Non‐pollinating cheater wasps benefit from seasonally poor performance of the mutualistic pollinating wasps at the northern limit of the range of Ficus microcarpa

1. Species interactions in tightly bound ecological mutualisms often feature highly specialised species' roles in which competitive exclusion may preclude multi‐species coexistence. Among the 800 fig (Ficus) species, it was originally considered that each was pollinated by their own wasp (Agaonidae). However, recent investigations show that this ‘one‐to‐one’ rule often breaks down, as fig species regularly host multiple agaonids but in ways suggesting that competitive processes still mediate biodiversity outcomes. 2. A phenological survey was conducted of the fig–fig wasp pair, Ficus microcarpa and its associated pollinating wasp, alongside its sister species, the cheating wasp, in Xishuangbanna, China. 3. Reproductive output underwent extreme seasonal variation. Seed and pollinator production fell markedly during cooler, drier months, although high levels of fig production continued. However, this resource was predominantly utilised by the cheater species, which offers no pollination services. Pollinators and cheaters rarely co‐occur, suggesting that temporal coexistence is constrained by competition for access to figs. 4. The overall findings indicate periodic rearrangements of mutualism dynamics, probably resulting from a strongly seasonal environment. Sympatric co‐occurrence may result from a window of opportunity for a functionally divergent agaonid, potentially due to constraints on the main pollinator in adapting to variable year‐round conditions that prevent competitive exclusion.     

Repeated pre-training sleep restriction in adolescent rats impaired spatial performance

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Chronic sleep deprivation (SD) is an overwhelming problem in young students. Firstly, we investigated whether different levels of pre-training SD had effects on...     

Comparative Analysis of Endogenous Hormones and Metabolite Profiles in Early-Spring Flowering Plants and Unflowered Plants Revealing the Strategy of Blossom

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Early-spring plants are a special type of plant that complete their life cycle promptly in cold, early spring. Very little effort has been made into researching...     

Genome‐wide detection of CNVs associated with beak deformity in chickens using high‐density 600K SNP arrays

Beak deformity (crossed beaks) is found in several indigenous chicken breeds including Beijing‐You studied here. Birds with deformed beaks have reduced feed intake and poor production performance. Recently, copy number variation (CNV) has been examined in many species and is recognized as a source of genetic variation, especially for disease phenotypes. In this study, to unravel the genetic mechanisms underlying beak deformity, we performed genome‐wide CNV detection using Affymetrix chicken high‐density 600K data on 48 deformed‐beak and 48 normal birds using penncnv . As a result, two and eight CNV regions (CNVRs) covering 0.32 and 2.45 Mb respectively on autosomes were identified in deformed‐beak and normal birds respectively. Further RT‐qPCR studies validated nine of the 10 CNVRs. The ratios of six CNVRs were significantly different between deformed‐beak and normal birds (P < 0.01). Within these six regions, three and 21 known genes were identified in deformed‐beak and normal birds respectively. Bioinformatics analysis showed that these genes were enriched in six GO terms and one KEGG pathway. Five candidate genes in the CNVRs were further validated using RT‐qPCR. The expression of LRIG2 (leucine rich repeats and immunoglobulin like domains 2) was lower in birds with deformed beaks (P < 0.01). Therefore, the LRIG2 gene could be considered a key factor in view of its known functions and its potential roles in beak deformity. Overall, our results will be helpful for future investigations of the genomic structural variations underlying beak deformity in chickens.     

The Neural Basis of Responsibility Attribution in Decision-Making

Social responsibility links personal behavior with societal expectations and plays a key role in affecting an agent’s emotional state following a decision. However, the neural basis of responsibility attribution remains unclear. In two previous event-related brain potential (ERP) studies we found that personal responsibility modulated outcome evaluation in gambling tasks. Here we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to identify particular brain regions that mediate responsibility attribution. In a context involving team cooperation, participants completed a task with their teammates and on each trial received feedback about team success and individual success sequentially. We found that brain activity differed between conditions involving team success vs. team failure. Further, different brain regions were associated with reinforcement of behavior by social praise vs. monetary reward. Specifically, right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) was associated with social pride whereas dorsal striatum and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were related to reinforcement of behaviors leading to personal gain. The present study provides evidence that the RTPJ is an important region for determining whether self-generated behaviors are deserving of praise in a social context.     

Historical shrub–grass transitions in the northern Chihuahuan Desert: modeling the effects of shifting rainfall seasonality and event size over a landscape gradient

We use a spatially explicit landscape model to investigate the potential role of rainfall on shrub–grass transitions in the Jornada Basin of southern New Mexico during the past century. In long‐term simulations (1915–1998) along a 2700 m transect running from a dry lake bed to the foothills of a small mountain, we test two hypotheses: (i) that wetter winters and drier summers may have facilitated shrub encroachment in grasslands, and (ii) that increases in large precipitation events may have increased soil water recharge at deeper layers, thus favoring shrub establishment and growth. Our model simulations generally support the hypothesis that wetter winters and drier summers may have played a key role, but we are unable to reproduce the major shifts from grass‐ to shrub‐domination that occurred in this landscape during the early part of the 1900s; furthermore, the positive shrub response to wetter winters and drier summers was only realized subsequent to the drought of 1951–1956, which was a relatively short ‘window of opportunity’ for increased shrub establishment and growth. Our simulations also generally support the hypothesis that an increase in the number of large precipitation events may also have favored shrub establishment and growth, although these results are equivocal, depending upon what constitutes a ‘large’ event and the timing of such events. We found complex interactions among (i) the amount/seasonality of rainfall, (ii) its redistribution in the landscape via run‐on and runoff, (iii) the depth of the soil water recharge, and (iv) subsequent water availability for the growth and reproduction of shrubs vs. herbaceous plants at various landscape positions. Our results suggest that only a mechanistic understanding of these interactions, plus the role of domestic cattle grazing, will enable us to elucidate fully the relative importance of biotic vs. abiotic factors in vegetation dynamics in this semiarid landscape.     

人体小卫星DNA探针的制备

根据人体小卫星DNA核心顺序,化学合成长23碱基寡核苷酸探针,筛选人体基因组文库,旨在获得能用作遗传分析探针的小卫星顺序。结果得到15个含小卫星的阳性重组子。随机取其一(C_(35.9))作探针,试做群体分析。所有个体均可检出多条杂交带。其中某些带具有多态性。在一定检测条件下,检出的DNA图谱在有限的个体内具有个体特异性。结果表明筛选文库得到的小卫星顺序可用于小卫星多态性的检测。其它小卫星探针的筛选和应用性研究正在进行。