Search results for "Mphi"
showing 10 items of 626 documents
Exploring the potential of life-history key innovation: brook breeding in the radiation of the Malagasy treefrog genus Boophis
2002
The treefrog genus Boophis is one of the most species-rich endemic amphibian groups of Madagascar. It consists of species specialized to breeding in brooks (48 species) and ponds (10 species). We reconstructed the phylogeny of Boophis using 16S ribosomal DNA sequences (558 bp) from 27 species. Brook-breeders were monophyletic and probably derived from an ancestral pond-breeding lineage. Pond-breeders were paraphyletic. The disparity in diversification among pond-breeders and brook-breeders was notable among endemic Malagasy frogs, although it was not significant when considering Boophis alone. Sibling species which have different advertisement calls but are virtually indistinguishable by mo…
Polyhydroxyethylaspartamide-based micelles for ocular drug delivery
2009
In this paper three copolymers of polyhydroxyethylaspartamide (PHEA), bearing in the side chains polyethylene glycol (PEG) and/or hexadecylamine (C(16)) (PHEA-PEG, PHEA-PEG-C(16) and PHEA-C(16) respectively) have been studied as potential colloidal drug carriers for ocular drug delivery. The physical characterization of all three PHEA derivatives, using the Langmuir trough (LT) and micellar affinity capillary electrophoresis (MACE) techniques allowed to assume that whereas alone PHEA backbone is an inert polymer with respect to the interactions with lipid membranes and drug complexation, when PHEA chains are grafted with long alkyl chains like C(16) or in combination C(16) chains and hydrop…
Zygocotyle lunata: Proteomic analysis of the adult stage
2011
The somatic extract of Zygocotyle lunata (Trematoda: Paramphistomidae) adults collected from experimentally infected mice was investigated using a proteomic approach to separate and identify tryptic peptides from the somatic extract of Z. lunata adult worms. A shot-gun liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry procedure was used. We used the MASCOT search engine (Matrix-Science) and ProteinPilot software v2.0 (Applied Biosystems) for the database search. A total of 36 proteins were accurately identified from the worms. The largest protein family consisted of metabolic enzymes. Structural, motor and receptor binding proteins and proteins related to oxygen transport were identified in th…
Status of Corynosoma (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) based on anatomical, ecological, and phylogenetic evidence, with the erection of Pseudocorynosom…
2006
The possession of genital spines has been considered as a key taxonomic trait to differentiate Corynosoma from other genera of the Polymorphidae. However, Corynosoma currently consists of 2 groups of species with clear ecological and morphological divergences: the "marine" group (with ca. 30 species) infects mammals and piscivorous birds in the marine realm, whereas the "freshwater" group (with ca. 7 species) infects waterfowl in continental waters. Species from these groups differ in shape of body and neck, trunk spination, lemnisci length and shape, testes arrangement, and number and shape of cement glands. We tested whether species from these 2 groups formed a monophyletic assemblage bas…
PARASITIC INFECTION AND DEVELOPMENTAL STABILITY: FLUCTUATING ASYMMETRY IN GAMMARUS PULEX INFECTED WITH TWO ACANTHOCEPHALAN SPECIES
2002
Several studies have reported a negative association between developmental stability and parasitic infection. However, the host-parasite associations examined so far consist only of a limited number of parasite taxa, and developmental stability was appraised on definitive hosts. The present study examines the association between infection by 2 acanthocephalan parasites. Pomphorhynchus laevis and Polymorphus minutus, and the developmental stability of their common intermediate host Gammarus pulex. Developmental stability was estimated from the fluctuating asymmetry (FA) levels of 6 morphological traits. A positive association was found between FA and infection. Infected gammarids tended to b…
Behavioural and physiological effects of the trophically transmitted cestode parasite, Cyathocephalus truncatus, on its intermediate host, Gammarus p…
2007
SUMMARYSome parasites with complex life-cycles are able to manipulate the behaviour of their intermediate hosts in a way that increases their transmission to the next host. Gammarids infected by the tapeworm Cyathocephalus truncatus (Cestoda: Spathebothriidea) are known to be more predated by fish than uninfected ones, but potential behavioural manipulation by the parasite has never been investigated. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that C. truncatus is able to manipulate the behaviour of one of its intermediate hosts, Gammarus pulex (Crustacea: Amphipoda). To assess if any behavioural change was linked to other phenotypic alterations, we also measured the immunity of infected and u…
A co-invasive microsporidian parasite that reduces the predatory behaviour of its host Dikerogammarus villosus (Crustacea, Amphipoda).
2014
SUMMARYParasites are known to affect the predatory behaviour or diet of their hosts. In relation to biological invasions, parasites may significantly influence the invasiveness of the host population and/or mediate the relationships between the invader and the invaded community. Dikerogammarus villosus, a recently introduced species, has had a major impact in European rivers. Notably, its high position in trophic web and high predatory behaviour, have both facilitated its invasive success, and affected other macroinvertebrate taxa in colonized habitats. The intracellular parasite Cucumispora dikerogammari, specific to D. villosus, has successfully dispersed together with this amphipod. Data…
Infection by a vertically-transmitted microsporidian parasite is associated with a female-biased sex ratio and survival advantage in the amphipod Gam…
2007
SUMMARYVertically transmitted parasites may have positive, neutral or negative effects on host fitness, and are also predicted to exhibit sex-specific virulence to increase the proportion or fitness of the transmitting sex. We investigated these predictions in a study on the survival and sex ratio of offspring of the amphipod Gammarus roeseli from females infected by the vertically transmitted microsporidia Nosema granulosis. We found, to our knowledge, the first evidence for a positive relationship between N. granulosis infection and host survival. Infection was associated with sex ratio distortion, not by male-killing, but probably by parasite-induced feminization of putative G. roeseli m…
Parasite virulence when the infection reduces the host immune response.
2010
Parasite infections often induce a reduction in host immune response either because of a direct manipulation of the immune system by the parasite or because of energy depletion. Although infection-induced immunodepression can favour the establishment of the parasite within the host, a too severe immunodepression may increase the risk of infection with opportunistic pathogens, stopping the period over which the parasite can be transmitted to other hosts. Here, we explore how the risk of contracting opportunistic diseases affects the survival of the amphipod Gammarus pulex infected by the acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus laevis . Previous work with this system has shown that upon infection, G.…
Density-dependent effects on parasite growth and parasite-induced host immunodepression in the larval helminth Pomphorhynchus laevis.
2011
SUMMARYLarval helminths exploit the physiology of their intermediate hosts: first, as a resource for energy and space and second by altering the immune system activity to ensure their survival. Whereas the growth pattern under parasite competition has been investigated, the effect of multiple infections on the level of parasite-induced immunodepression in a trophically transmitted helminth has been neglected. In this study, amphipodsGammarus pulexwere infected in the laboratory by the acanthocephalanPomphorhynchus laevisto investigate how parasite density in the intermediate host affected (i) cystacanth growth and (ii) the level of parasite-induced alterations of the host immune defences, t…