Light-dependent magnetoreception in birds: interaction of at least two different receptors

Passerine migrants require light from the blue-green part of the spectrum for magnetic compass orientation; under yellow light, they are disoriented. European robins tested under a combination of yellow light and blue or green light showed a change in behavior, no longer preferring their seasonally appropriate migratory direction: in spring as well as in autumn, they preferred southerly headings under blue-and-yellow and northerly headings under green-and-yellow light. This clearly shows that yellow light is not neutral and suggests the involvement of at least two types of receptors in obtaining magnetic compass information, with the specific interaction of these receptors being rather complex.     

The fungal colonisation of rock-art caves: experimental evidence

The conservation of rock-art paintings in European caves is a matter of increasing interest. This derives from the bacterial colonisation of Altamira Cave, Spain and the recent fungal outbreak of Lascaux Cave, France—both included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Here, we show direct evidence of a fungal colonisation of rock tablets in a testing system exposed in Altamira Cave. After 2 months, the tablets, previously sterilised, were heavily colonised by fungi and bacteria. Most fungi isolated were labelled as entomopathogens, while the bacteria were those regularly identified in the cave. Rock colonisation was probably promoted by the dissolved organic carbon supplied with the dripping and condensation waters and favoured by the displacement of aerosols towards the interior of the cave, which contributed to the dissemination of microorganisms. The role of arthropods in the dispersal of spores may also help in understanding fungal colonisation. This study evidences the fragility of rock-art caves and demonstrates that microorganisms can easily colonise bare rocks and materials introduced into the cavity.     

Light-dependent magnetoreception in birds: the effect of intensity of 565-nm green light

 In a previous study, Australian silvereyes tested in autumn under monochromatic 565-nm green light at intensities of 2.1 and 7.5 mW m^–2 preferred their normal northerly migratory direction, whereas they showed a significantly different tendency towards northwest at 15.0 mW m^–2. Repeating these experiments in spring with silvereyes migrating southward, we again observed well-oriented tendencies in the migratory direction at 2.1 and 7.5 mW m^–2. At 15.0 mW m^–2, however, the birds once more preferred northwesterly directions, i.e. their response under this condition proved to be independent of the migratory direction. This contradicts the interpretation that monochromatic green light of this high intensity leads to a rotation of compass information; instead, it appears to produce sensory input that causes birds to give up their migratory direction in favor of a fixed direction of as yet unknown origin. Received: 3 April 2000 / Accepted in revised form: 19 June 2000     

工频磁场诱导人FL细胞膜EGF的受体聚簇及噪声磁场的干预

为了研究50Hz工频磁场对人源细胞膜表皮生长因子(epidermal growth factor,EGF)的受体聚簇现象的可能诱导作用及噪声磁场的干预,将人羊膜细胞FL(human amniotic cells)分别用EGF、不同强度(0.05、0.1、0.2、0.4mT)工频磁场、噪声磁场、工频磁场和噪声磁场叠加的复合场处理15 min后,用间接免疫荧光染色法标记,并用激光共聚焦显微镜观察细胞膜表皮生长因子(EGF)的受体的聚簇现象.结果表明,0.1、0.2、0.4mT工频磁场辐照FL细胞15 min可诱导细胞膜EGF的受体发生聚簇,但0.05mT工频磁场辐照时,细胞膜不出现EGF受体的明显聚簇.0.2mT噪声磁场则不能诱导细胞膜EGF受体的聚簇;当0.2mT噪声磁场与0.1、0.2mT工频磁场叠加后,可抑制工频磁场诱导的细胞膜EGF受体聚簇,但不能完全抑制0.4mT工频磁场诱导的细胞膜EGF受体聚簇.研究结果表明,一定强度的工频磁场能诱导细胞膜EGF受体的聚簇;其作用阈值在0.05～0.1mT之间;噪声磁场对工频磁场诱导膜受体聚簇的干预作用存在剂量-效应关系.     

Behavioural evidence of male volatile pheromones in the sex-role reversed wolf spiders Allocosa brasiliensis and Allocosa alticeps

The use of chemical signals in a sexual context is widespread in the animal kingdom. Most studies in spiders report the use of female pheromones that attract potential sexual partners. Allocosa brasiliensis and Allocosa alticeps are two burrowing wolf spiders that show sex-role reversal. Females locate male burrows and initiate courtship before males perform any detectable visual or vibratory signal. So, females of these species would be detecting chemical or mechanical cues left by males. Our objective was to explore the potential for male pheromones to play a role in mate detection in A. brasiliensis and A. alticeps. We designed two experiments. In Experiment 1, we tested the occurrence of male contact pheromones by evaluating female courtship when exposed to empty burrows constructed by males or females (control). In Experiment 2, we tested the existence of male volatile pheromones by evaluating female behaviour when exposed to artificial burrows connected to tubes containing males, females or empty tubes (control). Our results suggest the occurrence of male volatile pheromones that trigger female courtship in both Allocosa species. The sex-role reversal postulated for these wolf spiders could be driving the consequent reversal in typical pheromone-emitter and detector roles expected for spiders.     

浙江海岸带泥质滩涂物源示踪研究：来自矿物包裹体中磁性矿物的证据

土地资源是浙江沿海地区发展的重要限制性因素。丰富的滩涂资源一直被视为当地最重要的后备土地资源。准确示踪其物质来源,是科学管理滩涂的重要基础。由于在海水中的长期浸泡,矿物被部分溶解,进而影响沉积物的地球化学和矿物学性质,增加示踪结果的不确定性。通过矿物包裹体的磁学特征研究浙江沿海滩涂的物质来源,由于不受海水溶蚀影响,其结果更可靠。对浙江滩涂沉积物中矿物包裹体的环境磁学研究发现：（1）样品的主要载磁矿物依然是磁铁矿;（2）磁铁矿的含量明显降低,饱和等温剩磁（SIRM）值为9.1—28.6×10⁻⁵ Am²∙kg⁻¹,仅是原样的2%—8%;（3）样品的赤铁矿与磁铁矿比重较原样明显降低。酸处理后样品的磁化率值（χ）仅为1.0×10⁻⁸—2.3×10⁻⁸ m³∙kg⁻¹,极易受到测量误差的影响,因此无法准确反映样品中磁铁矿含量的空间分布特征,而在强磁场下获得的磁学参数更适合于矿物包裹体的环境磁学研究。基于非磁滞剩磁磁化率（χ _ARM）、SIRM及饱和等温剩磁退磁参数的散点图和模糊聚类方法可以区分长江和浙江当地河流的物质,是可信赖的物源示踪手段。根据矿物包裹体的磁学特征,提出浙江滩涂沉积物主要来源于当地河流的悬浮颗粒物。     

Cellulose biogenesis in bacteria and higher plants is disrupted by magnetic fields

This work was supported by a grant from Johnson &; Johnson to RMB. We 5 thank Dr. M. Schülein, Novo A/S, Bagsvaerd, Denmark for providing CBH.     

A novel concept of Fe-mineral-based magnetoreception: histological and physicochemical data from the upper beak of homing pigeons

Animals make use of the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation and regulation of vegetative functions; however, the anatomical and physiological basis for the magnetic sense has not been elucidated yet. Our recent results from histology and X-ray analyses support the hypothesis that delicate iron-containing structures in the skin of the upper beak of homing pigeons might serve as a biological magnetometer. Histology has revealed various iron sites within dendrites of the trigeminal nerve, their arrangement along strands of axons, the existence of three dendritic fields in each side of the beak with specific 3D-orientations, and the bilateral symmetry of the whole system. Element mapping by micro-synchrotron X-ray fluorescence analysis has shown the distribution of iron and its quantities. Micro-synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge-structure spectroscopy has allowed us to unambiguously identify maghemite as the predominating iron mineral (90 vs 10% magnetite). In this paper, we show that iron-based magnetoreception needs the presence of both of these iron minerals, their specific dimensions, shapes, and arrangements in three different subcellular compartments. We suggest that an inherent magnetic enhancement process via an iron-crusted vesicle and the attached chains of iron platelets might be sufficient to account for the sensitivity and specificity required by such a magnetoreceptor. The appropriate alignment between the Earth’s magnetic field and the maghemite bands would induce a multiple attraction of the magnetite bullets perpendicular to the membrane, thus, triggering strain-sensitive membrane channels and a primary receptor potential. Due to its 3D architecture and physicochemical nature, the dendritic system should be able to separately sense the three vector components of the Earth’s local field, simultaneously—allowing birds to detect their geographic position by the magnetic vector, i.e., amplitude and direction of the local magnetic field, irrespective of the animal’s posture or movement and photoreception.     

超导强磁场对小麦抗氧化酶的诱导表达

研究了7T超导稳态强磁场在不同处理时间条件下对小麦幼苗的抗氧化系统(SOD、CAT活性和MDA含量)的影响,并对不同金属辅基SOD酶的诱导表达模式进行了探讨.结果表明,强磁场诱导了T-SOD活性和CAT酶活性的提高,在峰值之前SOD和CAT的活性随着剂量的增大逐渐提高,但随着强度的增加和处理时间的延长,酶活激活作用会有所下降.低剂量下,T-SOD活性的提高来自于CuZn-SOD的活性的提高,中、高剂量下,主要诱导Mn-SOD的活性提高.低场强和短时间的磁场处理能使MDA的含量降低,但随着处理时间的延长和磁场强度的增加,MDA含量逐渐升高.各种酶在不同的处理条件下,其酶活的变化峰值处于3~5T之间.     

厦门中华白海豚的重金属含量

对厦门港海域８只中华白海豚成体和幼仔体内的重金属含量进行了测定。结果表明，与鱼类和无脊上比，中华白海豚的重金属含量很高。成年的含量观于幼仔；肝的含量大大超过其他部位。中华白海豚的重金属含量高，与其它处于海洋食物链的的最顶级密切相关。     

Prenatal magnetic resonance imaging detection of temporal lobes and hippocampal anomalies in hypochondroplasia

Hypochondroplasia (HCH) is a genetic skeletal dysplasia, inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. About 50–70% of HCH patients have a mutation in FGFR3 gene and in the majority of cases it is a de novo mutation. Recent magnetic resonance imaging studies on relative large cohorts of HCH patients have showed a central nervous system involvement with a high incidence of characteristic temporal lobe and hippocampal abnormalities. To the best of our knowledge, this report shows the first magnetic resonance imaging prenatal detection of characteristic brain anomalies in a case of HCH, molecularly confirmed through postnatal FGFR3 analysis. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Responses of greenhouse gas fluxes to experimental warming in wheat season under conventional tillage and no-tillage fields

Understanding the effects of warming on greenhouse gas(GHG, such as N_2O, CH_4 and CO_2 )feedbacks to climate change represents the major environmental issue. However, little information is available on how warming effects on GHG fluxes in farmland of North China Plain(NCP). An infrared warming simulation experiment was used to assess the responses of N_2O, CH_4 and CO_2 to warming in wheat season of 2012–2014 from conventional tillage(CT) and no-tillage(NT) systems. The results showed that warming increased cumulative N_2O emission by 7.7% in CT but decreased it by 9.7% in NT fields(p 0.05). Cumulative CH_4 uptake and CO_2 emission were increased by 28.7%–51.7% and 6.3%–15.9% in both two tillage systems,respectively(p 0.05). The stepwise regressions relationship between GHG fluxes and soil temperature and soil moisture indicated that the supply soil moisture due to irrigation and precipitation would enhance the positive warming effects on GHG fluxes in two wheat seasons.However, in 2013, the long-term drought stress due to infrared warming and less precipitation decreased N_2O and CO_2 emission in warmed treatments. In contrast, warming during this time increased CH_4 emission from deep soil depth. Across two years wheat seasons, warming significantly decreased by 30.3% and 63.9% sustained-flux global warming potential(SGWP) of N_2O and CH_4 expressed as CO_2 equivalent in CT and NT fields, respectively. However, increase in soil CO_2 emission indicated that future warming projection might provide positive feedback between soil C release and global warming in NCP.