大熊猫的刻板行为及其矫正对策——丰富圈养环境举措

由于生活环境单一、活动空间狭小等阻碍了正常行为的表达,圈养大熊猫经常发生一种谓之“刻板行为”的机械、呆板行为。所谓刻板行为,是指圈养大熊猫无明显目的的、不变的、以固定频率反复重复的无任何功能效果的简单行为。丰富圈养环境举措(环境富集)是矫正刻板行为的一种重要的行之有效的对策。介绍了圈养大熊猫刻板行为的表现、特点、发生机制及富集化矫正对策。     

Phylogeography of the giant wood spider (Nephila pilipes, Araneae) from Asian–Australian regions

Aim There are currently few population genetic studies on widely distributed SE Asian terrestrial organisms. We have studied the genetic diversification pattern of the giant wood spider, Nephila pilipes (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) to see whether fluctuations in rain forest extents generated by Quaternary climatic changes left signatures on populations of this agile terrestrial arthropod. Location The collecting localities were distributed in the following seven regions: (1) N Australia; (2) India (Calcutta, Karziranga and Sukna); (3) SE Asia (N Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Bali); (4) SE China (Fujian, Guandong, Hong Kong and Hainan); (5) SW China (Guangxi and Yunnan); (6) E Asian islands (Ryukyu islands and Taiwan); and (7) the Philippine Islands. Methods A total of 374 specimens were collected from the East Asian continent and islands, SE Asia, India, and northern Australia. Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene partial sequences were used as the molecular marker to infer the phylogeographic diversification patterns. Results From the specimens collected, 67 haplotypes were identified, which could be grouped into five major clades. The dominant clade contained populations in regions ranging from Okinawa to Bali (spanning a distance of more than 4000 km), but their genetic variations were not structured and were not significantly associated with geographical distances. Three clades contained specimens collected from peripheral regions of the distribution range of N. pilipes, such as India, N Australia, and NE Asia. Members of the clade distributed in NE Asia were sympatric but those of the clades distributed in Australia and India were allopatric with those of the dominant clade. Main conclusions The results of this study indicate that, during Quaternary glacial periods, the rain forests in SE Asia might have been more or less continuous and thus generated an unstructured genetic diversification pattern of N. pilipes inhabiting this region. However, during such periods, populations in peripheral regions such as India, N Australia and NE Asia might have been isolated in refugia, thus accounting for the observed genetic divergence from populations in the SE Asian region.     

大熊猫乳中酶的活力与激素含量分析

测定了两只大熊猫乳中几种酶的活力和激素浓度,并与成都麻羊和中国荷斯坦牛乳进行了比较。脱脂乳中γ-谷氨酰转肽酶、乳过氧化物酶活力明显低于牛乳,而淀粉酶活力高于牛乳,N-乙酰-β-D氨基葡萄糖苷酶活力与牛乳接近;两只大熊猫乳中均检测到较高浓度的胰岛素和生长激素,胰岛素含量明显高于牛乳,T3和IGF-I含量显著低于成都麻羊乳。     

巨大病毒的发现及研究进展

人们发现第一个病毒以来,病毒学科取得了迅猛的发展,人们对病毒大小的认知也已经基本成型。21世纪初,科学家发现了拟菌病毒,开启了巨大病毒的大门,此后人们又陆续发现了多种巨大病毒。这些病毒体积较大,基因复杂,已经超出了以往以大小区分病毒的标准,其体积和基因组大小甚至与很多原核和真核生物相当。此外,科学家们还发现了数种能够感染巨大病毒和其他核质大DNA病毒(nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus,NCLDV)的病毒,将其命名为噬病毒体。这一系列新发现极大地触动了人们对病毒认识的知识体系,并导致了关于病毒起源与进化问题的讨论,这在病毒学史上具有重大的意义。     

兰渝高速公路和兰渝铁路对大熊猫活动及其栖息地保护的影响

加快公路、铁路等重大基础交通设施建设是当前扩大内需促进经济增长的一项重要举措.这些基础设施建设将可能对某些珍稀濒危物种产生负面的生态影响.通过实地样方调查和访问调查,初步分析与评价了兰渝高速公路、兰渝铁路的建设与运营对大熊猫活动及其栖息地保护的影响.虽然它们的建设与运营不会影响岷山山系的大熊猫,但将会影响到西秦岭山系青木川+曹家河栖息地的大熊猫.它们不仅由于穿越大熊猫的潜在栖息地而使其栖息地的破碎化加剧,还进一步孤立了青木川+曹家河栖息地的大熊猫种群.然而,现有的公路S206线与大团鱼河等地理障碍所造成的隔离,又使兰渝高速公路和兰渝铁路的建设与运营实际追加的对周边大熊猫种群的隔离影响并不大.由于东北侧临近大熊猫栖息地,道路建设和运营所产生的各种噪音还将可能会影响大熊猫种群在局部区域的活动与扩散.为了更好地保护大熊猫种群及其栖息地,就兰渝高速公路和兰渝铁路的建设提出了相应的管理建议.     

The giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) somatic nucleus can dedifferentiate in rabbit ooplasm and support early development of the reconstructed egg

The giant panda skeletal muscle cells, uterus epithelial cells and mammary gland cells from an adult individual were cultured and used as nucleus donor for the construction of intenpecies embryos by transferring them into enucleated rabbit eggs. All the three kinds of somatic cells were able to reprogram in rabbit ooplasm and support early embryo development, of which mammary gland cells were proven to be the best, followed by uterus epithelial cells and skeletal muscle cells. The experiments showed that direct injection of mammary gland cell into enucleated rabbit ooplasm, combined within vim development in ligated rabbit oviduct, achieved higher blastocyst development thanin vitro culture after the somatic cell was injected into the perivitelline space and fused with the enucleated egg by electrical stimulation. The chromosome analysis demonstrated that the genetic materials in reconstructed blastocyst cells were the same as that in panda somatic cells. In addition, giant panda mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was shown to exist in the intenpecies reconstructed blastocyst. The data suggest that (i) the ability of ooplasm to dedifferentiate somatic cells is not speciesspecific; (ii) there is compatibility between intenpecies somatic nucleus and ooplasm during early development of the reconstructed egg. Project supported by the 1998 Special Fund of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KY95-J1-318) and a 1999 Special Fund from the Ministry of Science and Technology. Instruments were dominated by Mr. Shum Yam Wa, Heal Force Development Ltd.     

Lipid rafts and membrane traffic

Membrane rafts are regions of increased lipid acyl chain order that differ in their lipid and protein composition from the surrounding membrane. By providing an additional level of compartmentalization they have been proposed to serve many functions in cellular signal transduction and trafficking. We will review their potential involvement in different forms of membrane traffic, explicitly excluding signalling, and discuss select aspects of the raft hypothesis in its current form.     

Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) as a new tool for analysis of caspase-8/Bid-FL complex binding to cardiolipin and its functional activity

Cardiolipin (CL) has recently been shown to be both an anchor and an essential activating platform for caspase-8 on mitochondria. These platforms may be at the mitochondrial contact sites in which truncated Bid (tBid) has been demonstrated to be located. A possible role for CL is to anchor caspase-8 at contact sites (between inner and outer membranes), facilitating its self-activation, Bid-full length (FL) cleavage, tBid generation (and Bax/Bak activation and oligomerization), mitochondrial destabilization and apoptosis. We have developed an in vitro system that mimics the mitochondrial membrane contact site platform. This system involves reconstituting caspase-8, Bid-FL and CL complexes in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). We first validated the system by flow cytometry analysis of light-scattering properties and nonyl acridine orange staining of their CL content. Then, we used flow cytometry analysis to detect the binding of active caspase-8 to CL and the subsequent truncation of bound Bid-FL. The tBid generated interacts with CL and induces GUV breakage and partial re-vesiculation at a smaller size. Our findings suggest an active role for mitochondrial membrane lipids, particularly CL, in binding active caspase-8 and providing a docking site for Bid-FL. This phenomenon was previously only poorly documented and substantially underestimated.     

Mycobacteria exploit nitric oxide‐induced transformation of macrophages into permissive giant cells

Immunity to mycobacteria involves the formation of granulomas, characterized by a unique macrophage (MΦ) species, so‐called multinucleated giant cells (MGC). It remains unresolved whether MGC are beneficial to the host, that is, by prevention of bacterial spread, or whether they promote mycobacterial persistence. Here, we show that the prototypical antimycobacterial molecule nitric oxide (NO), which is produced by MGC in excessive amounts, is a double‐edged sword. Next to its antibacterial capacity, NO propagates the transformation of MΦ into MGC, which are relatively permissive for mycobacterial persistence. The mechanism underlying MGC formation involves NO‐induced DNA damage and impairment of p53 function. Moreover, MGC have an unsurpassed potential to engulf mycobacteria‐infected apoptotic cells, which adds a further burden to their antimycobacterial capacity. Accordingly, mycobacteria take paradoxical advantage of antimicrobial cellular efforts by driving effector MΦ into a permissive MGC state.     

Sex differences in spatial ability: a test of the range size hypothesis in the order Carnivora

Sex differences in spatial cognition have been reported for many species ranging from voles to humans. The range size hypothesis predicts that sex differences in spatial ability will only occur in species in which the mating system selects for differential range size. Consistent with this prediction, we observed sex differences in spatial ability in giant pandas, a promiscuous species in which males inhabit larger ranges than females, but did not observe sex differences in Asian small-clawed otters, a related monogamous species in which males and females share home ranges. These results provide the first evidence of sex differences in spatial ability in the order Carnivora, and are consistent with the range size hypothesis.