Immune challenge mediates vocal communication in a passerine bird: an experiment

Secondary sexual characters may have evolved in part to signalresistance to parasites. Avian song has been hypothesized tobe involved in this process, but the role of parasites in modulatingacoustic communication systems in birds remains largely unknown,owing to lack of experiments. We studied the relationship betweenparasitism, testosterone, song performance, and mating successin male collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis) by experimentallychallenging their immune system with a novel antigen. We predictedthat a challenge of the immune system would reduce song performance,and that this reduction would be conditional on the size ofa visual sexual signal, the forehead patch that was previouslyfound to reflect resistance. An antagonistic linkage betweentestosterone and immune function would predict that a challengeof the immune system should suppress testosterone level. Animmunological treatment by sheep red blood cells (SRBCs) triggereda decrease in body mass, testosterone level, and song rate,but other song traits were not significantly affected by theantigen challenge. Initial testosterone level was associatedwith forehead patch size and all song traits except song rate.SRBC injection caused stronger reduction in song rate amongmales with smaller forehead patches, and the change in songrate was also predictable by song features such as strophe complexityand length. We show that song rate and other song characteristicsmay be important cues in male-male competition and female choice.These results suggest that parasite-mediated sexual selectionhas contributed in shaping a complex acoustic communicationsystem in the collared flycatcher, and that testosterone mayplay an important role in this process. Parasitism may drivea multiple signaling mechanism involving acoustic and visualtraits with different signal function.     

Sex-specific niche partitioning and sexual size dimorphism in Australian pythons (Morelia spilota imbricata)

Sexual dimorphism is usually interpreted in terms of reproductive adaptations, but the degree of sex divergence also may be affected by sex-based niche partitioning. In gape-limited animals like snakes, the degree of sexual dimorphism in body size (SSD) or relative head size can determine the size spectrum of ingestible prey for each sex. Our studies of one mainland and four insular Western Australian populations of carpet pythons ( Morelia spilota ) reveal remarkable geographical variation in SSD, associated with differences in prey resources available to the snakes. In all five populations, females grew larger than males and had larger heads relative to body length. However, the populations differed in mean body sizes and relative head sizes, as well as in the degree of sexual dimorphism in these traits. Adult males and females also diverged strongly in dietary composition: males consumed small prey (lizards, mice and small birds), while females took larger mammals such as possums and wallabies. Geographic differences in the availability of large mammalian prey were linked to differences in mean adult body sizes of females (the larger sex) and thus contributed to sex-based resource partitioning. For example, in one population adult male snakes ate mice and adult females ate wallabies; in another, birds and lizards were important prey types for both sexes. Thus, the high degree of geographical variation among python populations in sexually dimorphic aspects of body size and shape plausibly results from geographical variation in prey availability.  © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 77 , 113–125.     

Generalist Life Cycle Aids Persistence of Alexandrium ostenfeldii (Dinophyceae) in Seasonal Coastal Habitats of the Baltic Sea

In seasonal environments, strong gradients of environmental parameters can shape life cycles of phytoplankton. Depending on the rate of environmental fluctuation, specialist or generalist strategies may be favored, potentially affecting life cycle transitions. The present study examined life cycle transitions of the toxin producing Baltic dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii and their regulation by environmental factors (temperature and nutrients). This investigation aimed to determine whether genetic recombination of different strains is required for resting cyst formation and whether newly formed cysts are dormant. Field data (temperature and salinity) and sediment surface samples were collected from a site with recurrent blooms and germination and encystment experiments were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. Results indicate a lack of seasonal germination pattern, set by an endogenous rhythm, as commonly found with other dinoflagellates from the Baltic Sea. Germination of quiescent cysts was triggered by temperatures exceeding 10°C and combined nutrient limitation of nitrogen and phosphorus or a drop in temperature from 16 to 10°C triggered encystment most efficiently. Genetic recombination was not mandatory for the formation of resting cysts, but supported higher numbers of resistant cysts and enhanced germination capacity after a resting period. Findings from this study confirm that A. ostenfeldii follows a generalist germination and cyst formation strategy, driven by strong seasonality, which may support its persistence and possibly expansion in marginal environments in the future, if higher temperatures facilitate a longer growth season.     

Carayonovus n. gen. from Reunion Island – aberrant new genus of Anthocoridae or representative of a new family (Heteroptera: Cimicoidea)?

Carayonovus insignis n. gen., n. sp., a remarkable new genus and species of Heteroptera, is described from Reunion Island. It is tentatively placed in the family Anthocoridae (Cimicoidea), but because of its remarkable sexual dimorphism and possession of characters not normally associated with this family or even with Cimicoidea, the genus is discussed in terms of the validity or otherwise of including it in these taxa. Its habitat preference is also examined.     

THE UTILITY OF PROTEOMICS IN ALGAL TAXONOMY: BOSTRYCHIA RADICANS/B. MORITZIANA (RHODOMELACEAE,RHODOPHYTA) AS A MODEL STUDY1

A comparison of the proteome of eight genetically well‐characterized isolates of the Bostrychia radicans (Mont.) Mont./B. moritziana (Sond. ex Kütz.) J. Agardh species complex was undertaken to establish if genetic relationships among them can be determined using proteome data. Genetic distances were calculated on the basis of common and distinct spots in two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE). Proteomes of the male and female plants of each population were compared to analyze the range of genetic difference within an isolate. Haploid male and female plants of the same species had 3.7%–7.1% sex‐specific proteins. The degree of similarity of the proteome was consistent with previous DNA sequence data and sexual compatibility studies between the isolates. Two sexually compatible isolates from Venezuela showed a pair‐wise distance ranging from 0.14 to 0.21. The isolates from Mexico and Venezuela, which were partially compatible, showed a maximum pair‐wise distance of 0.26. A high level of genetic difference was found among isolates that were sexually incompatible. The isolate from Brazil was reproductively isolated from the Mexico and Venezuela isolates and showed a maximum pair‐wise distance of 0.65 and 0.58, respectively. Comparative proteomics may be helpful for studying genetic distances among algal samples, if intraisolate variation (gene expression) can be minimized or tested.     

The Influences of Environment, Mating Habitat, and Predation on Evolution of Pinniped Lactation Strategies

Seals have adapted their social systems and lactation strategies to marine environments that include open and ice-covered oceans, high and low productivity, extremes in seasonality, and ocean- and terrestrial-type predators. Different explanations for the variation in pinniped lactation systems have been proposed but tests of alternative hypotheses have not sufficiently accounted for phylogeny and body size. After controlling for this variation, I predicted that environment, mating habitat, and predation would yield a fuller explanation. Lactation traits, duration, pup growth rate, and fat content were significantly influenced by both body size and phylogeny, which together explained 20–69% of the variation. After controlling for this variation, initial results did not support the environment hypothesis, as no differences in lactation traits were found between species living in polar (≥60°N) versus equatorial (<60°N) environments. In contrast, seals that nurse in areas of Arctic sea ice contending with ice-hunting predators, such as polar bears, had relatively short lactation compared to species living in the Antarctic and more equatorial regions. Also, the availability of predator-free islands for terrestrial mating and parturition was related to a harem mating system, increased sexual size dimorphism (SSD), and slow juvenile growth rates, less fat in milk, and longer lactation. Using structural equation modeling, latitude and size of harems provided independent explanations for all three lactation traits. Thus, use of islands in ice-free waters, predation in Arctic ice-covered waters, and more milk fat in high-latitude seals together provided adequate explanations for the evolution of lactation diversity among pinnipeds.     

Biometric studies of some stoneflies and a mayfly (Plecoptera and Ephemeroptera)

Aspects of the nymphal/adult developmental change were investigated in biometric studies of several species of Plecoptera: Nemouridae near Schlitz, Hesse, Germany. Preliminary information on the mayfly, Baetis vernus Curtis, is also provided. Nemourid nymphs pass through 3 wing bearing stages before reaching adulthood. Instars can be identified by their characteristic shapes, as expressed by the wing length/head width (WL/HW) ratio. Size does not allow instar discrimination, mainly due to sexual size differences. HW is ca 10% larger in last instar female than in male nemourid nymphs; exuviae shed at the moult to adult represent about 14% of nymphal ash free dry weight (AFDW). Biomass lost with exuviae during the many larval moults should be accounted for in estimates of production. Freshly emerged nemourid females are about 6% larger and 30% heavier than males. The HW/AFDW relationship is the same in both sexes. Through terrestrial feeding during adult life, males double their weight on average. Mature females are up to three times heavier than freshly emerged ones. They invest about 30% of their final AFDW in reproduction.Shape of last instar nymphal Baetis was expressed as the ratio wing length/mesonotum length. It is size-dependent, a characteristic, instar-specific shape may not occur in this mayfly. Nymphal and subimaginal exuviae together represent about 14% of last instar nymphal dry weight. Females of Baetis are about 55% heavier than males. Unlike in Plecoptera, the size/weight (ML/AFDW) relationship differs between sexes.     

中国云南及西藏水生环境中的新种——棕孢香港霉

在大湄公河次区域的水生真菌调查中,从中国云南和西藏的沉水腐木中分离得到4个菌株。基于LSU、SSU、ITS、TEF1-α和RPB2序列进行多基因系统发育分析,表明4个菌株属于菩提科香港霉属真菌。系统发育分析结果显示4个菌株聚集在一起,并与泰国香港霉形成姐妹支。基于形态学及分子系统学研究,将这4个菌株鉴定为新种棕孢香港霉。棕孢香港霉是香港霉属的第二个有性型物种,它因子囊果的孔口处有棕色至黑色的刚毛,且子囊孢子呈梭形,孢子两端逐渐变窄且钝圆,红棕色至暗棕色,具有多个隔膜而区别于另一个有性型物种泰国香港霉。本研究提供了该真菌新种的描述及图版并比较了该种与其他物种的形态差异。     

新生隐球菌RBP1基因克隆与功能分析

新生隐球菌是自然界广泛存在的具荚膜的酵母型病原真菌,能侵染人类中枢神经系统引起真菌性脑膜炎,每年导致全球大约18万人死亡。本研究在前期隐球菌交配表达谱的基础上,选择一上调表达的RNA结合蛋白基因（CNAG_04772）,进行克隆和功能分析。结果表明该基因全长2 247bp,cDNA全长1 518bp,编码505个氨基酸组成的蛋白,含有2个RNA识别基序RRM1和RRM2,命名为RBP1。基因表达模式分析表明RBP1在隐球菌酵母细胞、担子以及担孢子阶段都有表达,交配菌丝阶段不表达;亚细胞定位分析表明Rbp1蛋白定位于隐球菌的细胞核和细胞质中。与野生型菌株H99相比,敲除突变体菌株能够交配并产生双核菌丝,但丧失产生担孢子的能力,而互补菌株与野生型菌株H99间无显著差异。致病力测定结果显示,敲除突变体菌株致病性显著降低。     

不同性别类型黄瓜ACC合酶基因的单核苷酸多态性标记和酶切扩增长度多态性标记

黄瓜的性别分化与乙烯密切相关,1-氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸(ACC)合酶是乙烯生物合成过程中的关键酶.根据ACC合酶基因家族的保守序列设计PCR引物,从8个不同性别类型(雌雄同株、强雌性和全雌性)黄瓜品种中克隆了长度为1188bp的ACC合酶基因(CS-ACS2)片段(GenBank登记号为:DQ115884～DQ115886和DQ115875～DQ115879).经测序分析,3个雌雄同株性别类型品种的序列完全相同.与之相比,5个强雌性和全雌性品种中存在8个单核苷酸多态性(SNPs)标记,SNPs标记为4个A←→G和4个T←→C之间的转换.在8个SNPs中,有1个SNP位于内含子区域,其余7个SNPs都位于外显子区域.在7个位于外显子区域的SNPs中,有3个为非编码区的SNPs,4个为cSNPs.而在4个cSNPs中,有3个导致了编码的氨基酸序列改变.研究结果表明,与雌雄同株性别类型相比,雌性系中均存在单核苷酸的变异,这提示ACC合酶基因CS-ACS2的单核苷酸变异可能与黄瓜雌性系的发生形成有关.另一方面,根据SNP多态性还发展了一个酶切扩增长度多态性(CAPS)标记C-MT700.利用CAPS标记C-MT700能将强雌性优良品种MT-705与其他黄瓜品种相区别,该标记在黄瓜育种生产上具有一定的应用价值.此外,研究获得的SNPs标记和CAPS标记丰富了黄瓜的分子标记种类.