Duetting and mate-guarding in Australian magpie-larks (Grallina cyanoleuca)

A recently favored hypothesis is that duetting in birds has a mate-guarding function: a male responds vocally to his partner’s song, thereby forming a duet that repels males who are attracted to her song. Previous studies have not provided unambiguous tests of the mate-guarding hypothesis because: (1) the probability of a male answering his partner’s song has not been shown to increase specifically when the female is fertile, and (2) the probability of a male answering his partner’s song has not been assessed separately from simply a higher song initiation rate. We investigated extra-pair paternity, mate-guarding, and duetting in the socially monogamous Australian magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca). DNA fingerprinting revealed that 3% of young were the result of extra-pair paternity, and we found that males guarded fertile females by staying close to them. However, males did not initiate songs at a higher rate when females were fertile and actually reduced their probability of replying to female song during this period. We conclude that although male magpie-larks did guard fertile females in an attempt to prevent extra-pair copulations, they did not use duetting for this purpose. Received: 10 May 1999 / Received in revised form: 27 September 1999 / Accepted: 2 October 1999     

Social and mating system of cooperatively breeding laughing kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae)

DNA fingerprinting was combined with field observations over four breeding seasons to investigate the social structure and mating system of the laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae). Groups comprised a socially dominant pair and up to six helpers of either sex. Helpers were always recruited from young hatched in the group. Territorial inheritance, which is a feature of other cooperative breeders and an oft-cited benefit of philopatry, did not occur. Helpers only attained dominant status in an established group by dispersing into a vacant dominant position in that group. However, helpers could also form new groups by excising a new territory, often through a ”budding” process. The mating system was overwhelmingly monogamous. There were no cases of extra-group parentage in a sample of 140 nestlings; within groups of three or more birds, dominance predicted parentage almost perfectly (99.2% of 129 nestlings), irrespective of whether helpers in the group were related to one or both dominant birds. This is contrary to predictions from models of reproductive skew, possibly because they currently fail to incorporate the willingness of females to share reproduction among males. Received: 15 May 1999 / Received in revised form: 2 November 1999 / Accepted: 6 November 1999     

DNA同源性分析最终确定新疆中华根瘤菌（Sinorhizobium xinjiangensis）为一独立种

针对S.xinjiangensis分类地位的争议,从新疆再次分离获得34株快生大豆根瘤菌,在16SrDNAPCR-RFLP分析和SDS全细胞蛋白电泳分群的基础上,进行了16SrDNA全序列相似性和DNA同源性分析.所测4个菌株和S.fredii模式菌株USDA205的16SrDNA全序列有很高的相似性.而DNA同源性分析说明新分离的菌株代表与原定的S.xinjiangensis为一个DNA同源群.其模式菌株CCBAU110与S.fredii的2株参比菌株USDA194、2048之间的DNA同源性分别为31.5%和28.7%.S.fredii的模式菌株USDA205与新分离的菌株代表及原定的S.xinjiangensis的模式菌株和2个参比菌株之间的DNA同源性为20.8%～39%,远低于70%.属于种水平上的差异.按照国际细菌分类委员会以DNA同源性≥70%且△Tm≤5℃作为定种的标准,S.xinjiangensis是Sinorhizobium属中不同于S.fredii的一个独立的种.表3参20     

从顽拗植物荔枝中提取基因组DNA技术的研究

针对荔枝体内含有大量影响ＤＮＡ提取质量的多酚等次生代谢物质的特点,在常规ＳＤＳ和ＣＴＡＢ提取方法的基础上做了技术改进,即在核裂解之间先破碎细胞,将存在于细胞质中次生物质除去后再裂解细胞核,同时加入活性炭以吸咐杂质反复清洗几次后加入核型解液释放基因组ＤＮＡ,纯化之后经外观和电泳检测,以及Ｄ２６０ｎｍ和Ｄ２８０ｎｍ比值的测定,限制性内切酶反应,ＰＣＲ扩增的结果表明,用改进方法提取的ＤＮＡ无论在纯度上还     

Oligogyny by unrelated queens in the carpenter ant, Camponotus ligniperdus

Multilocus DNA fingerprinting and microsatellite analysis were used to determine the number of queens and their mating frequencies in colonies of the carpenter ant, Camponotus ligniperdus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Only 1 of 61 analyzed queens was found to be double-mated and the population-wide effective mating frequency was therefore 1.02. In the studied population, 8 of 21 mature field colonies (38%) contained worker, male, or virgin queen genotypes which were not compatible with presumed monogyny and therefore suggested oligogyny, i.e., the cooccurrence of several mutually intolerant queens within one colony. Estimated queen numbers in oligogynous colonies ranged between two and five. According to the results of the genetic analysis, most of the queens coexisting in oligogynous colonies were not closely related. Pleometrosis is very rare and queenless colonies adopt mated queens both in the laboratory and field. Therefore, the most plausible explanation for the origin of oligogynous colonies in C. ligniperdus is the adoption of unrelated queens by orphaned mature colonies. The coexistence of unrelated, but mutually intolerant queens in C. ligniperdus colonies demonstrates that oligogyny should be considered as a phenomenon distinct from polygyny. Received: 18 December 1997 / Accepted after revision: 20 June 1998     

Paternity and paternal care in the polygynandrous Smith's longspur

In species where females copulate with more than one male during a single breeding attempt, males risk investing in offspring that are not their own. In the polygynandrous Smith's longspur (Calcarius pictus), females copulate sequentially with one to three males for each clutch of eggs and most of these males later assist in feeding the young. Using multilocus DNA profiling, we determined that there was mixed paternity in >75% of broods (n=31) but that few offspring (<1% of 114 nestlings) were sired by males outside the polygynandrous group. Male feeding rate increased significantly with the number of young sired, with males siring four nestlings feeding the brood at double the frequency of males siring only a single nestling. However, male Smith's longspurs appear to show a graded adjustment of paternal care in response to paternity only when other males are available to compensate for reduced care: feeding rate did not vary in relation to paternity when only one male provisioned young at the nest. There was no evidence that males could recognise their own offspring within a brood and feed them preferentially. The number of offspring sired by each male was significantly correlated with the number of days spent copulating with the attending female: on average, a male sired one offspring for every 2 days of copulatory access. If males use their access to females to estimate paternity (and thereby decide on their subsequent level of parental investment), a positive relationship is expected between the amount of female access and the subsequent feeding rate to the nestlings. Nonetheless, male feeding effort was only weakly correlated with female access and more study is needed to determine how males estimate their paternity in a brood. Received: 1 June 1997 / Accepted after revision: 1 April 1998     

Parentage and sex allocation in the facultatively polygynous ant Myrmicatahoensis

Most social groups have the potential for reproductive conflict among group members. Within insect societies, reproduction can be divided among multiple fertile individuals, leading to potential conflicts between these individuals over the parentage of sexual offspring. Colonies of the facultatively polygynous ant Myrmicatahoensis contain from one to several mated queens. In this species, female sexuals were produced almost exclusively by one queen. The parentage of male sexuals was more complex. In accordance with predictions based on worker sex-allocation preferences, male-producing colonies tended to have low levels of genetic relatedness (i.e., high queen numbers). Correspondingly, males were often reared from the eggs of two or more queens in the nest. Further, over half of the males produced appeared to be the progeny of fertile workers, not of queens. Overall investment ratios were substantially more male biased than those predicted by genetic relatedness, suggesting hidden costs associated with the production of female sexuals. These costs are likely to include local resource competition among females, most notably when these individuals are adopted by their maternal nest. Received: 3 March 1998 / Accepted after revision: 20 June 1998     

Mating patterns and reproductive success in the bushy-tailed woodrat (Neotoma cinerea), as revealed by DNA fingerprinting

The mating patterns and reproductive success of the bushy-tailed woodrat (Neotoma cinerea) were investigated over a 3-year period (1992–1994) using DNA fingerprinting. Paternity was determined by genetic analysis of 58 juveniles of known maternity from 35 litters. Analysis of DNA fingerprints revealed that all offspring within a litter were fathered by a single male; the statistical probability of detecting multiple males mating with a female was high, indicating that multiple paternity would have been detected had it occurred. However, individual males did not father more than one litter from a given female either within or between years. At least 75% of females and 57% of males successfully produced offspring each year. The finding that all littermates are first-order relatives may contribute to the high level of female cooperation in this species. Received: 28 May 1997 / Accepted after revision: 22 March 1998     

基于环境DNA宏条形码的青岚湖自然保护区鱼类组成及分布特征

为探究在不同引物、不同参考数据库下环境DNA技术检测结果的差异,于2021年4月,采用环境DNA宏条形码技术分析了青岚湖鱼类多样性。选取16S rRNA及Cytb 2种引物,NCBI及本地数据库2种数据库,分别进行比对注释。结果表明:在青岚湖29个采样点中,共检测到7目15科43属64种鱼类,其中在16S-NCBI情形下获得4目9科19属20种鱼类,在16S-本地数据库情形下获得6目13科27属38种鱼类,在Cytb-NCBI情形下获得4目6科16属19种鱼类,在Cytb-本地数据库情形下获得2目5科15属20种鱼类。在青岚湖29个采样点中,鱼类更多地分布于湖面宽阔的中间地带(如S31附近),且南部较北部更少,鱼种的分布呈现一定的空间相似性。就研究区域而言,选择16S rRNA引物及本地数据库可以获得更全面的鱼类物种。通过与青岚湖鱼类历史数据比对发现,环境DNA技术在研究区域具有较强的适用性,如能选择适当的引物和本地数据库,可以更全面地反映研究区域的物种组成情况。     

纳米水滑石与Hela细胞的生物相容性研究

为了探讨纳米水滑石与Hela细胞的生物相容性,采用单细胞凝胶电泳法检测了纳米水滑石对Hela细胞DNA的损伤,并采用H2DCF-DA荧光法检测了纳米水滑石对Hela细胞活性氧簇的影响.结果发现,随着纳米水滑石浓度的升高(0~800μg·mL-1),Hela细胞尾部DNA含量、尾距及胞内活性氧簇含量均呈逐渐升高趋势;较低浓度(50、100μg·mL-1)纳米水滑石处理后,Hela细胞尾部DNA含量、尾距及胞内活性氧簇含量与对照组无显著性差异(p>0.05),而较高浓度(200、400、800μg·mL-1)纳米水滑石处理后,Hela细胞尾部DNA含量、尾距及胞内活性氧簇含量与对照组差异显著(p<0.05,p<0.01).以上结果表明,较高浓度(≥200μg·mL-1)的纳米水滑石可对Hela细胞DNA产生损伤,而较低浓度(≤100μg·mL-1)的纳米水滑石则具有较好的生物相容性,有可能作为载体应用于医药领域.