Variation in levels of reactive oxygen species is explained by maternal identity, sex and body-size-corrected clutch size in a lizard

Many organisms show differences between males and females in growth rate and crucial life history parameters, such as longevity. Considering this, we may expect levels of toxic metabolic by-products of the respiratory chain, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), to vary with age and sex. Here, we analyse ROS levels in female Australian painted dragon lizards (Ctenophorus pictus) and their offspring using fluorescent probes and flow cytometry. Basal level of four ROS species (singlet oxygen, peroxynitrite, superoxide and H₂O₂) measured with a combined marker, and superoxide measured specifically, varied significantly among families but not between the sexes. When blood cells from offspring were chemically encouraged to accelerate the electron transport chain by mitochondrial uncoupling, net superoxide levels were three times higher in daughters than sons (resulting in levels outside of the normal ROS range) and varied among mothers depending on offspring sex (significant interaction between maternal identity and offspring sex). In offspring, there were depressive effects on ROS of size-controlled relative clutch size, which relies directly on circulating levels of vitellogenin, a confirmed antioxidant in some species. Thus, levels of reactive oxygen species varies among females, offspring and in relation to reproductive investment in a manner that makes its regulatory processes likely targets of selection.     

An Upper Cretaceous lizard with a lower temporal arcade

The reduced lower temporal arcade of the skull and the movable quadrate are the most distinctive features of squamates. Up to now, no exception has been documented for any fossil or extant squamates. We report here a new fossil lizard that possesses a complete lower temporal arcade and an unmovable quadrate. The anatomical relationships indicate that those two modifications were secondarily obtained in the new lizard. The complete lower temporal bar and the firm contact between the pterygoid and quadrate may have served as a brace to support the quadrate jaw articulation and thus prevent it from twisting anteriorly rather than posteriorly during the bite cycles. This represents an entirely new pattern of jaw muscle functions within the Squamata.     

Determination of photochemically-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) in natural water

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be produced by interactions between sunlight and light-absorbing substances in natural water environment. ROS may participate in the indirect photolysis of trace organic pollutants, therefore resulting in the changing of their environmental fates and ecological risks in natural water system. Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine-disrupting chemical, exits widely in natural water. The photodegradation of BPA promoted by ROS (·OH, 1O2, HO2·/O2·-) which were produced on the excitation of ubiquitous constituents (such as nitrate ion, humic substances and Fe(III)-oxalate complexes) in natural water under simulated solar radiation was investigated. Both molecular probe method and electron spin resonance (ESR) test were used for the determine the characterization of generated ROS. It was found that ·OH was photochemically produced with the presence of nitrate ion, humic substances and Fe(III)-oxalate complexes and 1O2 was produced with the presence of humic substances. The steady-state concentrations of ·OH was 1.27×10-14 mol/L in nitrate ion, and the second-order rate constant of BPA with ·OH was 1.01×1010L/( mol·s).     

几种重金属对皱纹盘鲍血细活性氧产生的影响

体外条件下利用化学发光法定量地研究了不同种类和不同浓度的重金属:Cr、Cd、Hg、Pb、C和Zn对皱纹盘鲍血细胞吞噬时活性氧产生的影响。结果表明,不同种类和不同浓度的重金属浸泡急性处理皱纹盘鲍血细胞都不同程度地抑制了血细胞吞噬时的化学发光,表明重金属能够抑制皱纹盘鲍血细胞吞噬活动中的活性氧(ROS)的产生,而且这种抑制作用随着重金属浓度的增加而加强。不同的重金属抑制强度不同,从强到弱以次为Hg>Cd>Cu>Pb>Cr>Zn。研究表明六种重金属中,Hg对皱纹盘鲍血细胞的免疫毒性最大。     

Picoplankton and virioplankton abundance and community structure in Pearl River Estuary and Daya Bay,South China

By using flow cytometry techniques, we investigated the abundance and composition of the heterotrophic prokaryotes, virioplankton and picophytoplankton community in the Pearl River Estuary and Daya Bay in the summer of 2012. We identified two subgroups of prokaryotes, high nucleic acid (HNA) and low nucleic acid (LNA), characterized by different nucleic acid contents. HNA abundance was significantly correlated with larger phytoplankton and Synechococcus (Syn) abundance, which suggested the important role of organic substrates released from primary producers on bacterial growth. Although LNA did not show any association with environmental variables, it was a vital component of the microbial community. In contrast to previous studies, the total virioplankton concentration had a poor relationship with nutrient availability. The positive relationship between large-sized phytoplankton abundance and the V–I population confirmed that V–I was a phytoplankton-infecting viral subgroup. Although the V–II group (bacteriophages) was dominant in the virioplankton community, it was not related with prokaryotic abundance, which indicated factors other than hosts controlling V–II abundance or the uncertainty of virus-host coupling. With respect to the picophytoplankton community, our results implied that river input exerted a strong limitation to Syn distribution in the estuary, while picoeukaryotes (Euk) were numerically less abundant and showed a quite different distribution pattern from that of Syn, and hence presented ecological properties distinct from Syn in our two studied areas.     

Possible effect of gestational age on the detection of fetal nucleated erythrocytes in maternal blood

Maternal venous blood samples, obtained from six pregnant women, were used as a source of fetal nucleated erythrocytes (NRBC). Fetal cell enrichment was potentiated by flow sorting with the monoclonal antibodies Tf R, Leu-4, and Leu-M3. Single copy Y chromosomal DNA sequences were detected in samples obtained from two women at 11 and 12 weeks' gestation. Y DNA sequences were absent in a subsequent sample from one of these women at 19 weeks and in two other women at 16 and 20 weeks. All four women delivered males. Y DNA sequences were not detected in two women who delivered females. By combining these results with prior data on the detection of Y chromosomal DNA sequences in maternal blood from male-bearing pregnancies, a relationship between gestational age and feta-maternal transfer of NRBC is suggested.