Institute of Zoology

Academia Sinica in Nanking established a Natural History Museum in 1929. That initial facility evolved into the Institute of Animal and Plant Studies in 1934. This organization was further divided into the Institute of Zoology and the Institute of Botany in 1944. Both institutes were moved to Szechwan during World War II. Academia Sinica was relocated to Taipei in 1949. Dr. Hsu-Mu Liang was the chairman of the preparatory office for the Institute of Zoology in Taipei in 1959. Dr. Jong-Ching Su succeeded Dr. Liang as the chairman in 1967. When the Institute of Zoology was formally re-established on February 2, 1970, Dr. Su took the first term directorship. Dr. Kun-Hsiung Chang succeeded Dr. Su as the second term director from May 1, 1978 to April 30, 1984. Dr. Yien-Shing Chow succeeded Dr. Chang as the third term director from May 1, 1984 to April 30, 1990. Dr. Jen-Leih Wu assumed the fourth term director from May 1, 1990 to June 30, 1996. Dr. Kwang-Tsao Shao assumed the directorship from July 1, 1996. The Zoological Research Building has been used since February 1989. At present, the Institute of Zoology is constructing the Zoological Collection Room (Old Yellow Building) and Marine Station (Jiau-Shi, Yi-lan). The Institute also participates in the planning of an experimental farm (behind the Activity Center) and in the program of setting up the second district of Academia Sinica.

RESEARCH

Based on guidelines recommended by the Advisory Committee of the Institute in June 1991, research scopes in the Institute can be grouped into three divisions: Cellular and Molecular Zoology, Physiological and Organismic Zoology, and Population and Evolutionary Zoology. A description of each division as follows.

DIVISION OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR ZOOLOGY

• Studies on the interaction between host cells and viruses. Viral infection depends mainly on the interaction of viral envelope or capsid proteins and cellular receptors. Through signal transduction mediated by these recep-tors, series of host cell responses are induced for the synthesis of viral genomes, polymerase and capsid proteins. Infected cell necrosis is often attributed to the inhibition of cellular metabolism. The study of gene functions of Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus (IPNV) in relation to cellular metabolism is emphasized. Thus, cellular signal transduction after viral infection, the role of kinases, the disease-resistance mechanism of anti-sense oligonucleotides, and the mechanism of control of cellular response to viral infection are being investigated.
• Genotoxicity studies of environmental contaminants.Pesticides and arsenics are two important environmental contaminants in Taiwan. The genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of many popular pesticides such as Butachlor and Methamidophos have been studied. Evidences have been obtained to show that arsenite probably exerts its cogenotoxicity through inhibition of DNA ligation. Currently factors which affect DNA repair systems are being identified using oligonucleo-tides and cell-extract from arsenite treated cells.
• Studies on transgenic fish. Using the transgenic technique, studies on the influence of IGF (insulin-like growth factor) on fish growth are being carried out.

DIVISION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL AND ORGANISMIC ZOOLOGY

• In vertebrate endocrine and physiology research, we have focused on the comparative endocrinology of pi-tuitary gonadotropin and thyrotropin derived from various vertebrate classes: isolation/purification, biochemical characteristics, immunological properties, and biological activities (hormone-receptor interaction). The study has provided specific information on the evolu-tionary diversity and congruence of the pituitary gonadotropin and thyrotropin and their receptors in vertebrates. Physiology research emphasizes the osmo-regulation mechanism of euryhaline fishes. Endocrinological studies on insects were focused on three areas: the hormonal interaction between juvenile hormone and ecdysone in Bombyx mori L and Orgyia postica; identification, synthesis and application of pheromone of Andraca bipunctata Wlk. for pest control; identification of a novel juvenile hormone acid compound of Leucania lorezi D.
• The basic research of economic insects involved two parts: the use of natural enemies for control of Bactrocera dorsalis; the use of indicator proteins for malathion-resistance of the Plutella xylostella L., and the biochemical genetic study on the instability of the resistant Plutella.

DIVISION OF POPULATION AND EVOLUTIONARY ZOOLOGY

Apoptosis revealed by the presence of morphological changes and oligonucleosomal DNA fragments in Chinook salmon embryonic cells infected with 20 MOI infectiouspancreatic necrosis virus.

Aiming at population and community levels, this division deals with the attributes of individual organisms, their combined effect expressed in populations, and the relationship between environment and population characteristics. The variations of population genetics which may be led by geological, ecological or behavioral isolation are examined. We use aquatic animals, fruit flies, birds and mammals for our research. This division also participates in long-term interdisciplinary researches such as "Studies on the patterns and processes of biodiversity in the waters around Taiwan" and "Effect of isolation on population and genetic differentiation".

PERSONNEL AND FACILITIES

PERSONNEL

Currently the Institute has 33 full-time research staff, including 17 research fellows, 7 associate research fellows, 1 assistant research fellow, 4 research assistants and 4 vacancies for recruitment. In addition, there are 7 joint appointment research fellows, 1 special affiliated research fellow, 1 visiting scientist, and 1 adjunct research fellow.

FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

The Institute has a lot of research equipment, including a transmission electron microscope, laser scanning confocal imaging system, liquid scintillation counter, fast protein liquid chromatography, computer-controlled capillary electrophoresis system and molecular weight software, synergy peptide synthesizer, automatic DNA sequencer, high performance microbore system, microdigest and a well-equipped aquarium.

MAJOR RESULTS OF RESEARCH

DIVISION OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR ZOOLOGY

Microinjection of foreign DNA into fertilized eggs (A&C) or two cells(B&D) embbryonic stage of zebra-cichlid (A&B) or black seabream (C&D)

• Study on the interaction between virus and its host cell
  1. Infection of CHSE-214 cells with a high dose of IPNV results in a cytopathic effect which is associated with the induction of apoptosis. The DNA laddering phenomenon induced by infection with different m.o.i. virus can be partially inhibited by translation inhibitors.
  2. In order to determine whether IPNV can induce change in intracellular free CA²⁺ concentration ([CA²⁺]i) in CHSE-214 cells, a single-cell CA²⁺ imaging system was established to measure the ([CA²⁺]i) transient in the CHSEM5 cells, which was transfected with m5 muscarinic receptor gene. The CA²⁺ influx induced by activation of m5 receptor can not be blocked by L-type CA²⁺ channel antagonist.
  3. Both VP1 and VP2 of Infection Pancreatic Necrosis Virus - T42G (IPNV-T42G) were identified to be protein kinases. VP2 was demonstrated to be casein kinase II. The experimental data indicated that virion kinases could phosphorylate and dephos-phorylate some cellular proteins.
  4. One cDNA fragment with 1.09kb size was obtained from EIS virus by reverse transcription and sub-cloned in puc18 vector. The nucleotide sequence coded for EIS VP2 protein was similar to that of Jasper strain with 55% homology. Three subregions with 80-90% nucleotide sequence homology have been predicted as important regions for virus infections.
  5. A heat stable beta-galactosidase activator protein was purified from shrimp. This activator protein has an optimun pH at 4.6. 0.01% sodium taurocholate treatment which can enhance its stimulating beta-galactosidase activity. This activator protein en-hances only beta-galactosidase but not alpha- or beta-glucosidase, and has no effect on the thermal stability of beta-galactosidase.
• Genetic toxicology of environmental toxicants:
  The genomic DNA that has been the alkylating agent treated in the presence of arsenic was restricted with Sau 3A1, then gel-purified a 860-1541 bp fragment mixture that contained the p53 fragment which we wanted to amplify. PCR reaction was then carried out. PCR product will be sequenced in order to establish mutation caused by alkylating agent in the Tag I site.

DIVISION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL AND ORGANISMIC ZOOLOGY

Gill is one of the most important organs for fish osmoregulation, and gill chloride cell is the site responsible for the active transport of salt. Three types of chloride cell with different structure was found in freshwater-adapted fish, and occurrence of these cells was demonstrated to be correlated with the ionic composition of the media in which fish were reared. The current project is to see whether these chloride cells are responsible for the transport of different ions, respectively.

• Endocrinological Studies
  1. Studies on vertebrate pituitary hormones: thyrotro-pins were purified from species representative of various vertebrate classes, and antisera against the hormones were prepared. Thyrotropins from different animal classes were not crossreactive with antibodies derived from other animal classes, exhibiting a high class-specificity. However, their biological activities were extremely similar, exhibiting low classspecificity in hormone-receptor interaction.
  2. A study of the physiological mechanism of the endocrine in the ring-gland of the fruit fly: we are studying the cell morphology and ultrastructure of the ring-gland in different stages of fruit flies. We expect the results will be that the change of the cells in different ages of insects will affect the physiological mechanism of the endocrine in the ring-gland.
  3. Endocrinological study of the corpora allata in the Loreyi leafworm: JH II and JH III were indentified from the female gland, and JHA I, JHA II and JHA III and Iso-JHA II were identified from the male gland.
  4. The study of ecomones -- the chemical ecology or key chemicals found in arthropods: (1) The attractive sex pheromone of Andraca bipunctata Walker has been identified as E11, E14-C18 Aldehyde. (2) Both organic chemicals, abamectin and hydramethylnon, were shown to be controlling effects on domestic cockroaches. The toxic bait, which was formulated from the latter chemical, got a secondary killing effect to the Australasian cockroach.
• Biochemical and physiological studies of insects

  Diagrammatic representation of brain-retrocerbral complex of (A male, and B) female adult L. loreyi. AN, antennal nerve; CA, corpora allata; CC, corpora cardiaca; NCA, nervi corporis allati; NCC, nervi corporis cardiaci; ON, esophageal nerve; OPL optic lobe; SG, subesophageal ganglion.

  1. Acetylcholinesterase of diamondback moth: Liquid-nitrogen frozen head of the moth showed higher enzymatic activity to splite acetylcholine iodide. Acetylcholinesterases of the resistant strains were bes-towed with higher enzymatic activity to the substrate and with higher tolerance against the specific inhibitor, eserine, than that of the susceptible strain.
  2. Three types of chloride cells with different structure occurred in freshwater-adapted fish. The density of these cells in gills changed, depending on the ion composition of the media to which fish were acclimated. Our preliminary physiological studies indicated that these different types of chloride cells may be responsible for NaCl excretion, NaCl uptake or calcium uptake.

DIVISION OF POPULATION AND EVOLUTIONARY ZOOLOGY

The cleaner shrimps Lysmata amboinensis and Rhynchocinetes hendersoni are conspicuously marked on the cleaning station. The host fishes pose, parasites and infected tissue are removed using the shrimps\' long nippers or chela and they enjoy a certain degree of immunity from predation.

• Studies on the patterns and processes of biodiversity in the waters around Taiwan
  1. In the past few years, several new species of fishes and polychates were discovered and described as well as many new records of fish and invertebrates in Taiwan. Databases of coastal fish and mollusks have also been established recently which could be accessed through WWW. These databases will be useful for the exploitation and conservation of our biological resources as well as for purposes of environmental evaluation, ecological conservation and public education.
  2. Completed the studies on the cause of malformed fish at the outlet area of Taiwan's 2nd Nuclear Power Plant. Study results revealed that high water temperatures are the main factor to cause malformed fish.
  3. In the long ecological monitoring project on Shu-ang-Hsi waters in northeastern Taiwan, 4 new types of fish were discovered. Spirorbid polychaete larvae settled on experimental plates in October. The larval settling densities were negatively correlated with algal coverages. Larvae and algae competed for available space in which light intensity was an environmental mediator. There were 128 species of crustaceans, 67 familes, and 285 species of molluscus. Hairy crab Eriocheir japonicus and flat crab Varuna litterata belong to amphidromous species and migrate into rivers in different seasons. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of these kinds of migratory species will be applied to future long-term ecological monitoring studies.
• Studies on evolution by isolation

  Formosan macaques (Macaca cyclopis), the only endemic primate species in Taiwan,live in social troops.

  1. Comparison and analysis of the mtDNA sequences of Chinese and Styan's bulbuls are currently underway.
  2. A 270 bp DNA fragment encoding human bone morphogenetic protein 4 homologue was obtained from zebrafish via PCR. Sequence analyses revealed that this PCR product shared 89 % amino acid sequence identity and 80 % nucleic acid sequence identity with that of human BMP4.
  3. A new incipient species was detected from the Thailand population of D. formosana. The new species is different from Taiwan D. formosana in mitochondrial DNA RFLP and COII gene sequence but morphologically identical to Taiwan D. formo-sana. Moreover, the two sibling species showed reproductive isolation.
  4. Constructed ethograms of Mus caroli and Mus musculus and compared the behaviors of these two rodent species.

OTHER ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES

In 1995, our Institute sponsored three international symposia: "Focus on Microscopy '95" (April 18-20), "Multimedia Database System and Biodiversity" (February 24-26), and "Announcement of Academic Dissertation of the Biological Society of China" (February 24-25). Foreign scholars and local experts were invited to give lectures. These meetings made a significant contribution to scientific information exchange at the international level. The Institute also publishes a quarterly journal, Bulletin of the Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, providing a vehicle for local and foreign scholars to publish their research results. For many years, this journal is indexed in the internationally well-known "Current Contents". Bulletin of the Institute of Zoology has become one of the few renowned journals reaching international standards in Taiwan. It has also received awards from the National Science Council. The title of the journal was changed to "Zoological Studies" in January 1994. Many interna-tionally renowned scholars serve on the editorial board. In addition, members of the Institute not only teach in universities and graduate schools, and they are also frequently invited to attend international conferences, to chair sessions or symposia, to take on official duties in various international academic societies, and to serve as consulting committee members for governmental agencies.

RESEARCH STAFF

MEMBER OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE