Do male golden egg bugs carry eggs they have fertilized? A microsatellite analysis

In the golden egg bug, Phyllomorpha laciniata (Heteroptera,Coreidae), both males and females carry eggs on their back.Although females cannot carry their own eggs, males may carryeggs that they have fertilized. If males carry eggs they havefertilized, their behavior may be interpreted as paternal care.In this article, we provide genetic data for paternity assignmentof eggs carried by 40 males collected from the field. The malesand the eggs were typed by using four highly polymorphic microsatelliteDNA markers. Out of the 247 eggs typed, 87% were excluded fromthe father-offspring relationship based on single-locus (leastconservative exclusion) mismatches. Under the more conservative(exclusion by at least two single locus mismatches) method,78% of the eggs were nonpaternal. Relatedness estimates furthersupported our paternity analyses. The average relatedness ofthe eggs to the carrying males was low (b_em = -0.052 ±0.024 SE). Within the population, males were unrelated to eachother (b_mm = -0.004 ± 0.0002 SE), as were the eggs carriedby individual males (b_eggs = -0.004 ± 0.0001 SE). Thisfirst genetic study on the breeding system of the golden eggbugs did not find any support for the claim that egg carryingfunctioned as paternal care, nor did it support kin selectionas explanation for conspecific egg carrying.     

菊科菊苣族3属5种植物的核型报道

采用常规压片法研究了菊科(Compositae)假福王草属(Paraprenanthes Chang ex Shih)、翅果菊属(PterocypselaShih)和紫菊属(Notoseris Shih)3属5种植物的染色体数目及核型,其中林生假福王草(Paraprenanthes diversifolia)的核型为首次报道。结果表明,该5种植物的染色体数目均为2n=18,核型结果分别为林生假福王草2n=8m+10sm(2SAT);翅果菊(Pterocypsela indica)2n=4m+10sm+4st;光苞紫菊(Notoseris macilenta)2n=10m+8sm(2SC);三花紫菊(Notoseris triflora)2n=10m(2SAT)+8sm;南川紫菊(Notoseris porphyrolepis)2n=12m(2SC)+6sm;林生假福王草和紫菊属4个种的核型为"2A"型,翅果菊的核型为"3A"型。     

Sperm competition mechanisms,confidence of paternity,and the evolution of paternal care in the golden egg bug (Phyllomorpha laciniata)

Theoretical models predict how paternal effort should vary depending on confidence of paternity and on the trade-offs between present and future reproduction. In this study we examine patterns of sperm precedence in Phyllomorpha laciniata and how confidence of paternity influences the willingness of males to carry eggs. Female golden egg bugs show a flexible pattern of oviposition behavior, which results in some eggs being carried by adults (mainly males) and some being laid on plants, where mortality rates are very high. Adults are more vulnerable to predators when carrying eggs; thus, it has been suggested that males should only accept eggs if there are chances that at least some of the eggs will be their true genetic offspring. We determined the confidence of paternity for naturally occurring individuals and its variation with the time. Paternity of eggs fertilized by the last males to mate with females previously mated in the field has been determined using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). The exclusion probability was 98%, showing that AFLP markers are suitable for paternity assignment. Sperm mixing seems the most likely mechanism of sperm competition, because the last male to copulate with field females sires an average of 43% of the eggs laid during the next five days. More importantly, the proportion of eggs sired does not change significantly during that period. We argue that intermediate levels of paternity can select for paternal care in this system because: (1) benefits of care in terms of offspring survival are very high; (2) males have nothing to gain from decreasing their parental effort in a given reproductive event because sperm mixing makes it difficult for males to reach high paternity levels and males are left with no cues to assess paternity; (3) males cannot chose to care for their offspring exclusively because they can neither discriminate their own eggs, nor can they predict when their own eggs will be produced; and (4) males suffer no loss of further matings with other females when they carry eggs. Thus, our findings do not support the traditional view that paternal investment is expected to arise only in species where confidence of paternity is high. The results suggest that females maximize the chances that several males will accept eggs at different times by promoting a mechanism of sperm mixing that ensures that all males that have copulated with a female have some chance of fathering offspring, that this probability remains constant with time, and that males have no cues as to when their own offspring will be produced.     

三峡库区部分翅果菊属植物应用研究

1998～1999年在成都、万县两地对1996～1997年在三峡库区的云阳、涪陵等10县市考察采集的翅果菊属植物进行了种植观察,对部分翅果菊植物进行了营养分析.结果表明,三峡库区的多裂翅果菊、翅果菊和大头翅果菊营养价值高,产量不低,抗逆力强,主要采收食用期在盛夏绿叶类蔬菜十分缺乏的季节(7～8月),其应用价值高.鉴于口感性原因,大头翅果菊应用价值最高,可在生产上推广.     

Male brood care without paternity increases mating success

We investigate under which conditions we can expect the evolutionof costly male care for unrelated offspring, when the benefitof such care is in the form of increased mating success. Thisapplies to male helping behavior that cannot be explained aspaternal care because the male's own offspring does not benefitfrom his behavior. Our model shows that caring for others' offspringcan be a stable strategy for males, if a male that does not"help" loses mating opportunities, for example if females discriminateagainst non-helping males as mating partners. This is possiblewhen females are polyandrous. Increasing population densitydecreases the parameter region where male care is stable. Malecare is also more likely to be stable when male mortality rateis higher than that of females. We discuss the results withspecial reference to the golden egg bug Phyllomorpha laciniata,where females lay eggs on conspecifics, often on males beforemating. Males therefore carry mostly unrelated eggs. We investigatehow oviposition rate and female mating rate influences whenegg carrying is an evolutionary stable strategy. We concludethat in the golden egg bug, male egg carrying could be explainedas a form of mating investment.     

Stomatal behavior of ozone-sensitive and -insensitive coneflowers (Rudbeckia laciniata var. digitata) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

* Morphological and physiological attributes were assessed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of ozone (O(3)) sensitivity in a highly sensitive species, cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata var. digitata). * Foliage at the same height in the canopy on paired O(3)-sensitive and -insensitive cutleaf coneflowers was assessed for level of foliar symptoms, stomatal density, stomatal responsiveness to dynamic changes in light and leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit (VPD), steady-state responses to light and CO(2), intrinsic transpirational efficiency, and plant water balance. * There were no morphological differences between the sensitivity types that might have contributed to greater O(3) uptake in sensitive individuals. Stomata of sensitive plants were less responsive than those of insensitive plants to experimentally increased and decreased light intensities, and to increased VPD. O(3)-insensitive plants had greater intrinsic transpirational efficiencies, greater maximum assimilation rates under saturating CO(2) and light, and greater carboxylation rates. * Different physiological attributes vary independently within an individual plant, which collectively confer sensitivity or insensitivity to O(3) injury.     

多裂翅果菊的挥发油成分

用GC/MS联用技术分离鉴定河南桐柏产多裂翅果菊 (Pterocypselalaciniata)挥发油的化学成分 ,应用峰面积归一化法测定各组分的相对含量 ,共鉴定出 3 5种化合物 ,占挥发油总量的 79.0 3 % ,主要为长链脂肪烃和萜烯类及其含氧衍生物等。     

Elevated nitrogen deposition may advance invasive weed,Solidago canadensis,in calcareous soils

Aims Change in nitrogen (N) availability regulates phosphorus (P) acquisition and potentially alters the competition among native species and invasive weeds. This study determines how current and projected N deposition affect the growth, the intraspecific and interspecific competitive ability of native and invasive plants in calcareous soils with low P availability.     

Paternity analysis in the golden egg bug using AFLPs: do the males preferentially accept their true genetic offspring?

Abstract.  1. The evolution of parental care and intraspecific parasitism involve conflicts of interest between mothers and other potential care givers who contribute to enhance offspring survival. In the golden egg bug, Phyllomorpha laciniata Villers (Heteroptera: Coreidae), females lay eggs on conspecifics and on plants. The adaptive significance of egg carrying in this species has been the subject of some controversy, which can only be resolved by determining the genetic relationship between the eggs and the adult who carries them. This study examined whether male acceptance of true genetic offspring occurs with a higher frequency than that expected from random oviposition on conspecifics.
2. Paternity analysis, using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers, was conducted on eggs carried by males housed with field-mated females.
3. Out of the total number of eggs sired by males in the experimental groups, the proportion of eggs carried by males that were their true genetic offspring was 30.8%.
4. Monte Carlo methods show that the probability of a male accepting an egg that is his true genetic offspring is higher than expected if females dumped eggs on males at random.
5. These results suggest that paternal care plays an important role in the maintenance of male egg carrying in this species. In addition, the methodology developed may become useful in determining true genetic parents in other species in which neither the father nor the mother can be determined by observational methods.     

Revision of Lactuca L. and Two New Genera of Tribe Lactuceae (Compositae) on the Mainland of Asia (Cont.)

Having mixed extremely various patterns of achenes for a long time in the genus Lactuca L., especially showed in the classification of it on the mainland of Asia, Lactuca L., the primary unnatural genus, becomes more nuclear in its limit. The present paper makes a revision to attempt providing a clear cline between Lactuca L. and its relative genera. On my opinion, only plants, represented by Lactuca sativa L., which have ovoid capitulum during its fruiting, numerous (7-25), yellow ligular florets and longitudinal 1-10 ribs or striae on each side of achenes, acute into filiform beak at its apex, should be defined as Lactuca L. In view of the present concept of Lactuca L., another group of plants, embodied by Lactuca indica L., having its broadening, thin winged-margin of, 1-3 striae on each side of achenes, black, dorsi-ventral compressed, acute into thick and short beak at its apex, evidently, should not be placed into Lactuca L., but be regarded as genus, i.e. Pterocypsela Shih, gen. nov. Pterocypsela Shih distributes in Eastern and southern Asia, where Lactuca L. does not occur. In China there is all of species, seven species, of Pterocypsela Shih. They are P. raddeana (Maxim.) Shih, P. indica (L.) Shih, P. elata (Hemsl.) Shih P. lacciniata (Houtt.) Shih, P. triangulata (Maxim.) Shih, P. sonchus (Lévl.) Shih and P. formosana (Maxim.) Shih, But in Mediterranean regions and Middle and Western Asia mainly distributes Lactu ca L., in which there are only seven species from western China, Xijiang autonomic district. They are L. dolichophylla Kitam., L. sativa L., L. altaica Fisch. et Mey., L. serriola Torner, L. dissecta Don, L. auriculata DC. and L. undulata Ledb. With the combination of violet-purple ligular florets non-ovoid capitulum during its fruiting, a little thick achenes, acuminate into longer. or short beak at its apex and 4-6 ribs on each side of it, Mulgedium tataricum (L.) DC. is evidently different from Lactuca sativa L. with combination of ovoid capitulum during its fruiting, yellow ligular florets and compres sed achenes, acute into filiform beak at its apex. There seems to be no point in refusing Mu lgedium Cass. as a genus. Strictly speak, Mulgedium Cass. seems to be reminiscent of Para prenanthes Chang (see bellow) without beak at the apex of its achenes. In Hengduan moun tains and mountain range of Himalayas M. tataricum (L.) DC. discoveries its relative par tners. They are M. bracteatum (Mook. f. ex. C. B. Clarke) Shih, M. lessertianum (Wall. ex C. B. Clarke) DC., M. monocephalum (Chang) Shih, M. umbrosum (Dunn) Shih, M. meridionale Shih and M. polypodifolium (Franch.) Shih. Having broadering and thickening margin and 4-7 striae on each side of achenes, grey, dorsi-ventral compressed, truncate and beakless at its apex, Lactuca sibirica (L.) Benth. ex Maxim. (Sonchus sibiricus L.) is not only different from Lactuca sativa L. with the combination of yellow ligular florets and filiform beak at apex of its achenes, but also from the genus Mulgedium Cass. with beak at apex of its achenes. Therefore, Lagedium Sojak, established by J. Sojak (1961), should be restored. It should be point out that Lagedium Sojak is monotypic genus excluding Mulgedium tataricum (L.) DC. with beak at the apex of its achenes, non-marginated. Lagedium Sojak widely distributes in temperate and frigid zone ofvnorthern hemisphere. In our country, Lagedium sibiricum (L.) Sojak, sole species of the genus, restricts its northeast region. Paraprenanthes Chang, the new genus, established by Ch. Ch. Chang (1950) based on Lactuca sororia Miq. and Lactuca yunnanensis Franch. seems to be a distinct genus. This genus is characterized by 4-6 ribs on each side of achenes, black, fusiform, a little thick and beakless at its apex. Besides above-mentioned two species, assigned by Chang, in forest of tropic and subtropic zones on the mainland of Asia there are many species with same structure in achenes like L. sororia Miq. and L. yunnanensis Franch. The genus Paraprenanthes Chang seems to be reminiscants of Mulgedium Cass. and Lagedium Sojak, but differs from the former in its beakless achenes, from the later in its non-marginated achenes and 4-6 ribs on each side of it. In our country, there are all species of the genus known in the tropic and subtropic zones on the mainland of Asia. They are P. sororia (Miq.) Shih, P. yunnanensis (Franch.) Shih, P. longiloba Ling et Shih, sp. nov., P. heptontha Shih et D. J. Liou, sp. nov., P. prenanthoides (Hemsl.) Shih, P. pilipes (Migo) Shih, P. thirionii (Lévl.) Shih, P. sylvicola Shih., sp. nov., P. multiformis Shih, sp. nov., P. auriculiformis Shih, sp. nov. and P. sagittiformis Shih, sp. nov.