Genetic and environmental effects on the covariation betweencolour polymorphism and a life history trait

Variation in coloration with a strong underlying genetic basis is frequently found within animal populations but little is known about its function. Covariation between colour polymorphism and life-history traits can arise because morphs perform differently among environments or because they possess alternative alleles coding for key life-history traits. To test these two hypotheses, we studied a population of tawny owls Strix aluco, a bird displaying red, brown and grey morphs. We assessed the colour morph of breeding females, swapped eggs or hatchlings between pairs of nests, and examined how body condition in 3-week-old nestlings covaries with coloration of foster and genetic mothers. Redder foster and genetic mothers produced young in better condition. Because in two other years we observed that greyish females produced offspring in better condition than those of red females, the present study suggests that colour polymorphism signals genetic and phenotypic adaptations to cope with a fluctuating environment.

Quantitative monitoring of tamoxifen in human plasma extended to 40 metabolites using liquid-chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry: new investigation capabilities for clinical pharmacology.

Liquid-chromatography (LC) high-resolution (HR) mass spectrometry (MS) analysis can record HR full scans, a technique of detection that shows comparable selectivity and sensitivity to ion transitions (SRM) performed with triple-quadrupole (TQ)-MS but that allows de facto determination of "all" ions including drug metabolites. This could be of potential utility in in vivo drug metabolism and pharmacovigilance studies in order to have a more comprehensive insight in drug biotransformation profile differences in patients. This simultaneous quantitative and qualitative (Quan/Qual) approach has been tested with 20 patients chronically treated with tamoxifen (TAM). The absolute quantification of TAM and three metabolites in plasma was realized using HR- and TQ-MS and compared. The same LC-HR-MS analysis allowed the identification and relative quantification of 37 additional TAM metabolites. A number of new metabolites were detected in patients' plasma including metabolites identified as didemethyl-trihydroxy-TAM-glucoside and didemethyl-tetrahydroxy-TAM-glucoside conjugates corresponding to TAM with six and seven biotransformation steps, respectively. Multivariate analysis allowed relevant patterns of metabolites and ratios to be associated with TAM administration and CYP2D6 genotype. Two hydroxylated metabolites, α-OH-TAM and 4'-OH-TAM, were newly identified as putative CYP2D6 substrates. The relative quantification was precise (<20 %), and the semiquantitative estimation suggests that metabolite levels are non-negligible. Metabolites could play an important role in drug toxicity, but their impact on drug-related side effects has been partially neglected due to the tremendous effort needed with previous MS technologies. Using present HR-MS, this situation should evolve with the straightforward determination of drug metabolites, enlarging the possibilities in studying inter- and intra-patients drug metabolism variability and related effects.

Evolutionary branching in deme-structured populations.

Adaptive dynamics shows that a continuous trait under frequency dependent selection may first converge to a singular point followed by spontaneous transition from a unimodal trait distribution into a bimodal one, which is called "evolutionary branching". Here, we study evolutionary branching in a deme-structured population by constructing a quantitative genetic model for the trait variance dynamics, which allows us to obtain an analytic condition for evolutionary branching. This is first shown to agree with previous conditions for branching expressed in terms of relatedness between interacting individuals within demes and obtained from mutant-resident systems. We then show this branching condition can be markedly simplified when the evolving trait affect fecundity and/or survival, as opposed to affecting population structure, which would occur in the case of the evolution of dispersal. As an application of our model, we evaluate the threshold migration rate below which evolutionary branching cannot occur in a pairwise interaction game. This agrees very well with the individual-based simulation results.

Articles convenus entre le Roi et le prince-évêque, l'église et l'état de Liège, pour l'exécution du traité du 24 mai 1772 et en conformité de l'article séparé relatif à l'art 1er dudit traité. [Ratification du 11 décembre.]

[Acte royal. 1773-12-11. Versailles]

Traité de blason et recueil d'armoiries, composés par Noel LE BOUCQ, de Valenciennes.

Armoiries de différentes provinces d'Espagne (fol. 58), — des Pays-Bas (fol. 62), — « princes du Pays-Bas (fol. 66 v°), — électeurs et princes d'Alemaigne (fol. 70), — les Lorrains (fol. 76), — duché de Barre (fol. 77 v°), — duché de Savoy (fol. 78), — roy de Franche et nobles d'icelluy » par provinces (fol. 79), — « XII pères de Franche (fol. 88 v°), — duché de Bourgoigne (fol. 90 v°), — Bretons », etc. (fol. 94 v°), — « roy d'Angleterre » et nobles dudit pays (fol. 117), — « les noef Preux (fol. 124 v°), — cités et villes marchandes par toutte renommée (fol. 126 v°), — royaulme de Bohemie (fol. 129), — les Poullennois (Polonais) (fol. 130), — empereurs, royx et princes de estranges pays (fol. 130 v°), — royaulme de Castille (fol. 133), — royaulme d'Arragon (fol. 134 v°), — les Navarrois (fol. 137 v°), — villes de Brabant (fol. 139), — de Flandres (fol. 143 v°), — comté d'Alost (fol. 151 v°), — comté de Hollande (fol. 158), — les Namurois (fol. 160), — comté d'Artoys (fol. 165), — comté de Hainault (fol. 174 v°), — chevaliers bannerés (fol. 180 v°), — officiers de Hainault, etc. (fol. 183 v°), — ville et bourgeois de Valenciennes » (fol. 201). Ce traité de blason commence par une dédicace, datée de 1542, et se termine par la mention : « Faict et achevé, le XXIXe jour du mois de mars l'an mil cincq cens quarante trois. 1543. » — Nombreux blasons peints. L'auteur de ce traité et de ce recueil d'armoiries est peut-être Noel Le Boucq, de Valenciennes. Il a été, en tout cas, fait par ses soins et probablement pour son fils Jacques, car ses armes sont peintes dans la lettre initiale de la préface (fol. 3) ; et elles se retrouvent, avec celles de sa première femme, Anne Le Prince, au fol. 3 v°, et celles de sa seconde femme, Marguerite Vivien, au fol. 4. On lit, en outre, au fol. 1 : « Ce présent livre appertient à Jacques Le Boucq, fils de Noé, demorant en Valenciennes, sur la Croix, au Noef Boucq, à l'enseigne de la Petit Nostre Damme. 1543. »