The deciduous dentition and dental replacement in the Eocene bat Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon from Messel: The primitive condition and beginning of specialization of milk teeth among Chiroptera

The deciduous dentition and tooth replacement pattern of Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon from the early Middle Eocene of Messel, near Frankfurt, Germany, are described. Ontogenetic states include fetuses to subadults. The posterior portion of the deciduous dentition (dP3-4) still shows the primitive eutherian condition of molarization, while the anterior part (dI-dC) was already engaged in the evolution of the highly derived condition found in living bats for clinging to the mother's fur. A styliform and sharp anterior dentition is considered a prerequisite in earliest chiropteran evolution. The greatly modified milk teeth of all living bats developed in different clades by parallel evolution under high selective pressure. The tiny and, at initial stages, poorly calcified teeth are substantiated by a newly developed microradiographic technique which is described in detail.     

Dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy of the Opalinuston Formation (Middle Jurassic) in the Aalenian type area in southwest Germany and north Switzerland

Feist‐Burkhardt, S. & Pross, J. 2010: Dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy of the Opalinuston Formation (Middle Jurassic) in the Aalenian type area in southwest Germany and north Switzerland. Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 10–31. In order to provide a detailed dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy of the Lower Aalenian Opalinuston Formation from the Aalenian type area, 68 samples from four boreholes and one outcrop section were analysed. The sample localities are Hausen an der Fils and Wittnau in southwest Germany, Weiach in north Switzerland and Mont Russelin in the Swiss Jura Mountains. Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages were recovered from the Late Toarcian Aalensis Zone to the Late Aalenian Murchisonae Zone. The samples yielded rich, well‐preserved and diverse assemblages with 51 dinoflagellate cyst taxa identified in total. The dinoflagellate cyst distribution data obtained from this study allow a high‐resolution biostratigraphical subdivision of the lowermost Middle Jurassic Opalinuston Formation into four palynostratigraphical units. First and last occurrences, acmes and consistent presence of the species Batiacasphaera sp. A, Evansia cf. granochagrinata, Kallosphaeridium praussii, Nannoceratopsis triangulata, Phallocysta? frommernensis and Wallodinium laganum were selected as the criteria for defining these units. The obtained high‐resolution palynostratigraphical scheme provides a basis for establishing and further refining early Middle Jurassic biostratigraphy in the Boreal and Tethyan realms. □Aalenian, biostratigraphy, dinoflagellate cysts, Germany, Jurassic, Switzerland, Toarcian.     

Analysis of the mitochondrial genome of Schistocerca gregaria gregaria (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

In the present study, we present the full sequence of the mitochondrial genome of the African desert locust Schistocerca gregaria gregaria. The size of 15625 bp reported matches very well with mitochondrial genomes of other Orthopteriodea. The mitochondrial genome comprises 13 protein‐coding genes, two ribosomal RNAs and 22 t‐RNAs with two t‐RNA (trnD and trnK) rearrangements that are typical for the taxon Caelifera. We compared the sequence with 12 mitochondrial genes of Schistocerca gregaria flaviventris and Schistocerca americana and used some of these data to construct phylogenetic trees, which confirm the close relationship between the two subspecies S. g. flaviventris and S. g. gregaria. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99 , 296–305.     

A refined panel of 42 microsatellite loci to universally genotype catarrhine primates

1. Microsatellite genotyping is an important genetic method for a number of research questions in biology. Given that the traditional fragment length analysis using polyacrylamide gel or capillary electrophoresis has several drawbacks, microsatellite genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) has arisen as a promising alternative. Although GBS mitigates many of the problems of fragment length analysis, issues with allelic dropout and null alleles often remain due to mismatches in primer binding sites and unnecessarily long PCR products. This is also true for GBS in catarrhine primates where cross‐species amplification of loci (often human derived) is common.
2. We therefore redesigned primers for 45 microsatellite loci based on 17 available catarrhine reference genomes. Next, we tested them in singleplex and different multiplex settings in a panel of species representing all major lineages of Catarrhini and further validated them in wild Guinea baboons (Papio papio) using fecal samples.
3. The final panel of 42 microsatellite loci can efficiently be amplified with primers distributed into three amplification pools.
4. With our microsatellite panel, we provide a tool to universally genotype catarrhine primates via GBS from different sample sources in a cost‐ and time‐efficient way, with higher resolution, and comparability among laboratories and species.

     

Effect of NSAIDs and Diuretics on Nephrogenesis in an Ex Vivo Embryogenic Kidney Model

The kidney is one of the key organs in clearing foreign compounds. The effects of drugs on the developing kidney are relatively unknown. We studied the direct effect of furosemide, hydrochlorothiazide, ibuprofen, and indomethacin on kidney development in an ex vivo embryonic kidney model. At embryonic day 13, metanephroi were dissected from mice and cultured in control media or media supplemented with various clinically relevant concentrations of drugs. The ureteric tree was visualized by whole‐mount staining and branching was evaluated by counting. Additionally, gene expression levels of Wt1, Sox9, Bmp7, Fgf8, and Gdnf were investigated. No distinct differences were noted on either ureteric tip development or gene expression analysis for each drug after 24 hr of exposure. Even though short‐term exposure to clinically relevant concentrations seems not to disturb renal development, future research is needed to study prolonged or repeated exposures.     

Deep divergence among mitochondrial lineages in African jackals

Recently, molecular analyses revealed that African and Eurasian golden jackals are distinct species. This finding suggests re‐investigation of the phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of other African members of the Canidae. Here, we provide a study on the phylogenetic relationship between populations of African jackals Lupulella mesomelas and L. adusta inferred from 962 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene. As expected from its disjunct distribution, with one population in eastern Africa and the other one in southern Africa, we found two mitochondrial lineages within L. mesomelas, which diverged about 2.5 million years ago (Ma). In contrast, in L. adusta with its more continuous distribution in sub‐Saharan Africa, we found only a shallower genetic diversification, with the exception of the West African population, which diverged around 1.4 Ma from the Central and East African populations. Both divergence ages are older than, for example the 1.1–0.9 million years between the grey wolf Canis lupus and the African golden wolf C. lupaster. One taxonomic implication of our findings might be that the two L. mesomelas populations warrant species status. However, genome‐wide data with adequate geographical sampling are needed to substantiate our results.