Pub Date : 2021-03-18DOI: 10.1163/15707563-BJA10037
S. Penny, Rachel L. White, D. Scott, Lynne M. MacTavish, A. Pernetta
Rhino species use their horns in social interactions but also when accessing resources, rubbing and in interspecific defence. The current poaching crisis has seen southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) increasingly dehorned as a conservation management practise, but few studies have evaluated whether the procedure has any behavioural effects. This study sought to document and describe horn-contingent behaviours during resource access, wallowing and rubbing in freeranging white rhinos and establish whether dehorning, also known as horn trimming, impacts on their frequency or function. Data were collected through camera trapping and field observations at two sites in South Africa. The results provide no evidence that dehorning disrupts digging behaviours during mineral consumption or wallowing and suggests that dehorning is unlikely to have a strong biological impact on resource access. Furthermore, the frequency of horn-rubbing behaviours did not appear to be influenced by levels of horn growth. This suggests the procedure has a limited impact on these aspects of the species’ ecology and provides support that dehorning can be employed as a management tool to reduce poaching in freeranging populations of white rhino.
{"title":"No evidence that horn trimming affects white rhinoceros horn use during comfort behaviour and resource access","authors":"S. Penny, Rachel L. White, D. Scott, Lynne M. MacTavish, A. Pernetta","doi":"10.1163/15707563-BJA10037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-BJA10037","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Rhino species use their horns in social interactions but also when accessing resources, rubbing and in interspecific defence. The current poaching crisis has seen southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) increasingly dehorned as a conservation management practise, but few studies have evaluated whether the procedure has any behavioural effects. This study sought to document and describe horn-contingent behaviours during resource access, wallowing and rubbing in freeranging white rhinos and establish whether dehorning, also known as horn trimming, impacts on their frequency or function. Data were collected through camera trapping and field observations at two sites in South Africa. The results provide no evidence that dehorning disrupts digging behaviours during mineral consumption or wallowing and suggests that dehorning is unlikely to have a strong biological impact on resource access. Furthermore, the frequency of horn-rubbing behaviours did not appear to be influenced by levels of horn growth. This suggests the procedure has a limited impact on these aspects of the species’ ecology and provides support that dehorning can be employed as a management tool to reduce poaching in freeranging populations of white rhino.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43201656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-09DOI: 10.1163/15707563-BJA10015
Shashwat Singh, G. Mishra, Omkar
The mating status of organisms plays a crucial role in deciphering mating decision and reproductive success of any organisms. Odour or pheromones are known to be perceived by animals through olfaction to locate mates at a distance. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of the presence of unmated and mated conspecific adults on mating and reproductive parameters of the ladybird beetle, Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius, 1781). To conduct this experiment, an arena was made with the help of two Petri dishes and in such a manner that the experimental adults were only able to perceive the presence of conspecific adults of different mating status in their close vicinity. The results of the study demonstrated an early onset of mating in the presence of males compared to females. Another male in the vicinity poses competition that may force the males to establish genital contact faster. In the absence of any potential rival, copulation duration was highest. Females laid more eggs in the presence of mated females. This may be to increase offspring fitness in the presence of potential competitors for the already mated female. Females laid fewer eggs in the presence of unmated females. Unmated females nearby can be another choice for a male and thus, the male possibly limits the size of the ejaculate containing oviposition stimulants. The current study advocates that mating and reproductive behaviour are modulated according to the perceived surroundings in the form of conspecific adults of different mating status.
{"title":"Mating status of coexisting conspecific individuals modulate reproduction in a ladybird, Menochilus sexmaculatus","authors":"Shashwat Singh, G. Mishra, Omkar","doi":"10.1163/15707563-BJA10015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-BJA10015","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The mating status of organisms plays a crucial role in deciphering mating decision and reproductive success of any organisms. Odour or pheromones are known to be perceived by animals through olfaction to locate mates at a distance. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of the presence of unmated and mated conspecific adults on mating and reproductive parameters of the ladybird beetle, Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius, 1781). To conduct this experiment, an arena was made with the help of two Petri dishes and in such a manner that the experimental adults were only able to perceive the presence of conspecific adults of different mating status in their close vicinity. The results of the study demonstrated an early onset of mating in the presence of males compared to females. Another male in the vicinity poses competition that may force the males to establish genital contact faster. In the absence of any potential rival, copulation duration was highest. Females laid more eggs in the presence of mated females. This may be to increase offspring fitness in the presence of potential competitors for the already mated female. Females laid fewer eggs in the presence of unmated females. Unmated females nearby can be another choice for a male and thus, the male possibly limits the size of the ejaculate containing oviposition stimulants. The current study advocates that mating and reproductive behaviour are modulated according to the perceived surroundings in the form of conspecific adults of different mating status.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48709832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-02-09DOI: 10.1163/15707563-BJA10051
D. Pincheira‐Donoso
Radiations of ectothermic vertebrates across cold climates depend on the coordinated evolution of multiple traits that compensate for the constraints imposed by limited and fluctuating resources, such as temperature, food and oxygen. One of nature’s most prolific such radiations, Liolaemus lizards, has diversified across the extreme cold climates of the Andes and Patagonia. Remarkably, the prevailing patterns of reptile herbivory are opposed by Liolaemus which, in contrast with lizards generally, have repeatedly evolved plant consumption across small-bodied species from cold climates. Herbivory is hypothesized to depend on the evolution of multiple traits that maximize absorption of nutrients from an intrinsically poor-quality diet, such as increases in gastrointestinal tract size and increases in the density of nematodes in the intestine that may assist with plant digestion. Here, a comparative phylogenetic approach across Liolaemus species is implemented to test these hypotheses, which have only been investigated nonphylogenetically. Results reveal that intestine length increases consistently with increasing herbivory, whereas stomach size or nematode load are not associated with plant consumption. Body size plays no role in herbivory either. Consequently, this evidence places emphasis on the enlargement of the intestine to facilitate the evolution of herbivory in cold climates.
{"title":"Correlated evolution between herbivory and gastrointestinal tract in a prolific lizard adaptive radiation","authors":"D. Pincheira‐Donoso","doi":"10.1163/15707563-BJA10051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-BJA10051","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Radiations of ectothermic vertebrates across cold climates depend on the coordinated evolution of multiple traits that compensate for the constraints imposed by limited and fluctuating resources, such as temperature, food and oxygen. One of nature’s most prolific such radiations, Liolaemus lizards, has diversified across the extreme cold climates of the Andes and Patagonia. Remarkably, the prevailing patterns of reptile herbivory are opposed by Liolaemus which, in contrast with lizards generally, have repeatedly evolved plant consumption across small-bodied species from cold climates. Herbivory is hypothesized to depend on the evolution of multiple traits that maximize absorption of nutrients from an intrinsically poor-quality diet, such as increases in gastrointestinal tract size and increases in the density of nematodes in the intestine that may assist with plant digestion. Here, a comparative phylogenetic approach across Liolaemus species is implemented to test these hypotheses, which have only been investigated nonphylogenetically. Results reveal that intestine length increases consistently with increasing herbivory, whereas stomach size or nematode load are not associated with plant consumption. Body size plays no role in herbivory either. Consequently, this evidence places emphasis on the enlargement of the intestine to facilitate the evolution of herbivory in cold climates.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46892858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Exploring the mechanisms that affect mating pattern with respect to body size has implications for understanding the evolution of sexual selection. Theory predicts that the absence of a relationship between female body size and fecundity, unbiased operational sex ratio, and a short breeding season will lead to random mating by body size in anuran amphibians. We tested these predictions in the Himalayan toad Duttaphrynus himalayanus inhabiting southeastern Tibet. Our study did not detect any correlation between female body size and number of eggs laid, nor was there a significant difference in the sex ratio of toads captured from the breeding site. In addition, the toads were reproductive for only a short period, from late April to early May (typical of an explosively breeding species). As expected, we detected a weak but not significant relationship between body size of amplexing males and females. Our results revealed no apparent size-assortative pairing in the study population of the Himalayan toad and may contribute to an increasing body of literature on mating patterns in relation to body size in animals with indeterminate growth.
{"title":"Proximate mechanisms responsible for random mating by size in the Himalayan toad Duttaphrynus himalayanus","authors":"Lixia Zhang, Yongsun Sheng, Xiangyu Yuan, Fei Yu, Xueting Zhong, J. Liao, Zhenhao Liu, Wei Chen","doi":"10.1163/15707563-bja10035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-bja10035","url":null,"abstract":"Exploring the mechanisms that affect mating pattern with respect to body size has implications for understanding the evolution of sexual selection. Theory predicts that the absence of a relationship between female body size and fecundity, unbiased operational sex ratio, and a short breeding season will lead to random mating by body size in anuran amphibians. We tested these predictions in the Himalayan toad Duttaphrynus himalayanus inhabiting southeastern Tibet. Our study did not detect any correlation between female body size and number of eggs laid, nor was there a significant difference in the sex ratio of toads captured from the breeding site. In addition, the toads were reproductive for only a short period, from late April to early May (typical of an explosively breeding species). As expected, we detected a weak but not significant relationship between body size of amplexing males and females. Our results revealed no apparent size-assortative pairing in the study population of the Himalayan toad and may contribute to an increasing body of literature on mating patterns in relation to body size in animals with indeterminate growth.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15707563-bja10035","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47842481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-29DOI: 10.1163/15707563-bja10050
M. Richards, T. Hesselberg
Among the most damaging anthropogenic effects for ecosystems is habitat fragmentation. One of its consequences is the creation of edges, which results in more exposed habitats that have different ecological and behavioural effects on the different species that live there. However, the nature and magnitude of these effects remain unknown for most of the animals and plants inhabiting these edge habitats. This study intends to determine if quantity of prey capture by a woodland population of the orb spider Metellina mengei is subjected to edge effects. By observing the prey capture of this species at edge and interior locations of a woodland, we found no significant effects of edge on the number of prey captured or the average prey length. Instead, we found that inclination of the web, but not web area or other measured web parameters, had a significant effect on prey capture. Therefore, this species of spider may be minimally affected by its location within the woodland and more affected by its surrounding microhabitat, which raises the possibility that non-specialised invertebrate predators could be less impacted by fragmentation than generally recognised.
{"title":"No edge effect on quantity of prey captured in the forest-dwelling tetragnathid orb spider Metellina mengei","authors":"M. Richards, T. Hesselberg","doi":"10.1163/15707563-bja10050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-bja10050","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Among the most damaging anthropogenic effects for ecosystems is habitat fragmentation. One of its consequences is the creation of edges, which results in more exposed habitats that have different ecological and behavioural effects on the different species that live there. However, the nature and magnitude of these effects remain unknown for most of the animals and plants inhabiting these edge habitats. This study intends to determine if quantity of prey capture by a woodland population of the orb spider Metellina mengei is subjected to edge effects. By observing the prey capture of this species at edge and interior locations of a woodland, we found no significant effects of edge on the number of prey captured or the average prey length. Instead, we found that inclination of the web, but not web area or other measured web parameters, had a significant effect on prey capture. Therefore, this species of spider may be minimally affected by its location within the woodland and more affected by its surrounding microhabitat, which raises the possibility that non-specialised invertebrate predators could be less impacted by fragmentation than generally recognised.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2020-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15707563-bja10050","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43179596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-29DOI: 10.1163/15707563-bja10018
Maja Mohorović, M. Krofel
Scent-marking is a predominant form of communication among felids, with urine spraying having a key role. Detectability and longevity of scent marks are recognized as crucial for efficiency of scent-marking, but there is limited research that has tested scent persistence with respect to various environmental factors. We used an experimental framework to measure human-perceived strength of felid urine smell and determine the effects of substrate, tilt and aspect of marked surfaces on persistence of the simulated scent marks. We used area under the curve (AUC), calculated for the scent strength of each scent-marked surface over time, as a proxy for urine scent preservation. Thereafter, we used ANOVA, followed by analysis of differences of interest between the marking sites, to assess the effect of environmental factors on human-perceived scent mark persistence. Odour persisted significantly better on rough surfaces, surfaces covered with moss and on surfaces with overhanging tilts, while there was no significant difference between the northerly- and southerly-oriented surfaces. The results are generally in accordance with the use and selection of marking sites previously reported for wild felids throughout the world, confirming that in their marking behaviour felids strive to prolong the persistence of scent marks. This knowledge will help researchers in interpretation of data on scent-marking and to evaluate the adaptive significance of this behaviour.
{"title":"The scent world of cats: where to place a urine scent mark to increase signal persistence?","authors":"Maja Mohorović, M. Krofel","doi":"10.1163/15707563-bja10018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-bja10018","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Scent-marking is a predominant form of communication among felids, with urine spraying having a key role. Detectability and longevity of scent marks are recognized as crucial for efficiency of scent-marking, but there is limited research that has tested scent persistence with respect to various environmental factors. We used an experimental framework to measure human-perceived strength of felid urine smell and determine the effects of substrate, tilt and aspect of marked surfaces on persistence of the simulated scent marks. We used area under the curve (AUC), calculated for the scent strength of each scent-marked surface over time, as a proxy for urine scent preservation. Thereafter, we used ANOVA, followed by analysis of differences of interest between the marking sites, to assess the effect of environmental factors on human-perceived scent mark persistence. Odour persisted significantly better on rough surfaces, surfaces covered with moss and on surfaces with overhanging tilts, while there was no significant difference between the northerly- and southerly-oriented surfaces. The results are generally in accordance with the use and selection of marking sites previously reported for wild felids throughout the world, confirming that in their marking behaviour felids strive to prolong the persistence of scent marks. This knowledge will help researchers in interpretation of data on scent-marking and to evaluate the adaptive significance of this behaviour.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2020-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15707563-bja10018","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47587867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-16DOI: 10.1163/15707563-bja10025
A. Altunışık, Halit Eksilmez
We investigated age structure, age at sexual maturity, lifespan, growth and survival rate and adult life expectancy (as demographic life-history traits) as well as body size of two Darevskia derjugini (Artvin lizard) populations from different altitudes, using skeletochronology. Our findings indicated that age upon attaining sexual maturity was two or three years in the low-altitude population (Fındıklı) while it was three years in the high-altitude population (Murgul) for both sexes. The maximum longevity was seven years in the high-elevation site while it was six years in the low-elevation site. As reported for many lizards, we found a significant positive relationship between age and body size within each sex of Artvin lizard at both altitudes. High- and low-altitude populations did not differ in age structure, survival rates, adult life expectancy and body size. Rather than the effect of altitude, which is hard to compare without replication of other low and high altitude populations, the fact that these two populations have similar growth rates and the similarity of local conditions (food availability and predator density) may indicate similarity between the two regions.
{"title":"Age, growth and survival rate in two populations of Darevskia derjugini (Nikolsky, 1898) from different altitudes (Squamata: Sauria: Lacertidae)","authors":"A. Altunışık, Halit Eksilmez","doi":"10.1163/15707563-bja10025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-bja10025","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000We investigated age structure, age at sexual maturity, lifespan, growth and survival rate and adult life expectancy (as demographic life-history traits) as well as body size of two Darevskia derjugini (Artvin lizard) populations from different altitudes, using skeletochronology. Our findings indicated that age upon attaining sexual maturity was two or three years in the low-altitude population (Fındıklı) while it was three years in the high-altitude population (Murgul) for both sexes. The maximum longevity was seven years in the high-elevation site while it was six years in the low-elevation site. As reported for many lizards, we found a significant positive relationship between age and body size within each sex of Artvin lizard at both altitudes. High- and low-altitude populations did not differ in age structure, survival rates, adult life expectancy and body size. Rather than the effect of altitude, which is hard to compare without replication of other low and high altitude populations, the fact that these two populations have similar growth rates and the similarity of local conditions (food availability and predator density) may indicate similarity between the two regions.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2020-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15707563-bja10025","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48721308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-13DOI: 10.1163/15707563-bja10046
Hang Zhao, Gao Yaping, Q. Jiang, Jinpeng Wang, Liu Wenhao, J. Zhihua, Xiuge Wang, Wei Xiaochao, Gao Yundong, Jinming Huang
Under extreme environmental conditions such as hypoxia, insufficient nutrition, and glucose deficiency, the acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2)-mediated acetyl-CoA synthesis pathway plays an alternative role to ensure the normal operation of metabolic activities. To investigate the potential effect of the ACSS2 gene on hypoxic adaptation and its regulatory mechanism of gene expression in high-altitude cattle breeds, we analyzed the genetic variations of the ACSS2 gene in five Bos taurus taurus, Bos taurus indicus, hybrid Bos taurus taurus × Bos taurus indicus Chinese cattle breeds, and two Bos grunniens (yak) breeds distributed at different altitudes (95-3850 m). A total of 58 SNPs was detected in seven populations, and abundant genetic variation was found in high-altitude breeds. We identified the bovine ACSS2 core promoter region between g.-682 and g.-264 by using the luciferase assay in FFB and HepG2 cells. We also identified that the high-altitude hypoxia-specific haplotype (CAGTCT) was composed of six highly linked SNPs. The tagSNP g.-473 T>C (rs23) is located in the core promoter of ACSS2 in the Bos taurus taurus and yak breeds. The recombinant plasmid containing rs23 and analyses of luciferase activity of different genotypes showed that the activity of ACSS2 promoter increased significantly when T was mutated to C. We also found a yak-specific SNP rs20 that consists of 12 base insertions (g.-562 ins GAAAGGACCCTA) in the promoter of yak breeds. Luciferase activity analysis showed that the insertion mutant significantly decreased the promoter activity of ACSS2. Hence, ACSS2 may play an important role in the adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia by generating adaptive alleles to influence gene transcription in cattle. These results signify that different genetic variants and haplotypes affect the activity of the core promoter to regulate ACSS2 gene expression and subsequently overcome and adapt to a high-altitude environment within different cattle breeds. Our findings may have important implications for understanding the mechanism of adaptation to high altitude and for application of molecular breeding in Bos species.
{"title":"Molecular characterization of the ACSS2 gene involved in adaptation to hypoxia in high-altitude cattle breeds","authors":"Hang Zhao, Gao Yaping, Q. Jiang, Jinpeng Wang, Liu Wenhao, J. Zhihua, Xiuge Wang, Wei Xiaochao, Gao Yundong, Jinming Huang","doi":"10.1163/15707563-bja10046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-bja10046","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Under extreme environmental conditions such as hypoxia, insufficient nutrition, and glucose deficiency, the acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2)-mediated acetyl-CoA synthesis pathway plays an alternative role to ensure the normal operation of metabolic activities. To investigate the potential effect of the ACSS2 gene on hypoxic adaptation and its regulatory mechanism of gene expression in high-altitude cattle breeds, we analyzed the genetic variations of the ACSS2 gene in five Bos taurus taurus, Bos taurus indicus, hybrid Bos taurus taurus × Bos taurus indicus Chinese cattle breeds, and two Bos grunniens (yak) breeds distributed at different altitudes (95-3850 m). A total of 58 SNPs was detected in seven populations, and abundant genetic variation was found in high-altitude breeds. We identified the bovine ACSS2 core promoter region between g.-682 and g.-264 by using the luciferase assay in FFB and HepG2 cells. We also identified that the high-altitude hypoxia-specific haplotype (CAGTCT) was composed of six highly linked SNPs. The tagSNP g.-473 T>C (rs23) is located in the core promoter of ACSS2 in the Bos taurus taurus and yak breeds. The recombinant plasmid containing rs23 and analyses of luciferase activity of different genotypes showed that the activity of ACSS2 promoter increased significantly when T was mutated to C. We also found a yak-specific SNP rs20 that consists of 12 base insertions (g.-562 ins GAAAGGACCCTA) in the promoter of yak breeds. Luciferase activity analysis showed that the insertion mutant significantly decreased the promoter activity of ACSS2. Hence, ACSS2 may play an important role in the adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia by generating adaptive alleles to influence gene transcription in cattle. These results signify that different genetic variants and haplotypes affect the activity of the core promoter to regulate ACSS2 gene expression and subsequently overcome and adapt to a high-altitude environment within different cattle breeds. Our findings may have important implications for understanding the mechanism of adaptation to high altitude and for application of molecular breeding in Bos species.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2020-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15707563-bja10046","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48219002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-12DOI: 10.1163/15707563-bja10047
L. Calvão, C. K. S. Paiva, J. Brito, A. Fares, Calebe Maia, T. Michelan, L. Montag, L. Juen
Abiotic and biotic factors play an essential role in the structuring of natural communities. Aquatic ecosystems have complex interaction networks, encompassing predator/prey relationships and structural support. Among aquatic organisms, the order Odonata is a model group for understanding those relationships since they can be both predators and prey. Our hypotheses were that Zygoptera are (i) influenced positively by Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) and the Habitat Integrity Index (HII), and negatively by fish and macrophytes; and (ii) Anisoptera are affected positively by EPT and macrophytes, and negatively by fish and HII. We found that Zygoptera were affected by the fish functional trophic groups, while Anisoptera were affected by macrophytes, EPT, fish and HII. Macrophytes affected anisopterans positively because they provide perching sites for adults. The results for EPT and HII may be related since these organisms are also sensitive to environmental changes. More open areas have lower HII values and the negative relationship with Anisoptera may be explained by physiological constraints. The negative relationship between EPT and Anisoptera could be explained by the low occurrence of EPT in open sites, which are the sites that were highly rich in Anisoptera. Finally, the dominance of specific functional trophic groups of fish influences Odonata suborders in different ways. In conclusion, the results show the importance of ecological interactions for Odonata in Amazonian streams in both direct and indirect ways.
{"title":"Influence of biotic and abiotic factors on adult Odonata (Insecta) in Amazon streams","authors":"L. Calvão, C. K. S. Paiva, J. Brito, A. Fares, Calebe Maia, T. Michelan, L. Montag, L. Juen","doi":"10.1163/15707563-bja10047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-bja10047","url":null,"abstract":"Abiotic and biotic factors play an essential role in the structuring of natural communities. Aquatic ecosystems have complex interaction networks, encompassing predator/prey relationships and structural support. Among aquatic organisms, the order Odonata is a model group for understanding those relationships since they can be both predators and prey. Our hypotheses were that Zygoptera are (i) influenced positively by Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) and the Habitat Integrity Index (HII), and negatively by fish and macrophytes; and (ii) Anisoptera are affected positively by EPT and macrophytes, and negatively by fish and HII. We found that Zygoptera were affected by the fish functional trophic groups, while Anisoptera were affected by macrophytes, EPT, fish and HII. Macrophytes affected anisopterans positively because they provide perching sites for adults. The results for EPT and HII may be related since these organisms are also sensitive to environmental changes. More open areas have lower HII values and the negative relationship with Anisoptera may be explained by physiological constraints. The negative relationship between EPT and Anisoptera could be explained by the low occurrence of EPT in open sites, which are the sites that were highly rich in Anisoptera. Finally, the dominance of specific functional trophic groups of fish influences Odonata suborders in different ways. In conclusion, the results show the importance of ecological interactions for Odonata in Amazonian streams in both direct and indirect ways.","PeriodicalId":7876,"journal":{"name":"Animal Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2020-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15707563-bja10047","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64955848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-01DOI: 10.1163/15707563-BJA10048
Yunjie Wang, Yajun Yin, G. Zheng, Hongxiang Yao
Flying animals can inspire practical approaches to a more advanced way of flying. Dragonflies demonstrate a special flapping pattern in which their wings perform torsional movement while flapping, which is different from that of birds. This flapping pattern is referred to as nonsynchronous flapping in this article. We present a hypothesis that nonsynchronous flapping provides a driving force for enhancing the haemolymph circulation inside dragonfly wings. To support this hypothesis, a controlled experiment was designed and conducted with living dragonflies. By observing the liquid motion inside the vein within free flapping wings and restricted wings of living dragonflies, this hypothesis was supported. A mathematical model of the flapping wing was built and numerically studied to further support the function of the nonsynchronous flapping pattern in driving the circulation. With these studies, a theoretical explanation for the mechanism of enhancing the haemolymph circulation by nonsynchronous flapping was provided.
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