Egg and larval load assessment and its influence on oviposition behaviour of the leaf beetle Galerucella nymphaeae

The oviposition behaviour of the water-lily beetle Galerucella nymphaeae was examined. This species is a specialist herbivore on the floating leaves of nymphaeids Nymphaeaceae and especially on the yellow water-lily, Nuphar lutea. Females lay their eggs in clutches on the leaves, and after hatching, the larvae feed on the leaves. The quality of the leaves decreases quickly after the larvae hatch, and eventually the leaves will sink below the water surface, whereupon the eggs, 1st-instar larvae and pupae are killed by drowning. The influence of conspecific eggs, larvae and feeding tracks on the oviposition preferences of the beetles was tested. Females were allowed to choose between fresh leaves and leaves with conspecific eggs and larvae as well as between leaves with larvae and leaves with feeding tracks but no larvae. An attempt was also made to determine whether eggs and larvae affect the oviposition rate of females when they are not given the opportunity to oviposit on untouched leaves. The results indicate that females tended to avoid leaves with conspecific larvae or to exhibit a decreased oviposition rate on such leaves. Females also avoided conspecific eggs, although the oviposition rate was not influenced by the presence of conspecific eggs. When females were allowed to choose between leaves with larvae and leaves with feeding tracks, possible discrimination against leaves with larvae just fails to reach the 5% level.     

藻－菌生态系统代谢功能的生态学研究

在室内模拟条件下,研究了一些生态因子对藻－菌（Ａ＋Ｂ）生态系统代谢有机碳（Ｃ６Ｈ１２Ｏ６）、ＮＨ３－Ｎ和无机磷（ＩＰ）的影响．研究结果表明,当藻－菌生态系统中藻（Ａ）或菌（Ｂ）的起始数量一定时,其代谢Ｃ６Ｈ１２Ｏ６的速率,随与之组合的Ｂ或Ａ的起始数量增加（数量比则相应降低）而增加．在光照和黑暗条件下,Ａ＋Ｂ系统代谢上述３种营养物质的速率均有一定的差异．黑暗下Ｃ６Ｈ１２Ｏ６的平均代谢速率较光照下高１２．３％（Ｐ＜０．０５）,ＩＰ和ＮＨ３－Ｎ的平均代谢速率则分别较光照下低１４．４％（Ｐ＜０．０５）和１６．２％（Ｐ＜０．００１）．在Ａ＋Ｂ系统和Ａ、Ｂ单培养物中,３种营养物质的代谢速率均随有机负荷量增加而增加,而且Ａ＋Ｂ系统的代谢速率分别高于单培养的Ａ和Ｂ,其中ＮＨ３－Ｎ代谢尤为显著．文章还就生态系统结构与功能的关系问题进行了讨论．     

Normalization of electromyogram in the neck-shoulder region

Linear and curvilinear electromyogram (EMG) normalization methods were compared among ten healthy men during a simulated work cycle demanding attention and static holding of the arm (Solitaire test). Maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) and gradually increasing contractions up to 70% of MVC were used for normalization in different arm postures. The test contractions studied included inward and outward rotations, abduction, shoulder elevation, and flexion in different arm positions. The shoulder load moment was calculated for the flexion tests using a simple two-dimensional model. The effect of arm posture on the EMG versus shoulder load moment relationship was studied on the following muscles: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, trapezius (three parts), deltoid (two parts) and pectoralis major. All muscles participated in the MVC tests performed, and its was not possible to suggest a single recommended test for each muscle. Differences in normalized EMG median values ranging up to 30% of MVC were found between linear and curvilinear normalization methods. Short-term repeatability of normalization based on a contraction with gradually increasing force was good. Arm posture affected the relationships between shoulder load moment and EMG activity of all muscles studied. Arm posture did not, however, have a significant effect on the estimated amplitude probability distribution functions during the simulated work task. Therefore, at least for the tasks studied, the principle of normalizing in the middle position of the range of movement was deemed acceptable.     

Shoulder muscle load and muscle fatigue among industrial sewing-machine operators

Physiological responses to physical work were assessed for 29 female industrial sewing-machine operators during an 8-h working day under ordinary working conditions. During sewing-machine work, the average (left and right) static load in the trapezius muscle was 9% of the maximal electromyogram (EMG) amplitude (% EMG_max), while the average mean load was 15% EMG_max, and the average peak load was 23% EMG_max. The static load level was unrelated to the muscle strength of the sewing-machine operators, which for the group as a whole was within the normal range. The load levels remained unchanged during the working day, while changes in the EMG mean power frequency and zero crossing frequency rate occurred, both indicating the development of muscle fatigue in left and right trapezius muscle during the working day. In line with this, the rating of perceived exertion in the shoulder and neck region increased during. the working day. Dividing the group of sewing-machine operators into two groups, those with the highest frequency and those with the lowest frequency of shoulder/neck troubles showed that the former group had significantly lower muscle strength, despite the fact that no differences in the surface EMG during sewing were found between the two groups. It was concluded that industrial sewing-machine work involves a pattern of shoulder muscle activity which induces fatiguing processes in the shoulder and neck regions. Furthermore, since the static shoulder muscle load was independent of muscle strength, factors other than working posture may be of significance for the static shoulder muscle load.     

OVULE PACKAGING IN STOCHASTIC POLLINATION AND FERTILIZATION ENVIRONMENTS

The modular morphology of plants has important consequences for reproductive strategies. Ovules are packaged in discrete structures (flowers) that usually vary stochastically in pollen capture and ovule fertilization, because of the vagaries of pollen transfer by external agents. Different ovule packaging schemes may use limited reproductive resources more or less effectively, so that some number of ovules per flower may be optimal, given the prevailing probabilities of ovule fertilization. I derive a phenotypic model for ovule number per flower that maximizes the expected total ovule fertilizations on a plant when pollination and fertilization vary randomly among individual flowers. This model predicts that, except for small or inexpensive flowers, ovules should be “oversupplied” relative to the mean receipt of pollen tubes, so that pollen limitation of seed set should be common. Published data are congruent with this prediction. Additional hypotheses on the relation of ovule packaging to floral cost, plant size, and variance in pollen receipt are suggested by the model, but few data exist to evaluate these hypotheses.     

Zinc in water and sediments of two finnish lakes

The distribution of zinc in Lake Vanajavesi and Lake Mallasvesi, South Finland, was determined on the basis of water and sediment studies. Lake Vanajavesi is one of the most polluted of large inland lakes, in Finland. The zinc load comes mainly from industrial sources. Lake Mallasvesi, situated near Vanajavesi, is in almost natural condition. The water samples were taken by a Ruttner sampler. In collecting sediment samples, a freezing technique was used. The results of zinc analyses indicate that, during several winters, zinc has spread with waste water to different parts of L. Vanaja against the main course of flow. A close correlation between sedimentation of zinc and waste discharge from a textile factory was found in the present study.     

Biosystematic investigations on the lady fern(Athyrium filix-femina)

In EuropeAthyrium filix-femina has a constant chromosome number (2n = 80) and is sexual. The normal type of reproduction is intergametophytic crossing. In the gametophyte phase there is a hormone system which induces dark germination of spores and antheridium formation. Sporophytes originating from single prothalli show that a genetic load is present in all population examined. It appears not to be a simple allelic load but a complicated balanced system. Morphological variability can be interpreted as the expression of the genetic heterogeneity of populations. There are no crossing barriers, not even between insular populations hundreds of kilometers apart.     

Lethal mutagenesis and evolutionary epidemiology

The lethal mutagenesis hypothesis states that within-host populations of pathogens can be driven to extinction when the load of deleterious mutations is artificially increased with a mutagen, and becomes too high for the population to be maintained. Although chemical mutagens have been shown to lead to important reductions in viral titres for a wide variety of RNA viruses, the theoretical underpinnings of this process are still not clearly established. A few recent models sought to describe lethal mutagenesis but they often relied on restrictive assumptions. We extend this earlier work in two novel directions. First, we derive the dynamics of the genetic load in a multivariate Gaussian fitness landscape akin to classical quantitative genetics models. This fitness landscape yields a continuous distribution of mutation effects on fitness, ranging from deleterious to beneficial (i.e. compensatory) mutations. We also include an additional class of lethal mutations. Second, we couple this evolutionary model with an epidemiological model accounting for the within-host dynamics of the pathogen. We derive the epidemiological and evolutionary equilibrium of the system. At this equilibrium, the density of the pathogen is expected to decrease linearly with the genomic mutation rate U. We also provide a simple expression for the critical mutation rate leading to extinction. Stochastic simulations show that these predictions are accurate for a broad range of parameter values. As they depend on a small set of measurable epidemiological and evolutionary parameters, we used available information on several viruses to make quantitative and testable predictions on critical mutation rates. In the light of this model, we discuss the feasibility of lethal mutagenesis as an efficient therapeutic strategy.     

Egg maturation dynamics of the parasitoid Microplitis rufiventris: starvation speeds maturation in early life

The number of mature eggs carried by a female parasitoid at any given moment (egg load) is a fitness‐related parameter affecting reproductive potential and impacting upon host population dynamics. Microplitis rufiventris Kokujev (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a solitary koinobiont endoparasitoid wasp of several noctuid pests, including Spodoptera littoralis. The number of mature eggs carried by females at emergence is approximately 50. The rate of egg maturation is strongly affected both by feeding status and access to host larvae. In early adult life, egg maturation rates are lower for 6–72 h in fed wasps compared with food‐deprived wasps. When given access to hosts, honey‐fed wasps live for approximately 9 days with high lifetime fecundity (226 eggs). By contrast to early adult life, the total realized fecundity is positively affected by feeding status, where water‐fed and starved females have 140 and 107 eggs, respectively. Egg resorption is most pronounced in the later life of females. The results suggest, in addition to confirming the effect of honey‐feeding on total fecundity, that fecundity of starved wasps includes rapid egg maturation early in life, which potentially could improve the performance of the parasitoid as a biological control agent.     

Genotype by environment interaction in response to cold stress in a composite beef cattle breed

Extreme weather conditions such as cold stress influence the productivity and survivability of beef cattle raised on pasture. The objective of this study was to identify and evaluate the extent of the impact of genotype by environment interaction due to cold stress on birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW) in a composite beef cattle population. The effect of cold stress was modelled as the accumulation of total cold load (TCL) calculated using the Comprehensive Climate Index units, considering three TCL classes defined based on temperature: less than −5°C (TCL5), −15°C (TCL15) and −25°C (TCL25). A total of 4221 and 4217 records for BW and WW, respectively, were used from a composite beef cattle population (50% Red Angus, 25% Charolais and 25% Tarentaise) between 2002 and 2015. For both BW and WW, a univariate model (ignoring cold stress) and a reaction norm model were implemented. As cold load increased, the direct heritability slightly increased in both BW and WW for TCL5 class; however, this heritability remained consistent across the cold load of TCL25 class. In contrast, the maternal heritability of BW was constant with cold load increase in all TCL classes, although a slight increase of maternal heritability was observed for TCL5 and TCL15. The direct and maternal genetic correlation for BW and maternal genetic correlation for WW across different cold loads between all TCL classes were high (r > 0.99), whereas the lowest direct genetic correlations observed for WW were 0.88 for TCL5 and 0.85 for TCL15. The Spearman rank correlation between the estimated breeding value of top bulls (n = 79) using univariate and reaction norm models across TCL classes showed some re-ranking in direct and maternal effects for both BW and WW particularly for TCL5 and TCL15. In general, cold stress did not have a big impact on direct and maternal genetic effects of BW and WW.