有袋动物的胚胎发育与其它脊椎动物不同
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2010-11-30 03:47 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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Long a staple1(主要的,常用的) of nature documentaries, the somewhat bizarre(奇异的) development of a grub-like pink marsupial2(有袋的) embryo3 outside the mother's womb is curious in another way. Duke University researchers have found that the developmental program executed by the marsupial embryo runs in a different order than the program executed by virtually every other vertebrate(脊椎动物的) animal.

"The limbs are at a different place in the entire timeline," said Anna Keyte, a postdoctoral biology researcher at Duke who did this work as part of her doctoral dissertation4(博士论文) . "They begin development before almost any other structure in the body."

Biologists have been pursuing the notion that limb development is triggered by other organ systems coming on line first, but this study shows the marsupial's limbs begin development without such triggers.

"Development is probably more flexible than we might have known otherwise," said biology professor Kathleen Smith. Their study animals were gray short-tailed opossums(负鼠) (Monodelphis domestica) native to Brazil and Bolivia, but the same should hold true for any marsupial, Smith said.

For the undeveloped embryo to be able to drag itself across the mother's belly5 from the birth canal to the teat(奶头,乳头) , it needs a formidable(强大的,可怕的) pair of forelimbs. To get them, its developmental program has been rearranged to start building the forelimbs much sooner.

"A lot of these genes7 were turned on earlier than you'd see in a mouse or a chick," Keyte said. The researchers were also able to show that the forelimbs received cells from a much larger part of the developing embryo than is normally seen in other vertebrates. What surprised the researchers was that the genetic8 program to establish the hind9 limbs also appeared to be turned on early.

Gene6 expression sets up the pattern of where each of the four limbs will be, but the marsupial's forelimbs grow much faster than the hind limbs because the embryo devotes more of its scarce number of early cells to building those structures, Smith said. The plans are in place for the hind limbs, but not the bricks to build them.

The embryo emerges from the mother with burly forearms that include bones and well developed muscles, while the hind limbs are small and rubbery(橡胶似的) .

Blind, hairless and with an incomplete brain, a marsupial embryo is shockingly underdeveloped to be living outside the womb. But the system obviously works for marsupials.

"There are probably 50 explanations for why marsupials develop outside the womb, and none of them are very good," Smith said. It's pretty clear however that the external development gives the female a lot more control over her reproduction. If conditions change or she runs out of food, the marsupial mother can easily terminate an external pregnancy10.



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1 staple fGkze     
n.主要产物,常用品,主要要素,原料,订书钉,钩环;adj.主要的,重要的;vt.分类
参考例句:
  • Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
  • Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。
2 marsupial 47zzn     
adj.有袋的,袋状的
参考例句:
  • Koala is an arboreal Australian marsupial.考拉是一种澳大利亚树栖有袋动物。
  • The marsupial has been in decline for decades due to urban sprawl from car accidentsdog attacks.这种有袋动物其数量在过去几十年间逐渐减少,主要原因是城市的扩张、车祸和狗的袭击。
3 embryo upAxt     
n.胚胎,萌芽的事物
参考例句:
  • They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
  • The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。
4 dissertation PlezS     
n.(博士学位)论文,学术演讲,专题论文
参考例句:
  • He is currently writing a dissertation on the Somali civil war.他目前正在写一篇关于索马里内战的论文。
  • He was involved in writing his doctoral dissertation.他在聚精会神地写他的博士论文。
5 belly QyKzLi     
n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛
参考例句:
  • The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
  • His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。
6 gene WgKxx     
n.遗传因子,基因
参考例句:
  • A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
  • The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。
7 genes 01914f8eac35d7e14afa065217edd8c0     
n.基因( gene的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因,所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪
8 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
9 hind Cyoya     
adj.后面的,后部的
参考例句:
  • The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
  • Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。
10 pregnancy lPwxP     
n.怀孕,怀孕期
参考例句:
  • Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
  • Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。
TAG标签: animals embryo marsupial
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