Impaired flight ability--a cost of reproduction in female blue tits

When prey are attacked by predators, escape ability has an obvious influence on the probability of survival. Laboratory studieshave suggested that flight performance of female birds mightbe affected by egg production. This is the first study of changesin take-off ability, and thus potentially in predation risk,during reproduction in wild birds. We trapped individual maleand female blue tits repeatedly during the breeding season.Females were 14% heavier and flew 20% slower (probably as aconsequence of a lower ratio of flight muscle to body mass)during the egg-laying period than after the eggs had hatched.However, flight muscle size did not change to compensate for changes in body mass over this period. In contrast, males showedno changes in either body mass, muscle size, or flight abilityover the same period. Furthermore, the impairment of flightin females increased with the proportion of the clutch thathad been laid, an effect that was independent of body mass and muscle size. This indicates that egg production causes additional physiological changes in the female body that produce impairedlocomotor performance. We suggest that courtship feeding offemale blue tits by their mates might reduce predation riskduring the period when female take-off ability is impairedby reducing the time females have to spend foraging and thusreducing the time they are exposed to increased predation.     

钾细菌JF88菌株解钾作用及应用研究

采用比浊法测定JF88菌株的解钾能力,其结果为接菌处理水溶性钾比不接菌增加30．5％,可作为钾细菌肥料的生产菌种,对农业环保具有一定的理论和实践意义。     

The Analysis of Partial Diallel Crosses

The analysis of offsprings from the partial diallel crosses is presented. In considered type of crossing, p parental forms into H separate groups are devided. Single crosses among parental forms, from separate groups only, are performed. The analysis for experiments laid out in efficiency balanced block designs is given.     

Network Structure and Forces Involved in Perilla Globulin Gelation: Comparison with Sesame Globulin

Scanning electron micrographs show that perilla globulin gel had a finer network structure than sesame α-globulin gel. The effects of various reagents on the gel formation and solubility of perilla and sesame gels were compared. The contribution of disulfide bonds to the formation and stability of perilla gel was greater than to sesame gel, despite having the same subunit structure.     

Resource utilization of wood decomposers: mycelium nuclear phases and host tree species affect wood decomposition by Dacrymycetes

Throughout evolution, wood-decaying fungi have adapted to different woody plants, resulting in wide species diversity. Dacrymycetes, which are brown-rot fungi and include host-recurrent species, are useful for studying fungal adaptation to host trees. When estimating the decay abilities of basidiomycetes, the nuclear phases of the mycelium should be considered, since dikaryons are thought to be more efficient wood-decayers than monokaryons; however, the difference in their physiological performances remains largely untested. In this study, we verified the decay capabilities of dikaryotic and monokaryotic mycelia and tested the hypothesis that the host tree-recurrence of wood-decaying fungi results from their resource utilization in each host wood. The mass loss caused by eight dacrymycetous species from wood of four tree species was investigated in pure cultures. The decomposition ability of dikaryons was greater than that of monokaryons in these experiments. Dikaryotization is expected to raise certain physiological parameters, such as the quantity and variety of wood-decomposing enzymes, thus enhancing the decomposition rate of wood decomposers. The high decomposition ability of dikaryons suggests their superiority over monokaryons to survive under natural conditions. All dacrymycetous strains caused high mass loss from Pinus wood, the main host tree of Dacrymycetes. However, most of the individual tested strains did not cause the greatest mass loss from the wood of their original host group. This result suggested that host-recurrence can be partly explained by resource utilization, but it is likely that other micro-organisms and abiotic factors also affect host-recurrence in the field environment.     

The influence of relative humidity on the swelling of pollen grains in vitro

The volume of hydrated pollen grains of Petunia hybrida L. during swelling in germination medium increased three times. The volume of desiccated pollen grains increased only two times after transfer to the same medium. This difference in swelling ability is attributed to different rigidities of the pollen grain wall,ccaused by the different hydration states. The relationship between pollen grain swelling and germination metabolism with regard to relative humidity is discussed.Abbreviation RH relative humidity     

Correlation between two components of parental investment: nest defence intensity and nestling provisioning effort of willow tits

Nest defence intensity and nestling provisioning effort of female willow tits (Parus montanus) were significantly correlated at the end of nestling period: well-fed young were defended most intensely. Increased effort was rewarded, since broods with the highest female per-offspring provisioning rates were the most likely to produce local recruits. This suggests that the feeding ability is an important cue for parental investment decisions, at least in a species like the willow tit which has adopted the clutch adjustment strategy. Thus, the most valuable broods would not necessarily be the largest ones, but the ones in which the original number of young could be fed most adequately. However, no associations were found between the level of parental effort and offspring weight, size or condition, nor did the broods producing recruits differ from other broods in timing of breeding or number and size of offspring. The female behaviour may suggest that they invest the most time, energy and risk in the young whose chances of joining the winter flock are the best. The first well-fed young also gain an advantage of prior residency in joining the flock. The first to join normally obtain higher social status, and hence better winter survival, than latecomers. The corresponding patterns in male parental investment behaviour were weak or absent, which suggested that the male effort was affected by the female behaviour. Males seemed to invest in nestling provisioning in such a way as to supplement the female effort. During nest defence action males also seemed to invest in protection of females against predation.     

NaCl胁迫对黄花菜生长和生理特性的影响

为探明黄花菜的耐盐性及其生理机制,该试验以大同黄花菜为材料,采用砂培法,以正常营养液为对照（CK）,用不同浓度（50、100、150、200、250 mmol·L^-1）NaCl溶液浇灌大同黄花菜,分别于处理后5、10、15、20、25 d测定生长指标和生理指标,以明确NaCl胁迫对大同黄花菜生长、膜脂过氧化以及有机渗透调节物质含量的影响。结果表明：（1）随NaCl浓度提高,黄花菜根长和根系鲜质量先增大后减小,其他生长指标则逐渐显著降低,同时地上部含水量变化较小,根系含水量明显增加。（2）黄花菜叶片叶绿素a、叶绿素b和类胡萝卜素含量随NaCl浓度提高均明显降低。（3）随NaCl浓度提高,黄花菜叶片丙二醛含量和POD活性逐渐显著增加;抗坏血酸含量在胁迫后20 d明显增加,25 d时呈先增加后降低的变化趋势,并在150 mmol·L^-1 NaCl胁迫下达到最大值;SOD活性在处理后10 d先增加后降低,在200 mmol·L^-1 NaCl处理下达到最大值,15 d后随NaCl浓度提高而显著增加。（4）随NaCl浓度提高,叶片脯氨酸含量逐渐显著增加,可溶性糖含量明显降低,可溶性蛋白含量在短期内逐渐增加,在胁迫15 d后呈先增加后降低的变化趋势,在150 mmol·L^-1 NaCl下达到最大值。研究发现,NaCl胁迫对黄花菜叶片光合色素合成的抑制和过氧化伤害程度均随浓度增加而增大;植株自身抗氧化能力和渗透调节能力在盐胁迫下明显提高,一定程度上缓解了盐胁迫对其植株的伤害,但仍不足以消除胁迫带来的不利影响,使得黄花菜植株生长受到显著抑制;黄花菜对NaCl胁迫的耐性较强,植株在250 mmol·L^-1高盐胁迫下仍能存活。