Current Zoology最新文献

{"title":"The Yarkand hare epidermal growth factor receptor improves the survival and antioxidant capacity of HeLa cells under stress.","authors":"Yuge Cui, Mengqi Xu, Mingchang Duan, Jinshan Wu, Yanyu Zhou, Wenjuan Shan","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoaf020","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cz/zoaf020","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one of the most important tyrosine kinase receptor families, which plays a pivotal role in cell signaling transduction and physiological processes. Studies on the <i>EGFR</i> gene in humans and other species have demonstrated its pivotal role in regulating the sodium ion balance and mediating sodium and water reabsorption in the kidney's proximal tubules. However, the impact of <i>EGFR</i> gene in how the Yarkand hare (<i>Lepus yarkandensis</i>) adapts to extreme environmental habitat remains unclear. The Yarkand hare is a desert-dwelling animal with multiple adaptations to cope with drought. Given the important physiological function of <i>EGFR</i> gene, we strived to understand its role in arid environment and explore the molecular mechanism of drought tolerance in the Yarkand hare. We first performed segmental cloning of the CDS of the Yarkand hare <i>EGFR</i> gene. Then, we constructed the phylogenetic tree of the Yarkand hare's <i>EGFR</i> gene and compared it with that of other species. The results showed that the Yarkand hare was most closely related to the Tolai hare (<i>Lepus tolai</i>). Through quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), we discovered that <i>EGFR</i> expression in the kidneys of the Yarkand hare was higher than in the allopatric Tolai hare from non-arid areas. Therefore, we hypothesized that <i>EGFR</i> gene overexpression in the kidney of the Yarkand hare may play a crucial role in drought adaptability. Subsequently, we inserted CDS of <i>EGFR</i> gene into a pcDNA3.1-EGFP expression vector to construct recombinant plasmid, which was transfected into HeLa cells and overexpressed. RT-qPCR demonstrated a notable and statistically significant increase in <i>EGFR</i> mRNA expression and western blot proved stable expression of this protein in HeLa cells. Through cell experiments, <i>EGFR</i> gene overexpression markedly enhanced the survival of Hela cells subjected to NaCl, H₂O₂, and heat stresses, increased superoxide dismutase activity, and decreased malondialdehyde content. In conclusion, these findings preliminarily suggest that EGFR might help the Yarkand hare adapt to extreme environmental conditions. EGFR manipulation <i>in vivo</i> could be a promising strategy to enhance the resilience of animals to extreme conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 3","pages":"404-407"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12227414/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144576870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to: Functional reproductive morphology of the snapping shrimp genus <i>Synalpheus</i> Spence Bate, 1888 (Decapoda, Alpheidae).","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoaf013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoaf013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoae053.].</p>","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 3","pages":"408"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12227413/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144576865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A new critical site for spectral tuning of red/green-sensitive visual pigment identified in a murid rodent.","authors":"Shengjing Song, Jun Zhu, Yaoqi Xie, David M Irwin, Yang Liu","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae077","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cz/zoae077","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 3","pages":"400-403"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12227416/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144576863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rain-harvesting behavior in free-ranging prairie rattlesnakes (<i>Crotalus viridis</i>).","authors":"Madison G McIntyre, Marja van Mierlo, M Rockwell Parker, Scott M Goetz, Emily N Taylor, Scott M Boback","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae069","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cz/zoae069","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Organisms inhabiting arid environments face challenges to obtain dietary water. To prevent desiccation, some organisms possess unique adaptations to harvest water from infrequent and unpredictable rainfall, including several squamates (snakes and lizards). While most squamates consume precipitation as it pools in the environment, a small number engage in behaviors to enhance water collection by capturing precipitation from their own skin, referred to as rain-harvesting behavior (RHB). Details of this behavior remain unclear, particularly the sequence of behaviors associated with RHB. We developed a method to simulate rainfall to observe RHB in prairie rattlesnakes (<i>Crotalus viridis</i>) in situ and recorded 72 events in 94 snakes, the most robust sampling of RHB to date. Using video analysis, we describe the postures and kinematics of RHB and develop the first illustrated ethogram of this behavior for any vertebrate. Our results demonstrate that RHB contains fixed and variable patterns useful in cross-species comparisons and in exploring proximate causes of the behavior. In addition, we describe novel features of RHB including suspended head drinking, body levering, and drinking from neighboring snakes. Our results reveal RHB to be an intricate suite of movements and actions, some of which allude to acute sensory abilities of these animals that warrant further study. Furthermore, observations of RHB at dens and rookeries suggest a potential, novel benefit of snake aggregation is the formation of large, communal surfaces for rain harvesting. We suggest that the extremely elongated body plan of snakes may be well-suited for a rapidly deployed, modular rain-harvesting system effective at capitalizing on fleeting rainstorms characteristic of arid ecosystems of the world.</p>","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 1","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11847018/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143494476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Behavioral repeatability in dung beetles is not limited to subsocial and sexual horn dimorphic species: the case of <i>Geotrupes mutator</i> (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae).","authors":"Gianluca Natta, Angela Roggero, Alice Zanon, Alessandro Fiorito, Alex Laini, Antonio Rolando, Claudia Palestrini","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae068","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cz/zoae068","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The study of temperament and behavioral syndromes in insects is still in its early stage, and research conducted to date has mainly focused on locomotor activity and thanatosis. Dung beetles have been the subject of extensive behavioral studies; however, very few studies have addressed the expression of temperament. Those doing so only looked at subsocial and sexual horn dimorphic species, suggesting subsociality and/or sexual horn-dimorphism as possible facilitators of temperament expression. To test this assumption, we conducted a temperament study in a hornless, non-subsocial species, namely <i>Geotrupes mutator</i> (Marsham, 1802). We set up laboratory tests to evaluate 3 behaviors (activity, thanatosis, and distress calls) through the measurement of 7 distinct behavioral traits (3 activity-, 1 thanatosis-, and 3 call-related traits). We found high levels of individual repeatability in all activity- and thanatosis-related traits. We also identified behavioral differences between individuals, which may reflect differences in temperament. Statistical analyses revealed a negative correlation between activity and thanatosis. These results show that the temperament and behavioral syndromes related to activity and thanatosis may also be expressed in dung beetle species that are neither subsocial nor sexual horn dimorphic. By contrast, we only found one of 3 sound-related traits tested (frequency) to be clearly repeatable. Males and females presented a different structure of the stridulatory apparatus, suggesting that morphology may affect the frequency of sounds emitted. These results indicate that certain sound traits might not be good descriptors of individual temperament revealing the need for future research addressing the role of bioacoustics.</p>","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 3","pages":"273-283"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12227424/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144576864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sperm depletion and mate choice of the crab spider, <i>Ebrechtella tricuspidata</i> (Fahricius).","authors":"Haobo Guo, Lelei Wen, Yue Yu, Chao Wang, Yancong Wang, Changchun Li, Xiaoguo Jiao","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae059","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cz/zoae059","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mounting evidence suggests that male sperm may be gradually depleted after consecutive matings, resulting in the decline of female reproductive output in insect species. It is predicted that females may employ adaptive strategies to avoid the sperm-depleted males, such as mating multiply with different males and/or discriminating against previously mated males (MMs). Similarly, males may exhibit adaptive behaviors toward females varying in mating status. However, in spiders with males lacking primary copulatory organs and their pedipalps modified to transfer sperm, there are few studies on male mating potential and previous mating experience on their subsequent mate choice. In this study, we used a polyandrous crab spider, <i>Ebrechtella tricuspidata</i>, a sit-and-wait predator with female-biased sex ratio as a model system to ascertain whether 1) male mating experiences influence female reproductive fitness; 2) females respond differently to males varying in mating status; and 3) males respond differently to females varying in mating status. Our results showed that female fecundity was independent of male mating experiences, but female fertility markedly declined with the increase of male previous mating experiences in the first eggsac. Counter to our predictions, females preferred to choose and mate with the larger males, regardless of their mating status. In contrast, male mating status influenced their mating preference toward females. Virgin males did not show any preference between virgin and mated females; however, MMs were more likely to prefer the virgin females over the mated ones. Overall, our results indicated that female choice depended primarily on male relative size rather than male mating status, whereas male choice depended on female mating status. Depending on the investigation of reproductive dynamics and mate choice in <i>E. tricuspidata</i>, the study will provide valuable insights into the adaptive behaviors of both males and females exhibiting toward mates varying in mating status.</p>","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 3","pages":"390-399"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12227422/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144576868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fortune may favor the flexible: environment-dependent behavioral shifts in invasive coquí frogs.","authors":"Katharina M Soto, Devin Edmonds, Andrea L Colton, Michael R Britton, Faith O Hardin, Eva K Fischer","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae055","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cz/zoae055","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biological invasions are a major driver of global biodiversity loss, impacting endemic species, ecosystems, and economies. Although the influence of life history traits on invasive success is well-established, the role of behavior in the invasive potential of animals is less studied. The common coquí frog, <i>Eleutherodactylus coqui</i>, is a highly successful invader in Hawai'i. We build on previous research characterizing changes in physiology and morphology to explore behavioral variation across the invasive range of coquí in Hawai'i. Coquí have expanded both outward and upward from their initial introduction site, and-by comparing frogs from different densities and elevations-we specifically asked how the physiological challenges of high-elevation living interact with the competitive challenge of high-densities at population centers. To investigate whether differences in the field represent local adaptation or behavioral plasticity, we additionally evaluated behavior following acclimation to a shared laboratory environment. Although we identified only subtle behavioral variation among populations in the field, we found that individuals from all populations became less bold, active, and exploratory in the laboratory, converging on a similar behavioral phenotype. Alongside previous work, our results suggest that coquí adjust their behavior to local environmental conditions across their invasive range and that behavioral flexibility may contribute to invasive success.</p>","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 3","pages":"362-372"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12227419/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144576866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The critical role of arachidonic acid on molting in spiders.","authors":"Lelei Wen, Lieping Wang, Zhigan Wang, Haixin Zhang, Lang Hu, Baoyu Peng, Yu Peng, Xiaoguo Jiao, Changchun Li","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae056","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cz/zoae056","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spiders frequently suffer abnormal molting and subsequent death when sustained on a monotypic diet of fruit flies <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>. The fruit flies lack arachidonic acid (AA), a nutrient that may be critical for successful molting of spiders. To test this hypothesis, we compared the survival rates of juvenile wolf spiders, <i>Pardosa pseudoannulata</i>, fed on three kinds of diets, midges (<i>Tendipes</i> sp.), fruit flies enriched in AA and fruit flies lacking in AA. In addition, we analyzed the fatty acid composition of spiders feeding on midges and fruit flies enriched in AA and their prey. Juvenile spiders fed on midges and AA-enriched fruit flies reached full maturity without molting issues, whereas nearly all spiders fed the flies lacking in AA did not survive. Among the 35 different fatty acids, only the AA levels in both prey and spiders correlated positively with spider survival. Our findings provide compelling evidence that AA is crucial for the survival and molting of <i>P. pseudoannulata</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 3","pages":"373-380"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12227418/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144576869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Torpor expression and patterns in 3 sympatric rodents from Inner Mongolia.","authors":"Qing-Sheng Chi, Gansukh Sukhchuluun, Jing Wen, De-Hua Wang, Fritz Geiser","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae057","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cz/zoae057","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The diversity of rodents in Asian deserts is high. Nevertheless, little is known about their use of daily torpor and hibernation, which are employed by many small mammals worldwide for energy and water conservation to permit survival under adverse environmental conditions. We quantified for the first time, using temperature transponders and data loggers, long-term torpor expression and patterns in sympatric desert hamsters <i>Phodopus roborovskii</i>, striped hamsters <i>Cricetulus barabensis</i> and 3-toed jerboas <i>Dipus sagitta</i> under controlled conditions. Animals were live-trapped in Inner Mongolia in August and held in captivity under short photoperiods and low ambient temperatures (<i>T</i> _as) for about 6 months. Both hamster species (~half of individuals) expressed spontaneous (food available) daily torpor. Daily torpor in desert hamsters was less frequent and shallower than that in striped hamsters, which also had longer torpor bouts during torpor at <i>T</i> _a 15.8 ± 0.4 °C. Only one individual jerboa entered hibernation spontaneously at <i>T</i> _a 6.2 ± 0.5°C, but all hibernated after food deprivation. The 2 hamster species only slightly changed their body mass during the acclimation, whereas jerboas greatly increased their body mass by 27.9% during the first 2 months of acclimation probably as a preparation for the hibernating season. Our data show that short photoperiod and moderately low <i>T</i> _a induces spontaneous daily torpor in the 2 hamster species, suggesting that it is used regularly in the wild. Hibernation in Jerboas occurred at <i>T</i> _a 6.2 ± 0.5 °C especially when food was withheld suggesting limited food availability is the proximate trigger of their hibernation.</p>","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"71 3","pages":"381-389"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12227420/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144576871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Slithering Dead: Does locomotor performance affect post-capture death feigning in dice snakes (Natrix tessellata, Laurenti 1768)?","authors":"Vukašin Bjelica, Marko Maričić, Marko Anđelković, Ljiljana Tomović, Dragan Arsovski, Ana Golubović","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae054","url":null,"abstract":"Functional constraints between different types of antipredator behavior should be common, especially if they are on the opposite sides of the behavioral spectrum such as flight and post-capture immobility. We examined a potential compromise between post-capture immobility displays and sprint speed in dice snakes (Natrix tessellata), using a field-based approach. We sampled snakes (N=238) from two populations: from a dense island population free of mammal predators, and from a less dense mainland population, preyed upon by both bird and mammal predators. We explored the effects of sexual maturity, temperature, body size, presence of palpable food in the gut and injuries on the occurrence and duration of post-capture immobility as well as sprint speed. Our results confirm the existence of functional constraints between locomotor performance and post-capture immobility in dice snakes. Faster dice snakes start escaping promptly after release, while slower individuals utilize more passive antipredator behaviors such as death feigning. Local adaptations seem to have great influence on behavioral compromise, since the mammal-free island population exhibited a higher incidence of post-capture immobility and a significantly lower sprint speed, compared to the less dense mainland population. Additionally, immature individuals tended to avoid death feigning and their post-capture immobility lasted shorter compared to adult individuals. It remains to be seen how individuals adjust their behavior to accomodate locomotor constraints, and in which specific phases of the predator-prey interaction these adjustments occur.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142257104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}