Search results for "INSECT"
showing 10 items of 2033 documents
Experience influences elemental and configural perception of certain binary odour mixtures in newborn rabbits.
2011
SUMMARY Elemental and configural olfactory perception allows interaction with the environment from very early in life. To evaluate how newborn rabbits can extract and respond to information from the highly complex chemical surroundings, and how experience acts on this sensory, cognitive and behavioural capability, we ran a study in four steps including a total of eight experiments. We mainly used a binary AB mixture comprising ethyl isobutyrate (component A) and ethyl maltol (component B), previously shown as a bearer of blending properties; in rabbit pups (as in human adults), the mixture elicits a weak configural perception, i.e. the perception of a configural odour different from the odo…
Assortative mating and fertility in two Drosophila subobscura strains with different mitochondrial DNA haplotypes.
2003
The mating pattern and female fertility on the two main mitochondrial DNA haplotypes (I and II) of Drosophila subobscura were studied, in an attempt to find possible differences between them in relation to sexual selection or isolation that could explain the populational dynamics and the co-existence of these two strains in nature. The mating pattern indicated an assortative mating in population cages, where couples of the same haplotype, mainly those of haplotype I, mated more often. However, the significations detected in laboratory conditions disappeared in wild populations, where random mating was the rule. The female fertility also showed differences in the laboratory compared to the w…
Not Only for Egg Yolk—Functional and Evolutionary Insights from Expression, Selection, and Structural Analyses of Formica Ant Vitellogenins
2014
Vitellogenin (Vg), a storage protein, has been extensively studied for its egg-yolk precursor role, and it has been suggested to be fundamentally involved in caste differences in social insects. More than one Vg copy has been reported in several oviparous species, including ants. However, the number and function of different Vgs, their phylogenetic relatedness, and their role in reproductive queens and nonreproductive workers have been studied in few species only. We studied caste-biased expression of Vgs in seven Formica ant species. Only one copy of conventional Vg was identified in Formica species, and three Vg homologs, derived from ancient duplications, which represent yet undiscovered…
Evolution of sex chromosomes: dosage compensation of the Lcp1-4 gene cluster on the evolving neo-X chromosome in Drosophila miranda.
2007
In Drosophila miranda the small multigene family of the larval cuticle protein (Lcp1-4) genes resides on the evolving neo-X and neo-Y sex chromosome pair while in the sibling species Drosophila pseudoobscura and Drosophila persimilis the gene cluster is inherited autosomally. The neo-Y chromosomal Lcp1, Lcp2 and Lcp4 genes are, as previously shown by us, not expressed and only Lcp3 is expressed at a strongly reduced level. As a first step in understanding the evolutionary mechanism(s) transforming an autosome into a dosage compensated X we analysed the expression behaviour and promoter structure of the Lcp1-4 genes on the neo-X. The normalized relative expression levels reveal that all four…
Transposition of minisatellite-like DNA in Chironomus midges.
1994
Cla elements are a family of tandem repetitive DNA sequences present in the genome of several Chironomus species. Interspersed clusters of Cla elements are widely distributed all over the chromosomes in C. thummi thummi, while they seem to be limited to the centromeric regions in the closely related subspecies C. t. piger. Here we present molecular evidence that this differential distribution is due to a transposition of Cla elements during evolution of the C. t. thummi genome. We have cloned a "filled" integration site (containing a Cla element cluster) from C. t. thummi and the corresponding "empty" genomic site from C. t. piger and other related species. The comparison shows that tandem…
A nuclear juvenile hormone-binding protein from larvae of Manduca sexta: a putative receptor for the metamorphic action of juvenile hormone
1994
0027-8424 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.; A 29-kDa nuclear juvenile hormone (JH)-binding protein from the epidermis of Manduca sexta larvae was purified by using the photoaffinity analog for JH II ([3H]epoxyhomofarnesyldiazoacetate) and partially sequenced. A 1.1-kb cDNA was isolated by using degenerate oligonucleotide primers for PCR based on these sequences. The cDNA encoded a 262-amino acid protein that showed no similarity with other known proteins, except for short stretches of the interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein, rhodopsin, and human nuclear protein p68. Recombinant bacu…
The NK Cell Response to Mouse Cytomegalovirus Infection Affects the Level and Kinetics of the Early CD8+ T-Cell Response
2012
ABSTRACT Natural killer (NK) cells and CD8 + T cells play a prominent role in the clearance of mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection. The role of NK cells in modulating the CD8 + T-cell response to MCMV infection is still the subject of intensive research. For analyzing the impact of NK cells on mounting of a CD8 + T-cell response and the contribution of these cells to virus control during the first days postinfection (p.i.), we used C57BL/6 mice in which NK cells are specifically activated through the Ly49H receptor engaged by the MCMV-encoded ligand m157. Our results indicate that the requirement for CD8 + T cells in early MCMV control inversely correlates with the engagement of Ly49H. W…
Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells Are a Site of Murine Cytomegalovirus Latency and Reactivation▿
2009
ABSTRACT Latent cytomegalovirus (CMV) is frequently transmitted by organ transplantation, and its reactivation under conditions of immunosuppressive prophylaxis against graft rejection by host-versus-graft disease bears a risk of graft failure due to viral pathogenesis. CMV is the most common cause of infection following liver transplantation. Although hematopoietic cells of the myeloid lineage are a recognized source of latent CMV, the cellular sites of latency in the liver are not comprehensively typed. Here we have used the BALB/c mouse model of murine CMV infection to identify latently infected hepatic cell types. We performed sex-mismatched bone marrow transplantation with male donors …
Inhibition of autophagy rescues muscle atrophy in a LGMDD2 Drosophila model
2021
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy D2 (LGMDD2) is an ultrarare autosomal dominant myopathy caused by mutation of the normal stop codon of the TNPO3 nuclear importin. The mutant protein carries a 15 amino acid C-terminal extension associated with pathogenicity. Here we report the first animal model of the disease by expressing the human mutant TNPO3 gene in Drosophila musculature or motor neurons and concomitantly silencing the endogenous expression of the fly protein ortholog. A similar genotype expressing wildtype TNPO3 served as a control. Phenotypes characterization revealed that mutant TNPO3 expression targeted at muscles or motor neurons caused LGMDD2-like phenotypes such as muscle degener…
Finding of Parastrongylus cantonensis (Chen, 1935) in Rattus rattus in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain).
2010
Parastrongylus cantonensis is a parasite of murid rodents that can infect humans and cause health problems as eosinophilic meningitis. Although it is endemic in south Asia, the Pacific islands, Australia, USA, and a few Caribbean islands, it has been extended to new geographical regions. In the Canary Islands (Spain) a survey of helminths of Rattus rattus, Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus domesticus was carried out. Furthermore, five species of molluscs were examined for nematode larvae to determine whether they are potential intermediate hosts of P. cantonensis. Nematodes were found in the lungs of 15% of 67 R. rattus examined in Tenerife, one of the four studied islands, with a prevalen…