Apotrachelocerca arenicola (Kahl, 1933) n. g., comb. n. (Protozoa, Ciliophora, Trachelocercidae): morphology and phylogeny

During faunistic study on psammophilic ciliates along the coast of Qingdao, China, a population of Trachelocerca arenicola Kahl, 1933 was found and then investigated using silver staining and gene sequencing methods. The results indicated that it represented a new genus Apotrachelocerca characterized by uninterrupted circumoral kineties composed of two rows of dikinetids and no brosse or ciliary tuft in the oral cavity. This new genus should be assigned to the family Prototrachelocercidae Foissner, 1996. Based on the small subunit rRNA gene sequence, phylogenetic trees revealed that Apotrachelocerca arenicola occupied a basal position to other trachelocercids.     

The Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) capensis group (Acarina: Ixodoidea: Argasidae) of the palearctic and oriental regions. O. (A.) coniceps identity, bird and mammal hosts, virus infections, and distribution in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) coniceps (Canestrini 1890), which was briefly described from adult specimens from St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice, Italy, has been a confusing taxon. We redescribe and illustrate the adult and immature stages from St. Mark's Cathedral (topotypes) and elsewhere, list criteria to distinguish this species from others in the O. (A.) capensis complex, and provide data for 36 collections, chiefly from nest sites of wild and domestic pigeons in humid, rocky situations, and from a nest of the pallid swift, in Italy, France, Egypt, Kenya, Israel, Jordan, Afghanistan, Ukrainia, and Turkmenia. Other collections of small-sized adults and nymphs, lacking larvae, from pigeon, swallow, and swift nest in Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka, are tentatively assigned to this taxon. This is the only member of the O. (A.) capensis group not associated with marine or wading birds. Humans bitten by O. (A.) coniceps in buildings or caves may suffer from pain, edema, chills, and fever. BAku virus (Reoviridae) has been isolated from this tick in Uzbekistan, but most reports of other viruses and infectious agents are clouded by probable misidentification of O. (A.) maritimus as O. (A. coniceps. Published data on the life cycle and dynamics are reviewed briefly. Previously, this tick has not been reported from the Ethiopian Faunal Region (Kenya).     

Genome constitutions of Thinopyrum curvifolium, T. scirpeum, T. distichum, and T. junceum (Triticeae: Gramineae).

The objective of this study is to elucidate genome constitutions of Thinopyrum curvifolium (Lange) D.R. Dewey, T. scirpeum (K. Presl) D.R. Dewey, T. distichum (Thunb.) A. L?ve, and T. junceum (L.) A. L?ve. Hybrids of T. sartorii (Boiss. &Heidr.) A. L?ve with T. scirpeum and T. junceum, as well as the hybrid between T. curvifolium and Pseudoroegneria geniculata ssp. scythica (Nevski) A. L?ve, were made and chromosome pairing at metaphase I was studied. The karyotype analyses of mitotic cells stained by aceto-orcein were conducted for both hybrids and the four target species. The Giemsa C-banding following acetocarmine staining was carried out for the above species and the triploid hybrid T. curvifolium x T. bessarabicum (Savul &Rayss) A. L?ve. Meiotic data indicate that all target species have two sets of the basic genome J, but they behave like true allopolyploids because of bivalentization. Karyotypes of T. curvifolium and its triploid hybrid with T. bessarabicum indicate that T. curvifolium contains two different versions of the Jb genome, designated as Jb3 and Jb4, rather than two Je genomes as previously believed. Thinopyrum scirpeum and T. elongatum (4x) have similar karyotypes. Both are segmental allotetraploids carrying two forms of the Je genome. Their genome formulae are Je2 Je3 and Je1 Je3, respectively. Thinopyrum distichum has a karyotype similar to T. junceiforme, which has the Jb2 Je2 genome formula. However, the two species differ in C-banding patterns, reflecting their geographical separation. Thinopyrum junceum is a hexaploid with two pairs of Jb2 genomes and one pair of the Je2 genome, and it has a C-banding pattern similar to that of T. junceiforme, which has one pair each of the Jb2 and Je2 genomes.