Effects of age on female reproductive success in Drosophila bipectinata.

Female age influence on mating success, courtship activities, mating latency, copulation duration, fecundity, ovarioles number, and wing length has been studied using isofemale lines of Drosophila bipectinata collected at three different localities. It was observed that in all localities, middle-aged D. bipectinata females had significantly greater mating success, showed less rejection responses to courting male, mated faster, copulated longer, and had greater fecundity and ovariole number than young and old-aged females. Further, old-aged females had comparatively less fitness traits than young age females. This research suggests the occurrence of age specific female reproductive success as follows: middle-aged > young > old-aged.

Hypertension is an important risk determinant for chronic kidney disease: results from a cross-sectional, observational study from a rural population in South India.

Hypertension (HTN) is an important cause for chronic kidney disease (CKD). There is a paucity of studies exploring the association of HTN with CKD from rural India. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and the determinants for HTN in a rural population in South India, focusing on the association with CKD. In a cross-sectional study on 2984 adults in three villages, demographic and anthropometric data were collected. Blood pressure was recorded on all individuals and prevalence was estimated. Proteinuria, microalbuminuria (MA) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were determined in a subgroup of 1331 subjects and the relation with HTN was analysed. Prevalence of HTN was 30.4% (95% CI 28.75-32.05%). In all, 78.08% had stage 1 HTN while 22% had stage 2 HTN. In total, 27.4% (249/908) subjects were aware of their hypertensive status. Of them, only 14.4% had adequate control of blood pressure. Age>50 years, diabetes, body mass index >25 and eGFR<60 ml min-1 were independent significant predictors of HTN (P<0.05). HTN was found to be an important risk factor for CKD even after adjusting for age, diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.46-3.36, P<0.001). The high prevalence of HTN, very low level of awareness and control, and the significant association with kidney disease indicate a need for stronger public health initiative with better penetration for awareness and screening for HTN and CKD in India's villages.

Alteration in haematocrit values and plasma protein fractions during the breeding cycle of female pigeons, Columba livia.

Haematocrit measurements and plasma protein electrophoresis were carried out in female pigeons (Columba livia) during the breeding cycle. Non-laying birds showed higher (p < 0.001) haematocrit values than those involved in courtship and mating, nest-building, incubation and feeding and brooding. Significant differences in relative percentage of various plasma protein fractions were observed as a function of breeding. Haematocrit could be a useful index to the non-laying status of pigeons like that in chickens, Gallus domesticus.

Purification of a growth factor from pigeon milk.

Aqueous extracts of pigeon milk (PM) stimulated the in vitro growth of quiescent CHO cells maintained in culture and caused precocial incisor eruption and eyelid opening in newborn mice. CM-cellulose chromatography of the growth factor of PM enhanced its biologic activity. Rechromatography of CM-active fractions in DEAE-cellulose columns yielded a single peak that was mitogenic both in vivo and in vitro. SDS-PAGE of DEAE-active fractions gave rise to a single band of molecular weight about 6000. This protein, termed as pigeon milk-derived growth factor (PMGF), yielded a single peak on gel filtration in Sephadex G-100 columns. Elution pattern of PMGF was similar to that obtained for epidermal growth factor of mouse submaxillary gland (mEGF). The chromatographic plus electrophoretic pattern, and biologic action of PMGF suggest it to be a EGF-like protein.

Mating success of males with and without wing patch in Drosophila biarmipes.

Some males of D. biarmipes--synonym of D. rajasekari and D. raychaudhuri have a black patch on the wing. The patch extends from the apical margin of wing to the third longitudinal vein. Field and laboratory studies have been carried out in D. biarmipes to study role of male's wing patch in mating success. The field study shows that nature favors D. biarmipes males with patch. Although males without patch mated, males with patch have higher mating success suggesting the role of wing patch during courtship. Further, among mating males, males with patch had longer wings than males without patch. During courtship, males with patch oriented and mated faster; performed courtship acts such as tapping, scissoring, vibration, licking and twist dance more times than males without patch in both competitive and non-competitive situations. The results indicate that there is a casual relationship between the presence of wing patch, mating speed and success. Also there is a correlation between presence of wing patch, size of the flies and mating success.

Measurement of digestible and metabolizable energy of diets for rats.

A balance method for the measurement of digestible and metabolizable energy in rats is described. Experimentally determined metabolizable energies of 2 diets for rats were closer to those values for metabolizable energy calculated from tabulated values for pigs rather than chickens. Some drawbacks in the use of tables of energy values to predict the energy of diets are discussed.

Observations on bacteria associated with pigeon crop.

Lactobacilli, streptococci and coliforms of pigeon crop contents, 5th wash, macerate and those of first-day pigeon milk have been studied. Streptococci predominated in all the samples tested. Relatively higher counts of lactobacilli and streptococci in crop macerate than in the 5th wash suggested the adhesion of these bacteria to crop wall. Because of frequent occurrence in crop of partially digested fibrous food, its contents were tested for the presence of cellulolytic bacteria. The results indicated that four isolates were capable of utilizing cellulose with the resultant production of reducing sugars. It is inferred that the crop microflora is involved in the degradation of dietary fibre in the pigeon.

Effect of bottlenecks on incipient sexual isolation, mating activity and fertility in Drosophila malerkotliana.

Effect of bottleneck sizes, on sexual isolation, mating speed and fertility were studied in D. malerkotliana established from natural population. After 10 generations of laboratory breeding, flies showed incipient sexual isolation between control line and some bottleneck lines and also between bottleneck lines. These findings do not fully agree with the general assumption that the establishment of bottlenecks accelerates speciation. The courtship latency and mating speed increases with increasing size of bottlenecks whereas copulation duration and fertility decreases with increasing bottleneck size. There was no sign of rebounding in fitness with in 10 generations as observed by Bryant et al. in house flies.

Correlative studies on mating speed and metric traits in Drosophila malerkotliana.

Relationship between mating speed, an important component of fitness, and morphological characters such as lengths of wing, femur, tibia and first tarsus have been analysed in D. malerkotliana. Flies mating first have longer wings and forelegs and mating flies have lower coefficient of variability in wing length than nonmating ones. Age seems to have no detectable effect on the relationship between these metric traits and mating speed.

Body size, mating success and advantage of large flies in Drosophila bipectinata species complex.

Mating success of large and small flies of Drosophila malerkotliana and D. bipectinata was studied using multiple, male and female choice methods. In multiple choice method the large male mated with large female and small male paired with small female. In female choice method, large male was successful in mating with female irrespective of its size while in male choice method, preferential mating occurred between large male and large female as well as small male and small female. The consequence of such non-random mating in the presence of male rivarly and preferential mating has been discussed.

Acute renal failure secondary to rhabdomyolysis following near-drowning in sea water.

We report here a rare case of acute renal failure following near-drowning in sea water. A 21-year old college student presented in acute renal failure 48 hours after a near-drowning event. Investigations revealed rhabdomyolysis to be the cause of renal failure.

Lack of correlation between mating activity and EST-1 polymorphism in three natural and laboratory populations of Drosophila bipectinata.

Est-1 polymorphism and mating activity have been studied in three natural populations of D. bipectinata and after 10 generations of their maintenance in the laboratory. The results indicate that the enzyme Est-1 variation was not significant within natural populations within F10 generation and also between different natural populations and F10 generation indicating the role of balancing selection in the maintenance of enzyme polymorphism in both natural and laboratory conditions. On the other hand, there was variability in the mating activity within natural populations and within F10 generation and also between natural population and F10 generation. However, there was no correlation between Est-1 polymorphism and mating activity.

Bottleneck effect on intra- and interspecific competition in Drosophila malerkotliana.

Intra and interspecific competition experiments involving control and bottleneck lines of monomorphic and polymorphic populations of D.malerkotliana with D.nasuta nasuta have been carried out. Productivity and population size were evaluated in these lines. The results show that control line had higher relative fitness and adaptedness (productivity and population size) under both intra and interspecific competition than their respective bottleneck lines and D.nasuta nasuta. This indicates that bottlenecks have an effect on competition in D.malerkotliana. The consequence of such competition studies using control and bottleneck lines of D.malerkotliana and D.nasuta nasuta is discussed.

Variability of morphological traits in Drosophila bipectinata complex.

Phenotypic or morphological differences among different populations and sexual dimorphism in certain metric traits were analysed in D. bipectinata complex. It was noticed that different populations of D. bipectinata species group harbour large amount of variation for these characters. In all the populations, morphometric characters such as lengths of femur, tibia and wing length, wing width, number of sternopleural bristles and bristles on epandrium varied significantly among populations. The study indicates that the morphological variations are due to the interplay of genetic and environmental endowments. Further, females had significantly larger values, for lengths of femur, tibia and wing length, wing width and sternopleural bristles.

The effect of Emblica officinalis diet on lifespan, sexual behavior, and fitness characters in Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila is an excellent organism to test Ayurvedic medicines. The objective of our study was to explore the potential of Emblica officinalis drug on longevity, sexual behavior, and reproductive fitness of Drosophila melanogaster using adult feeding method. Increase in the lifespan, fecundity, fertility, ovarioles number, and developmental time was observed in both parents and F1 generation, but not in the F2 generation in experimental culture (control + E. officinalis). According to the Duncan's multiple range test and ANOVA, there is a significant difference between two cultures. It was also noticed that E. officinalis influence some fitness characters in Drosophila along with sexual behavior.