Abstract – In most species, males have a higher reproductive potential than females, leading to skewed reproductive success, particularly in mating systems where pre‐ or postcopulatory sexual selection reinforces inequality in male mating success. We investigated multiple paternity, reproductive skew and correlates of male reproductive success in a wild population of the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata). We used nine microsatellite loci to assess the frequency of multiple paternity, number of sires per brood and reproductive skew. Across broods, the frequency of multiple paternity was high with 94% of broods having multiple sires (range: 1–5), resulting in a reproductive skew of 0.14. Variation in male reproductive success was high (range: 0–14 offspring per male), suggesting that there is considerable opportunity for sexual selection. Next, we examined correlations between male reproductive success and sexual coloration, sperm velocity and gonopodium length. Relative area of orange, black, iridescent and total coloration, and sperm velocity were not correlated with reproductive success. However, gonopodium length explained 14% of the variation in reproductive success, suggesting that gonopodium length is likely a sexually selected trait. We discuss these findings in the light of other studies that genetically dissect joint‐sex parentage and examine correlates of male reproductive success in wild populations. 相似文献
Litterfall was collected over a 12-month period with littertraps in hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) plantations aged 10, 14 and 62 years in southeast Queensland, Australia. The bulk of litterfall occurred during spring, mainly as hoop pine foliage with the annual litterfall ranging between 6.0 and 10.9 t ha−1, respectively, for the younger stands (10 and 14 years) and the mature 62-year old stand. The amount of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) recycled annually through litterfall was lower in the younger stands (28–37 kg N ha−1 and 4.4–5.3 kg P ha−1) compared with that of the mature stand (85 N ha−1 and 6.2 kg P ha−1). The N and P retranslocated during senescence varied across the three stands studied with a trend for N and P retranslocation to increase as availability of soil mineral-N decreased.
Decomposition of the hoop pine foliage component of litter was also studied in the same stands using a litterbag technique and mass-balance analysis. The estimated half-life of hoop pine foliage mass ranged between 1.5 and 1.8 years. Litter-mass loss was strongly correlated with litter substrate quality indicators of N, C, P, C/N ratio, lignin, lignin/N ratio and polyphenols. During the course of the study, there was no difference in litter-mass loss between the stands of different ages. During the 15-month period, the order of element release from the hoop pine litter was K>Na>C>Mg>P, with N, Ca and Mn generally demonstrating varying degrees of net accumulation. During the course of the study, the lignin/C ratio of the hoop pine litter increased from 0.61 to 0.96. This suggested that the litter-C was predominantly in a recalcitrant form and, therefore, the associated N was unlikely to be rapidly released in the hoop pine litter layer. 相似文献
分蘖与株高是禾本科草类植物重要的农艺性状,明确参与调控分蘖与株高的基因类型对牧草和草坪草分子辅助育种具有重要意义。以表型差异明显的两个高羊茅品种“Kentucky-31”(K31)和“Regenerate”为材料,旨在构建高羊茅分蘖节转录组图谱,挖掘在分蘖节部位调控生长发育相关的差异表达基因(differentially expressed genes,DEGs)。基于高通量测序技术平台Illumina HiSeq 2500×Miseq 300进行转录组测序,并将得到的数据进行de novo组装,结果共获得77872条单基因簇(unigene)。将获得的unigenes与非冗余蛋白数据库(non-redundant protein database,NR)、蛋白质数据库(universal protein,Uniprot)、基因本体数据库(gene ontology,GO)、东京基因与基因组数据库(kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes,KEGG)以及直系同源蛋白簇(clusters of orthologous groups,COG)数据库进行比对,结果显示:分别有59927、40213、44447、15146和13767条unigenes成功获得注释。“Regenerate”与“K31”对比有1573个上调DEGs和1441个下调DEGs。GO富集分析发现,DEGs主要富集在细胞、细胞组分、大分子复合物组装等生物过程。DEGs中共注释到42个差异表达转录因子,主要包括TCP、WRKY和ARF等19种类型。还注释到与8类植物激素相关的DEGs,包括生长素、细胞分裂素、脱落酸、赤霉素、乙烯、油菜素甾醇、水杨酸和茉莉酸。利用实时荧光定量PCR对DEGs进行表达模式验证,发现其与RNA-Seq测序结果一致,证实了测序结果的准确性。研究结果丰富了高羊茅的转录组序列资源,初步获得控制株高及分蘖发育的候选因子,为进一步开展基因功能及分子育种研究提供了理论支持。 相似文献