Parasites and health affect multiple sexual signals in male common wall lizards, Podarcis muralis

Multiple advertising sexual traits may either advertise different characteristics of male condition or be redundant to reinforce reliability of signals. Research has focused on multiple visual traits. However, in animals that use different multiple additional sensory systems, such as chemoreception, different types of traits might have evolved to signal similar characteristics of a male quality using different sensory channels. We examined whether ventral coloration and chemicals in femoral gland secretions of male common wall lizards, Podarcis muralis, are affected by their health state (blood-parasite load and cell-mediated immune response). Our results indicated that less parasitized lizards had brighter and more yellowish ventral colorations and also femoral secretions with higher proportions of two esters of octadecenoic acid. In addition, lizards with a greater immune response had more saturated coloration and secretions with higher proportions of octadecenoic acid methyl ester. We suggest that these signals would be reliable because only healthier males seemed able to allocate more carotenoids to coloration and presumably costly chemicals to secretions. The use of multiple sensory channels may provide more opportunities to signal a male quality under different circumstances, but also may reinforce the reliability of the signal when both types of traits may be perceived simultaneously.     

Dancing to different tunes: heterospecific deciphering of the honeybee waggle dance

Although the structure of the dance language is very similar among species of honeybees, communication of the distance component of the message varies both intraspecifically and interspecifically. However, it is not known whether different honeybee species would attend interspecific waggle dances and, if so, whether they can decipher such dances. Using mixed-species colonies of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera, we show that, despite internal differences in the structure of the waggle dances of foragers, both species attend, and act on the information encoded in each other’s waggle dances but with limited accuracy. These observations indicate that direction and distance communication pre-date speciation in honeybees.     

Multimodal sexual signals in male ocellated lizards Lacerta lepida: vitamin E in scent and green coloration may signal male quality in different sensory channels

The mechanisms that confer honesty to multiple sexual signals of vertebrates remain less known. We suggest that vitamin E in the scent (femoral secretions) and carotenoids in coloration of Lacerta lepida lizards might advertise quality because they are relevant in metabolism as major antioxidants and have a dietary origin. Results showed that there may be similar trade-offs between immunity and both chemical and visual signaling, as males with more vitamin E in secretions and those with more greenish, darker, and saturated carotenoid-dependent colorations had a higher immune response. This suggests that only high-quality males can divert from metabolism and allocate enough vitamin E to secretions and enough carotenoids to coloration. Therefore, information provided by visual and chemical signals is congruent. The use of multiple sensory channels may allow signaling a male quality under different circumstances or reinforce the reliability of the signal when both signals are perceived simultaneously. However, we also found that characteristics of carotenoid-dependent coloration mirror the amounts of vitamin E in secretions. This might support that carotenoids, which are not true antioxidants in the organism, would just reflect and “inform” on the actual contents of metabolic antioxidant vitamin E, which is part of the true system that prevent oxidation. We suggest that the metabolic roles of vitamins might be the actual basis of honesty of many sexual displays, and that carotenoid-based signals might be just the visible part of the whole system.     

Female reciprocal calling in the Iberian midwife toad (Alytes cisternasii) varies with male call rate and dominant frequency: implications for sexual selection

Male midwife toads (Alytes cisternasii) responded differently depending on the call frequency and call rate of other males. I tested female Iberian midwife toads with the same set of stimuli used earlier with males. Females responded faster to high call rates, and female vocal activity was greater in response to low-frequency male calls. Thus, in both sexes, the vocal response differs in the same direction according to signal frequency variation, but the magnitude of the response is greater in males than in females. In the light of these results, I discuss the implications for sexual selection of this reciprocal calling.     

枯草芽孢杆菌对铜绿微囊藻抑制效果的研究

为探讨枯草芽孢杆菌(Bacillus subtilis)对铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginosa)的抑制效果,在实验室条件下,研究了枯草芽孢杆菌不同生长时期(延迟期、对数期、稳定期和衰亡期)无菌滤液对铜绿微囊藻生长的影响、枯草芽孢杆菌抑制铜绿微囊藻生长的作用方式以及无菌滤液影响下铜绿微囊藻丙二醛(MDA)含量、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性和光合色素含量的变化.结果显示:枯草芽孢杆菌对数期、稳定期和衰亡期滤液抑藻效果明显好于延迟期,作用第8d,对铜绿微囊藻的去除率分别达到81.19%、91.41%、91.82%;4个处理组铜绿微囊藻的叶绿素a含量均显著低于对照组.添加稳定期滤液后,铜绿微囊藻MDA含量显著升高,SOD活性先升高后降低;在对光合色素的影响中,类胡萝卜素受到的影响不如叶绿素a显著.结果表明,枯草芽孢杆菌对铜绿微囊藻的抑制效果是通过分泌胞外物质实现的,且分泌物具有很强的热稳定性.推测该胞外分泌物能够破坏光合色素,影响光合作用,抑制藻细胞的生长;同时抑制SOD活性,使细胞膜脂过氧化程度不断加深,进而破坏藻细胞的完整性,表现出对藻很强的抑制效果.     

Inhibition of nitrification in soil by metal diethyldithiocarbamates

IntroductionNitrificationisaprocessinwhichammoniumformofnitrogenisconvertedintonitrateform .Nitrogenuseefficiencyintermsofplantuptakeisgenerallylowandvariesgreatlyunderdifferentsoilandcroppingconditions.MostfertilizerNappliedtosoilsisintheformofammonium orammoniumproducingcompoundssuchasurea,andisusuallyoxidizedrapidlytonitratebynitrifyingmicroorganismsinsoils.Applicationofnitrogenfertilizersmorethanoptimumlevelsleadstolownitrogenrecoveriesandgreaternitrogenaccumulationinthesoilprofile .Theac…     

红霉素对产甲烷菌的抑制及其驯化

红霉素是一类具有一定生物毒性的抗生素类药品,为探明红霉素对产甲烷菌的抑制作用及其可驯化能力,依次在厌氧瓶中进行厌氧毒性试验、在升流式厌氧污泥床反应器(UASB)中进行连续实验,测定累计甲烷产量、相对产甲烷速率、COD去除率、甲烷含量.结果表明,红霉素为150 mg.L-1时产甲烷速率降为56.1%;250 mg.L-1时反应速率降低99%以上,活性受到完全抑制.保持红霉素投加量为20 mg.L-1连续运行60 d,COD去除率、甲烷含量可达到81.4%、64.2%.红霉素对甲烷菌有抑制作用,半抑制浓度为150 mg.L-1.甲烷菌对红霉素有一定的驯化能力,驯化60 d后COD去除率、甲烷含量较未驯化时可提高15.13%、22.05%.     

稻草浸泡液对藻类抑制作用机制

室内研究了不同降解方式和降解时间的稻草浸泡液对铜绿微囊藻生长的抑制效果及其抑藻机制.结果表明,稻草本身存在抑藻活性物质,低温浸泡4 d的无菌稻草液在2.5 g/L投加量下,对微囊藻的抑制作用达到了69.3%.在稻草浸泡液抑藻过程中,稻草产生的化学物质作用和生物作用同时存在,其相对大小取决于稻草的降解方式和降解时间.对于厌氧降解浸泡液而言,主要通过化学物质的作用抑藻,其抑藻效果随稻草厌氧降解时间的延长明显减弱,如厌氧浸泡15　d和30 d的稻草液在1.5 g/L浓度下其抑制率分别为83％和46％;好氧降解浸泡液主要通过生物作用抑藻.其抑藻效果随稻草好氧降解时间的延长而增强,如1.5 g/L投加量下,15和30 d好氧降解带生物相的稻草浸泡液对微囊藻的抑制率分别为81％和93％.     

The use of heterospecific scent marks by the sweat bee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Halictus aerarius</Emphasis>

To forage effectively amongst flowers, some bee species utilize olfactory cues left by previous visitors in addition to direct assessment of visual cues to identify rewarding flowers. This ability can be more advantageous if the bees can recognize and use scent marks left by heterospecifics, not just marks left by members of their own species. We conducted field experiments to investigate whether the sweat bee Halictus aerarius avoids visiting flowers of trailing water willow Justicia procumbens emptied by other bee species. We found that H. aerarius rejected the flowers visited by both heterospecifics and conspecifics. They also rejected visited flowers artificially replenished with nectar. Our results demonstrate that social bees outside the Apidae can detect marks left on flowers by heterospecifics but that (on this plant species) they are unable to discriminate against flowers by directly detecting nectar volume. H. aerarius exhibited different rejection rates according to the identity of the previous bee species. We suggest that the frequency of rejection responses may depend on the amount of chemical substances left by the previous bee. In general, the use of scent marks left by previous visitors is almost certainly advantageous, enabling foragers to avoid flowers with depleted nectar levels and thereby improving their foraging efficiency.     

淡水高等水生植物对浮游藻类化感作用评述

如何有效地去除富营养化水体中频繁出现的藻华,已成为水环境治理中的一个迫切需要解决的问题。本文介绍了植物化感抑藻领域的研究现状,归纳总结了具有抑藻活性的水生植物种类;讨论了水生植物释放的化感物质及其特性;阐述了环境因素对水生植物化感抑藻作用的影响;指出目前水生植物化感抑藻研究中存在的问题,并提出了展望。