Seasonal changes in the trade-off among fig-supported wasps and viable seeds in figs and their evolutionary implications

What the real trade-off is among fig-supported wasps and the viable seeds of figs is heatedly debated in the studies of fig/fig wasp mutualism. In the present study, we collected wasp offspring (galls) and the viable seeds of premature fruits, and determined the foundress number in receptive fruits and all the types of wasps supported by Ficus racemosa L. during both the rainy and dry seasons in Xishuangbanna, China. The data show that the galls were positively correlated with viable seeds (n=32;r=0.74; P < 0.001) when the proportion of vacant female flowers (PVFF) was high, in April (68.0%), and were negatively correlated with viable seeds (n=48;r=-0.59; P < 0.05) when PVFF were limited (PVFF 42.6%) during a colder month (January). The mean foundress number per fruit during the colder months is significantly lower than during the warmer months (F-5,F-603 = 27.9; P < 0.001) and pollinator wasps can live longer during the colder months, During the colder months, the proportions of non-pollinators and wasp offspring are higher than those found during other months, whereas the proportion of viable seeds is not different compared with that of other months. Non-pollinator wasps tend to oviposit the female flowers that have been oviposited by pollinator wasps. The non-pollinators only negatively affect pollinator wasps and there is no obvious negative effect of non-pollinator wasps on viable seeds, so ovipositing by non-pollinator wasps will not result in the extinction of the figs during the process of evolution. The results of the present study indicate that figs can allow less foundresses to be in fruit cavities when PVFF are limited, which provides supporting evidence for the previous assumption that the plants have developed a mechanism to maintain a stable system because of the conflicts between the parties involved.

Uniaxial anisotropy and novel magnetic behaviors of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles prepared in a magnetic field

CoFe2O4 nanoparticles prepared by chemical coprecipitation method in a magnetic field exhibit novel magnetic properties. The average particle diameter was about 2 nm and larger depending on the post annealing temperature. Magnetization measurements indicate that smaller nanoparticles are superparamagnetic above their respective blocking temperatures. In the blocked state, these nanoparticles exhibit interesting behaviors in the magnetic hysteresis measurements. Constricted, or wasp waisted with extremely narrow waist, hysteresis curves have been observed in the magnetization versus field sweeps. For larger nanoparticles, the room temperature hysteresis is typical of a ferromagnet with an open loop, but the loop closes at lower temperature. The novel magnetic behavior is attributed to the directional order of Co ions and vacancies in CoFe2O4 established during the coprecipitation of the nanoparticles under an applied field.

Haematopoietic lineage cell-specific protein 1 (HS1) promotes actin-related protein (Arp) 2/3 complex-mediated actin polymerization

HS1 (haematopoietic lineage cell-specific gene protein 1), a prominent substrate of intracellular protein tyrosine kinases in haematopoietic cells, is implicated in the immune response to extracellular stimuli and in cell differentiation induced by cytokines. Although HS1 contains a 37-amino acid tandem repeat motif and a C-terminal Src homology 3 domain and is closely related to the cortical-actin-associated protein cortactin, it lacks the fourth repeat that has been shown to be essential for cortactin binding to filamentous actin (F-actin). In this study, we examined the possible role of HS1 in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. Immunofluorescent staining demonstrated that HS1 co-localizes in the cytoplasm of cells with actin-related protein (Arp) 2/3 complex, the primary component of the cellular machinery responsible for de novo actin assembly. Furthermore, recombinant HS1 binds directly to Arp2/3 complex with an equilibrium dissociation constant (K-d) of 880 nM. Although HS1 is a modest F-actin-binding protein with a Kd of 400 nM, it increases the rate of the actin assembly mediated by Arp2/3 complex, and promotes the formation of branched actin filaments induced by Arp2/3 complex and a constitutively activated peptide of N-WASP (neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein). Our data suggest that HS1, like cortactin, plays an important role in the modulation of actin assembly.

动物地磁导航磁受体的磁学探测及其矿化机理研究

This thesis focuses on the study of the geomagnetic orientation and navigation of homing pigeon and migrating bats. Magnetic minerals, possibly the base of the “magnetoreceptors”, which can perceive the magnetic information from geomagnetic field, are studied using advanced mineral magnetic methods in combination of non-magnetic techniques. In addition, the mechanism of magnetite biomineralization in organism has been probed through the formation of ferritin under laboratory-controlled conditions. A series of magnetic measurements of selected pigeon samples found the biogenic magnetite particles. a significant rapid decay of SIRM5K in the interval of 5–20 K on both zero-field cooled and field cooled warming curves suggests the dominance of superparamagnetic particles in the samples. Additionally, we noted that the content of magnetite particles in the male and the female are different. It is also found that bats contain magnetite. The results of room temperature magnetic measurements of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Chaerophon　plicatus samples indicates there are magnetite in the heads of bats. The concentration of magnetic materials in the brain is higher than that in the skull. The results of low temperature magnetic measurements in Nyctalus plancyi samples show that the head may contain a small quantity of magnetite particles. In order to study the magnetite biomineralizaiton, ferritin was reconstituted. The results of electron nanodiffraction patterns indicate that the dominant mineral phases in the reconstituted ferritin are ferrihydrite, which is similar to that in the native ferritin. The blocking temperature (TB) is near 20K. A series of magnetic hysteresis at low temperatures (3-21K) show the wasp-waisted hysteresis loop. This can be interpreted by either grain size effects (SP + SD) or different coercivities minerals.