The amphibian octavo-lateralis system and its regressive and progressive evolution

The phylogenetic and ontogenetic changes in the octavolateralis system of sarcopterygian fish and tetrapods, presumed to be important for the formation of an amphibian auditory system, are reviewed. The lateral line system shows rudimentation of lines and loss of ampullary electroreceptors in many amphibians; in some amphibians it never develops. The metamorphic changes of the lateral-line system show different patterns in the different amphibian lineages with metamorphic retention in most urodeles and metamorphic loss in most anurans. The multitude of both ontogenetic and phylogenetic changes of the lateral line system among amphibians do exclude any prediction as to how this system might have changed in ancestral amniotes. The most important auditory epithelium of the tetrapod inner ear, the basilar papilla, seems to be primitively present in all tetrapods and Latimeria. In two amphibian lineages there is a trend towards rudimentation and loss of the basilar papilla. Only in the third order, the anurans, a tympanic ear develops and the inner ear shows a progressive evolution of the auditory epithelia. Together with the known differences in the periotic labyrinth of amphibians and amniotes, this scenario suggests a parallel evolution of the amniotic and anuran auditory periphery. All mechanoreceptive hair cells of the lateral line system and the inner ear appear to receive a common and bilateral efferent innervation. Among amphibians this pattern is represented only in some urodeles, whereas anurans show a derived pattern with loss of a bilateral component and presumably also of a common neuromast/inner ear component. Changes in the rhombencephalic nuclei which receive octavo-lateralis afferent fibers show a trend towards development of auditory nuclei only in the anuran lineage. The phylogenetic appearance of an auditory nucleus in this lineage coincides with the complete absence of formation of ampullary electroreceptors. In contrast, the earlier claim of a correlation between a metamorphic loss of the lateral line system and the formation of an auditory nucleus is not supported by more recent data: an auditory nucleus develops in anurans already prior to metamorphosis and is present in all anurans even when they retain the neuromast system. In anurans with a metamorphic loss of the neuromasts, the second order neurons degenerate as well. This independence of the auditory and the second order lateral line nuclei is further substantiated by their separate projection to other brain areas, like the torus semicircularis of the midbrain, and their functional properties.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Mapping a cave fish genome: polygenic systems and regressive evolution

We used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting to generate anonymous DNA markers in the fish Astyanax mexicanus, a species with both surface and cave populations. Surface individuals are eyed and pigmented; troglobitic forms are blind and depigmented. We hybridized surface fish and Pachon population cave fish and produced a RAPD genomic map 1064 cM in length (about half the total length of the genome) that was used to screen for quantitative trait loci (QTL) for troglomorphic traits. Three QTL for reduced eye size, two for decreased numbers of melanophores, two for condition factor, and the locus for the unifactorial trait, albinism, were mapped. These factors account for an average of 46% of the variance in these traits in the backcross. The results are the first direct demonstration that troglomorphic changes in this population are multifactorial. Two closely linked pairs of QTL were found. Each consisted of a regressive and a constructive trait QTL. These close linkages are unlikely to have occurred by chance (P <.05 for each) and suggest that troglomorphic evolution might be facilitated by pleiotropy or by genetic hitchhiking.     

Some aspects of cycadeoid evolution

First definite remains of the order Cycadeoidales appear at the beginning of the Mesozoic, and extinction occurred at the end of the Cretaceous. Reasoning on the assumption that the characters most frequently present in a group of related plants are primitive ones, an attempt is made to determine what the most primitive cycadeoids looked like and what the probable ancestors were. Most likely the most primitive cycadeoids had slender, elongated, branched stems, with numerous leaves. Pollen was borne in compound sporangia on leaf-like structures. The most likely ancestral form, on the basis of known Paleozoic fossil plants, are the pterido-sperms. Origin of cycadeoid cones is postulated as having occurred in one of at least three ways. One suggestion is that cones are portions of leaf systems, and that 'telescoping' of the stems' resulted in the displacement of the cone in Cycadeoidea to the axil of another leaf. Another suggestion is that cones are fertile axillary branches. A third idea is that eones represent branches arising from leaves.     

Energy problems in life evolution

Evolutionary aspects of bioenergetics are considered. These include the origin of the first organisms, UV-protection and the beginnings of anoxygenic photosynthesis, the electron donor problem of life and the appearance of oxygenic photosynthesis, oxygen danger and strategies of defense, and the role of oxygen in programmed cell death.Translated from Biokhimiya, Vol. 70, No. 2, 2005, pp. 302–307.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Samuilov.This revised version was published online in April 2005 with corrections to the post codes.     

呼吸机相关性肺炎某些问题的认识

呼吸机相关肺炎(VAP)作为一种特殊的重症医院内肺炎,是重症监护病房内主要死亡原因;急慢性呼吸衰竭接受机械通气治疗者易发生VAP.目前VAP诊断标准主要是根据症状及体症、胸部X线检查及呼吸道分泌物培养结果等指标,该VAP标准过度敏感,缺乏特异性且有局限性.人工气道内抽吸物(ETA)、支气管镜下通过保护性样本刷(PSB)或者支气管肺泡灌洗(BAL)取材进行病原学定量培养的阈值分别为105 cfu/ml、103 cfu/ml及104 cfu/ml.但VAP的发生和病原菌的繁殖是一个动态过程,病原学定量培养定量值取决于患者是否抗生素、抗生素疗效、机械通气时间、混合感染及机体免疫功能状态等等.结合基础疾病、机械通气情况及呼吸道分泌物的培养病原菌等因素综合确定患者是否存在VAP是十分必要的,正确早期诊疗VAP对患者预后有重要意义.     

Some problems of industrial scale-up

There are problems associated with all stages of the scaling-up of biological processes developed on a laboratory scale. The large size of industrial fermenters required for commercial viability (up to 100 m³) gives rise to problems of mixing, heat transfer, and control as well as problems in physically handling large volumes of liquids and gases. The concentration of products obtained from biological processes is low (typically 10 per cent), so recovery processes require a large energy input. The optimization and integration of all parts of the process, from the initial fermentation to marketable product, is essential.     

Functional evolution: origin and problems

In the article the history of comparative and evolutionary physiology since the early XIX is given. The most substantial methods of evolutionary physiology are described. In the mid-50ies Orbely put forward the suggestion concerning two tasks facing evolutionary physiology, namely the study of evolution of functions and functional evolution. In the present work attention is given to the principles underlying evolution of functions on different levels of physiological systems. The main aspects of functional evolution are discussed.     

Some problems in modern bioelectromagnetics

One of the main problems of bioelectromagnetics - the unbelievable narrow resonance peaks at the cyclotron frequency of the alternating magnetic field - was considered. Modern electrodynamics of condensed matter clearly brings out that the reason of this phenomenon is extremely low viscosity within coherence domains of aqueous electrolytic solutions. The electrochemical model of action of combined static and alternating magnetic fields on aqueous solutions of amino acids is proposed. The possibility of arising a succession of changes in ionic forms in these processes was revealed. The dipole ions (zwitterions) together with water molecules electrostatically forming joint groups in the solution, create favorable conditions for arising mixed coherence domains there. Simultaneously with evolution of the coherent processes in these domains, the amino acid zwitterions are transforming into the usual ionic form, fit for cyclotron resonance. The development of cyclotron resonance under action of combined magnetic fields increases the ion kinetic energy, and the ions leave the domains for the incoherent component of the solution according to Del Giudice pattern (Comisso et al., 2006; Del Giudice et al., 2002), creating the peak current through the solution. Then the ions are transforming little by little into zwitterionic form again; after that, the solution becomes ready to react on exposure of magnetic fields again. The possibilities for formation of coherence domains composed of water molecules together with peptide molecules or protein ones are discussed.