Cuparane- and isocuparane-type sesquiterpenoids in liverworts of the genus Herbertus

Canadian and Japanese Herbertus aduncus, Japanese H. sakuraii and Colombian H. subdentatus belonging to the Jungermanniales (Hepaticae) were chemically investigated. The previously known entcuparane- and novel isocuparane-type sesquiterpenoids are the major components which are of importance as chemical markers in the Herbertaceae.     

Acceptance of Liochlaena Nees and Solenostoma Mitt., the systematic position of Eremonotus Pearson and notes on Jungermannia L. s.l. (Jungermanniidae) based on chloroplast DNA sequence data

Nucleotide sequence variation of the chloroplast rbcL gene of 78 representatives of Jungermanniales suborders Jungermanniineae and Cephaloziineae and five outgroup species is analysed using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood. Jungermannia s.l. is resolved in three independent lineages corresponding to Jungermannia subgen. Jungermannia, Liochlaena and Solenostoma (incl. subgen. Plectocolea). Based on the outcome of the phylogenetic analyses we adopt a narrow generic concept of Jungermannia and accept the genera Liochlaena and Solenostoma. Contrary to proposed hypotheses, the monospecific genus Eremonotus is not nested in Scapaniaceae, Gymnomitriaceae, Cephaloziellaceae or Cephaloziaceae but placed in a clade together with Jungermannia s.str., Liochlaena, Delavayella and Leiocolea. These genera possess female involucres consisting solely of leaf tissue (perianths). Related clades comprise genera with female involucres originating at least partly from stem tissue. We propose to include Delavayella, Eremonotus, Jungermannia s.str., Leiocolea and Liochlaena in Jungermanniaceae based on the phylogenetic reconstructions of cpDNA variation and the distribution of perianths in Jungermanniales suborder Jungermanniineae.     

The genus Gottschelia Grolle (Jungermanniopsida,Lophoziaceae) in China,with a description of G. grollei,sp. nov.

Abstract

The genus Gottschelia Grolle is reported as new to mainland China, from Yunnan Province. Previously G. schizopleura (Spruce) Grolle was the only known Chinese species, reported from Taiwan. However, two further species have recently been found in the Gaoligong Shan range, Yunnan Province, G. patoniae Grolle, Schill & D.G. Long, previously known from the East Himalaya of Nepal and India (Sikkim) and G. grollei D.G. Long & Váňa, described here as a new species endemic to China, the fourth known species in the genus. The differences between the three Chinese species are enumerated with notes on distribution and ecology.     

The first complete mitochondrial genome of a parasitic isopod supports Epicaridea Latreille, 1825 as a suborder and reveals the less conservative genome of isopods

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the holoparasitic isopod Gyge ovalis (Shiino, 1939) has been determined. The mitogenome is 14,268 bp in length and contains 34 genes: 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA, 19 tRNA and a control region. Three tRNA genes (trnE, trnI and trnS1) are missing. Most of the tRNA genes show secondary structures which derive from the usual cloverleaf pattern except for trnC which is characterised by the loss of the DHU-arm. Compared to the isopod ground pattern and Eurydice pulchra Leach, 1815 (suborder Cymothoida Wägele, 1989), the genome of G. ovalis shows few differences, with changes only around the control region. However, the genome of G. ovalis is very different from that of non-cymothoidan isopods and reveals that the gene order evolution in isopods is less conservative compared to other crustaceans. Phylogenic trees were constructed using maxiumum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses based on 13 protein-coding genes. The results do not support the placement of G. ovalis with E. pulchra and Bathynomus sp. in the same suborder; rather, G. ovalis appears to have a closer relationship to Ligia oceanica (Linnaeus, 1767), but this result suggests a need for more data and further analysis. Nevertheless, these results cast doubt that Epicaridea Latreille, 1825 can be placed as an infraorder within the suborder Cymothoida, and Epicaridea appears to also deserve subordinal rank. Further development of robust phylogenetic relationships across Isopoda Latreille, 1817 will require more genetic data from a greater diversity of taxa belonging to all isopod suborders.     

Sesquiterpenes of thalloid liverworts of the genera Conocephalum,Lunularia, Metzgeria and Riccardia

Thalloid liverworts of orders Metzgeriales and Marchantiales elaborate essential oils distinguishable from those of the Jungermanniales by the absence of β-barbatene and anastreptene. Riccardia sinuata elaborates a novel tricyclic exomethylene sesquiterpene of as yet undetermined structure. Conocephalum conicum elaborates cadinene-type sesquiterpenes. β-Cadinene from the latter species is clearly enantiomeric to the same product from vascular plants.     

New cryptostomide bryozoans from the Upper Devonian of Transcaucasia and some aspects of the evolution of the order Cryptostomida

New bryozoans of the suborder Ptilodictyina of the order Cryptostomida are described from the Upper Famennian of Transcaucasia: those of the family Worthenoporidae, i.e., a genus Geranopora gen. nov. comprising three species G. fabulosa sp. nov. (type species), G. fida sp. nov., and G. finitima sp. nov., and those of a new family Mysticellidae fam. nov., i.e., a genus Mysticella gen. nov. comprising four species M. labyrinthica sp. nov. (type species), M. laudativa sp. nov., M. sacrosancta sp. nov., and M. ortiva sp. nov. Thus, a Late Devonian part of the evolutionary line of ptilodictyines is revealed that shows their radiation at the levels of families, genera, and species.     

Relationships and position of the taxa of the subfamily Xiphisterinae in the system of the suborder Zoarcoidei (Perciformes)

Analysis of the nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA genes was used to examine the relationships and position of the subfamily Xiphisterinae in the system of the suborder Zoarcoidei. This study showed the genetic heterogeneity of Xiphisterinae and the propriety of its division into two subfamilies: Xiphisterinae with the genera Xiphister and Phytichthys and Cebidichthyinae with the genera Cebidichthys, Dictyosoma, Esselenichthys, and Nivchia. The genetic differences between the two subfamilies were not less, but in some cases even greater than the differences between families within the suborder; therefore, they should be raised to the rank of a family, Xiphisteridae and Cebidichthyidae, and classified not within the superfamily Stichaeoidae but rather as independent taxa of the suborder Zoarcoidei.     

Prelunularic acid in liverworts

Prelunularic acid, the first example of an intermediate with a ‘pre-aromatic’ structure in the phenylpropanoid-polymalonate pathway, was isolated from suspension-cultured cells of Marchantia polymorpha. Its structure, including its absolute configuration, was assigned on the basis of spectral properties, direct conversion into lunularic acid, and CD measurements on the bis(p-dimethylaminobenzoate) of the methyl ester. Prelunularic acid was also detected in several liverworts of Marchantiales and Jungermanniales, and appears to be the immediate precursor of lunularic acid instead of the previously postulated hydrangenol or hydrangeic acid.     

Gnathia gurjanovae sp. n., a new species of Gnathiids (Isopoda: Gnathiidae) from Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

A new species of isopods of the suborder Gnathiidae, Gnathia gurjanovae sp. n. has been described from Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan. The new species is most similar to G. derzhavini Gurjanova, 1933, but differs from the latter in a series of morphological characteristics of the male: frontal margin of the head bears a well-pronounced mediofrontal process; each mandible has an unarmed carina and an obscure tooth; pereopod 6 is relatively smooth; the basis, ischium, and merus of pereopod 4 bear strong spurlike processes.     

Morphogenesis,origin, and paleoecology of the bryozoans of the family Medvedkellidae fam. nov. (Upper Carboniferous,East European Platform)

A new family of the order Rhabdomesida, Medvedkellidae fam. nov., is described. This family consists of a new genus, Medvedkella gen. nov., comprising three species transferred from the genus Rhombopora Meek, 1872: the type species M. riasanensis (Schulga-Nesterenko, 1955), M. diaphragmata (Schulga-Nesterenko, 1955), and M. mariae (Dunaeva, 1961). The morphogenesis of the first two species is studied. For the first time axial zooecia are revealed in the suborder Golgdfussitrypina, which existed in parallel with the suborder Rhabdomesina of the order Rhabdomesida. A hypothesis that the new family evolved from the subfamily Nicklesoporinae Gorjunova, 1985 of the family Goldfussitrypidae, 1985 is proposed. Some questions of the ecological adaptation of these bryozoans in the Late Carboniferous marine basin of the East European Platform are discussed.     

Molecular evidence for the origins of Antarctic fishes: paraphyly of the Bovichtidae and no indication for the monophyly of the Notothenioidei (Teleostei)

The notothenioids are an Antarctic suborder of perciform fishes to which increasing interest is being devoted. To investigate their origin, one must address two questions. First, are Bovichtidae (Bovichtus, Cottoperca, Pseudaphritis), the sister-group of the rest of the suborder, monophyletic ? Secondly, what is the sister-group of the Notothenioidei ? These questions were addressed by determining the complete nucleotide sequence of the D2 and D8 domains of 28S rDNA (759 sites, among which 158 informative for parsimony), for 6 notothenioids and a collection of 6 outgroup taxa including the Trachinoidei and Zoarcoidei. Different outgroups (or combinations of outgroups) and different weighting schemes support the inference that Pseudaphritis is closer to the rest of the Notothenioidei than Cottoperca and Bovichtus are. Relationships of Cottoperca and Bovichtus remain unclear with respect to outgroups. Our molecular data therefore clearly show that the Bovichtidae are paraphyletic, but their relationships are not those suggested by Balushkin in 1992. Our data provide no indication of the monophyly of the Notothenioidei in its classical sense. Most of the homoplasy is due to outgroup sequences and interrelationships of outgroups are unresolved. Some morphological synapomorphies shared by Pseudaphritis and the rest of the non-bovichtid Notothenioidei are proposed, including some that were identified by Voskoboynikova in 1993.     

Successful Rearing of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Colpocephalum turbinatum</Emphasis>(Phthiraptera)

SEVERAL attempts have been made to rear avian lice in vitro but in most cases they have been maintained for only one generation^{1, 2}. Stenram³, however, seems to have reared a species of the suborder Ischnocera, Columbicola columbae (Linn.) in culture for several generations without difficulty and I report here that a species of the suborder Amblycera has been colonized successfully in vitro. I also report the first definitive evidence of predation by lice, for this species feeds on its own eggs and nymphs.     

A new genus and species for the first recorded cave-dwelling Cavernicola (Platyhelminthes) from South America

Species diversity of Brazilian cave fauna has been seriously underestimated. A karst area located in Felipe Guerra, northeastern Brazil, which is a hotspot of subterranean diversity in Brazil, has revealed more than 20 troglobitic species, most of them still undescribed. Based on recent samplings in this karst area, we document the occurrence of the suborder Cavernicola (Platyhelminthes) in South American hypogean environments for the first time and describe a new genus and species for this suborder. Hausera Leal-Zanchet & Souza, gen. n. has features concordant with those defined for the family Dimarcusidae. The new genus is characterized by two unique features, viz. an intestine extending dorsally to the brain and ovovitelline ducts located dorsally to the nerve cords, which is complemented by a combination of other characters. The type-specimens of Hausera hauseri Leal-Zanchet & Souza, sp. n. are typical stygobionts, unpigmented and eyeless, and they may constitute an oceanic relict as is the case of other stygobiotic invertebrates found in this karst area in northeastern Brazil.     

Molecular investigation of Phryganella acropodia Hertwig et Lesser, 1874 (Arcellinida,Amoebozoa)

Phryganella acropodia Hertwig and Lesser, 1874, is one of the most common and abundant testate amoeba species. It represents the type species of the genus Phryganella Penard, 1902, which in turn is the type genus for the suborder Phryganellina (Arcellinida) Bovee, 1985, but despite its taxonomic importance it was not yet analyzed with molecular methods. We established two cultures of putative Phryganella acropodia, designed Phryganellina-specific primers, amplified SSU rDNA data and subjected these sequences to phylogenetic analyses. Morphological and genetic differences were found between both strains. With SSU rDNA phylogenetic analyses we confirm that Phryganella acropodia branches with Phryganella paradoxa Penard, 1902 and Cryptodifflugia Penard, 1890 in the Phryganellina. We thus give further evidence that pseudopodia morphology in the Arcellinida is a character of high taxonomic value, as suggested by Bovee and Jung when erecting the suborder Phryganellina. Moreover, we provide evidence for cryptic diversity and for the first time confirm the existence of a naked life stage in Arcellinida by molecular means.     

Thysanoptera-Terebrantia of the Hawaiian Islands: an identification manual

An illustrated identification system is presented to 99 species and 49 genera in three families recorded from the Hawaiian Islands in the Thysanoptera suborder Terebrantia. Only seven (possibly eight) of these species are considered endemic, the remainder being adventive to these islands. The only previous study of Hawaiian Thysanoptera, by Zimmerman in 1948, included 47 Terebrantia species in 21 genera.     

Vergleichend-embryologische Untersuchungen an Pseudoscorpionen

The development of three species of the suborder Chthoniinea is described. Especially in Chthonius there are primitive features indicating the way in which the embryonic pumping organ might have evolved. Verrucaditha is more specialized. The implications of the results as compared with other species are discussed.     

Enigmatic Sebacinales

A historical retrospect and a taxonomic update will deal with Sebacina s.l. and s.str., Craterocolla, Efibulobasidium, Serendipita, Tremellodendron, Tremelloscypha, Tremellostereum, and Piriformospora, the Sebacinaceae, and the Sebacinales. Phylogenetic hypotheses for the order and subordinal taxa are discussed, including environmental sequence taxa. The cryptic biodiversity in Sebacinales is extensive but mostly unresolved with respect to the species involved. Trophic stages are manifold in Sebacinales but restricted to plant dependencies. Most of the species grow endophytically or form various mycorrhizae, but Craterocolla and Efibulobasidium species appear to be saprobic. The sebacinalean mycorrhizal diversity is unparalleled: ectomycorrhizae, ericoid and orchid mycorrhizae are frequent, both in autotrophs and heterotrophs, as well as mycothalli with Jungermanniales. Mycorrhizal community structures are difficult to evaluate in Sebacinales because of the high percentage of environmental sequence taxa lacking further characteristics. Nutritional requirements and exchanges have been studied extensively in Piriformospora indica, suggesting future possibilities for agricultural applications. The genomes of this species and of Sebacina vermifera have been sequenced recently, thus opening new fields in studying and understanding functional and evolutionary aspects.     

New Upper Devonian species of the suborder Athyrididina Boucot, Johnson et Staton from Belarus

Five new Upper Devonian species of the suborder Athyrididina are described from the Pripyat?? Depression (Belarus): Athyris? parvulus Modzalevskaya et Pushkin, sp. nov., Crinisarina neutra Modzalevskaya et Pushkin, sp. nov., C. ligularis Modzalevskaya et Pushkin, sp. nov., C. reticulatiformis Modzalevskaya et Pushkin, sp. nov., and Pachyplax rudis Modzalevskaya et Pushkin, sp. nov.     

New genera and species of coelacanths from the Bear Gulch Limestone (Lower Carboniferous) of Montana (U.S.A.)

Four new species of coelacanths (Actinistia) from the Namurian E2b marine Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana are described, and a fifth species, originally described as an actinopterygian, is redescribed. Two new suborders are diagnosed. The taxonomy is: Suborder Coelacanthocdei, family Rhabdodermatidae, Caridosuctor populosum nov. sp., suborder Hadronectoroidei nov., family Hadronectoridae nov., Hadronector donbairdi nov. sp., Polyosteorhynchus simplex nov. sp. and Allenypterus montanusMelton. Lochmocercus aciculiodontus nov. sp. is incertae sedis.