Non‐consumptive effects of predation: does perceived risk strengthen the genetic integration of behaviour and morphology in stickleback?

Predators can shape genetic correlations in prey by altering prey perception of risk. We manipulated perceived risk to test whether such non‐consumptive effects tightened behavioural trait correlations in wild‐caught stickleback from high‐ compared to low‐risk environments due to genetic variation in plasticity. We expected tighter genetic correlations within perceived risk treatments than across them, and tighter genetic correlations in high‐risk than in low‐risk treatments. We identified genetic variation in plasticity, with genetic correlations between boldness, sociality, and antipredator morphology, as expected, being tighter within treatments than across them, for both of two populations. By contrast, genetic correlations did not tighten with exposure to risk. Tighter phenotypic correlations in wild stickleback may thus arise because predators induce correlational selection on environmental components of these traits, or because predators tighten residual correlations by causing environmental heterogeneity that is controlled in the laboratory. Our study places phenotypic integration firmly into an ecological context.     

An Efficient Ultra‐Flexible Photo‐Charging System Integrating Organic Photovoltaics and Supercapacitors

Flexible and biocompatible integrated photo‐charging devices consisting of photovoltaic cells and energy storage units can provide an independent power supply for next‐generation wearable electronics or biomedical devices. However, current flexible integrated devices exhibit low total energy conversion and storage efficiency and large device thickness, hindering their applicability towards efficient and stable self‐powered systems. Here, a highly efficient and ultra‐thin photo‐charging device with a total efficiency approaching 6% and a thickness below 50 µm is reported, prepared by integrating 3‐µm‐thick organic photovoltaics on 40 µm‐thick carbon nanotube/polymer‐based supercapacitors. This flexible photo‐charging capacitor delivers much higher performance compared with previous reports by tuning the electrochemical properties of the composite electrodes, which reduce the device thickness to 1/8 while improving the total efficiency by 15%. The devices also exhibit a superior operational stability (over 96% efficiency retention after 100 charge/discharge cycles for one week) and mechanical robustness (94.66% efficiency retention after 5000 times bending at a radius of around 2 mm), providing a high‐power and long‐term operational energy source for flexible and wearable electronics.     

Vocal convergence in a multi-level primate society: insights into the evolution of vocal learning

The extent to which nonhuman primate vocalizations are amenable to modification through experience is relevant for understanding the substrate from which human speech evolved. We examined the vocal behaviour of Guinea baboons, Papio papio, ranging in the Niokolo Koba National Park in Senegal. Guinea baboons live in a multi-level society, with units nested within parties nested within gangs. We investigated whether the acoustic structure of grunts of 27 male baboons of two gangs varied with party/gang membership and genetic relatedness. Males in this species are philopatric, resulting in increased male relatedness within gangs and parties. Grunts of males that were members of the same social levels were more similar than those of males in different social levels (N = 351 dyads for comparison within and between gangs, and N = 169 dyads within and between parties), but the effect sizes were small. Yet, acoustic similarity did not correlate with genetic relatedness, suggesting that higher amounts of social interactions rather than genetic relatedness promote the observed vocal convergence. We consider this convergence a result of sensory–motor integration and suggest this to be an implicit form of vocal learning shared with humans, in contrast to the goal-directed and intentional explicit form of vocal learning unique to human speech acquisition.     

With a little help from my friends: physiological integration facilitates invasion of wetland grass Elymus athericus into flooded soils

Tidal wetlands worldwide are undergoing rapid invasions by tall-growing clonal grasses. Prominent examples are invasions by species of the genera Spartina, Phragmites and Elymus. The responsible physiological and ecological drivers of these invasions are poorly understood. Physiological integration (PI) is a key trait of clonal plants, which enables the exchange of resources among ramets. We investigated PI in Elymus athericus, which has been rapidly spreading from high-marsh into low-marsh environments of European salt marshes during the last decades. We applied a nitrogen stable-isotope approach to trace nutrient translocation between ramets in a factorial mesocosm experiment. The experiment was set up to mimic an invasion pattern commonly found in tidal wetlands, i.e. from high-elevated and rarely flooded into low-elevated and frequently flooded microenvironments. We tested for intraspecific variability in PI by including two genotypes of Elymus that naturally occur at different elevations within the tidal frame, a high-marsh (HM) and a low-marsh (LM) genotype. PI strongly increased offspring ramet aboveground and belowground biomass by 62 and 81%, respectively. Offspring ramets under drained conditions had 95% greater belowground biomass than those under flooded conditions. LM genotype offspring ramets produced 27% more aboveground biomass than HM genotypes. Offspring ramets were clearly more enriched in ¹⁵N under flooded versus drained conditions; however, this positive effect of flooding on δ¹⁵N was only significant in the LM genotype. Our findings demonstrate the importance of PI for the growth of Elymus offspring ramets and thereby for the species' capacity for fast vegetative spread. We show that offspring ramets under stressful flooded conditions are more dependent on nutrient supply from parent ramets than those under drained conditions. Our data furthermore suggest a higher degree of adaptation to flooding via PI in the LM versus HM genotype. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of assessing PI and intraspecific trait variability to understand invasion processes within ecosystems.     

Seasonal time constraints shape life history,physiology and behaviour independently,and decouple a behavioural syndrome in a damselfly

The integration of traits into ‘syndromes' has been suggested as a useful framework to advance insights in trait responses to environmental stressors. Yet, how stressors shape the consistency (‘repeatability') of traits and their covariation at the individual level remains debated. We studied how seasonal time constraints shape trait repeatability and integration of life-history, behavioural and physiological traits along a fast–slow continuum, using the ‘pace-of-life syndrome' as a framework. We manipulated the photoperiod during the larval development of the damselfly Ischnura elegans, generating a time-relaxed early, a control, and a time-constrained late group. The photoperiod treatment did not seem to affect the voltinism of the larvae. As predicted, late-period larvae accelerated development and growth, yet this acceleration was no longer detectable for growth and metabolic rate during the final instar, possibly due to costs of the initial life-history acceleration. This warrants caution when inferring a species' pace-of-life based on a specific developmental stage. The late-period larvae were as predicted more active (only during the later stages of the final instar) and bolder than the control larvae, but not different from the early-period larvae. Most studies on time constraints only compared late and control animals, thereby potentially wrongly concluding adaptive responses to time constraints. Activity, boldness and body mass were repeatable, while growth and metabolic rates were not. Notably, repeatabilities did not change under time constraints. There was no support for an overall trait integration in a pace-of-life syndrome, yet activity and boldness covaried positively as expected. Importantly, this ‘behavioural syndrome' was decoupled in the late-period larvae, which might be adaptive to enhance energy acquisition to fuel the accelerated development rate. Our results suggest that besides the predicted plastic acceleration of life-history, plastic changes in behavioural trait integration may also be an important but overlooked adaptive aspect of responding to time constraints.     

自然保护地整合优化的景观格局变化分析——以贵州省思南县为例

自然保护地整合优化是我国重构自然保护地体系、衔接三条控制线划定、完善国土空间规划的重要举措。利用自然保护地整合优化成果、国土三调数据,综合运用GIS空间分析、景观格局指数和保护地边界分析法,对贵州思南县自然保护地整合优化各阶段景观格局的变化特征及其合理性进行了分析。结果表明：（1）整合优化后土地利用/覆盖组成变化显著,耕地、建设用地显著减少,优势景观林地面积增加。（2）整合优化后,思南县自然保护地景观异质性降低、优势度增强、破碎度增加。（3）各斑块类型的复杂性和异质性降低,林地优势度增强,但耕地、园地的破碎度增加,整合优化未造成优势景观的破碎化。（4）整合优化后,自然保护地边界复杂度显著提高,自然保护区、地质公园变化最明显,将给自然保护地勘界定桩增加难度。（5）耕地、建设用地、林地变化是思南县自然保护地景观格局变化的主要因素,耕地、建设用地主要作为矛盾调出自然保护地,而林地则主要作为破碎化斑块伴随矛盾一并调出。本研究自然保护地整合优化方案围绕矛盾和问题开展调整,所反映的景观格局变化,与整合优化调整规则限定的内容相适应,整合优化方案总体可行、合理。由于存在的破碎化、边界复杂化、区域分离等问题,在整合优化过程中应进一步优化调整规则,统一数据精度,尽量避免此类问题的产生。景观格局指数变化所反馈的信息可为自然保护地整合优化的科学开展及其成果的合理性评价提供一定参考,引入成果评估机制对自然保护地整合优化工作具有重要意义。     

酿酒酵母基因编辑技术研究进展

酿酒酵母Saccharomyces cerevisiae是代谢工程中最重要的宿主之一,先进的基因编辑技术已经被广泛应用于酿酒酵母细胞工厂的设计和构建。随着基因编辑技术的飞速发展,早期基于重组酶和同源重组的基因编辑技术逐渐被新型基因编辑系统所替代。文中对酿酒酵母基因编辑技术的原理和应用进行了总结,包括经典的酿酒酵母基因编辑技术,基于核酸内切酶的MegNs、ZFNs和TALENs等基因组编辑系统,最后介绍和讨论了基于CRISPR/Cas系统、异源代谢途径多拷贝整合和基因组规模基因编辑的最新研究进展,并对酿酒酵母基因编辑技术的应用前景和发展方向进行了展望。