Distinguishing kinds of prior dominance and subordination experiences in males of green swordtail fish (Xiphophorus helleri)

In experiments, there are usually two general ways of obtaining dominants and subordinates to test for the effect of recent experience upon ulterior behavior and dominance. One is to ‘impose’ such an experience on the contestants by a priori deciding which individual of the pair will become the dominant and which will become the subordinate through the use of rigged contests. The second technique is to let contestants ‘self-select’ the winner and loser by waiting for the spontaneous outcome of dyadic encounters between two usually well matched opponents. These two techniques of obtaining dominants and subordinates probably represent extreme cases on a single continuum of investment made by animals to settle dominance. To test this, we compared dominants and subordinates obtained from these two techniques in Xiphophorus fish males. It was found that pairs obtained through rigged contest (R) were much more aggressive in subsequent encounters than pairs in which the dominant and subordinate could self-select (S). They recuperated more rapidly from handling, initiated contact earlier, took more time to assess each other, and fought for a longer period of time. Prior-winners and prior-losers of the R condition more frequently relied on aggressive behavior during contest than that of the S condition. As a consequence, prior-winners and prior-losers of the R condition won equally the subsequent contest. On the contrary, prior-winners of the S condition defeated their prior-loser opponent in a majority of cases. These results can be tentatively explained by the following principle, winning or losing against a well matched opponent would leave more ‘experience’ than winning over a much weaker opponent, or losing to a much stronger one. This reinforces the hypothesis that prior-experiences are not qualitative states but come in various degrees.     

Gonadal hormones modulate the display of conditioned defeat in male Syrian hamsters

It has been widely reported that gonadal hormones influence the display of aggression in Syrian hamsters; conversely, much less is known about whether gonadal hormones modulate submissive/defensive behaviors in these animals. Following social defeat, male hamsters no longer display normal territorial aggression but instead display submissive/defensive behavior in the presence of a smaller opponent, a phenomenon we have termed conditioned defeat (CD). The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of gonadal hormones on the display of CD in male hamsters. In Experiment 1, males were castrated or sham-operated. The castrated males were significantly more submissive following social defeat relative to their intact counterparts. The increased submissive behavior in the castrated males during CD testing was particularly surprising, given the fact that they were attacked significantly less during CD training. In Experiment 2a, males were castrated and given hormone replacement. Castrated males treated with testosterone or dihydrotestosterone displayed significantly less submissive behavior following social defeat than did those treated with cholesterol or estradiol. Finally, in Experiment 2b, there was no effect of hormone replacement on aggressive behavior in non-defeated hamsters suggesting that the decrease in submissive behavior in males treated with dihydrotestosterone or testosterone is specific to being previously defeated. Taken together the data indicate that the presence of androgens reduces the display of submission in defeated male hamsters. More importantly, these findings suggest that androgens may have a protective effect against the development of depression-like or anxiety-like behaviors following exposure to an ethologically relevant stressor.     

Estradiol effects on behavior and serum oxytocin are modified by social status and polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene in female rhesus monkeys

Despite the well-documented relation between estradiol (E2) and behavior, exposure to stressors may modify sensitivity to E2. The effects of E2 on behavior are, in part, likely related to their modulation of the serotonin (5HT) and oxytocin systems. The short allele (s-variant) polymorphism found in the promoter region of the SLC6A4 gene that encodes the 5HT transporter (5HTT) modulates responsivity to stressors. The current study used ovariectomized adult female rhesus monkeys to evaluate how exposure to the psychosocial stressor of social subordination and polymorphisms in the gene encoding 5HTT influence the behavioral effects of E2 and immunoreactive serum oxytocin. Dominant females had higher levels of oxytocin than subordinate animals even though E2 increased immunoreactive serum oxytocin in all females. E2 increased affiliative behaviors in all animals, with even more of these prosocial behaviors directed at dominant females. S-variant females, regardless of social status, were more aggressive toward more subordinate cage mates and these behaviors too were increased by E2. Subordinate s-variant females are most often involved in agonistic behavior, less affiliative behavior, and were less responsive to the anxiolytic action of E2. The results show that the short allele of the 5HTT gene synergizes with psychosocial stress exposure to affect the behavioral efficacy of E2 while confirming the actions of E2 for producing generalized behavioral arousal in females. Whether differences in the central action of 5HT and/or oxytocin are responsible for this effect requires further study.     

Chronic stress aggravates glucose intolerance in leptin receptor-deficient (db/db) mice

Genetic predisposition and environmental challenges interact to determine individual vulnerability to obesity and type 2 diabetes. We previously established a mouse model of chronic subordination stress-induced hyperphagia, obesity, metabolic like-syndrome and insulin resistance in the presence of a high-fat diet. However, it remains to be established if social stress could also aggravate glucose intolerance in subjects genetically predisposed to develop obesity and type 2 diabetes. To answer this question, we subjected genetically obese mice due to deficiency of the leptin receptor (db/db strain) to chronic subordination stress. Over five weeks, subordination stress in db/db mice led to persistent hyperphagia, hyperglycemia and exacerbated glucose intolerance altogether suggestive of an aggravated disorder when compared to controls. On the contrary, body weight and fat mass were similarly affected in stressed and control mice likely due to the hyperactivity shown by subordinate mice. Stressed db/db mice also showed increased plasma inflammatory markers. Altogether our results suggest that chronic stress can aggravate glucose intolerance but not obesity in genetically predisposed subjects on the basis of a disrupted leptin circuitry.     

PEG胁迫条件下41份陆地棉种质资源萌发特性研究及其抗旱性综合评价

摘要：干旱是一种广泛存在且严重影响作物及棉花的产量的一种自然灾害。本实验采用15%PEG6000竖直滤纸法对41份陆地棉种子进行萌发期抗旱性进行研究,分别测定在胁迫条件下及清水对照条件下的发芽势、发芽率、3天芽长、3天芽重、7天下胚轴长、7天胚根长、胚根长/胚芽长、芽长生长率等8个指标,结果表明,这8个指标在PEG6000胁迫条件下,均比对照降低,除3天芽重外,41个材料的变异系数均大大增加,说明陆地棉种子萌发受15%PEG6000的抑制,且材料间受抑制程度差异较大。同时计算出胁迫条件下与对照条件的相对值,通过对这8个指标的相对值进行方差分析和主成分分析,筛选出相对发芽势、相对发芽率、相对7天下胚轴长、相对7天胚根长、相对胚根长/胚芽长、芽长生长率等7个指标与陆地棉萌发期抗旱性有关。利用这7个指标对41个陆地棉材料进行隶属函数分析和相关性分析,并以平均隶属函数值代表抗旱性强弱,平均隶属函数值越大,抗旱性越强,结果表明,相对7天胚根长与平均隶属函数值存在着极显著的正相关（r=0.839**）,同时筛选出陆地棉萌发期抗旱性较强的材料有7份：冀668、鲁棉研21、9409选系、DP99B、创棉22、sGK中980、邯177,抗旱性中等的材料有10份：中23A-12、中23A抗棉F12、中棉所35、冀1286、GKZ19F6、双豫97-2067、光籽2、耐高温-2、中S9612、光籽1。 关键词：萌发期;棉花抗旱性;主成份分析;隶属函数法     

不同花生品种(系)萌发期抗旱性鉴定评价

以发芽势、发芽率、发芽指数、胚根长、胚轴长、幼芽长、幼苗鲜/干重的相对值为指标,通过PEG6000模拟干旱处理,对15份花生品种(系)进行萌发期抗旱性鉴定。结果显示,胁迫处理初期,低浓度处理对种子萌发有促进作用,随着胁迫处理时间的延长及胁迫处理浓度的升高,种子萌发受抑制程度增强。除相对幼芽长以外,其他相对指标都和品种综合抗旱能力呈极显著正相关。通过隶属函数法结合抗旱分级标准筛选出泰花4号、徐花13号、泰0125、泰0005等4份抗旱品种,泰花5号、濮花28、中花16等3份中抗材料,表明该方法可以作为一种快速、简便的鉴定花生萌发期抗旱性的方法。