Showing papers in "Biological Reviews in 1991"

A model for development and evolution of complex morphological structures

Abstract: How 'complex' or composite morphological structures like the mammalian craniomandibular region arise during development and how they are altered during evolution are two major unresolved questions in biology. Herein, we have described a model for the development and evolution of complex morphological structures. The model assumes that natural selection acts upon an array of phenotypes generated by variation in a variety of underlying genetic and epigenetic controlling factors. Selection refines the integration of the various morphogenetic components during ontogeny in order to produce a functioning structure and to adapt the organisms to differing patterns of environmental heterogeneity. The model was applied to the development and evolution of the mammalian mandible (which is used as a paradigm of complex morphological structures). The embryology of the mandible was examined in detail in order to identify the fundamental developmental units which are necessary to assemble the final morphological structure. The model is quite general since equivalent units exist for the development of many other biological structures. This model could be applied to many other developing morphological structures as well as other groups of organisms. For example, it can be applied to cell parameters during Drosophila development (Atchley, 1987). The model as discussed in this paper assumes that morphological changes in the mandible result from evolutionary changes in its underlying developmental units. The developmental units relate to characteristics of cellular condensations which are produced from the differentiation of embryonic neural crest cells. The developmental units include: the number of stem cells in preskeletal condensations (n), the time of initiation of condensation formation (t), the fraction of cells that is mitotically active within a condensation (f), the rate of division of these cells (r), and their rate of cell death (d). These units and their derivative structures are discussed in terms of types of tissue differentiation (chondrogenesis, osteogenesis, primary/secondary osteogenesis, intramembranous/endochondral ossification) and growth properties of major morphological regions of the mandible. Variation in these five units provides the developmental basis for ontogenetic and phylogenetic modification of mandibular morphology. We have discussed how these developmental units are influenced by (a) the cell lineage from which they arise, (b) epithelial-mesenchymal (inductive tissue) interactions, (c) regulation of cell differentiation, and (d) extrinsic factors such as muscles, teeth and hormones. Evidence was provided that variation in mandibular morphology is heritable, subject to modification by natural selection, and that divergence among different genetic stocks has apparently occurred through changes in these developmental units and their derivative structures.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The complex action of phosphonates as antifungal agents

Abstract: C O N T E S T S

Mechanisms of avian imprinting: a review.

Abstract: Filial imprinting is the process through which early social preferences become restricted to a particular object or class of objects. Evidence is presented showing that filial preferences are formed not only as a result of learning through exposure to an object, but also under the influence of visual and auditory predispositions. The development of these predispositions is dependent upon certain non-specific experience. There is little evidence for an endogenously affected sensitive period for imprinting. It is more likely that the end of sensitivity is a result of the imprinting process itself. Similarly, it is now firmly established that filial and sexual preferences are reversible. Evidence suggests, however, that the first stimulus to which the young animal is exposed may exert a greater influence on filial preferences than subsequent stimuli. The learning process of imprinting is often regarded as being different from conventional associative learning. However, the imprinting object itself can function as a reinforcer. Recent studies have attempted to test predictions from an interpretation of filial imprinting as a form of associative learning. The first results suggest that 'blocking' may occur in imprinting, whilst there is no evidence for 'overshadowing'. Social interactions with siblings and parent(-surrogates) have been shown to affect the formation of filial and sexual preferences. The influence of these interactions is particularly prominent in sexual imprinting, making earlier claims about naive species-specific biases unlikely. Although auditory stimuli play an important role in the formation of social attachments, there is little evidence for auditory imprinting per se. Auditory preferences formed as a result of mere (pre- or postnatal) exposure are relatively weak and short-lasting. Exposure to visual stimuli during auditory training significantly improves auditory learning, possibly through a process of reinforcement. It is becoming increasingly clear that filial and sexual imprinting are two different (although perhaps analogous) processes. Different mechanisms are likely to underlie the two processes, although there is evidence to suggest that the same brain region is involved in recognition of familiar stimuli in both filial and sexual imprinting. There is little evidence for a direct role of hormones in the learning process of imprinting. Androgen metabolism may be a factor constraining the development of a predisposition in the chick. Research into the neural mechanism of filial imprinting in the chick has revealed that a restricted part of the forebrain (IMHV) is likely to be a site of memory storage.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The 'law of bone transformation': a case of crying Wolff?

Abstract: Transformation der Knochen, describing in full his understanding of the link between mechanical loading and bone form, developed from many years of investigation (Wolff, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1874, 1884a, b, 1891, 1892). T h e basis of the work was Wolff's general theory of bone transformation : Every change in the.. . function of a bone.. . is followed by certain definite changes in.. . internal structure and external conformation in accordance with mathematical laws. (Treharne, 198 I ) .

Mammalian extinctions in the late Pleistocene of northern Eurasia and North America.

Abstract: Summary The ‘mass extinctions’ at the end of the Pleistocene were unique, both in the Pleistocene and earlier in the geological record, in that the species lost were nearly all large terrestrial mammals. Although a global phenomenon, late Pleistocene extinctions were most severe in North America, South America and Australia, and moderate in northern Eurasia (Europe plus Soviet Asia). In Africa, where nearly all of the late Pleistocene ‘megafauna’ survives to the present day, losses were slight. Ruling out epidemic disease or cosmic catastrophe, the contending hypotheses to explain late Pleistocene extinctions are: (a) failure to adapt to climatic/environmental change; and (b) extermination by human hunters (‘prehistoric overkill’). This review focuses on extinctions in northern Eurasia (mainly Europe) in comparison with North America. In addition to reviewing the faunal evidence, the highly relevant environmental and archaeological backgrounds are summarized. The latest survival dates of extinct species are estimated from stratigraphic occurrences of fossil remains, radiocarbon dates, or association with archaeological industries. The Middle and Upper Pleistocene (ca. 700000–10000 BP) in northern Eurasia and North America was a time of constantly changing climate, ranging from phases of extensive glaciation in cold stages, to temperate periods (interglacials). In the Lateglacial (ca. 15000–10000 BP), during which most extinctions occurred, there was a major reorganization of vegetation, mainly involving the replacement of open vegetation by forests. These changes were more profound than earlier in the Last Cold Stage, but similar in nature to vegetational changes that took place at previous cold stage/ interglacial transitions. The archaeological record shows that humans have been present in Europe since the early Middle Pleistocene. The arrival in Europe ca. 35000 BP of ‘anatomically modern humans’, with their technologically more advanced upper palaeolithic industries, was a ‘quantum leap’ in human history. Extinctions occurred throughout the European Pleistocene, but until the late Pleistocene most losses were replaced by the evolution or immigration of new species, and most of those lost without replacement were small mammals. In marked contrast, extinctions without replacement in the late Pleistocene were almost entirely confined to the largest mammals (> 1000 kg) and some medium-large species (100–1000 kg). Late Pleistocene extinctions in northern Eurasia were not synchronized, but occurred in two broad phases: (a) ‘interglacial survivors’, e.g. Palaeoloxodon antiquus, which retreated to southern Europe prior to their disappearance before ca. 30000 BP, i.e. before the main glaciation; and (b) cold-adapted species (e.g. Mammuthusprimigenius; Megaloceros giganteus) that disappeared in the Lateglacial, at various times between ca. 14000 and 10000 BP. Even within a species, populations became extinct earlier in some areas than in others, e.g. the possible survival of M. primigenius in north-central Siberia ca. 2000 years later than in Europe. In North America many more species were lost than in northern Eurasia, including many medium-large mammals in addition to the largest forms. At least for the commoner species, extinctions apparently all occurred within a much narrower time span, ca. 10500–11 500 BP, probably much less. Any extinction hypothesis must explain why losses in North America were severe and sudden, whereas those in northern Eurasia were moderate and staggered. The close correlation of North American extinctions with the arrival of Clovis hunters south of the ice sheets ca. 11 500 BP is consistent with overkill. However, there is no such correlation for northern Eurasia, where most extinctions also occurred in the Lateglacial, more than 20000 years after the appearance of upper palaeolithic humans. Although Lateglacial climatic/environmental changes correlate with extinctions in North America and northern Eurasia, the climatic hypothesis neither explains why extinction patterns were so different in the two regions, nor why similar losses did not take place at previous cold stage/interglacial transitions. From the evidence reviewed here, human predation at times of major climatic/ environmental change is suggested as the most probable cause of late Pleistocene extinctions. In northern Eurasia overkill became possible only when large-mammal distributions, and thus populations, were already severely reduced by such changes. Similar extinctions did not occur earlier in the Pleistocene because ‘anatomically modern humans’ with upper palaeolithic hunting technologies were not present. In North America the main reason that losses were severe and sudden is probably the close coincidence of Lateglacial climatic/environmental changes with the arrival of Clovis hunters. The necessity for amassing a much greater body of accurate faunal, environmental and archaeological data relevant to this intriguing question is emphasized. In particular, many more high-quality radiocarbon dates are required to determine the late Pleistocene history of extinct taxa in considerably more detail.

Copulatory courtship and cryptic female choice in insects

Abstract: 11. Survey methods and criteria for recognizing courtship behaviour . . . . 2 111. Frequency and types of copulatory courtship IV. Why frequencies are probably underestimates V. Other animals 9 VI. Possible correlation with genitalic morphology VII. Significance of results . . . . . . . . . . . . I 0 VIII . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 0 IX. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 1 X. Appendix: Survey of behavioural studies of copulation . . . . . . I 1 . . . . . . . . 3 7

Aerobic and anaerobic scaling in fish

Abstract: CONTENTS

Of mice and kin: the functional significance of kin bias in social behaviour.

Abstract: Summary 1. Sharing recent ancestry (kinship) increases the degree of genetic similarity between individuals, where genetic similarity could mean anything from sharing a particular allele to sharing an entire genome. 2. Genetic similarity can influence behavioural and other responses between individuals in a number of ways, discriminatory and non-discriminatory. All are likely to result in kin bias, because of the correlation between genetic similarity and kinship, but only some should be regarded as involving kin discrimination. 3. Non-discriminatory kin bias could arise through close relatives sharing, for instance, physical characteristics (such as those influencing competitive ability), thresholds of behavioural response or requirements for particular resources. 4. Discriminatory kin bias could arise through the direct perception of genetic similarity between individuals (direct similarity discrimination) or the use of cues likely to correlate with genetic similarity (indirect similarity discrimination – of which kin discrimination is one form). Alternatively, it could arise incidentally through mistaken identity or discrimination at some other level, such as species identification. 5. Experiments with laboratory and wild house mice have revealed kin bias in a number of contexts, including (a) parental and infanticidal behaviour, (b) sexual development and behaviour and (c) investigatory behaviour and passive body contact among juveniles and adults. 6. While kin bias in mice has been interpreted as evidence for kin discrimination, there are several problems with such an interpretation. These include (a) pronounced and complex effects of familiarity on discrimination, (b) a high risk of error-proneness in the indirect cues used in apparent kin discrimination and (c) weak and easily disrupted kin bias effects in certain contexts. 7. Consideration of social structure and discriminatory responses within populations of wild house mice leads to an alternative explanation for some kin bias in terms of incidental discrimination based on social group membership. 8. Several results from laboratory experiments suggest incidental discrimination is a more parsimonious explanation than kin discrimination for some intrasexual kin bias in behaviour. However, kin or direct similarity discrimination appears to be the most likely explanation for other aspects of intrasexual kin bias and for intersexual kin bias.

The singer and the song: on the receiving end of bird song

Abstract: Summary Variation in singing behaviour between males can involve fixed differences such as the song type composition of repertoires, as well as more flexible effects such as matched counter-singing (Krebs & Kroodsma, 1980; Section III. 4), differences in bout length (the number of songs in a period of song) and changes in strophe length. Short-term strophe length changes seem to be related to the willingness and ability of males to respond strongly to playback. Whether this is because strophe length indicates motivation or the degree of exhaustion of the neuromuscular song-production system, or both, is currently unclear.

Genetics of horizontal resistance to diseases of crops

Abstract: Summary (1) Horizontal resistance (HR) to diseases of crops has the following leading features: it is polygenically controlled and must be studied by biometrical-genetic methods; it is pathotype-non-specific and essentially ‘durable’; it has several components (e.g. infection rate, latency period, sporulation potential) which tend to be correlated; its use is relevant to the control of all classes of pathogen (fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes); though often unrecognized, it is very common and generally the means by which ‘minor’ diseases remain minor. HR may be contrasted with ‘vertical resistance’ (VR) which is procured by major genes and is pathotype-specific. VR has uses in particular circumstances but has often failed against airborne epidemic pathogens such as many rusts; hence the importance of understanding HR. (2) In this review the genetic evidence of HR is reviewed and examples are summarized in appendices. Very diverse crops, places and pathogens are represented. So far as may be judged, HR is indeed universal, and found or constructable wherever sought. The most important genetic evidence is based on generation mean and variance analysis, general and specific combining ability, offspring-parent regression and response to selection. Useful supplementary evidence comes from historical observations, continuity and repeatability of resistance and yield-related effects. (3) The main conclusions are that HR is universally available, usually highly heritable and responsive to selection, already keeps a host of crop diseases down to acceptably low levels and has socio-economically attractive features that are likely to increase its use in the future. In particular, it offers long-term stability of performance that must be valuable to small farmers in the Third World and is environmentally attractive because successful breeding programmes minimize the need for environmentally damaging chemical protectants. ‘Green’ pressures are likely to favour HR and some relevance to public policy is thereby implied.

The occurrence and functions of ultradian rhythms

Abstract: Summary Ultradian oscillations with periods between 5 min and 4 h have been described in cell-free extracts, single-celled eukaryotes, cultured cells and embryos. Whereas some of these potentially oscillatory systems (e.g. glycolysis) may only exhibit this type of behaviour rarely if at all in vivo, other ultradian oscillators in lower eukaryotes are rhythms and probably have timekeeping functions. Rhythms with ultradian periods of 10 min to 20 h in oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production have also been studied in endotherm animals: these rhythms may be modified by variations of environmental parameters and by circadian and infradian synchronizers. Interspecies and interstrain differences strongly suggest that these rhythms are endogenous and have a genetic origin. We suggest that the temporal organization of biochemical and physiological processes facilitates optimization of thermodynamic maintenance of the organism within the random fluctuations of its physicochemical environment and contributes to genetic selection.

Differentiation of neuroblastoma cells: a useful model for neurobiology and cancer.

Abstract: C 0 N T E N T S I . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( I ) Establishment of monolayer culture of NB cells . . . . . . . (2) Identification of more than one neuronal cell type in NB tumour . . . . (3) Discovery of differentiating agents . . . . . . . . . . (4) Identification of a mechanism responsible for CAMP-induced terminal differentiation (5) Differentiating agents other than CAMP . . . . . . . . . (6) Regulation of biochemical differentiated functions and its relationship to morphological differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . (7) Mechanistic studies on differentiation of NB cells . . . . . . . (8) Immortalization of nerve cells . . . . . . . . . . . (9) Relevance of differentiated NB cells in neural transplant . . . . . 111. Neuroblastoma cell differentiation and its impact on cancer . . . . . . ( I ) Neuroblastoma cell differentiation : an example of reversal of genetic changes . (2) Differentiating and/or growth-inhibiting agents in the treatment of NB tumour . IV. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V. Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. Neuroblastoma cell differentiation and its impact on neurobiology

Evolution of monogamy in termites

Abstract: Summary Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of lifetime monogamy in the Isoptera. The classic explanation is that (1) the male must be present to continually provide sperm for the vast number of eggs produced by the queen (Snyder, 1924: Brian, 1983). Thornhill & Alcock (1983) proposed that (2) synchrony in the availability of receptive females necessitates mate guarding; males subsequently gain if they improve the relative reproductive success of their sole partner. Our review of the literature on termite flight behaviour, courtship behaviour, and incipient colony development indicates that neither of these two hypotheses satisfactorily explains the evolution of monogamy in termites. Because incipient colonies of lower termites exhibit a very low fecundity, it is doubtful that the continued presence of the male initially was due to the need for a continuous supply of spermatozoa. It is possible, however, that sperm requirements for the fertilization of numerous eggs over an extended period of time may be a factor in the persistence of the termites' monogamous mating system. Female alates are much more dispersed in time than implied by Thornhill & Alcock (1983) and there is no evidence of mate guarding. The importance of mate assistance is, however, supported by the literature. We propose a third hypothesis that incorporates the mate assistance element of the Thornhill & Alcock hypothesis: (3) the monogamous mating system of termites was structured by ecological constraints, namely, the low quality and scattered nature of their food/nesting material and the high costs of searching for a mate.

Pheromones and chemical ecology of locusts.

Abstract: Summary Modern studies of chemical ecology and behaviour of the locusts Schistocerca gregaria and Locusta migratoria in the laboratory need to be more closely coupled with field experiments and observations. The life history relating to oviposition, transformation to gregarious phases, and adult maturation mediated by pheromones is reviewed. The principles of pheromone isolation and identification are discussed. The long-term effects of the gregarization pheromone on the physiology are presented, with discussion of morphological changes, chiasma frequency increases, and synchronization of moulting induced by the pheromone. Isolation of the purported gregarization pheromone, locustol, from faeces is discussed in regard to inconsistent effects. Other more immediate effects of the pheromone on the social (gregarious) behaviour and the isolation of possible pheromone components different from but related to locustol are presented. It is stressed that more rigorous isolation studies should be undertaken to resolve conflicting reports and methodological problems. The possibility of an anti-gregarization pheromone or solitarizing pheromone is discounted. The source and biosynthesis of locustol (or gregarization pheromone) from degradation of lignin by symbiotic bacteria is discussed. Theories of reception of the gregarization pheromone such as inhalation through the spiracles or sensory perception by the antennae are presented. Also an internal mechanism involving cAMP and/or corpora allata may be induced by gregarization pheromone to effect the physiological phase changes. The advantages to an individual of reception of the gregarization pheromone from a group of gregarious and pre-migrating locusts is discussed. Also the possible benefits of gregarious behaviour, phase polymorphism and migration are dealt with. An adult (sexual) maturation pheromone has long-term effects on reducing the period of maturation, and immediate effects on the behavioural vibration response. The epidermal source of the pheromone and glandular cells responsible for the production of the pheromone are discussed. The reception and internal mechanisms of response via the corpora allata are mentioned. The benefits to individuals of synchronized and rapid adult maturation in a gregarious group are considered. An oviposition-stimulating pheromone produced by the male accessory reproductive glands appears to be a proteinaceous substance of large molecular weight. On the other hand, an oviposition-aggregating pheromone volatilizes from epidermal areas of either sex and causes higher oviposition rates in the area of release. The behavioural and ecological aspects of this pheromone are discussed. Several other possible pheromones and semiochemicals are discussed, such as a long-range sex pheromone, sex-recognition pheromone, grass odours and feeding stimulants and deterrents. Several possible control strategies using locust pheromones are considered. The general conclusion is that the chemical isolation of the various pheromones is necessary before further progress can be achieved on the source and biosynthesis of pheromone, reception of pheromone, behavioural effects of pheromone, and control measures.