Hasil untuk "Reproduction"

N. Chodorow

S. Reynolds

R. Rugh

A. Kondrashov

R. Davis-Floyd

A. Bell

G. W. Larson, H. Rushmeier, C. Piatko

H. Evans, K. S. Bishop

K. Zinn, Meral Tunc-Ozdemir, J. Harper

Guoyao Wu

D. Meirow, D. Nugent

N. Pankhurst, P. Munday

Seasonal change in temperature has a profound effect on reproduction in fish. Increasing temperatures cue reproductive development in spring-spawning species, and falling temperatures stimulate reproduction in autumn-spawners. Elevated temperatures truncate spring spawning, and delay autumn spawning. Temperature increases will affect reproduction, but the nature of these effects will depend on the period and amplitude of the increase and range from phase-shifting of spawning to complete inhibition of reproduction. This latter effect will be most marked in species that are constrained in their capacity to shift geographic range. Studies from a range of taxa, habitats and temperature ranges all show inhibitory effects of elevated temperature albeit about different environmental set points. The effects are generated through the endocrine system, particularly through the inhibition of ovarian oestrogen production. Larval fishes are usually more sensitive than adults to environmental fluctuations, and might be especially vulnerable to climate change. In addition to direct effects on embryonic duration and egg survival, temperature also influences size at hatching, developmental rate, pelagic larval duration and survival. A companion effect of marine climate change is ocean acidification, which may pose a significant threat through its capacity to alter larval behaviour and impair sensory capabilities. This in turn impacts on population replenishment and connectivity patterns of marine fishes.

Yong Xu, T. Nedungadi, Liangru Zhu et al.

Estrogens regulate body weight and reproduction primarily through actions on estrogen receptor-α (ERα). However, ERα-expressing cells mediating these effects are not identified. We demonstrate that brain-specific deletion of ERα in female mice causes abdominal obesity stemming from both hyperphagia and hypometabolism. Hypometabolism and abdominal obesity, but not hyperphagia, are recapitulated in female mice lacking ERα in hypothalamic steroidogenic factor-1 (SF1) neurons. In contrast, deletion of ERα in hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons leads to hyperphagia, without directly influencing energy expenditure or fat distribution. Further, simultaneous deletion of ERα from both SF1 and POMC neurons causes hypometabolism, hyperphagia, and increased visceral adiposity. Additionally, female mice lacking ERα in SF1 neurons develop anovulation and infertility, while POMC-specific deletion of ERα inhibits negative feedback regulation of estrogens and impairs fertility in females. These results indicate that estrogens act on distinct hypothalamic ERα neurons to regulate different aspects of energy homeostasis and reproduction.

Xuejian Wang, Ge Yu, Yiqia Luo et al.

Peronophythora litchii is an oomycete pathogen responsible for litchi downy blight, a significant threat to global litchi production. Autophagy, a conserved degradation pathway crucial for the growth, development, and pathogenicity of phytopathogenic organisms, remains an area of active investigation. In this study, we characterized the function of the Atg26 homolog PlAtg26b in P. litchii. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system, we generated PlATG26b knockout mutants and determined that PlAtg26b localizes to mitochondria under stress conditions. Although deletion of PlATG26b did not impair selective autophagy, it markedly reduced Atg8-PE synthesis, vegetative hyphal growth, asexual and sexual reproduction, and zoospore release. Furthermore, PlATG26b-deficient mutants exhibited significantly reduced virulence on litchi fruits and leaves. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that PlAtg26b plays a pivotal role in the biological development and pathogenicity of P. litchii.

Rune Lindahl-Jacobsen, Astrid Linnea Beck, Lærke Priskorn et al.

Abstract Recent decades have seen declining total fertility rates (TFR) globally, alongside increased use of assisted reproductive technology (ART). However, TFR includes ART births and excludes induced abortions, complicating assessments of population fecundity. Here, we examine trends in cohort total fertility rates (cTFR), induced abortions, and ART use through a nationwide cohort study of 1,648,971 pregnancies, including abortions, among Danish women aged 15–45 years born between 1958 and 1999. A new index, the Comprehensive Unassisted Pregnancy Rate (live births and induced abortions, excluding ART births), was developed. Our findings reveal a decline in unassisted pregnancy rates for women born after 1961, with an accelerated decline for those born after 1970. In contrast, cTFR increased for women born between 1958 and 1970 before decreasing, driven by trends in induced abortions and ART births. These differences highlight a disconnect between cTFR and fecundity measures. The declining unassisted pregnancy rates, reduced abortions, and increased ART demand raise concerns about population fecundity. Understanding these trends’ biological and socioeconomic drivers requires large-scale, transdisciplinary studies of representative populations. Our results emphasize the need for alternative measures, like the Comprehensive Unassisted Pregnancy Rate, to assess reproductive health and fertility trends accurately.

Junrong LIU

Compared with traditional medical technologies, medical new-quality technologies demonstrate stronger autonomy, such as self-generation, replication, amplification, variation and reproduction, and can interact deeply with the intrinsic mechanisms of life systems, adapt to environmental changes dynamically, and intervene in life processes autonomously at different scales. Its intervention in natural life has led to the blurring of life boundaries and have brought more profound and ethical challenges to biosecurity, life dignity, and personal identity. Interpreting and responding to these challenges through the lens of body theory not only helps to clarify the definition of life and return to the embodied life of human beings, but also facilitates upstream governance. This approach advances ethics as a guiding principle, strengthens ethical awareness, reinforces ethical boundaries, enforces rigorous review mechanisms, and promotes global ethical co-governance.

Qiufen LI, Wenjie TIAN, Bo SUN et al.

In the process of mariculture, a large number of toxic and harmful substances such as organic matter, ammonia, and nitrite are produced during the metabolism of cultured organisms and the decomposition of feed residuals. If such maricultural wastewater is discharged without purification treatment, it will aggravate the occurrence of eutrophication in the receiving sea area. Constructed wetlands (CW) have received widespread attention due to their low operating costs, simple maintenance, and management advantages. Using CW to treat maricultural wastewater has great prospects. Nitrogen removal is one of the main tasks of constructed wetlands. The characteristics of high salinity and low C/N of maricultural wastewater result in the unique treatment environment and operating mechanism of CW. The substrate can adsorb nitrogen in the constructed wetlands, and nitrogen-cycling microorganisms such as nitrifying bacteria and denitrifying bacteria can attach to the surface to form biofilms. The selection of suitable substrate materials, in addition to zeolite, cinder, sand, and other commonly used water purification materials, can strengthen water purification. Given the low C/N characteristics of maricultural wastewater, materials with slow-release carbon sources can be selected as the filling substrate of constructed marine wetlands. For example, biological carbon sources such as corncob and wood chips, and polymer materials such as PCL and PLC, have recently been used as substrates to fill constructed wetlands and release carbon sources. Meanwhile, substrates that can drive the autotrophic denitrification process of microorganisms such as sulfur autotrophic, hydrogen autotrophic, and iron autotrophic have also been used as a solution. Plants are an important component of constructed marine wetlands, supporting nitrogen removal in four aspects: Nitrogen absorption, oxygen transport, carbon source secretion, and root enrichment of microorganisms. The high salinity environment determines that the wetland plants should be salt-tolerant, and the screening of salt-tolerant plants is a key step in constructed marine wetlands. Currently, Spartina alterniflora, Suaeda salsa, Salicornia bigelovii, Kandelia candel, and similar plants are chosen as candidate plants for constructed marine wetlands. The selection of plants should also consider local conditions, choosing salt-tolerant plants suitable for growing in the local environment. The nitrogen cycle of microorganisms is the main path of biological nitrogen removal in CWs. Various nitrogen-metabolizing bacteria cooperate and restrict each other in CWs, including autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria, as well as aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. In the process of nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands, dissolved oxygen (DO) is an important environmental factor affecting the distribution and functioning of nitrogen-removing microorganisms. The relatively high DO in the upper layer of the constructed wetland favors the growth and reproduction of aerobic microorganisms, promoting the traditional nitrification process dominated by AOA, AOB, and NOB. The relatively low DO in the bottom layer is more conducive to the growth and colonization of anoxic and anaerobic microorganisms, favoring anaerobic denitrification, Anammox, and DNRA. The occurrence of Comammox can be driven under low nutrient and low oxygen conditions. These bacteria with nitrogen metabolism functions are distributed in different areas, cooperating and restricting each other, forming a complex nitrogen cycle network. Clarifying the basic path of the nitrogen cycle in seawater constructed wetlands is the fundamental basis for regulating the operating parameters of constructed wetlands. The low C/N of mariculture wastewater is not favorable for denitrification by microorganisms. Carbon sources can be supplemented with additional liquid carbon sources, solid carbon sources, and plant litter. DO is the key control index of constructed marine wetlands. The dissolved oxygen content in constructed wetlands is significantly correlated with the community composition of denitrification microorganisms. Therefore, oxygen supply regulation modes, such as continuous aeration, intermittent aeration, and tidal flow, may be effective measures for mariculture wastewater constructed wetlands to improve the overall nitrogen removal performance of wetlands. Accurate regulation of the oxygen supply mode and oxygen supply in constructed wetlands and optimization of dissolved oxygen distribution in different times and spaces within the system are the development trends of nitrogen removal technology in constructed wetlands in the future. The hydraulic operation conditions of CW play an important role in its nitrogen removal effect. Too high or too low indices will affect the efficiency of nitrogen removal in wetlands. Therefore, the optimal control values of hydraulic retention time (HRT), hydraulic loading rate (HLR), and other hydraulic parameters of constructed wetlands also need to be studied. The hydraulic conditions of constructed wetlands also have a significant impact on plant growth, affecting the purification efficiency of plants. In this paper, recent research progress and perspectives on constructed wetlands for the purification of maricultural wastewater and its biological nitrogen removal process were reviewed from four aspects: Selection of substrate, screening of salt-tolerant plants, nitrogen cycling microorganisms, and operation regulation. It is expected to provide a theoretical basis and support for regulating the actual operation of maricultural wastewater constructed wetlands and improving the technical level of maricultural wastewater treatment.

Ali Motahharynia, Ahmad Pourmohammadi, Armin Adibi et al.

Working memory (WM) is one of the most affected cognitive domains in multiple sclerosis (MS), which is mainly studied by the previously established binary model for information storage (slot model). However, recent observations based on the continuous reproduction paradigms have shown that assuming dynamic allocation of WM resources (resource model) instead of the binary hypothesis will give more accurate predictions in WM assessment. Moreover, continuous reproduction paradigms allow for assessing the distribution of error in recalling information, providing new insights into the organization of the WM system. Hence, by utilizing two continuous reproduction paradigms, memory-guided localization (MGL) and analog recall task with sequential presentation, we investigated WM dysfunction in MS. Our results demonstrated an overall increase in recall error and decreased recall precision in MS. While sequential paradigms were better in distinguishing healthy control from relapsing-remitting MS, MGL were more accurate in discriminating MS subtypes (relapsing-remitting from secondary progressive), providing evidence about the underlying mechanisms of WM deficit in progressive states of the disease. Furthermore, computational modeling of the results from the sequential paradigm determined that imprecision in decoding information and swap error (mistakenly reporting the feature of other presented items) were responsible for WM dysfunction in MS. Overall, this study offered a sensitive measure for assessing WM deficit and provided new insight into the organization of the WM system in MS population.

Simon Lafontaine, Rémi Labrecque, Patrick Blondin et al.

ABSTRACT: The use of assisted-reproduction technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) is increasing, particularly in dairy cattle. The question of consequences in later life has not yet been directly addressed by studies on large animal populations. Studies on rodents and early data from humans and cattle suggest that in vitro manipulation of gametes and embryos could result in long-term alteration of metabolism, growth, and fertility. Our goal was to better describe these presumed consequences in the population of dairy cows produced by IVF in Québec (Canada) and to compare them to animals conceived by artificial insemination (AI) or multiple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET). To do so, we leveraged a large phenotypic database (2.5 million animals and 4.5 million lactations) from milk records in Québec aggregated by Lactanet (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada) and spanning 2012 to 2019. We identified 304,163, 12,993, and 732 cows conceived by AI, MOET, and IVF, respectively, for a total of 317,888 Holstein animals from which we retrieved information for 576,448, 24,192, and 1,299 lactations (total = 601,939), respectively. Genetic energy-corrected milk yield (GECM) and Lifetime Performance Index (LPI) of the parents of cows were used to normalize for genetic potential across animals. When compared with the general Holstein population, MOET and IVF cows outperformed AI cows. However, when comparing those same MOET and IVF cows with only herdmates and accounting for their higher GECM in the models, we found no statistical difference between the conception methods for milk production across the first 3 lactations. We also found that the rate of Lifetime Performance Index improvement of the IVF population during the 2012 to 2019 period was less than the rate observed in the AI population. Fertility analysis revealed that MOET and IVF cows also scored 1 point lower than their parents on the daughter fertility index and had a longer interval from first service to conception, with an average of 35.52 d compared with 32.45 for MOET and 31.87 for AI animals. These results highlight the challenges of elite genetic improvement while attesting to the progress the industry has made in minimizing epigenetic disturbance during embryo production. Nonetheless, additional work is required to ensure that IVF animals can maintain their performance and fertility potential.

Sulun Ke, Tao Luo

After sperm enter the female reproductive tract, the physicochemical and biochemical microenvironment undergoes significant changes. In particular, the large changes in various ions encountered by sperm may alter the physiology of sperm, ultimately compromising capacitation and fertilization. Thus, the rapid response to environmental variations is vital for sperm functions. For example, Calcium, the most crucial ion for sperm functions, enters into sperm via Ca²⁺ permeable ion channels. The cation channel of sperm (CatSper) is a sperm-specific, pH-sensitive, and Ca²⁺-permeable ion channel. It is responsible for the predominant Ca²⁺ entry in mammalian sperm and is involved in nearly every event of sperm to acquire fertilizing capability. In addition, CatSper also serves as a pivotal polymodal chemosensor in mammalian sperm by responding to multiple chemical cues. Physiological chemicals (such as progesterone, prostaglandins, β-defensins, and odorants) provoke Ca²⁺ entry into sperm by activating CatSper and thus triggering sperm functions. Additionally, synthetic and natural chemicals (such as medicines, endocrine disrupting chemicals, drugs of abuse, and antioxidants) affect sperm functions by regulating CatSper-dependent Ca²⁺ signaling. Therefore, understanding the interactions between CatSper and extracellular ligands sheds light on the mechanisms underlying male infertility and offers innovative diagnostic and treatment approaches. This underscores the importance of CatSper as a crucial regulatory target in male reproduction, linking sperm function with the extracellular environment. In conclusion, this review comprehensively summarizes the relevant studies describing the environmental factors that affect CatSper in humans and rodents.