The phylogenetic position of toadfishes (order Batrachoidiformes) in the higher ray-finned fish as inferred from partitioned Bayesian analysis of 102 whole mitochondrial genome sequences

In a previous study based on 100 whole mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequences, we sought to provide a new perspective on the ordinal relationships of higher ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii). The study left unexplored the phylogenetic position of toadfishes (order Batrachoidiformes), as data were unavailable owing to technical difficulties. In the present study, we successfully determined mitogenomic sequences for two toadfish species ( Batrachomoeus trispinosus and Porichthys myriaster ) and found that the difficulties resulted from unusual gene arrangements and associated repetitive non-coding sequences. Unambiguously aligned, concatenated mitogenomic sequences (13 461 bp) from 102 higher actinopterygians (excluding the ND6 gene and control region) were divided into five partitions (1st, 2nd and 3rd codon positions of the protein-coding genes, tRNA genes and rRNA genes) and partitioned Bayesian analyses were conducted. The resultant phylogenies strongly suggest that the toadfishes are not members of relatively primitive higher actinopterygians (Paracanthopterygii), but belong to a crown group of actinopterygians (Percomorpha), as was demonstrated for ophidiiform eels (Ophidiiformes) and anglerfishes (Lophiiformes) in the previous study. We propose revised limits of major unranked categories for higher actinopterygians and a new name (Berycomorpha) for a clade comprising two reciprocally paraphyletic orders (Beryciformes and Stephanoberyciformes) based on the present mitogenomic phylogenies.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 85 , 289–306.     

Age-Related Alterations in the Biochemical and Functional Properties of the Bladder in Type 2 Diabetic GK Rats

Previous studies have demonstrated that experimental type 1 diabetes induced by streptozotocin causes alterations in the biochemical and functional properties of several receptor systems in the rat bladder. However, the exact mechanism involved in the pathophysiology of voiding dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients is unknown. Because the GK rat is a widely accepted genetically determined rodent model for human type 2 diabetes, we investigated diabetes-induced changes in the bladder smooth muscle of the GK rats at several time points. Male GK rats and age-matched Wistar rats, as controls, were maintained for 4, 8, 16, and 32 weeks. Contractile responses to KCl, carbachol, ATP, and electrical field stimulation (EFS) were measured by using the isolated muscle bath techniques. Acetylcholine (ACh) release induced by EFS from bladder muscle strips was measured by using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a microdialysis procedure. Maximum contractile responses to carbachol and ATP, the release of ACh, and tissue sorbitol levels were similar in bladders from GK and control rats until 8 weeks of age. At 16 weeks of age, however, the contractile responses to carbachol and ATP, and tissue sorbitol levels were increased, and the EFS-induced ACh release was decreased in GK rats compared with controls. Although the maximum contractile responses to EFS were unchanged until 16 weeks of age, they were decreased in 32-week-old GK rats, compared with controls. Our data indicate the presence of age-related alterations in the biochemical and functional properties of the bladder in type 2 diabetic GK rats.     

Factors controlling rates of nonphotochemical transformation of Pisum phytochrome in vitro

Nonphotochemical transformations of the far-red absorbing formof phytochrome, such as its decay or dark reversion to Pr, werestudied with solutions obtained from etiolated pea epicotyltissues at various steps of purification. At pH 7.8, the rateof dark Pfr reversion became significantly faster after thecrude extract was purified by gel filtration, but that of wellpurified solutions was quite low. Decay of Pfr was not seenduring any purification step at an alkaline pH, but it occurredin the acidic range of pH even in the presence of sulfhydrylcompounds. The rate of Pfr reversion was also influenced bypH; it increased with an increasing pH. Dark reversion of Pisum Pfr was confirmed to proceed in a short,rapid initial phase followed by a slow phase. (Received September 9, 1970; )     

PHOTOCONTROL OF THE ORIENTATION OF CELL DIVISION IN ADIANTUM. III. EFFECTS OF METABOLIC INHIBITORS

5-Fluorouracil, 8-azaguanine and ethionine were tested on the orientation of cell division to see whether the two-dimensional development of the fern Adiantum gametophytes was due to newly synthesized protein(s). Using the system in which the orientation of cell division was controlled experimentally by sequential treatment with red light, white light and darkness and by the direction of irradiation, all the inhibitors decreased the rates of cell elongation and cell division of the gametophytes, but did not specifically affect the two-dimensional differentiation at all.     

基于Rag1基因序列变异的鲤形目鱼类系统发育重建:采样策略对生命之树的影响

The phylogenetic relationships of species are fundamental to any biological investigation, including all evolutionary studies. Accurate inferences of sister group relationships provide the researcher with an historical framework within which the attributes or geographic origin of species (or supraspecific groups) evolved. Taken out of this phylogenetic context, interpretations of evolutionary processes or origins, geographic distributions, or speciation rates and mechanisms, are subject to nothing less than a biological experiment without controls. Cypriniformes is the most diverse clade of freshwater fishes with estimates of diversity of nearly 3,500 species. These fishes display an amazing array of morphological, ecological, behavioral, and geographic diversity and offer a tremendous opportunity to enhance our understanding of the biotic and abiotic factors associated with diversification and adaptation to environments. Given the nearly global distribution of these fishes, they serve as an important model group for a plethora of biological investigations, including indicator species for future climatic changes. The occurrence of the zebrafish, Danio rerio, in this order makes this clade a critical component in understanding and predicting the relationship between mutagenesis and phenotypic expressions in vertebrates, including humans. With the tremendous diversity in Cypriniformes, our understanding of their phylogenetic relationships has not proceeded at an acceptable rate, despite a plethora of morphological and more recent molecular studies. Most studies are pre-Hennigian in origin or include relatively small numbers of taxa. Given that analyses of small numbers of taxa for molecular characters can be compromised by peculiarities of long-branch attraction and nodal-density effect, it is critical that significant progress in our understanding of the relationships of these important fishes occurs with increasing sampling of species to mitigate these potential problems. The recent Cypriniformes Tree of Life initiative is an effort to achieve this goal with morphological and molecular (mitochondrial and nuclear) data. In this early synthesis of our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of these fishes, all types of data have contributed historically to improving our understanding, but not all analyses are complementary in taxon sampling, thus precluding direct understanding of the impact of taxon sampling on achieving accurate phylogenetic inferences. However, recent molecular studies do provide some insight and in some instances taxon sampling can be implicated as a variable that can influence sister group relationships. Other instances may also exist but without inclusion of more taxa for both mitochondrial and nuclear genes, one cannot distinguish between inferences being dictated by taxon sampling or the origins of the molecular data.     

Cycloheximide Insensitive Amoebo-Flagellate Transformation in Starved Amoebae of Physarum polycephalum

The requirement of protein synthesis for amoebo-flagellate transformation of Physarum polycephalum was re-examined. When amoebae were grown on nutrient agar in association with live food bacteria and harvested in mid-exponential phase of growth, it took ca. 2 hours for half the cells to form flagella after suspension in phosphate buffer. The transformation was completely inhibited by 5 μg/ml cycloheximide. To the contrary, when the amoebae in mid-exponential phase were starved for 3 hr on non-nutrient agar and then suspended in phosphate buffer, the duration required for this process was shortened to ca. 8 min and it was not inhibited by up to 100 μg/ml cycloheximide. A similar result was obtained using bactobolin, another inhibitor of protein synthesis. When amoebae were starved on non-nutrient agar containing 5 μg/ml cycloheximide, however, the starvation effect described above was not observed. The results indicate that protein(s) necessary for the transformation might be synthesized during the starvation period, and that the amoebo-flagellate transformation may or may not require concomitant protein synthesis depending upon preculture conditions.     

Protein Synthesis during Photocontrolled Progression of the Cell Cycle in Single-celled Protonemata of the Fern Adiantum Capillus-veneris

Protein synthesis during photoinduced, synchronous progression of the cell cycle in single-celled protonemata of the fern Adiantum capillus-veneris was studied by tracer techniques. Nuclei of the protonemata were labelled with ³H-thymidine during spore germination so that the amount of ³H incorporated into the TCA-insoluble fraction of the cells could be used as a measure of the cell number in each sample. The rate of the incorporation of ¹⁴C-amino acids into TCA-insoluble materials was not significantly varied at different stages of the cell cycle or by treatment with blue light. Extracts of cells labelled with ³⁵S-methionine at various times after the transfer from red light condition (G₀) to darkness (G₁ to S) were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. At least 3 of about 200 spots showed significant changes in intensity on fluorograms. Spot A (molecular weight 20,000, isoelectric point 6.3) was detectable only in early G₁, whereas spot B (molecular weight 19,500, isoelectric point 6.3) was found only in the late G₁ and S phases. When the cells were exposed to blue light before the dark incubation, the times of disappearance of spot A and appearance of spot B were advanced depending upon the progression of the cell cycle but not upon the clock time.     

EFFECTS OF PHYTOCHROME AND BLUE-NEAR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT-ABSORBING PIGMENT ON DURATION OF COMPONENT PHASES OF THE CELL CYCLE IN ADIANTUM GAMETOPHYTES

Single-celled protonemata of the fern Adiantum capillus-veneris, kept under continuous red light, grew with a very low rate of cell division, and the cell cycle was arrested in the early G₁ phase. Cell division was induced by transferring the protonemata to the dark after various light treatments, and the duration of component phases in the cell cycle was determined by a continuous-labelling technique with 3H-thymidine. Blue light irradiation greatly reduced the duration of the G₁ phase but did not affect that of other phases. The greater the fluence of blue light, the shorter was the duration of G₁ phase was observed. In contrast, a brief exposure of red-light-grown protonemata to far-red light given immediately before the dark incubation showed no effect on the duration of G₁ S and M phases but significantly extended that of the G₂ phase. The effect of far-red light on the G₂ phase was reversed by red light, and the effects of red and far-red light were repeatedly reversible. The progression in the M phase was shown by means of a time-lapse video system to be not at all influenced by any pre-irradiation described above.