Acoustic telemetry versus monitored longline fishing for studying the vertical distribution of pelagic fish: bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in French Polynesia

This study compares detailed, nearly continuous, observations on bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus equipped with electronic tags, with discrete observations on a larger number of individuals from fishing experiments in order to validate the use of instrumented longlines to study the vertical distribution of fish. We show that the depth distributions obtained from the two different observation techniques regarding different environmental variables (temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), prey distribution) are similar. Bigeye tuna do not seem to be attracted by baits in the vertical dimension (no modification of their vertical distribution by the fishing gear), which allows the use of instrumented longlines to study the vertical behaviour of pelagic species. This technique, when used with appropriate deployment strategy, could therefore represent an alternative to electronic tags (acoustic or archival tags) when there is a need to determine the vertical distribution of fish species by size or sex, in different environments for the study of fishery interactions.     

Growth rate and mortality of Australian bass, Macquaria novemaculeata, in four freshwater impoundments in south-eastern Queensland, Australia

Abstract  Growth and total mortality of Australian bass, Macquaria novemaculeata Steindachner, were studied in four freshwater impoundments using data from a cooperative angler tagging programme. Growth was modelled using the computer program GROTAG. Annual growth increments varied among impoundments, ranging from 5.0 to 7.8 cm yr⁻¹ among fish 20-cm total length (TL) and 1.7 to 4.9 cm yr⁻¹ among fish 30 cm TL, but exceeded previous estimates for the species. Annual total mortality rates, based on the decrease in recapture rate with time, ranged from 0.03 to 0.07 and were lower than for other comparable species, presumably because of the prevalence of catch and release fishing in the impoundments studied.     

Movements of pike, Esox lucius, in Lower Lough Erne, determined by mark–recapture between 1994 and 2000

Abstract Between 1994 and 1997, 508 pike, Esox lucius L., were tagged in Lower Lough Erne (LLE), Northern Ireland. By August 2000, 79 of these fish were recaptured. Ten of 27 pike recaptured and released a second time were then captured a third time. Distance from tagging to recapture site ranged from 0 to 16 km, with most recaptures within 10 km. Pike dispersed widely after spawning, an observation supported by netting survey data, and tended to return to the same spawning sites year after year. The usefulness of designated sanctuary areas free of commercial fishing, intended to maintain a stock of pike reserved for angling was evaluated. To protect angling stocks of pike from commercial fishing, sanctuary areas should be somewhat larger than at present.     

Movement, social cohesion and site fidelity in adult koi carp, Cyprinus carpio

Abstract  Koi carp is an ornamental variant of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., that was introduced to New Zealand in the 1960s and has since become a major aquatic pest. A total of 1265 wild adult koi carp were caught by boat electric fishing, dart tagged and released at multiple sites in the lower Waikato River and associated lakes and wetlands between September 2002 and February 2005. Subsequent recaptures by boat electric fishing and recreational fishing returned 76 koi carp (6% of all tagged fish). Of these, 85% were recaptured less than 5 km from their release site; only one fish moved more than 50 km. On seven occasions, pairs or small groups of koi carp (20% of all tag returns) that had previously been tagged and released at the same locations and times were subsequently recaptured together after considerable periods of time at liberty (mean 551 days ± 419 SD). Adult koi carp in the Waikato River showed a high degree of site fidelity, exhibited prolonged social groupings and females moved downstream more often than males.     

Gene Tagging by Activating DNA Transposon nDart in lndica Rice

As International Rice Genome sequencing Project （2005） demonstrated, the rice genome contains various transposons and about 13% of the genome is occupied by DNA transposons. So far, only a few DNA transposons have been reported to be actively transposed. Since transposons are important for gene-functional analysis, it is necessary to explore active transposon source. We identified an active nonautonomous DNA transposon, nDart1-0, belonging to the hAT superfamily in a spontaneous mutable virescent, pyl-v plant. Blast searches in the available databases revealed that Nipponbare and 93-11 carries 13 and 7 nDart1 homologues, respectively, nDart1-0 was found to be transposed most frequently among these homologues. Furthermore, nDart1-0 carries a specific basesubstitution at position 173, and this sequence alteration generates nDart1-0-specific restriction enzyme cleavage site. So, we developed an nDart1-0-specific detection system using iPCR （nl-0SPiPCR）, which should be useful for our nDart1-0-specific tagging system. Since we could not find either any active nDarts or active autonomous element Darts in indica varieties, we tried to introduce japonica-derived nDart1-0 and aDart into indica variety Kasalath by backcrossing. In BC2F2, a mutable chlorophyll mutant was newly generated. Through genetic analysis,     

水稻T-DNA插入启动子捕获系的初步筛选

利用农杆菌介导法将含报道基因β-glucuronidase(GUS)无启动子的转化载体pCAMBIA1300GUSAHyg导入籼稻明恢86获得水稻启动子捕获系.水稻启动子捕获系潮酶素抗感分离比χ2分析表明:39个水稻启动子捕获系中有28个为单T-DNA位点插入.2 653个水稻启动子捕获系报告基因GUS表达检测结果表明...     

水稻抗稻瘟病基因Pi-d2基因标签的建立与应用

建立抗稻瘟病基因的分子标记对培育抗稻瘟病品种有重要意义。研究利用71个广西地方菌株检测地谷对稻瘟病菌的抗性,并利用地谷中Pi-d2基因与广恢998等位基因在基因组序列上一个碱基的差异,设计出以抗病基因本身序列为引物的基因标签M-Pid2,通过分析地谷与广恢998的F2群体的基因型与对稻瘟病抗感分离的吻合度来验证该标签的准确性,用M-Pid2扩增62份水稻种质验证该标签的特异性。结果表明,地谷能抗71个地方稻瘟病菌株中的59个菌株,抗性频率达83.1%。用M-Pid2扩增地谷与广恢998的F2群体的基因型与其对稻瘟病的抗感分离完全吻合;用M-Pid2扩增62份水稻种质,仅在地谷中扩增出629bp特异条带。从而确认抗稻瘟病基因Pi-d2为地谷的主效抗稻瘟病基因,且在广西有育种利用价值;标记M-Pid2能准确用于抗稻瘟病基因Pi-d2的辅助选择。     

Effect of visible implant elastomers on the growth,survival and tag retention in juvenile Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) in laboratory conditions

This study identifies the possibility of using visible implant elastomers (VIE) to tag juvenile Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus). The mean body weight was 2.4 ± 0.4 g, and mean body length 5.5 ± 0.5 cm. Markers in three colours were used: blue, orange and green. Implant elastomers were injected in the rostrum and in the tail shaft. The experiment was conducted over a period of 10 weeks and included also a control group, that is, no tagging. No significant effect of tagging on the specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio and condition factor of juvenile Atlantic sturgeon was observed. The fish in all groups increased their body weight more than 10 times, reaching body weight of 25–28 g. The final survival in all of the groups was approximately 40%. The final tag retention varied depending on the implant colour. The highest retention of 100% was obtained with orange VIE and was significantly different from blue and green. Tag retention was dependent on the place of marking (P > 0.05). A correlation was observed between the applied dye and the place of marking (P = 0.0166). The best results were obtained when marking with orange VIE in the rostrum as all markers were visible after 70 days even without the use of UV light. According to our research, marking with VIE does not negatively affect growth and survival of juvenile Atlantic sturgeon and can be recommended for fish with an initial body weight of approximately 2.5 g in the case of short‐term research.     

Maize Mutator transposon

Transposable elements are widely distributed in eukaryotes. Due to its high copy numbers, high forward mutation rate and preferential insertion into low-copy DNA sequences, among others, the Mutator system has been widely used as a mutagen in genomic research. The discovery, classification, transposition specificity and epigenetic regulation of Mutator transposons were described. The application of Mutator tagging in plant genomic research was also presented. The role of Mu-like elements in genome evolution was briefly depicted. Moreover, the direction of Mutator transposon research in the future was discussed. __________ Translated from Journal of Maize Sciences, 2007, 15(6): 5–9 [译自: 玉米科学]