Kinship, parentage and temporal stability in nursery colonies of Leisler’s bat (Nyctalus leisleri)

Levels of genetic relatedness within bat colonies are often unknown, and consequently the reasons for group formation and social organization are unclear. The Leisler's bat (Nyctalus leisleri), like most temperate bat species, forms nursery colonies in summer. We used microsatellite markers to examine identity and to attempt to estimate relatedness among females within a nursery colony, over 2 consecutive years, to ascertain whether females show kinship and natal philopatry, testing the hypothesis that this is the basis of colony formation. Parentage and relatedness of young born within a colony was assessed to investigate mating patterns via male reproductive skew and whether males achieve mating success within their natal colony. While there was evidence for female philopatry, levels of genetic relatedness within colonies were low. This suggests that kinship is not a major determinant in group formation, as roosts also comprise a large number of distant relatives or non-kin. Roost switching and gene flow are likely to be high. Both sexes reproduced in their first year, whereas males appear to be the more dispersive sex. We argue that the physical environment as well as information sharing provided by communal roosting are likely to be important factors for the formation of these large natal colonies in N. leisleri and possibly other lineages of bats. © 2012 The Author.

Diet of Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) feeding chicks at two Irish colonies highlights the importance of clupeids

We examined regurgitates from Black-legged Kittiwakes during the early chick-rearing period over two breeding seasons at two colonies in Ireland where diet has not been studied previously. Clupeids were the dominant food source at both colonies, which contrasts with other studies throughout the British Isles that suggest Kittiwakes feed mainly on sandeels during this period. Our study is limited
by sample size and restricted to the early breeding season, but suggests a link between reproductive success and dietary composition which should be investigated further.

Growth of human B cell colonies from peripheral blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Human B cell colonies were grown from peripheral blood of 12 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and from 12 healthy control subjects. The SLE group showed a large increase (p less than 0.001) in the number of colony forming cells (CFC) present in peripheral blood as compared with controls. The CFC were of the pre-B cell type. There was also a loss of OKT8+ cell inhibition of B cell colony growth in the SLE group compared with control subjects.

Accessing Planktothrix species diversity and associated toxins using quantitative real-time PCR in natural waters

Tese de Doutoramento em Biologia apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, 2015.

Pupal cocoons affect sanitary brood care and limit fungal infections in ant colonies.

BACKGROUND: The brood of ants and other social insects is highly susceptible to pathogens, particularly those that penetrate the soft larval and pupal cuticle. We here test whether the presence of a pupal cocoon, which occurs in some ant species but not in others, affects the sanitary brood care and fungal infection patterns after exposure to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum. We use a) a comparative approach analysing four species with either naked or cocooned pupae and b) a within-species analysis of a single ant species, in which both pupal types co-exist in the same colony. RESULTS: We found that the presence of a cocoon did not compromise fungal pathogen detection by the ants and that species with cocooned pupae increased brood grooming after pathogen exposure. All tested ant species further removed brood from their nests, which was predominantly expressed towards larvae and naked pupae treated with the live fungal pathogen. In contrast, cocooned pupae exposed to live fungus were not removed at higher rates than cocooned pupae exposed to dead fungus or a sham control. Consistent with this, exposure to the live fungus caused high numbers of infections and fungal outgrowth in larvae and naked pupae, but not in cocooned pupae. Moreover, the ants consistently removed the brood prior to fungal outgrowth, ensuring a clean brood chamber. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the pupal cocoon has a protective effect against fungal infection, causing an adaptive change in sanitary behaviours by the ants. It further demonstrates that brood removal-originally described for honeybees as "hygienic behaviour"-is a widespread sanitary behaviour in ants, which likely has important implications on disease dynamics in social insect colonies.

Cours de géographie contemporaine universelle, civile et militaire : traitant les questions agricoles, industrielles, commerciales, historiques et militaires, par départements en France et par régions dans les autres nations. Tome I, Introduction à l'étude de la géographie, géographie de la France et de ses colonies, départements (de A à B) / publié sous la direction de J.-B. Chairgrasse,...

Collection : Encyclopédie théorique & pratique des connaissances civiles & militaires ; partie 2, livre 7, t. 1

La Fédération postale : Organe officiel de la Fédération nationale des travailleurs des postes, télégraphes et téléphones de France, des colonies et des pays de protectorat

1943/09 (N1).

La Fédération postale : Organe officiel de la Fédération nationale des travailleurs des postes, télégraphes et téléphones de France, des colonies et des pays de protectorat

1943/11 (N2)-1943/12.

Tahiti et les colonies françaises de la Polynésie / par H. Le Chartier,... ; précédé d'une lettre-préface par M. Ferdinand de Lesseps

Collection : Bibliothèque instructive

Revue française de l'étranger et des colonies et Exploration, Gazette géographique

1913 (T38,N409)- (T38,N420).

Revue française de l'étranger et des colonies et Exploration, Gazette géographique

1899 (T24,N241)- (T24,N252).

Revue française de l'étranger et des colonies et Exploration, Gazette géographique

1905 (T30,N313)- (T30,N324).

Revue française de l'étranger et des colonies et Exploration, Gazette géographique

1906 (T31,N325)- (T31,N336).