Geographical and temporal variation in levels of organochlorine contaminants in marine mammals

The interpretation of the spatial and temporal patterns of variation in organochlorine concentrations in marine mammal populations is complex because of the lack of wide-scale, long-term surveys. Therefore the results from several surveys must be combined and this causes undesired heterogeneity due to differences in the sampling and analytical techniques used and in the biological characteristics of the individuals sampled. Moreover, information is not homogeneously distributed in either space or in time. Most research is concentrated in western Europe, northern America and certain areas of Asia, while it is extremely limited or non-existent in Africa and most regions of the southern hemisphere. Marine mammals from the temperate fringe of the northern hemisphere, particularly fish-eating species which inhabit the mid-latitudes of Europe and North America, show the greatest organochlorine loads; noteworthy are the extremely high levels found in the Mediterranean Sea and certain locations on the western coasts of the United States. Concentrations in the tropical and equatorial fringe of the northern hemisphere and throughout the southern hemisphere are low or extremely low. The polar regions of both hemispheres showed the lowest concentrations of DDTs and PCBs, although levels of HCHs, chlordanes and HCB were moderate to high in the cold waters of the North Pacific. During recent decades, concentrations have tended to decrease in the regions where pollution was initially high but they have increased in regions located far from the pollution source as a consequence of atmospheric transport and redistribution. It is expected that the Arctic and, to a lesser extent, the Antarctic, will become major sinks for organochlorines in the future; this process may already be significant for some compounds such as HCB and HCHs. Effort should be devoted to both assessment of organochlorine trends in the now highly polluted populations of the temperate fringe of the northern hemisphere and to the implementation of long-term monitoring of marine mammal populations inhabiting polar regions.     

鳍足类线粒体基因的选择压力比较及进化关系探讨

鳍足类Pinnipeds是海洋哺乳动物的重要类群,现存种类包括海象科Odobenidae、海狮科Otariidae和海豹科Phocidae的所有物种。在海豹属Phoca中,atp8基因的Ka/Ks最高,仅为0.084 7(远小于1),因而海豹属所有线粒体蛋白质编码基因的选择压力均非常高。对于群海豹属Pusa,cox1、cox2和nad3基因的Ka/Ks均为0,表明在这3个基因中,所有的核苷酸的替换均为同义替换,没有出现氨基酸的改变。科内、属内基因变异位点的分析表明,nad5、nad4和nad2基因可以作为cox1和cob基因辅助的分子标记。线粒体基因组的系统发育结果,强烈支持食肉目所有12个科均为单系群,并且鳍足类(海狮科、海象科和海豹科)为食肉目Carnivora内部的一个单系群(BPM=100,BPP=100)。在鳍足类内部,海狮科与海象科亲缘关系最近,聚类为海狮总科Otarioidea,然后与海豹科聚类:(海狮科+海象科)+海豹科。在海豹科内部,线粒体基因组的证据支持将海豹科划分为2个亚科,即僧海豹亚科Monachinae和海豹亚科Phocinae。线粒体基因组的证据,强烈支持鼬科Mustelidae与浣熊科Procyonidae关系最近,臭鼬科Mephitidae与熊猫科Ailuridae近缘,同时,鳍足类与[(鼬科+浣熊科)+(臭鼬科+熊猫科)]为姊妹群,而与熊科Ursidae较远。犬科Canidae在犬型亚目Caniformia中分化较早,位于犬型亚目的基部。