• Title/Summary/Keyword: life-history traits

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Reproductive Pattern of the Epifaunal Amphipod Pontogeneia rostrata (Crustacea) on Dolsando Sandy Shore in Korea

  • Yu, Ok-Hwan;Jeong, Seung-Jin;Suh, Hae-Lip
    • Ocean Science Journal
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    • v.43 no.3
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    • pp.127-133
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    • 2008
  • Reproductive patterns of an epifaunal amphipod, Pontogeneia rostrata, were studied on Dolsando sandy shore in Korea. The life history pattern was iteroparous, with recruitment mainly occurring from winter to spring. The sex ratio was malebiased, especially during breeding periods. The mean body length of females was significantly larger than that of males. Brood size and egg volume were positively related to the body length of ovigerous females. There was no significant difference in brood size between successive breeding periods, but egg volumes were significantly higher in early winter (December) than in late spring breeding (May and June), increasing the probability of survival to hatching. These traits contribute to more reproductive potential in early winter than in late spring breeding. The mean brood size of epifaunal P. rostrata was larger but the mean egg volume smaller than that of infaunal amphipods in this sampling area. We suggest that reproductive effort for epifaunal species may be proportionally greater than for infaunal species in risky environments.

Effects of Rearing Temperature on Larval Survival and Growth and on Reproductive Traits of Palaemon serrifer (Decapoda: Caridea: Palaemonidae)

  • Kim, Sung-Han
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.13 no.4
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    • pp.308-314
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    • 2010
  • Larvae of Palaemon serrifer were reared in the laboratory under three different temperature regimes ($15^{\circ}C$, $20^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$) to study the effects of rearing temperature on larval survival and growth, as well as other traits such as embryo volume, number of embryos (fecundity), incubation period, development. Mode and development period. Growth pattern was analyzed by measuring the molt increment and intermolt period. The intermolt period consistently increased with size and instar number and was shortest at $25^{\circ}C$. However, molt increments generally decreased with instar number. Number of embryos varied from 552 to 1355. The relationship between the number of embryos and carapace length was expressed by the equation (fecundity) y=2.7744x+0.208 ($R^2$=0.7961). Egg volume was a primary factor affecting other life-history traits. Egg volume was $0.078\;m^3$, which is relatively small thus embryos exhibited a relatively short incubation period and a comparatively short development period, and the nutritional mode was planktotrophic. Brood production was followed by a fast parturitional pattern. Most ovigerous females had mature ovaries when the parturial molt occurred soon after eclosion.

New Record of Thapariella anastomusa (Trematoda: Thapariellidae) Metacercariae in Northern Thailand

  • Phalee, Waraporn;Phalee, Anawat;Wongsawad, Chalobol
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.56 no.1
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    • pp.49-52
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    • 2018
  • The family Thapariellidae has been reported in only 3 countries since 1990. The objective of this study was to identify Thapariella anastomusa metacercariae in snails in Thailand based on morphological traits using a light (LM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). A total of 94 Filopaludina snails were collected and identified as 50 F. martensi martensi and 44 F. doliaris. Metacercariae of T. anastomusa were recovered from the snails by the crushing method. The overall prevalence was 22.3% (21/94), and the mean intensity was 17.0 per snail. The prevalence in F. martensi martensi was 24.0% (12/50) and F. doliaris 20.5% (9/44) with the mean intensity of 18.8 and 14.8 per snail, respectively. SEM revealed traits such as a concave ventral body and well-developed oral and ventral suckers. This study represents the first report of T. anastomusa in South East Asia. While LM and SEM observations provide novel insights into T. anastomusa metacercarial morphology and life history, the trematode's life cycle remains unclear. To date, there has been no report of T. anastomusa causing infections in humans. However, the snails F. martensi martensi and F. doliaris carrying the infective stages of T. anastomosa are frequently consumed by Thai people. This consumption, particularly uncooked snails, may present a risk of Thapariella infections in humans.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of maize, Zea mays, in Both Landraces and Cultivar Lines

  • Huh, Man-Kyu;Lee, In-Sup
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.27-32
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    • 2002
  • Enzyme electrophoresis was used to estimate genetic diversity and population structure of maize, Zea mays L. (Graminales) in Korea. In nine populations, fourteen of the 24 loci (58.3 %) showed detectable polymorphism. Genetic diversity (0.205) was higher than average values for species with similar life history traits. Although our data are relatively small and the landraces not direct ancestors of cultivar, apparently the domestication process has eroded the levels of genetic variation of maize. The recent cultivars were found to have fewer alleles per locus (1.42 vs. 1.56), fewer alleles per polymorphic locus (2.27 vs. 2.33), lower percent polymorphic locus (33.3% vs. 41.7%), and lower diversity (0.159 vs. 0.185) than landraces. These genetic diversity parameters indicated that the cultivar populations were genetically depauperate relative to landlaces. The GST value of nine populations was 0.239. Nearly 76% of the total genetic diversity in Zea mays was apportioned within populations. The indirect estimate of gene new based on mean GST was moderate (Nm=0.80).

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Seasonal variation in kelp phlorotannins in relation to grazer abundance and environmental variables in the Alaskan sublittoral zone

  • Dubois, Angela;Iken, Katrin
    • ALGAE
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    • v.27 no.1
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    • pp.9-19
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    • 2012
  • Phlorotannins are common metabolites produced in kelps that can have deterrent functions against grazers. The factors dictating seasonal patterns of phlorotannin content in northeastern Pacific kelps are not well understood. This study assessed density and grazing of the gastropod Lacuna vincta on the annual canopy-forming kelp Nereocystis luetkeana and the perennial understory species Agarum clathratum, Saccharina latissima and S. groenlandica in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. In addition, we assessed seasonal patterns of environmental variables as possible drivers of phlorotannin concentrations. Phlorotannins occurred in all species, with overall lowest levels in N. luetkeana, and with different seasonal patterns among the four species. Lacuna vincta was most dense on N. luetkeana thalli in the summer and had highest grazing rates on this low-phlorotannin species. However, correlations between L. vincta density and phlorotannin content of each kelp species were not significant. Except for N. luetkeana, there were no correlations between phlorotannin levels and environmental variables. We suggest that kelp life history traits may be more important for phlorotannin patterns in these kelp species than grazers or environmental drivers.

Analysis of Elementary School Children's Concepts in Evolution Based on Science History (과학사적 진화개념 발달 단계에 기초한 초등학생들의 진화 개념 분석)

  • Lee Mi-Sook;Oh Se-Pyoung;Lee Kil-Jae
    • Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.145-159
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    • 2005
  • Students' alternative concepts of evolution are similar to misconcepts and disputes which scientists had in science history. The aims of this study are to analyze the elementary children's concept in evolution based on science history. Lee (2004)'s two tests were applied to 6th grade to investigate the children's evolution concepts and genetic concepts related to the historical development of the evolution concepts. The test results were analyzed in accordance with 4 stages of science history based on Lee (2004)'s method. These stages are divided to stage 1 (Before Lamarck), stage 2 (Lamarck), stage 3 (Darwin), stage 4 (After Darwin). The major results are as follows. Most of elementary school children are fixed to the stage 2. They usually do not show the consistency of evolution concepts in the three dimensional aspects such as mechanism, time, and subjects. Many children do not have concrete meaning of gene, inheritance, sexual reproduction, mutation and could not connect these concetps and process of evolution. Also, they believe the inheritance of acquired traits and spontaneous generation. Therefore it is confirmed that they still have similar misconcepts and disputes which scientists had in transition time between stage 2 and 3 and most of children already have strong Lamarckian thought acquired from daily life experience before learning about natural selection and evolution.

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Pattern of Change of the Local Butterfly Community in a Rural Area of Southwestern Part of Korea (전남 서남부 농촌지역에 분포하는 나비군집의 변화 양상에 관한 연구)

  • Choi, Sei-Woong;An, Jeong-Seop
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.33 no.1
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    • pp.53-62
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    • 2015
  • We surveyed butterfly community in a rural area of the southwestern part of Korea to investigate the changes of species composition and their abundances between 2001~2002 and 2014. The butterfly survey was conducted at the same site using a line transect method. There was a significant decrease of the numbers of species and individuals between 2001~2002 and 2014. We categorized each species based on six ecological traits: habitat type, habitat breadth, food plant type, food plant breadth, number of generation per year and overwintering stage. The comparison of number of species using these ecological traits showed no difference during the 10-yr time intervals. However, the comparison of number of individuals for the ecological traits showed the significant differences except for one trait, overwintering stage. We could suspect that the decrease of butterflies in the study area was resulted from the habitat change. To investigate the causal factors and the changes of butterfly fauna, we need a long-term monitoring of the local butterfly community.

Prediction of Genes Related to Positive Selection Using Whole-Genome Resequencing in Three Commercial Pig Breeds

  • Kim, HyoYoung;Caetano-Anolles, Kelsey;Seo, Minseok;Kwon, Young-jun;Cho, Seoae;Seo, Kangseok;Kim, Heebal
    • Genomics & Informatics
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    • v.13 no.4
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    • pp.137-145
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    • 2015
  • Selective sweep can cause genetic differentiation across populations, which allows for the identification of possible causative regions/genes underlying important traits. The pig has experienced a long history of allele frequency changes through artificial selection in the domestication process. We obtained an average of 329,482,871 sequence reads for 24 pigs from three pig breeds: Yorkshire (n = 5), Landrace (n = 13), and Duroc (n = 6). An average read depth of 11.7 was obtained using whole-genome resequencing on an Illumina HiSeq2000 platform. In this study, cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity and cross-population composite likelihood ratio tests were implemented to detect genes experiencing positive selection for the genome-wide resequencing data generated from three commercial pig breeds. In our results, 26, 7, and 14 genes from Yorkshire, Landrace, and Duroc, respectively were detected by two kinds of statistical tests. Significant evidence for positive selection was identified on genes ST6GALNAC2 and EPHX1 in Yorkshire, PARK2 in Landrace, and BMP6, SLA-DQA1, and PRKG1 in Duroc. These genes are reportedly relevant to lactation, reproduction, meat quality, and growth traits. To understand how these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related positive selection affect protein function, we analyzed the effect of non-synonymous SNPs. Three SNPs (rs324509622, rs80931851, and rs80937718) in the SLA-DQA1 gene were significant in the enrichment tests, indicating strong evidence for positive selection in Duroc. Our analyses identified genes under positive selection for lactation, reproduction, and meat-quality and growth traits in Yorkshire, Landrace, and Duroc, respectively.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Comus controversa Hemsley Using RAPD (RAPD에 의한 층층나무의 유전적 다양성과 집단구조)

  • Moon, Sung-Gi;Huh, Man-Kyu
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.175-179
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    • 2008
  • Cornus controversa is a long-lived woody species mostly distributed in East Asia. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of Korean populations of this species. A high level of genetic variation was found in seven populations of C. controversa. The mean genetic diversity (H) was 0.222 across populations, varying from 0.200 to 0.238. Eighty of the 93 loci (86.0%) showed detectable polymorphism in at least one population. Total genetic diversity values ($H_T$) varied between 0.192 and 0.231, giving an average overall polymorphic loci of 0.212. The interlocus variation of genetic diversity within populations ($H_S$) was high (0.167). Mean of genetic diversity in C. controversa was higher than average values for species with similar life history traits. The sexual reproduction, perennial habitat, and longevity are proposed as possible factors contributing to high genetic diversity. On a per locus basis, the proportion of total genetic variation due to differences among populations ($G_{ST}$) ranged from 0.169 to 0.278 with a mean of 0.216, indicating that about 21.6% of the total genetic variation was among populations. An indirect estimate of the number of migrants per generation (Nm=1.893) indicated that gene flow was extensive among Korean populations of C. controversa.

The Limit of Gene-Culture Co-evolutionary Theory

  • Lee, Min-seop;Jang, Dayk
    • Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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    • v.28 no.3
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    • pp.173-191
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    • 2017
  • The theories of cultural evolution hold subtly or clearly different stances about definition of culture, pattern of cultural evolution, biases that affect cultural evolution, and relationship between culture and organism. However, the cultural evolution theories have a common problem to solve: As the evolutionary theory of life tries to explain the early steps and the origin of life, the cultural evolution theories also must explain the early steps of the cultural evolution and the role of the human capability that makes cultural evolution possible. Therefore, explanations of the human's unique traits including the cultural ability are related to determine which one is the most plausible among many cultural evolution theories. Theories that tried to explain human uniqueness commonly depict the coevolution of gene (organism) and culture. We will explicitly call the niche construction theory and the dual inheritance theory the 'gene-culture co-evolutionary theory'. In these theories, the most important concept is the 'concept of positive feedback'. In this paper, we distinguish between core positive feedback and marginal positive feedback, according to whether the trait that the concept of positive feedback explains is the trait of human uniqueness. Both types of positive feedback effectively explain the generality of human uniqueness and the diversity of human traits driven by cultural groups. However, this positive feedback requires an end, in contrast to negative feedback which can be continued in order to maintain homeostasis. We argue that the co-evolutionary process in the gene-culture co-evolutionary theories include only the positive feedback, not covering the cultural evolution after the positive feedback. This thesis strives to define the coevolution concept more comprehensively by suggesting the potential relationships between gene and culture after the positive feedback.