Seasonal diet of the Great Spotted Woodpecker(Picoides major) in shelterwood plantations of Wulate Qianqi County,Inner Mongolia

The feeding habits of the Great Spotted Woodpecker （Picoides major） were surveyed by field observations and trace checking from 2005 to 2007, in Wulate Qianqi County, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, during which the woodpecker performed fourteen types of foraging techniques. Pecking and hammering were most common in winter; gleaning and probing were most common at times of high food availability at the trunk and tree branches during the breeding season and in summer. The woodpecker gleans arthropods and insect larvae in the breeding season and summer, seeds and nuts mainly in the winter and pokes holes for sap-sucking in winter. The main diet consisted of arthropods and plant seeds. The diet was significantly different between seasons The Great Spotted Woodpecker primarily consumes defoliators and the food on tree trunks from March to October. The contribution of wood borers to the diet was higher in winter, lower in the breeding season and summer. The proportion of the food on ground was small in the breeding season and high in the Summer and winter.

松材线虫fem-1基因的克隆与表达特性研究

松材线虫病是世界性的检疫病害,严重威胁松林等森林资源和生态安全。有研究表明,Feminization(fem)基因家族在秀丽隐杆线虫中参与性别决定和分化。本研究克隆了松材线虫fem-1基因,并对其表达特征和调控功能进行研究。结果表明,该基因cDNA全长为856 bp,包含681 bp的开放阅读框,编码226个氨基酸,进化分析显示与秀丽隐杆线虫位于同一进化分支。荧光定量PCR以及原位杂交结果显示,fem-1基因在松材线虫各个发育阶段均有表达,其中在2龄虫期表达水平最高;在卵期至3龄虫期阶段于虫体中后部表达,而发育后期,多位于皮下细胞中表达,肠道、性腺等部位极少出现杂交反应。利用RNA干扰技术沉默fem-1基因后,线虫种群雌雄比例出现下降,说明fem-1基因可能参与松材线虫性别分化和决定过程。研究结果有助于了解松材线虫性别决定相关基因表达特性与功能,为深入研究松材线虫发育生物学提供一定的理论依据。