Ciliate Protozoa in the Rumen of Sassaby Antelope, Damaliscus lunatus lunatus, Including the Description of a New Species and Form

ABSTRACT. Composition of rumen ciliate fauna in five Zambian, sassaby antelopes was determined. Six genera, 18 species, and four forms were identified. One new species and form, belonging to the subfamily Diplodiniinae, were found, then labeled Ostracodinium damaliscus n. sp. and Diplodinium bubalidis f. aspinosum n. f., respectively. Only ophryoscolecid species were present while isotrichids were absent. Twelve of 18 total species are commmonly found in African antelopes. Three of those 12 species, Entodinium fyferi, Enoploplastron garstangi and Opisthotrichum janus , are only found in African antelopes. Percentage composition was low in the genera ml of rumen fluid, and the average number of ciliate species per host was 17.2.     

GENERAL ACCOUNTS ON THE OÖCYTE GROWTH AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF VITELLOGENIN BY MEANS OF IMMUNOSPECIFICITY IN THE COCKROACH, BLATTELLA GERMANICA (L.)

The female Blattella germanica pushes out an oötheca 11 days after adult ecdysis and carries it for about 25 days until nymphs hatch out. The terminal oöcyte begins to accumulate yolk abruptly 4 or 5 days after adult ecdysis and grows fully on day 10 when its volume reaches 180 times as compared to that at adult ecdysis.
Vitellogenin, the vitellogenic female-specific protein, was identified by immunoelectrophoresis and Ouchterlony's test. Fluctuation of vitellogenin in the blood, ovary and embryo at various stages was analyzed. Vitellogenin appears in the female blood 3 or 4 days after adult ecdysis and disappears soon after terminal oöcytes have been released to an oötheca. In the ovary, it appears 4 or 5 days after adult ecdysis and disappears when terminal oöcytes leave the ovary. It remains in embryos until shortly before hatching, but is absent in newly hatched nymphs.     

FLAVOPROTEINS IN THE LEAVES OF HIGHER PLANTS CATALYZING THE OXIDATION OF L-GLUTAMATE

1. Two forms of enzyme capable of catalyzing the oxidation of L-glutamate(and L-aspartate) were isolated from the leaves of spinach andseparated from each other by column-chromatographic purificationon calcium phosphate and anion exchangers. They were distinguishedas GD₁ (L-glutamate dehydrogenase 1) and GD₂ (L-glutamate dehydrogenase2). The purification procedures and some fundamental propertiesof the partially purified enzymes were investigated.
2. It wasdiscovered that the enzymes did not require any cofactor,ie., neither dialysis nor precipitation with ammonium sulfatecaused a fall in enzyme activities and the addition of DPN andTPN to the reaction mixture did not accelerate the reactionrate
3. From the results of spectroscopic investigation GD₁ andGD₂were shown to be flavoproteins, although their prostheticgrouphas not yet been identified The activity of GD₁ was enhancedby the addition of FAD or FMN, while GD₂ was not acceleratedby these factors.
4. The characteristics of the two enzymes includingsubstrate specificity,MICHAELIS constant, optimum pH of thereaction and specificityfor electron acceptors were compared.
5. From the stoichiometric study of the oxidation of L-glutamatewith these enzymes, it was confirmed that the reaction is representedby the following equation: L-glutamate+oxidized dye+h₂o
6. Among various inhibitors tested,molecular oxygen which couldfunction as electron acceptor ofL-glutamate oxidation in thepresence of GD₁ was found to causea strong inhibition uponthe same reaction with TTC as el acceptor.The inhibition wasconfirmed to be due to hydrogen peroxideproduced as a resultof the aerobic oxidation of L-glutamate.

(Received July 25, 1962; )     

Reductive carboxylation and amination of keto acids by spinach chloroplasts

1. In spinach chloroplasts, the occurrence of malic enzyme,isocitrate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase and alaninedehydrogenase was confirmed. 2. In the presence of ammonia, pyruvate and -ketoglutarate andpyruvate were photoreductively aminated to glutamate and alanine,respectively. 3. In the absence of ammonia, pyruvate and -ketoglutarate werephotoreductively carboxylated to malate and isocitrate, respectively. 4. Photoreductive carboxylation of pyruvate and -ketoglutaratewas suppressed by molecular oxygen. Inhibition was partly dueto oxidation of photoreduced NADP or NAD. (Received August 4, 1969; )     

Amino-acid Sequence of λ Phage Endolysin

WE wish to present a preliminary report of the amino-acid sequence of λ endolysin. This protein is a lytic enzyme¹ and its structural gene, R, maps toward the right end of λ DNA². Conditional mutants as well as frame-shift mutants (R. Thomas, personal communication) have been isolated and analysed³. Hogness et al.⁴ developed a technique to assay the gene activity of the fragmented λ DNA, which suggested that it might be possible to isolate a small segment of DNA containing the endolysin gene. Purification, immunological properties and end group analysis of λ endolysin were studied by Black and Hogness^5–7.     

Prothoracicotropic Hormone Bioassay: Pupal-Adult Bombyx Assay

Blockage of adult development by brain removal and its resumption by application of the prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) were studied using pupae of a racial hybrid J-122 × C-115 of Bombyx mori . A log-linear dose-response relationship was obrained after injection of a PTTH solution. The Bombyx -unit of PTTH has been defined from this dose-response curve.     

A redescription of Cythere japonica Hanai, 1959 (Podocopida: Ostracoda)

Cythere japonica was proposed by Hanai (1959) as a new species of the genus Cythere , from the Pleistocene Sawane Formation in Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The characters of carapace were already known, but the appendages have not been previously described. The authors formerly considered that this species should be separate from the genus Cythere sensu stricto because it has twice as many sieve-type pore systems as typical Cythere species, and a markedly higher carapace. The existence of living Cythere japonica in the tidal zone of north-west Japan is confirmed, and its taxonomic position re-examined on the basis of its appendages and the ontogeny of pore systems. The appendages, except for the copulatory organ, are almost identical with those of other Cythere species, and their pore systems share the same pattern in and before the A-4 moult stage. On the basis of these features this species should be retained in the genus Cythere. Phylogenetic relationships are considered on the basis of the ontogeny of pore systems.
The abdominal segments of podocopid Ostracoda, which have always been regarded as difficult to observe because of their fusion, are shown clearly by the SEM.     

Additive apportioning of lepidopteran and coleopteran species diversity across spatial and temporal scales in a cool–temperate deciduous forest in Japan

Abstract.  1. Forest entomofauna retain high diversity, and examining beta diversity, or species turnover, among assemblages in a forest community is vital to elucidate the source of this diversity.
2. Under the DIVERSITAS in Western Pacific and Asia–International Biodiversity Observation Year (DIWPA–IBOY) project for simultaneously documenting biodiversity throughout the Western Pacific and Asian Region, 892 lepidopteran species (51 742 specimens) and 355 coleopteran species (11 633 specimens) were collected in 2001 by light traps in a cool–temperate forest in northern Japan.
3. This study evaluated the beta diversity of lepidopteran and coleopteran communities by ecological categories (i.e. trap location, forest strata, sampling days, and months), and assessed the habitat preferences of lepidopteran and coleopteran species.
4.  anova -like additive apportioning models were used to quantify the beta diversity among the categories. The models simultaneously provide assessments of whether species distributions are biased in favour of particular habitats.
5. Significantly high beta diversity was observed among months for both Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. The category of months corresponded fairly well to the number of specialist species detected in the category, although a remarkably large number of significant specialists in Coleoptera were observed on strata.
6. The high beta diversity and number of specialist species among strata in both communities indicate that stratification between canopy and ground, and seasonal variation, played major roles in species composition and the rich entomofauna in the forest. Highly mobile adults were influenced by the vertical spatial scale, as previously suggested for larvae.     

Phylogeny and the evolution of nesting behaviour in the tribe Ageniellini (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Pompilidae)

The Pompilidae (spider hunting wasps) show a marked diversity in their hunting and reproductive ecology, but difficulties in phylogenetic taxonomy have hindered the elucidation of their evolutionary processes. We present here a review of the hunting and reproductive ecology of the pepsine tribe Ageniellini (including the first prey record for Macromerella), and phylogenetic analyses of this group to reconstruct the evolution of nest‐constructing behaviour. The maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses are based on 45 adult morphological characters, coded for 41 exemplar species, including five out‐group species, representing almost all the genera and subgenera in this tribe. Results supported the following eight clades uniting more than one genus: (1) Cyphononyx + Cryptocheilus + Ageniellini; (2) Ageniellini; (3) Auplopodina, containing Dimorphagenia, Auplopus, Machaerothrix, Phanagenia, Dichragenia, Paragenia, Macromerella, and Macromeris; (4) Phanagenia + Dichragenia + Auplopus artemis + Paragenia + Macromerella + Macromeris; (5) Auplopus artemis + Paragenia + Macromerella + Macromeris; (6) Paragenia + Macromerella + Macromeris; (7) Macromerella + Macromeris; and (8) Ageniella (Lissagenia) + Phanochilus. The monophyly of the genera Auplopus and Ageniella s.l. was not confirmed. The evolution of nesting behaviour was inferred, as burrowing in the soil without using water was ancestral in Ageniellini, and constructing nests by plastering mud obtained by softening soil with water was derived only once at the ancestor of the Auplopodina. The origin of cleptoparasitism was unclear. The origin of communal nesting is also discussed in relation to the evolution of nest‐constructing behaviour. The following new combinations are proposed: Ageniella (Alasagenia) sartoriana (Cresson) comb. nov. , Cyemagenia certator (Nurse) comb. nov. , and Auplopus artemis (Bingham) comb. nov. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 160 , 88–117.