Microdissection Studies on the Polarity of Unequal Division in Grasshopper Neuroblasts: II. Cell Division in Binucleate Neuroblasts

The grasshopper neuroblast divides unequally to produce two types of cells: a large daughter neuroblast that contains a doughnut-shaped nucleus and repeats unequal division with definite polarity, and a small daughter ganglion cell that has a spherical nucleus with low mitotic activity. Binucleate neuroblasts were induced by preventing cytokinesis in the course of microdissection experiments, and subsequent divisions were traced to analyze the factors that determine the polarity of unequal division.
In binucleate neuroblasts, both daughter chromosome groups developed into neuroblast-type nuclei. Mitosis of the two nuclei proceeded synchronously. Although the axes of the two mitotic apparatuses formed at late prophase were random in direction, they became parallel with the original division axis at metaphase. The two mitotic apparatuses shifted simultaneously toward the ganglion cell side during anaphase, just as in normal neuroblasts, and the binucleate cell divided unequally. These findings showed that the poearity of unequal division is strictly maintained in grasshpper neuroblasts, even when they contain two nuclei.     

缅甸始新世邦唐组一新的石炭兽类偶蹄类动物(英文)

描述了缅甸中始新统上部邦唐组发现的一种新的丘齿形石炭兽Myaingtherium kenyapotamoidesgen.et sp.nov.。标本为破碎的上下颌骨。Myaingtherium是一种基干石炭兽类,其大小和基本形态可以与邦唐一种小的石炭兽Anthracokeryx tenuis相对比。然而,Myaingtheri-um因具有更丘型化的齿列而与Anthracotherium和Anthracohyus在牙齿形态上更相似。在丘型齿石炭兽类中,Myaingtherium以臼齿前小尖非常退化为特点。Myaingtherium的一些牙齿特征,如具有退化的臼齿前小尖的丘型齿列和下臼齿上具有一个中间附尖,与Kenyapotaminae(最原始的化石河马)以及非洲中新世类似河马的石炭兽Kulutherium的牙齿特征相似,暗示Myaingtherium在谱系上可能与Kenyapotaminae有关。尽管需要更多的证据来检验Myaingthe-rium的谱系关系,但这个发现强化了邦唐石炭兽类在检验和理解河马-石炭兽支系的谱系关系和早期演化方面的重要性。     

A NEW SPECIES OF DICERORHINUS (RHINOCEROTIDAE) FROM THE PLIO‐PLEISTOCENE OF MYANMAR

Abstract: A skull and mandible of the new species Dicerorhinus gwebinensis sp. nov. of Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) is described. The material is collected from the upper part of the Irrawaddy sediments (Plio‐Pleistocene) in central Myanmar. D. gwebinensis sp. nov. is morphologically more similar to the extant species D. sumatrensis (Sumatran rhinoceros) than to other species of the genus but differs from D. sumatrensis in having the comparatively shorter nasal, the more concave dorsal profile of the skull, the more elevated occiput and presence of molar crista in M3/. This is the first discovery of Dicerorhinus in the upper Miocene to lower Pleistocene of the Indian subcontinent and Mainland Southeast Asia, and fills the chronological and geographical gap of this lineage in Asia. The Dicerorhinus clade probably migrated into Southeast Asia from East Asia by the Pliocene or early Pleistocene. This hypothesis is supported by the scarcity or absence of this clade in the Neogene mammalian fauna of the Indian Subcontinent.     

Worldwide mitochondrial DNA diversity and phylogeography of pilot whales (Globicephala spp.)

Pilot whales (Globicephala spp.) provide an interesting example of recently diverged oceanic species with a complex evolutionary history. The two species have wide but largely non‐overlapping ranges. Globicephala melas (long‐finned pilot whale; LFPW) has an antitropical distribution and is found in the cold‐temperate waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere, whereas Globicephala macrorhynchus (short‐finned pilot whale; SFPW) has a circumglobal distribution and is found mainly in the tropics and subtropics. To investigate pilot whale evolution and biogeography, we analysed worldwide population structure using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences (up to 620 bp) from a variety of sources (LFPW = 643; SFPW = 150), including strandings in New Zealand and Tasmania, and whale‐meat products purchased on the markets of Japan and Korea. Phylogenetic reconstructions failed to support a reciprocal monophyly of the two species, despite six diagnostic substitutions, possibly because of incomplete lineage sorting or inadequate phylogenetic information. Both species had low haplotype and nucleotide diversity compared to other abundant widespread cetaceans (LFPW, π = 0.35%; SFPW, π = 0.87%) but showed strong mtDNA differentiation between oceanic basins. Strong levels of structuring were also found at the regional level. In LFPW, phylogeographic patterns were suggestive either of a recent demographic expansion or selective sweep acting on the mtDNA. For SFPW, the waters around Japan appear to represent a centre of diversity, with two genetically‐distinct forms, as well as a third population of unknown origin. The presence of multiple unique haplotypes among SFPW from South Japan, together with previously documented morphological and ecological differences, suggests that the southern form represents a distinct subspecies and/or evolutionary significant unit. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 98 , 729–744.     

Bacterial overgrowth in the jejunum of ICR mice and Wistar rats orally administered with a single lethal dose of fusarenon-X, a trichothecene mycotoxin

A single oral dose of fusarenon-X (F-X), a trichothecene mycotoxin, resulted in abnormal microflora in the jejunum in ICR mice and Wistar rats with some differences in dose response between the species. In the acute phase, enterobacteria, streptococci, Clostridium perfringens and bacteroides showed remarkably increased counts in the jejunum of mice and rats dosed with F-X while lactobacilli showed a decrease in count. F-X brought an invasion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa into the livers, lungs, kidneys and spleens of ICR mice. Changes in the jejunal microflora appeared after 7 h in ICR mice and after 24 h in Wistar rats after a single oral dose of F-X of 7–5 and 4–0 mg/kg b.w., respectively, and the microflora returned to its normal state at 72 h in mice and 96 h in rats. The changes of intestinal microflora were followed by alterations in the growth curves of both animal species. The pH in the glandular stomach was also greatly enhanced before changes in the jejunal microflora. Acute F-X intoxication may be an involved manifestation of essential cytotoxicity of F-X mycotoxin alone and secondary bacterial overgrowth in the bowel.     

Mitigation of adverse effects of rising CO2 on a planktonic herbivore by mixed algal diets

Putative future increase in atmospheric CO₂ is expected to adversely affect herbivore growth due to decrease in contents of key nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus (P) relative to carbon in primary producers including plant and algal species. However, as many herbivores are polyphagous and as the response of primary producers to elevated CO₂ is highly species-specific, effects of elevated CO₂ on herbivore growth may differ between feeding conditions with monospecific and multiproducer diets. To examine this possibility, we performed CO₂ manipulation experiments under a P-limited condition with a planktonic herbivore, Daphnia , and three algal species, Scenedesmus obliquus (green algae), Cyclotella sp. (diatoms) and Synechococcus sp. (cyanobacteria). Semibatch cultures with single algal species (monocultures) and multiple algal species (mixed cultures) were grown at ambient (360 ppm) and high CO₂ levels (2000 ppm) that were within the natural range in lakes. Both in the mono- and mixed cultures, algal steady state abundance increased but algal P : C and N : C ratios decreased when they were grown at high CO₂. As expected, Daphnia fed monospecific algae cultured at high CO₂ had decreased growth rates despite increased algal abundance. However, when fed mixed algae cultured at high CO₂, especially consisting of diatoms and cyanobacteria or the three algal species, Daphnia maintained high growth rates despite lowered P and N contents relative to C in the algal diets. These results imply that algal diets composed of multiple species can mitigate the adverse effects of elevated CO₂ on herbivore performance, although the magnitude of this mitigation depends on the composition of algal species involved in the diets.     

PCR Amplification of Tetrahymena rDNA Segments Starting with Individual Cells

To facilitate studies of rDNA molecular genetics in Tetrahymena thermophila , we attempted the detection of polymorphisms in the nontranscribed spacers (NTSs) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), starting with minute amounts of DNA. The targeted polymorphic regions are 85% adenine-thymine (AT). We found conditions of efficient and specific in vitro amplification of targeted segments in the replication domain of the 5'NTS and in the subtelomeric segment of the 3'NTS. The identity of the amplified segments was confirmed by restriction enzyme digestion and DNA sequence analysis. Digestion of the template DNA at restriction sites upstream and downstream of the targeted region increased the efficiency of amplification, presumably because the targeted segments are in a palindromic molecule. Starting from total cell DNA corresponding to as little as 0.03 picogram (equivalent to the DNA content of 0.003 cells or about 30 rDNA molecules), we observed the amplified band after agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining. The yield indicated more than 10-billion-fold amplification. Amplification of the subtelomeric fragment yielded homogeneous product of minimum possible length even though the telomeric-specific primer can bind, at least initially, at a multiplicity of GGGGTT repeats. Amplified 5'NTS product also was detected in an ethidium-bromide-stained gel when PCR was started with a single cell.