Characterization of evolutionarily conserved key players affecting eukaryotic flagellar motility and fertility using a moss model

Defects in flagella/cilia are often associated with infertility and disease. Motile male gametes (sperm cells) with flagella are an ancestral eukaryotic trait that has been lost in several lineages, for example in flowering plants. Here, we made use of a phenotypic male fertility difference between two moss (Physcomitrella patens) strains to explore spermatozoid function. We compare genetic and epigenetic variation as well as expression profiles between the Gransden and Reute strain to identify a set of genes associated with moss male infertility. Defects in mammal and algal homologs of these genes coincide with a loss of fertility, demonstrating the evolutionary conservation of flagellar function related to male fertility across kingdoms. As a proof of principle, we generated a loss-of-function mutant of a coiled-coil domain containing 39 (ccdc39) gene that is part of the flagellar hydin network. Indeed, the Ppccdc39 mutant resembles the male infertile Gransden strain phenotype. Potentially, several somatic (epi-)mutations occurred during prolonged vegetative propagation of P. patens Gransden, causing regulatory differences of e.g. the homeodomain transcription factor BELL1. Probably these somatic changes are causative for the observed male fertility. We propose that P. patens spermatozoids might be employed as an easily accessible system to study male infertility of human and animals.

Long-term comparison of climatological variables used for agricultural land appraisement

Official price of farmland in the Czech Republic is based on land value in different soil and climatic conditions. The paper compares relevant climatic and agroclimatic characteristics used for land appraisement. Characteristics defined in climatic region of estimated pedological ecological unit system for two fifty years period 1901-1950 and 1961-2010 were evaluated. Area of interest includes 53 points distributed within nine broad areas of the Czech Republic. It is evident that the development of climate has an enormous impact on soil fertility. Difference of station average values of air temperature of both fifty years vary from −0.5 to 1.1 ◦ C (mean difference is 0.3 ◦ C) in the case of vegetation period. The shift of precipitation is not so evident as in the case of temperature. The long term change in precipitation distribution within a year is documented by a different shift of annual, vegetation period and non-vegetation period values. Moisture certainty in vegetation period decreases in all cases of broad areas (except one region). All 50year averages of investigated parameters had been changed in 1961-2010 compared to the mean of 1901-1950. This should be taken into account when fixing the official price. Climatic region parameters should be replaced by a more complex “agroclimatological characteristic”, which take into account also the basic pedological and plant characteristics, for example the available water holding capacity.

Vocal cues of ovulation in human females

Recent research has documented a variety of ovulatory cues in humans, and in many nonhuman species, the vocal channel provides cues of reproductive state. We collected two sets of vocal samples from 69 normally ovulating women: one set during the follicular (high-fertility) phase of the cycle and one set during the luteal (low-fertility) phase, with ovulation confirmed by luteinizing hormone tests. In these samples we measured fundamental frequency (pitch), formant dispersion, jitter, shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio and speech rate. When speaking a simple introductory sentence, women's pitch increased during high- as compared with low-fertility, and this difference was the greatest for women whose voices were recorded on the two highest fertility days within the fertile window (the 2 days just before ovulation). This pattern did not occur when the same women produced vowels. The high- versus low-fertility difference in pitch was associated with the approach of ovulation and not menstrual onset, thus representing, to our knowledge, the first research to show a specific cyclic fertility cue in the human voice. We interpret this finding as evidence of a fertility-related enhancement of femininity consistent with other research documenting attractiveness-related changes associated with ovulation.

Fertility Variation and its Implications on Relatedness in Seed Crops in Seedling Seed Orchards of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. tereticornis

Seedling seed orchards of Eucalyptus tereticornis (N =192 & 505) and E. camaldulensis (N =182 & 525) were established at two sites (one moist and one dry) in southern India. The fertility (based on the number of flowers and fruits) was registered for each tree at age eight and nine years. E. camaldulensis on the moist location had 73% fertile trees and low fertility difference (sibling coefficient, Ψ, was 2.27) at eight years. whereas Only 23% trees were fertile in the E. tereticornis orchard at the same site and the fertility variation was high (Ψ =11.71). In the dry location, fertility was almost the same in both species at nine years, with 45 & 51% fertile trees in E. camaldulensis (Ψ =5.4) and E. tereticornis (Ψ = 5.2) respectively. Though the fertility trends were the same in both years, the number of fertile trees was comparatively higher at nine years (except in the low flowering E. tereticornis orchard at the moist site) in both the sites. Gene diversity values of the seed crop estimated for two consecutive years are fairly high except for the E. tereticornis (GD = 0.9650 and 0.9690) orchard located in the moist site. The implications of fertility variation on diversity of progeny have been discussed in the light of domestication strategies and tree breeding programs implemented for eucalypts.

EFFECTS OF HIGH ALTITUDE ON ENDOCRINE FUNCTION IN THE SHERPAS OF NEPAL

*National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Holly Hill, London, NW3 6RB and ‡Himalayan Rescue Association, P.O. Box 283, Kathmandu, Nepal (Received 23 May 1978) There is demographic evidence from studies in the Andes (James, 1966; Heer, 1967; Abelson, 1976) for lower fertility in high-altitude dwellers than in moderate- or low-altitude dwellers. In the Sherpas of Nepal, the completed fertility rate at high altitude (about 6·0) is appreciably less than that at lower altitudes (8·5; C. R. M. Bangham & J. M. Sacherer, unpublished observations). However, the physiological reasons (if any) for such a difference are obscure. The present study was carried out to test the hypothesis that such a fertility difference (between low- and high-altitude dwellers) is reflected in different serum concentrations of reproductive hormones. Sampling was carried out at altitudes of 4240 m in Khumbu, 2670 m in Pharak (south of Khumbu) and 1460 m in Kathmandu; the