Socio-ecological correlates of neophobia in corvids

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Studies on evolutionary and selective properties of hypercycles using a Monte Carlo method

Summary The most relevant properties of hypercycles were previously studied mainly from a theoretical point of view. We have developed a Monte Carlo method simulating hypercyclic organization to obtain information about the dynamics of this prebiotic organization. Nucleation, growth, and selective properties have been tested and the results obtained are in good agreement with those of the theoretical predictions. The influence of hypercyclic organization of the error threshold has also been studied. As a consequence of the emergence of a hypercycle, the value of this threshold decreases. The amount of this decrease depends on the population size. Moreover, for some interval of quality factor values, either the hypercycle organization or an error catastrophe can be produced, depending on the initial conditions. The influence of these phenomena on both the dynamic behavior and evolutionary advantages of the hypercycle, as well as their decisive roles on genome size, are discussed.Presented at the FEBS Symposium on Genome Organization and Evolution, held in Crete, Greece, September 1–5, 1986     

Response of Soybean to Heterodera glycines Races 1 and 2 in Different Soil Types

Experiments were conducted for 3 years at four locations and 1 year with six soil types at a common location in North Carolina to determine damage and control-cost functions for Heterodera glycines races 1 and 2 on soybean. In the experiments on native loamy sand and sandy soils, tolerance limits for initial population densities were 0 or very low, whereas in a muck, the tolerance limit was 315 eggs/500 cm³ soil. The aggressive race 2 was more damaging than race 1 in Lakeland sand and Norfolk loamy sand. The crop response was not different between races in the Appling sandy clay loam and Belhaven muck. Soybean yield responses to H. glycines were linear in six soil types in microplots at a common site. The amount of damage varied among these soil types, with lowest yields in the muck because of severe drought stress in this soil. An exponential function adequately described soybean yield response relative to nematode control with increasing rates of aldicarb in Norfolk loamy sand. Treatment with aldicarb in the Lakeland sand decreased the effective egg population of H. glycines but had only a minor effect in the muck.     

Fertile heteroallelic combinations of mutant alleles of the otu locus of Drosophila melanogaster

Summary This paper describes the ovarian pathologies observed when 108 different heteroallelic combinations were made involving 17 independent mutations at the ovarian tumor (otu) locus. Most of the mutant phenotypes can be explained as graded responses by individual germ cells to different levels of functionally active otu gene product (OGP) synthesized by the mutant cells themselves. The lowest and highest levels of OGP appear to be produced by otu ¹⁰ and otu ¹⁴, respectively. In most heteroallelic ovaries the alleles have additive effects, and hybrid germ cells reach a developmental stage more advanced than the weaker homozygote but less advanced than the stronger homozygote. However, examples of both positive and negative complementation also have been found, and these suggest that the products encoded by different mutant alleles can combine to form dimers or multimers which may be superior or inferior to the homodimers. In flies homozygous for otu ¹¹ most ovarioles contain tumors, but some germ cells are able to develop further than those in otu ¹⁴ homozygotes. This suggests that, while otu ¹¹ produces intermediate levels of OGP, it also produces a second product (which otu ¹⁴ cannot make) that is utilized at the period in oogenesis when development in cells homozygous for otu ¹⁴ is blocked. When otu ¹¹ is combined with any one of eight specific alleles, it allows oocyte/nurse cell syncytia to differentiate that can complete development and undergo embryogenesis, if fertilized. The endopolyploid nurse cells of these hybrids have giant polytene chromosomes, and the presence of GPCs in functionally active, germ-line derived cells provides an interesting new system for experimental study. Analysis of the characteristic ovarian pathologies produced by flies of different genotypes leads to the conclusion that the products of the otu ⁺ gene are utilized during at least six different periods in Drosophila oogenesis.     

冷冻或切除小脑蚓部山顶(Culmen)对豚鼠“踏步自动作用”(Stepping automatism)的影响

本研究探讨部分冷冻或切除小脑蚓部(vermis)对整体豚鼠“踏步自动作用”(steppingautomatism)的影响。“踏步自动作用”由我们近年来发现的诱发踏步物质(SIS)(4-R-2,2,5,5-四(三氟甲基)-咪唑啉)所引起。结果表明部分冷冻或切除小脑蚓部的山顶(culmen,Ⅴ和Ⅳ叶)和中央叶(Centralis,Ⅲa,b)明显增强豚鼠的“踏步自动作用”。冷冻小脑不能触发,但仅能调控“踏步自动作用”。这种调控作用对自动化程度差的弱“踏步自动作用”特别显著。蚓部山顶(Ⅴ叶为主)同时调控左右前肢踏步,而一侧蚓部山顶及其半球则主要调控同侧前肢踏步。此外,本研究的结果表明当介面温度(冷冻头和小脑幕间)致冷至5℃—0℃左右,冷冻小脑便可基本模拟部分切除小脑效应。     

Energetics of syntrophic ethanol oxidation in defined chemostat cocultures

The ethanol-oxidizing, proton-reducing Pelobacter acetylenicus was grown in chemostat cocultures with either Acetobacterium woodii, Methanobacterium bryantii, or Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. Stable steady state conditions with tightly coupled growth were reached at various dilution rates between 0.02 and 0.14 h^-1. Both ethanol and H₂ steady state concentrations increased with growth rate and were lower in cocultures with the sulfate reducer < methanogen < homoacetogen. Due to the higher affinity for H₂, D. desulfuricans outcompeted M. bryantii, and this one A. woodii when inoculated in cocultures with P. acetylenicus. Cocultures with A. woodii had lower H₂ steady state concentrations when bicarbonate reduction was replaced by the energetically more favourable caffeate reduction. Similarly, cocultures with D. desulfuricans had lower H₂ concentrations with nitrate than with sulfate as electron acceptor. The Gibbs free energy (G) available to the H₂-producing P. acetylenicus was independent of growth rate and the H₂-utilizing partner, whereas the G available to the latter increased with growth rate and the energy yielding potential of the H₂ oxidation reaction. The critical Gibbs free energy (G_c), i.e. the minimum energy required for H₂ production and H₂ oxidation, was-5.5 to-8.0 kJ mol^-1 H₂ for P. acetylenicus,-5.1 to-6.3 kJ mol^-1 H₂ for A. woodii,-7.5 to-9.1 kJ mol^-1 H₂ for M. bryantii, and-10.3 to-12.3 kJ mol^-1 H₂ for D. desulfuricans. Obviously, the potentially available energy was used more efficiently by homoacetogens > methanogens > sulfate reducers.     

Ischemic flow threshold for striatal dopamine release in rats

To determine the level of cerebral blood flow reduction which causes striatal dopamine release, extracellular dopamine and cerebral blood flow was simultaneously determined using in vivo brain dialysis and a hydrogen clearance method, respectively, in the striatum of spontaneously hypertensive rats, before and during experimental cerebral ischemia. The ischemic flow threshold for neurotransmitter dopamine release was found to be 20% of the resting value or 8–10 ml/100g/min of cerebral blood flow, being similar to those for energy and membrane failures.