Paternal expenditure is related to brood sex ratio in polygynous great reed warblers

In many polygynous animals, parents invest more heavily in individual sons than in daughters. However, it is unclear if these differences in investment are a consequence of sex differences in the demand of offspring related to sexual size dimorphism or a consequence of parental manipulation. Here, we report on parental food delivery frequency in relation to brood size and brood sex ratio in a wild population of polygynous great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus. We used the polymorphic microsatellite loci on the Z chromosome to sex chicks. We found that paternal feeding frequency (times/h per nest) increased not with brood size, but with the proportion of males in the brood, although the demand per nest was more closely related to brood size than to brood sex ratio. Additionally, the increase in rate of paternal feeding frequency in relation to the brood sex ratio was much higher than the increase in rate of nestling food demands. Maternal feeding frequency was independent of both brood size and brood sex ratio. These results strongly suggest that fathers preferentially invest in their sons. We propose that parents can afford sex-biased parental care in animals in which food provisioning is enough for all offspring to survive. Received: 22 January 1996/Accepted after revision: 30 June 1996     

Extra-pair paternity in willow ptarmigan broods: measuring costs of polygyny to males

Willow ptarmigan are one of only three monogamous grouse species in North America. However, in some populations between 5 and 20% of individuals pair polygynously. It has been suggested that monogamy may be maintained by the high cost of polygyny to males. We have used DNA fingerprinting to assess the actual reproductive success of both monogamous and polygynous adults. We determined whether or not the putative parents were the biological parents of the chicks from 38 broods. Of these clutches 30 were from monogamous matings, and 8 were from bigamous matings. Of the 207 chicks from monogamous matings 96% were within-pair offspring, compared to 67% of the 49 chicks from bigamous matings. All extra-pair offspring chicks resulted from extra-pair fertilizations (EPFs), and there were no instances of intraspecific nest parasitism. Mate guarding by monogamous males seems to be a highly effective method for maintaining genetic monogamy, as the only cases in which EPFs occurred were when the resident female left the territory for a few days or when a second female visited the territory. Our results support the notion that certainty of parentage may be one factor constraining willow ptarmigan males to be monogamous.     

Prenatal diagnosis of Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy

Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD) is characterized by infantile hypotonia, symmetrical generalized muscle weakness, and neuronal migration disturbances that result in changes consistent with cobblestone lissencephaly with cerebral and cerebellar cortical dysplasia. FCMD is recognized as an autosomal recessive genetic defect. Genetic counselling is recommended for parents at risk of having a child with FCMD. Given the high risk and overwhelming prospect of having another child with this incurable devastating condition leads many couples to consider prenatal diagnosis. In Japanese families, haplotype analysis using microsatellite markers is available. In non-Japanese families, DNA sequence analysis is available. Both disease-causing alleles of an affected family member must be identified before prenatal testing can be performed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

低剂量镉诱导细胞氧化损伤的机理研究

镉是一种有毒重金属,能诱导酿酒酵母的氧化损伤.为了研究低剂量镉诱导细胞氧化损伤的作用,通过有葡萄糖和无葡萄糖的酵母培养基,用浓度2 μmol/L和10 μmol/L的CdCl2染毒酿酒酵母10 h后,统计酿酒酵母细胞的存活率,并用HPLC-EC法测定酿酒酵母线粒体DNA中8-OH-dG/105dG比值.结果表明:无葡萄糖条件下,10μmol/L的CdCl2染毒时酿酒酵母对Cd2 的耐受性比有葡萄糖时明显高(P＜0.01),而且线粒体DNA氧化损伤程度也明显低(P＜0 01);但2 μmol/L的CdCl2染毒时,酿酒酵母对Cd2 的耐受性和线粒体DNA氧化损伤程度与有葡萄糖条件下相比差异不显著(P＞0.05).因此,本文认为低浓度Cr主要对酿酒酵母细胞质中蛋白造成氧化损伤,浓度升高时则对线粒体DNA也产生氧化损伤.     

Genetic monogamy in the common loon (Gavia immer)

We conducted behavioral observations and genetic analysis on breeding pairs of common loons in the upper Great Lakes region from 1993 through 1995 to look for behavioral evidence of extrapair copulations (EPCs) and to determine parentage of young. Pairs remained close to each other (usually within 20 m) during the pre-laying period, leaving little opportunity for EPCs to occur. Males and females both maintained physical proximity by approaching each other when they became separated. Copulations were obvious but infrequent, occurring about once every other day during the pre-laying period. Multilocus DNA fingerprinting was consistent with behavioral findings: 58 young from 47 different families were all genetic offspring of parents that raised them. Perfect genetic monogamy (genetic parentage of young by parents that rear them) in loons might arise as a consequence of the need for vigorous territorial defense to prevent territorial takeover. Received: 8 August 1996 / Accepted after revision: 22 March 1997     

Sexual selection and cuckoldry in a monogamous songbird: implications for sexual selection theory

Sexual selection is generally assumed to be weaker in monogamous than in polygynous animals. Recently, though, extra-pair fertilizations have been hailed as an important force in generating variance in reproductive success among males in socially monogamous species, thereby increasing the intensity of sexual selection. To see if extra-pair copulations contribute to variance in male reproductive success in the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), we used DNA fingerprinting to determine the paternity of chicks from 35 nests. This species is a socially monogamous passerine in which plumage brightness serves as a sexually selected indicator of male quality. Out of 119, nestlings 10 (8.3%) were fathered by a male other than the attending male, but cuckoldry occurred randomly with respect to the plumage colouration, size, or age of the attending male. Thus extra-pair fertilizations do not generate variance in male reproductive success with respect to plumage colour. On the other hand, a strongly male-biased sex ratio and asynchronous breeding by females may generate substantial variance in male reproductive success and could explain the evolution of ornamental colouration.     

Determinants of male mating success in the red bishop (Euplectes orix)

We studied sexual selection in the red bishop, Euplectes orix, a colonial, polygynous weaverbird widely distributed over sub-Saharan Africa. Male reproductive success measured in terms of the number of nests accepted by females and the number of eggs and nestlings in all the nests on a male's territory varied considerably. The standardized variance (variance/mean²) in male reproductive success ranged from 0.505 to 1.737 in different years, indicating a high potential for sexual selection in this species. An analysis of genetic parentage for 432 nestlings by non-radioactive, multilocus DNA fingerprinting confirmed that male reproductive success (number of young sired on the territory) in this species can be reliably estimated by the measures introduced above. In all 4 study years there was a strong positive correlation between male mating success and the total number of nests that males built in their territories. The number of nests built can be partitioned into the number of weeks a male held a territory and his nest-building performance. Both factors exert a significant positive effect on male mating success and in combination explained between 53.3 and 86.3% of the variation in male reproductive success. Male morphological characters were found to be of no importance. Males that established a territory in the following season built more nests and held their territories for longer than males that did not establish a territory in the following season, suggesting that these measures might be indicators of male condition and quality. Male nest-building performance (number of nests built per week) seems to be unrelated to male condition or quality. Received: 8 January 1999 / Received in revised form: 7 June 1999 / Accepted: 13 June 1999     

彗星试验技术在水生与土壤环境中的毒理学应用

彗星试验是一种检测真核细胞脱氧核糖核酸(DNA)损伤的技术,快速、低成本、适用于几乎所有真核细胞,因此常应用于遗传毒理学、辐射生物学、肿瘤细胞学、毒性检测等方面。尤其以灵敏度高、检测联合毒性的特点大量运用于环境研究中。主要介绍彗星试验方法学发展历程,彗星试验的原理及其在环境领域中的应用,并指出应用中的受限因素以及未来的发展前景,为今后进一步推广该试验技术提供理论上的指导与参考。     

酚类化合物对不同组织细胞DNA损伤的研究

应用单细胞凝胶电泳技术 ,研究了酚类化合物对不同组织细胞DNA的损伤 .试验结果表明 ,酚类化合物均能引起不同组织细胞不同程度的DNA损伤 ,并呈现剂量效应关系 .其高剂量组与对照组相比 ,均有极显著性差异 (P <0 0 1 ) .不同组织细胞对同一种药物呈现出不同的敏感性 .酚类化合物遗传毒性效应与其结构密切相关