C. elegans, both in the wild and in the lab, live on a diet of live bacteria. The bacterial diet provides nutrients for C. elegans, but can also play a number of other roles in C. elegans physiology. Recently, we compared the effects of different bacterial diets on life history traits and gene expression. Here, we discuss our recent findings in the context of other dietary studies and highlight...

The effects of larval densities of one to four individuals in standard Drosophila-vials (diameter 25 by 95 mm) on the age at pupation, starved dry weight, and wing length of Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus Say were studied. This approach required relatively few larvae per replicate and included a control treatment, where individual larvae developed in the absence of competition. This design also...

This study was undertaken to estimate the genetic parameters for some reproduction traits in Sistani beef cattle. The data set consisted of 1489 records of number of insemination, calving, and insemination dates in different calving was used. Reproduction traits including calving interval (CI), gestation length (GL), days open (DO), calving to first service (CTFS), first service to conception (...

We present estimates of heritability for carcass traits of cattle published in the scientific literature. Seventy-two papers published from 1962 to 2004, which reported estimates of heritability for carcass traits, were reviewed. The unweighted means of estimates of heritability for 14 carcass traits by slaughter end point (age, weight, and fat depth) were calculated. Among the three end points...

The choice of the best sampling strategy to capture mean values of functional traits for a species/population, while maintaining information about traits' variability and minimizing the sampling size and effort, is an open issue in functional trait ecology. Intraspecific variability (ITV) of functional traits strongly influences sampling size and effort. However, while adequate information is a...

Environmental filtering prevents species without certain attributes from occurring in local communities. Traits respond differently to different abiotic factors, assembling communities with varying composition along environmental gradients. Here, we measured proxies of soil fertility, disturbance by fire, response and physiological traits to assess how these variables interact to determine wood...

Glossary Adaptation A genetically controlled trait that has evolved by natural selection. Analogous traits Similar traits that evolved independently in different species in response to similar environmental pressures. Comparative psychology The study of mind and behavior in nonhuman animals. Convergent evolution The process by which natural selection produces similar adaptations in different sp...