Oncolytic Effect of Bovine Enterovirus on Mouse and Human Tumours

WE have previously reported the oncolytic effect of bovine enterovirus 1 on Ehrlich carcinoma and sarcoma 1 in both the solid and ascites form in mice. The basis of the oncolytic specificity was associated with the adsorption spectrum of the virus^1,2. We have now extended this work to a larger spectrum of transplantable tumours in inbred strains of mice and to initial experiments on the cytopathic effect of BE virus on a number of cell lines and primary cells of human origin. These results demonstrate that the oncolytic effect of BE virus and perhaps other enteroviruses, may be more than a “laboratory curiosity”³ and may be of use against certain types of neoplasia.     

Middle Eocene Pelagornithidae and Gaviiformes (Aves) from the Ukrainian Paratethys

Abstract: We describe avian remains from Novopskov, a new middle Eocene marine locality in Ukraine. The fossils constitute the most substantial collection of Palaeogene bird bones from Eastern Europe and contribute to a better knowledge of the Paratethyan seabird fauna. Most of the specimens belong to Pelagornithidae (bony‐toothed birds), and two species of very different size can be distinguished. The larger of these is tentatively referred to Dasornis sp., the smaller to Odontopteryx toliapica. The specimens include skeletal elements that were not described for Palaeogene bony‐toothed birds and document previously unknown morphological differences between Palaeogene and Neogene Pelagornithidae. It is argued that the purported crane Eobalearica tugarinovi, from the middle Eocene of Kyrgyzstan, is probably also a bony‐toothed bird. A new genus and species of small Gaviiformes, Colymbiculus udovinchenkoi, is described, which is the earliest fossil record of a loon from Europe, preceding the next oldest specimens by more than 10 myr. The Ukrainian fossils document profound differences between middle Eocene and extant marine avifaunas of Europe, and whereas the middle Eocene Paratethyan avifauna appears to have been similar to that of the North Sea with regard to pelagornithid diversity, the absence of prophaethontids and relative abundance of Gaviiformes may indicate faunistic differences concerning the remaining seabirds.     

Movement and Habitat Use of Canada Lynx During Denning in Minnesota

Abstract Establishing whether conditions are suitable for reproduction would help determine if immigration is necessary for Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) to persist at the southern edge of the species range. We located den sites and monitored reproduction of radiocollared lynx in Minnesota from 2004 to 2006. Movement rates of denning females measured with Global Positioning System collars were similar to movement rates of lynx elsewhere. Female lynx with kittens used different habitat types in predenning, denning, and postdenning periods. Landscape composition at the scale of the foraging radius around a den site contained more lowland conifer, upland conifer, and regenerating forest than did home ranges or the area used by radiocollared lynx in Minnesota, USA. We used the spatial distribution of cover-type composition around known den sites to predict and map potential denning habitat in northeastern Minnesota. Techniques for identifying the spatial distribution of suitable denning habitat provide a biological basis for management actions that could enhance recovery of Canada lynx populations in the southern part of the species range.     

Infectivity and Recovery of Tetrahymena pyriformis Strain S from Adult Female Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana)*

Hemocoelomic injection of 5,800–8,000 cells of Tetrahymena pyriformis strain S per female cockroach resulted in lethargy of the insects within 24 hr and death within 72 hr. Ciliates could be recovered 24–48 hr after injection of these amounts of ciliates. Inoculation of smaller numbers of cells resulted in no apparent ill effects to the insects and ciliates could not be recovered. After recovery from cockroaches and reestablishment in axenic culture, the ciliates were rounded and contained large numbers of lipid droplets which decreased on continued cultivation. The ciliates underwent a sequence of morphologic alterations involving a decrease in length and width to form ovoid cells, an approach to the pyriform shapes (but smaller than normal size), an elongation to an abnormal length/width ratio, and then, after 6 days in culture, a return to the normal shape with usual dimensions.     

Effect of Cyclic AMP on Release of Lysosomal Enzymes from Phagocytes

Phagocytosis of undigestible particles causes the selective extrusion of lysosomal enzymes from macrophages and polymorphonuclear leucocytes. The process can be modified by cyclic nucleotides, prostaglandin E and colchicine.     

The Immunochemical Relationships of Prolamins of Temperate Meadow Grasses and Cereals

The immunochemical relationships between the aqueous alcohol-solubleprolamin storage proteins of temperate cereals (wheat, barley,rye and oats) and five species of Festucoid meadow grasses (Loliumperenne, Festuca rubra, F. arundinacea, Dactylis glomerata andPhleum pratense) were studied by "Western Blot" analyses usingantisera raised against C hordein of barley, -gliadin of wheatand avenins of oats. In addition, the reaction between the Chordein antiserum and the grass prolamins was studied usinga quantitative laser nephelometer assay. The results confirmedthe previously reported structural relationship between theprolamins of Festuca and Lolium and members of the Triticeae(barley, wheat, rye). They also showed a strong antigenic relationshipbetween the prolamins of Dactylis and Phleum and avenins ofoats, and this is consistent with their molecular weights andamino acid compositions. The results indicate that similar immunochemicalstudies may be of value in clarifying the taxonomic relationshipsof Festucoid meadow grasses. Key words: Cereals, grasses, prolamins, homology, evolution, immunochemistry     

The bearing of the new Late Cambrian monoplacophoran genus Knightoconus upon the origin of the Cephalopoda

Yochelson, E. L., Flower, R. H. & Webers, G. F.: The hearing of the new Late Cambrian monoplacophoran genus Knightoconus upon the origin of the Cephalopoda.
Knightoconus , a new genus of the Hypseloconidae (Mollusca: Monoplacophora) from rocks of early Franconian age in Antarctica, is multiseptate. The multiple septa are a criticàl feature to be expected in a form ancestral to cephalopods. Fossil cephalopods, however, invariably have a siphuncle as well as septa; some gastropods, some hyolithids, and some monoplacophorans also have septa but lack a siphuncle. Therefore, only the siphuncle can be considered a unique and particularly significant feature of the cephalopod shell. Hypothetical reconstructions of molluscan anatomy support the notion that cephalopods may have been derived directly from a hypseloconid having a high, slightly curved, multiseptate, bilaterally symmetrical shell, by the subsequent development of a siphuncle.     

On the osteology and phylogenetic affinities of the Pseudasturidae – Lower Eocene stem-group representatives of parrots (Aves, Psittaciformes)

The osteology of the early Eocene (about 50 mya) avian taxon Pseudasturidae Mayr, 1998 is revised and its phylogenetic affinities are analysed. Members of the Pseudasturidae are known from abundant and excellently preserved skeletal material, both complete skeletons on slabs as well as isolated, three-dimensional bones. Although this taxon is thus among the best represented of all small early Tertiary birds, its systematic affinities were unknown so far. Derived osteological characters which are visible in newly recognized specimens from the Lower Eocene London Clay of England most convincingly support classification of the Pseudasturidae into the Psittaciformes (parrots). Both, in overall morphology and in terms of derived characters, the tarsometatarsus of the Pseudasturidae closely resembles that of the Eocene Quercypsittidae, which were assigned to the Psittaciformes by Mourer-Chauviré (1992 ). The Pseudasturidae are considered to be stem-group representatives of the Psittaciformes and the sister taxon of all other known psittaciform birds. The Eocene taxon lacks the specialized bill morphology of crown-group Psittaciformes of the Psittacidae. Several other osteological differences between the Pseudasturidae and the Psittacidae probably are also functionally correlated with the specialized feeding technique of the latter.  © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 136 , 715–729.