A preliminary study of genetic factors that influence susceptibility to bovine tuberculosis in the British cattle herd

Associations between specific host genes and susceptibility to Mycobacterial infections such as tuberculosis have been reported in several species. Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) impacts greatly the UK cattle industry, yet genetic predispositions have yet to be identified. We therefore used a candidate gene approach to study 384 cattle of which 160 had reacted positively to an antigenic skin test (‘reactors’). Our approach was unusual in that it used microsatellite markers, embraced high breed diversity and focused particularly on detecting genes showing heterozygote advantage, a mode of action often overlooked in SNP-based studies. A panel of neutral markers was used to control for population substructure and using a general linear model-based approach we were also able to control for age. We found that substructure was surprisingly weak and identified two genomic regions that were strongly associated with reactor status, identified by markers INRA111 and BMS2753. In general the strength of association detected tended to vary depending on whether age was included in the model. At INRA111 a single genotype appears strongly protective with an overall odds ratio of 2.2, the effect being consistent across nine diverse breeds. Our results suggest that breeding strategies could be devised that would appreciably increase genetic resistance of cattle to bTB (strictly, reduce the frequency of incidence of reactors) with implications for the current debate concerning badger-culling

Emergence of structural and dynamical properties of ecological mutualistic networks

Mutualistic networks are formed when the interactions between two classes of species are mutually beneficial. They are important examples of cooperation shaped by evolution. Mutualism between animals and plants plays a key role in the organization of ecological communities. Such networks in ecology have generically evolved a nested architecture independent of species composition and latitude - specialists interact with proper subsets of the nodes with whom generalists interact. Despite sustained efforts to explain observed network structure on the basis of community-level stability or persistence, such correlative studies have reached minimal consensus. Here we demonstrate that nested interaction networks could emerge as a consequence of an optimization principle aimed at maximizing the species abundance in mutualistic communities. Using analytical and numerical approaches, we show that because of the mutualistic interactions, an increase in abundance of a given species results in a corresponding increase in the total number of individuals in the community, as also the nestedness of the interaction matrix. Indeed, the species abundances and the nestedness of the interaction matrix are correlated by an amount that depends on the strength of the mutualistic interactions. Nestedness and the observed spontaneous emergence of generalist and specialist species occur for several dynamical implementations of the variational principle under stationary conditions. Optimized networks, while remaining stable, tend to be less resilient than their counterparts with randomly assigned interactions. In particular, we analytically show that the abundance of the rarest species is directly linked to the resilience of the community. Our work provides a unifying framework for studying the emergent structural and dynamical properties of ecological mutualistic networks.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Heterozygosity increases microsatellite mutation rate, linking it to demographic history

Abstract Background Biochemical experiments in yeast suggest a possible mechanism that would cause heterozygous sites to mutate faster than equivalent homozygous sites. If such a process operates, it could undermine a key assumption at the core of population genetic theory, namely that mutation rate and population size are indpendent, because population expansion would increase heterozygosity that in turn would increase mutation rate. Here we test this hypothesis using both direct counting of microsatellite mutations in human pedigrees and an analysis of the relationship between microsatellite length and patterns of demographically-induced variation in heterozygosity. Results We find that microsatellite alleles of any given length are more likely to mutate when their homologue is unusually different in length. Furthermore, microsatellite lengths in human populations do not vary randomly, but instead exhibit highly predictable trends with both distance from Africa, a surrogate measure of genome-wide heterozygosity, and modern population size. This predictability remains even after statistically controlling for non-independence due to shared ancestry among populations. Conclusion Our results reveal patterns that are unexpected under classical population genetic theory, where no mechanism exists capable of linking allele length to extrinsic variables such as geography or population size. However, the predictability of microsatellite length is consistent with heterozygote instability and suggest that this has an important impact on microsatellite evolution. Whether similar processes impact on single nucleotide polymorphisms remains unclear.</p

成長する鳥類胚における心拍数解析 : 成長モードと卵質量の効果

Bird embryos may be regarded as developing in their thermo-neutral zone, at rest, and stay in the egg for a fixed period of time until hatching. It is therefore interesting to investigate if they follow the same "rule" set for adult homeotherms, which states that, within a taxonomically or functionally defined category such as mammals or birds, the number of heart beats throughout the life span (sL) is more or less constant. This rule stems from the allometric relationships between heart rate(HR) and body mass (mB) and between sL and mB. As a step towards understanding the general allometric nature of avian embryonic physiology we analyzed the HR values of avian embryos in relation to their incubation span (sI). Data from 30 species were selected from the scientific literature for the analyses. Values obtained from invasive methods which were judged to grossly alter natural incubation conditions, or from undefined or unmatched temperature conditions were not used. These include most values obtained below the first 30% of the incubation. Also, data obtained after internal pipping were discarded since hatching activity influences them. Values for sI and egg mass (mE) as representative of embryonic mass were also collected. Embryonic HR was normalized to 70.1-80% sI. At 20.1-30% sI it was only 85% of the value at 70.1-80% sI and increased to a plateau at about 50.1-60% sI. It was almost constant among species between 50.1- 60% sI and pre-internal pipping(PIP) time and thus, the mean HR value between 50.1-60% sI and 90.1-100% excluding pipped eggs (MHR) was taken as a representative value for each given species. The MHR(bpm) and the corresponding sI (d) values for the 30 species, scaled with mx (g) as follows: MHR=371.1 mE\u27-0.112\u27 and: sI=12.29 mE\u27+0.209\u27. Both powers were significantly different from 0. The product of MHR and sr(MHR ・ sr), representing the total number of heartbeats throughout the incubation, scaled with mE, for the entire data set as follows: MHR sr = 6.565 ・ 10+6 ・ mE+0.096, where the + 0.096 power is significantly different fram 0. Vaiues for MHR ・ sI, from embryos of altricial birds tended to concentrate at the low mE end of the plot while those of the precocial ones tended towards the high end. Separate analyses showed that the mE power for the combined altricial and semi-altricial species (ASA), and the combined precocial and semi precocial species (PSP), of log MHR ・ sr against log mE regressions, were both insignificantly different from 0. Thus, means of MHR ・ sI for ASA and PSP were calculated. The mean ASA value of 7.27 ・ 10+6 heartbeats for MHR ・ sr, was significantly different from the mean PSP value of 10.93 ・ 10+6. The difference of 3.66 ・ 10+6 (33.5%) heart beats can be attributed to either the more advanced stage of the PSP hatchlings at hatch, to the larger mE values of these hatchlings, to the difference on water fractien of the hatchlings or all. The result of a linear regression of MHR ・ sI (in d-1 units) against the rate of sI compietion (the inverse of incubation span, fI; d-1) was: MHR ・ 10-6 = 0.205 + 3.940 ・ fI. Thus, the faster is the average rate of development accomplished per day (shorter incubation) the higher is daily heart rate. Data tended to cluster such that large eggs, mostly of the PSP type with reiatively low MHR, complete 2 to 4% of their incubation per day, whiｌe small, ASA type eggs with relatively high MHR, complete 6 to 8% of their incubation time per day. We conclude that, at this stage of knowledge, the data is insufficient to resolve whether the different modes of hatch stage alone can explain differences in the total number of heartbeats throughout embryonic life among all bird species, or egg mass and water content differences contribute variability. This should be investigated on a larger sample of species in more depth.特集 : 「動物の心拍リズム」国際シンポジウム発表論文選

Temperature dependence of water loss rates in scorpions and its effect on the distribution of Buthotus judaicus (Buthidae) in Israel

Abstract Scorpions of the family Buthidae have been shown to be more desiccation resistant in comparison with sympatric Scorpionidae species. This has been attributed to the surface-dwelling existence of the former, which unlike most other scorpion species do not avoid environmental extremes by burrowing. Still, within Buthidae, the mesic Buthotus judaicus showed better osmoregulatory capacities than the xeric Leiurus quinquestriatus, largely as a result of its high resistance to water loss. However, B. judaicus exhibited poor ability to regulate its haemolymph osmolarity at 37°C. In this study we report a sharp increase in water loss rates of B. judaicus at the 30-35°C temperature range compared to that measured for L. quinquestriatus, which could explain the poor osmoregulatory performance of the former at higher ambient temperatures. The increase in water loss rates of B. judaicus at high temperatures is not coupled with a similar increase in respiratory rate, suggesting an increase in cuticular permeability. We suggest that this increase in cuticular permeability, which may result from a relatively low critical transition temperature, contributes to limiting the distribution of B. judaicus to habitats of moderate environmental conditions

Search For Heavy Pointlike Dirac Monopoles

We have searched for central production of a pair of photons with high transverse energies in $p\bar p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.8$ TeV using $70 pb^{-1}$ of data collected with the D\O detector at the Fermilab Tevatron in 1994--1996. If they exist, virtual heavy pointlike Dirac monopoles could rescatter pairs of nearly real photons into this final state via a box diagram. We observe no excess of events above background, and set lower 95% C.L. limits of $610, 870, or 1580 GeV/c^2$ on the mass of a spin 0, 1/2, or 1 Dirac monopole.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Search for High Mass Photon Pairs in p-pbar --> gamma-gamma-jet-jet Events at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV

A search has been carried out for events in the channel p-barp --> gamma gamma jet jet. Such a signature can characterize the production of a non-standard Higgs boson together with a W or Z boson. We refer to this non-standard Higgs, having standard model couplings to vector bosons but no coupling to fermions, as a "bosonic Higgs." With the requirement of two high transverse energy photons and two jets, the diphoton mass (m(gamma gamma)) distribution is consistent with expected background. A 90(95)% C.L. upper limit on the cross section as a function of mass is calculated, ranging from 0.60(0.80) pb for m(gamma gamma) = 65 GeV/c^2 to 0.26(0.34) pb for m(gamma gamma) = 150 GeV/c^2, corresponding to a 95% C.L. lower limit on the mass of a bosonic Higgs of 78.5 GeV/c^2.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Replacement has new H->gamma gamma branching ratios and corresponding new mass limit

Ratio of the Isolated Photon Cross Sections at \sqrt{s} = 630 and 1800 GeV

The inclusive cross section for production of isolated photons has been measured in \pbarp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 630$ GeV with the \D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The photons span a transverse energy ($E_T$) range from 7-49 GeV and have pseudorapidity $|\eta| < 2.5$. This measurement is combined with to previous \D0 result at $\sqrt{s} = 1800$ GeV to form a ratio of the cross sections. Comparison of next-to-leading order QCD with the measured cross section at 630 GeV and ratio of cross sections show satisfactory agreement in most of the $E_T$ range.Comment: 7 pages. Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 251805, (2001

Limits on WWZ and WW\gamma couplings from p\bar{p}\to e\nu jj X events at \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV

We present limits on anomalous WWZ and WW-gamma couplings from a search for WW and WZ production in p-bar p collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV. We use p-bar p -> e-nu jjX events recorded with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider during the 1992-1995 run. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 96.0+-5.1 pb^(-1). Assuming identical WWZ and WW-gamma coupling parameters, the 95% CL limits on the CP-conserving couplings are -0.33<lambda<0.36 (Delta-kappa=0) and -0.43<Delta-kappa<0.59 (lambda=0), for a form factor scale Lambda = 2.0 TeV. Limits based on other assumptions are also presented.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 2 table

The Dijet Mass Spectrum and a Search for Quark Compositeness in bar{p}p Collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV

Using the DZero detector at the 1.8 TeV pbarp Fermilab Tevatron collider, we have measured the inclusive dijet mass spectrum in the central pseudorapidity region |eta_jet| < 1.0 for dijet masses greater than 200 Gev/c^2. We have also measured the ratio of spectra sigma(|eta_jet| < 0.5)/sigma(0.5 < |eta_jet| < 1.0). The order alpha_s^3 QCD predictions are in good agreement with the data and we rule out models of quark compositeness with a contact interaction scale < 2.4 TeV at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let