Age Differences in Behavioral Responses of Male Giant Pandas to Chemosensory Stimulation

Chemical communication plays an important role in survival and reproductive success in mammalian species. In the present study, we examined the ontogenetic pattern of behavioral responses of male giant pandas （Ailuropoda melanoleuca ） to urine odors of conspecific individuals. Our data showed that exposure to the urine of adult females induced a significant increase in sniffing and environmental sniffing/licking behaviors, but a decrease in biting behavior, in males. Males of different ages displayed specific behaviors to female urine odors. Adult males spent more time licking than juvenile and sub-adult males. Further, sub-adult and adult males displayed high levels of environmental sniffing/licking, which was absent in the juvenile males. Juvenile males displayed scent rubbing behavior significantly more frequently than sub-adult and adult males, and also spent more time showing biting behavior than sub-adult males. Finally, juvenile and sub-aduh males showed no difference in response to female and male urine odors. Together, these data suggest that chemosensory cues from conspecific urines induce age-specific responses in male giant pandas.

Orientation of larval and juvenile horseshoe crabs Limulus polyphemus to visual cues: Effects of chemical odors

Adult horseshoe crabs Limulus polyphemus have long served as models for the study of vision in marine arthropods. Yet, little is known about the ability of early life history stages to detect and respond to visual cues. We examined the visually directed movements of larvae and first stage juveniles to horizons containing dark visual targets of different sizes. The study tested the hypotheses that （1） larval and juvenile crabs can detect and respond to visual targets and （2） the direction of orientation varies with the presence of chemical cues associated with settlement habitats. Orientation of larval and juvenile crabs to rectangles subtending angles from 30--330~ was tested in a circular arena containing water that either lacked estuarine chemical cues （offshore water） or contained odors from aquatic vegetation or known predators. In the absence of chemical odors, larvae oriented toward and juveniles moved away from dark horizons subtending angles 〉 60~. When placed in water containing chemical odors from potential nursery habitats, including the seagrasses Halodule wrightii and Syringodium filiforme, crabs reversed their direction of orientation relative to their responses in offshore water. Odors from two known predators, the mummichug Fundulus grandis and blue crab Callinectes sapidus, had no affect on the orientation of larvae. Yet, juveniles responded to both odors by moving toward the visual target. Results support the hypothesis that the visual orientation of larval and juvenile horseshoe crabs changes upon exposure to habitat and predator cues and that the direction of the response undergoes an ontogenetic shift following metamorphosis

The progress in the chemical constituents of the genus Picrasma during 2007-2017

The plants of the genus Picrasma, comprised of nine species, are mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of America and Asia. Some species of this genus are used as traditional medicine resources to cure anemopyretic cold, sore throat, dysentery, eczema, nausea, loss of appetite, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and so on. A total of 157 chemical constituents identified from Picrasma were reviewed by Jiao WH et al. in 2007. Since then, 101 compounds were reported from the plants of the genus Picrasma. These compounds are assigned to alkaloids, quassinoids, triterpenoids, and others. This review aims to provide an updated overview on the chemical constituents of the plants of the genus Picrasma during 2007-2017.

Rapid Elimination of Black Odor in Rivers by Oxygen Aeration

Laboratory research and engineering applications demonstrated that oxygen aeration can rapidly increase the level of dissolved oxygen in the water of severely polluted rivers. This method was capable of eliminating the odorous substances from black odorous water and reducing the color shade of water, but could not remove the NH3-N, COD, TP or other common pollutants. Therefore, oxygen aeration can be implemented to rapidly eliminate black odorous from rivers, lakes and reservoirs, but cannot be used as a permanent method for treating pollution of rivers.

“‘化’说生活中的那些事”主题展示课回眸

针对目前《化学与生活》教学的现状,尝试整合学生感兴趣的四个日常生活中的话题进行主题式教学,以实验为抓手,用问题“串烧”出学科教学的“化学味”,让学生感受到化学有用、有趣、讲理。引导学生学会从化学视角分析和解释生活中问题的能力,满足更好地生活及适应未来发展的需要。

Female mate choice based on pheromone content may inhibit reproductive isolation between distinct populations of Iberian wall lizards

The Iberian wall lizard Podarcis hispanica forms part of a species complex with several morphologically and geneti- cally distinct types and populations, which may or may not be reproductively isolated. We analyzed whether female mate choice based on males＇ chemical signals may contribute to a current pre-mating reproductive isolation between two distinct populations of P. hispanica from central Spain. We experimentally examined whether females choose to establish territories on areas scent-marked by males of their own population, versus areas marked by males of the other population. Results showed that fe- males did not prefer scent-marks of males from their own population. In contrast, females seemed to attend mostly to among-individual variation in males＇ pheromones that did not differ between populations. Finally, to test for strong premating re- productive isolation, we staged intersexual encounters between males and females. The population of origin of males and females did not affect the probability nor the duration of copulations. We suggest that the different environmental conditions in each population might be selecting for different morphologies and different chemical signals of males that maximize efficiency of communication in each environment. However, females in both populations based mate choice on a similar condition-dependent signal of males. Thus, male signals and female mate choice criteria could be precluding premating reproductive isolation between these phenotypically ＂distinct＂ populations [Current Zoology 59 （2）： 210-220, 2013].