Synopsis of a new collection of sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) from the Ross Sea,Antarctica

The biodiversity research expedition TAN0204 with RS Tangaroa to the Ross Sea in 2004 yielded a new collection of 2,687 specimens of pycnogonids. As much as 25 different species encompassing 14 genera and eight families were identified and their records are discussed herein. The collection is archived in the Marine Invertebrate Collection of the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). The majority (69%) of specimens are from the Nymphon australe group (Nymphonidae), although species richness and abundance varied among the stations sampled. The collection includes several specimens from polymerous taxa; Pentanymphon antarcticum (Nymphonidae), Decolopoda australis (Colossendeidae) and Pentapycnon bouvieri (Pycnogonidae). All species were classified based on morphological characters, and DNA sequences (from the 18S, 12S, 16S and COI regions) for 21 of the representative morphotypes are given. The DNA sequences confirmed the species-level distinctiveness of these morphotypes. No species new to science were identified, although further detailed morphometric and/or molecular analyses may reveal cryptic or sibling species, especially in species such as the highly abundant Nymphon australe group. An erratum to this article can be found at     

On the Identity of the Amoeboflagllates Didascalus throntoni and Adelphamoeba galeacystis

ABSTRACT. Didascalus thorntoni , Singh 1952 has been classified alternately as a separate genus or as a species of Naegleria. In the 18th edition of the American Type Culture Collection catalogue it is classified as Naegleria thorntoni. To resolve the question of its identity we have used riboprinting and sequencing of the small subunit ribosomal DNA. The results indicate that D. thorntoni does not belong to the genus Naegleria. The sequence of the small subunit ribosomal DNA differs only in 20 nucleotides (1%) from that of the Paratetramitus jugosus. The difference is much smaller than between some species of Naegleria. Therefore, it is not clear whether D. thorntoni should be considered as a species of Paratetramitus or as a separate genus. The strain used in different laboratories as the type strain of Adelophamoeba gleacystis has been identified as a Naegleria strain. We believe that the type strain of A. galeacystis was mislabeled prior to submission to the American Type Culture Collection and to the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa. A recent isolate, which on the basis of morphology was identified as a strain of A. Galeacystis , has the identical small subunit ribosomal DNA sequence as D. throntoni. Our results prove Page was right when he stated that Adelphamoeba might be a synonym of Didascalus.     

Candida argentea sp. nov., a copper and silver resistant yeast species

A new yeast species was isolated from the sediment under metal-contaminated effluent from a disused metal mine in mid-Wales, UK. BLAST searching with DNA sequence amplified from the ribosomal 26S D1/D2 and ITS regions did not reveal a close match with any previously described species (≥6?% and 3?% divergence, respectively). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the species was a member of the Saccharomycetales, but did not group closely with other established species, the nearest relative being Wickerhamia fluorescens although bootstrap support was not strong. In addition to its unusual phylogeny, the species also exhibited notable physiological and morphological traits. Isolates exhibited unusually high resistance to both copper and silver in laboratory assays. These phenotypes appeared to be inherent to the species rather than a transient adaptation to the metal-enriched site in Wales, as the same phenotypes were observed in an identical (according to 26S rDNA sequence) isolate from Sao Domingos, Portugal in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. The species exhibited a multipolar budding-type cell division but, unusually, accumulated as rod-shaped cells following division on solid medium, contrasting with the larger ellipsoidal cells observed in broth. This dimorphism could be discerned readily with flow cytometry. The yeast was tolerant of hyper osmotic stress and grew in acidic media (pH 3). This new species is designated Candida argentea and five independent strains are deposited at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures, UK (NCYC 3753(T), 3754, 3755, 3756, 3757). Because of its unusual morphological variation and metal resistance properties, C. argentea may provide opportunities to gain new insights into the physiological and genetic bases of these phenotypes. Results illustrate novel fungal biodiversity that can occur at polluted sites.     

迷蚜蝇亚科中国二新纪录种记述(双翅目,食蚜蝇科)

记述中国黑龙江省帽儿山地区食蚜蝇科Syrphidae迷蚜蝇亚科Milesiinae中国2新纪录种:萨哈林丝蚜蝇Sericomyi asachalinica Stackelberg和姬丝蚜蝇Sericomyia dux(Stackelberg)。标本存于东北林业大学昆虫标本室。     

Benthic isopods (Crustacea,Malacostraca) from the Ross Sea,Antarctica: species checklist and their zoogeography in the Southern Ocean

In this study isopod species of the Ross Sea were investigated. Literature until May 2008 was checked to provide an overview of all known and described species in the Ross Sea. This species checklist was then enlarged through material of the 19th Italica expedition in 2004. During this expedition for the first time a small mesh net (500 μm) was used. Nine thousand four hundred and eighty one isopod specimens were collected during this expedition. Through this material the number of isopod species in the Ross Sea increased from 42 to 117 species, which belong to 20 families and 49 genera. Fifty-six percentage of the isopods species collected during the Italica expedition are new to science. The zoogeography of the 117 species was investigated. A non-transformed binary presence-absence data matrix was constructed using the Bray–Curtis coefficient. The results were displayed in a cluster analysis and by nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS). This paper gives a first insight into the occurrence and distribution of the isopod species of the Ross Sea.     

George I. Finch and his pioneering use of oxygen for climbing at extreme altitudes.

George Ingle Finch (1888-1970) was the first person to prove the great value of supplementary oxygen for climbing at extreme altitudes. He did this during the 1922 Everest expedition when he and his companion, Geoffrey Bruce, reached an altitude of 8,320 m, higher than any human had climbed before. Finch was well qualified to develop the oxygen equipment because he was an eminent physical chemist. Many of the features of the 1922 design are still used in modern oxygen equipment. Finch also demonstrated an extraordinary tolerance to severe acute hypoxia in a low-pressure chamber experiment. Remarkably, despite Finch's desire to participate in the first three Everest expeditions in 1921-1924, he was only allowed to be a member of one. His rejection from the 1921 expedition was based on medical reports that were apparently politically biased. Then, following his record ascent in 1922, he was refused participation in the 1924 expedition for complex reasons related to his Australian origin, his forthright and unconventional views, and the fact that some people in the climbing establishment in Britain saw Finch as an undesirable outsider.     

环足施氏冠蜂——中国新记录种（膜翅目：冠蜂科）

本文结合形态学特征和线粒体COI基因分子数据,记述了采集于我国山东省的冠蜂科一新记录种：环足施氏冠蜂Schlettererius cinctipes (Cresson, 1880),详细描述了该种的形态特征,并提供鉴定特征图以及COI序列。通过与来自于北美、日本和澳洲的环足施氏冠蜂的COI序列对比,相似度达到99.79%。虽然环足施氏冠蜂在我国的寄主未能明确,但由于该蜂从松幽天牛Asemum amurense Kraatz, 1879为害的松木中羽化出来,能为其寄主的确定提供参考。研究标本分别保存在华南农业大学膜翅目标本室（SCAU）和山东省林业科学研究院林业有害生物标本室。     

Isolation and characterization of coliforms from glacial ice and water in Canada's High Arctic

Ellesmere Island is the northern most member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with over one-third of the land mass covered by ice. A joint services expedition to the island's Blue Mountains offered a unique opportunity for microbiological studies of resident bacteria in an environment uninhabited by man. Over 100 samples of water and ice were collected from stream, lake and glacier and the filtrate cultured under canvas. Bacterial growth was harvested onto swabs for transport back to the UK and 50 coliforms chosen at random for identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Most of the glacial strains were capsulated, pigmented and some over 2000 years old. Genera such as Serratia, Enterobacter, Klebsiella and Yersinia were found; speciation was inconclusive and some organisms remain unidentified. Ampicillin resistance was evident in 80% of water isolates as opposed to 30% of the glacial organisms, but the isolates were generally exquisitely susceptible to antibiotics. The facility for ampicillin resistance did not appear to be transferable. Plasmid DNA was found in 33% of the glacial organisms and over 50% of the water isolates. Similar profiles were identified within and apparently between species and required plasmid restriction analysis to help establish identity. Plasmid-free Serratia spp. were subjected to genomic fingerprinting. Indistinguishable patterns were found within sets of isolates both widely spaced by distance and collection date and it was postulated that coliforms able to survive an Arctic environment had spread extensively throughout the expedition area. In conclusion, this study contributes towards knowledge of naturally occurring antibiotic resistance, confirms the presence of plasmids and genotypic data provided evidence that potentially ancient organisms from glaciers can be cultured from water samples significantly distant.     

The Ladew expedition to Bolivia and Peru: George Tate’s Botanical Collections

In 1926 George Tate participated in a collecting expedition to the Cordillera Real of Bolivia and Peru under the auspices of H. S. Ladew and The American Museum of Natural History. Although the emphasis of the expedition was zoological, Tate managed to collect 1215 plant numbers from which over 50 new species were later described, primarily by H. H. Rusby. These specimens, including most types, were deposited at The New York Botanical Garden. Tate retained 632 duplicate sheets at the Museum to form the core of the “Ecological Herbarium of Dept. of Mammals.” The 24 collecting stations worked by Tate in Bolivia are described and mapped from data obtained from a transcribed copy of Tate’s field notes deposited in the archives of The New York Botanical Garden.     

Antimicrobial susceptibility of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from bovine mastitis between 2003 and 2008 in Korea

A total of 1,444 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) isolates from bovine mastitic milk samples collected during 2003-2008 in Korea were identified to the species level. Of 14 species identified, S. simulans, S. haemolyticus, and S. sciuri accounted for over 60% of the isolates. All the CNS isolates were tested for susceptibility to eight antimicrobials commonly used in dairy cattle. With a few exceptions, similar resistance patterns were observed among the CNS species: penicillin and ampicillin showed the lowest activity while amikacin, cephalothin, and gentamycin were highly effective. About 39% (557/1,444) of the CNS isolates were pan-susceptible, while 12% (175/1,444) showed resistance to four or more antimicrobials tested.     

基于26S rDNAD1/D2区序列分析的15株白地霉分子分类学研究

采用26S rRNA基因D1/D2区系统发育分析的方法对CICC(中国工业微生物菌种保藏管理中心)保藏的15株白地霉(Geotrichum candidum)菌种进行复核鉴定。系统发育分析结果表明15株白地霉属于地霉属的成员,且形成两个系统发育分支,系统发育上最接近Galactomyces geotrichum NRRLY-17569T,与其同源性为96.3%～98.3%。15株白地霉26S rRNA基因D1/D2区序列显著不同于地霉属的模式种及其它种,可能代表地霉属的两个新种,但这一结论尚需进一步的实验去证实。     

中国云南西部地衣区系(英文)

对中国云南西部高山地区的大型地衣进行了调查。采集地衣标本400余份,鉴定为46属86种,其中40种在朝鲜半岛有报道。所有采集的标本现保藏于顺天大学韩国地衣研究所和中国科学院昆明植物研究所隐花植物标本馆。     

Ribotyping of lactobacilli isolated from spoiled beer

Twenty-nine Lactobacillus strains contaminating beers in different Czech breweries as well as representative type strains obtained from the Czech Collection of Microorganisms were characterized using ribotyping with EcoRI and a probe made complementary to 16S and 23S rRNA genes. Biochemical test results assigned the 29 strains to the species L. brevis, L. plantarum, L. buchneri and L. paracasei subsp. paracasei. Ribotyping separated L. brevis, L. plantarum and L. paracasei subsp. paracasei strains into species-specific ribogroups in full correspondence with biotyping; L. buchneri strains were split into two ribogroups. Characteristic band patterns for each species and even typical bands of certain sizes were observed.     

保存在瑞士巴塞尔的中国皿蛛科蜘蛛

Most of the materials studied by Dr Schenkel were deposited in Paris, only a small part deposited in Natural History Museum of Basel （NMB）, including 7 linyphiid species collected from China. These comprise two parts： one part was collected by muscovite tourist/researcher G. N. Potanin between 1885-1886; another part was collected by Dr D. Hummel in an expedition to Northwest China under the leadership of Dr S. Hedin and Prof.     

Phylogenetic Analysis of Thecosomata Blainville, 1824 (Holoplanktonic Opisthobranchia) Using Morphological and Molecular Data

Thecosomata is a marine zooplankton group, which played an important role in the carbonate cycle in oceans due to their shell composition. So far, there is important discrepancy between the previous morphological-based taxonomies, and subsequently the evolutionary history of Thecosomata. In this study, the remarkable planktonic sampling of TARA Oceans expedition associated with a set of various other missions allowed us to assess the phylogenetic relationships of Thecosomata using morphological and molecular data (28 S and COI genes). The two gene trees showed incongruities (e.g. Hyalocylis, Cavolinia), and high congruence between morphological and 28S trees (e.g. monophyly of Euthecosomata). The monophyly of straight shell species led us to reviving the Orthoconcha, and the split of Limacinidae led us to the revival of Embolus inflata replacing Limacina inflata. The results also jeopardized the Euthecosomata families that are based on plesiomorphic character state as in the case for Creseidae which was not a monophyletic group. Divergence times were also estimated, and suggested that the evolutionary history of Thecosomata was characterized by four major diversifying events. By bringing the knowledge of palaeontology, we propose a new evolutionary scenario for which macro-evolution implying morphological innovations were rhythmed by climatic changes and associated species turn-over that spread from the Eocene to Miocene, and were shaped principally by predation and shell buoyancy.     

Bacillus methanolicus sp. nov., a new species of thermotolerant, methanol-utilizing, endospore-forming bacteria.

The generic position of 14 strains of gram-positive bacteria able to use methanol as a growth substrate was determined. All are obligately aerobic, thermotolerant organisms that are able to grow at temperatures of 35 to 60 degrees C. Nine of the strains produce oval spores at a subterminal-to-central position in slightly swollen rod-shaped cells. DNA-DNA hybridization studies, 5S rRNA sequence analysis, and physiological characteristics revealed that all 14 strains cluster as a well-defined group and form a distinct new genospecies. Analysis of the 16S and 5S rRNA sequences indicated that this new species is distinct from Bacillus brevis but closely related to B. firmus and B. azotoformans. The name proposed for this new species is B. methanolicus. The type strain, PB1, has been deposited in the National Collection of Industrial and Marine Bacteria as NCIMB 13113.     

中国侧跗叶蜂属(膜翅目,叶蜂科)五新种

记述侧跗叶蜂属5新种:尖鞘侧跗叶蜂Siobla acutitheca sp.nov.,脊唇侧跗叶蜂S.carinoclypea sp.nov.,棒角侧跗叶蜂S.clavicornis sp.nov.,侧带侧跗叶蜂S.nigrolateralis sp.nov.,三斑侧跗叶蜂S.trimaculata sp.nov.。新种模式标本保存于湖南长沙中南林业科技大学昆虫模式标本室。     

NOTES ON THE CORTICIACEAE OF NORTHERN CHINA

<正> 98 species of Corticiaceae s.l.are reported from Changbai shah forestreserve in Northern China.Phlebia pellucida Hjortst.& Ryv.is described as new.The newcombinations Amylosporomyces subasperisporus,Boidinia propingua,and B.peroxydata are pro-posed.The genus Boidinia is discussed and a key is given to accepted species.Many rarespecies are reported such as Amylocorticium laceratum,Ceraceomyces sulphurinus,Hyphodontiaaltaica,Laeticorticium ussuricum,Lobulicium occultum,Sistotrema athcloiides and Tubulicrinissceptiferus.The flora is boral and most of the species have a wide distribution in the Nor-thern coniferous zone.In a previous paper species of Polyporaceae were reported from Northern China(Ryvarden et al.,1986).Most of the species were collected during a short expedition tothe Changbai Shun forest reserve in the Jilin Province.This paper reports the species ofCorticiaceae (s.lato) from the same expedition.There are duplicates of all species bothin Oslo University Herbarium and the Herbarium of Mycologicum,Academia Sinica(HMAS)the Institute of Microbiology in Beijing.The knowledge of the Corticiaceae of China is veryfragmentary and many of the names indicated in previous reports are now replacedby othernames,and the identification of the collections in many cases are dubious.Thus,we havenot tried to establish how many of these species which previously have not been reportedfrom China.Such a list would be of little interest since very few has collected Corticiacritically in recent times,and the flora is still more or less unknown with regard to thisgroup of fungi.The following list must therefore be regarded as a first contribution tolist the Corticiaceae of China based on the same species concepts and names as currentlyused in Europe and North America,see Eriksson et al.(1976—84)Jiilich and Stalpers(1984),Gilbertson (1974).List of collections all from 11—17 Sept.1983.Nos.21315—21407/21696—21814.Jilin Prov.,Changbai Shah,Forest Reserve,Hangcong gou,750 m.a.s.l.Nos,21408—21603.JilinProv.,Changbai Shah,Forest Reserve,Huang Song Pu,1200 m.a.s.l.Nos.21619—21695.Jilin Prov.,Changbai Shun,Forest Reserve,Bai Shun Station,1100m.a.s.l.     

The composition and relationships of the marine molluscan fauna of the Pitcairn Islands

The recent expedition has doubled the number of marine molluscs known from the Pitcairn Islands. Over 80 taxa are recorded from Ducie and Pitcairn (both still poorly known), 240 from Oeno and 320 from Henderson. A total exceeding 400 taxa is now known from the group as a whole. Most of this increase results from a vastly improved knowledge of the small taxa that had been neglected in earlier surveys. Important faunal differences exist between the four islands in the group which are related to the different character of each island. These totals still underestimate the true diversities, but they provide data that are comparable in quality to those from adjacent regions. In this context the molluscan fauna from the Pitcairn Islands is seen to be impoverished when compared to those from islands further west. Most of the fauna is composed of widespread Indo-West Pacific species, but there are several taxa that have more restricted ranges centred on S.E. Polynesia. A few, including some undescribed taxa discovered on the expedition, appear to be endemic. Significantly, many of these are characterized by non-planktotrophic larval development. Comparison of the modern fauna from Henderson with the fossil fauna from the Pleistocene reef on its plateau reveals important differences. About 25% of the fossil molluscs are currently unknown from the group and about 5% appear to be undescribed. These high rates of turnover demonstrate that the faunas are temporally unstable.