Search results for "Otus"

Identification and characterization of PlAlix, the Alix homologue from the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus.

2013

The sea urchin provides a relatively simple and tractable system for analyzing the early stages of embryo development. Here, we use the sea urchin species, Paracentrotus lividus, to investigate the role of Alix in key stages of embryogenesis, namely the egg fertilization and the first cleavage division. Alix is a multifunctional protein involved in different cellular processes including endocytic membrane trafficking, filamentous (F)-actin remodeling, and cytokinesis. Alix homologues have been identified in different metazoans; in these organisms, Alix is involved in oogenesis and in determination/differentiation events during embryo development. Herein, we describe the identification of th…

Costs of coexistence along a gradient of competitor densities: an experiment with arvicoline rodents

2006

Summary 1 Costs of coexistence for species with indirect resource competition usually increase monotonically with competitor numbers. Very little is known though about the shape of the cost function for species with direct interference competition. 2 Here we report the results of an experiment with two vole species in artificial coexistence in large enclosures, where density of the dominant competitor species (Microtus agrestis) was manipulated. Experimental populations of the subordinate vole species (Clethrionomys glareolus) were composed of same aged individuals to study distribution of costs of coexistence with a dominant species within an age-cohort. 3 Survival and space use decreased …

The Genome of the Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

2006

We report the sequence and analysis of the 814-megabase genome of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus , a model for developmental and systems biology. The sequencing strategy combined whole-genome shotgun and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) sequences. This use of BAC clones, aided by a pooling strategy, overcame difficulties associated with high heterozygosity of the genome. The genome encodes about 23,300 genes, including many previously thought to be vertebrate innovations or known only outside the deuterostomes. This echinoderm genome provides an evolutionary outgroup for the chordates and yields insights into the evolution of deuterostomes.

Serological Survey of Rodent-Borne Viruses in Finnish Field Voles

2014

In northern Europe, rodent populations display cyclic density fluctuations, which can be correlated with the human incidence of zoonotic diseases they spread. During density peaks, field voles (Microtus agrestis) become one of the most abundant rodent species in northern Europe, yet little is known of the viruses they host. We screened 709 field voles, trapped from 14 sites over three years, for antibodies against four rodent-borne, potentially zoonotic viruses or virus groups: hantaviruses, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), Ljungan virus (LV) and orthopoxviruses (OPV). Antibodies against all four viruses were detected. However, seroprevalence of hantaviruses, LV and LCMV was low. …

Breeding state and season affect interspecific interaction types: indirect resource competition and direct interference.

2011

Indirect resource competition and interference are widely occurring mechanisms of interspecific interactions. We have studied the seasonal expression of these two interaction types within a two-species, boreal small mammal system. Seasons differ by resource availability, individual breeding state and intraspecific social system. Live-trapping methods were used to monitor space use and reproduction in 14 experimental populations of bank voles Myodes glareolus in large outdoor enclosures with and without a dominant competitor, the field vole Microtus agrestis. We further compared vole behaviour using staged dyadic encounters in neutral arenas in both seasons. Survival of the non-breeding over…

La raccolta del riccio di mare Paracentrotus lividus

2008

Late Pleistocene (MIS 3-4) climate inferred from micromammal communities and δ18O of rodents from Les Pradelles, France.

2013

The middle Paleolithic stratigraphic sequence of Les Pradelles (Charente, France) spans from the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 until the middle of MIS 3. Micromammal remains are present in all the stratigraphic levels, offering a rare opportunity to address the questions of both environmental and climatic fluctuations throughout this period. Climate modes were studied through the taphonomy, biodiversity and oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate (δ18O p ) from 66 samples of rodent tooth enamel. The δ18O p values from the lower sedimentary levels provide summer mean air temperatures of 19 ± 2°C (level 2/1) and of 16 ± 2°C (levels 2A, 2B and 4A). Within the middle of sequence (level 4…

Mass Communications as a Vehicle to Lure Russian Émigrés Homeward

2011

After the millions of wartime displaced citizens had been forcibly returned to the Soviet Union after the Second World War, the Soviet Union inaugurated a new type of campaign in the mid-1950s to get all the remaining Soviet citizens and former émigrés from Sovietoccupied areas to migrate back. In this campaign, the Soviets used all the means of mass communication they were able to produce, especially radio combined with the press and direct contact with people. The campaign was not very successful, at least not among the people it was supposed to lure back: people residing in Europe. However, many people, especially from Latin America, migrated back to the Soviet Union, only to be disappoi…

The nutritional and medicinal value of Pleurotus species from Italy

2015

The genus Pleurotus is a cosmopolitan group of fungi which comprises ca. 30 species and subspecific taxa. The genus Pleurotus also represents the second main group of cultivated edible mushrooms in the world. The Pleurotus species are efficient colonizers and bioconverters of lignocellulosic agro‐industrial residues into palatable human food with medicinal properties. Besides Pleurotus species demonstrates significant nutritional and their bioactive compounds (mainly polysaccharides) possess antibacterial, antibiotic, antitumor, hypocholesterolemic and immunomodulation properties. Extracts of the Mediterranean culinary‐medicinal Oyster mushrooms P. eryngii var. eryngii, P. eryngii var. feru…

Allozyme Similarity in Two Morphologically Distinguishable Populations ofParacentrotus Lividus(Echinodermata) From Distinct Areas of the Mediterranea…

1998

Allozymes ofParacentrotus lividusfrom Palermo Gulf in the northern Sicilian coast (Italy) and from a small body-size population in the western Greek coast (Ionian Sea) were investigated by PAGE. Five of the twenty examined loci were polymorphic(AAT*, ADH*, ME*, PGI*andPGM*)over each population with a polymorphism value of 0–25. Average heterozygosity was equal to 0081 in the Sicilian sample and 0084 in the Greek. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were significant inME*andPGI*loci (as calculated byy).Nei's (1978) genetic distance (D=0–0025) index described a close identity between the two samples. FSTvalue of polymorphic loci ranged from 0001 to 0029, its mean value (0–008) resultin…