云南松的种群遗传与进化

本文从种群遗传学的角度研究了云南松（pinus yunnanensis)的遗传体制，种群内的多态现象，种群的遗传结构，演化潜力，生态小种和地理小种以及共交种等问题，得出的若干结论如下：（1）种内存在巨大的遗传变异，如在自然 群中表明的，几乎所有可见的形态性状都具有多态现象，这种巨大的遗传变异是自然选择进化的一个必要条件。（2）自然种群中，大多数个体的基因型很多座位都是杂合的，它们常表现出杂种优势，并且也可能表明增强了生理上发育上的体内平衡。（3）由于种群大，而且又分割成许多相对独立的亚群，各种进化要素都有能同时起作用，并已分化出生态种和地理小种，（4）云南松具有拟态种子，其起源和适应意义作了初步讨论。     

Higher rates of sex evolve in spatially heterogeneous environments

The evolution and maintenance of sexual reproduction has puzzled biologists for decades. Although this field is rich in hypotheses, experimental evidence is scarce. Some important experiments have demonstrated differences in evolutionary rates between sexual and asexual populations; other experiments have documented evolutionary changes in phenomena related to genetic mixing, such as recombination and selfing. However, direct experiments of the evolution of sex within populations are extremely rare (but see ref. 12). Here we use the rotifer, Brachionus calyciflorus, which is capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction, to test recent theory predicting that there is more opportunity for sex to evolve in spatially heterogeneous environments. Replicated experimental populations of rotifers were maintained in homogeneous environments, composed of either high- or low-quality food habitats, or in heterogeneous environments that consisted of a mix of the two habitats. For populations maintained in either type of homogeneous environment, the rate of sex evolves rapidly towards zero. In contrast, higher rates of sex evolve in populations experiencing spatially heterogeneous environments. The data indicate that the higher level of sex observed under heterogeneity is not due to sex being less costly or selection against sex being less efficient; rather sex is sufficiently advantageous in heterogeneous environments to overwhelm its inherent costs. Counter to some alternative theories for the evolution of sex, there is no evidence that genetic drift plays any part in the evolution of sex in these populations.     

Predator-induced behaviour shifts and natural selection in field-experimental lizard populations

The role of behaviour in evolutionary change has long been debated. On the one hand, behavioural changes may expose individuals to new selective pressures by altering the way that organisms interact with the environment, thus driving evolutionary divergence. Alternatively, behaviour can act to retard evolutionary change: by altering behavioural patterns in the face of new environmental conditions, organisms can minimize exposure to new selective pressures. This constraining influence of behaviour has been put forward as an explanation for evolutionary stasis within lineages and niche conservatism within clades. Nonetheless, the hypothesis that behavioural change prevents natural selection from operating in new environments has never been experimentally tested. We conducted a controlled and replicated experimental study of selection in entirely natural populations; we demonstrate that lizards alter their habitat use in the presence of an introduced predator, but that these behavioural shifts do not prevent patterns of natural selection from changing in experimental populations.     

Evolution of novel cooperative swarming in the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus

Cooperation among individuals is necessary for evolutionary transitions to higher levels of biological organization. In such transitions, groups of individuals at one level (such as single cells) cooperate to form selective units at a higher level (such as multicellular organisms). Though the evolution of cooperation is difficult to observe directly in higher eukaryotes, microorganisms do offer such an opportunity. Here we report the evolution of novel cooperative behaviour in experimental lineages of the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. Wild-type strains of M. xanthus exhibit socially dependent swarming across soft surfaces by a mechanism known as 'S-motility' that requires the presence of extracellular type IV pili. In lineages of M. xanthus unable to make pili, a new mechanistic basis for cooperative swarming evolved. Evolved swarming is mediated, at least in part, by enhanced production of an extracellular fibril matrix that binds cells-and their evolutionary interests-together. Though costly to individuals, fibril production greatly enhanced population expansion in groups of interconnected cells. These results show that fundamental transitions to primitive cooperation can readily occur in bacteria.     

Macroevolution simulated with autonomously replicating computer programs

The process of adaptation occurs on two timescales. In the short term, natural selection merely sorts the variation already present in a population, whereas in the longer term genotypes quite different from any that were initially present evolve through the cumulation of new mutations. The first process is described by the mathematical theory of population genetics. However, this theory begins by defining a fixed set of genotypes and cannot provide a satisfactory analysis of the second process because it does not permit any genuinely new type to arise. The evolutionary outcome of selection acting on novel variation arising over long periods is therefore difficult to predict. The classical problem of this kind is whether 'replaying the tape of life' would invariably lead to the familiar organisms of the modern biota. Here we study the long-term behaviour of populations of autonomously replicating computer programs and find that the same type, introduced into the same simple environment, evolves on any given occasion along a unique trajectory towards one of many well-adapted end points.     

Genetic cost of reproductive assurance in a self-fertilizing plant

The transition from outcrossing to self-fertilization is one of the most common evolutionary trends in plants. Reproductive assurance, where self-fertilization ensures seed production when pollinators and/or potential mates are scarce, is the most long-standing and most widely accepted explanation for the evolution of selfing, but there have been few experimental tests of this hypothesis. Moreover, many apparently adaptive floral mechanisms that ensure the autonomous production of selfed seed might use ovules that would have otherwise been outcrossed. This seed discounting is costly if selfed offspring are less viable than their outcrossed counterparts, as often happens. The fertility benefit of reproductive assurance has never been examined in the light of seed discounting. Here we combine experimental measures of reproductive assurance with marker-gene estimates of self-fertilization, seed discounting and inbreeding depression to show that, during 2 years in 10 Ontario populations of Aquilegia canadensis (Ranunculaceae), reproductive assurance through self-fertilization increases seed production, but this benefit is greatly outweighed by severe seed discounting and inbreeding depression.     

Evolution of an obligate social cheater to a superior cooperator

Obligate relationships have evolved many times and can be parasitic or mutualistic. Obligate organisms rely on others to survive and thus coevolve with their host or partner. An important but little explored question is whether obligate status is an evolutionarily terminal condition or whether obligate lineages can evolve back to an autonomous lifestyle. The bacterium Myxococcus xanthus survives starvation by the social development of spore-bearing fruiting bodies. Some M. xanthus genotypes defective at fruiting body development in isolation can nonetheless exploit proficient genotypes in chimaeric groups. Here we report an evolutionary transition from obligate dependence on an altruistic host to an autonomous mode of social cooperation. This restoration of social independence was caused by a single mutation of large effect that confers fitness superiority over both ancestral genotypes, including immunity from exploitation by the ancestral cheater. Thus, a temporary state of obligate cheating served as an evolutionary stepping-stone to a novel state of autonomous social dominance.     

合作进化模型综述

作者综述了合作进化模型的最新研究成果。合作进化模型以“囚徒困境”博弈模型为基础, 为合作中的个体提供了一种与个体本身无关的策略优化机制, 以此探讨合作策略能够稳定进化的条件。基于直接或间接互惠理论的合作进化模型验证了在小规模社会中建立声誉机制有助于实现稳定的互惠合作; 互惠可以看做是对合作行为的奖赏, 开放的社会网络有助于实现较大范围内的合作; 对非合作行为实施惩罚有助于实现多人合作, 在一定条件下, 由非合作者实施惩罚时的合作进化相较于由合作者实施时更稳定; 群组竞争有利于合作文化或制度的传播, 但无法解释群组融合后的合作问题。     

林木改良中育种群的概念应用和发展

育种群是组成整个育种群体的多个亚群体,其意义相当于农作物育种的近交系。在美国的一些林木育种项目中,育种群已用来控制种子园的近交、捕获最大的遗传增益的有效措施。育种群的建立不会改变各群内的育种值,但每个育种群内的遗传变异会随近交系数的增加而增加,这为我们在群内选优提供了更大的选择余地。此外,建立育种群只增加一些档案记录工作,并不增加野外工作量。     

Intraspecific competition favours niche width expansion in Drosophila melanogaster

Ecologists have proposed that when interspecific competition is reduced, competition within a species becomes a potent evolutionary force leading to rapid diversification. This view reflects the observation that populations invading species-poor communities frequently evolve broader niches. Niche expansion can be associated with an increase in phenotypic variance (known as character release), with the evolution of polymorphisms, or with divergence into many species using distinct resources (adaptive radiation). The relationship between intraspecific competition and diversification is known from theory, and has been used as the foundation for some models of speciation. However, there has been little empirical proof that niches evolve in response to intraspecific competition. To test this hypothesis, I introduced cadmium-intolerant Drosophila melanogaster populations to environments containing both cadmium-free and cadmium-laced resources. Here I show that populations experiencing high competition adapted to cadmium more rapidly than low competition populations. This provides experimental confirmation that competition in a population can drive niche expansion onto new resources for which competition is less severe.     

交互式遗传算法中收敛性及用户评估质量的提高

交互式遗传算法（IGA）有一个明显的缺点，即用户在交互过程中，对每代的所有个体都要进行评估，当个体的数量较大，进化代数较多时，用户容易疲劳。针对这一问题本文提出了三种解决方法：第一，利用粗糙集（rough set)理论作为信息提取技术，有效地提高交互式遗传算法的收敛性，降低进化代数。第二，引进一个自主式遗传操作过程，以缓解用户在交互过程中的疲劳性。第三，利用相似距离值这个新概念提高用户对个体评估的精确度。最后在人脸图形上进行实验的结果表明，本文所提的三种方法可以有效的缓解交互式遗传算法过程中用户疲劳问题。     

Accelerated speciation in colour-polymorphic birds

Colour polymorphism exemplifies extreme morphological diversity within populations. It is taxonomically widespread but generally rare. Theory suggests that where colour polymorphism does occur, processes generating and maintaining it can promote speciation but the generality of this claim is unclear. Here we confirm, using species-level molecular phylogenies for five families of non-passerine birds, that colour polymorphism is associated with accelerated speciation rates in the three groups in which polymorphism is most prevalent. In all five groups, colour polymorphism is lost at a significantly greater rate than it is gained. Thus, the general rarity and phylogenetic dispersion of colour polymorphism is accounted for by a combination of higher speciation rate and higher transition rate from polymorphism to monomorphism, consistent with theoretical models where speciation is driven by fixation of one or more morphs. This is corroborated by evidence from a species-level molecular phylogeny of passerines, incorporating 4,128 (66.5%) extant species, that polymorphic species tend to be younger than monomorphic species. Our results provide empirical support for the general proposition, dating from classical evolutionary theory, that colour polymorphism can increase speciation rates.     

Quasispecies diversity determines pathogenesis through cooperative interactions in a viral population

An RNA virus population does not consist of a single genotype; rather, it is an ensemble of related sequences, termed quasispecies. Quasispecies arise from rapid genomic evolution powered by the high mutation rate of RNA viral replication. Although a high mutation rate is dangerous for a virus because it results in nonviable individuals, it has been hypothesized that high mutation rates create a 'cloud' of potentially beneficial mutations at the population level, which afford the viral quasispecies a greater probability to evolve and adapt to new environments and challenges during infection. Mathematical models predict that viral quasispecies are not simply a collection of diverse mutants but a group of interactive variants, which together contribute to the characteristics of the population. According to this view, viral populations, rather than individual variants, are the target of evolutionary selection. Here we test this hypothesis by examining the consequences of limiting genomic diversity on viral populations. We find that poliovirus carrying a high-fidelity polymerase replicates at wild-type levels but generates less genomic diversity and is unable to adapt to adverse growth conditions. In infected animals, the reduced viral diversity leads to loss of neurotropism and an attenuated pathogenic phenotype. Notably, using chemical mutagenesis to expand quasispecies diversity of the high-fidelity virus before infection restores neurotropism and pathogenesis. Analysis of viruses isolated from brain provides direct evidence for complementation between members in the quasispecies, indicating that selection indeed occurs at the population level rather than on individual variants. Our study provides direct evidence for a fundamental prediction of the quasispecies theory and establishes a link between mutation rate, population dynamics and pathogenesis.     

Facultative cheater mutants reveal the genetic complexity of cooperation in social amoebae

Cooperation is central to many major transitions in evolution, including the emergence of eukaryotic cells, multicellularity and eusociality. Cooperation can be destroyed by the spread of cheater mutants that do not cooperate but gain the benefits of cooperation from others. However, cooperation can be preserved if cheaters are facultative, cheating others but cooperating among themselves. Several cheater mutants have been studied before, but no study has attempted a genome-scale investigation of the genetic opportunities for cheating. Here we describe such a screen in a social amoeba and show that cheating is multifaceted by revealing cheater mutations in well over 100 genes of diverse types. Many of these mutants cheat facultatively, producing more than their fair share of spores in chimaeras, but cooperating normally when clonal. These findings indicate that phenotypically stable cooperative systems may nevertheless harbour genetic conflicts. The opportunities for evolutionary moves and countermoves in such conflicts may select for the involvement of multiple pathways and numerous genes.     

濒危植物缙云卫矛形态分化的数量分析

对重庆市特有的濒危植物缙云卫矛(EuonymuschloranthoidesYang)形态分化进行了研究.结果表明:所测量的22个营养器官性状中有8个性状的变异达显著水平,6个达极显著水平;所测量的15个生殖器官性状的变异均没达到显著水平,说明个体之间在形态上有一定程度的分化;个体水平上聚类结果表明不同种群的个体大多混聚在一起,同时也有一些大的表征群不出现某些种群的个体,说明部分种群间有一定的分化;种群水平上的聚类结果表明东温泉的2个种群与其它种群之间存在明显的形态分化,这种分化可能与它们之间的地理隔离有关.     

Developmental cheating in the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus

Cheating is a potential problem in any social system that depends on cooperation and in which actions that benefit a group are costly to individuals that perform them. Genetic mutants that fail to perform a group-beneficial function but that reap the benefits of belonging to the group should have a within-group selective advantage, provided that the mutants are not too common. Here we show that social cheating exists even among prokaryotes. The bacterium Myxococcus xanthus exhibits several social behaviours, including aggregation of cells into spore-producing fruiting bodies during starvation. We examined a number of M. xanthus genotypes that were defective for fruiting-body development, including several lines that evolved for 1,000 generations under asocial conditions and others carrying defined mutations in developmental pathways, to determine whether they behaved as cheaters when mixed with their developmentally proficient progenitor. Clones from several evolved lines and two defined mutants exhibited cheating during development, being overrepresented among resulting spores relative to their initial frequency in the mixture. The ease of finding anti-social behaviours suggests that cheaters may be common in natural populations of M. xanthus.     

中国小稻蝗种内多态性研究

对我国分布的小稻蝗 Oxya hyla intricata(Stal)不同种群进行了染色体 C带核型研究 ,并对部分种群线粒体 DNA Cyt b基因部分片段进行了分析 ,从而探讨该物种不同种群细胞与分子水平的相互关系 ,结果表明 :作为一个物种 ,小稻蝗在细胞与分子水平上具有一些共同特点 ,例如从染色体核型和 C带带型指标来看 ,染色体数目和染色体性别决定机制一致 ,染色体分组形式也基本相同 ;从 Cyt b基因序列来看 ,不同种群的个体之间核苷酸变异范围较小 ,其编码的氨基酸没有变异 ,显示了该物种种群之间密切的关系及其同源性。但种群之间仍存在一定的差异 ,如从染色体 C带核型来看 ,分布于四川和云南的种群染色体 C带带型表现为少端带类型 ,即大部分染色体均缺乏端带 ,而分布于我国东部沿海地区如福建、浙江、江西的种群则有大量的端带存在 ;从线粒体 DNA Cyt b基因部分片段构建的 NJ系统树来看 ,东部沿海地区的种群相对来讲聚为一支 ,而四川种群分布为另一支。由此看来 ,我国小稻蝗应分为两个染色体族 (Chromosomal group) ,即端带类和少端带类 ,其中端带类分布于我国大部分地区 ,而少端带类则只分布于我国西南的部分地区。线粒体 DNA Cytb基因的分析也部分地证明了上述染色体带型观察结果     

迈克尔孙干涉仪测量波长的新方法

在采用迈克尔孙干涉仪测量波长的实验中,光路调节繁琐和测量数据误差大等因素影响着该实验的进程.本文依据迈克尔孙干涉仪测量波长的实验原理,提出了采用硅光电池作光电传感器,配合万用表对照度实现量化的测量方法.该方法不但可以显著地提高实验测量的精确度及效率,而且其性能稳定,成本低廉.     

Life-history trade-offs favour the evolution of animal personalities

In recent years evidence has been accumulating that personalities are not only found in humans but also in a wide range of other animal species. Individuals differ consistently in their behavioural tendencies and the behaviour in one context is correlated with the behaviour in multiple other contexts. From an adaptive perspective, the evolution of animal personalities is still a mystery, because a more flexible structure of behaviour should provide a selective advantage. Accordingly, many researchers view personalities as resulting from constraints imposed by the architecture of behaviour (but see ref. 12). In contrast, we show here that animal personalities can be given an adaptive explanation. Our argument is based on the insight that the trade-off between current and future reproduction often results in polymorphic populations in which some individuals put more emphasis on future fitness returns than others. Life-history theory predicts that such differences in fitness expectations should result in systematic differences in risk-taking behaviour. Individuals with high future expectations (who have much to lose) should be more risk-averse than individuals with low expectations. This applies to all kinds of risky situations, so individuals should consistently differ in their behaviour. By means of an evolutionary model we demonstrate that this basic principle results in the evolution of animal personalities. It simultaneously explains the coexistence of behavioural types, the consistency of behaviour through time and the structure of behavioural correlations across contexts. Moreover, it explains the common finding that explorative behaviour and risk-related traits like boldness and aggressiveness are common characteristics of animal personalities.     

Sexually antagonistic genetic variation for fitness in red deer

Evolutionary theory predicts the depletion of genetic variation in natural populations as a result of the effects of selection, but genetic variation is nevertheless abundant for many traits that are under directional or stabilizing selection. Evolutionary geneticists commonly try to explain this paradox with mechanisms that lead to a balance between mutation and selection. However, theoretical predictions of equilibrium genetic variance under mutation-selection balance are usually lower than the observed values, and the reason for this is unknown. The potential role of sexually antagonistic selection in maintaining genetic variation has received little attention in this debate, surprisingly given its potential ubiquity in dioecious organisms. At fitness-related loci, a given genotype may be selected in opposite directions in the two sexes. Such sexually antagonistic selection will reduce the otherwise-expected positive genetic correlation between male and female fitness. Both theory and experimental data suggest that males and females of the same species may have divergent genetic optima, but supporting data from wild populations are still scarce. Here we present evidence for sexually antagonistic fitness variation in a natural population, using data from a long-term study of red deer (Cervus elaphus). We show that male red deer with relatively high fitness fathered, on average, daughters with relatively low fitness. This was due to a negative genetic correlation between estimates of fitness in males and females. In particular, we show that selection favours males that carry low breeding values for female fitness. Our results demonstrate that sexually antagonistic selection can lead to a trade-off between the optimal genotypes for males and females; this mechanism will have profound effects on the operation of selection and the maintenance of genetic variation in natural populations.