Alternative mating behaviors of the queen polymorphic ant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Temnothorax longispinosus</Emphasis>

Mating behaviors of ants fall into two categories: female calling, in which a female alate releases pheromones that attract males, and male swarming, in which large male aggregations attract females. Female calling is common in species with queens that return to their natal nest to found colonies dependently after mating, while male swarming is common in species with queens that disperse to found independently. In some species that display both founding strategies, a queen-size polymorphism has evolved in which dependent-founding queens are smaller than independent-founding queens. Dependent founding is likely difficult if gynes (virgin queens) are mating in distant swarms. Therefore, a queen may adopt one or the other mating strategy based on its size and founding behavior. We investigated mating behaviors in the queen-polymorphic ant, Temnothorax longispinosus. Observations in laboratory mating arenas indicated that small gynes exhibited significantly lower flight activity than large gynes. Both forms mated in male swarms, and neither form exhibited female calling. The reduced flight activity of the small morph may facilitate returning to the natal nest after mating, provided the mating swarm is located nearby. Therefore, alternative colony-founding behaviors may be possible without the evolution of female-calling behavior; however, the reduced flight activity of small morphs may require that mating swarms are not distant from the natal nest.     

The dissolution of cooperative groups: mechanisms of queen mortality in incipient fire ant colonies

In several species of ants, queens often form temporary cooperative associations during colony foundation. These associations end soon after the eclosion of the first workers with the death or expulsion of all but one of the queens. This study examined competition between foundress queens of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. Although attacks by the workers contributed to queen mortality, queens gained no advantage by producing more workers than their co-foundresses. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of mitochondrial DNA showed that the queen producing more workers during colony founding was no more likely to survive than the less productive queen. In experimentally manipulated colonies in which all the workers were daughters of only one of the queens, the mother of the workers was no more likely to survive than the unrelated queen. Queens producing diploid males reared fewer offspring but were as likely to survive as queens producing only workers. These results suggest that workers do not discriminate between related and unrelated queens within colonies. Aggressive encounters between queens were common. Queens were more likely to die or be expelled if paired with heavier queens or if they lost more weight than their co-foundress during the claustral period. Finally, when queens were separated by screens through which workers could pass, the workers usually attacked and killed the queen farther from the brood. These results suggest that queen survival is promoted by a high fighting ability relative to co-foundresses, rather than by increased worker production, and that workers respond to queen differences that are independent of kinship. Received: 8 September 1995/Accepted after revision: 5 March 1996     

镉胁迫对菜豆幼苗基因组DNA多态性的影响

采用随机扩增多态性DNA (RAPD)等技术,检测不同浓度镉(Cd)胁迫对菜豆幼苗叶片DNA损伤及相关生理特性的影响.结果表明,随着Cd处理浓度(0,20,40,80mg/L)的增加,菜豆幼苗中的Cd含量及叶片中丙二醛(MDA)含量升高;叶片中可溶性蛋白、脯氨酸、还原型谷胱甘肽在低浓度(20mg/L)Cd处理下含量增加,中、高浓度(40,80mg/L)Cd处理下减少.选取8条寡核苷酸引物(10bp),利用RAPD随机扩增技术,对菜豆幼苗叶片细胞基因组DNA进行扩增,8条引物均产生特异性谱带.正常叶片基因组DNA的RAPD图谱得到46条谱带.与正常组相比,Cd处理下利用不同引物扩增得到的RAPD图谱发生改变,呈现不同程度的谱带强度增强或减弱、谱带缺失或新增,与对照的RAPD图谱存在明显差异.Cd胁迫下基因组模板稳定性下降,并随Cd处理浓度的增加,稳定性下降幅度增大.利用RAPD技术获得的DNA多态性变化,可指示镉毒害生物遗传效应,并为镉污染地区蔬菜品种的选育及镉毒性的评价提供依据.     

Current molecular biologic techniques for characterizing environmental microbial community

Microbes are vital to the earth because of their enormous numbers and instinct function maintaining the natural balance. Since the microbiology was applied in environmental science and engineering more than a century ago, researchers desire for more and more information concerning the microbial spatio-temporal variations in almost every fields from contaminated soil to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). For the past 30 years, molecular biologic techniques explored for environmental microbial community (EMC) have spanned a broad range of approaches to facilitate the researches with the assistance of computer science: faster, more accurate and more sensitive. In this feature article, we outlined several current and emerging molecular biologic techniques applied in detection of EMC, and presented and assessed in detail the application of three promising tools.     

Microorganisms and physico-chemical properties of soils with different slope-protecting vegetation in Daguang Highway北大核心CSCD

In order to investigate the effect of different slope-protecting vegetation on soil restoration in the highways, we collected soils at depths of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm from areas planted with Amorpha fruticosa, Periploca sepium, and Paederia scandens for 6-7 years in the Daming road section of the Daguang Highway, in October 2016. The physico-chemical properties and microbial community of the soils were then analyzed. The soil microbial community was analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The correlation between the microbial community and the physico-chemical properties of the soils was determined by redundancy analysis (RDA). The results showed that (1) the physico-chemical properties were the best for soils with Paederia scandens; the nutrient content, water holding capacity, and porosity of the soils with the three types of slope-protecting vegetation were better in the 0-10 cm layer than in the other layers; (2) the contents of soil aggregates (diameter > 5 mm) were the highest in the 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm layers for the soil with Paederia scandens; (3) the dominant bacteria in the 0-10 cm layer and dominant fungi in the 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm layers were higher in the soils with Pe. sepium and Pa. scandens than in the soil with A. fruticosa; and (4) results of RDA showed that the physical properties of the soils were the main factors that influenced the soil microbial community. The physical properties of the soils were sensitive to the change of soil quality. Soil quality can be improved by appropriate management measures, such as burying litter, which can subsequently improve the ecological environment of soils in sloping regions. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Comparative Analysis of Coat Color Morphs in a Polymorphic Population of the Northern Mole Vole

Long-term stationary observations (1985–2000) on a polymorphic population of the northern mole vole (Ellobius talpinus Pall.) in Kurgan oblast were performed using the mark-recapture method. Original data were obtained on the abundance and structure of this population, which comprised individuals of three color morphs: black, brown, and intermediate (bicolor). Each morph proved to have its specific features with respect to abundance, age and sex composition, migration, birthrate, mortality, and life span. In general, this polymorphism contributes to population heterogeneity and the maintenance of population homeostasis.     

Site Tenacity in the Willow Ptarmigan (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lagopus lagopus</Emphasis> L.) in the Northern Yamal Peninsula

The return of willow ptarmigans to the sites in which they nested the previous year has been studied using color banding. No factors influencing the return index have been revealed, except for its dependence in males on the time when spring begins in a given year. In northernYamal, in contrast to the temperate zone, some surviving birds fail to return to their former nesting sites. Polymorphism of individuals with respect to territorial behavioral strategy is proposed for L. lagopus populations at the northern boundary of the species range.__________Translated from Ekologiya, No. 3, 2005, pp. 215–221.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Tarasov.     

Morphological-anatomical features of underground organs in some higher plant species in relation to their adaptation to ecological conditions

In seven higher plant species of different taxa, structural features of underground organs have been considered, and the levels of intraspecific variation in some characters of these organs have been determined. Different pathways of the structural adaptation of these species to the environment are demonstrated on the morphological and anatomical levels.Translated from Ekologiya, No. 2, 2005, pp. 97–105.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Tarshis.     

Spatial and seasonal variations in bacterial communities of the Yellow Sea by T-RFLP analysis

Four typical coastal sites (rocky shore, sandy shore, mud flat shore, and artificial harbor) at the Yellow Sea were chosen to investigate the spatial and seasonal variations in bacterial communities. This was accomplished by using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of PCR amplified 16S rDNA fragments. Two kinds of tetrameric restriction enzymes, HhaI and MspI, were used in the experiment to depict the bacterial community diversity in different marine environments. It was found that the community compositions digested by the two enzymes separately were different. However, the results of bacterial community diversity derived from them were similar. The MDA analysis results of T-RFLP profiles coming from HhaI and MspI both exhibited a significant seasonal community shift for bacteria and a relatively low spatial variation among the four locations. With HhaI as the sample, the pair wise T-tests also revealed that variations were minor between each pair of marine environments, with R ranging from 0.198 to 0.349. However, the bacterial community structure in the mud flat site depicted a larger difference than each of the other three sites (R ranging from 0.282 to 0.349).     

饮用水处理中不同来源生物活性炭微生物群落多样性和结构研究

通过限制性片段长度多态性技术考察了饮用水深度处理中5种不同来源生物活性炭的微生物群落多样性和结构.单宁酸与腐殖酸吸附值相对较高的A炭、B炭和C炭的多样性指数较为接近,其微生物多样性更为丰富,而单宁酸与腐殖酸吸附值相对较低的D炭、E炭多样性指数较低.生物活性炭样品的系统发育树中包含β-Proteobacteria、α-Proteobacteria、Planctomycetes、γ-Proteobacteria、Bacteroidetes等5类种群.其中β-Proteobacteria和α-Proteobacteria是微生物群落的优势种群,对水中有机物的去除起到重要的作用.Planctomycetes、γ-Proteobacteria和Bacteroidetes是微生物群落的非优势种群.Bacteroidetes出现在A炭、B炭、C炭和D炭中,而没有出现在E炭中.研究结果进一步加深了对生物活性炭中微生物群落的认识,为确保饮用水质安全提供理论基础.