ABSTRACT. Entodiniomorphid ciliates are often present in the colons of wild apes. In captive apes the infection tends to gradually disappear, with the exception of Troglodytella abrassarti . We used fecal examinations to screen the gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla ) in European (Czech Republic, UK) and Australian Zoos to explore the ape-to-ape transmission pattern of T. abrassarti . Gorillas from two out of three European Zoos were positive for T. abrassarti , while gorillas from the Australian Zoo were negative. We documented a horizontal transmission of T. abrassarti to a non-infected adult gorilla introduced into a Troglodytella -positive group in the Prague Zoo and traced the origin of the ciliate infection to the Paignton Zoo (UK) using serial fecal examinations. During this study, two infant gorillas born in the Prague Zoo (CZ) first became positive for T. abrassarti at the age of 9 mo. Ciliate morphology and the sequencing of the small subunit rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer rDNA spacer region revealed that T. abrassarti affects both captive gorillas and chimpanzees. We conclude that zoo transport plays a major role in the distribution of T. abrassarti among captive gorillas. 相似文献
Silica particles cationized by dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) bilayer were previously described. This work shows
the efficiency of these particulates for antigen adsorption and presentation to the immune system and proves the concept that
silica-based cationic bilayers exhibit better performance than alum regarding colloid stability and cellular immune responses
for vaccine design. 相似文献
The phytochrome nuclear gene family encodes photoreceptor proteins that
mediate developmental responses to red and far red light throughout the
life of the plant. From studies of the dicot flowering plant Arabidopsis,
the family has been modeled as comprising five loci, PHYA- PHYE. However,
it has been shown recently that the Arabidopsis model may not completely
represent some flowering plant groups because additional PHY loci related
to PHYA and PHYB of Arabidopsis apparently have evolved independently
several times in dicots, and monocot flowering plants may lack orthologs of
PHYD and PHYE of Arabidopsis. Nonetheless, the phytochrome nucleotide data
were informative in a study of organismal evolution because the loci occur
as single copy sequences and appear to be evolving independently. We have
continued our investigation of the phytochrome gene family in flowering
plants by sampling extensively in the grass family. The phytochrome nuclear
DNA data were cladistically analyzed to address the following questions:
(1) Are the data consistent with a pattern of differential distribution of
phytochrome genes among monocots and higher dicots, with homologs of PHYA,
B, C, D, and E present in higher dicots, but of just PHYA, B, and C in
monocots, and (2) what phylogenetic pattern within Poaceae do they reveal?
Results of these analyses, and of Southern blot experiments, are consistent
with the observation that the phytochrome gene family in grasses comprises
the same subset of loci detected in other monocots. Furthermore, for
studies of organismal phylogeny in the grass family, the data are shown to
provide significant support for relationships that are just weakly resolved
by other data sets.
相似文献
Camarodont sea urchins possess a rapidly evolving actin gene family whose
members are expressed in distinct cell lineages in a developmentally
regulated fashion. Evolutionary changes in the actin gene family of
echinoids include alterations in number of family members, site of
expression, and gene linkage, and a dichotomy between rapidly and slowly
evolving isoform-specific 3' untranslated regions. We present sequence
comparisons and an analysis of the actin gene family in two congeneric sea
urchins that develop in radically different modes, Heliocidaris
erythrogramma and H. tuberculata. The sequences of several actin genes from
the related species Lytechinus variegatus are also presented. We compare
the features of the Heliocidaris and Lytechinus actin genes to those of the
the actin gene families of other closely related sea urchins and discuss
the nature of the evolutionary changes among sea urchin actins and their
relationship to developmental mode.
相似文献
To study joint contributions in manual wheelchair propulsion, we developed a three-dimensional model of the upper extremity. The model was applied to data collected in an experiment on a wheelchair ergometer in which mechanical advantage (MA) was manipulated. Five male able-bodied subjects performed two wheelchair exercise tests (external power output Pext = 0.25–0.50 W · kg−1) against increasing speeds (1.11–1.39–1.67 m.s−1), which simulated MA of 0.58–0.87. Results indicated a decrease in mechanical efficiency (ME) with increasing MA that could not be related to applied forces or joint torques. Increase in Pext was related to increases in joint torques. On the average, the highest torques were noted in shoulder flexion and adduction (35.6 and 24.6 N · m at MA = 0.58 and Pext= 0.50 W · kg−1). Peak elbow extension and flexion torques were −10.6 and 8.5 N · m. Based on the combination of torques and electromyographic (EMG) records of upper extremity muscles, anterior deltoid and pectoralis muscles are considered the prime movers in manual wheelchair propulsion. Coordinative aspects of manual wheelchair propulsion concerning the function of (biarticular) muscles in directing the propulsive forces and the redistribution of joint torques in a closed chain are discussed. We found no conclusive evidence for the role of elbow extensors in direction of propulsive forces. 相似文献
Complete coding regions of the 18S rRNA gene of an enteropneust
hemichordate and an echinoid and ophiuroid echinoderm were obtained and
aligned with 18S rRNA gene sequences of all major chordate clades and four
outgroups. Gene sequences were analyzed to test morphological character
phylogenies and to assess the strength of the signal. Maximum- parsimony
analysis of the sequences fails to support a monophyletic Chordata; the
urochordates form the sister taxon to the hemichordates, and together this
clade plus the echinoderms forms the sister taxon to the cephalochordates
plus craniates. Decay, bootstrap, and tree-length distribution analyses
suggest that the signal for inference of dueterostome phylogeny is weak in
this molecule. Parsimony analysis of morphological plus molecular
characters supports both monophyly of echinoderms plus enteropneust
hemichordates and a sister group relationship of this clade to chordates.
Evolutionary parsimony does not support chordate monophyly.
Neighbor-joining, Fitch-Margoliash, and maximum-likelihood analyses support
a chordate lineage that is the sister group to an
echinoderm-plus-hemichordate lineage. The results illustrate both the
limitations of the 18S rRNA molecule alone for high- level phylogeny
inference and the importance of considering both molecular and
morphological data in phylogeny reconstruction.
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Abstract 1. The influence of infestation of the larval host plant Gentiana cruciata on the egg‐laying preferences of the xerophilous ecotype of Alcon Blue butterfly (Maculinea alcon) was studied in a semi‐dry grassland area (Aggtelek Karst Region, Northern Hungary). 2. We examined whether oviposition patterns of females differed when G. cruciata stems were uninfested compared with when they were infested by an aphid (Aphis gentianae) or a rust (Puccinia gentianae) species. 3. Females laid more than 90% of their eggs on fertile, uninfested G. cruciata stems, although these stems comprised only ~ 50% of the total stems available. Stems infested by aphids were similar to uninfested ones in properties that had a strong correlation with egg numbers, and yet there were significantly fewer eggs on infested stems than on intact ones. 4. Females never laid eggs on parts of Gentiana stems infested by aphids, and the presence of Lasius paralienus ants, which have a mutualistic interaction with Aphis gentianae, did not increase the repulsive effect of aphids. Infection of Gentiana by Puccinia did not influence the egg‐laying behaviour of females, even though the flowers and buds of infested stems exhibited a delayed development. 5. Aphid infestation can influence butterfly oviposition patterns through both direct and indirect effects. The presence of aphids directly excluded oviposition, but our data also indicated the possibility of an indirect effect of aphid infestation. Stems that had no aphids at the last egg counting, but were infested prior to it, had significantly fewer eggs than those that were never infested. 相似文献
The soils of the Pampas are thought to be generally non-contaminated but there is growing evidence of trace element accumulation at some specific sites. The goal of this study was to measure the current levels of the main Potentially Toxic Elements (PTE) in the top horizon and in specific soil profiles so that we would establish the baseline concentrations of these elements. Eighty-eight top soils and three soil profiles were sampled. The samples were acid digested. Arsenic, boron, barium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, silver, selenium and zinc were determined with inductively coupled argon plasma emission spectrometry (ICPES).
All of the values found are within the normal range for uncontaminated soils as reported from several continents. Elements with high environmental risk potential are lower than the admissible range of the European Union and some of them are orders of magnitude lower than those of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) 501 levels. Potentially Toxic Elements contents increased with depth or showed a maximum concentration at the B2 horizon. This is related to the parent material and the pedogenetic processes but not to recent contamination. Soil profiles showed higher concentrations of PTE in clayey horizons. However, these relationships did not appear in top soil samples in any soil Great Group studied. The shown data establishes a baseline for PTE concentrations for Pampas soils. 相似文献