Animals have evolved a variety of behavior patterns to adapt to the environment. Motion-capture technology is utilized to quantify and characterize locomotor behaviors to reveal the mechanisms of animal motion. In the...Animals have evolved a variety of behavior patterns to adapt to the environment. Motion-capture technology is utilized to quantify and characterize locomotor behaviors to reveal the mechanisms of animal motion. In the capture of flexible, small animals with complex locomotor behaviors, the markers interfere with each other easily, and the motion forms(bending, twisting) of the moving parts are obviously different;thus, it is a great challenge to realize accurate quantitative characterization of complex locomotor behaviors. The correlation between the marker properties, including the size and space length, and the precision of the system are revealed in this paper, and the effects of diverse marker shapes on the capturing accuracy of the captured objects in different motion forms were tested. Results showed that the precision of system is significantly improved when the ratio of the space length to the diameter of the markers is larger than four;for the capture of the spatial twisting motion of the flexible object, the hexagon markers had the lowest spatial lost-marker rate relative to the circle, triangle, and square. Customized markers were used to capture the locomotor behavior of the gecko-inspired robot(rigid connection) and the gecko(flexible connection). The results showed that this marking technology can achieve high accuracy of motion capture for geckos(the average deviation was approximately 0.32 mm, and the average deviation’s variation rate was approximately 0.96%). In this paper, the marking technology for the motion capture of flexible, small animals with complex motion is proposed;it can effectively improve the system precision as well as the capture accuracy, and realize the quantitative characterization of the complex motion of flexible, small objects. It provides a reliable technical means to deeply study the evolution of the motion function of small animals and advance systematic research of motion-capture technology.展开更多
Earth's rotation shapes a 24-h cycle,governing circadian rhythms in organisms.In mammals,the core clock genes,CLOCK and BMAL1,are regulated by PERIODs(PERs)and CRYPTOCHROMEs(CRYs),but their roles remain unclear in...Earth's rotation shapes a 24-h cycle,governing circadian rhythms in organisms.In mammals,the core clock genes,CLOCK and BMAL1,are regulated by PERIODs(PERs)and CRYPTOCHROMEs(CRYs),but their roles remain unclear in the diamondback moth,Plutella xylostella.To explore this,we studied P.xylostella,which possesses a simplified circadian system compared to mammals.In P.xylostella,we observed rhythmic expressions of the Pxper and Pxcry2 genes in their heads,with differing phases.In vitro experiments revealed that PxCRY2 repressed monarch butterfly CLK:BMAL1 transcriptional activation,while PxPER and other CRY-like proteins did not.However,PxPER showed an inhibitory effect on PxCLK/PxCYCLE.Using CRISPR/Cas9,we individually and in combination knocked out Pxper and Pxcry2,then conducted gene function studies and circadian transcriptome sequencing.Loss of either Pxper or Pxcry2 eliminated the activity peak after lights-off in light–dark cycles,and Pxcry2 loss reduced overall activity.Pxcry2 was crucial for maintaining endogenous rhythms in constant darkness.Under light–dark conditions,1098 genes exhibited rhythmic expression in wild-type P.xylostella heads,with 749 relying on Pxper and Pxcry2 for their rhythms.Most core clock genes lost their rhythmicity in Pxper and Pxcry2 mutants,while Pxcry2 sustained rhythmic expression,albeit with reduced amplitude and altered phase.Additionally,rhythmic genes were linked to biological processes like the spliceosome and Toll signaling pathway,with these rhythms depending on Pxper or Pxcry2 function.In summary,our study unveils differences in circadian rhythm regulation by Pxper and Pxcry2 in P.xylostella.This provides a valuable model for understanding circadian clock regulation in nocturnal animals.展开更多
Human activities involving noise emission can affect wild animals.European mink was exposed to road noise and human voice playbacks to analyze how sound intensity level and duration of both noises altered the time tha...Human activities involving noise emission can affect wild animals.European mink was exposed to road noise and human voice playbacks to analyze how sound intensity level and duration of both noises altered the time that individuals were active and if their fecal cortisol metabolite(FCM)levels varied.A Hierarchical Analysis Cluster was performed to establish 2 mink groups with respect to both noise source type:short duration/low intensity(SL)and long duration/high intensity(LH).We performed general linear mixed models to evaluate the variation in locomotor activity duration(s)and FCM(nanogram per gram)levels,respectively.The results showed both road noise and human voices decreased locomotor activity duration in SL more sharply compared with LH,and human voices were the triggers that induced the most pronounced response to both exposure conditions.FCM(ng/g)levels increased in SL compared with LH during road noise while the opposite happened during human voices.Differences based on sex and age of individuals were observed.In conclusion,noise characteristics given by the sound type determined the variations in locomotor activity duration while noise exposure level determined the variations in FCM(ng/g)levels.Attention should be paid to noisy activities(e.g.,recreational activities for visitors in protected natural areas)and loud groups of people to conserve wildlife,especially noise sensitive species.展开更多
Background： Play behavior has been proposed as a new potential indicator of animal welfare. Animals play only if they are in a relaxed state. Play may improve adaptability to challenging environments which may be of ...Background： Play behavior has been proposed as a new potential indicator of animal welfare. Animals play only if they are in a relaxed state. Play may improve adaptability to challenging environments which may be of interest in the breeding objective. Little information is available on play behavior in livestock species. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether play behavior in post-weaned piglets can be induced instantly in the presence of additional space and whether play markers are body weight, sex, and litter dependent, it is investigated whether playfulness is elicited by the moment or if this measure is consistent over different days. Methods： Thirty two piglets from four litters were released into a corridor and video recorded for eight min at 37, 41, 44 and 48 d of age. The first test was considered as an adjustment period and was not included in the analysis. In the second to the fourth test, joyful brusque movements （jumping, turning and running） were recorded with a camera and total number of movements （JOY#） and total time （JOYtime） were estimated individually. Animals were weighed at 41 d of age. Results： Females had higher scores of JOY# and JOYtime than males but this was significant only for JOY# at 41 d of age （P 〈 0.05）. The effect of age was highly significant both for JOY# and JOYtime （P 〈 0.01）. Animals with a higher JOY# and JOYtime also expressed a higher JOY# and JOYtime in the other tests, but this was significant only between 44 and 48 d of age （P〈 0.01）. Body weight at 41 d of age was not significantly related to JOY# and JQYtime in any of the tests. Conclusions： Locomotor play was induced instantly by the provision of increased space allowance. Litter origin had a significant effect on play behavior. In addition, locomotor play scores were consistent between two of the three tests.展开更多
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31601870 and 51435008)Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. SBK20160800 to Zhouyi WANG)Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Bionic Functional Materials
文摘Animals have evolved a variety of behavior patterns to adapt to the environment. Motion-capture technology is utilized to quantify and characterize locomotor behaviors to reveal the mechanisms of animal motion. In the capture of flexible, small animals with complex locomotor behaviors, the markers interfere with each other easily, and the motion forms(bending, twisting) of the moving parts are obviously different;thus, it is a great challenge to realize accurate quantitative characterization of complex locomotor behaviors. The correlation between the marker properties, including the size and space length, and the precision of the system are revealed in this paper, and the effects of diverse marker shapes on the capturing accuracy of the captured objects in different motion forms were tested. Results showed that the precision of system is significantly improved when the ratio of the space length to the diameter of the markers is larger than four;for the capture of the spatial twisting motion of the flexible object, the hexagon markers had the lowest spatial lost-marker rate relative to the circle, triangle, and square. Customized markers were used to capture the locomotor behavior of the gecko-inspired robot(rigid connection) and the gecko(flexible connection). The results showed that this marking technology can achieve high accuracy of motion capture for geckos(the average deviation was approximately 0.32 mm, and the average deviation’s variation rate was approximately 0.96%). In this paper, the marking technology for the motion capture of flexible, small animals with complex motion is proposed;it can effectively improve the system precision as well as the capture accuracy, and realize the quantitative characterization of the complex motion of flexible, small objects. It provides a reliable technical means to deeply study the evolution of the motion function of small animals and advance systematic research of motion-capture technology.
基金supported by the key project of the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province(2023J02009)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31970461)+1 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province(2020J02027)the Qi-Shan scholar grant of Fuzhou University(GXRC-20070).
文摘Earth's rotation shapes a 24-h cycle,governing circadian rhythms in organisms.In mammals,the core clock genes,CLOCK and BMAL1,are regulated by PERIODs(PERs)and CRYPTOCHROMEs(CRYs),but their roles remain unclear in the diamondback moth,Plutella xylostella.To explore this,we studied P.xylostella,which possesses a simplified circadian system compared to mammals.In P.xylostella,we observed rhythmic expressions of the Pxper and Pxcry2 genes in their heads,with differing phases.In vitro experiments revealed that PxCRY2 repressed monarch butterfly CLK:BMAL1 transcriptional activation,while PxPER and other CRY-like proteins did not.However,PxPER showed an inhibitory effect on PxCLK/PxCYCLE.Using CRISPR/Cas9,we individually and in combination knocked out Pxper and Pxcry2,then conducted gene function studies and circadian transcriptome sequencing.Loss of either Pxper or Pxcry2 eliminated the activity peak after lights-off in light–dark cycles,and Pxcry2 loss reduced overall activity.Pxcry2 was crucial for maintaining endogenous rhythms in constant darkness.Under light–dark conditions,1098 genes exhibited rhythmic expression in wild-type P.xylostella heads,with 749 relying on Pxper and Pxcry2 for their rhythms.Most core clock genes lost their rhythmicity in Pxper and Pxcry2 mutants,while Pxcry2 sustained rhythmic expression,albeit with reduced amplitude and altered phase.Additionally,rhythmic genes were linked to biological processes like the spliceosome and Toll signaling pathway,with these rhythms depending on Pxper or Pxcry2 function.In summary,our study unveils differences in circadian rhythm regulation by Pxper and Pxcry2 in P.xylostella.This provides a valuable model for understanding circadian clock regulation in nocturnal animals.
基金This research was funded by the authors with help from Fundacion para la Investigacion en Etologıa y Biodiversidad(FIEB),who funded a small portion of the hormonal analyzes.
文摘Human activities involving noise emission can affect wild animals.European mink was exposed to road noise and human voice playbacks to analyze how sound intensity level and duration of both noises altered the time that individuals were active and if their fecal cortisol metabolite(FCM)levels varied.A Hierarchical Analysis Cluster was performed to establish 2 mink groups with respect to both noise source type:short duration/low intensity(SL)and long duration/high intensity(LH).We performed general linear mixed models to evaluate the variation in locomotor activity duration(s)and FCM(nanogram per gram)levels,respectively.The results showed both road noise and human voices decreased locomotor activity duration in SL more sharply compared with LH,and human voices were the triggers that induced the most pronounced response to both exposure conditions.FCM(ng/g)levels increased in SL compared with LH during road noise while the opposite happened during human voices.Differences based on sex and age of individuals were observed.In conclusion,noise characteristics given by the sound type determined the variations in locomotor activity duration while noise exposure level determined the variations in FCM(ng/g)levels.Attention should be paid to noisy activities(e.g.,recreational activities for visitors in protected natural areas)and loud groups of people to conserve wildlife,especially noise sensitive species.
基金financed by a Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant from the European Union,project no.PIRG08-GA-2010-277031 "SelectionForWelfare"
文摘Background： Play behavior has been proposed as a new potential indicator of animal welfare. Animals play only if they are in a relaxed state. Play may improve adaptability to challenging environments which may be of interest in the breeding objective. Little information is available on play behavior in livestock species. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether play behavior in post-weaned piglets can be induced instantly in the presence of additional space and whether play markers are body weight, sex, and litter dependent, it is investigated whether playfulness is elicited by the moment or if this measure is consistent over different days. Methods： Thirty two piglets from four litters were released into a corridor and video recorded for eight min at 37, 41, 44 and 48 d of age. The first test was considered as an adjustment period and was not included in the analysis. In the second to the fourth test, joyful brusque movements （jumping, turning and running） were recorded with a camera and total number of movements （JOY#） and total time （JOYtime） were estimated individually. Animals were weighed at 41 d of age. Results： Females had higher scores of JOY# and JOYtime than males but this was significant only for JOY# at 41 d of age （P 〈 0.05）. The effect of age was highly significant both for JOY# and JOYtime （P 〈 0.01）. Animals with a higher JOY# and JOYtime also expressed a higher JOY# and JOYtime in the other tests, but this was significant only between 44 and 48 d of age （P〈 0.01）. Body weight at 41 d of age was not significantly related to JOY# and JQYtime in any of the tests. Conclusions： Locomotor play was induced instantly by the provision of increased space allowance. Litter origin had a significant effect on play behavior. In addition, locomotor play scores were consistent between two of the three tests.
