Eat Better to Look Better: The Relationship between Food Availability, UV Brightness of the Major Claw, and Mating Success of the Fiddler Crab Austruca lactea.

Many factors affect male fiddler crab courting and female choice during underground mating, including claw-waving patterns, claw-waving frequency, hood structures, burrow quality, and visible and ultraviolet signals of the major claw. Under food-limited conditions, fiddler crabs decrease their investments in reproduction-e.g., lower their claw-waving frequency. However, the effect of food availability on the visible or ultraviolet signals important for courtship success is unknown, not only for fiddler crabs, but for crustaceans in general. This is the first study to explore the influence of food availability on the early stages of female choice in Austruca lactea. In the present study, we tested (1) the effect of food availability on the UV brightness of A. lactea's major claw and burrow quality and (2) the correlation between A. lactea courtship success and the UV brightness of its major claw. Our results showed that higher food availability increased the UV brightness of the major claw and enhanced the male's burrow quality. The UV component to the signal is important for courtship success. The males with a UV component of signal on their major claw had a higher courtship success. This is an indication that food availability may affect the attractiveness of male fiddler crabs.

Multiple Environmental Factors Increase the Niche Complexity and Species Diversity of Brachyuran Crabs in an Intertidal Algal Reef Ecosystem in Northwestern Taiwan.

Algal reefs are one of the world's rare and poorly understood ecosystems. They are mainly distributed in the Mediterranean Sea, but one notable exception-an intertidal algal reef ecosystem in northwestern Taiwan-stretches for 27 km along the coast of Taoyuan, making it probably the largest algal reef coast found in shallow water. Despite the reef's rarity and striking characteristics, the coastal land that it is part of has undergone a series of developments and is now surrounded by industrial parks. Brachyuran crabs are one of the most abundant and visible groups of organisms in the intertidal zone. In the present study, we investigated the brachyuran crab community in this reef to provide a more detailed record of brachyuran crab species compositions in this intertidal algal reef ecosystem and illustrate the characteristics of this understudied ecosystem by comparing its species diversity and abundance with three natural variables- sampling time, tidal level, and season-in a wildlife refuge and north of the refuge. Two methods were used in the study: a qualitative method (to determine the species richness) and a quantitative method (to estimate the population density). We identified a total of 52 brachyuran species from 13 families in the habitats. The highest species richness was found in Datan G2, north of the wildlife refuge. The crab species composition in this algal reef is different from its compositions in coral and rocky reefs. Our analysis indicated that the species abundance is affected by multiple factors, and a single investigation is not enough to reflect the true population density of brachyuran crabs on this reef. In addition, we found that the sites outside the wildlife refuge were in much better condition than those in the wildlife refuge, and should therefore be included in the wildlife refuge. In particular, Datan, located north of the wildlife refuge, had the highest species richness, and the area's species composition was different from that of the nearby wildlife refuge. Thus, we strongly recommend that a) the Datan area be protected to maintain this high crab diversity and b) further research be performed to better understand brachyuran crab biology in the intertidal algal reef ecosystem.

Construction of pharmacophore model and its application in identification of effective components of Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

The effective material basis of Chinese medicine is the key and difficult point in the quality control and modernization research of Chinese medicine. With the increasing application of pharmacophore-based virtual screening in computer-aided drug design, it is possible to employ this technology in the modernization of Chinese medicine. Based on the systematic research method of the pharmacophore model, the present study systematically reviewed the pharmacophore-based technologies and strategies in the identification of active components in Chinese medicine.

Extraction and separation, structure analysis and biological activity of polysaccharides from Atractylodis Rhizoma / 中国中药杂志

Atractylodis Rhizoma(AR) is a traditional Chinese medicinal material for food and medicine, with the functions of eli-minating dampness, strengthening the spleen, expelling wind evil and dispersing cold. AR contains a variety of compounds, including sesquiterpenoids, alkynes, triterpenoids, aromatic glycosides, polysaccharides and so on. At present, the researches on AR mainly focus on volatile components, with relatively fewer researches on non-volatile components. Polysaccharide from Atractylodis Rhizoma(ARP) is an important material basis among non-volatile components for the efficacy. Due to its many biological activities such as immunomodulatory activity, anti-tumors, anti-virus and anti-oxidation, ARP has certain research value and potential. The diversity of the polysaccharide structure is the basis for biological functions, but it also increases the difficulty of carbohydrate research. The research on the extraction, separation, purification, structure and activity of ARP is in the preliminary exploration stage, still with many shortcomings. Herein, recent advancements in the extraction, purification, structural characteristics and biological activities of ARP were summarized in this article to provide scientific reference for the in-depth systematic research of ARP and the development of AR resources.