Reproductive conflict in honey bees: a stalemate of worker egg-laying and policing

 Using electrophoretic markers, eggs laid by workers were identified in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies with a queen. Based on extrapolation, these represented about 7% of the unfertilized (male) eggs laid in the colonies. A very small proportion of workers (of the order of 0.01%) lay these eggs. Worker-laid eggs are rapidly removed, so that very few sons of workers are reared. Thus the reproductive cooperation in bee colonies is maintained by ongoing antagonistic interactions among the members of the colony, with worker laying and egg removal policing by other workers being relatively common. Received: 24 November 1995/Accepted after revision: 25 May 1996     

Twenty-five years of biomonitoring lead in the Frankfurt/Main area

The present study is an example of the historical monitoring of heavy metals. The specific question it aims to explore is: to what extent has the lead content of selected organisms used for biomonitoring in Frankfurt/Main—one of the cities in Germany most heavily affected by automobile traffic—changed as a result of legislation on leaded gasoline?

Data on the lead content of the moss speciesBryum argenteum Hedw. from the years 1974, 1975 and 1978 and data on the lead content of the outer bark of the ash speciesFraxinus excelsior L. from 1973 served as the basis for the repeated measurements. Remeasurement was successful in 76.5% (i.e. 124 trees at 26 growth sites). The study produced the following results:

• ? As was expected, the lead content of the short-term accumulatorBryum argenteum Hedw. was distinctly lowered with a decreasing particulate lead concentration. However, the reduction factor varied greatly between the different growth sites.
• ? On the other hand, the lead content measured in the outer bark layers ofFraxinus excelsior L. has risen markedly during the past two decades. Whereas in 1973 nearly all trees examined displayed very low concentrations of lead (< 38 ppm), only 9.5% were still in this category in 1997 and nearly 30% exhibited high or even unacceptable lead concentrations (< 150 ppm → > 225 ppm). Various factors have to be taken into account to explain this increase. First of all, bark is a long-term accumulator for heavy metals like lead and its enrichment capacity could have increased as the surface becomes rougher over time. Furthermore, lead is most probably leached out of the bark to a lesser degree now than in the 1970s, owing to the reduced concentration of sulphuric acid in the rain. The dramatic growth of automobile traffic in the Frankfurt/Main area during the period covered by the study undoubtedly plays an important role as well.

     

Quantum dots enhance Cu2+-induced hepatic L02 cells toxicity

As a new class of xenogenous nanoparticle,quantum dots (QDs) possess the potential to co-exist with Cu2+ in human liver.The combined toxicity is thus concerned.Considering QDs and Cu2+ are known ROS (reactive oxygen species) inducer,we investigated the combined oxidative stress and corresponding protective strategy using human hepatic L02 cells.The results demonstrated that the presence of a small amount of MPA-CdTe QDs (2 μg/mL) in a Cu2+ solution (2.5-20 μg/mL) resulted in a higher toxicity with up to 8-fold cell viability decrease,which was accompanied by cell morphology changes.The combined toxicity was then confirmed as ROS associated oxidative stress with up to 300% and 35% increase of the intracellular ROS level and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity,respectively.N-acetylcysteine (NAC) can also provide almost complete protection against the induced toxicity.Therefore,the ROS associated oxidant injury might be responsible for the QDs-Cu2+/Cu2+ induced toxicity and could be balanced through cytoprotective antioxidant enzyme GST.     

矿山强酸性多金属污染土壤修复及麻疯树植物复垦条件研究

采用温室盆栽实验,研究了在不同剂量(质量分数分别为0、0.10%、0.25%、0.5%和1.0%)石灰石改良条件下,大宝山矿强酸性多金属不同污染程度土壤中麻疯树的生长状况和吸收金属特征,并探讨了麻疯树在酸性土壤中生长的抑制因素和石灰石改良适宜剂量.研究表明,在低污染酸性土壤中,Cu和Pb的高活性可能是抑制麻疯树生长的主要因素;而在高污染酸性土壤中,Cd、Cu、Zn等金属的高活性及由强酸引起的Al毒也可能是抑制麻疯树生长的主要因素;石灰石通过提高土壤pH值和降低多金属的生物有效态含量,促进了麻疯树在低污和高污土壤中的生长,其最佳剂量分别为0.25%和0.5%;石灰石可以不同程度地降低麻疯树地上部和地下舔的Cd、Cu、Pb、Zn和Al含量,同时随石灰石用量的增加,其金属含量基本呈降低趋势;麻疯树地下部金属含量高于地上部,且石灰石对麻疯树地下部金属(除Cd外)含量降低幅度较地上部大.因此,种植麻疯树与石灰石改良是联合修复大宝山矿酸性多金属污染土壤的有效措施之一.     

我国银杏种植业开发前景分析

本文根据我国银杏种植业的发展现状,分析了我国银杏种植业的开发前景     

Imprecision in waggle dances of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) for nearby food sources: error or adaptation?

A curious feature of the honeybee's waggle dance is the imprecision in the direction indication for nearby food sources. One hypothesis for the function of this imprecision is that it serves to spread recruits over a certain area and thus is an adaptation to the typical spatial configuration of the bees' food sources, i.e., flowers in sizable patches. We report an experiment that tests this tuned-error hypothesis. We measured the precision of direction indication in waggle dances advertising a nest site (typically a tree cavity, hence a target that is almost a point) and compared it with that of dances advertising a food source (typically a flower patch, hence a target that covers an area). The precision of dances for a nearby nest site was significantly higher than that of dances for an equidistant feeder. This was demonstrated four times with four colonies. Our evidence therefore supports the hypothesis that the level of precision in the direction indication for nearby food sources is tuned to its optimum without being at its maximum. Received: 9 December 1998 / Received in revised form: 24 February 1999 / Accepted 12 March 1999     

Effects of traffic pollution on the genetic structure of Poa annua L. populations

The genetic composition of Poa annua L, populations with a series of traffic pollution was studied by starch electrophoresis. Five enzyme systems were stained. The results showed that: (1) Traffic pollution can dramatically change genotypic frequencies at some loci of P. annua populations. Significant deviations from HardyWeinberg equilibrium were observed on loci Fe - 1 and Me due to the excess of heterozygotes in some populations.(2) The effective number of alleles per locus and the observed and expected heterozygosity were higher in the pollution series than in the clear control site(Botanic Park population), but the increase was not related with the pollution extent. (3) Most genetic variation was found within populations, and only 6.21% was among populations of the polluted series. Slightly higher differentiation( FST = 7.98%) was observed when the control population was included. (4) The calculated gene flow(Nm) is 2.8841 per generation. The mean of genetic identity is 0.9864 and the genetic distance average to 0.0138.     

铜胁迫对不同基因型谷子幼苗基因组DNA多态性的影响

采用室内盆栽土培法,以4种基因型谷子(D2-8、安06、黄米、朝谷)为供试材料,研究了不同浓度Cu2+胁迫对谷子幼苗体内可溶性糖、脯氨酸、丙二醛(MDA)含量和基因组DNA多态性的影响.结果表明,经50~400 mg·kg-1Cu2+处理30 d后,4种谷子幼苗体内可溶性糖含量与对照相比呈现先上升后下降的趋势,在50 mg·kg-1时达到最大值.当浓度为200mg·kg-1以上时,4种谷子的可溶性糖含量的平均降幅为对照的32.44%~56.5%.脯氨酸则表现为低含量(≤50 mg·kg-1)的促进和高含量(≥100 mg·kg-1)的抑制效应,MDA含量均有增加且与对照差异显著(P<0.05).Cu2+胁迫下不同基因型谷子幼苗基因组DNA的RAPD图谱发生明显变化,表现为单条或多条RAPD谱带的增加和缺失或者荧光强度的改变,细胞中基因组模板DNA的稳定性下降,DNA多态性变化与Cu2+浓度之间存在剂量-效应关系.不同基因型谷子对Cu2+胁迫的生理和遗传损伤响应存在差异.利用RAPD技术获得的DNA多态性变化可作为检测Cu2+遗传毒性效应的生物标记物.     

乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的毒性研究

乙虫腈是在我国登记并广泛使用的氟虫腈替代药剂,其商品化制剂为拜尔公司研发的100 g·L~(-1)悬浮剂,目前关于乙虫腈制剂对非靶标生物的毒性研究少有报道。为探究乙虫腈制剂对蜜蜂的毒性作用,采用人工饲喂法分别测定了100 g·L~(-1)乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的48 h急性和14 d慢性毒性作用。结果显示:乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的48 hLC_(50)值为0.21 mg·L~(-1)(95%置信限0.16～0.26 mg·L~(-1)),相应的48 h-LD50为5.0×10~(-3)μg a.i.·蜂~(-1)(95%置信限1.0×10~(-3)～1.0×10~(-2)μg a.i.·蜂~(-1));在亚致死剂量下,蜜蜂死亡数量随暴露时间的延长而增多,且100 g·L~(-1)乙虫腈悬浮剂会引起蜜蜂显著的氧化应激反应,诱导抗氧化酶SOD和CAT活力、脂质过氧化产物MDA含量、解毒酶GST活力和底物GSH含量的显著变化。研究表明,乙虫腈悬浮剂对意大利蜜蜂毒性较高,即使在亚致死剂量下亦存在显著的影响。田间施用应防止药剂的漂移污染,并避免在作物花期施用;新出房意大利蜜蜂对药剂敏感,未来可探索其作为风险指示生物应用的可能。     

马拉硫磷及其水解产物对圆瘤浮萍的生长抑制及氧化损伤作用

为了探讨马拉硫磷和主要水解产物对圆瘤浮萍的生长抑制作用及可能的氧化损伤机制,采用静态培养法,研究不同浓度的马拉硫磷及其水解产物二甲基二硫代磷酸酯(DMDTP)、二甲基硫代磷酸酯(DMTP)、二甲基磷酸酯(DMP)对圆瘤浮萍生长、叶绿素含量、叶绿体活性、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化物酶(POD)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性及丙二醛(MDA)含量的影响。结果表明,暴露7 d后,浓度为100 mg a.i.·L-1处理下的浮萍叶状体生长量与空白对照组无显著性差异;DMDTP、DMTP和DMP对圆瘤浮萍叶状体生长量的半数抑制浓度(7 d-IC50)分别为52.9、45.5和98.0 mg a.i.·L-1。随着试验液中DMDTP、DMTP和DMP浓度的升高,圆瘤浮萍叶绿素含量均明显降低,叶绿体活性则分别表现为诱导-抑制、抑制和抑制效应。在DMDTP、DMTP和DMP胁迫下,脂质过氧化产物丙二醛(MDA)含量明显增加;圆瘤浮萍体内的抗氧化酶系统均受到影响。总体表现为随着DMDTP浓度的增加,SOD活性先降低后升高;DMTP和DMP胁迫下,SOD活性呈现先降后升再降的趋势;POD和CAT活性则随3种水解产物浓度的增加呈现先升后降趋势;这表明抗氧化酶系统对外部胁迫的应答很复杂。马拉硫磷对圆瘤浮萍的毒性较小,其水解产物DMDTP、DMTP和DMP均对圆瘤浮萍的生长产生一定的毒性作用。在实际生产中,应多加关注马拉硫磷水解产物对环境生物的风险评估。