用cDNA表达阵谱分析小鼠鼻咽部相对特异表达基因

利用Mouse Atlas^TM cDNA expression array检测鼻咽、气管、食管、膀胱四种组织中588个已知基因的表达谱,得到11个在鼻咽上皮中表达相对较高的基因,作为鼻咽部组织相对特异基因的候选者,并用RT-PCR进一步验证.     

SUCKLING BEHAVIOR IN SPERM WHALE CALVES: OBSERVATIONS AND HYPOTHESES

This study is the first to describe quantitatively the apparent suckling behavior of sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758), calves using observations from both above and below the surface. Peduncle dives are short (mean 14 s) dives made by sperm whale calves beside the peduncle of an adult female, which were previously assumed to be indicative of suckling. Photo-identification and focal calf-follows were used to collect data during 177 peduncle dive bouts from 22 different calves (11 calves from the Caribbean Sea, 11 from the Sargasso Sea), one of which was followed on forty different days. We found that peduncle diving in sperm whale calves is laterally asymmetrical with a bias to the left side of the escorting adult (69.8% of peduncle dives) and that calves generally do not switch sides during a bout of peduncle dives (switches occurred in only 10.8% of bouts). Further subsurface observations gave insight into potential alternative functions of peduncle diving. These alternative hypotheses, including nasal suckling, and the existing supporting evidence for each are discussed. It is likely that peduncle diving is related to suckling but that the exact function of the dives and manner in which sperm whale calves ingest milk remains unclear.