Use of genetic,climatic, and microbiological data to inform reintroduction of a regionally extinct butterfly

Species reintroductions are increasingly used as means of mitigating biodiversity loss. Besides habitat quality at the site targeted for reintroduction, the choice of source population can be critical for success. The butterfly Melanargia russiae (Esper´s marbled white) was extirpated from Hungary over 100 years ago, and a reintroduction program has recently been approved. We used museum specimens of this butterfly, mitochondrial DNA data (mtDNA), endosymbiont screening, and climatic‐similarity analyses to determine which extant populations should be used for its reintroduction. The species displayed 2 main mtDNA lineages across its range: 1 restricted to Iberia and southern France (Iberian lineage) and another found throughout the rest of its range (Eurasian lineage). These 2 lineages possessed highly divergent wsp alleles of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia. The century‐old Hungarian specimens represented an endemic haplotype belonging to the Eurasian lineage, differing by one mutation from the Balkan and eastern European populations. The Hungarian populations of M. russiae occurred in areas with a colder and drier climate relative to most sites with extant known populations. Our results suggest the populations used for reintroduction to Hungary should belong to the Eurasian lineage, preferably from eastern Ukraine (genetically close and living in areas with the highest climatic similarity). Materials stored in museum collections can provide unique opportunities to document historical genetic diversity and help direct conservation.     

Extra-pair paternity and the opportunity for sexual selection in a socially monogamous bird (Dendroica petechia)

We used multi-locus DNA fingerprinting to characterise the genetic mating system of the socially monogamous yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia). Over 2 years there were no instances of brood parasitism, but 59% of families (n = 90) contained extrapair sired young and 37% of offspring (n = 355) were of extra-pair paternity. Most hypotheses for extra-pair mating in monogamous species assume a paternity benefit to extra-pair sires, and focus on the benefit(s) to females. However, the assumption of male benefit has been little tested. Among yellow warblers, known extra-pair sires were just as likely to be cuckolded as any male in the population, and there was at least one reciprocal exchange of extra-pair paternity. Nevertheless, among known extra-pair sires, the paternity gains from extra-pair paternity were, on average, greater than the losses in their own families. These results show there is a paternity benefit to certain males. However, the benefit is not absolute but relative and therefore more difficult to measure. The results also suggest that patterns of extra-pair fertilisation are not determined by female choice alone. Most confirmed extra-pair mates were territorial neighbours, but some resided as far as three territories apart, and greater spatial separation was implied in other cases. Thus, the opportunity for extra-pair mating is great. We estimate that as a result of extra-pair fertilisations, variance in male mating success is increased somewhere between 3-fold and 15-fold over that which would result from within-pair reproduction alone. These findings affirm the potential importance of extra-pair reproduction for sexual selection in monogamous species and they support earlier suggestions that extra-territorial forays by male yellow warblers are for the purpose of extra-pair mating.     

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.     

用同位素标记LZF—1 DNA指纹探针进行人的DNA指纹分析

同位素γ－32P－ATP对LZF－1DNA指纹探针作5＇末端标记后，检测成都地区人群中84名随机个体的DNA指纹，获得了清晰易辨的具有高度个体特异性的DNA指纹图谱．谱带平均数为17．667条，平均等位基因频率为0．167，探针的鉴别机率为4．862×10－10．表明LZF－1DNA指纹探针完全达到了法医学检验中鉴别个体的目的．     

家猪基因指纹图的初步研究

寡核苷酸探针（CAC）5／（GTG）5检测了五指山猪、枫泾猪、枫泾猪与长白山猪杂交子一代的基因指纹图．各个体的可分辨谱带，分布于0．7～21．2kb之间．在约1．3kb处的一条共有谱带，可能是家猪的特征带．     

常乐稀土复合肥对玉米（Zea may L.）的细胞毒性和遗传毒性效应

为了研究常乐稀土多元复合肥对主要农作物--玉米(Zea mays L.)是否产生细胞毒性和遗传毒性效应,采用不同梯度质量浓度的稀土复合肥溶液对玉米进行处理,观察其根尖生长状况,统计分析细胞死亡率、微核率、有丝分裂指数以及对细胞DNA的损伤情况.结果表明,质量浓度为10mg·L-1以下时,常乐稀土复合肥能够促进玉米根尖的生长,100mg·L-1以上时抑制根尖生长;随着试验浓度的递增,细胞死亡率、微核率、DNA损伤率逐渐上升并具有正相关性,表现出明显的剂量-效应关系,而有丝分裂指数却随着浓度的增加逐渐下降.以上结果表明,常乐稀土复合肥对玉米确有一定的细胞毒性和遗传毒性效应,其细胞毒性阈值和遗传毒性阈值皆为100mg·L-1.     

Population structure and historical demography of the thorny skate (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Amblyraja radiata</Emphasis>, Rajidae) in the North Atlantic

Population genetic structure of the thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) was surveyed in >300 individuals sampled from Newfoundland, Iceland, Norway, the Kattegat and the central North Sea. A 290-bp fragment of the mt cytochrome-b gene was first screened by SSCP. Sequences of SSCP haplotypes revealed 34 haplotypes, 14 of which were unique to Iceland, 3 to Newfoundland, 1 to Norway and 3 to the Kattegat. The global F _ST was weak but significant. Removal of the two Kattegat locations, which were the most differentiated, resulted in no significant genetic differentiation. Haplotype diversity was high and evenly distributed across the entire Atlantic (h = 0.8) with the exception of the North Sea (h = 0.48). Statistical parsimony revealed a star-like genealogy with a central widespread haplotype. A subsequent nested clade analysis led to the inference of contiguous expansion with evidence for long distance dispersal between Newfoundland and Iceland. Historical demographic analysis showed that thorny skates have undergone exponential population expansion that started between 1.1 million and 690,000 years ago; and that the Last Glacial Maximum apparently had little effect. These results strongly differ from those of a parallel study of the thornback ray (Raja clavata) in which clear structure and former refugial areas could be identified. Although both species have similar life history traits and overlapping ranges, the continental shelf edge apparently does not present a barrier to migration in A. radiata, as it does for R. clavata.     

RAPD扩增中商品酶体系对扩增产物的影响

随机选用了10条RAPD引物，采用3种商品TapDNA聚合酶体系，以5个不同物种的动植物总DNA为模板，进行RAPD扩增，实验发现，在对同一模板、采用同一引物进行的RAPD扩增中，仅仅因为使用了不同的商品TaqDNA聚合酶，获得的扩增产物差别极大；不同商品来源的PCR反应缓冲体系，对扩增产物也有一定影响，但相对较小，这说明，不同的商品酶体系对RAPD扩增产物影响很大，因此，影响RAPD扩增产物稳定性的一个关键因素是商品TaqDNA聚合酶本身；研究中前后一致地使用同一商品TaqDNA聚合酶体系，是成功进行RAPD分析的基础。