0.96, p < 0.0001) and BW (r² ≥ 0.88, r_s = 0.93, p < 0.0001). Temperature (r_p = 0.82, p = 0.009), dissolved oxygen (DO) (r_p = −0.83, p = 0.0007), pH (r_p = 0.80, p = 0.0014) and total alkalinity (r_p = −0.87, p = 0.0002), were highly correlated with ovigerous females. The average temperature on peak spawning season was 32 °C. Also, the spawning period connected with the peak rainfall and showed a notable relation between rainfall and ovigerous females. In addition, exploration of long data series pointed that yearly average air temperature is rising by 0.029 °C yr⁻¹, whereas yearly average rainfall is falling by 2.96 mm yr⁻¹. Therefore, the result will be helpful for the sustainable management and conservation of M. lamarrei through fixed permissible mesh size and establishment of a ban period in the Ganges River, Bangladesh and adjoining ecosystems.     

Transmission distortion and genetic incompatibilities between alleles in a multigenerational mouse advanced intercross line

While direct additive and dominance effects on complex traits have been mapped repeatedly, additional genetic factors contributing to the heterogeneity of complex traits have been scarcely investigated. To assess genetic background effects, we investigated transmission ratio distortions (TRDs) of alleles from parent to offspring using an advanced intercross line (AIL) of an initial cross between the mouse inbred strains C57BL/6NCrl (B6N) and BFMI860-12 [Berlin Fat Mouse Inbred (BFMI)]. A total of 341 males of generation 28 and their respective 61 parents and 66 grandparents were genotyped using Mega Mouse Universal Genotyping Arrays. TRDs were investigated using allele transmission asymmetry tests, and pathway overrepresentation analysis was performed. Sequencing data were used to test for overrepresentation of nonsynonymous SNPs (nsSNPs) in TRD regions. Genetic incompatibilities were tested using the Bateson–Dobzhansky–Muller two-locus model. A total of 62 TRD regions were detected, many in close proximity to the telocentric centromere. TRD regions contained 44.5% more nsSNPs than randomly selected regions (182 vs 125.9 ± 17.0, P < 1 × 10⁻⁴). Testing for genetic incompatibilities between TRD regions identified 29 genome-wide significant incompatibilities between TRD regions [P_(BF) < 0.05]. Pathway overrepresentation analysis of genes in TRD regions showed that DNA methylation, epigenetic regulation of RNA, and meiotic/meiosis regulation pathways were affected independent of the parental origin of the TRD. Paternal BFMI TRD regions showed overrepresentation in the small interfering RNA biogenesis and in the metabolism of lipids and lipoproteins. Maternal B6N TRD regions harbored genes involved in meiotic recombination, cell death, and apoptosis pathways. The analysis of genes in TRD regions suggests the potential distortion of protein–protein interactions influencing obesity and diabetic retinopathy as a result of disadvantageous combinations of allelic variants in Aass, Pgx6, and Nme8. Using an AIL significantly improves the resolution at which we can investigate TRD. Our analysis implicates distortion of protein–protein interactions as well as meiotic drive as the underlying mechanisms leading to the observed TRD in our AIL. Furthermore, genes with large amounts of nsSNPs located in TRD regions are more likely to be involved in pathways that are related to the phenotypic differences between the parental strains. Genes in these TRD regions provide new targets for investigating genetic adaptation, protein–protein interactions, and determinants of complex traits such as obesity.     

Phenotype Bias Determines How Natural RNA Structures Occupy the Morphospace of All Possible Shapes

Morphospaces—representations of phenotypic characteristics—are often populated unevenly, leaving large parts unoccupied. Such patterns are typically ascribed to contingency, or else to natural selection disfavoring certain parts of the morphospace. The extent to which developmental bias, the tendency of certain phenotypes to preferentially appear as potential variation, also explains these patterns is hotly debated. Here we demonstrate quantitatively that developmental bias is the primary explanation for the occupation of the morphospace of RNA secondary structure (SS) shapes. Upon random mutations, some RNA SS shapes (the frequent ones) are much more likely to appear than others. By using the RNAshapes method to define coarse-grained SS classes, we can directly compare the frequencies that noncoding RNA SS shapes appear in the RNAcentral database to frequencies obtained upon a random sampling of sequences. We show that: 1) only the most frequent structures appear in nature; the vast majority of possible structures in the morphospace have not yet been explored; 2) remarkably small numbers of random sequences are needed to produce all the RNA SS shapes found in nature so far; and 3) perhaps most surprisingly, the natural frequencies are accurately predicted, over several orders of magnitude in variation, by the likelihood that structures appear upon a uniform random sampling of sequences. The ultimate cause of these patterns is not natural selection, but rather a strong phenotype bias in the RNA genotype–phenotype map, a type of developmental bias or “findability constraint,” which limits evolutionary dynamics to a hugely reduced subset of structures that are easy to “find.”     

Lateralization in monogamous pairs:wild geese prefer to keep their partner in the left hemifield except when disturbed

Behavioural lateralization, which reflects the functional specializations of the two brain hemispheres, is assumed to play an important role in cooperative intraspecific interactions. However, there are few studies focused on the lateralization in cooperative behaviours of individuals, especially in a natural setting. In the present study, we investigated lateralized spatial interactions between the partners in life-long monogamous pairs. The male-female pairs of two geese species (barnacle, Branta leucopsis, and white-fronted, Anser albifrons geese), were observed during different stages of the annual cycle in a variety of conditions. In geese flocks, we recorded which visual hemifield (left/right) the following partner used to monitor the leading partner relevant to the type of behaviour and the disturbance factors. In a significant majority of pairs, the following bird viewed the leading partner with the left eye during routine behaviours such as resting and feeding in undisturbed conditions. This behavioural lateralization, implicating the right hemisphere processing, was consistent across the different aggregation sites and years of the study. In contrast, no significant bias was found in a variety of geese behaviours associated with enhanced disturbance (when alert on water, flying or fleeing away when disturbed, feeding during the hunting period, in urban area feeding and during moulting). We hypothesize that the increased demands for right hemisphere processing to deal with stressful and emergency situations may interfere with the manifestation of lateralization in social interactions.     

大豆ω-3和ω-6脂肪酸脱氢酶基因密码子优化

DHA和EPA对心脑血管疾病以及癌症等疾病的防治有着重要的作用,其中ω-3和ω-6脂肪酸脱氢酶是合成多不饱和脂肪酸DHA和EPA过程中的两个关键的去不饱和酶,由于缺乏这两种酶的基因,高等动物无法自发合成多不饱和脂肪酸,为了得到可以生产多不饱和脂肪酸的转基因动物,本研究计划将大豆的这两个去饱和脂肪酸作为目的基因,但由于不同物种之间的密码子使用具有偏爱性,会严重影响到目的基因在宿主体内的表达水平,为了解决这一问题,提高目的基因在宿主体内的表达水平,同时采用Jcat在线软件和手动替换密码子两种方法对大豆的ω-3和ω-6脂肪酸脱氢酶基因进行了优化,然后选出最优的优化方法,为后期进一步的实验提供目的基因。最后本文预测了两种优化结果的RNA二级结构和CAI、CBI、Nc值和GC含量,比较得出手动替换的结果优于在线优化的结果。