Growth, carcass composition and plasma growth hormone levels in cyclically fed rainbow trout

Growth, body composition and plasma growth hormone levels were recorded weekly for 24 weeks in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss . Underyearling rainbow trout were individually identified using coded tags and placed on either a cyclic feeding regime of 3 weeks of deprivation followed by 3 weeks of feeding or a daily feeding regime. No significant difference was found in standard length and mass among the cyclically fed and daily fed fish at the end of the experiment. For cyclically fed fish, the absolute specific growth rate and condition factor reached a maximum during the last week of refeeding. Cyclically fed fish had a significantly higher moisture and protein content and lower lipid levels relative to fish fed daily. Absolute mass and fat loss in the deprivation phase of the feeding cycle decreased in intensity with subsequent feeding cycles, indicating that the fish were acclimatizing to the feeding regime. It was proposed that this response was an adaptation against possible adverse effects in the adults ( e.g. locomotor performance, bone ossification rates, fat deposition rate, growth rate and age at sexual maturity). Plasma growth hormone concentrations were not affected by cyclic feeding indicating that variations in plasma growth hormone concentration are not the cause of compensatory growth in rainbow trout.     

Historical presence of the sturgeon Acipenser sturio in the Rhône basin determined by the analysis of ancient DNA cytochrome b sequences

Sturgeon disappeared from the Rhône River in the mid 70’s without certitude about which species it was and about the existence of a sympatry between European sturgeon, Acipenser sturio, and Adriatic sturgeon, A. naccarii, in this watershed. In order to reach a reliable specific determination of this extinct sturgeon population, archaeozoological remains of the Jardin d’Hiver in Arles city, on the Rhône river banks, were genetically analysed, following strict criteria of authentication for the ancient DNA work. The rich collection of Arles sturgeon bone remains stems from human activities between the 6th and the 2nd Century BC. Sequences of 86 bp of the cytochrome b gene were obtained on four bones, from different anatomical parts of the fish and from different archaeological layers. All gave A. sturio diagnostic sequences. This preliminary analysis is an essential first step in the project of sturgeon reintroduction in the Rhône River. Thus, further analyses on a larger sample are necessary to comfort this result and to solve the question of sympatry with A. naccarii.     

Spatial coexistence of phytoplankton species in ecological timescale

The species diversity of phytoplankton is usually very high in wild aquatic systems, as seen in the paradox of plankton. Coexistence of many competitive phytoplankton species is extremely common in nature. However, experiments and mathematical theories show that interspecific competition often leads to the extinction of most inferior species. Here, we present a lattice version of a multi-species Lotka–Volterra competition model to demonstrate the importance of local interaction. Its mathematical equilibrium is the exclusion of all but one superior species. However, temporal coexistence of many competitive species is possible in an ecological time scale if interactions are local instead of global. This implies that the time scale is elongated many orders when interactions are local. Extremely high species diversity of phytoplankton in aquatic systems may be maintained by spatial coexistence in an ecological time scale.Tatsuo Miyazaki, Kei-ichi Tainaka, and Jin Yoshimura contributed equally to this study.     

Restoration of wetland vegetation using soil seed banks: lessons from a project in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan

The restoration of degraded wetland ecosystems and the recovery of wetland biodiversity are important global issues. Generally, wetland restoration projects include activities to recover vegetation. A promising revegetation technique is one in which soil seed banks are utilized as the source of plant recolonization. Using such a technique, a pilot project to restore lakeshore vegetation was launched at Lake Kasumigaura, Japan, in 2002. In the project, lake sediments containing the seed banks were spread thinly (∼10 cm) on the surfaces of artificial lakeshores, which were constructed in front of concrete levees and had microtopographic variations. In total, 180 species, including six endangered or vulnerable species and 12 native submerged plants that had disappeared from the above-ground vegetation of the lake, were recorded in five recreated lakeshores (total area, 65,200 m²) during the first year of the restoration. The distribution of each restored species at the sites suggested the importance of microtopographic relief for recolonizing species-rich lakeshore vegetation. Furthermore, the origin of the source seed banks affected the species composition of the restored vegetation. On the other hand, the restoration sites were subject to exotic plant invasions. Here, we report lessons learned from the Lake Kasumigaura restoration project as a contribution to the establishment of ecologically sound revegetation techniques.     

‘兰箭3号’箭筈豌豆荚果发育动态及腹缝线结构研究

箭筈豌豆(Vicia sativa)是高海拔地区重要的一年生豆科牧草,但荚果成熟时的开裂现象会造成种子的严重损失。该研究以栽培品种‘兰箭3号’为对象,对其荚果在发育过程中的形态特征、水分含量、腹缝线表面结构及腹缝线横截面解剖结构的动态变化进行观察分析,以探讨箭筈豌豆荚果的裂荚机理,为生产中确定种子收获的适宜时间提供理论依据。结果显示:(1)‘兰箭3号’约在盛花后25~30d荚果变为浅棕色,此时荚果已完成生理成熟,且荚果的大小和干重均达到最大值,含水量降到最小值;盛花后25d荚果腹缝线出现裂缝,盛花后35d腹缝线完全裂开。(2)‘兰箭3号’于盛花后20d腹缝线处离层细胞开始解体;盛花后25d,内、中、外果皮的薄壁细胞均开始失水皱缩,其中内果皮的薄壁细胞部分已开始破裂,离层细胞及其下面的薄壁细胞完全解体,外部果瓣缘细胞内侧细胞壁破裂,但外侧异常加厚的细胞壁仍然保持完整并连接两个果瓣,使荚果不开裂;盛花后30~35d,内、中、外果皮的薄壁细胞完全失水,细胞壁皱缩在一起,同时外部果瓣缘细胞外侧细胞壁断裂成两部分,荚果的两个果瓣裂开。研究表明,盛花后25~30d荚果失去绿色变为浅棕色时是‘兰箭3号’的适宜收获时间,且离层和细胞失水产生的机械拉力是导致箭筈豌豆荚果开裂的主要原因,推测外部果瓣缘细胞外侧增厚融合的细胞壁很可能是‘兰箭3号’抵抗裂荚的关键结构。     

A native nitrogen-fixing shrub facilitates weed invasion

Invasions by exotic weedy plants frequently occur in highly disturbed or otherwise anthropogenically altered habitats. Here we present evidence that, within California coastal prairie, invasion also can be facilitated by a native nitrogen-fixing shrub, bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus). Bush lupines fix nitrogen and grow rapidly, fertilizing the sandy soil with nitrogen-rich litter. The dense lupine canopy blocks light, restricting vegetative growth under bushes. Heavy insect herbivory kills lupines, opening exposed nitrogen-rich sites within the plant community. Eventual re-establishment of lupine occurs because of an abundant and long-lived seed bank. Lupine germination, rapid growth, shading and fertilization of sites, and then death after only a few years, results in a mosaic of nutrient-rich sites that are available to invading species. To determine the role of bush lupine death and nitrogen enrichment in community composition, we examined nutrient dynamics and plant community characteristics within a site only recently colonized by lupine, comparing patches where lupines had recently died or were experimentally killed with adjacent areas lacking lupine. In experimentally killed patches, instantaneous pool sizes of exchangeable ammonium and nitrate nitrogen were higher than in adjacent sites free of lupine. Seedlings of the introduced grass Bromus diandrus accumulated 48% greater root biomass and 93% more shoot biomass when grown in a greenhouse in soil collected under experimentally killed lupines compared to B. diandrus seedlings grown in soil collected at least 1 m away from lupines. At the end of the spring growing season, total above-ground live plant biomass was more than twice as great in dead lupine patches as in the adjacent lupine-free grassland, but dead lupine patches contained 47% fewer plant species and 57% fewer native species. Sites where lupines have repeatedly died and reestablished during recent decades support an interstitial grassland community high in productivity but low in diversity, composed of mostly weedy introduced annual plants. In contrast, at a site only recently colonized by bush lupines, the interstitial grassland consists of a less productive but more diverse set of native and introduced species. We suggest that repeated bouts of lupine germination, establishment, and death can convert a rich native plant community into a less diverse collection of introduced weeds.     

A new dissimilarity measure and a new optimality criterion in phytosociological classification

A new dissimilarity measure, Uppsala dissimilarity, is proposed. It is a Manhattan-type measure in between the Canberra and Gower measures, based on the differences between scores in relevés compared, but it also takes both the sums of scores and the difference between maximum and minimum score into account. The measure is considered realistic for phytosociological material.A new optimality criterion has been developed after unsatisfactory results had been obtained with the DOL criterion (Popma et al. 1983) which was developed previously by our group. Problems with DOL were especially met when the criterion was applied to the distribution of only one species over the cluster array obtained. The new criterion takes both internal cluster homogeneity and between-cluster dissimilarity into account. Between-cluster dissimilarity is calculated for all other clusters and not only for the nearest neighbour, as in DOL. The new criterion has both an unweighted form: SOM, and a form with weighting for cluster size: SWOM.This new criterion was successfully applied to the evaluation of the sharpness of distribution of individual species over cluster arrays, under the name of SIM: species indication measure and SWIM, species weighted indication measure.The measures were applied to some test data. Differences between the unweighted and weighted forms were found which could not be easily interpreted.Some remarks are made on the coherence of d-SAHN and h-SAHN approaches in agglomerative clustering within the new strategy proposed.Abbreviations DOL = Detection of Optimal Level - S(W)IM = Species (Weighted) Indication Measure - S(W)OM = Standardized (Weighted) Optimality Measure - UD = Uppsala Dissimilarity measure - WPGMA = Weighted Pair-Group Method Average linking clustering - SAHN = Sequential Agglomerative Hierarchical Non-overlapping clustering     

糖尿病血管平滑肌细胞增殖与线粒体关系的研究进展

糖尿病(diabetes mellitus,DM)是严重危害人类健康的全身性代谢疾病,常发生血液流变学、微循环和细胞代谢的紊乱,导致缺血、缺氧和组织水肿,进而引起血管和神经病变。血管病变常常是糖尿病病人致死、致残的主要原因。血管平滑肌细胞的增殖及表型改变是糖尿病引发动脉粥样硬化性疾病的显著特征,而线粒体在血管平滑肌细胞的增殖过程中起重要作用。因此,探讨糖尿病血管平滑肌细胞与线粒体的关系及机制为糖尿病血管性疾病的治疗提供重要的理论基础,有利于基础研究向临床试用药物研究的转化。     

南京灵谷寺森林动态变化的研究

利用1951、1981和1991年的定点样带资料,对南京灵谷寺森林植物区系、物种多样性、显著度和年龄结构的动态变化进行了研究。40年来,种数由75种骤减到50种,复又增加到56种,个体数由5097株骤增到20585株,复又下降到3344株。而其Simpson指数和Shannon-Wiener指数的变化很小。显著度的分布均为对数级数型,优势种的作用非常明显,前6个种的显著度分别占了群落总显著度的75.4％、96.2％和84.4%。先锋树种马尾松(Pinus massoniana Lamb.)因幼苗的成活率低,显现衰退迹象,而黄连木(Pistcia chinensis Bge.)的年龄结构则表示该种群有再次占据优势的可能。群落中增长型常绿树种种群的出现,既反映了群落环境的改善,又意味着群落向地带性植被发育的可能性。     

果蝇nasuta亚群求爱歌的种间识别与进化遗传学研究

果蝇ｎａｓｕｔａ亚群由１４个种、亚种和分类群组成,广泛分布于印度－太平洋区域。本文首次记录了ｎａｓｕｔａ亚群种的求爱歌,测量了脉冲歌时域模式的参数：脉冲串间隔（ＩＢＩ）、脉冲间隔（ＩＰＩ）、脉冲串时间长度（ＰＴＬ）、每个脉冲串的脉冲数（ＰＮ）、脉冲时间长度（ＰＬ）、波动周期时间长度（ＣＬ）。采用计算机声谱分析技术,作出求爱歌信号的三维数字功率谱图,进行频率分析。发现Ｄ．ｐｕｌａｕｎａ和Ｔａｘｏｎ－Ｆ不发出求爱歌声信号,视觉在交配中可能起重要作用。对其余种、亚种和分类群的求爱歌分析表明,ｎａｓｕｔａ亚群种的求爱歌分为脉冲歌和正弦歌。对部分种的正反交Ｆ１求爱歌分析表明,脉冲歌时域参数,如ＩＰＩ平均值为Ｘ染色体连锁或常染色体多基因控制,正弦歌频率偏向母方。根据不同种、亚种和分类群脉冲歌的时域模式构建ｎａｓｕｔａ亚群的系统树,对亚群中不同种、亚种和分类群的亲缘关系进行讨论。