Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in the gudgeon,Gobio gobio (Cyprinidae)

A total of seven polymorphic microsatellite loci from Gobio gobio were isolated and characterized. A preliminary population survey of 82 specimens from four populations, located in a downstream pollution gradient of cadmium and zinc, demonstrated the usefulness of these primers both in population genetic studies in general, as well as in evaluating the effects of anthropogenic pollution on genetic structure. Overall locus polymorphism ranged from two to 13 alleles. Observed heterozygosity per locus ranged from 0.39 to 0.73.     

Use of time in a decision‐making process by a parasitoid

1. Time perception is seldom studied in invertebrates, with the limited experimental evidence being insufficient to provide a comprehensive pattern of the capacity of invertebrates to measure time and use it in decision‐making processes. 2. In this study, it was hypothesized that insect parasitoids have evolved the capacity to measure time precisely and to use it to optimize foraging decisions related to host exploitation. To examine time perception in females of the gregarious egg parasitoid Trichogramma euproctidis, the present study used their ability to adjust their investment (number of eggs laid) in a host to the initial transit duration (interval between the first contact with the host and the following contact with the substrate). Females utilize this method to assess host egg size, as a large egg necessarily requires more time to evaluate than a small host. In this study, the initial transit duration for a given sized egg was artificially extended by suspending it. 3. For similar sized hosts, female T. euproctidis significantly increased both oviposition duration and progeny allocation following a longer initial transit duration. 4. These results demonstrate the intrinsic capacity of this parasitoid to measure time and to adjust their progeny investment accordingly. This is believed to be one of the few demonstrations of a retrospective measure of time in an invertebrate.     

Internal Nutrient Translocation in Chestnut Tree Stemwood: III. Dynamics Across an Age Series of Castanea sativa (Miller)

Nutrient translocation in chestnut tree stemwood was calculatedfrom the distribution of nutrient content throughout the tissuelife-span. The dynamics of internal translocation were followedduring the crop rotation by means of an age series of five coppicedstands (2–19 years). N, P, K, Ca and Mg contents in treerings were estimated from the concentrations along a verticaland radial gradient and from the ring volume obtained usingstem ring analysis.Real nutrient translocation was calculatedstepwise between successive stages in the age series;apparenttranslocation was computed on a complete tree rotation by comparingthe initial content just after the ring was formed with themineral content in the oldest stand. There was a marked translocationof N, P, K and Ca when the rings were physiologically-activetissues. Real translocation of N, P and K (but not Ca) increasedwith stand age, obviously in parallel with the enlarged stemwoodbiomass reaching 23.2 and 20.6 kg ha^-1for K and N in the lastyears of rotation, nearly 5 kg ha^-1for Mg and about 3 kg ha^-1forCa and P. Potassium was the most mobile element since translocationreached 60% of the total amount immobilized in the stemwoodat the end of the rotation, whereas values for N, P and Mg wereapproximately 25% and 10% for calcium. Total apparent translocationreached respectively 39.2 and 32.4 kg ha^-1for K, N, approximately12 and 7 kg ha^-1for Mg and Ca and only 4.4 kg ha^-1for P. Totalapparent translocation as a percentage of total wood immobilizationwas 114% for K, 83% for Mg, 63% for P, but only 39% for N and24% for calcium. Translocation; nutrient content; stemwood; tree ring; coppice; age series; dynamics; chestnut tree; Castanea sativa Miller     

Effects of nutrients and grazers on periphyton phosphorus in lake enclosures

SUMMARY. 1. Periphyton. measured as particulate phosphorus (PP) and expressed as periphyton PP, growing on vertically oriented substrata (polyvinyl impregnated nylon) under different nutrient loadings, light intensities (exposures), and grazer communities was examined in eight large enclosures (750 m3) where nutrients (N and P) and planktivorous fish (1+yellow perch) were added in a 2x2 factorial design.
2. During the first 3 weeks of the experiment (25 June to 15 July), there was a significantly higher accumulation of phosphorus into periphyton (periphyton PP) with fertilization, but fish addition had no effect. During the fourth to seventh weeks (16 July to 12 August), addition of fish was associated with lower abundance of amphipods and chironomids and higher concentration of periphyton PP. In the enclosures without fish, these invertebrates were over 25 times more abundant, and periphyton PP decreased substantially compared to the June-July period. Fertilization increased periphyton PP only at high exposures in the enclosures with fish.
3. Exposure had a significant effect on periphyton PP. In the enclosures with fish, high abundance of nanoplankton reduced water transparency, and periphyton PP was lower in the deeper waters which may have been due to limitation by low light. Lower periphyton PP was also observed at the surface on sunny sides of enclosures without fish, and therefore with high water transparency. This pattern may have been due to inhibitory effects of high light intensity.
4. Periphyton communities in the enclosures with fish had higher uptake rates for planktonic phosphorus, and lower rates of phosphorus release, suggesting that periphyton with high phosphorus demand may have high internal cycling of assimilated phosphorus.     

Major histocompatibility (B) complex and sex effects on the phytohaemagglutinin wattle response

The influence of the major histocompatibility (B) complex and sex on the phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) wattle response was studied in 136 segregants (B2/B2, B2/B5 and B5/B5) of a fourth generation cross between inbred lines 6(1) and 15(1). At 6 weeks of age, chickens were injected with 100 micrograms purified PHA-P. Wattle thickness measurements were taken 4, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after injection. Analysis of variance showed that 4 h after injection, males had a significantly higher response than females but the sex-genotype interaction was also significant. Females had higher responses than males 24 and 48 h after injection as a consequence of more rapid development and earlier resolution of the reaction in males. B2/B2 chickens had significantly lower responses than B5/B5 chickens 72 and 96 h after injection, signifying a faster late resolution phase in the B2/B2 genotype. The developmental and early resolution phases of the PHA wattle response were influenced by sex while the late resolution phase was influenced by B genotype.