雌雄异株植物与性别比例有关的性别差异研究现状与展望

雌雄异株植物是陆地生态系统的重要组分,自然种群中其雌雄个体的性别比例通常为1∶1,但随水分、养分、CO2浓度、温度、光照和干扰水平等的不同而有所不同.一般来说,在逆境下性别比例偏雄性,这是雌雄异株植物性别分离的常见模式.雌雄异株植物不同性别间的差异主要体现在:(1)存活率,(2)形态特征,(3)生理生化特性,(4)物候期,(5)资源分配模式等方面,但对于雌雄个体差异的分子机理未见报道.这些差异导致了雌雄植株个体环境适应性的不同,从而表现为在不同环境下雌雄异株植物性别比例偏倚的现象.基于此,可结合不同树种雌雄性的不同用途,开展有关研究.参59     

The impact of behavioral and physiological maternal effects on offspring sex ratio in the common snapping turtle,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Chelydra serpentina</Emphasis>

Theory suggests that maternal effects are especially important in organisms with environmentally-sensitive sex-determining mechanisms. However, there is no substantive body of empirical evidence to confirm this conjecture. We integrated field and laboratory studies to jointly evaluate the significance of behavioral (nest-site choice) and physiological (yolk hormone allocation) maternal effects on offspring sex ratio in the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina), a species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). Of the 16 microhabitat variables measured, only three (south, east, and total overstory vegetation cover) were significantly correlated with nest temperature: cooler nests were located under more vegetation cover. In turn, these microhabitat predictors of nest temperature, and nest temperature itself, may influence nest sex ratio: shadier, cooler nests were more likely to produce a higher proportion of male offspring than less shady, warmer nests. Analysis of eggs from these same nests incubated in a common garden design in the laboratory revealed that clutch sex ratio was unaffected by levels of yolk estradiol, yolk testosterone, or their interaction. Examination of both behavioral and physiological maternal effects revealed no concordant impact on offspring sex ratio. However, eggs from nests that produced male-biased sex ratios in the field yielded higher proportions of males under constant-temperature conditions in the laboratory. Our study confirms the importance of behavioral maternal effects in nature on offspring sex ratios in species with TSD, while also revealing the potential presence of a predisposition for sex-ratio production underlying TSD in this system.Communicated by S. Krackow     

Constraints on temperature-dependent sex determination in the leopard gecko (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eublepharis macularius</Emphasis>): response to Kratochvil et al.

Kratochvil et al. (Naturwissenschaften 95:209–215, 2008) reported recently that in the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) of the family Eublepharidae with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), clutches in which eggs were incubated at the same temperature produce only same-sex siblings. Interpreting this result in light of studies of sex steroid hormone involvement in sex determination, they suggested that maternally derived yolk steroid hormones could constrain sex-determining mechanisms in TSD reptiles. We have worked extensively with this species and have routinely incubated clutches at constant temperatures. To test the consistency of high frequency same-sex clutches across different incubation temperatures, we examined our records of clutches at the University of Texas at Austin from 1992 to 2001. We observed that clutches in which eggs were incubated at the same incubation temperature produced mixed-sex clutches as well as same-sex clutches. Furthermore, cases in which eggs within a clutch were separated and incubated at different temperatures produced the expected number of mixed-sex clutches. These results suggest that maternal influences on sex determination are secondary relative to incubation temperature effects.     

Extra-pair paternity, offspring mortality and offspring sex ratio in the socially monogamous coal tit (Parus ater)

Females of many socially monogamous bird species commonly engage in extra-pair copulations. Assuming that extra-pair males are more attractive than the females’ social partners and that attractiveness has a heritable component, sex allocation theory predicts facultative overproduction of sons among extra-pair offspring (EPO) as sons benefit more than daughters from inheriting their father’s attractiveness traits. Here, we present a large-scale, three-year study on sex ratio variation in a passerine bird, the coal tit (Parus ater). Molecular sexing in combination with paternity analysis revealed no evidence for a male-bias in EPO sex ratios compared to their within-pair maternal half-siblings. Our main conclusion, therefore, is that facultative sex allocation to EPO is absent in the coal tit, in accordance with findings in several other species. Either there is no net selection for a deviation from random sex ratio variation (e.g. because extra-pair mating may serve goals different from striving for ‘attractiveness genes’) or evolutionary constraints preclude the evolution of precise maternal sex ratio adjustment. It is interesting to note that, however, we found broods without EPO as well as broods without mortality to be relatively female-biased compared to broods with EPO and mortality, respectively. We were unable to identify any environmental or parental variable to co-vary with brood sex ratios. There was no significant repeatability of sex ratios in consecutive broods of individual females that would hint at some idiosyncratic maternal sex ratio adjustment. Further research is needed to resolve the biological significance of the correlation between brood sex ratios and extra-pair paternity and mortality incidence, respectively.     

内分泌干扰物莠去津对鲫鱼血清激素的影响

为了研究低剂量条件下,内分泌干扰物莠去津对鲫鱼血清激素的影响,探讨其作用机理和剂量-效应关系,同时筛选出敏感的生物标志物,实验以除草剂莠去津对鲫鱼进行低剂量染毒(染毒浓度0～3mg·L-1),采用放射免疫法测定莠去津长期暴露下(60d)幼年雄性鲫鱼血清中性激素(17β-雌二醇(E2)、睾酮(T))及甲状腺激素(促甲状腺激素(TSH)、三碘甲状腺原氨酸(T3))的浓度,并将测定结果与空白对照及溶剂对照进行比较.结果发现:1)莠去津长期暴露下,各处理组鲫鱼血清E2浓度普遍升高,0.023、0.094、1.500、3.000mg·L-1组与空白对照相比,升高显著(p<0.05);2)各处理组鲫鱼血清T浓度与空白对照相比均无显著性差异(p>0.05);3)莠去津长期暴露下,低浓度莠去津组(0.006、0.023mg·L-1组)鲫鱼血清TSH浓度与空白对照相比差异不显著(p>0.05),而高浓度莠去津组(0.094、1.500、3.000mg·L-1组)则显著降低(p<0.05);4)类似地,莠去津长期暴露下,低浓度莠去津组(0.006、0.023、0.094、0.375、1.500mg·L-1组)鲫鱼血清T3浓度与空白对照相比差异不显著(p>0.05),只有高浓度莠去津组(3.000mg·L-1组)显著升高(p<0.05).实验结果表明,低剂量长期暴露下,莠去津对鲫鱼体内性激素及甲状腺激素具有一定的干扰作用,尤其是对17β-雌二醇影响更为显著,因此,17β-雌二醇可作为评价农药内分泌干扰效应的生物标志物.     

Comparison of the flower scent of the sexually deceptive orchid <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ophrys iricolor</Emphasis> and the female sex pheromone of its pollinator <Emphasis Type="Italic">Andrena morio</Emphasis>

Summary. Ophrys flowers mimic the female produced sex pheromone of their pollinator species to attract males for pollination. The males try to copulate with the putative female and thereby pollinate the flower. Using electrophysiological and chemical analyses, floral volatiles released by O. iricolor as well as the female sex pheromone of its pollinator species, Andrena morio are investigated. Overall, 38 peaks comprising 41 chemical compounds, were found to release reactions in the antennae of male A. morio bees. Analyses using coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed the presence of alkanes and alkenes with 20 to 29 carbon atoms, aldehydes (C9 to C24) and two esters. Almost all of those compounds were found in similar proportions in both, the floral extracts of O. iricolor and cuticle surface extracts of A. morio females. The pattern of biologically active volatiles described here is very similar to that used by other Ophrys species pollinated by Andrena males.     

Attraction of field-flying aphid males to synthetic sex pheromone

Summary Transparent plastic water traps, baited with the synthetic aphid sex pheromone components (4aS,7S,7aR)-nepetalactone and (1R,4aS,7S,7aR)-nepetalactol or control lures, were placed in four semi-sheltered field sites at a height of 1.1 m. Although males of twenty-one aphid species were collected from the water traps, onlySitobion fragariae (Walker) was abundant. In total, 8 pheromone traps produced 102 males compared with only 10 males in 8 control traps. The sex pheromone released by sexual femaleS. fragariae was identified as the nepetalactone used in the lures. Aphid sex pheromones may be more species-specific than previously thought and the presence of a host plant is not essential for males to locate sexual females.     

Male-male interference competition decreases spawning rate in the European bitterling (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhodeus sericeus</Emphasis>)

We investigated the consequences of male-male interference competition associated with alternative male mating tactics in a freshwater fish, the European bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus). Male bitterling defend territories around living mussels and attract females to lay their eggs in the gill cavities of mussels. We experimentally manipulated spawning-site abundance and male density at two spatial scales. We showed that the total number of eggs spawned by females was constrained by the number of mussels available for oviposition. The effect was mediated by behavioral interactions among competing males because of variation in the Operational Sex Ratio (OSR) in close proximity to a mussel and not by a direct limitation in mussel capacity to accommodate the eggs. Both total and local male densities affected spawning behavior, and interacted in their effect on female spawning rate. Territorial male aggression caused courtship interruptions that prolonged the time until successful spawning and increased with male density. However, territoriality broke down at the highest male density, with a consequent stabilizing effect on spawning rate.Communicated by J. Krause     

Small Populations and Offspring Sex-Ratio Deviations in Eagles

Abstract:  Stochastic variation of sex ratio has long been appreciated as a potential factor driving small populations to extinction, but it is not the only source of sex-ratio bias in small populations. We examined whether some consequences of sex allocation could affect extinction risk in small populations of size-dimorphic birds such as eagles. We report variations in sex ratio at fledging from a long-term study of a declining population of Spanish Imperial Eagles ( Aquila adalberti ). Nestling sex-ratio deviation apparently was mediated by age of breeders, whereas territory quality had no obvious effect. Adult–adult pairs produced the same proportion of both sexes in high- or low-density situations, but pairs with at least one member in nonadult plumage class produced more males. As the population declined over a period of years, the proportion of breeders with immature plumage increased; consequently, the proportion of fledgling males increased. However, when population density was high, the proportion of breeders with immature plumage decreased and more female offspring were produced. This relationship between population density, composition of breeder age, and fledgling sex ratios allowed us to make predictions of extinction risk due to nonstochastic deviations of sex ratio in small, declining populations. In the study population, on the basis of the Vortex simulation results, an estimated reduction of 42.5% in predicted mean time to extinction was attributed solely to biased sex ratio.