Electrical Polarity and Cellular Differentiation in Meroistic Ovaries

SYNOPSIS. In the oocyte-nurse cell syncytium of meroistic insectovaries a gradient in electrical potential is shown to drivea micro-injected basic protein (fluorescein-labeled lysozyme)and its methylcarboxylated, acidic derivative in opposite directions.In the polytrophic Cecropia ovary the electrophoretic effectis greatest in the intercellular bridges, while in the telotrophicRhodnius ovary it is greatest within the nurse chamber. We speculatethat in both systems the potential gradient prevents the freediffusion of cell cycle and differentiative control proteins,while at the same time reinforcing the transport of acidic precursorstoward the ooplasm. Because of its apparent ability to affectthe distribution of polyions that govern nuclear function, electricalpolarity can also be envisioned to have a more general rolein the control of differentiation. The possibility is consideredthat it serves as a relay mechanism for the non-diffusing determinantthat is already known to govern the differentiation of oocytesfrom nurse cells.     

Immunological studies of insect metamorphosis. II. The role of a sex-limited blood protein in egg formation by the Cecropia silkworm

1. In the pupal stage of the cecropia silkworm, antigen 7, a protein with the solubility characteristics of an albumin, is present in female blood in approximately a thousand times higher concentration than in the blood of males. Antigen 7 is undetectable in the blood of larvae of either sex. It first appears in the blood after the larva has spun its cocoon, and is present throughout all subsequent stages of metamorphosis. Late in the pupal-adult transformation, when the eggs are produced, the concentration of antigen 7 in female blood decreases significantly. 2. An antigen which could not be distinguished from antigen 7 immunologically is present in solution in the yolk of unfertilized eggs. 3. In females which, by ovariectomy, were prevented from forming eggs, the concentration of antigen 7 in the blood increased during the usual period of egg formation rather than undergoing the normal decrease. Ovaries transferred to the hemocoel of males produced eggs but were unable to incorporate antigen 7 in the yolk unless a detectable amount of the protein was present in the blood. The ovaries of polyphemus females which had been transfused with cecropia blood incorporated cecropia antigen 7 into the eggs they produced. These lines of evidence indicate that antigen 7 is secreted into the blood by some tissue other than the ovaries, and that it is subsequently drawn from the blood and deposited in the yolk. 4. The concentration of antigen 7 in the clear, liquid fraction of the yolk is four times higher than the maximum concentration attained in the blood during metamorphosis, and twenty times higher than that of the blood at the conclusion of egg formation. The protein thus appears to be transferred from blood to yolk against a concentration gradient.     

Scaling of follicular sizes in mammalian ovaries

The scaling of ovarian follicle and oocyte sizes according to body weight ( M , ranging from 0005–500 kg) has been analysed using data obtained from 22 mammalian species in nine orders. The diameters of non-growing (primordial) follicles were correlated significantly with body weight, the relationship being described by the allometric formula y = 0028 M ^0.10. The mean size at which growing follicles began to accumulate extracellular fluid was approximately the same in all species, 0–3 mm diameter. Graafian follicle sizes varied allometrically with body weight as a result of differences in the volumes of follicular fluid rather than those of oocytes, which were relatively similar in eutherian mammals. The statistical significance of the correlation between Graafian and body sizes was increased when the dimensions for an ovulatory quota of follicles were combined because follicles in polyovulating species were disproportionately small. The total Graafian surface areas and volumes were then predicted from body weight by 58–4 M ^0.65 and 18–5 M ^1.06, respectively. Follicular dimensions in the three species of primates were significantly greater than predicted by the allometric relationship. The exponents of these relationships show that the total volume of a set of preovulatory follicles varies approximately isometrically with body weight and, therefore, with the presumptive hormone distribution volume ( M ^1.0). The hypoallometric relationship of follicular surface area demonstrates that, during the course of the evolution of body size, the surface area for secretion has not increased to match the dilution of hormones in the body pool.     

Diet of four rock‐dwelling macropods in the Australian monsoon tropics

Abstract An unusually high diversity of macropods inhabit the rocky areas in the monsoon tropics of the Northern Territory, Australia, yet the mechanisms that allow their niche separation are not clear. Previous studies suggest that the nabarlek, Petrogale concinna, may have a more grazing diet than the short‐eared rock‐wallaby, Petrogale brachyotis, with whom it coexists. Thus, diet may be an important mechanism of niche separation between these species. We examined the diet of the four sympatric species (the black wallaroo Macropus bernardus, common wallaroo Macropus robustus, P. brachyotis and P. concinna) to determine whether there are differences in the dominant plant groups eaten by the species across the landscape and with season. Diets were determined with a macroscopic analysis of the seed and fruit content of scats and an analysis of the ¹²C to ¹³C isotope ratios of scats using mass spectrometry. In the dry season the rock‐wallaby species predominantly consumed browse and/or forbs, and the larger wallaroos predominantly consumed grass. However, there was large variation across the landscape in the dry season diets of P. brachyotis, M. bernardus and M. robustus; including high proportions of grass eaten at some sites and high proportions of browse at other sites. In the wet season, greater proportions of grass were eaten by P. brachyotis and M. bernardus than in the dry season. Generally, there was little evidence to support the previous suggestion that P. concinna is more of a grazer than P. brachyotis, but there was some evidence than M. bernardus consumes greater amounts of browse and/or forbs than M. robustus.     

Numbers of follicles and oocytes in mammalian ovaries and their allometric relationships

The numbers of ovarian follicles present in the reserve pool of non-growing ('primordial') stages at the commencement of adult life in 19 species varied allometrically with both body weight ( M , in kg) and with maximum life expectation (L, in years), the mathematical expressions being 27700 M ^0.47 and 820 M ^1.58, respectively. These allometric relationships, which could not be accounted for by differences in reproductive behaviour patterns or ovulation rates, indicate that species differences in the size of the follicular store, perhaps accompanied by more parsimonious utilization, could be a life strategy which guarantees fecundity throughout most of the lifespan. The number of follicles in humans at menarcheal age is commensurate with body size, and follicular deficiency at menopause in mid-life may have therefore arisen adventitiously with lifespan extension.     

H+ V-ATPases Energize Animal Plasma Membranes for Secretion and Absorption of Ions and Fluids

SYNOPSIS. H⁺ V-ATPases are well known energizers of endomembranes;thus they play a key role in the acidification of vacuoles andvesicles. More recently it has become clear that they energizemany plasma membranes as well. In epithelial cells H⁺ V-ATPasesusually energize apical plasma membranes in the same sense thatNa⁺/K⁺ P-ATPases usually energize basolateral plasma membranes.Examples of four fundamental processes so energized will bereviewed—Na⁺ and Cl^– absorption by the frog skin,K⁺ secretion by the caterpillar midgut, fluid secretion by insectMalpighian tubules, and fluid absorption by insect ovarian folliclecells. It is likely that apical membranes of fresh water fishand other animals that live in media in which the concentrationof Na⁺ is low, are also energized by H⁺ V^– ATPases.     

Metapopulation genetic structure in the water vole, Arvicola terrestris, in NE Scotland

The genetic structure of nine colonies of the water vole, Arvicola terrestris , in one area of NE Scotland was studied. Non-destructive samples from 478 individuals (mostly immature animals) were typed for 12 microsatellites. Cases of Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium were frequent within all colonies. The five colonies in the inland part of the study area also showed frequent cases of linkage disequilibrium. All colonies showed high levels of genetic diversity (unbiased H = 0.52-0.74). All five colonies sampled in successive years showed significant annual changes in genetic composition. All colonies showed genetic differentiation from each other, whether measured by average 6, pairwise 9 or pairwise Nei's genetic distance. The spatial pattern of genetic differentiation was consistent with either a stepping-stone model over the whole study area or an island model within the coastal and inland parts and an intervening barrier to gene flow. The study suggested that the genetic structure of colonies of A. terrestris often departs from the equilibrium states assumed by traditional mefhods for the study of gene flow, and that a parentage-based approach would be fruitful.