Trap‐jaws revisited: the mandible mechanism of the ant Acanthognathus

Abstract.Ants of the genus Acanthognathus stalk small insects and catch their prey by a strike with their long, thin mandibles. The mandibles close in less than 2.5 ms and this movement is controlled by a specialized closer muscle. In Acanthognathus , unlike other insects, the mandible closer muscle is subdivided into two distinct parts: as in a catapult, a large slow closer muscle contracts in advance and provides the power for the strike while the mandibles are locked open. When the prey touches specialized trigger hairs, a small fast closer muscle rapidly unlocks the mandibles and thus releases the strike. The fast movement is steadied by large specialized surfaces in the mandible joint and the sensory‐motor reflex is controlled by neurones with particularly large, and thus fast‐conducting, axons.     

Hermaphroditism in tardigrades

Evidence is presented to show the existence of hermaphroditism in tardigrades, a phenomenon hitherto unknown for this phylum: specimens were obtained containing male and female germ cells in maturation in the same gonad. Hermaphroditic animals have been found in a few species of Isohypsibius; in many species of other genera and also of Isohypsibius, there is gonochorism.     

Purine Metabolism in Trypanosomatids*

SYNOPSIS. Purine nucleotide biosynthesis was studied in culture forms of Trypanosoma cruzi strain Y, Crithidia deanei (a reduviid trypanosomatid with an endosymbiote) and an aposymbiotic strain of C. deanei (obtained by curing C. deanei with chloramphenicol). Trypanosoma cruzi was found to synthesize purine nucleotides only from the preformed bases adenine and guanine (“salvage” pathway), adenine being incorporated into both adenine and guanine nucleotides. Similar results were obtained with guanine, indicating that this flagellate has a system for the interconversion of purine nucleotides. Crithidia deanei was able to synthesize purine and pyrimidine nucleotides from glycine (“de novo” pathway) and purine nucleotides from adenine and guanine (“salvage” pathway). Adenine was incorporated into both adenine and guanine nucleotides, while guanine was incorporated into guanine nucleotides only, indicating the presence of a metabolic block at the level of GMP reducaase. The aposymbiotic C. deanei strain was unable to utilize glycine for the synthesis of purine nucleotides, although glycine was utilized for synthesizing pyrimidine nucleotides. These results suggest that the endosymbiote is implicated in the de novo purine nucleotide pathway of the C. deanei-endosymbiote complex. The incorporation of adenine and guanine by aposymbiotic C. deanei strain followed a pattern similar to that observed for C. deanei.     

Plasma membrane H+-ATPase-dependent citrate exudation from cluster roots of phosphate-deficient white lupin

White lupin ( Lupinus albus L.) is able to grow on soils with sparingly available phosphate (P) by producing specialized structures called cluster roots. To mobilize sparingly soluble P forms in soils, cluster roots release substantial amounts of carboxylates and concomitantly acidify the rhizosphere. The relationship between acidification and carboxylate exudation is still largely unknown. In the present work, we studied the linkage between organic acids (malate and citrate) and proton exudations in cluster roots of P-deficient white lupin. After the illumination started, citrate exudation increased transiently and reached a maximum after 5 h. This effect was accompanied by a strong acidification of the external medium and alkalinization of the cytosol, as evidenced by in vivo nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis. Fusicoccin, an activator of the plasma membrane (PM) H⁺-ATPase, stimulated citrate exudation, whereas vanadate, an inhibitor of the H⁺-ATPase, reduced citrate exudation. The burst of citrate exudation was associated with an increase in expression of the LHA1 PM H⁺-ATPase gene, an increased amount of H⁺-ATPase protein, a shift in pH optimum of the enzyme and post-translational modification of an H⁺-ATPase protein involving binding of activating 14-3-3 protein. Taken together, our results indicate a close link in cluster roots of P-deficient white lupin between the burst of citrate exudation and PM H⁺-ATPase-catalysed proton efflux.     

Chromosome characterization and biogeographic relations among three populations of the driftwood catfish Parauchenipterus galeatus (Linnaeus, 1766) (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) in Brazil

The present study employed basic and molecular cytogenetic methods to characterize three populations of Parauchenipterus galeatus from the basins of the Paraná and São Francisco Rivers, and a region of connection between the two basins. Although the diploid number was equal to 58 chromosomes, variations in karyotype formula were detected among the populations. B chromosomes were detected only in the population from the São Francisco River. Heterochromatin was located in the terminal position in almost all the chromosomes and in the pericentromeric position in some acrocentric chromosomes in the three populations. A single nucleolus organizer region was detected by silver nitrate and 18S rDNA‐fluorescent in situ hybridization in the short arm of one subtelocentric pair in the three populations, varying only in the chromosome pair bearing this site. The 5S rDNA sites were located in two submetacentric chromosome pairs in the three populations, varying only in the chromosome pairs bearing these sequences. Classic and molecular chromosome markers, along with the context of the natural history of the formation of hydrographic basins, ecological aspects, and the geographic isolation of populations between hydrographic basins and within the same basin, were important contributions to the discussion on possible biogeographic relations among the populations of Parauchenipterus galeatus. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99 , 648–656.     

Parasites and the blackcap's tail: implications for the evolution of feather ornaments

Although parasites may impair the expression of tail ornaments in birds, the importance of parasitism in driving the evolution of the initial stages of tail ornamentation is not well understood. Parasites could have negatively affected the expression of nonexaggerated, functional traits before these evolved ornaments, or they could have played a relevant role only after tails became ornamental and hence too costly to produce. To shed light on this issue, we studied the correlation between the abundance of feather mites (Acari, Proctophyllodidae) and the size, quality, growth rate and symmetry of tail feathers of blackcaps ( Sylvia atricapilla ), a non-ornamented passerine. Tail length was not correlated with mite load, yet blackcaps holding many mites at the moment of feather growth (fledglings) had lighter and more asymmetric feathers that grew at relatively lower rates. In blackcaps whose mite load was measured one year after feather growth (adults), only the negative correlation between mite intensity and feather symmetry remained significant. Changes in mite load since the moult season could have erased the correlation between condition-dependent feather traits and current parasite load in adults. Our results support the idea that different traits of non-ornamental feathers can signal parasite resistance. Therefore, parasitism could have played a central role in the evolution of tail ornamentation ever since its initial stages.  © 2002 The Linnean Society of London. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 76 , 481–492.     

An Intra-Axonal Protozoon in the Spinal Cord of the Toad Bufo arenarum (Hensel)

SYNOPSIS. A protozoon was found in myelinated axons of the spinal cord and brain of the toad, Bufo arenarum. Examination with the light microscope using Giemsa, Feulgen, PAS and methylene blue technics revealed a primary cell as large as 30 μ in diameter and containing up to 80 nuclei. Electron micrographs showed that the protozoon ranged from 2 μ to 30 μ in diameter and that larger specimens contained numerous secondary cells (2 μ) in addition to multiple nuclei. A few specimens were found in which the secondary cells had long processes with microtubules. Multiple nuclei together with secondary cells suggest that it may be a schizont form of a sporozoon.
The protozoon was found most frequently in axons of the perimedullary plexus just beneath the pia. These axons are without degenerative changes, are up to 3 times the diameter of the largest normal myelinated fibers. The myelin appears normal altho there are fewer laminae than in myelin of other large nerve fibers. The protozoon apparently causes axonal swelling but does not block the fibers completely.
Light microscopic attempts to locate similar forms or other stages in the life cycle by examining blood, skin lesions, spleen, liver, small intestine, dorsal and ventral roots, or sensory ganglia were unsuccessful.
Examination of spinal cords which had been mechanically severed excluded the possibility of confusing the protozoa with multinucleated macrophages. Altho observations do not prove their mode of entrance to the nervous system, the preponderance of protozoa in the peripherally located perimedullary plexus suggests that the path may be by way of the cerebrospinal fluid or along the endoneurium.