Handedness found in a wild group of moor monkeys Macaca maurus in the Karaenta Nature Reserve, South Sulawesi,Indonesia

Hand preference of wild moor monkeys Macaca maurus was investigated in food reaching situations at the Karaenta Nature Reserve, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The frequency picking up sweet-corn grains to take into the mouth by either hand of monkeys was counted directly at the feeding ground where sweet-corn grains were scattered for monkeys. Among the 20 monkeys examined, 8 were fight-handed, 8 were left-handed, and 4 were ambilateral. The results indicated the prevailed hand preference on individual level but not either trends of left- or right-hand preference on population level. The trend toward a higher proportion of left-handed monkeys found in Japanese and rhesus monkeys was not found. Some other characteristics found in moor monkeys are discussed in comparison with those previous findings in Japanese and Tibetan macaques in order to evaluate variations within the genus Macaca.     

Tracing Genetic Lineages of Captive Desert Tortoises in Arizona

Abstract: We genotyped 180 captive desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) from Kingman (n = 45), Phoenix (n = 113), and Tucson (n = 22), Arizona, USA, to determine if the genetic lineage of captives is associated with that of wild tortoises in the local area (Sonoran Desert). We tested all samples for 16 short tandem repeats and sequenced 1,109 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). To determine genetic origin, we performed assignment tests against a reference database of 997 desert tortoise samples collected throughout the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. We found that >40% of our Arizona captive samples were genetically of Mojave Desert or hybrid origin, with the percentage of individuals exhibiting the Mojave genotype increasing as the sample locations approached the California, USA, border. In Phoenix, 11.5% were Sonoran–Mojave crosses, and 8.8% were hybrids between desert tortoise and Texas tortoise (G. berlandieri). Our findings present many potential implications for wild tortoises in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Escaped or released captive tortoises with Mojave or hybrid genotypes have the potential to affect the genetic composition of Sonoran wild populations. Genotyping captive desert tortoises could be used to inform the adoption process, and thereby provide additional protection to native desert-tortoise populations in Arizona.     

Comparison of two sampling methods for domestic populations of Triatoma infestans in north-west Argentina

Abstract. In mud-and-thatch houses of Santiago del Estero Province, northwest Argentina, where no insecticides had been sprayed officially to control domestic infestations of the Chagas disease vector Triatoma infestans (Klug) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), two knockdown (KD) insecticidal collection procedures were compared with the standard flush-out (FO) method for sampling T. infestans. Bugs were collected by FO using 0.2% tetramethrin in bedrooms of (1) 41 houses of Amama village employing 1 man-hour of capture effort per house, and (2) 19 houses of Trinidad and Mercedes villages employing 4 man-hours/house. From the same houses, 2-5 days after the manual FO collection, bugs were collected by KD indoor-spraying of deltamethrin 25mga.i./m² in Amama, or burning of one γ-HCH (=γ-BHC) fumigant tablet 3.1g of γ-isomer) per bedroom in Trinidad and Mercedes. The majority of infestations were detected by both methods, the proportion of positive houses being 81% at Amama and 95% at the other villages. Although the FO method was more sensitive, at least because it was applied first, the KD method detected infestations in 25% of houses where bugs were not found by FO. Bug densities estimated by FO or by subsequent KD in each house were significantly correlated: r = 0.795 for deltamethrin; r= 0.882 for y-HCH. Compared with FO collections of T.infestans large stages, i.e. adults plus fourth and fifth instar nymphs, the KD catch averaged 0.88x with deltamethrin and 0.57× with γ-HCH, regardless of the apparent population density of bugs per house. However, the KD method has practical advantages of speed and standardization.     

A variant in the restriction endonuclease cleavage pattern of mitochondrial DNA in the domestic fowl, Gallus gallus domesticus

Summary. The cleavage patterns of mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) were investigated from 15 lines of domestic fowls, Gallus gallus domesticus . using 11 restriction endonucleases. The cleavage patterns with 10 restriction endonucleases were identical in all the lines. A variant was found in a line of White Leghorn in the pattern with Mspl digestions. Cleavage patterns of the red jungle fowl, Gallus gallus gallus , were identical to the common patterns shown by the 14 lines of domestic fowls.     

Induction of Unresponsiveness to Canine Renal Allografts by Total Body Irradiation and Bone Marrow Transplantation

RECENT progress in the definition of the DL-A antigens within a closely bred colony of beagles maintained at the Mary Imogene Basset Hospital (Cooperstown colony) has shown that these antigens are components of the principal system of histocompatibility (DL-A) in the dog^1–3. Dausset and associates⁴ have described the segregation of DL-A antigens in 679 offspring of 151 consecutive matings within the Coopers-town colony. Through methods of backcross analysis, 23 DL-A haplotypes (that is, specificities determined by the DL-A region of one single chromosome) have been identified and the DL-A genotypes of 1,302 offspring of 517 matings in this colony have been defined⁴. This combined genetic and serological information has provided an opportunity to reassess the reported survival rates of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in serologically matched littermate dogs⁵. We describe here the long term survival of bone marrow transplants and renal allografts obtained from the same donors in nine littermate and three non-littermate recipients selected on the basis of genetic and serological criteria of DL-A compatibility in the Cooperstown colony. The results are contrasted with the survival of twenty-two renal allografts performed in untreated recipients selected on the basis of similar criteria.     

Cryopreservation of Leucocytozoon caulleryi Sporozoites

Leucocytozoon caulleryi sporozoites that had been stored at - 196° C or -80° C for 6 or 12 months in Eagle's minimum essential medium or Medium 199 supplemented with 5% glycerol and 10% chicken serum showed infectivity to chickens. Glycerol at a concentration of 10% and dimethyl sulfoxide at 10% and 5% were found to be ineffective cryoprotective agents for the low temperature preservation of sporozoites. Sporozoites isolated from the intact females of Culicoides arakawae , which had been stored at -80° C for 6 or 12 months without cryoprotective agents, retained their infectivity. No differences were observed in the prepatent period, duration of parasitemia, and presence of serum-soluble antigens between chickens infected with frozen sporozoites and those infected with fresh sporozoites.