Search results for " fishes"
showing 4 items of 24 documents
Increased susceptibility to predation and altered anti-predator behaviour in an acanthocephalan-infected amphipod.
2007
7 pages; International audience; According to the 'parasitic manipulation hypothesis', phenotypic changes induced by parasites in their intermediate hosts are effective means of increasing trophic transmission to final hosts. One obvious prediction, although seldom tested, is that increased vulnerability of infected prey to an appropriate predator should be achieved by the parasite altering the anti-predator behaviour of its intermediate host. In this study, we tested this prediction using the fish acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus tereticollis and the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex. Firstly, we estimated the relative vulnerability of infected and uninfected gammarids to predation by the b…
Length-Weight Relationships of 52 Species from the South of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea)
2022
The Length-Weight relationships (LWRs) of 52 species (14 never reported before) of fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods living on the shelf and upper slope off Southern Sicily are provided. Data were collected in the framework of the International bottom trawl survey in the Mediterranean (MEDITS) in the South of Sicily (Central Mediterranean), covering a time frame ranging from 2012 to 2019. Linear regressions were significant for all species (p < 0.05) with R2 values ranging from 0.86 to 0.99. The intercept (a) of LWRs ranged from 0.0003 to 0.4677, while the slope (b) ranged from 2.1281 to 3.306. The Welch t-test, used to evaluate differences between the obtained LWRs with those reported…
Zebrafish Fins as a Model System for Skeletal Human Studies
2007
Recent studies on the morphogenesis of the fins ofDanio rerio(zebrafish) during development and regeneration suggest that a number of inductive signals involved in the process are similar to some of those that affect bone and cartilage differentiation in mammals and humans. Akimenko et al. (2002) has shown that bone morphogenetic protein-2b (BMP2b) is involved in the induction of dermal bone differentiation during fin regeneration. Many other groups have also shown that molecules from the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily (TGFβ), including BMP2, are effective in promoting chondrogenesis and osteogenesisin vivoin higher vertebrates, including humans. In the present study, we review…
Regenerative Medicine: Does Erythropoietin have a Role?
2009
Regenerative Medicine, a recent new medical domain, aims to develop new therapies through the stimulation of natural regenerative processes also in human beings. In this field, Erythropoietin (EPO) represents a significant subject of research. Several studies allow the assertion that EPO, in different concentrations, has protective effects mainly on the central nervous system, cardiovascular system and renal tissue. This action is carried out through one of few regenerative activities of human beings: angiogenesis. This mechanism, which involves endothelial stem cells and VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor), has been experimentally demonstrated with Recombinant human erythropoietin (r…