Alternative parasite development in transmission strategies: how time flies!

Among parasitic platyhelminths with complex life cycles, it has been well documented that transmission opportunities are the main forces shaping the diversity of life‐history traits and parasite developmental strategies. While deviations in the development pathway usually involve shortening of life cycles, their extension may also occur following perception of remaining time by parasites. Polystoma gallieni, the monogenean parasite of Hyla meridionalis, is able to trigger two alternative developmental strategies depending on the physiological stage of the tadpoles upon which larvae attach. The distribution and reproductive outputs of both resulting phenotypes were surveyed to address questions about the dynamics of transmission in natural environments. Because modifications in the completion of life cycles can have drawbacks which may perturb the dynamic equilibrium of the resulting host–parasite systems, experimental infestations were also performed to assess parasite–parasite interactions. Our results suggest that the bladder adult phenotype, which involves transmission between frogs and tadpoles, is supplied secondarily by the branchial phenotype which involves transmission between tadpoles and metamorphs. They also support the occurrence of finely tuned trade‐offs between hosts and parasites and highlight positive trends behind the extension of direct life cycles, in which host‐derived signals account for the remaining time to achieve parasitic transmission.     

刈割对栽培长春花(Catharanthus roseus)生活史型转变的影响

为了提高栽培长春花（Catharanthus roseus）的生物碱产量,应用植物生活史型的理论和方法,研究了刈割对栽培长春花生活史型转变及其生物碱代谢的影响。运用主成分分析法（Principal Component Analysis, PCA）对刈割后的长春花后生活史型变化进行定量和定性划分,发现在对照栽培环境下生长的长春花处于DE生境,定性划分结果为SV生活史型,定量划分结果为V_0.3638S_0.6174C_0.0187,属于SV型。刈割使长春花的生活史型转变为V0.2847S0.6684C0.0469,属于SC型。同时,对两种生活史型的长春花中长春碱及其前体文朵灵和长春质碱的含量进行了检测分析,发现刈割后的SC型长春花不同叶位叶片中的生物碱含量均显著提高（p<0.05）,可以为提高栽培长春花生物碱含量提供科学指导,也进一步验证了生活史型理论。     

Interpopulation variation of hibernal-aestival-diapause in the egg parasitoid wasp Anagrus takeyanus: adaptation to seasonal host-plant alternation of the tingid host, Stephanitis takeyai

The egg parasitoid wasp, Anagrus takeyanus Gordh & Dunbar (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), is one of the few natural enemies of the andromeda lace bug, Stephanitis takeyai Drake & Maa (Heteroptera: Tingidae). Studying this wasp in two habitats, I found that at Kyoto, where the bug alternates its host plants seasonally, most wasp individuals in the overwintering eggs of the bug entered summer diapause immediately after winter diapause. However, at Nara, where the bug does not alternate its host plant, the wasp proved to have no summer diapause. Changes in the parasitization rate between generations differed at the two study sites. In Kyoto, the overwintered generation suffered the highest parasitism among the three generations of the year. In contrast, the first and second generations suffered higher parasitization rates in Nara. This difference in level of parasitization between the two study sites corresponded to the different diapause regime of the wasp and the seasonal population trends of the lace bug. Laboratory experiments showed that short photoperiod in combination with low temperature could terminate the long diapause at the time the non-aestivating individuals terminate winter diapause. As a life cycle without host plant alternation is likely to be an ancestral character of the bug, the aestivation of the wasp is thought to have been appended to overwintering as an adaptation to the evolution of seasonal host plant alternation in the lace bug.     

Life history constraints explain negative relationship between fish productivity and dissolved organic carbon in lakes

Resource availability constrains the life history strategies available to organisms and may thereby limit population growth rates and productivity. We used this conceptual framework to explore the mechanisms driving recently reported negative relationships between fish productivity and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in lakes. We studied populations of bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in a set of lakes with DOC concentrations ranging from 3 to 24 mg/L; previous work has demonstrated that primary and secondary productivity of food webs is negatively related to DOC concentration across this gradient. For each population, we quantified individual growth rate, age at maturity, age‐specific fecundity, maximum age, length‐weight and length‐egg size relationships, and other life history characteristics. We observed a strong negative relationship between maximum size and DOC concentration; for instance, fish reached masses of 150 to 260 g in low‐DOC lakes but <120 g in high‐DOC lakes. Relationships between fecundity and length, and between egg size and length, were constant across the DOC gradient. Because fish in high‐DOC lakes reached smaller sizes but had similar fecundity and egg size at a given size, their total lifetime fecundity was as much as two orders of magnitude lower than fish in low‐DOC lakes. High DOC concentrations appeared to constrain the range of bluegill life history strategies available; populations in high‐DOC lakes always had low initial growth rates and high ages at maturity, whereas populations in low‐DOC showed higher variability in these traits. This was also the case for the intrinsic rates of natural increase of these populations, which were always low at the high end of the DOC gradient. The potentially lower capacity for fish populations in high‐DOC lakes to recover from exploitation has clear implications for the sustainable management of recreational fisheries in the face of considerable spatial heterogeneity and ongoing temporal change in lake DOC concentrations.     

Native brook trout and invasive rainbow trout respond differently to seasonal weather variation: Spawning timing matters

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ULTRASTRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF SEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN THE RED TIDE DINOFLAGELLATE GONYAULAX TAMARENSIS1

The marine dinoflagellate Gonyaulax tamarensis Lebour is best known for its propensity to form blooms known as red tides in coastal waters worldwide. This paper examines the sexual cycle of this organism using light and electron microscopy. Sexual reproduction begins with contact between thecate gametes which subsequently shed their thecae to fuse along their pellicular layers. Nuclear fusion occurs well after cytoplasmic fusion and is characterized by several distinctive features: a highly vesiculate nucleoplasm without microtubules; nucleoli and V-shaped chromosomes abut the nuclear envelope distal to the region of nuclear contact; and each chromosome possesses a longitudinal line, the central chromosomal axis. Fusion results in a planozygote with numerous cytoplasmic storage products and a slightly thickened layer beneath the pellicle. Subsequent loss of thecal plates and a thickening of the sub-pellicular layer results in a non-motile hypnozygote. A newly-formed hypnozygote possesses numerous minute papillae along its outer surface, formed by the up-folding of the accumulating wall layer. Maturation of the hypnozygote wall results in a smooth three-layered wall, the outermost layer of which is the pellicular layer. Hypnozygote germination produces a large quadriflagellate plan-omeiocyte with a single nucleus and thecal plates identical to vegetative cells. Two subsequent divisions, presumably meiotic, result in Jour cells morphologically identical to vegetative cells.     

WHAT USE IS AN INFERTILE SPERM? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SPERM‐HETEROMORPHIC DROSOPHILA

Sperm size and number are important determinants of male reproductive success. The genus Drosophila exhibits a remarkable diversity of sperm production strategies, including the production of multiple sperm morphs by individual males, a phenomenon called sperm heteromorphism. Sperm-heteromorphic Drosophila species in the obscura group produce large numbers of infertile "parasperm" in addition to fertile eusperm. Parasperm have been hypothesized to perform a number of roles in place of fertilization, predominantly focused on their potential function in postcopulatory sexual selection. However, the evolutionary significance of parasperm remains unknown. Here we measured several male and female morphological, behavioral, and life-history traits in 13 obscura group species to test competing hypotheses of parasperm function using comparative methods. We found that parasperm size was unrelated to female reproductive tract morphology but was negatively related to our two indices of sperm competition, suggesting that postcopulatory sexual selection may indeed have shaped the evolution of parasperm. We also found abundant coevolution between male and female reproductive traits. Some of these relationships have been found in both sperm-monomorphic and sperm-heteromorphic taxa, but others are dissimilar. We discuss the significance of our results to the evolution of reproductive traits and the elusive function of Drosophila parasperm.     

Heritability of resistance to oxidative stress in early life

Oxidative stress has recently been suggested to play an important role in life‐history evolution, but little is known about natural variation and heritability of this physiological trait. Here, we explore phenotypic variation in resistance to oxidative stress of cross‐fostered yellow‐legged gull (Larus cachinnans) chicks. Resistance to oxidative stress was not related to plasma antioxidants at hatching, which are mostly derived from maternal investment into eggs. Common environmental effects on phenotypic variation in resistance to oxidative stress were not significant. Heritability was relatively low and nonsignificant in hatchlings, but interestingly, the chicks of age 8 days showed high and significant heritability (h² = 0.59). Our results suggest that resistance to oxidative stress is determined mainly by the genotype as chicks grow. Further work is required to explore the genetic role of oxidative stress in life‐history evolution.     

Plasticity in male mating behavior modulates female life history in fruit flies

In many species, intense male-male competition for the opportunity to sire offspring has led to the evolution of selfish reproductive traits that are harmful to the females they mate with. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, males modulate their reproductive behavior based on the perceived intensity of competition in their premating environment. Specifically, males housed with other males subsequently transfer a larger ejaculate during a longer mating compared to males housed alone. Although the potential fitness benefits to males from such plasticity are clear, its effects on females are mostly unknown. Hence, we tested the long-term consequences to females from mating with males with distinct social experiences. First, we verified that competitive experience influences male mating behavior and found that males housed with rivals subsequently have shorter mating latencies and longer mating durations. Then, we exposed females every other day for 20 days to males that were either housed alone or with rivals, and subsequently measured their fitness. We found that females mated to males housed with rivals produce more offspring early in life but fewer offspring later in life and have shorter lifespans but similar intrinsic population growth rates. These results indicate that plasticity in male mating behavior can influence female life histories by altering females’ relative allocation to early versus late investment in reproduction and survival.