植物地上部信息化合物在植物一害虫一天敌关系中的生态学功能及在害虫治理中的应用前景

本文综述了近年来有关地上部植物信息化合物在植物一害虫一天敌三营养级关系中的信息联系,分析地上部植物信息化合物在植物一害虫、植物一天敌、植物个体内和个体间信号传递的生态学功能,阐明地上部植物信息化合物在害虫治理中的应用潜力,包括害虫诱捕和诱杀、昆虫种群监测、植物拒避剂、干扰害虫对寄主搜索、“推一拉”策略和植物内源激发子的应用等,讨论了地上部植物信息化合物与其他控害手段的协同作用,以及在生产实践中可能存在的相关问题,旨在为地上部植物信息化合物在害虫持续治理中的应用提供科学指导。     

基因打靶技术及其应用前景

基因打靶是近年来发展起来的对细胞基因组中的某一基因进行定点操作的生物技术。综述了基因打靶的筛选系统,影响基因打靶的几个主要因素及其解决方法,总结了基因打靶在各个学科领域中的应用。     

Intrasexual selection and group spawning in quacking frogs (Crinia georgiana)

In the Australian frog Crinia georgiana, matings frequentlyinvolve a single female and multiple males (group spawning).The aim of the present study was to demonstrate a connectionbetween variation in the intensity of intrasexual competition,measured by using male density and operational sex ratio (OSR),and the incidence of group spawning. Over a 3-month breedingperiod, male density and OSR varied substantially and were significantlyinfluenced by climatic conditions. The frequency of agonisticinteractions between males was higher in denser choruses. Fightswere typically over the possession of sites used to broadcastadvertisement calls and were almost always won by larger males.At higher densities, males allocated significantly less timeto calling to attract females and spent more time as nonmovingsatellites or roaming through an aggregation (searching). However,large males always called more than did small males. The numberof males involved in a spawning correlated positively with variationin both male density and OSR. Observation of group spawningsrevealed that they generally arose when a satellite male joineda mating pair after a female chose to mate with a calling maleor when a female was seized by a searching male and the pairwas joined by other searching males. These findings, coupledwith past research documenting costs but no benefits of multiplepaternity to females, suggest that competitively inferior malesforce group spawns.     

稻属多倍体的研究历史及存在问题

稻属Oryza隶属于禾本科Poaceae稻亚科Oryzoideae稻族Oryzeae, 包括20多个种, 其中近1/2的种类为异源多倍体植物。这些多倍体不但数量多而且涉及BC、CD、HJ和HK等多种染色体组构成, 广泛分布于热带亚洲、非洲、大洋洲和拉丁美洲。由于具有重要的经济和理论研究价值, 稻属植物一直在植物学研究中备受瞩目。相应地, 稻属多倍体植物的研究也积累了丰富的资料。本文通过回顾以往对稻属植物的研究历史, 特别关注有关多倍体的研究, 结合我们最近的研究总结了稻属多倍体分类和系统发育关系研究的最新进展, 同时对稻属多倍体研究中存在的问题及未来研究方向进行了讨论。     

Global variation in diversification rates of flowering plants: energy vs. climate change

We used the largest DNA-based phylogeny of flowering plants to date to evaluate the importance of energy vs. past climate change in predicting global patterns in diversification. Relative diversification rates increased towards the equator, suggesting that differences in per-lineage net diversification may be an important component of the latitudinal diversity gradient. The amplitude of Quaternary climate oscillations experienced by families explained variation in diversification equally well compared to contemporary energy measures, and energy and climate change measures were intercorrelated, making it difficult to reject either as a causal mechanism. Many putative mechanisms linking diversification to energy availability do not apply to plants, whereas the climate change mechanism has more support. We also present the first global map of angiosperm diversification, showing that, after correcting for family range-size, tropical diversification rates were fastest for clades currently in regions with high endemic species richness outside the main lowland rainforest areas.     

Cerebral Metabolic Changes in a Depression-like Rat Model of Chronic Forced Swimming Studied by Ex vivo High Resolution 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Many previous in vivo ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies have shown that patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) are associated with perturbations of cerebral metabolism of neurotransmitters glutamate (Glu) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In this study, we investigated the changes of cerebral metabolism in a depression-like rat model of chronic forced swimming stress (CFSS). The aims are to further understand the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying CFSS treatment, and to further establish the face and predictive validity of the CFSS model. The results showed that, relative to control, the CFSS rats had significantly reduced Glu, taurine and glutamate + glutamine (Glx) levels in the PFC, and significantly reduced N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) level, Glu level and Glu/GABA ratio in the hippocampus. Taking together, these results suggest that CFSS treatment can induce region-specific changes in the metabolism of Glu. The CFSS model might be used to study antidepressants specifically targeting the central glutamatergic system. Chun-Xia Li and Yaqiang Wang contributed equally to this work.     

Phosphodiesterase‐1b deletion confers depression‐like behavioral resistance separate from stress‐related effects in mice

Phosphodiesterase‐1b (Pde1b) is highly expressed in striatum, dentate gyrus, CA3 and substantia nigra. In a new Floxed Pde1b × Cre^CMV global knockout (KO) mouse model, we show an immobility‐resistance phenotype that recapitulates that found in constitutive Pde1b KO mice. We use this new mouse model to show that the resistance to acute stress‐induced depression‐like phenotype is not the product of changes in locomotor activity or reactivity to other stressors (learned helplessness, novelty suppressed feeding or dexamethasone suppression), and is not associated with anhedonia using the sucrose preference test. Using tamoxifen inducible Cre, we show that the immobility‐resistant phenotype depends on the age of induction. The effect is present when Pde1b is Reduced from conception, P0 or P32, but not if reduced as adults (P60). We also mapped regional brain expression of PDE1B protein and of the Cre driver. These data add to the suggestion that PDE1B may be a target for drug development with therapeutic potential in depression alone or in combination with existing antidepressants.     

Sperm transfer through forced matings and its evolutionary implications in natural guppy (Poecilia reticulata ) populations

In species in which individuals alternate between mating strategies, males may respond to elevated predation risk by switching from conspicuous courtship displays to less risky or more profitable sneaky mating attempts. As a consequence, in such species female choice is likely to be undermined more frequently in relatively dangerous localities. We tested this prediction using the guppy, a species of fish in which individual males alternate between courtship (solicited) and forced (unsolicited) copulations according to prevailing levels of predation. We collected females at late stages of gestation from four high- and four low-predation populations in Trinidad and examined them for the presence of sperm in their gonoducts. Due to the patterns of sperm storage in guppies, sperm found in the gonoducts of such late-cycle females can only arise from unsolicited copulations. We anticipated that because female guppies are subject to greater sexual harassment in the form of forced mating attempts in high-risk localities, a higher proportion of females in these populations would contain sperm in their gonoducts arising from recent unsolicited copulations. Contrary to this prediction, only one of the four paired comparisons (from the Quaré River) revealed a significant difference in the proportion of females recently inseminated through forced copulations. The paired comparisons for the remaining three rivers revealed no significant differences in the proportion of females with recoverable sperm in their gonoducts. However, overall, we found that 44.5% (±4.3 SE) of females had sperm in their gonoduct arising from sneaky mating, a figure three times higher than previously reported for this species. We discuss these findings in relation to recent predictions concerning the strength of sexual selection in natural populations.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 78 , 605–612.     

Multiple stable recurrent outbreaks and predictability in seasonally forced nonlinear epidemic models

A seasonally forced nonlinear SEIR epidemic model is used to simulate small and large amplitude periodic outbreaks. The model is shown to exhibit bistable behavior for a fixed set of parameters. Basins of attraction for each recurrent outbreak are computed, and it is shown that the basins of two coexisting stable outbreaks are intertwined in a complicated manner. The effect of such a basin structure is shown to result in an obstruction in predicting asymptotically the type of outbreak given an uncertainty in the initial population of susceptibles and infectives.