Egg contents in relation to host-feeding in some parasitic hymenoptera

Using transmission electron microscopy, egg content is studied in 10 parasitoid species, which either feed on host hemolymph or do not. As expected, hydropic eggs were found to contain little yolk which is only lipoid. In host-feeding species, the yolk contains a great number of typical protein bodies whereas in species that do not host-feed and which produce large eggs, the yolk contain very different bodies.     

Release of mouse eggs from metaphase arrest by protein synthesis inhibition in the absence of a calcium signal or microtubule assembly

Mouse egg activation, which includes release from meiotic metaphase II arrest, results from fertilization-induced increase in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca²⁺]_i). However, during egg activation caused by exposure to the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, [Ca²⁺]_i did not change. Although eggs fertilized in the presence of microtubule inhibitors remain arrested at metaphase, eggs treated for 32 hr with cycloheximide and the microtubule inhibitor, colcemid, formed nuclei. In untreated eggs aged in culture for 24 hr, the microtubule spindles became deformed. These eggs formed nuclei after exposure to cycloheximide, but not the calcium ionophore A23187. Our results indicate that eggs in which protein synthesis is inhibited are released from metaphase without an increase in [Ca²⁺]_i, and despite disruption of the Spindle. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Evidence that the ability to respond to a calcium stimulus in exocytosis is determined by the secretory granule membrane: Comparison of exocytosis of injected bovine chromaffin granule membranes and endogenous cortical granules inXenopus laevis oocytes

Summary 1. To understand better the mechanisms which govern the sensitivity of secretory vesicles to a calcium stimulus, we compared the abilities of injected chromaffin granule membranes and of endogenous cortical granules to undergo exocytosis inXenopus laevis oocytes and eggs in response to cytosolic Ca²⁺. Exocytosis of chromaffin granule membranes was detected by the appearance of dopamine--hydroxylase of the chromaffin granule membrane in the oocyte or egg plasma membrane. Cortical granule exocytosis was detected by release of cortical granule lectin, a soluble constituent of cortical granules, from individual cells.2. Injected chromaffin granule membranes undergo exocytosis equally well in frog oocytes and eggs in response to a rise in cytosolic Ca²⁺ induced by incubation with ionomycin.3. Elevated Ca²⁺ triggered cortical granule exocytosis in eggs but not in oocytes.4. Injected chromaffin granule membranes do not contribute factors to the oocyte that allow calcium-dependent exocytosis of the endogenous cortical granules.5. Protein kinase C activation by phorbol esters stimulates cortical granule exocytosis in bothXenopus laevis oocytes andX. laevis eggs (Bement, W. M., and Capco, D. G.,J. Cell Biol. 108, 885–892, 1989). Activation of protein kinase C by phorbol ester also stimulated chromaffin granule membrane exocytosis in oocytes, indicating that although cortical granules and chromaffin granule membranes differ in calcium responsiveness, PKC activation is an effective secretory stimulus for both.6. These results suggest that structural or biochemical characteristics of the chromaffin granule membrane result in its ability to respond to a Ca²⁺ stimulus. In the oocytes, cortical granule components necessary for Ca²⁺-dependent exocytosis may be missing, nonfunctional, or unable to couple to the Ca²⁺ stimulus and downstream events.     

Prey preference and egg production of the carabid beetleAgonum dorsale

In order to elucidate whether the aphidRhopalosiphum padi is low quality food for the carabid beetleAgonum dorsale, as it has previously been found to be for cereal spiders, we performed a series of experiments using fruit fliesDrosophila melanogaster as a standard alternative prey (‘control prey’): 1) Prey preference, 2) Aphid consumption for satiated and starved beetles, 3) Egg production on different diets and 4) Preference experiments with fruit flies coated with a taste of different prey types. Other alternative prey types used were earthworms and sciarid midges, all potential prey in the field.A. dorsale has a low preference for aphids compared to fruit flies. Apparently there is an upper limit to the consumption of aphids independent of hunger and much below the beetles' total food demand. Egg production on a pure diet of aphids is lower than on a pure diet of fruit flies; it is extremely low on a pure diet of earthworms; the highest fecundity is found on a mixed diet. As fruit flies coated with a taste of aphids or sciarid midges are less prefered than flies covered with a taste of fruit flies there may be a chemical factor, acting through taste, involved in determining prey preference.     

Equiproportional temperature-duration responses and thermal influences on distribution and species switching in the copepods Metadiaptomus meridianus and Tropodiaptomus spectabilis

The temperature-dependence of development was studied in two ecologically divergent freshwater calanoids, Metadiaptomus meridianus (Douwe) and Tropodiaptomus spectabilis (Kiefer). Egg durations were determined between 10 and 35 °C, and food satiated post-embryonic development times between 12 and 32 °C. All responses were basically inverse monotonic functions of temperature, adequately described by Blehrádek's equation. M. meridianus generally developed faster than T. spectabilis. Its egg development was faster at all temperatures, and while its naupliar durations were shorter only up to ± 15 °C, its overall post-embryonic development was more rapid up to ± 24 °C in females and ± 28 °C in males. Relatively speaking, however, T. spectabilis is clearly more warm-adapted than M. meridianus. The respective distributions (warm subtropical lowlands vs cooler uplands) of these copepods in the southern African subcontinent, as well as reversible switches between these species observed in two Natal impoundments are consistent with their contrasting thermal responses, although additional considerations apply in respect of the species alternations. T. spectabilis was replaced by M. meridianus in L. Midmar in spring 1981 and 1989, and in L. Albert Falls in spring 1990. Reciprocal replacements occurred in Midmar in autumn 1984, and in Albert Falls in late summer 1991. Both spring switches in Midmar coincided with cool spring temperatures, although the consequent shifts in growth rate advantage predicted from the measured temperature-duration responses only partly explain the switches in this warm-temperate reservoir. Parasitism of T. spectabilis by an ellobiopsid was observed during both switching events in Midmar, and perhaps augmented the change, although its effects on the host are indeterminate. Both species showed exactly parallel temporal changes in fecundity during the recent switches in both reservoirs, indicating closely similar trophic niches in the adults at least, and mitigating the possibility of trophic influences as determinants of the replacement. A dramatic but inexplicable increase (around 50% at 20 °C) in the development time of T. spectabilis was noted between 1988 and 1990, and perhaps contributed too.The protracted historical dominance of T. spectabilis in thermally suboptimal conditions in Midmar is ascribed to a general competitive superiority presumed from its K-selected attributes, in contrast to the r-selection evident in M. meridianus. This alternation between species with contrasting life styles is of fundamental ecological interest. Studies on Albert Falls, commenced in 1989, suggest an even greater competitive superiority of T. spectabilis, in keeping with the warmer conditions in this larger sister reservoir below Midmar.     

Low-Temperature Scanning Electron Microscope Observations of the Meloidogyne incognita Egg Mass: The Gelatinous Matrix and Embryo Development

The root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita was cultured monoxenically on excised tomato roots. Galls and egg masses were observed daily using a light microscope. Two phases were distinguished in the gelatinous matrix of the egg mass: a translucent, amorphous material on the surface of the egg mass and a denser, layered phase in which nematode eggs were deposited. Egg masses were also cryofixed, fractured, and observed as frozen, hydrated specimens on a cold stage in a scanning electron microscope (SEM). In the SEM, the layered phase appeared as a meshwork of fibrils that became more loosely associated as the gelatinous matrix aged: Small pearl-like bodies were observed along the fibers of gelatinous matrix. The egg shell surface and several stages of embryo development, including the one-cell stage, initial cleavages, blastula, gastrula, tadpole stage, elongation, and molt of the first-stage juvenile within the egg shell, were observed and photographed with this technique. The developmental events observed were consistent with those described in other nematode species with different techniques.     

Reproductive variation and the egg size-clutch size trade-off within and among populations of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta bellii)

Interpopulation variation in egg size, clutch size and clutch mass was studied 3 years in four populations of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta bellii) from western Nebraska. Body size varied among all populations and was larger in two large (56–110 ha), sandhills lake populations than in two populations in smaller habitats (1.5–3.6 ha) of the Platte River floodplain. Reproductive parameters (egg mass, clutch mass, and clutch size) generally increased with maternal body size within populations. Clutch wet and dry mass varied among populations but largely as a function of maternal body size. Clutch size was largest in the sandhills lake populations, both absolutely and relative to maternal body size. Egg mass was smallest in the sandhills lakes and varied annually in one population. Over all populations, an egg sizeclutch size trade-off was detected (a negative correlation between egg mass and clutch size) after statistically removing maternal body size effects. Egg wet mass and clutch size were negatively correlated over all years within the sandhills populations and in some years in three populations. Although egg size varied within populations, egg size and clutch size covaried as expected by optimal offspring size models. Thus, patterns of egg size variation should be interpreted in the context of proximate or adaptive maternal body size and temporal effects. Comparisons among populations suggest that large egg size relative to maternal body size may occur when juvenile growth potential is poor and mean maternal body size is small.     

从水稻根部悬浮培养细胞分离原生质体及植株再生

以长香稻(Oryza sativa L．)(糯稻)的幼嫩种子根为材料,在Ms和N6培养基上诱导产生结构松软而分散的愈伤组织,经过AA液体培养基振荡悬浮培养,悬浮培养细胞经酶解后得到了活性较高的原生质体,试验结果表明这是分离原生质体较理想的材料。在附加2,4-D lmg／L(以下单位同)、KT(激动素)0．2、各氨酰胺876、天门冬酰胺266的Ms琼脂糖培养基中,诱导出了大量愈伤组织,在含KT2、NAA(α-萘乙酸)0．2、zT(玉米素)0．2、cH(水解酪蛋白)1000和4％椰子汁的N6培养基中成功地诱导出了由原生质体再生的植株。当代原生质体再生植株能正常开花、结实、产生种子;染色体数均为二倍性(2n＝24),最显著的特点是结实率低,穗粒数减步、生育期延迟。     

On the relationship between food, reproduction and survival of two carabid beetles: Calathus melanocephalus and Pterostichus versicolor

Abstract.

• 1 The relative influences of temperature and availability of food on reproduction, survival and growth of all developmental stages of two carabid beetle species are discussed with special reference to the suggested relationship between availability of food, size of egg production and survival of adults from one breeding season to the next.
• 2 Temperature as well as food supply influence the length of larval growth and adult body size. Beetles grown at low temperatures and low amounts of food are smaller than those grown at higher temperature and with more food.
• 3 The number of eggs laid per female was correlated with the amount of food gathered. There was no inverse relationship (trade-off) between reproductive output and survival in the field until the next breeding season.
• 4 In 1980 no significant relationship was found between winter mortality and the amounts of food gathered by beetles in the period after reproduction and before winter diapause. However, in 1981 in C. melanocephalus a lower number of starved beetles survived the winter than the fed ones and‘field’beetles.
• 5 Only in the first part of the feeding activity period in autumn can enough food be gathered by C.melunocephalus for successful hibernation. In the second part of this period there is not enough food to build up the fat reserves needed to survive the winter.
• 6 Difference in population fluctuations of both species are discussed in relation to their life histories.

     

斑须蝽三代卵块的空间分布和田间抽样技术研究

通过田间调查和计算,明确了斑须蝽三代卵块呈聚集分布,且以负二项分布为主。理论抽样数当t＝1．00,D＝0．3时,n＝13．091/＋63．878,如果防治指标定为百株虫卵块12块时,则最大抽样数为173株,序贯抽样的累积虫卵块数量界限为：T0（N）＝0.12N±0．4735。田间随机取样以平行线和Z字形为最佳。