Search results for "Embryo"

The occurrence of runt eggs in waterfowl clutches

2004

Abstract Eggs that are abnormally small are called runt eggs, and they occur in clutches across a wide variety of bird species. We surveyed waterfowl researchers to determine the natural frequency of occurrence of runt eggs in wild nesting ducks, geese, and swans. Of 551,632 eggs examined, 215 were runts, yielding a frequency of 0.039%. They occurred at about four times this frequency (0.156% in 21,832 eggs) in a museum oological collection. Runt eggs were not significantly more common within any taxonomic group among wild waterfowl, and their occurrence was not related to the mean clutch size of a species or to whether waterfowl exhibited regular conspecific nest parasitism. Cavity-nesting…

Impacts of ambient temperature and clutch size on incubation behaviour onset in a female-only incubator songbird

2021

Ambient temperature is assumed to be the major cue used by passerines to synchronize their laying and hatching dates to the expected peak of prey availability. While laying eggs, females are still able to fine-tune their hatching date following increasing or decreasing patterns of ambient temperature, mostly via changes in incubation onse t. The onset of incubation behaviour in relation to the laying sequence could have later conse- quences for the duration of the incubation period and the extent of hatching asynchrony. Clutch size is also known to affect incubation patterns and might therefore condition potential responses to changing temperatures. In this study we assessed the association…

Incubation and hatching periods in a Mediterranean Great Tit Parus major population

2014

Capsule The onset of incubation relative to clutch completion is highly variable in Great Tits Parus major, and has important consequences for the duration of the incubation and hatching periods.Aim To investigate when incubation starts relative to clutch completion, its effects on the length of the incubation and hatching periods, and which proximate factors affect all of these traits.Methods We used data from a Great Tit population in Eastern Spain collected over 15 years. Periodic visits to the nests (daily at some stages) allowed the determination of breeding parameters of interest. General linear models were used for analyses.Results On average, incubation started the day of laying of …

Nestling growth and mortality of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca in relation to weather and breeding effort

1996

The growth pattern and mortality of young Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca were studied to focus on the mechanisms and constraints behind the widely studied optimization of clutch size. The clutch sizes were modified, and the growth and survival of chicks from different clutch sizes were monitored along with the prevailing weather during the nestling period to detect the effect of weather on reproductive success. The weather conditions during the feeding period of the nestlings varied within a season as well as between breeding seasons. The prevailing weather markedly affected both the growth rate and the survival of chicks, yet, the effects of weather on growth were not greater in enlar…

Breeding success of a colony of Boat-billed Herons Cochlearius cochlearius (Ciconiiformes: Ardeidae) in pasturelands of Costa Rica

2014

The breeding success of a double-brooding colony of Boat-billed Herons Cochlearius cochlearius was studied in pasturelands of Costa Rica. Mean clutch size in the first clutches (2.9 eggs/nest) was higher than in second and repeat clutches (2.3 eggs/nest). Breeding success was similar in the first attempt and second attempts(20.7 % and 21.7 %, respectively). In both attempts earlier nests enjoyed a higher breeding success. Starvation of the youngest chicks within the nest and destruction of nests by bad weather conditions were the main factors related to nestling death. No effects of human activity on the reproduction of the breeding colony were observed. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (4): 1131-1134. …

Different roles for KIF17 and kinesin II in photoreceptor development and maintenance.

2009

Kinesin 2 family members are involved in transport along ciliary microtubules. In Caenorhabditis elegans channel cilia, kinesin II and OSM-3 cooperate along microtubule doublets of the axoneme middle segment, whereas OSM-3 alone works on microtubule singlets to elongate the distal segment. Among sensory cilia, vertebrate photoreceptors share a similar axonemal structure with C. elegans channel cilia, and deficiency in either kinesin II or KIF17, the homologue of OSM-3, results in disruption of photoreceptor organization. However, direct comparison of the two effects is confounded by the use of different species and knockdown strategies in prior studies. Here, we directly compare the effects…

Deregulation of miR-324/KISS1/kisspeptin in early ectopic pregnancy: mechanistic findings with clinical and diagnostic implications

2019

[Abstract] BACKGROUND: Ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition for which novel screening tools that would enable early accurate diagnosis would improve clinical outcomes. Kisspeptins, encoded by KISS1, play an essential role in human reproduction, at least partially by regulating placental function and possibly embryo implantation. Kisspeptin levels are elevated massively in normal pregnancy and reportedly altered in various gestational pathologic diseases. Yet, the pathophysiologic role of KISS1/kisspeptin in ectopic pregnancy has not been investigated previously. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes of KISS1/kisspeptin levels in ectopic pregnancy and thei…

A comparative biochemical, pharmacological and immunological study of Clostridium novyi alpha-toxin, C. difficile toxin B and C. sordellii lethal tox…

1991

The three clostridial cytotoxins, i.e. alpha-toxin of C. novyi (Tox alpha-nov), toxin B of C. difficile (ToxB-dif) and lethal toxin of C. sordellii (LT-sor) consist of single peptide chains of about 200,000 (Tox alpha-nov), 250,000 (LT-sor) and 275,000 (ToxB-dif) mol. wts. ToxB-dif and LT-sor but not Tox alpha-nov cross-reacted with rabbit polyclonal antibodies. Toxicity upon i.v. injection in mice was similar (LD50, 100 hr, 50-200 ng/kg) and was characterized by a slowly developing fluid loss into the interstitial space. When injected into the rat paw the toxins caused a delayed local edema lasting for days. In vitro the three toxins provoked a persistent retraction of endothelial cells cu…

Toward the development of metal-based synthetic nucleases: DNA binding and oxidative DNA cleavage of a mixed copper(II) complex with N-(9H-purin-6-yl…

2009

Abstract The complex [Cu(N9-ABS)(phen) 2 ]·3.6H 2 O, H 2 N9-ABS  = N -(9 H -purin-6-yl)benzenesulfonamide and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, has been synthesized and then characterized with the aid of X-ray diffraction, analytical, and spectroscopic techniques. The geometry of Cu(II) is distorted square pyramidal with the equatorial positions occupied by three N atoms from two phenantroline molecules and one N atom from the adenine ring of the sulfonamide ligand. The interaction of the complex with DNA was studied by means of viscosity measurements and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results pointed to a classic intercalation of the complex between the DNA base pairs. The complex was found to b…

2013

Perlecan is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan assembled into the vascular basement membranes (BMs) during vasculogenesis. In the present study we have investigated vessel formation in mice, teratomas and embryoid bodies (EBs) in the absence of perlecan. We found that perlecan was dispensable for blood vessel formation and maturation until embryonic day (E) 12.5. At later stages of development 40% of mutant embryos showed dilated microvessels in brain and skin, which ruptured and led to severe bleedings. Surprisingly, teratomas derived from perlecan-null ES cells showed efficient contribution of perlecan-deficient endothelial cells to an apparently normal tumor vasculature. However, in perlecan…