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At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Multigenerational effects of inbreeding in Cucurbita pepo ssp. texana (Cucurbitaceae).

The shape of the fitness function relating the decline in fitness with coefficient of inbreeding (f) can provide evidence concerning the genetic basis of inbreeding depression, but few studies have examined inbreeding depression across a range of f using noncultivated species. Futhermore, studies have rarely examined the effects of inbreeding depression in the maternal parent on offspring fitness. To estimate the shape of the fitness function, we examined the relationship between f and fitness across a range off from 0.000 to 0.875 for components of both male and female fitness in Cucurbita pepo ssp. texana. Each measure of female fitness declined with f, including pistillate flower number, fruit number, seed number per fruit, seed mass per fruit, and percentage seed germination. Several aspects of male fitness also declined with f, including staminate flower number, pollen number per flower, and the number of days of flowering, although cumulative inbreeding depression was less severe for male (0.34) than for female function (0.39). Fitness tended to decline linearly with f between f = 0.00 and f = 0.75 for most traits and across cumulative lifetime fitness (mean = 0.66), suggesting that individual genes causing inbreeding depression are additive and the result of many alleles of small effect. However, most traits also showed a small reduction in inbreeding depression between f = 0.75 and f = 0.875, and evidence of purging or diminishing epistasis was found for in vitro pollen-tube growth rate. To examine inbreeding depression as a maternal effect, we performed outcross pollinations on f = 0.0 and f = 0.5 mothers and found that depression due to maternal inbreeding was 0.07, compared to 0.10 for offspring produced through one generation of selfing. In at least some families, maternal inbreeding reduced fruit number, seed number and mass, staminate flower number, pollen diameter, and pollen-tube growth rate. Collectively these results suggest that, while the fitness function appears to be largely linear for most traits, maternal effects may compound the effects of inbreeding depression in multigenerational studies, though this may be partially offset by purging or diminishing epistasis.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2000

Dendronized Polymers: Synthesis, Characterization, Assembly at Interfaces, and Manipulation.

Dendrimers are presently one of the most intensely studied classes of compounds because of their unusual structure. They can be described as a jungle of entangled branches traversed by winding trails which lead to sweet fruits and bright blossoms. On these trails one can reach the thicket's interior as well as find a way out. Expressed less lyrically, this thicket stands for regularly branched, densely packed structures, and the trails represent voids and channels not filled by bent back branches but by solvent. The fruit and blossoms are photochemically, electrochemically, or synthetically addressable units, catalytically active sites, etc., and the back and forth on the trails stands for transport processes. In a mathematical sense dendrimers are enveloped by an interface, which defines what is either in or out. This interface is shaped like a sphere if the trails are filled to bursting. Otherwise dendrimers are more flattened like amoeba, especially if in contact with a surface. The high density of the functional groups, the expansion of these compounds to a range of several nanometers, the existence of usable "surface" and transport possibilities in and with them have made dendrimers interesting candidates for many applications. This review describes how dendrimer construction and polymer synthesis were combined and used to move from fully or flattened spherical shapes to cylindrical ones. The shape-inducing influence of dendritic substituents can be driven to create nanoobjects with a cylindrical shape, which not only considerably widens the range of applications for the dendrimer class but also opens up new perspectives for supramolecular and polymer chemistry. Because of the sheer size of the described objects and complexity of shape-related properties, research in this area must necessarily be interdisciplinary. This article tries to mirror this by giving special attention not only to synthesis but also the characterization and behavior of these compounds in bulk and at interfaces. Furthermore, potential application fields are described.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Loofa sponge as a scaffold for culture of rat hepatocytes.

The dried fruit from Luffa cylindrica (loofa sponge, LS), which represents a new chitinous source material, was used as a 3-D scaffold for the culture of rat hepatocytes. With the macroporous structure and large pore size (ca. 800 microm) of LS, cell loading to the scaffold should be carried out by dynamic seeding with continuous shaking throughout the seeding period. Hepatocytes attach well to the surface of loofa fibers after seeding and maintain their round shapes. The initial ammonia removal and urea-N synthesis rates of hepatocytes immobilized within LS slightly decreased with increasing cell densities, but their metabolic activities were comparable to or better than those in monolayer culture on tissue culture polystyrene control surfaces. Both urea-N synthesis and albumin secretion rates could be maintained up to 7 days for cells immobilized within LS and spheroid-like cell aggregates could be found after the second day.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Social learning in animals: comparative analysis of different forms and levels].

Social learning as one of the key concepts of cognitive ecology includes different forms of behavioural displays from relatively simple, such as "social release" and "stimulus enhancement" up to "teaching" and "cultural transmission" in animal communities. Rapid development of this fields resulted in some contradictions in methods and terminology. In this review different forms and levels of social learning are analyzed. Ecological aspects of social learning are connected with diet shaping, fear of predators and mate choice. The first aspect is the most studied but still discussible. Social learning being an intricate component of feeding behaviour matches with innate behaviour, imprinting as well as early associative learning. Investigation of cognitive aspects of social learning going back to Thorndike's crucial question "Do apes ape?" are now developing into series of questions including even: "Do ants ape?". Elaboration of universal methods of comparative studying of social learning such as "artificial fruit" and "two ways/one outcome" has essentially enlightened these questions and made comparative analysis possible. Large continuum of displays of cognitive skills in social learning has been revealed in non-primate species. One of the discussible issues in the role of social learning is distribution of innovations. Many authors have investigated this intriguing aspect of animal behaviour in different ways, such as long field observations as well as laboratory experiments based on "artificial innovators" that is specimens specially taught by experimentalists. Many impressive results were obtained; in particular it turned out in contradiction with some mathematical models that individuals in groups are rather different in their psychophysiological predisposition to innovative behaviour. Role of teaching in such different forms of behaviour as shaping of species-specific behavioural patterns and spread of innovations is considered. Although the majority of animals in wild populations are not good teachers and pupils, some cultural aspects of behaviour were recently revealed, mostly in primates. At the same time some classical results concerning cultural transmission of new patterns (for example, bottle-opening in tits) were experimentally revised. Many problems still remain unsolved, in particular, how spread of innovations may favour prosperity of populations; to what degree behavioural peculiarities of local groups may be determined by processes of social learning; which internal and external factors and under what circumstances invest into social learning in natural environment.

Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena↗
PubMed1999

Feeding and general activity patterns of a howler monkey (Alouatta palliata) troop living in a forest fragment at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico.

The feeding behavior and general activity patterns of a howler monkey troop living in a 3.6 ha forest fragment were studied at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, for an annual cycle. Monthly samples of their feeding behavior indicated that they used 52 species of 24 plant families as sources of food. Of these, 67% were trees, which accounted for 96% of total feeding time recorded. Ten species of Moraceae, Cecropiaceae, Anacrdiaceae. and Sapotaceae contributed to 70% of the trees used and to almost 90% of feeding time. The number of plant species used per monthly record varied from 7 to 31 with an average of 19.9 species. Young leaves and ripe fruit were the principal items in the monthly diet of howlers and average percent of time spent consuming these plant parts was 46.7% and 34.8%, respectively. The use of tree species was found to be associated to their importance value and to their pattern of spatial dispersal in the study site. Availability of young leaves was fairly constant from month to month, but it presented a seasonal pattern, and there was a significantly lower number of tree species bearing ripe fruit through the year with brief pulses of production. The monthly activity pattern was found to be related to variations in the availability of young leaves and ripe fruit as well as to the values of the intermonthly overlap in plant species used. Resting and feeding presented a bimodal pattern of occurrence throughout the day that seemed to be related to variations in maximum ambient temperatures. Results are discussed in light of the small size and shape of the forest fragment inhabited by the howler troop.

Alouatta↗
PubMed1999

Haltere-mediated equilibrium reflexes of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.

Flies display a sophisticated suite of aerial behaviours that require rapid sensory-motor processing. Like all insects, flight control in flies is mediated in part by motion-sensitive visual interneurons that project to steering motor circuitry within the thorax. Flies, however, possess a unique flight control equilibrium sense that is encoded by mechanoreceptors at the base of the halteres, small dumb-bell-shaped organs derived through evolutionary transformation of the hind wings. To study the input of the haltere system onto the flight control system, I constructed a mechanically oscillating flight arena consisting of a cylindrical array of light-emitting diodes that generated the moving image of a 30 degrees vertical stripe. The arena provided closed-loop visual feedback to elicit fixation behaviour, an orientation response in which flies maintain the position of the stripe in the front portion of their visual field by actively adjusting their wing kinematics. While flies orientate towards the stripe, the entire arena was swung back and forth while an optoelectronic device recorded the compensatory changes in wing stroke amplitude and frequency. In order to reduce the background changes in stroke kinematics resulting from the animal's closed-loop visual fixation behaviour, the responses to eight identical mechanical rotations were averaged in each trial. The results indicate that flies possess a robust equilibrium reflex in which angular rotations of the body elicit compensatory changes in both the amplitude and stroke frequency of the wings. The results of uni- and bilateral ablation experiments demonstrate that the halteres are required for these stability reflexes. The results also confirm that halteres encode angular velocity of the body by detecting the Coriolis forces that result from the linear motion of the haltere within the rotating frame of reference of the fly's thorax. By rotating the flight arena at different orientations, it was possible to construct a complete directional tuning map of the haltere-mediated reflexes. The directional tuning of the reflex is quite linear such that the kinematic responses vary as simple trigonometric functions of stimulus orientation. The reflexes function primarily to stabilize pitch and yaw within the horizontal plane.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Dynamics of fruiting body morphogenesis.

Myxobacteria build their species-specific fruiting bodies by cell movement and then differentiate spores in specific places within that multicellular structure. New steps in the developmental aggregation of Myxococcus xanthus were discovered through a frame-by-frame analysis of a motion picture. The formation and fate of 18 aggregates were captured in the time-lapse movie. Still photographs of 600 other aggregates were also analyzed. M. xanthus has two engines that propel the gliding of its rod-shaped cells: slime-secreting jets at the rear and retractile pili at the front. The earliest aggregates are stationary masses of cells that look like three-dimensional traffic jams. We propose a model in which both engines stall as the cells' forward progress is blocked by other cells in the traffic jam. We also propose that these blockades are eventually circumvented by the cell's capacity to turn, which is facilitated by the push of slime secretion at the rear of each cell and by the flexibility of the myxobacterial cell wall. Turning by many cells would transform a traffic jam into an elliptical mound, in which the cells are streaming in closed orbits. Pairs of adjacent mounds are observed to coalesce into single larger mounds, probably reflecting the fusion of orbits in the adjacent mounds. Although fruiting bodies are relatively large structures that contain 10(5) cells, no long-range interactions between cells were evident. For aggregation, M. xanthus appears to use local interactions between its cells.

Morphogenesis↗
PubMed2005

Combination of analyte protectants to overcome matrix effects in routine GC analysis of pesticide residues in food matrixes.

Analyte protectants were previously defined as compounds that strongly interact with active sites in the gas chromatographic (GC) system, thus decreasing degradation, adsorption, or both of coinjected analytes. In this study, we evaluated various combinations of promising analyte protectants for the volatility range of GC-amenable pesticides using GC/quadrupole mass spectrometry (MS) and 1-microL hot splitless injection for sample introduction. A mixture of ethylglycerol, gulonolactone, and sorbitol (at 10, 1, and 1 mg/mL, respectively, in the injected samples) was found to be the most effective in minimizing losses of susceptible analytes and significantly improving their peak shapes (due to reduction of peak tailing). When added to final sample extracts and matrix-free calibration standards alike, these analyte protectants induced a similar response enhancement in both instances, resulting in effective equalization of the matrix-induced response enhancement effect even after a large number of fruit and vegetable extract injections. As compared to matrix-matched standardization, the analyte protectant approach offers a more convenient solution to the problems associated with calibration in routine GC/MS analysis of pesticide residues and possibly other susceptible analyte types in diverse samples. Moreover, the use of analyte protectants also substantially reduced another adverse matrix-related effect caused by gradual build-up of nonvolatile matrix components in the GC system, thus improving ruggedness and, consequently, reducing need for frequent maintenance.

Biphenyl Compounds↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pythiogeton zizaniae, a new species causing basal stalk rot of water bamboo in Taiwan.

A new species, Pythiogeton zizaniae, was isolated from diseased water bamboo (Zizania latifolia) in central Taiwan. The organism formed a colony with scanty mycelia and mycelial aggregates on rye-water bamboo medium. Special treatments were required for production of sporangia which were terminal, noncaducous and mostly ovoid. Chlamydospores were absent. The fungus was homothallic. Oogonia produced on V-8 water bamboo medium in water were mostly globose to subglobose and each was attached with a club-shaped, monoclinous antheridium by the base of the oogonium stalk. Oospores were plerotic and globose to subglobose. Py. zizaniae caused death of water bamboo suckers but did not infect seedlings of corn, rice, wheat, sorghum, cucumber, tomato, soybean or water spinach. It also did not affect cucumber and tomato fruit, carrot roots or potato tubers.

Cucumis sativus↗
PubMed2006

Multiple plant exploiters on a shared host: testing for nonadditive effects on plant performance.

The combined impact of multiple plant parasites on plant performance can either be additive (the total damage equals the sum of the individual effects) or nonadditive (synergistic or antagonistic damage). Two statistical models are available for testing the independent (=additive) effects of two factors. Here we suggest that the natural history of the plant-parasite system should motivate the choice of a statistical model to test for additivity. Using in-field, manipulative experiments, we examined the interactions between the herbivorous mite Calacarus flagelliseta Fletchmann, De Moraes and Barbosa (Acari: Eriophyidae), the fungal pathogen Oidium caricae F. Noack (a powdery mildew), and their host plant Carica papaya L. in Hawaii. First, we found that herbivorous mites had a moderate negative effect on powdery mildew: when mites were absent, powdery mildew colonies were larger and more numerous. Second, we showed that each plant parasite, when evaluated alone, significantly reduced several measures of plant performance. Third, we found that the combined impact of mites and mildew on plant performance is mostly additive and, for a few variables, less than additive. Finally, we explored compensatory responses and found no evidence for nonlinearities in the relationship between plant performance and cumulative parasite impact. Plants are almost universally subject to attack by multiple herbivores and pathogens; thus a deeper understanding of how multiple plant parasites shape each other's population dynamics and plant performance is essential to understanding plant-parasite interactions.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Insights into early molluscan neuronal development through studies of transmitter phenotypes in embryonic pond snails.

Pond snails have long been the subject of intense scrutiny by researchers interested in general principles of development and also cellular and molecular neurobiology. Recent work has exploited both these fields of study by examining the ontogeny of the nervous system in these animals. Much of this work has focussed upon the development of specific transmitter phenotypes to provide vignettes of neuronal subpopulations that can be traced from early embryonic life through to adulthood. While such studies have generally confirmed previous explanations of gangliogenesis in gastropods, they have also indicated the presence of several neurons that appear earlier and in positions inconsistent with classical views of gastropods neurogenesis. The earliest of these cells contain FMRFamide-related peptides and have anteriorly projections that mark the future locations of ganglia and interconnecting pathways that will comprise the postembryonic central nervous system. These posterior, peptidergic cells, as well as certain, apical, monoaminergic neurons, disappear and apparently die near the end of embryonic life. Finally, populations of what appear to be peripheral sensory neurons begin to express catecholamines by around midway through embryonic life. Like several of the neurons expressing a variety of transmitters in the developing central ganglia, the catecholaminergic peripheral cells persist into postembryonic life. Transmitter phenotypes, cell shapes and locations, and neuritic morphologies all suggest that many of the neurons observed in early embryonic pond snails have recognizable homologues across the molluscs. Such observations have profoundly altered our views of neurogenesis in gastropods over the last few years. They also suggest the promise for pond snails as fruitful models for studying the roles and mechanisms for pioneering fibres, cues triggering apoptosis, and contrasting origins and mechanisms employed for generating central vs. peripheral neurons within a single organism.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

A potato tuber-expressed mRNA with homology to steroid dehydrogenases affects gibberellin levels and plant development.

Using cDNA-AFLP RNA fingerprinting throughout potato tuber development, we have isolated a transcript-derived fragment (TDF511) with strong homology to plant steroid dehydrogenases. During in vitro tuberization, the abundance profile of the TDF shows close correlation to the process of tuber formation. However, when tuberization is inhibited by the addition of gibberellins (GAs) to the growth medium, the appearance of TDF511 in the fingerprint is delayed, then steadily increases in intensity during later stages of development. TDF511 was used to isolate the corresponding cDNA (CB12). The DNA and deduced amino-acid sequences of the cDNA show high homology to a fruit-ripening gene from tomato, a series of steroid dehydrogenases, and the maize Ts2 gene. A section of the cDNA was cloned in antisense orientation behind a 35S CaMV promoter and transformed into potato. Transgenic plants expressing the antisense gene showed significantly earlier emergence, an increase in height, and longer tuber shape. In vitro tuberization experiments reveal extended stolon lengths in comparison to the controls. The analysis of endogenous GA levels showed that the transgenic antisense plants have elevated levels of biologically active GAs and their respective precursors. We propose that this gene plays a role in the metabolism of plant-growth substances important for tuber life cycle and plant development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2005

Work, food and physical activity. A qualitative study of coping strategies among men in three occupations.

Life style diseases contribute heavily to inequalities in health. Thus, there is a need for a better understanding of factors affecting health-related habits, such as diet and exercise, among different groups of people. In this study, the work situation is chosen as a point of departure for analyses on health-related perceptions and habits among men from three different occupations: 20 carpenters, 15 engineers and 11 drivers in Oslo, Norway. The data were collected by in depth semi-structured interviews. There were clear differences in the way men in the three types of work view food, meals, the body and physical activity. The distribution of different types of meals throughout the day was also tied to the type of work. This was linked to notions of food as fuel for immediate body functioning, vis a vis body shape and future health. The differences observed are most likely a mixture and mutual reinforcement of demands related to the work situation as well as the socio-cultural background, level of knowledge and education. Benefits at work were also different; those in higher positions (engineers) received most healthy benefits, such as fruit baskets, healthy lunches, and participation in physical activities. These may contribute to the already large differences in health practices.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

Competition for pollination influences selection on floral traits of Ipomopsis aggregata.

Although rarely tested, it is often assumed that interspecific competition results in the divergence of traits related to resource use. Using a plant-pollinator system as a model, I tested the prediction the presence of a competitor for pollination influences the strength and/or direction of pollinator-mediated selection on floral traits. I measured phenotypic selection via female fitness on five floral traits of Ipomopsis aggregata in seven populations. Four contained only conspecifics (I only) and three also contained the competitor Castilleja linariaefolia (C + I). Directional selection via fruits/plant and conspecific pollen deposited/flower on corolla length was positive and significantly stronger in C + I populations. This difference in selection was apparently driven by interpopulation variation in the degree to which reproduction of I. aggregata was pollen limited. Consistent with expectations of interspecific competition, I. aggregata plants in C + I populations received less conspecific pollen per flower and set fewer seeds per fruit and fruits per plant than those in I only populations. Ipomopsis aggregata's corollas were also significantly longer in C + I populations, suggesting that there had been a response to a similar selective regime in past generations. Phenotypic correlations between corolla length and width, which determine the variation in I. aggregata's flower shape, were significantly weaker in C + I populations. These data suggest that competition for pollination can influence the strength of selection on and patterns of correlations among floral traits of I. aggregata. If I. aggregata populations with and without competitors for pollination are linked by gene flow, then measuring selection in competitive and noncompetitive environments maybe necessary to accurately predict how floral traits will evolve.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed2000

Advanced oviductal development, transport to the preferred implantation site, and attachment of the blastocyst in captive-bred, short-tailed fruit bats, Carollia perspicillata.

The final stages of embryonic development in the oviduct, transport of the embryo to the uterus, and the initial stages of implantation have been examined in captive-bred Carollia perspicillata at the light and electron microscopic levels. Development progressed to the expanded, zona pellucida-free, blastocyst stage in the oviduct. The abundance of microvilli on the exterior of the trophoblast varied with the degree of blastocyst expansion and cell shape, and may function in part as a membrane reservoir. Cells of the blastocyst also typically contained many lipid droplets and prominent areas of cytoplasm occupied by finely granular material (probably glycogen) instead of organelles. In most females, closure of the uterine lumen occurred prior to, or around the time of, transport of the blastocyst to the usual implantation site and appeared to play a role in preventing transport of the blastocyst too far distally in the uterus. This was associated with increased endometrial edema, particularly in the fundic region of the simplex uterus, and the extravasation of many erythrocytes into the endometrial stroma. Both of these changes began while the blastocyst was still being held in the oviduct and became pronounced during implantation. Engulfment of these erythrocytes by processes of the endometrial stromal cells and their phagocytosis by macrophages was also observed. Implantation was usually initiated within narrow tubular segments, lined by endometrium, that were located between the end of each oviduct and the main cavity of the uterus, or from immediately adjacent areas of the main cavity. During the early stages of implantation, the blastocyst was clasped by the endometrium at the implantation site, and this was associated with extensive interdigitation of the microvilli of the trophoblast and adjacent uterine epithelial cells. Initial adhesion of the trophoblast, which was still cellular rather than synctial, occurred over the apical intercellular junctions of the uterine epithelial cells.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A review of some extensions to generalized linear models.

Although generalized linear models are reasonably well known, they are not as widely used in medical statistics as might be appropriate, with the exception of logistic, log-linear, and some survival models. At the same time, the generalized linear modelling methodology is decidedly outdated in that more powerful methods, involving wider classes of distributions, non-linear regression, censoring and dependence among responses, are required. Limitations of the generalized linear modelling approach include the need for the iterated weighted least squares (IWLS) procedure for estimation and deviances for inferences; these restrict the class of models that can be used and do not allow direct comparisons among models from different distributions. Powerful non-linear optimization routines are now available and comparisons can more fruitfully be made using the complete likelihood function. The link function is an artefact, necessary for IWLS to function with linear models, but that disappears once the class is extended to truly non-linear models. Restricting comparisons of responses under different treatments to differences in means can be extremely misleading if the shape of the distribution is changing. This may involve changes in dispersion, or of other shape-related parameters such as the skewness in a stable distribution, with the treatments or covariates. Any exact likelihood function, defined as the probability of the observed data, takes into account the fact that all observable data are interval censored, thus directly encompassing the various types of censoring possible with duration-type data. In most situations this can now be as easily used as the traditional approximate likelihood based on densities. Finally, methods are required for incorporating dependencies among responses in models including conditioning on previous history and on random effects. One important procedure for constructing such likelihoods is based on Kalman filtering.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

New mimics of the acetate function in pheromone-based attraction.

Several analogues of (Z)-8-dodecenyl acetate (1a), the major pheromone component of the Oriental fruit moth, Cydia molesta, with chloroformate and lactone functional groups in place of the acetate moiety, were synthesized and investigated for their biological activity at four evaluation levels, i.e. by electroantennography (EAG), electrosensillography (ESG), short-range sexual stimulation and activation in the flight-tunnel. We found very strict requirements on the shape as well as on the electron distribution of the acetate group for a productive interaction with the receptor. The behavioral results showed that, among the analogues investigated, the chloroformate 1b, alken-4-olide 2a and also dodecyl acetate (1c) possess significant (60-85%) inhibitory activities. Based on electrophysiological evidence demonstrating that (i) only 1b is competing with the major pheromone component 1a for the same receptor sites on the male antennal sensilla, (ii) 1c elicits moderate EAG but no ESG responses and (iii) 2a does not produce any electrophysiological response at all, three possible inhibitory mechanisms by which these analogues are acting could be distinguished.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Consistency of genome-based methods in measuring Metazoan evolution.

Seven distinct genome-wide divergence measures were applied pairwise to the nine sequenced animal genomes of human, mouse, rat, chicken, pufferfish, fruit fly, mosquito, and two nematode worms (Caenorhabditis briggsae and Caenorhabditis elegans). Qualitatively, all of these divergence measures are found to correlate with the estimated time since speciation; however, marked deviations are observed in a few lineages. The distinct genome divergence measures also correlate well among themselves, indicating that most of the processes shaping genomes are dominated by neutral events. The deviations from the clock-like scenario in some lineages are observed consistently by several measures, implicitly confirming their reliability.

Animals↗