Species Concept in Primates

The way we view the Species category in Primates, as in other animals, especially other vertebrates, has been going through a revolution over the past 20 years or so. Much is wrong with the idea that we can define species according to whether or not they are “reproductively isolated”: this concept, the so‐called Biological Species Concept, has never offered any guidelines in the case of allopatric populations; this has now been shown to be simply wrong. Although other ways of looking at species – the Evolutionary, Recognition, Cohesion and Genetic Species Concepts – have all provided particular insights, the only proposal to offer a repeatable, falsifiable definition of species is the Phylogenetic Species Concept. This has been criticised for increasing the number of species to be recognised, although it is not clear why this should be a problem: indeed, it tells us that the world is far richer in biodiversity than we had conceived. Am. J. Primatol. 74:687‐691, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

中国环蛱蝶属的新种,新亚种及新级位：鳞翅目：蛱蝶科

本文描述采自陕西的环蛱蝶属１新种－周环蛱蝶Ｎｅｐｔｉｓｃｈｏｕｉｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．;将黄环蛱蝶伊洛亚种ＮｅｐｔｉｓｔｈｅｍｉｓｉｌｖｓＦｕｈｓｔｏｒｆｅｒ提升为种,即伊洛环蛱蝶ＮｅｐｔｉｓｉｌｖｓＦｒｕｈｓｔｏｒｆｅｒ,认为黄环蛱蝶台湾亚种ＮｅｐｔｉｓｔｈｅｍｉｓｎｉｅｒｉＮｏｍｕｒａ应为伊洛环蛱蝶ＮｅｐｔｉｓｉｌｖｓＦｒｕｈｓｔｏｒｆｅｒ的１个亚种,描述了伊洛环蛱蝶的１新亚种－四川亚种Ｎｅｐｔｉｓｉ     

A population genetic comparison of argali sheep (Ovis ammon) in Mongolia using the ND5 gene of mitochondrial DNA; implications for conservation

We sequenced 556 bp of the mitochondrial ND5 gene to infer aspects of population structure and to test subspecific designations of argali sheep (Ovis ammon) in Mongolia. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed greater variation within than among putative subspecies and populations, suggesting high levels female-mediated gene flow. Compared with bighorn sheep (O. canadensis) in North America, substantially less differentiation in mitochondrial DNA was found among argali populations over 1200 km than was found among bighorn populations over 250 km. This result is consistent with differences in argali and bighorn life history traits. Argali run for long distances across open terrain in the presence of a threat rather than running up into steep escape terrain like bighorn sheep do. Our results suggest recognizing only one Evolutionary Significant Unit (subspecies) of argali in Mongolia, but they may support recognizing two Management Units, because two regions do exhibit slightly different haplotype frequencies at the ND5 gene of mtDNA.     

Recent divergence between two morphologically differentiated subspecies of bluethroat (Aves: Muscicapidae: Luscinia svecica) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence variation

We assessed the mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence of a 718 bp fragment of the control region and 1007 bp of the cytochrome b gene between two allopatric morphologically different subspecies of bluethroat ( Luscinia svecica ). None of the 17 total haplotypes was shared between L. s. namnetum and L. s. svecica . However, the mean distances between subspecies were very low for both fragments (0.00168 ± 0.00001 (mean ± SE) for the control region; 0.00306 ± 0.00016 for the cytochrome b gene). Only one substitution made the two subspecies genetically differentiated, highlighting their recent divergence. Interestingly, the control region was not more variable than the cytochrome b gene.     

Allozyme study of two subspecies of houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata undulata and C. u. macqueenii)

Samples of two subspecies of the Houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata undulata and C. u. macqueenii) were studied using protein electrophoresis, to evaluate their genetic variability and differentiation. Levels of polymorphism and gene diversity were higher than mean values for birds, and intersubspecies differentiation (measured by Nei's genetic distance) was in the range of the values known at this taxonomic level. These results suggest that the decrease in numbers associated with the recent reduction of these subspecies' ranges has not yet resulted in significant genetic impoverishment. This information is of prime importance in designing captive-breeding programmes for reintroduction purposes. The genetic distance between the two subspecies suggests a relatively recent differentiation, which already has resulted in marked behavioural differences.     

Some observations on the ecology,metal uptake and nickel tolerance of Alyssum serpyllifolium subspecies from the Iberian peninsula

Experiments were carried out on the tolerance to, and uptake of, nickel by three iberian subspecies of Alyssum serpylliforium Desf. Two of these subspecies, the serpentine-endemic ssp. lusitanicum from Bragança, Portugal and ssp. malacitanum from Málaga, Spain, are hyperaccumulators (> 1000 g/g in dried material) of nickel. Their possible ancestor, ssp. serpyllifolium (from Granada, Spain) was a non-accumulator of this element. Seeds of the two serpentine-endemics germinated extensively in nickel concentrations up to 12 000 g/g (1.2%) whereas ssp. serpyllifolium only germinated in nickel concentrations below 60 g/ml. Tolerance tests involving measurement of new root lengths of excised seedlings placed in varying nickel concentrations, again showed much greater tolerance of the two serpentinophytes. In both series of experiments, the order of tolerance was: ssp. lusitanicum > ssp. malacitanum > ssp. serpyllifolium. In pot trials involving seedlings of ssp. malacitanum grown in mixtures containing varying amounts of calcium, magnesium, and nickel, the most important finding was that plants will tolerate higher nickel contents in the soil when excess calcium is added. This is achieved by lowering the uptake of nickel. There appeared to be some concomitant reduction in calcium uptake in the presence of nickel, and some increase in uptake of magnesium. The resultant lower calcium/magnesium ratio in the plant, though not symptomatic of a favourable condition for colonization of serpentine soils, probably results from a mechanism which renders nickel innocuous to the plant at the expense of calcium uptake. It is suggested that the physiological characters of ssp. lusitanicum and ssp malacitanum are sufficiently different to support arguments for promoting the latter to full specific rank as has now been done for ssp. lusitanicum.     

Site occupancy response to natural and anthropogenic disturbances of root vole: Conservation problem of a vulnerable relict subspecies

Changes in habitat quality, destruction and fragmentation of the remaining habitats are the main causes of population and species extinction. Patch occupancy decreases with the turnover of the metapopulation dynamics and therefore the population prone to extinct. We have been examining the occurrence of endangered and strictly protected Hungarian root vole subspecies (Microtus oeconomus mehelyi) within the framework of Hungarian Biodiversity Monitoring System Program in Kis-Balaton. We analyzed the dynamics of root vole site occupancy based on 12-year-long period data. From a conservation aspect we investigated how root vole site occupancy dynamics differed in the area under NATURA 2000 protected marshland habitat management and in the privatized marshland under regular perturbation, compared to the initial, disturbance-free conditions. We applied multi-season occupancy models and we took into consideration the effects of perturbance, such as burning and mowing, and natural disturbances such as water cover and weather (wetter, drier weather period). Based on monitoring data there were 397 successful root vole captures and we identified 262 individuals. The results of both detection and occupancy estimates showed that the comprehensive mowing affecting the entire privatized area appeared as a disturbing effect, causing the emigration of the root voles. Most important factor in the loss of root vole is the additive effects of burning and natural aridity. Disturbances and perturbations of certain areas induce movements and spatial translocations which play role in the exchange of genes and individuals, ensuring to maintain the genetic variability of the remaining relict population.     

The recovery of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis from the intestine of infected ruminants for proteomic evaluation

Johne's disease is a slowly developing intestinal disease, primarily of ruminants, caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. The disease contributes to significant economic losses worldwide in agricultural industry. Analysis of bacterial proteomes isolated directly from infected animals can provide important information about the repertoire of proteins present during infection and disease progression. In this study, M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis has been extracted from Johne's disease-infected cattle and goat intestinal tissue sections in a manner compatible with direct 2-DE proteomic analysis for comparison with in vitro-cultured bacteria. M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis was harvested from the submucosa and mucosa of intestinal sections and enriched from macerated tissue by hypotonic lysis, sonication and centrifugation through a viscosity gradient. Subsequent comparison of the proteomes of the in vivo- and in vitro-derived bacteria identified a number of proteins that were differentially expressed. Among them, a number of hypothetical proteins of unknown function and a hypothetical fatty acyl dehydrogenase (FadE3_2) and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, possibly important for in vivo metabolism, utilising the pathway for the β-oxidation of fatty acids.