Induction of Conjugation by Methyl Cellulose in Paramecium

ABSTRACT An improved method has been developed for the induction of selfing conjugation in Paramecium. Methyl cellulose induces selfing conjugation simply and efficiently in all species examined. Induction of conjugation by methyl cellulose was characterized in P. caudatum , where it occurred only in sexually mature, mating reactive cells. Conjugation produced sexual offspring and the time course of nuclear processes was substantially the same as that in natural conjugation between cells of complementary mating types. The method is useful for genetic studies in a wide variety of Paramecium species including P. caudatum, P. tetraurelia, P. multimicronucleatum and P. bursaria.     

Contrasting responses to Pleistocene climate changes: a case study of two sister species Allium cyathophorum and A. spicata (Amaryllidaceae) distributed in the eastern and western Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

It has been hypothesized that species occurring in the eastern and the western Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) responded differently to climate changes during the Pleistocene. Here, we test this hypothesis by phylogeographic analysis of two sister species, Allium cyathophorum and A. spicata. We sequenced two chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) fragments (accD‐psaI and the rpl16 intron) of 150 individuals, and the nuclear (ITS) region of 114 individuals, from 19 populations throughout the distributional ranges of these species. The divergence between the two species was dated at 779 ‐ 714 thousand years before the present and was likely initiated by the most major glaciation in the QTP. Analysis of chlorotype diversity showed that A. spicata, the species occurring in the western QTP, contains much lower genetic diversity (0.25) than A. cyathophorum (0.93), which is distributed in the eastern QTP. Moreover, multiple independent tests suggested that the A. spicata population had expanded recently, while no such expansion was detected in A. cyathophorum, indicating a contrasting pattern of responses to Pleistocene climate changes. These findings highlight the importance of geographical topography in determining how species responded to the climate changes that took place in the QTP during the Pleistocene.     

奥陶纪苔藓动物的多样性演变——兼论苔藓动物的起源

苔藓动物是一类多为海生、滤食性的群体生物。奥陶纪是苔藓动物发生、演化辐射和灭绝的重要时期,也是苔虫礁形成的最早时期。已知最老的化石苔藓动物发现于中国特马豆克晚期。构成苔藓动物基本分类框架的狭唇纲(包括变口目、隐口目、泡孔目和管孔目)和宽唇纲(包括窗孔目和栉口目)也都是在奥陶纪时期逐步形成的,其中,变口目出现于特马豆克期Tr2时间段,在弗洛期和大坪期,多样性较低,但从达瑞威尔期开始,经桑比期至凯迪期,多样性不断增高,并出现辐射。隐口目(特别是"双叶类隐口目苔虫")也经历了与变口目相类似的发展过程,但它首次出现的时间要相对略迟于变口目。这两个目在整个奥陶纪苔藓动物群中一直占据主导地位。泡孔目、管孔目和窗孔目,先后首次出现在弗洛期Fl2时间段、大坪期Dp1和Dp2时间段,但它们在整个奥陶纪期间一直处于低多样性态势。至于栉口目,它首次出现的时间可能更迟,在凯迪期Ka4时间段,犹如昙花一现。苔藓动物的演化在接近奥陶纪末时呈两幕式灭绝,一次发生在凯迪期Ka2时间段(可能相当于塔凯和安斯蒂的"拉夫塞伊灭绝"),另一次发生在赫南特期Hi2时间段(可能相当于塔凯和安斯蒂的"赫南特灭绝")。分子生物学和形态学证据表明,苔藓动物属原口动物,而不是以前长期认为的后口动物,或介于原口动物和后口动物之间的过渡类型;而且,苔藓动物与腕足动物、帚形动物之间没有直接的亲缘关系。苔藓动物可能起源于一种叫原内肛动物的生物,它们的目一级分类单元之间的系统发育关系目前尚未形成共识,本文绘制的谱系图还有待于化石记录的不断补充和分子生物学研究的逐步介入以使其日趋完善。     

Photoconsumption of molecular oxygen on both donor and acceptor sides of photosystem II in Mn-depleted subchloroplast membrane fragments

Oxygen consumption in Mn-depleted photosystem II (PSII) preparations under continuous and pulsed illumination is investigated. It is shown that removal of manganese from the water-oxidizing complex (WOC) by high pH treatment leads to a 6-fold increase in the rate of O₂ photoconsumption. The use of exogenous electron acceptors and donors to PSII shows that in Mn-depleted PSII preparations along with the well-known effect of O₂ photoreduction on the acceptor side of PSII, there is light-induced O₂ consumption on the donor side of PSII (nearly 30% and 70%, respectively). It is suggested that the light-induced O₂ uptake on the donor side of PSII is related to interaction of O₂ with radicals produced by photooxidation of organic molecules. The study of flash-induced O₂ uptake finds that removal of Mn from the WOC leads to O₂ photoconsumption with maximum in the first flash, and its yield is comparable with the yield of O₂ evolution on the third flash measured in the PSII samples before Mn removal. The flash-induced O₂ uptake is drastically (by a factor of 1.8) activated by catalytic concentration (5-10 μM, corresponding to 2-4 Mn per RC) of Mn²⁺, while at higher concentrations (> 100 μM) Mn²⁺ inhibits the O₂ photoconsumption (like other electron donors: ferrocyanide and diphenylcarbazide). Inhibitory pre-illumination of the Mn-depleted PSII preparations (resulting in the loss of electron donation from Mn²⁺) leads to both suppression of flash-induced O₂ uptake and disappearance of the Mn-induced activation of the O₂ photoconsumption. We assume that the light-induced O₂ uptake in Mn-depleted PSII preparations may reflect not only the negative processes leading to photoinhibition but also possible participation of O₂ or its reactive forms in the formation of the inorganic core of the WOC.     

Resource use efficiency in urban and peri-urban sheep, goat and cattle enterprises

Urban livestock husbandry receives growing attention given the increasing urban demand for livestock products. At the same time, little is known about the resource use efficiency in urban livestock enterprises and eventual negative externalities. In livestock production, feeds are an important resource whose nutrients are transformed into products (meat and milk) to generate financial return to the producer. The lack of knowledge on nutrient supply through feed might lead to oversupply with severe environmental impacts. In Niamey, a typical West African city and capital of the Republic of Niger, urban livestock production is constrained by feed scarcity, especially during the dry season. Here, the issue of resource use efficiency was studied in 13 representative and differently managed sheep/goat and cattle enterprises characterized by high and low feed inputs, respectively, during a period of 28 months. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) inflows into each farm through livestock feeds and outflows through manure were determined using a semi-structured questionnaire; interviews were accompanied by regular weighing of feed supplied and dung produced. Live weight gain (LWG) and efficiency of conversion of total feed dry matter offered (kg TDMO/kg LWG) were computed along with nutrient balances (NBs) per metabolic body mass (kg0.75). NBs (per kg0.75/day) in the high-input (HI) sheep/goat enterprises were +1762.4 mg N, +127.2 mg P and +1363.5 mg K and were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than those in low-input (LI) units (+69.1 mg N, -98.3 mg P and +16.5 mg K). In HI cattle enterprises, daily balances averaged +454.1 mg N, +40.1 mg P and +341.8 mg K compared to +34.4 mg N, -9.0 mg P and +68.3 mg K (P > 0.05) in LI cattle systems. All systems were characterized by poor conversion efficiencies of offered feed, which ranged from 13.5 to 46.1 kg TDMO/kg LWG in cattle and from 15.7 to 43.4 kg TDMO/kg LWG in sheep/goats. LWG in HI sheep/goats was 53 g/day in the rainy season, 86 g/day in the hot dry season and 104 g/day in the cool dry season, while HI cattle lost 79 g/day in the hot dry season and gained 121 g/day and 92 g/day in the cool dry and rainy seasons, respectively. The data indicate that there is nutrient wasting and scope for improvement of feeding strategies in Niamey's livestock enterprises, which might also decrease nutrient losses to the urban environment.     

Subtyping borderline nuclear changes: is it of value in predicting high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia on histology?

The aim was to determine the association between the subtypes of borderline nuclear changes (BNC) in cervical smears and high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (HCIN). BNC was reported in 23236 smears received in our laboratory over a 7-year period, 3278 patients were referred for colposcopy. Analysis was restricted to 2007 cases, which fitted the criteria of: (1). consistent subtyping of borderline change and (2). cervical histology result within 12 months of the last abnormal smear. BNC was reported in six categories and correlated with histology. Atypia bordering on dyskaryosis, atypical metaplastic cells and endocervical atypia, were associated with HCIN in 25%, 25.4% and 23.8% of cases, respectively. Dyskeratosis and koilocytotic atypia were associated with HCIN in 19.2% and 13.7% of cases, respectively. Some subtypes of borderline change are more frequently associated with HCIN. The difference is not sufficient to dictate clinical management.     

Effects of species richness and elevated carbon dioxide on biomass accumulation: a synthesis using meta-analysis

Magnitude of growth enhancement by elevated CO(2) in a plant assemblage is dependent on a number of biotic and abiotic factors, including species richness. In this meta-analysis, we examined effects of elevated CO(2) on plant biomass accumulation in single- (populations) and multi-species (communities) assemblages. The primary objectives were to statistically synthesize the voluminous CO(2) studies conducted so far and to assess the collective response of plant growth to elevated CO(2) as affected by species richness. Our analysis showed that biomass enhancement by higher CO(2) was consistently lower in communities than in populations. For example, total plant biomass (W(T)) increased only 13% in communities compared to 30% in populations in response to elevated CO(2) across all studies included in this synthesis. Above- and below-ground biomass responded similarly as W (T) to elevated CO(2) and species richness. Smaller growth enhancement by CO(2) was found in communities consisting of species of different growth forms (woody vs. herbaceous species) or functional groups (legumes vs. non-legumes). This pattern was consistent across three major classes of facilities (closed, semi-open and open systems) used to manipulate CO(2) concentrations. An analysis of free-air CO(2) enrichment studies revealed that the population-community difference in growth enhancement by higher CO(2) was also dependent on the rate of N addition. Populations responded more than communities only when soil was amended with N. From the CO(2) studies synthesized in this meta-analysis, it is obvious that the collective growth responsiveness to elevated CO(2) will be lower in communities than in populations. We hypothesize that resource usurpation, i.e., competitive compartmentation of growth-limiting resources by less responsive species, may be important in determining growth response to elevated CO(2) in a community and is one of the reasons responsible for the lower biomass enhancement by elevated CO(2) in communities, as found in this synthesis.     

Cytological diploidization and rapid genome changes of the newly synthesized allotetraploids <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cucumis × hytivus</Emphasis>

We used a newly synthesized allotetraploid between C. sativus (2n = 2x = 14, n gametic chromosome number, x haploid chromosome number) and C. hystrix (2n = 2x = 24) to study the genomic events in its early generations. Results from cytological characterization of the F₁ and the allotetraploid progenies showed that the rate of bivalents in meiotic metaphase I of the F₁ was greatly improved by chromosome doubling, and further improved during the selfing process of allopolyploid resulting into relatively diploid-like meiosis. Extensive genomic changes were detected by amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis. The changes mainly involved loss of parental restriction fragments and gaining of novel fragments. The total detectable changes were from 11.1 to 32.1%, and the frequency of losing parental fragments was much higher than that of gaining novel fragments. Some of the changes were initiated as early as in the F₁ hybrid, whereas others occurred after chromosome doubling (polyploid formation). No significant differences were detected in the reciprocal F₁ hybrids and S₀ generations. But the data showed that the frequency of sequence losing in C. sativus was about two times higher than in the C. hystrix. Our results demonstrated that the sequence elimination was the major event of genomic changes, and it might provide the physical basis for the diploid-like meiotic behavior in the diploidization of the newly formed allopolyploids. Moreover, the results suggest that the sequence elimination was not caused by cytoplasmic factors, and might relate to genomic recombination and to the numbers of parental chromosome.     

Temporal changes in allele frequencies in two European F2 flint maize populations under modified recurrent full-sib selection

Selection and random genetic drift are the two main forces affecting the selection response of recurrent selection (RS) programs by changes in allele frequencies. Therefore, detailed knowledge on allele frequency changes attributable to these forces is of fundamental importance for assessing RS programs. The objectives of our study were to (1) estimate the number, position, and genetic effect of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for selection index and its components in the base populations, (2) determine changes in allele frequencies of QTL regions due to the effects of random genetic drift and selection, and (3) predict allele frequency changes by using QTL results and compare these predictions with observed values. We performed QTL analyses, based on restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs), in 274 F_2:3 lines of cross KW1265 × D146 (A × B) and 133 F_3:4 lines of cross D145 × KW1292 (C × D) originating from two European flint maize populations. Four (A × B) and seven (C × D) cycles of RS were analyzed with SSRs for significant allele frequency changes due to selection. Several QTL regions for selection index were detected with simple and composite interval mapping. In some of them, flanking markers showed a significant allele frequency change after the first and the final selection cycles. The correlation between observed and predicted allele frequencies was significant only in A × B. We attribute these observations mainly to (1) the high dependence of the power of QTL detection on the population size and (2) the occurrence of undetectable QTL in repulsion phase. Assessment of allele frequency changes in RS programs can be used to detect marker alleles linked to QTL regions under selection pressure. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.