Search results for "Leech"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
The structure of parasite component communities in brackish water fishes of the northeastern Baltic Sea
2001
We used nestedness analysis to seek non-random patterns in the structure of component communities of metazoan parasites collected from 31 sympatric fish species from the northeastern Bothnian Bay, the most oligohaline area of the Baltic Sea. Only 8 marine parasite species were found among the 63 species recorded, although some marine fish species reproduce in the bay and others occasionally visit the area. Marine parasite species can utilize both freshwater and marine fish species as intermediate or final hosts, and marine fish can harbour freshwater parasite species. This exchange of parasite species between marine and freshwater fish has probably resulted from ecological factors acting ov…
Solving a Bloody Mess: B-Vitamin Independent Metabolic Convergence among Gammaproteobacterial Obligate Endosymbionts from Blood-Feeding Arthropods an…
2015
Endosymbiosis is a common phenomenon in nature, especially between bacteria and insects, whose typically unbalanced diets are usually complemented by their obligate endosymbionts. While much interest and focus has been directed toward phloem-feeders like aphids and mealybugs, blood-feeders such as the Lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), Glossina flies, and the human body louse (Pediculus humanus corporis) depend on obligate endosymbionts which complement their B-vitamin-deficient diets, and thus are required for growth and survival. Glossiphoniid leeches have also been found to harbor distinct endosymbionts housed in specialized organs. Here, we present the genome of the bacterial endosy…
Infection, specificity and host manipulation of Australapatemon sp. (Trematoda, Strigeidae) in two sympatric species of leeches (Hirudinea)
2017
SUMMARYFactors that drive parasite specificity and differences in infection dynamics among alternative host species are important for ecology and evolution of host–parasite interactions, but still often poorly known in natural systems. Here, we investigated spatiotemporal dynamics of infection, host susceptibility and parasite-induced changes in host phenotype in a rarely explored host–parasite system, theAustralapatemonsp. trematode infecting two sympatric species of freshwater leeches,Erpobdella octoculataandHelobdella stagnalis. We show significant variation in infection abundance between the host species in both space and time. Using experimental infections, we also show that most of th…
Nested allosteric interactions in extracellular hemoglobin of the leech Macrobdella decora
2003
Hemoglobin from the leech Macrobdella decora belongs to the class of giant extracellular hexagonal bilayer globin structures found in annelid and vestimentiferan worms. These complexes consist of 144 heme-bearing subunits, exhibit a characteristic quaternary structure (2 × (6 × (3 × 4))), and contain tetramers as basic substructures that express cooperative oxygen binding and thus provide a structural basis for a hierarchy in allosteric interactions. A thorough analysis of the isolated tetramer indicates that it functions as a trimer of cooperatively interacting subunits and a non-cooperative monomer rather than as four interacting subunits. A thermodynamic analysis of the whole molecule fa…
4-Aminopyridine (4AP) Enhances Acetylcholine Output from the Rat Cerebral Cortex in vivo
1982
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a study to analyze the effect of 4-aminopyridine (4AP) administration on cortical acetylcholine (ACh) output. The study was done on adult male Wistar rats under urethane or pentobarbital anesthesia. A small Perspex cylinder filled with eserinized Ringer solution was applied on the exposed cerebral cortex. The solution in the collecting cylinder was removed every 10 min and its ACh content was determined by bioassay on the dorsal muscle of the leech. In urethane anaesthetized rats, the control ACh output was 0.98 ± 0.16 ng/min/cm2 and the administration of 4AP (3 mg/kg i.p.) was followed by a rapid increase in ACh output lasting at least 40 min. The i…
The good, the bad and the ugly: Emys trinacris, Placobdella costata and Haemogregarina stepanowi in Sicily (Testudines, Annelida and Apicomplexa)
2016
Endemic Sicilian pond turtles Emys trinacris Fritz, Fattizzo, Guicking, Tripepi, Pennisi, Lenk, Joger et Wink were examined for the presence of haemogregarine parasites. The presence of haemogregarines, occurring mainly in the microgametocyte stage (13.2 ± 0.12 μm in length and 6.4 ± 0.52 μm in width), was observed in approximately 9% of the sampled E. trinacris. Based on the observed morphology and on the sequencing of nuclear 18S rDNA, we identified the parasite as Haemogregarina stepanowi Danilewsky, 1885. Morphometric study of uninfected and infected red blood cells has shown that H. stepanowi induces different changes in erythrocyte shape depending on the infective stage. The different…
First record of the alien leech Myzobdella lugubris Leidy, 1851 (Hirudinea, Piscicolidae) in the Palearctic
2018
espanolEn este estudio reportamos la aparicion de la sanguijuela Neartica Myzobdella lugubris en un cuerpo de agua salobre de la reserva natural Riserva Naturale dello Stato “Le Cesine” (Apulia, Italy). Dos especimenes de la especie fueren recolectados en el cuello y las extremidades anteriores de una tortuga de estanque europea Emys orbicularis hellenica en Octubre del 2016. La identificacion de los dos especimenes fue basada en datos morfologicos y de secuenciacion molecular. En su distribucion natural, M. lugubris es conocida por ser huesped y vector de bacterias y virus, de los cuales algunos son patogenos de gravedad en peces. En vista de los posibles efectos nocivos, que ejercen sobre…
DNA barcodes reveal the presence of the introduced freshwater leechHelobdella europaeain Spain
2013
Abstract We report the finding of the freshwater leech Helobdella europaea in Spain for the first time. Three leech specimens were found attached to the European pond turtle Emys orbicularis. Helobdella europaea is not a blood feeder and, like all members of the genus, feeds on the hemolymph of aquatic invertebrates including snails and worms. Despite the fact that the original geographical distribution or source population of this species is unknown, the close relationship between H. europaea and leeches of the "triserialis" series (sensu Sawyer, 1986) suggests a New World origin. Given its ability to invade and persist in new environments, this leech has been described as a new species by…
New distributional data for the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820 (Hirudinea, Hirudinidae) in Italy, with a note on its feedi…
2021
Author(s): Marrone, Federico; Alfonso, Giuseppe; Barbagallo, Rosario; Brandmayr, Pietro; Bruni, Giacomo; Costa, Simone; Farina, Giovanni; Gerecke, Reinhard; Iannarelli, Angelina; Mazza, Giuseppe; Mazzei, Antonio; Menchetti, Mattia; Moretti, Valerio; Mori, Emiliano; Novaga, Riccardo; Pecoraro, Marco; Schifani, Enrico; Stoch, Fabio; Vecchioni, Luca | Abstract: Scarce data are currently available about the distribution of the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana in Italy, and most of the known occurrence localities are based on records collected in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, which were not confirmed in the last decades, mostly due to a lack of surveys. …
Occurrence, distribution and bibliography of the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820 (Hirudinea, Hirudinidae) in Sicily (Italy)
2019
Author(s): Marrone, Federico; Canale, Domenica Emanuela | Abstract: The occurrence of the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana in the inland waters of Sicily has been lately overlooked. In the present note, the occurrence and distribution of this species is reviewed based both on the review of the available literature data and field collecting. Although a noteworthy reduction in the distribution range of the species seems to have taken place in Sicily in the course of the XX century, Hirudo verbana was confirmed to be still present in several sites located both within and out of Natura2000 sites. The Sicilian populations of the species should be included in the frame of the monitoring activities …