Growth and development of winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus, on moose, Alces alces

Moose, Alces alces, were infested with 21,000 or 42,000 larval Dermacentor albipictus at the end of September. Larvae grew rapidly and molted to the nymphal stage 10-22 days after infestation. The nymphal stage lasted approximately 3 mo until mid-January and was characterized by a diapause. The diapause is likely an adaptation to survival in cold climates. Nymphs started engorging in January and adults were seen with increasing abundance from mid-January to March and April. The minimum parasitic period was 175 days. Growth of larvae and nymphs was similar on moose given different numbers of larvae and was generally similar between a moose infested in November and moose infested earlier. Dimensions and stages of development throughout the parasitic phase are given. Game enforcement officers are encouraged to use these data for determination of season of death of moose.     

Kinetic and spectroscopic studies of haemoglobin and myoglobin from Urechis caupo. Distal residue effects.

Seven components of the tetrameric haemoglobin (Hbu) from Urechis caupo were separated by preparative isoelectric focusing and characterized by their absorption spectra and pI values. The helix content and Soret delta epsilon values are reported for several of the components. Temperature-jump O2-binding kinetics of the major components of Hbu show biphasic behaviour, with the majority species having kon = 1.57 x 10(9) mol-1.s-1 and koff = 3.32 x 10(4) s-1. The Fourier-transform i.r. spectrum of pooled Hbu(II)-CO displays a stretching frequency of 1942 cm-1. E.s.r. of Hbu(II)-NO demonstrates evidence of proximal strain similar to that encountered in T-state human haemoglobin. CO-driven reduction of U. caupo methaemoglobin, Hbu(III) and U. caupo metmyoglobin [Mbu(III)] shows much higher rates relative to haemoglobins and myoglobins known to possess a distal histidine residue. Nitrosyl auto-reduction kinetics of Hbu(III)-NO and Mbu(III)-NO are examined. The equilibrium binding constants of several ligands are reported for both Hbu and Mbu, and together with the above kinetic data suggest differences in haem pocket environments between Hbu and Mbu. Reaction of Hbu with 2-chloromercuri-4,6-dinitrophenol demonstrates the presence of one reactive thiol group per globin chain. lambda max. values and the respective molar absorption coefficients for selected ligand-bound states are reported for the major component of Hbu and for Mbu. The majority haem orientation in U. caupo haemoglobin is identical with that of human haemoglobin.     

Variation in heat shock proteins within tropical and desert species of poeciliid fishes

The 70-kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp70) family of molecular chaperones, which contains both stress-inducible and normally abundant constitutive members, is highly conserved across distantly related taxa. Analysis of this protein family in individuals from an outbred population of tropical topminnows, Poeciliopsis gracilis, showed that while constitutive hsp70 family members showed no variation in protein isoforms, inducibly synthesized hsp70 was polymorphic. Several species of Poeciliopsis adapted to desert environments exhibited lower levels of inducible hsp70 polymorphism than the tropical species, but constitutive forms were identical to those in P. gracilis, as they were in the confamilial species Gambusia affinis. These differences suggest that inducible and constitutive members of this family are under different evolutionary constraints and may indicate differences in their function within the cell. Also, northern desert species of Poeciliopsis synthesize a subset of the inducible hsp70 isoforms seen in tropical species. This distribution supports the theory that ancestral tropical fish migrated northward and colonized desert streams; the subsequent decrease in variation of inducible hsp70 may have been due to genetic drift or a consequence of adaptation to the desert environment. Higher levels of variability were found when the 30- kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp30) family was analyzed within different strains of two desert species of Poeciliopsis and also in wild-caught individuals of Gambusia affinis. In both cases the distribution of hsp30 isoform diversity was similar to that seen previously with allozyme polymorphisms.