Modalités d'installation et d'évolutiondes Harpocératinés (ammonitina A) au Domérien inférieur dans le sud-Ouest de l'Europe (France,Portugal)

In Mesogea, the Harpoceratinae were known asearly as the end of the Lower Carixian. They later reached the sub-boreal province through the Alps or the South of the Iberic Peninsula. The analysis of the populations met in four crosssections of the Lower Domerian (Causses, Mâconnais, Franche-Comté, Portugal) showed the settling down of the Protogrammoceras isseli group that set up and evoluated in a similar way in the different areas in spite of a certain originality.On the one hand, it gave the cladogenetic groupP. monestieri-nitescens by diminution of the ribing density, strengthening of the ribs and simplification of the suture.On the other hand, a slower evolution give, near the end of the Stokesi zone, P. normanianum in the Paris Basin and in Burgundy, and P. lusitanicum in Portugal. At the same time, a new invader, P. celebratum, arrived in the Causses (and in Portugal).     

Relation métabolique entre l'arginine et l'acide γ-aminobutyrique dans le fruit de Castanea sativa: étude préliminaire de l'arginase

Analysis of the free amino acid pool in the chestnut fruit (Castanea sativa) shows that it is high in γ-aminobutyric acid. A metabolic connection between arginine and γ-aminobutyric acid is evident. Three enzymatic activities are involved: L-arginine ureohydrolase, L-ornithine 2-oxo-acid aminotransferase and L-glutamate carboxylyase.     

Stabilité de l'espèce et évolution: La théorie de l'équilibre intermittent («Punctuated equilibrium)

Paleontologists' traditional conceptions on evolution do not seem to be in perfect accord with these of biologists. The gradual phyletism is compatible neither with E. Mayr's model of the Founder, nor with the actual stability of most of the paleontological species. The punctuated equilibrium model proposed by N. Eldredge & S.J. Gould offers a solution which integrates both paleontological observations and the data of modern biology.     

13C NMR des alcaloïdes des Strychnos: Les dérivés de l'harmane et de l'usambarensine

¹³C NMR spectra of some tertiary and quaternary indole alkaloids are recorded and the signals assigned. Graphic interpretation of off-resonance spectra and substituent shielding effects together with the effect of N_b-methylation are utilized in the spectral interpretation.     

Cycles embryonnaires et sécrétion de la cuticule chez l'embryon de blatte, Blabera craniifer

Cuticle deposition has been studied with the electron microscope in cockroach embryos (Blabera craniifer) during normal incubation in situ and in culture in vitro, in the absence or presence of inokosterone (a phytoecdysone).Two cuticles are deposited successively during embryonic life, respectively between stages 11 and 17, and stage 21 and 24 hr after hatching. The occurrence of two embryonic cycles is thus demonstrated, the first ending at stage 17 without exuviation since there is no old cuticle to be shed, the second one at hatching.In embryos explanted at stage 17 and cultured in vitro, the formation of cuticle 2 occurred at the same rate as in situ. The addition of inokosterone (50 μg/ml) to the medium resulted in the early onset of cuticle deposition (in 3 days as compared with 15 days in situ) in legs previously cut at the base of the tarsus. Cuticle 2 was completed within 9 days after explantation (as compared with about 20 days elapsing in the normal embryo between stage 17 and the completion of cuticle 2). Unsectioned appendages were insensitive to the hormone.Regeneration of sectioned legs, which occurred normally n vitro in non-treated embryos, was completely inhibited in the presence of inokosterone, presumably because the hormone caused early immobilization of cells through accelerated cuticle formation.Results suggest that embryonic cycles are controlled by the same hormonal mechanism as larval cycles.     

Côntrole neuroendocrine des protéines sanguines vitellogenes d'Anacridium aegyptium sain et parasite

The changing patterns of haemolymph proteins were followed in male and female adults of normal and parasitized Anacridium aegyptium during diapause (autumn, winter) or during activity (spring) of their endocrine system without or with electrostimulations of the pars intercerebralis (PI).The haemolymph protein concentration is high in winter and decreases in spring. It is comparatively depleted in locusts infected by the fly Metacemyia calloti. However, the depletion is significant only in ‘castrated’ females.Fifteen protein fractions were resolved by polyacrylamide disk gel electrophoresis in haemolymph of normal and infected locusts during diapause and activity. Some fractions decrease in quantity during activity in males, normal females, and parasitized females with complete ovarian development. One fraction disappears in females with mature eggs and seems correlated with formation of the eggshell. Eight others protein fractions exhibit electrophoretic mobility identical to the 7 protein fractions of homogenates of eggs. There is little doubt that these haemolymph protein fractions are involved in yolk synthesis and are thus ‘vitellogenic’. One of these ‘vitellogenic’ fractions (band 6) is larger in yolk than in blood.Five protein fractions were demonstrated by electrophoresis of homogenates of parasites. Their electrophoretic mobilities are similar to those of 5 of the 8 haemolymph ‘vitellogenic’ fractions of the host. There is little doubt that these 5 haemolymph protein fractions (one of them is the band 6) are involved in the nutritional requirements of the parasite.Electrostimulation of the PI, during diapause and activity, increase the haemolymph protein concentration and chiefly the protein concentration of the blood band 6. Thus, the median neurosecretory cells of the brain (M-NSC) regulate protein synthesis and chiefly the synthesis of ‘vitellogenic’ proteins.In parasitized females, the increase of the haemolymph protein concentration after electrostimulations of the PI is associated with an enhancement of ovarian development. The depletion of the haemolymph protein concentration in ‘castrated’ females is thus involved in the inability of the oöcytes to sequester available proteins from the haemolymph. The haemolymph protein deficiency may be attributed to (1) an impairment of protein synthesis, attendant upon the hypoactivity of the M-NSC, and (2) the nutritional requirements of the parasite.     

L'encapsulation hémocytaire expérimentale chez le lépisme Thermobia domestica

The introduction of inert foreign objects into the thorax of the thysanuran Thermobia domestica provoked the formation of a cellular capsule, the development and fine structure of which were examined.Encapsulation at first simply results from the accumulation of blood cells around the implant. It is possible to distinguish 48 hr later four regions in the cellular capsule: (1) An exterior layer including normal haemocytes. (2) An intermediate layer formed by homogeneous intercellular electron-dense material and by stretched haemocytes. These haemocytes have numerous microtubules, without any granular particles, and are linked together by desmosomes. (3) An interior layer of cells in the process of necrosis and rich in lysosomes. (4) A very thin limiting layer tentatively interpreted as melanin.The large number of haemocytes devoid of the specific features of the fibroblasts and the very important reduction of the acellular material without collagen fibrils distinguish clearly the cellular capsules of the Insecta from the granuloma of the Vertebrata and other groups.     

Action de l'ecdystérone sur l'apolysis et l'ecdysis de divers crustacés isopodes

Ecdysterone acts differently according to the period of the moulting cycle when it is applied. In period C it induces apolysis, while at the beginning of apolysis it delays ecdysis. Experiments show that the exoskeleton cannot be rejected in the presence of ecdysterone. The possibility of stopping exuviation or ecdysis with ecdysterone seems to prove that this phenomenon is controlled by a particular factor called the factor of exuviation or the ecdysis factor. Ecdysterone would control only the release of this specific factor but would not prevent its action.     

Découverte de Stringocephaluseet autres Stringocephalidae (Brachiopodes Terebratulida)) dans le Givétien d'Afghanistan

A lot of Stringocephalidae have been discovered,for the first time, in the Givetian of Afghanistan. Among these we have identified: Stringocephalus aff. burtini (Defrance)), St. (Parastringocephalus) dewalense n. sp., Rensselandia aff. circularis (Holzapfel)). The locality is situated in Hazarajat, in a Devonian sequence which is more than one thousand meters thick and the age of which ranges from Gedinnian (probable) to Frasnian.     

Isolement et caractérisation partielle des glycoprotéines de paroi des charophytes: Chara aspera et Nitella translucens

From purified cell walls and pectic, hemicellulosic and cellulosic fractions of Chara aspera and Nitella translucens, glycoproteins were isolated through affinity chromatography on concanvalin A (Con A)-Sepharose column. The chemical composition of protein fractions is qualitatively the same in both algae. The polysaccharidic moieties vary from one glycoprotein to another. None of the glycoproteins present contains cystine or hydroxyproline.     

Le genre Postepithyris makridin (térébratulidés,brachiopodes) dans l'oxfordien et le kimméridgien Français

The questions relating to the type-species of genus PostepithyrisMakridin and to its systematic position within Terebratulids are discussed.The French species are described: besides the type-species P. cincta (Cotteau) from Upper Oxfordian, two species from Inferior Kimmeridgian can be included in this genus: P. minor (Douvillé) and P. dubisensis nov. sp.A new subspecies P. cincta mosensis nov., recently discovered in Oxfordian from East of the Paris Basin, can also be assigned to the genus.Postepithyris did not evolve through a single special facies: the species could supported different environmental conditions.     

Précisions morphologiques,structurales et systématiques sur Reptomulticava parviporosa CANU et LECOINTRE (Bryozoa,cyclostomata)

This miocene organism was described as an Alga (Lithophyllym vinassaiPATRINI, 1932 = Neosolenopora patriniiMASTRORILLI, 1955) and as a Bryozoan (Reptomulticava parviporosaCANU et LECOINTRE, 1934). This paper shows several salient features of Cyclostomatous Bryozoans (morphology, microstructure, zoarial brood chamber). The arguments for the classing of this organism among Algae are simultaneously refuted (pseudo-differentiation of the thallus, conceptacles).     

Ammonites diartianus d'Orbigny, 1850,Vascoceratidae du cénomanien supérieur de saint-calais (Sarthe)

Ammonites diartianus d'Orbigny is a Vascocerasoof late Cenomanian (Sciponoceras gracile Zone) age, occuring in both Sarthe (France) and southern England. It is the earliest vascoceratid known from France, and its recognition is of great significance, lending support to recent suggestions that the classic Vascoceras gamai - mundaeChoffat group are of Upper Cenomanian age.     

Ostéologie et position systématiquedu genre Thrissops Agassiz, 1833 (sensu stricto) (Jurassique supérieur de l'Europe occidentale) au sein des Téléostéens primitifs

The osteological study of the genus ThrissopsAgassiz, 1833 (sensu stricto) from the Upper Jurassic of Germany and France allows to define the systematic position of that fossil fish within the primitive Teleosts. The general shape of the skull, the jaws, the ethmoidal area, the circumorbital bones, the fronto-parieto-supra occipital area, the parasphenoid and the opercular bones are all characters which prove that Thrissops belongs to the family Ichthyodectidae (order Ichthyodectiformes, super-order Osteoglossomorpha). However Thrissops is more primitive than the other Ichthyodectidae which are all of Cretaceous age. It possesses indeed two parietals bearing pit-lines, a premaxillary and a maxillary normally developed, a palatine and a metapterygoid without any contact, a denticulated entopterygoid, three free epurals and six uroneurals, while, in the Cretaceous Ichthyodectidae, the parietals are fused in one bone without any pit-line, the premaxillary and the maxillary are hypertrophic, the palatine touchs the metapterygoid, the entopterygoid is toothless, the epural disappear or fuse with the terminal neural arches to form supplementary neural spines, and the uroneural are only five.     

Le Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus (Mammalia,Perissodactyla) d'Indochine: distinction taxinomique et anatomique; relations phylétiques

The recent Rhinoceros sondaicusDesmarest of 0815 Indochina are referable to a separate subspecies Rh. sondaicus annamiticusHeude. Following a comparison with the various other subspecies, a diagnosis is established on the base of craniological, odontological and osteological features. Rh. sondaicus annamiticus is descended from the Pleistocene form from Indochina, Rh. sondaicus guthi; the distinctive geographic features being superimposed on the species-wide evolutionary trends.     

Influence du corps gras sur l'évolution de l'ovaire nymphal de Tenebrio molitor, étude en culture in vitro

In Tenebrio molitor, the fat body contains several factors able to control the evolution of the pupal ovary in vitro. One or several factors soluble in ether inhibit the initiation of oöcyte growth. One or several factors insoluble in ether stimulate the course of this growth, folicle organization, and the appearance of the transitory zone. The inhibitory action of the fat body is greatest towards the middle of the pharate adult stage. The stimulatory action of this organ is maximum at the beginning of pupal life and during the approach of adult ecdysis.     

Le rôle du système nerveux central sur les mécanismes de l'oviposition chez Carausius morosus et Clitumnus extradentatus

Cephalic nervous connexions were found necessary for oviposition and normal egg maturation in the two species studied. Neurosecretory cells of A type from the brain, suboesophageal, thoracic, and four abdominal ganglia seem to elaborate a stimulating substance for egg laying. This neurosecretion type is not present in corpora cardiaca, corpora allata, the four last abdominal ganglia, or perisympathetic organs which have no clear-cut effect on oviposition. The circadian rhythm of egg laying appears to be entirely controlled by the liberation of this neurosecretion and by an inhibitory factor localized in the head.In Carausius, egg deposition by the valvulae of the ovipositor is regulated by these two factors whereas egg transit through the common oviduct is a distinct preliminary step under nervous control. This nervous effect from the posterior region does not exist in Clitumnus.