河南省平顶山市鼠类锥虫调查初步报告

锥虫科(Trypanosomatidae)是1901年由杜伦(Doflein)发现,属于寄生于血液及组织内的鞭毛虫,其寄主包括脊椎和无脊椎动物两类,定居于脊椎动物的锥虫有时可导致严重的锥虫病,甚至可使动物死亡,因此在发展经济上有重要意义,在我国,家畜中有牛、马、骡等被感染的报告。鼠类血液寄生的路氏(T.lewisi Kent)锥虫在1949年Hoare介绍一例人受感染的报告,1976年Elmer等报告路氏锥虫对乳鼠可以致死,文献介绍该虫分布广泛,但我国各地调查报告不多,河南平顶山地区至今未见报告,最近     

龟鳖类锥虫两新种（动体目：锥体科）

龟鳖类锥虫的研究,国内外均比较少。本文记述了在中华鳖和乌龟血液中发现的两新种,鳖锥虫和龟锥虫。这是国内首次对龟鳖类锥虫研究的报道。     

蝙蝠的锥虫一新种——大黄蝠锥虫

国外对蝙蝠锥虫的研究已有八十多年的历史,记录的锥虫约20种(Hoare,1972)。我国仅秦耀庭(1938)在沈阳的一种蝙蝠中发现有类似Trypanosoma vespertilionis的锥虫存在。作者于1980—1981年检查了广州地区蝙蝠血寄生原虫,于大黄幅血中发现一种大锥虫,和前人描述过的蝙蝠血中的大锥虫亚属(Subgenus Megatrypanum)的各种锥虫不同,应是一新种。报道如下。     

铁传递蛋白

铁传递蛋白(Transferrin,TF)在维持生物体生命活动所必需的微量元素铁代谢中具有特殊作用。它存在于脊椎动物体液和细胞中;在血液中约占0.3％,称为血清铁传递蛋白(Serotransferrin,Sero-TF);乳、泪腺分泌液中存在着乳铁传递蛋白(Lactotransferrin,LactoTF);鸟类蛋中发现有卵铁传递蛋白(Ovotransferrin,Ovo-TF)。TF的主要功能是作为铁的载体,运载铁供网织红细胞进行血红蛋白的     

爬行动物MHC基因研究进展

主要组织相容性复合体(MHC)是有颌脊椎动物中发现的编码免疫球蛋白受体的高度多态的基因群,因其在免疫系统中的重要作用而备受关注。脊椎动物不同支系间MHC的结构和演化差异较大。尽管MHC基因特征在哺乳类、鸟类、两栖类和鱼类中已被较好地描述,但对爬行动物MHC的了解仍较少。鉴于爬行动物对于理解MHC基因的演化占据很重要的系统发育位置,研究其MHC具有重要意义。本文就近年来爬行动物MHC的分子结构、多态性维持机制、功能和主要应用的研究现状进行了系统地回顾和总结,并展望了其研究前景。     

文昌鱼肝盲囊与脊椎动物肝脏起源

早期形态和胚胎学研究结果表明, 文昌鱼哈氏窝、内柱和肝盲囊分别是脊椎动物脑垂体、甲状腺和肝脏的同源器官。文章总结了近年来有关文昌鱼肝盲囊与脊椎动物肝脏之间关系的研究成果, 揭示文昌鱼肝盲囊和脊椎动物肝脏具有同源性, 并证明文昌鱼中存在类似脊椎动物的GH/IGF (Growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor)和TH/THR (Thyroid hormone/thyroid hormone receptor)信号通路, 为脊椎动物肝脏起源于文昌鱼肝盲囊样结构提供了分子水平证据。     

斜眼长蝽属一新种(半翅目:长蝽科)

本文报导斜眼长蝽属(Harmostica Bergroth)一新种。该属为地长蝽亚科(Rhypa-rochrominae)吸血族(Cleradini)的一个成员。吸血族是长蝽科中唯一的吸血性类群,根据已有关于生活习性的资料,此族成员均生活于树栖的啮齿动物(松鼠等)及有袋类(袋鼯科Phalangeridae)等的巢穴中,屡次发现成、若虫消化道内有吸入的血块,并有一些直接观察到吸食脊椎动物血液和传播锥虫的报导。     

动物线粒体假基因的识别及其在进化生物学中的应用

在真菌、昆虫、无脊椎动物和脊椎动物等许多分类单元中,都已发现mtDNA序列的核转座现象。在PCR扩增时,往往同时扩增出mtDNA和细胞核中线粒体假基因(Numts),Numts混淆系统发育和群体遗传研究,得出错误的结果。本文综述了Numts的检查和避免的方法,以及在进化生物学研究中的应用进展。     

新发现的珠蛋白——细胞珠蛋白或组织珠蛋白

在动物中 ,血液蛋白质血红蛋白及其对应物肌红蛋白运输并贮存供养生命的氧 .长期以来 ,研究者认为血红蛋白与肌红蛋白这两种复杂的蛋白质有其独特的折叠方式 ,是脊椎动物中仅有的两种珠蛋白 .而其他的珠蛋白则见于非脊椎动物、植物、细菌与真菌中 .两年前 ,在人脑中发现了第三种脊椎动物珠蛋白 ,称为神经珠蛋白 .现在 ,科学家又偶然发现了第四种珠蛋白 ,其存在于所有体内组织中 .由于在血液和肌肉中 ,血红蛋白与肌红蛋白这两种珠蛋白浓度颇高 ,故对他们的研究也颇为深入 .包装有血红蛋白的血细胞的作用就象一个分子运输队 ,它们在肺中摄取氧…     

记云南罗平的巨犀化石并論葛氏巨犀的性貭

1960年底古脊椎动物与古人类研究所高等脊椎动物研究室云南工作队在罗平(原师宗)采到了少量巨犀化石。鉴定后,认为这批材料的发现对于我国早第三纪地层分布、巨犀类的系统发育及其分布范围的了解都有一定的意义,因此在这里予以简短地报导。在对比罗平和我国其它各地所发现的巨犀化石时,还遇到了对葛氏巨犀,Indrico therium(Baluchitherium)grangeri(Osborn),性质的认识问题。过去一部分学者认为它     

Avian trypanosomes as models of hemoflagellate evolution

In the 15 years since the last review on avian trypanosomes(1), there has been a steady accrual of information on the distribution and dynamics of trypanosome infections in wild bird populations. Recent immunological and biochemical studies provide evidence that several trypanosome species can parasitize an ecological guild of host species but the relative roles of avian host phylogeny and vector ecology remain unanswered. In this article, Victor Apanius reviews the habitat preferences and behavior of trypanosomes within the avian host and attempts to draw similarities in the strategy employed by the parasite for persistence in different vertebrate classes. Next, the question of host specificity is raised and recent evidence on the subject is examined with an eye toward understanding the distribution of trypanosome species in host communities.     

Trypanosome alternative oxidase as a target of chemotherapy

Parasites have developed a variety of physiological functions necessary for their survival within the specialized environment of the host. Using metabolic systems that are very different from those of the host, they can adapt to low oxygen tension present within the host animals. Most parasites do not use the oxygen available within the host to generate ATP, but rather employ systems anaerobic metabolic pathways. The enzymes in these parasite-specific pathways are potential targets for chemotherapy.Cyanide-insensitive trypanosome alternative oxidase (TAO) is the terminal oxidase of the respiratory chain of long slender bloodstream forms of the African trypanosome, which causes sleeping sickness in human and nagana in cattle. TAO has been targeted for the development of anti-trypanosomal drugs because it does not exist in the host. Recently, we found the most potent inhibitor of TAO to date, ascofuranone, a compound isolated from the phytopathogenic fungus, Ascochyta visiae.     

Host phylogeny and specialisation in parasitoids

The host range of insect parasitoids and herbivores is influenced by both preference-related traits which mediate host choice behaviour, and performance-related traits which mediate the physiological suitability of the consumer-resource interaction. In a previous study, we characterised the influence of preference- and performance-related traits on the host range of the aphid parasitoid Binodoxys communis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and herein we build upon those data sets by mapping a series of these traits onto the phylogeny of the (aphid) host species. We found a strong effect of host phylogeny on overall parasitoid reproduction on the 20 host species tested, but no effect of the phylogeny of host plants of the aphids. We found an effect of aphid phylogeny on host acceptance and sting rates (related to preference) from behavioural observations and for pupal survivorship (related to performance), showing that both classes of traits show phylogenetic conservatism with respect to host species.     

The molecular evolution of trypanosomes.

The absence of a fossil record has meant that the evolution of protozoa has remained largely a matter for speculation. Recent advances in molecular biology and phylogenetic analysis, however, are allowing the 'history written in the genes' to be interpreted. Here, Jamie Stevens and Wendy Gibson review progress in reconstruction of trypanosome phylogeny based on molecular data from rRNA and protein-coding genes.     

Developmental stages of Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) freitasi Rego, Magalh?es & Siqueira, 1957 in the opossum Didelphis marsupialis (Marsupialia, Didelphidae)

Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) freitasi, a parasite of marsupials of the genus Didelphis, has been found to undergo in the lumen of the scent (anal) glands of its vertebrate host, a cycle such as usually occurs in the intestinal tract of the insect vectors of trypanosomatids and similar to what has been reported for Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) cruzi. The invertebrate host of Trypanosoma freitasi is still unknown. Developmental stages of the trypanosome in its mammalian host, especially the dividing epimastigotes, multinucleate plasmodial forms and rosettes found in the lumen of the scent glands of a naturally infected Didelphis marsupialis are described and illustrated.     

Limitation of Trypanosoma brucei parasitaemia results from density-dependent parasite differentiation and parasite killing by the host immune response.

In the bloodstream of its mammalian host, the "slender" form of Trypanosoma brucei replicates extracellularly, producing a parasitaemia. At high density, the level of parasitaemia is limited at a sublethal level by differentiation to the non-replicative "stumpy" form and by the host immune response. Here, we derive continuous time equations to model the time-course, cell types and level of trypanosome parasitaemia, and compare the best fits with experimental data. The best fits that were obtained favour a model in which both density-dependent trypanosome differentiation and host immune response have a role in limiting the increase of parasites, much poorer fits being obtained when differentiation and immune response are considered independently of one another. Best fits also favour a model in which the slender-to-stumpy differentiation progresses in a manner that is essentially independent of the cell cycle. Finally, these models also make the prediction that the density-dependent trypanosome differentiation mechanism can give rise to oscillations in parasitaemia level. These oscillations are independent of the immune system and are not due to antigenic variation.     

Host specificity and incidence of Trypanosoma in some African rainforest birds: a molecular approach

Studies of host-parasite interactions in birds have contributed greatly to our understanding of the evolution and ecology of disease. Here we employ molecular techniques to determine the incidence and study the host-specificity of parasitic trypanosomes in the African avifauna. We developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic test that amplified the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rRNA) of Trypanosoma from avian blood samples. This nested PCR assay complements and corroborates information obtained by the traditional method of blood smear analysis. The test was used to describe the incidence of trypanosomes in 479 host individuals representing 71 rainforest bird species from Cameroon, the Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea. Forty-two (59%) of these potential host species harboured trypanosomes and 189 individuals (35%) were infected. To examine host and geographical specificity, we examined the morphology and sequenced a portion of the SSU rRNA gene from representative trypanosomes drawn from different hosts and collecting locations. In traditional blood smear analyses we identified two trypanosome morphospecies, T. avium and T. everetti. Our molecular and morphological results were congruent in that these two morphospecies had highly divergent SSU rRNA sequences, but the molecular assay also identified cryptic variation in T. avium, in which we found seven closely allied haplotypes. The pattern of sequence diversity within T. avium provides evidence for widespread trypanosome mixing across avian host taxa and across geographical locations. For example, T. avium lineages with identical haplotypes infected birds from different families, whereas single host species were infected by T. avium lineages with different haplotypes. Furthermore, some conspecific hosts from geographically distant sampling locations were infected with the same trypanosome lineage, but other individuals from those locations harboured different trypanosome lineages. This apparent lack of host or geographical specificity may have important consequences for the evolutionary and ecological interactions between parasitic trypanosomes and their avian hosts.     

Strain-specific difference in amino acid sequences of trypanosome alternative oxidase

Cyanide-insensitive trypanosome alternative oxidase (TAO) is the terminal oxidase of the respiratory chain of long slender bloodstream forms of the African trypanosome, which causes sleeping sickness in human and nagana in cattle. TAO has been targeted for the development of anti-trypanosomal drugs because it does not exist in the host. The cDNA for TAO has been cloned from Trypanosoma brucei brucei EATRO110 strain and has been used for further characterization. In this study, we found amino acid sequence of the C-terminal part of TAO from the strain that we are using, T. b. brucei TC221, is considerably different from that of the EATRO110 strain.     

Life-Cycle of Trypanosoma conorhini. Influence of Temperature and Other Factors on Growth and Morphogenesis

SYNOPSIS. In continued observations on the in vitro growth and multiplication of the bloodstream trypanosome stage of Trypanosoma conorhini , a better medium was found for cultivating these forms at 37°C, but no subcultures could be obtained. The infectivity for mice of the blood type trypanosomes grown in vitro was comparable to that of the metacyclic trypanosomes. The only reproducing forms of T. conorhini found in the vertebrate were in the trypanosome stage.
It was also found that the in vitro reversion of the bloodstream trypanosome into crithidia, such as occurs in the invertebrate host and in the usual diphasic culture medium, is dependent on at least two factors: if incubated at 25–28° reversion did not occur in any of the liquid media tried (all containing blood serum and hematin or hemoglobin), unless total blood was part of the inoculum or washed red blood cells were added to the media; on the other hand, no reversion was seen, even in the presence of red blood cells if the cultures were incubated at 37°.     

Host phylogeny determines viral persistence and replication in novel hosts

Pathogens switching to new hosts can result in the emergence of new infectious diseases, and determining which species are likely to be sources of such host shifts is essential to understanding disease threats to both humans and wildlife. However, the factors that determine whether a pathogen can infect a novel host are poorly understood. We have examined the ability of three host-specific RNA-viruses (Drosophila sigma viruses from the family Rhabdoviridae) to persist and replicate in 51 different species of Drosophilidae. Using a novel analytical approach we found that the host phylogeny could explain most of the variation in viral replication and persistence between different host species. This effect is partly driven by viruses reaching a higher titre in those novel hosts most closely related to the original host. However, there is also a strong effect of host phylogeny that is independent of the distance from the original host, with viral titres being similar in groups of related hosts. Most of this effect could be explained by variation in general susceptibility to all three sigma viruses, as there is a strong phylogenetic correlation in the titres of the three viruses. These results suggest that the source of new emerging diseases may often be predictable from the host phylogeny, but that the effect may be more complex than simply causing most host shifts to occur between closely related hosts.