Speciation,phenotypic plasticity,or ontogeny,the case of the genus Galkinius (Pyrgomatidae,Cirripedia, Crustacea)

Barnacles of the genus Galkinius occupy a large spectrum of host corals, making it one of the least host‐specific genera within the Pyrgomatidae. Molecular analyses show that within the genus Galkinius there are highly supported clades, suggesting that the genus Galkinius is a complex of evolutionarily significant units (ESUs). The morphology of the opercular valves has been used as the basis for the separation of species of Galkinius. In this study, morphological variability was found both between specimens within ESUs extracted from different host species and between specimens extracted from the same colony. Identifications based on the opercular valves cannot therefore be assigned to different species despite being genetically distinguishable. It is proposed that in many cases the differences between valve morphology of different species of Galkinius are the outcome of ontogeny. Allometric growth of the valves has resulted in differences in the proportions of the parts of the valve. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London     

Phragmoplastins,the Trentepohliales,and the Evolution of the Cytokinesis in Green Plants

Representatives of the monophyletic Trentepohliales are widely distributed in the tropics, subtropics, and temperate regions worldwide. They grow in soil, or are epilithic, epiphytic or endophytic. The family comprises approximately 70 species placed in at least four genera (Trentepohlia, Cephaleuros, Phycopeltis and Stomatochroon), with Trentepohlia sensu lato (including Printzina and Physolinum) accounting for half of the species in this family. PCR amplification and sequencing of the 18 SSU rDNA of 18 isolates of the Trentepohliaceae were used to assess the monophyly of the genus Cephaleuros and to determine the phylogenetic relationships among species of Trentepohlia sensu lato. Distance, Parsimony, and Maximum Likelihood analyses indicate that Trentepohlia sensu lato is basal and includes two species recently transferred to Phycopeltis (P. umbrina) and Printzina (P. lagenifera). In contrast, Cephaleuros is a derived monophyletic clade. Analysis of isolates of C. virescens, from the USA, Taiwan, and South Africa indicate that this taxon may consist of different species sharing a convergent morphology. The results of this study have implications for the taxonomy of the genera.     

First Record of Stygimys (Mammalia, Multituberculata, Eucosmodontidae) from the Paleocene (Puercan) Part of the North Horn Formation, Utah, and a Review of the Genus

A single tooth referred to Stygimys kuszmauli recovered at the Gas Tank Hill locality from Puercan strata of the North Horn Formation represents the first record of Stygimys from Utah. S. kuszmauli now occurs in both proposed north–south late Puercan biogeographic provinces, which reduces statistical support for provinciality. A new species from Texas, Stygimys vastus, is described. Of the five species previously referred to Stygimys, S. kuszmauli, Stygimys camptorhiza, Stygimys jepseni, and Stygimys teilhardi are valid, but Stygimys cupressus is synonymous with S. kuszmauli. The type of S. jepseni is restricted to a single p4 as the m1 thought to be from the same individual represents another multituberculate genus. Five sites, including Gas Tank Hill that comprise the Gas Tank Hill Local Fauna are widely dispersed in slumped strata which may differ in age, are located in a mostly floodplain depositional setting, and are small surface collected samples. Therefore, biogeographic analyses that compare the Gas Tank Hill Local Fauna to large samples collected from channel fills using screenwash techniques should be employed with caution. Stygimys has a relatively broad geographic and geochronologic distribution, but it is usually rare in Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene mammalian assemblages. The recent recovery of Stygimys after more than 60 years of collecting in the North Horn Formation suggests that further sampling in other non-marine basins in Western North America will eventually yield additional specimens of the genus.     

Revision of the Chinese species of the genus Coenochilus Schaum (Coleoptera,Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae)

Summary

The Chinese species of the genus Coenochilus Schaum, 1841 are revised, including a new species, C. pilosus n. sp. described from southern China (also from Vietnam and Laos). The lectotype for Coenochilus uncinatipes Moser, 1915 is designated, and this name is recognized as a junior synonym of C. bifoveolatus Fairmaire, 1888. Previously published synonymy of Coenochilus apicalis Westwood, 1873 and C. armiger Westwood, 1873 is confirmed based on the examination of type specimens. The neotype of C. tonkinensis Moser, 1910 is designated, and C. clinteroceroides Jákl, 2015 is synonymized with this species. Coenochilus tonkinensis is newly recorded from China, while Chinese records of C. nitidus Arrow, 1910 are verified as misidentification of C. striatus Westwood, 1873, thus C. nitidus is removed from the Chinese fauna. Diagnoses and illustrations are provided for all five Chinese species. A key to Chinese species and new distribution records are also presented.??     

Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952, the senior synonym of Silurodiscoides Gussev, 1976 (Monogenea: Ancylodiscoidinae)

Silurodiscoides Gussev, 1976, is considered a junior subjective synonym of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952, based on priority. Hence 70 monogenean species assigned to Silurodiscoides, Parancylodiscoides, Wallagotrema and Urocleidus from Asian and Eurasian freshwater siluriformes are re-assigned to Thaparocleidus as new combinations. Wallagotrema indicus Singh & Sharma, 1992 is renamed Thaparocleidus sharmae nom. nov. The generic characteristics of Thaparocleidus are those of Silurodiscoides and the type-species is Thaparocleidus wallagonius Jain, 1952 from Wallago attu.     

Cytochrome f from the Antarctic psychrophile, Chlamydomonas raudensis UWO 241: structure, sequence, and complementation in the mesophile, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Although cytochrome f from the Antarctic psychrophile, Chlamydomonas raudensis UWO 241, exhibits a lower apparent molecular mass (34 kD) than that of the mesophile C. reinhardtii (41 kD) based on SDS-PAGE, both proteins are comparable in calculated molecular mass and show 79% identity in amino acid sequence. The difference in apparent molecular mass was maintained after expression of petA from both Chlamydomonas species in either E. coli or a C. reinhardtii ΔpetA mutant and after substitution of a unique third cysteine-292 to phenylalanine in the psychrophilic cytochrome f. Moreover, the heme of the psychrophilic form of cytochrome f was less stable upon heating than that of the mesophile. In contrast to C. raudensis, a C. reinhardtii ΔpetA mutant transformed with petA from C. raudensis exhibited the ability to undergo state transitions and a capacity for intersystem electron transport comparable to that of C. reinhardtii wild type. However, the C. reinhardtii petA transformants accumulated lower levels of cytochrome b ₆ /f complexes and exhibited lower light saturated rates of O₂ evolution than C. reinhardtii wild type. We show that the presence of an altered form of cytochrome f in C. raudensis does not account for its inability to undergo state transitions or its impaired capacity for intersystem electron transport as previously suggested. A combined survey of the apparent molecular mass, thermal stability and amino acid sequences of cytochrome f from a broad range of mesophilic species shows unequivocally that the observed differences in cytochrome f structure are not related to psychrophilly. Thus, caution must be exercised in relating differences in amino acid sequence and thermal stability to adaptation to cold environments. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

Anisotropy of the fluorescence from the monomer,five oligomers,and a polymer of epicatechin

The steady-state fluorescence anisotropy r has been measured at 25°C for dilute solutions of epicatechin units connected by interflavan bonds with 4β → 8 stereochemistry. The molecules studied are monodisperse oligomers from the monomer through the hexamer, and a polydisperse sample with a number-average degree of polymerization x_n of 10. The hexamer and smaller oligomers have been removed from the polydisperse sample. All samples have a very small value of r in 1,4-dioxane and in methanol. Higher values of r are seen in ethylene glycol and in glycerol. In the latter two solvents, the monomer has significantly higher r than any species with x_n > 1. This observation is interpreted as evidence for the presence of excitation migration from one monomer to another in the dimer and species of higher x_n.     

Locus determining the human sperm-specific lactate dehydrogenase,LDHC, is syntenic with LDHC

From the data presented in this report, the human LDHC gene locus is assigned to chromosome 11. Three genes determine lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in man. LDHA and LDHB are expressed in most somatic tissues, while expression of LDHC is confined to the germinal epithelium of the testes. A human LDHC cDNA clone was used as a probe to analyze genomic DNA from rodent/human somatic cell hybrids. The pattern of bands with LDHC hybridization is easily distinguished from the pattern detected by LDHA hybridization, and the LDHC probe is specific for testis mRNA. The structural gene LDHA has been previously assigned to human chromosome 11, while LDHB maps to chromosome 12. Studies of pigeon LDH have shown tight linkage between LDHB and LDHC leading to the expectation that these genes would be syntenic in man. However, the data presented in this paper show conclusively that LDHC is syntenic with LDHA on human chromosome 11. The terminology for LDH genes LDHA, LDHB, and LDHC is equivalent to Ldhl, Ldh2, and Ldh3, respectively.     

A new Xinjiangchelyid turtle (Testudines, Eucryptodira) from the Jurassic Qigu Formation of the southern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, north-west China

A new eucryptodiran turtle, Xinjiangchelys qiguensis sp. nov. from the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian — ?Kimmeridgian) Qigu Formation of the southern Junggar Basin (north‐west China) is described. The type material consists of a partial skeleton, including the complete carapace, plastron, nearly all cervical vertebrae, both scapulae, the pelvis and one ulna. It is clearly identifiable as a basal eucryptodire since it lacks the mesoplastron. It is distinguished from other species of Xinjiangchelys by several autapomorphies of the carapace and plastron, such as the first and fifth vertebrals extending on the peripherals, the plastron with three pairs of gulars, and an intergular which does not contact the hyoplastron. In the postcranium, the scapula with a long acromial and a small scapular process, the pelvis with a short ilial shaft and the elongated cervical vertebrae are characteristic. A new phylogenetic analysis of the in‐group phylogeny of the Xinjiangchelyidae is proposed and discussed, resulting in a new classification of the family. Xinjiangchelys (Toxocheloides) narynensis is regarded as a nomen dubium. Shartegemys is referred to Xinjiangchelys, whereas the holotypes of ‘Plesiochelys’chungkingensis and ‘P’. latimarginalis are excluded from the genus Xinjiangchelys but included in the Xinjiangchelyidae.     

Repellents in the Japanese Cedar,Cryptomeria japonica,against the Pill-bug,Armadillidium vulgare

Sandaracopimarinol and (1S,6R)-2,7(14),10-bisabolatrien-1-ol-4-one were isolated and identified from Cryptomeria japonica as repellents against Armadillidium vulgare which is well known as an unpleasant pest in the house and as vegetable pest in Japan. These compounds strongly repelled A. vulgare when they were combined, although each compound alone did not show any activity.     

Identification, characterization, and chromosomal organization of the ftsZ gene from Brevibacterium lactofermentum

The ftsZ gene was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of Brevibacterium lactofermentum by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using two oligonucleotides designed from two conserved regions found in most of the previously cloned and sequenced ftsZ genes from other microorganisms. ftsZ is a single-copy gene in corynebacteria and is located downstream from ftsQ and murC, indicating linkage between genes involved in peptidoglycan synthesis (mur genes) and genes involved in cell division (fts genes). The organisation of the cluster is similar to that in Streptomyces and different from those of Escherichia coli or Bacillus subtilis because ftsA is not located upstream of ftsZ. The gene was expressed in E. coli using the T7 expression system; the calculated molecular weight of the expressed protein was 50 kDa. Expression of the B. lactofermentum ftsZ gene in E. coli inhibited cell division and led to filamentation. The ftsZ gene of this organism does not complement ftsZ mutations or deletions in E. coli, when cloned on low or high-copy-number vectors. Received: 14 January 1998 / Accepted: 31 March 1998     

Sequences of the cDNAs and genomic DNAs encoding the S1, S7, S8, and Sf alleles from almond, Prunus dulcis

Partial genomic and cDNA sequences of the RNase alleles S1, S7, S8 and Sf were obtained from Prunus dulcis cvs ’Ne Plus Ultra’, ’Ferragnes’ and ’Nonpareil’ 15–1, and IRTA Selection 12–2. Total DNA was extracted from leaves, and cDNA was prepared from total RNA extracted from styles. The partial cDNA sequences of the S1 allele from ’Ferragnes’, and the S7 and S8 alleles from ’Nonpareil’ 15–1, matched those reported in the literature for the alleles Sb, Sc and Sd respectively. The sequences of the S1, S7, S8 and Sf alleles found in genomic DNA contained introns of 562, 1,530, 2,208 and 689 bp respectively. The exon/intron splice junction sites of all alleles followed the GT/AG consensus sequence rule, and the sequences were found to be highly conserved. Received: 18 October 2000 / Accepted: 8 March 2001     

Aspects of crinoid palaeontology of the North Esk Inlier,Scotland (Silurian,Llandovery, Telychian)

Abstract: The described fauna of well‐preserved Llandovery (Telychian) echinoderms from the North Esk Inlier, including six crinoids, one echinoid and seven starfish species, is mainly allochthonous. Most of these taxa are known only from starfish beds, channel fill deposits probably representing submarine mass flows and preserving a biota probably derived from elsewhere, presumably shallower water. Only one crinoid species, Pisocrinus cf. campana Miller, is recognized as a common fossil away from the starfish beds and is a biostratigraphic marker for the base of the Wether Law Linn Formation, forming part of the Skenidioides‐Cyrtia Association. Crinoid columnals preserved perpendicular to bedding (that is, in putative life position) in Lamont’s bivalve bed, Deerhope Formation, are tentatively interpreted as being in situ by comparison with a similar occurrence in the Silurian of Arisaig, Nova Scotia. Two new species of crinoid are described, the cladid Dendrocrinus? sp. and the columnal morphospecies Pentagonocyclicus (col.) lamonti sp. nov.     

Meristic and morphometric variation in the lancet fish,Alepisaurus, with notes on the distribution of A. ferox and A. brevirostris

Abstract

Meristies and morphometries are reported for 81 specimens of Alepisaurus ferox and 31 of A. brevirostris, mostly from the Pacific Ocean. The holotype and topotype of A. ferox and two paratypes of A. brevirostris, all from the Atlantic Ocean, were also examined. For specimens longer than aJoout 500 mm SL, ferox is distinguishable from brevirostris by its relatively longer head and snout. In ferox the dorsal fin origin is a1bove or behind the hind margin of the operculum; in brevirostris it is in front. Paoific Ocean ferox have significantly fewer dorsal fin rays (mean 36.6) than Atlantic (40.5) and Indian Ocean (40.8) examples. In the Pacific, ferox can be distinguished from brevirostris by its fewer dorsal rays, but in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean there is considerable overlap in dorsal ray counts. A. ferox is found world-wide, whereas brevirostris is not known from the North Pacific. The northernmost record of brevirostris in the Pacific is from 14°47′S.     

Conservation of primary structure in the hisI gene of the archaebacterium, Methanococcus vannielii, the eubacterium Escherichia coli, and the eucaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary A 2.7 kilobase pair (Kb) fragment of DNA, which complements mutations in the hisI locus of Escherichia coli, has been cloned and sequenced from the genome of the methanogenic archaebacterium Methanococcus vannielii. The cloned DNA directs the synthesis of three polypeptides, with molecular weights of 71,000, 29,000 and 15,600 in minicells of E. coli. Subcloning and mutagenesis demonstrates that hisI complementation results from the activity of the 15,600 molecular weight polypeptide. The primary structure of this archaebacterial gene and its gene product have been compared with the functionally equivalent gene and protein from the eubacterium E. coli (hisI) (Chiariotti et al. 1986) and from the eucaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae (his4A) (Donahue et al. 1982). The DNA sequences of the archaebacterial and eubacterial genes are 40% homologous, the archaebacterial and eucaryotic DNA sequences are 47% homologous and, as previously reported (Bruni et al. 1986) the eubacterial and eucaryotic DNA sequences are 45% homologous. In E. coli the hisI locus is part of a bifunctional gene (hisI/E) within the single his operon. In S. cerevisiae the his4A locus is part of a multifunctional gene (his4) which encodes a protein with at least four enzymatic activities. The his genes of S. cerevisiae do not form an operon and are not physically linked. The M. vannielii hisI gene does not appear to be part of a multifunctional DNA sequence and, although it does appear to be within an operon, the open reading frames (ORFs) 5 and 3 to the M. vannielii hisI gene are not related to any published his sequences. The hisI and hisA genes (Cue et al. 1985) of M. vannielii are not closely linked in its genome.     

Behavioural responses of the vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, to semiochemicals from conspecifics, Otiorhynchus salicicola, and host plants

The vine weevil Otiorhynchus sulcatus is a parthenogenetic reproducing species which forages for suitable host plants at night, but is found congregated in dark places during the day. Frass of this weevil species is suspected to contain attractive compounds that are host‐plant related. Using a still‐air olfactometer, we tested adult vine weevils at night for their behavioural response to odours from conspecifics, feeding on a mixture of spindle tree (Euonymus fortunei) and yew (Taxus baccata), and to a sexually reproducing related species (Otiorhynchus salicicola), feeding on a mixture of ivy (Hedera helix) and cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus). Their attraction to conspecifics and O. salicicola appeared to be related to frass production. Freshly collected frass from O. sulcatus and from O. salicicola males and females was attractive. Prunus laurocerasus and H. helix have not been observed to be hosts of the vine weevil in the field. However, our tests showed that the vine weevil was attracted to mechanically damaged leaves of both plant species, whereas undamaged leaves were not attractive. Only undamaged young unfolding leaves of H. helix were also attractive. The attraction to odours from mechanically damaged host and non‐host plants suggested the involvement of compounds that are commonly found in many plant species. The involvement of plant compounds and/or aggregation pheromones in attraction to frass of the vine weevil and frass of the related weevil species O. salicicola is discussed.     

New and known species of Dactylogyrus Diesing, 1850 (Monogenea,Dactylogyridae) from cyprinid fishes of the River Tigris,Iraq

Four new Dactylogyrus species are described and two redescribed from cyprinids of the River Tigris, Iraq. These are as follows: Dactylogyrus barbioides n. sp. from Barbus grypus; D. orbus n. sp. from Barbus lacerta; D. barbuli n. sp. from Barbus barbulus; D. macrostomi n. sp. from Cyprinion macrostomi; D. pavlovskyi Bychowsky, 1949 from Barbus grypus and Barbus sharpeyi; and D. inutilis Bychowsky, 1949 from Barbus xanthopterus. A phylogenetic and zoogeographical analysis is presented.