抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Human biochemical genetics

1. Introduction and Overview. 2. Detecting Influential Observations and Outliers. 3. Detecting and Assessing Collinearity. 4. Applications and Remedies. 5. Research Issues and Directions for Extensions. Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index.

Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity

Genetics and analysis of quantitative traits

A DNA test to sex most birds.

Why do male birds stop copulating while their partners are still fertile

The numbers and proportion of spermatozoa reaching different parts of the female reproductive tract after a single natural insemination were investigated in zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata. The number of spermatozoa transferred during a single, natural copulation was estimated by comparing the number of spermatozoa in the seminal glomera of males that had performed a single copulation with control males. The mean number of spermatozoa per ejaculate was 5.8 x 10(6) +/- 1.80 x 10(6) SEM. The mean number of spermatozoa stored in the sperm storage tubules in the uterovaginal junction following a single, natural insemination was 6027 +/- 1874, 0.104% of those inseminated. The mean number of spermatozoa reaching the infundibulum and trapped on the perivitelline layer of all eggs of the clutch after a single copulation was 45.6 +/- 9.18 and a further 36 penetrated the perivitelline layer of the ovum, i.e. 82 in total (1.4% of the spermatozoa in the sperm storage tubules and 0.001% of spermatozoa in the ejaculate). Female zebra finches that completed a natural breeding cycle with a mean of 12 copulations had 404 +/- 111 spermatozoa trapped on the perivitelline layer of all eggs of the clutch, and an estimated further 173 spermatozoa penetrated the perivitelline layer. A smaller proportion of spermatozoa was trapped on the perivitelline layer of zebra finch eggs, than in chicken or turkey eggs.

/pdf/selection-and-utilization-of-spermatozoa-in-the-reproductive-v8fdpz92h7.pdf

Selection and utilization of spermatozoa in the reproductive tract of the female zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata.

The relative size of olfactory bulbs is correlated with olfactory capabilities across vertebrates and is widely used to assess the relative importance of olfaction to a species’ ecology. In birds, variations in the relative size of olfactory bulbs are correlated with some behaviors, however, the factors that have led to the high level of diversity seen in olfactory bulb sizes across birds are still not well understood. In this study, we use the relative size of olfactory bulbs as a neuroanatomical proxy for olfactory capabilities in 135 species of birds, representing 21 orders. We examine the scaling of olfactory bulbs with brain size across avian orders, determined likely ancestral states and test for correlations between OB sizes and habitat, ecology and behavior. The size of avian OBs varied with the size of the brain and this allometric relationship was for the most part isometric, although species did deviate from this trend. Large olfactory bulbs were characteristic of more basal species and in more recently derived species the OBs were small. Living and foraging in a semi aquatic environment was the strongest variable driving the evolution of large olfactory bulbs in birds; olfaction may provide cues for navigation and foraging in this otherwise featureless environment. Some of the diversity in OB sizes was also undoubtedly due to differences in migratory behavior, foraging strategies and social structure. In summary, relative OB size in birds reflect allometry, phylogeny and behavior in ways that parallel that of other vertebrate classes. This provides comparative evidence that supports recent experimental studies into avian olfaction and suggests that olfaction is a critically important sensory modality for all avian species.

/pdf/diversity-in-olfactory-bulb-size-in-birds-reflects-allometry-2nx3z24b1q.pdf

Diversity in olfactory bulb size in birds reflects allometry, ecology, and phylogeny

Extra-pair courtship, copulation and mate guarding in wild zebra finches taeniopygia guttata

The aim of this study was to examine last-male sperm precedence in the domestic fowl. We used sperm from two different genotypes to assign paternity, and in seven experiments females were artificially inseminated with either equal or unequal numbers of sperm at intervals of 4 or 24 h. We were unable to replicate the results of a previous study by Compton et al . (1978) in which a strong last-male precedence effect had been recorded when two equal sized inseminations were made 4 h apart. We observed no marked last-male sperm precedence and our results did not differ significantly from that predicted by the passive sperm loss model, in which a last-male effect is determined by the rate at which sperm are lost from the female tract and the interval between successive inseminations. The most likely explanation for the disparity between our result and Compton et al .9s is a difference in the timing of inseminations. The implications of this for studies of sperm competition in birds is discussed.

/pdf/sperm-precedence-in-the-domestic-fowl-3xf1pnp9ak.pdf

Tim R. Birkhead

Papers

Why do male birds stop copulating while their partners are still fertile

Selection and utilization of spermatozoa in the reproductive tract of the female zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata.

Diversity in olfactory bulb size in birds reflects allometry, ecology, and phylogeny

Extra-pair courtship, copulation and mate guarding in wild zebra finches taeniopygia guttata

Sperm precedence in the domestic fowl