影响动物模型MBLUP评定准确性的主要因素

标记辅助最佳线性无偏预测（marker-assisted best linear unbiased prediction,MBLUP）是对动物实施标记辅助选择（marker-assisted selection,MAS）的一种重要方法。通过计算机随机模拟研究了所选性状的遗传力、QTL方差和相邻两个标记间图距3个因素对动物模型MBLUP评定准确性的影响。结果表明,性状的遗传力越高、QTL方差和相邻两个标记间图距越小时,动物模型MBLUP评定的准确性越高;相反,当性状的遗传力较低、QTL方差和相邻两个标记间图距较大时,动物模型MBLUP评定的准确性则较低。     

The male postabdomen and reproductive system of Bibio marci Linnaeus, 1758 (Hexapoda: Diptera: Bibionidae)

The male postabdomen and the internal parts of the male genital system of Bibio marci (Bibionomorpha) were examined and reconstructed 3‐dimensionally. Several features differ from the presumptive dipteran groundplan. The bases of the gonopods are fused with each other and with tergite IX. The penis is not tube‐shaped and only sclerotized on the ventral side. The vasa deferentia are S‐shaped, and two pairs of accessory glands are present. In contrast to these characteristics, the arrangement of the internal parts is probably close to the ancestral condition. With its specific shape, the penis is well suited for the transfer of a spermatophore. The dorsal sclerite of the copulatory organ probably represents the medially fused parameres. A cladistic analysis of 27 characters of the postabdomen yielded two most parsimonious trees, with the strict consensus as follows: Nannochoristidae (outgroup) + (Culicidae [Culicomorpha] + ((Nymphomyiidae + (Tipulidae + Trichoceridae)) + (Tabanidae [Brachycera] + (Bibionidae, Anisopodidae, Axymyiidae [Bibionomorpha])))). Potential synapomorphies of Bibionomorpha (including Axymyiidae) and Brachycera are the fusion of sternum IX with the gonocoxites, the fusion of the parameres forming the dorsal sclerite and the presence of an entire series of postabdominal muscles (M4, M20, M23, M26, M27, M31, M35 and M37). The results of the analysis are preliminary as it is based on a single‐character system with a limited taxon sampling. However, the main result – a clade Bibionomorpha + Brachycera – is fully compatible with current hypotheses on dipteran phylogeny.     

Public Attitude Formation Regarding Animal Research

ABSTRACT

A number of attitudinal studies have examined support for the use of animals in research. However, on the whole they have come to rather different conclusions. In our research, which is based on focus group discussions held in Denmark, we attempted to explain this variation by examining the way the relevant attitudes are formed. Although our participants had only limited knowledge of, and interest in, animal use in research, they were perfectly capable of developing reasoned attitudes to it by drawing on evaluative considerations concerning animal use in general. Furthermore, the evaluation of animal research involves a distinct experience of value conflict—between the possible human benefits, on one hand, and a concern for costs to the animal, on the other. Different ways of dealing with this conflict gives rise to different attitudinal stances on animal research: Disapprovers, Reserved, and Approvers. These stances, and their supporting lines of argument, are rather robust, as they are grounded in stable underlying values. However, at the same time they leave room for variable evaluations of different types of animal experiment. This facilitates shifts between disapproval and approval, especially for the Reserved who experience ambivalence. Future quantitative analyses should take into consideration that attitudes in the field of animal experimentation can be viewed (and measured) both at an underlying value-based level and at a context-specific level.     

Design and comparison of gene-pyramiding schemes in animals

Marker-assisted gene pyramiding provides a promising way to develop new animal breeds or lines, in which genes responsible for certain favorable characters identified in different breeds or lines are incorporated. In consideration of features of animal populations, we proposed five schemes for pyramiding three genes, denoted Scheme A-E, and five schemes for pyramiding four genes, denoted Scheme F-J. These schemes are representative of the possible alternatives. We also provided an algorithm to compute the population sizes needed in each generation. We compared these schemes with respect to the total population size and the number of generations required under different situations. The results show that there is no scheme that is optimal in all cases. Among the schemes for pyramiding three genes from three lines (L1, L2 and L3), Scheme D (a three-way cross between the three lines are first performed, followed by a backcross to L1 and a subsequent intercross to obtain the desired genotype) has a significant advantage over the other schemes when the recombination rate between adjacent genes ranges from 0.1 to 0.4, while Scheme A (a two-way cross between L1 and L2 and a subsequent intercross are performed, followed by a cross with L3 and a subsequent intercross to obtain the desired genotype) is optimal when recombination rate is 0.5. Among schemes for pyramiding four genes from four lines (L1, L2, L3 and L4), Scheme I (seperately, a two-way cross between L1 and L2 (L3 and L4) followed by a backcross to L1 (L3) and a subsequent intercross are performed, then the offspring from the two sides are crossed and followed by a backcross to L1 and a subsequent intercross to obtain the desired genotype) is optimal when the recombination rate ranges from 0.1 to 0.4, while Scheme F (cross and subsequent intercross between the four lines are performed successively) is the optimal when the recombination rate is 0.5. We also disscuss how the animals' reproductive capacity, the probabilities of obtaining the desired genotypes and genetic distance between adjacent genes would affect the design of an optimal scheme.     

模式动物斑马鱼在神经系统疾病研究中的应用

近年来,斑马鱼作为一种新型模式动物被广泛地应用于发育学、遗传学、行为学和分子生物学等研究领域。其具有繁殖能力强、发育迅速且同步、体外受精和幼体透明等生物学和形态学特点,经广泛培养和筛选突变品种,目前斑马鱼品系资源丰富。与其他非脊椎模式动物相比,它与人类有更高的同源性。本文主要介绍斑马鱼作为一种理想的模式动物,结合其特殊的行为学检测手段和分子生物学特点,在研究神经系统疾病的发病机制、构建疾病模型和相应药物筛选等方面的应用。     

Non-invasive Parenchymal,Vascular and Metabolic High-frequency Ultrasound and Photoacoustic Rat Deep Brain Imaging

Photoacoustics and high frequency ultrasound stands out as powerful tools for neurobiological applications enabling high-resolution imaging on the central nervous system of small animals. However, transdermal and transcranial neuroimaging is frequently affected by low sensitivity, image aberrations and loss of space resolution, requiring scalp or even skull removal before imaging. To overcome this challenge, a new protocol is presented to gain significant insights in brain hemodynamics by photoacoustic and high-frequency ultrasounds imaging with the animal skin and skull intact. The procedure relies on the passage of ultrasound (US) waves and laser directly through the fissures that are naturally present on the animal cranium. By juxtaposing the imaging transducer device exactly in correspondence to these selected areas where the skull has a reduced thickness or is totally absent, one can acquire high quality deep images and explore internal brain regions that are usually difficult to anatomically or functionally describe without an invasive approach. By applying this experimental procedure, significant data can be collected in both sonic and optoacoustic modalities, enabling to image the parenchymal and the vascular anatomy far below the head surface. Deep brain features such as parenchymal convolutions and fissures separating the lobes were clearly visible. Moreover, the configuration of large and small blood vessels was imaged at several millimeters of depth, and precise information were collected about blood fluxes, vascular stream velocities and the hemoglobin chemical state. This repertoire of data could be crucial in several research contests, ranging from brain vascular disease studies to experimental techniques involving the systemic administration of exogenous chemicals or other objects endowed with imaging contrast enhancement properties. In conclusion, thanks to the presented protocol, the US and PA techniques become an attractive noninvasive performance-competitive means for cortical and internal brain imaging, retaining a significant potential in many neurologic fields.     

Beyond trophic morphology: stable isotopes reveal ubiquitous versatility in marine turtle trophic ecology

The idea that interspecific variation in trophic morphology among closely related species effectively permits resource partitioning has driven research on ecological radiation since Darwin first described variation in beak morphology among Geospiza. Marine turtles comprise an ecological radiation in which interspecific differences in trophic morphology have similarly been implicated as a pathway to ecopartition the marine realm, in both extant and extinct species. Because marine turtles are charismatic flagship species of conservation concern, their trophic ecology has been studied intensively using stable isotope analyses to gain insights into habitat use and diet, principally to inform conservation management. This legion of studies provides an unparalleled opportunity to examine ecological partitioning across numerous hierarchical levels that heretofore has not been applied to any other ecological radiation. Our contribution aims to provide a quantitative analysis of interspecific variation and a comprehensive review of intraspecific variation in trophic ecology across different hierarchical levels marshalling insights about realised trophic ecology derived from stable isotopes. We reviewed 113 stable isotope studies, mostly involving single species, and conducted a meta‐analysis of data from adults to elucidate differences in trophic ecology among species. Our study reveals a more intricate hierarchy of ecopartitioning by marine turtles than previously recognised based on trophic morphology and dietary analyses. We found strong statistical support for interspecific partitioning, as well as a continuum of intraspecific trophic sub‐specialisation in most species across several hierarchical levels. This ubiquity of trophic specialisation across many hierarchical levels exposes a far more complex view of trophic ecology and resource‐axis exploitation than suggested by species diversity alone. Not only do species segregate along many widely understood axes such as body size, macrohabitat, and trophic morphology but the general pattern revealed by isotopic studies is one of microhabitat segregation and variation in foraging behaviour within species, within populations, and among individuals. These findings are highly relevant to conservation management because they imply ecological non‐exchangeability, which introduces a new dimension beyond that of genetic stocks which drives current conservation planning. Perhaps the most remarkable finding from our data synthesis is that four of six marine turtle species forage across several trophic levels. This pattern is unlike that seen in other large marine predators, which forage at a single trophic level according to stable isotopes. This finding affirms suggestions that marine turtles are robust sentinels of ocean health and likely stabilise marine food webs. This insight has broader significance for studies of marine food webs and trophic ecology of large marine predators. Beyond insights concerning marine turtle ecology and conservation, our findings also have broader implications for the study of ecological radiations. Particularly, the unrecognised complexity of ecopartitioning beyond that predicted by trophic morphology suggests that this dominant approach in adaptive radiation research likely underestimates the degree of resource overlap and that interspecific disparities in trophic morphology may often over‐predict the degree of realised ecopartitioning. Hence, our findings suggest that stable isotopes can profitably be applied to study other ecological radiations and may reveal trophic variation beyond that reflected by trophic morphology.     

2016年动物胃肠道微生物组研究十大亮点成果

动物胃肠道微生物对生产性能提高具有重要的作用,因此营养、微生物组与生产表型的互作研究已经成为国际研究热点。综述了2016年动物胃肠道微生物组学研究取得的十项重要成果,这些成果通过组学方法,研究了瘤胃纤维分解菌和尿素分解菌的功能基因多样性,揭示了微生物群落与日粮营养素、宿主基因型、环境的互作关系,阐明了反刍动物生产表型相关的瘤胃微生物种类和功能;首次构建猪肠道微生物组参考基因集,解析猪全肠道黏膜微生物组成,阐明了猪增重相关肠道微生物种类。这十大亮点成果将为国内动物营养学家开展动物胃肠道微生物组学研究提供参考。     

cis‐Regulatory analysis for later phase of anterior neuroectoderm‐specific foxQ2 expression in sea urchin embryos

The specification of anterior neuroectoderm is controlled by a highly conserved molecular mechanism in bilaterians. A forkhead family gene, foxQ2, is known to be one of the pivotal regulators, which is zygotically expressed in this region during embryogenesis of a broad range of bilaterians. However, what controls the expression of this essential factor has remained unclear to date. To reveal the regulatory mechanism of foxQ2, we performed cis‐regulatory analysis of two foxQ2 genes, foxQ2a and foxQ2b, in a sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. In sea urchin embryos, foxQ2 is initially expressed in the entire animal hemisphere and subsequently shows narrower expression restricted to the anterior pole region. In this study, as a first step to understand the foxQ2 regulation, we focused on the later restricted expression and analyzed the upstream cis‐regulatory sequences of foxQ2a and foxQ2b by using the constructs fused to short half‐life green fluorescent protein. Based on deletion and mutation analyses of both foxQ2, we identified each of the five regulatory sequences, which were 4–9 bp long. Neither of the regulatory sequences contains any motifs for ectopic activation or spatial repression, suggesting that later mRNA localization is regulated in situ. We also suggest that the three amino acid loop extension‐class homeobox gene Meis is involved in the maintenance of foxQ2b, the expression of which is dominant during embryogenesis.