Neural substrates of vocalization feedback monitoring in primate auditory cortex

Vocal communication involves both speaking and hearing, often taking place concurrently. Vocal production, including human speech and animal vocalization, poses a number of unique challenges for the auditory system. It is important for the auditory system to monitor external sounds continuously from the acoustic environment during speaking despite the potential for sensory masking by self-generated sounds. It is also essential for the auditory system to monitor feedback of one's own voice. This self-monitoring may play a part in distinguishing between self-generated or externally generatedauditory inputs and in detecting errors in our vocal production. Previous work in humans and other animals has demonstrated that the auditory cortex is largely suppressed during speaking or vocalizing. Despite the importance of self-monitoring, the underlying neural mechanisms in the mammalian brain, in particular the role of vocalization-induced suppression, remain virtually unknown. Here we show that neurons in the auditory cortex of marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) are sensitive to auditory feedback during vocal production, and that changes in the feedback alter the coding properties of these neurons. Furthermore, we found that the previously described cortical suppression during vocalization actually increased the sensitivity of these neurons to vocal feedback. This heightened sensitivity to vocal feedback suggests that these neurons may have an important role in auditory self-monitoring.     

Sophisticated sperm allocation in male fowl

When a female is sexually promiscuous, the ejaculates of different males compete for the fertilization of her eggs; the more sperm a male inseminates into a female, the more likely he is to fertilize her eggs. Because sperm production is limited and costly, theory predicts that males will strategically allocate sperm (1) according to female promiscuity, (2) saving some for copulations with new females, and (3) to females producing more and/or better offspring. Whether males allocate sperm in all of these ways is not known, particularly in birds where the collection of natural ejaculates only recently became possible. Here we demonstrate male sperm allocation of unprecedented sophistication in the fowl Gallus gallus. Males show status-dependent sperm investment in females according to the level of female promiscuity; they progressively reduce sperm investment in a particular female but, on encountering a new female, instantaneously increase their sperm investment; and they preferentially allocate sperm to females with large sexual ornaments signalling superior maternal investment. Our results indicate that female promiscuity leads to the evolution of sophisticated male sexual behaviour.     

我国乌鸡的遗传多样性研究进展

乌鸡是我国著名的药食兼用珍禽,也是我国重要的生物遗传资源,具有特有的药用价值、经济价值和观赏价值。本文从形态学水平、染色体水平、蛋白质水平和DNA水平介绍了我国乌鸡遗传多样性的研究现状,综述了遗传多样性与乌鸡生产性能关系的研究进展,提出了今后的研究方向。     

我国乌鸡的遗传多样性研究进展

乌鸡是我国著名的药食兼用珍禽，也是我国重要的生物遗传资源，具有特有的药用价值、经济价值和观赏价值。本文从形态学水平、染色体水平、蛋白质水平和DNA水平介绍了我国乌鸡遗传多样性的研究现状，综述了遗传多样性与乌鸡生产性能关系的研究进展，提出了今后的研究方向。     

我国乌鸡的遗传多样性研究进展

乌鸡是我国著名的药食兼用珍禽,也是我国重要的生物遗传资源,具有特有的药用价值、经济价值和观赏价值.本文从形态学水平、染色体水平、蛋白质水平和DNA水平介绍了我国乌鸡遗传多样性的研究现状,综述了遗传多样性与乌鸡生产性能关系的研究进展,提出了今后的研究方向.     

Female feral fowl eject sperm of subdominant males

Paternity is often determined by competition between the ejaculates of different males. Males can also use particular behaviours or structures to manipulate how females use sperm. However, the ability of females to bias sperm utilization in favour of preferred males independently of male manipulation has not been demonstrated. Females are predicted to respond differentially to the sperm of different males when the reproductive interests of the sexes differ and when females are coerced into copulating. Here we show that in female feral fowl most copulations are coerced, and that females consistently bias sperm retention in favour of the preferred male phenotype. Females prefer to copulate with dominant males, but when sexually coerced by subordinate males, they manipulate the behaviour of dominant males to reduce the likelihood of insemination. If this fails, females differentially eject ejaculates according to male status in the absence of any male manipulation and preferentially retain the sperm of dominant males.     

Developmental basis of limblessness and axial patterning in snakes.

The evolution of snakes involved major changes in vertebrate body plan organization, but the developmental basis of those changes is unknown. The python axial skeleton consists of hundreds of similar vertebrae, forelimbs are absent and hindlimbs are severely reduced. Combined limb loss and trunk elongation is found in many vertebrate taxa, suggesting that these changes may be linked by a common developmental mechanism. Here we show that Hox gene expression domains are expanded along the body axis in python embryos, and that this can account for both the absence of forelimbs and the expansion of thoracic identity in the axial skeleton. Hindlimb buds are initiated, but apical-ridge and polarizing-region signalling pathways that are normally required for limb development are not activated. Leg bud outgrowth and signalling by Sonic hedgehog in pythons can be rescued by application of fibroblast growth factor or by recombination with chick apical ridge. The failure to activate these signalling pathways during normal python development may also stem from changes in Hox gene expression that occurred early in snake evolution.