Microorganisms associated with chromosome destruction and reproductive isolation between two insect species

Microorganisms have been implicated in causing cytoplasmic incompatibility in a variety of insect species, including mosquitoes, fruitflies, beetles and wasps. The effect is typically unidirectional: incompatible crosses produce no progeny or sterile males, whereas the reciprocal crosses produce normal progeny. The parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis is one of the few species in which the cytogenetic mechanism of incompatibility is known. In this species the paternal chromosome set forms a tangled mass in a fertilized egg and is eventually lost. Here we report that cytoplasmic microorganisms are associated with complete bidirectional incompatibility between N. vitripennis and a closely related sympatric species, N. giraulti. Microorganisms can be seen in the eggs of both species. Hybrid offspring are normally not produced in crosses between the two species, but do occur after elimination of the microorganisms by antibiotic treatment. A cytogenetic and genetic study shows that bidirectional interspecific incompatibility is due to improper condensation of the paternal chromosomes. Microorganism-mediated reproductive isolation is of interest because it could provide a rapid mode of speciation. The mechanism of incompatibility in Nasonia is also of interest as a potential tool for studying chromosome imprinting and chromosome condensation.     

The concepts of 'sameness' and 'difference' in an insect

Insects process and learn information flexibly to adapt to their environment. The honeybee Apis mellifera constitutes a traditional model for studying learning and memory at behavioural, cellular and molecular levels. Earlier studies focused on elementary associative and non-associative forms of learning determined by either olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex or the learning of visual stimuli in an operant context. However, research has indicated that bees are capable of cognitive performances that were thought to occur only in some vertebrate species. For example, honeybees can interpolate visual information, exhibit associative recall, categorize visual information and learn contextual information. Here we show that honeybees can form 'sameness' and 'difference' concepts. They learn to solve 'delayed matching-to-sample' tasks, in which they are required to respond to a matching stimulus, and 'delayed non-matching-to-sample' tasks, in which they are required to respond to a different stimulus; they can also transfer the learned rules to new stimuli of the same or a different sensory modality. Thus, not only can bees learn specific objects and their physical parameters, but they can also master abstract inter-relationships, such as sameness and difference.     

Analysis and evaluation of insect species diversity in Zyginellini from Southwest China karst area

笔者通过查阅网络数据库及相关国内外文献资料的记载,初步整理了截至目前我国有分布的塔叶蝉昆虫种类共计13属54种,其中在西南3省喀斯特地区有分布的为8属33种。同时对西南3省已报道塔叶蝉的物种多样性进行了简单分析和评价。     

中国西南喀斯特地区Zyginellini族昆虫物种多样性分析与评价

笔者通过查阅网络数据库及相关国内外文献资料的记载,初步整理了截至目前我国有分布的塔叶蝉昆虫种类共计13属54种,其中在西南3省喀斯特地区有分布的为8属33种。同时对西南3省已报道塔叶蝉的物种多样性进行了简单分析和评价。     

Nitrogen content features of several indigenous evergreen and decidous tree species in Chongqing region

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A natural polymorphism alters odour and DEET sensitivity in an insect odorant receptor

Blood-feeding insects such as mosquitoes are efficient vectors of human infectious diseases because they are strongly attracted by body heat, carbon dioxide and odours produced by their vertebrate hosts. Insect repellents containing DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) are highly effective, but the mechanism by which this chemical wards off biting insects remains controversial despite decades of investigation. DEET seems to act both at close range as a contact chemorepellent, by affecting insect gustatory receptors, and at long range, by affecting the olfactory system. Two opposing mechanisms for the observed behavioural effects of DEET in the gas phase have been proposed: that DEET interferes with the olfactory system to block host odour recognition and that DEET actively repels insects by activating olfactory neurons that elicit avoidance behaviour. Here we show that DEET functions as a modulator of the odour-gated ion channel formed by the insect odorant receptor complex. The functional insect odorant receptor complex consists of a common co-receptor, ORCO (ref. 15) (formerly called OR83B; ref. 16), and one or more variable odorant receptor subunits that confer odour selectivity. DEET acts on this complex to potentiate or inhibit odour-evoked activity or to inhibit odour-evoked suppression of spontaneous activity. This modulation depends on the specific odorant receptor and the concentration and identity of the odour ligand. We identify a single amino-acid polymorphism in the second transmembrane domain of receptor OR59B in a Drosophila melanogaster strain from Brazil that renders OR59B insensitive to inhibition by the odour ligand and modulation by DEET. Our data indicate that natural variation can modify the sensitivity of an odour-specific insect odorant receptor to odour ligands and DEET. Furthermore, they support the hypothesis that DEET acts as a molecular 'confusant' that scrambles the insect odour code, and provide a compelling explanation for the broad-spectrum efficacy of DEET against multiple insect species.     

关于我国开展银保合作的几点思考

随着我国市场经济和金融业的发展，银保合作得到了加强，并显示出强大的发展后劲。银保合作是双方有效拓展市场的良好选择。我国的银保合作具有多种形式，以中国民生银行为代表的多家银行、保险企业，已通过银保合作业务取得了令人瞩目的成绩。     

Quantitative relationships between vegetation and several pollen taxa in surface soil from North China

According to the vegetation investigation and pollen analysis of surface samples sampled along a precipitation gradient of the Northeast China Transect (NECT), several pollen taxa, includingPinus, Betula, Quercus, Tilia, Acer, Ulmus, Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae, Gramineae and Cyperaceae, were chosen to make the regression and correlation analyses. The results indicated that there exists a close relationship between vegetation and pollen taxa in surface samples. The regression parameters for ten taxa in the forests in the eastern part of NECT were different from those in the steppes in the western part.Pinus, Betula, Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae, which have large slope and y-intercept terms, were over-representative taxa.Acer, Gramineae and Cyperaceae, which have small slope andy-intercept terms, were under-representative taxa.Quercus, Tilia andUlmus whose slope terms have negative correlation withy-intercept terms were equi-representative taxa. The pollen taxa with large slope or largey-intercept terms have small variability coefficients, implying that the slope andy-intercept terms for these pollen taxa are of high accuracy in the estimation of plant abundance from pollen frequencies.     

甘南高寒草甸物种多样性与生产力的关系

利用甘南高寒草甸植物群落丰富度、多样性、生产力的抽样调查资料,分析了不同空间范围内物种多样性与生产力的关系,探讨了其形成机制.结果显示:丰富度、Shannon-Wiener α多样性指数、Simpson α多样性指数与生产力之问的关系在合作分站和玛曲分站均呈显著正相关,在玛曲县欧拉乡为不相关;Pielou α均匀度指数与生产力的关系在玛曲分站呈显著正相关,在合作分站和玛曲县欧拉乡均为不相关;Whittakerβ多样性指数与生产力的关系在合作分站和玛曲分站均呈负相关,在玛曲县欧拉乡为不相关.综合三个地区的数据分析表明:随着空间范围的扩大,丰富度、三种α多样性指数与生产力趋向于正相关关系,Whittakerβ多样性指数与生产力趋向于负相关关系.如果要改善甘南高寒草甸草场质量、提高草场生产力,那么不仅要保护物种多样性,还要提高物种空间分布的均匀性、减少环境异质性.     

Genetic similarity between mates and extra-pair parentage in three species of shorebirds

Matings between close relatives often reduce the fitness of offspring, probably because homozygosity leads to the expression of recessive deleterious alleles. Studies of several animals have shown that reproductive success is lower when genetic similarity between parents is high, and that survival and other measures of fitness increase with individual levels of genetic diversity. These studies indicate that natural selection may favour the avoidance of matings with genetically similar individuals. But constraints on social mate choice, such as a lack of alternatives, can lead to pairing with genetically similar mates. In such cases, it has been suggested that females may seek extra-pair copulations with less related males, but the evidence is weak or lacking. Here we report a strong positive relationship between the genetic similarity of social pair members and the occurrence of extra-pair paternity and maternity ('quasi-parasitism') in three species of shorebirds. We propose that extra-pair parentage may represent adaptive behavioural strategies to avoid the negative effects of pairing with a genetically similar mate.     

茫荡山自然保护区木质残体与群落物种多样性的关系

在森林生态系统中,木质残体是其重要的组成部分之一,在森林生态系统中有着不可替代的重要生态功能和景观生态意义。茫荡山自然保护区位于福建北部的南平,同时也是是杉木的中心产区,通过调查得出的木质残体的数量、材积,同时运用物种丰富度,Simpson指数,Meintosh指数,Fisher指数,Shannon-Wiener指数来反映木质残体其形成的独特生态功能,有助于研究森林生态系统的天然生态环境以及对自然保护区的了解,也为更合理的经营人工林提供研究支持。     

高寒草甸植物多样性与营养的关系

以青藏高原典型高寒草甸为例,研究了施肥对植物群落生产力和物种多样性的影响。本文报道了这个实验的初步结果,就施肥对草地生产力和物种多样性的影响进行了分析,结果如下：(1)施肥提高生产力．施肥第1年和第2年,植物群落生产力显著增加;施肥第3年,生产力是施肥前的2倍多;(2)施肥使物种多样性降低,施肥第1年物种丰富度变化不显著;第2年施肥梯度上物种多样性差异显著;第3年最高施肥水平物种丰富度为对照的1／4;(3)施肥使草地质量提高．因为草地质量和生物量以及优良牧草比例直接相关,施肥使地上生物量明显增加,毒杂草比例降低,禾草比例增加,所以草地质量提高,说明施肥对改良草地有显著作用;(4)群落结构发生了明显的变化,施肥水平高时群落结构接近于生态位优先占领假说．随着施肥水平增加,各个物种重要值的最大值从0．107,0．183,0．585一直增加到0．775．不施肥时有10个物种地上生物量超过最大单种生物量的一半,最高施肥时只有一个。(5)对6个优势种进行的分析表明,只有垂穗鹅观草的生物量随着施肥水平的增加持续增加,其它物种都是减少的趋势,说明垂穗鹅观草的急剧增加可能是导致物种丰富度降低的原因。     

Relationship between echolocation frequency and body size in two species of hipposiderid bats

Frequencies of echolocation calls with maximum power of Himalayan leaf-nosed bats and Horsfield’s leaf-nosed bats during searching phase were 74.1 and 92.1 kHz, respectively. Head-body length, forearm length and body mass of Himalayan leaf-nosed bats were 82.9 mm, 89.7 mm and 59.1 g, respectively; and the corresponding values of Horsfield’s leaf-nosed bats were 68.4 mm, 61.3 mm and 19.7 g, respectively. Echolocation frequency and the three parameters of body size, head-body length, forearm length and body mass, were all negatively correlated, and the correlation coefficients were −0.86, −1.58 and −2.19, respectively. This study thereby proved that echolocation frequency and body size were negatively correlated in the two species of hipposiderid bats.