Search results for "Systematics"
showing 10 items of 6702 documents
A Novel Approach to Identify Candidate Prognostic Factors for Hepatitis C Treatment Response Integrating Clinical and Viral Genetic Data
2015
The combined therapy of pegylated interferon (IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) has been for a long time the standard treatment for patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the case of genotype 1, only 38%–48% of patients have a positive response to the combined treatment. In previous studies, viral genetic information has been occasionally included as a predictor. Here, we consider viral genetic variation in addition to 11 clinical and 19 viral populations and evolutionary parameters to identify candidate baseline prognostic factors that could be involved in the treatment outcome. We obtained potential prognostic models for HCV subtypes la and lb in combination as well as separately. We …
Data from: Symbiotic polydnavirus and venom reveal parasitoid to its hyperparasitoids
2018
Symbiotic relationships may provide organisms with key innovations that aid in the establishment of new niches. For example, during oviposition, some species of parasitoid wasps, whose larvae develop inside the bodies of other insects, inject polydnaviruses into their hosts. These symbiotic viruses disrupt host immune responses, allowing the parasitoid’s progeny to survive. Here, we show that symbiotic polydnaviruses also have a downside to the parasitoid’s progeny by initiating a multi-trophic chain of interactions that reveals the parasitoid larvae to their enemies. These enemies are hyperparasitoids that use the parasitoid progeny as host for their own offspring. We found that the virus …
Macrobiotus naginae sp. nov., a New Xerophilous Tardigrade Species from Rokua Sand Dunes (Finland)
2022
Animals that colonize soil show specific adaptations to soil. Compared to closely related species living on the surface, the limbs of soil-dwelling animals are often shortened, reduced, or absent to allow a less restricted passage through cavities between soil particles. This pattern of limb reduction has also been observed in tardigrades, where multiple lineages that colonized the below-ground habitat show independent reduction and/or loss of legs and claws. In the tardigrade superfamily Macrobiotoidea, leg and claw reductions are a common trait found in the Macrobiotus pseudohufelandi complex. This rarely found species complex currently contains four nominal taxa. Here we describe, with t…
easyPAC: A Tool for Fast Prediction, Testing and Reference Mapping of Degenerate PCR Primers from Alignments or Consensus Sequences
2012
Video abstract A video abstract by the authors of this paper is available. video-abstract8870.mov
WILLIAMS-BEUREN MAPPING IN CALLITHRIX ARGENTATA, CALLICEBUS CUPREUS AND ALOUATTA CARAYA INDICATES DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF CHROMOSOMAL REARRANGEMENTS IN…
2007
Human chromosome 7 has a complex syntenic origin. It was divided into two segments in both the ancestral primate karyotype and in Platyrrhini. Apparently, a small segment in the ancestral platyrrhine karyotype was associated with HSA5 and the remainder formed a middle-sized submetacentric. We tested the dynamics of platyrrhine chromosomes by hybridizing the locus specific Willams-Beuren probe (7q 11.23, 450 kb) to chromosomes of representative species from the three families of the New World monkeys recently proposed by molecular genomics: Cebidae, Callithrix argentata (bare ear marmoset or silvery marmoset, 2n = 44); Pitheciidae, Callicebus cupreus [red titi monkey, or coppery monkey, 2n =…
Revision of Recent and fossil Mixtacandona Klie 1938 (Ostracoda, Candonidae) from Italy, with description of a new species
2017
Although studies on ostracods dwelling in inland subterranean habitats of Italy have increased in the last decades, highlighting a considerable taxonomic diversity, available information is still far from sufficient to understand phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships. Mixtacandona Klie 1938 is one of the most common and diverse genera of ostracods in subterranean waters. Of the 20 living recognized species in the genus, all stygobiontic and restricted to the Palearctic Region, four are known for the Italian peninsula and Sardinia, one of which exclusively as fossil. Several other Recent and fossil taxa attributable to Mixtacandona, but identified at supraspecific level, have been rep…
Energy and speleogenesis: Key determinants of terrestrial species richness in caves
2017
Abstract The aim of this study was to unravel the relative role played by speleogenesis (i.e., the process in which a cave is formed), landscape‐scale variables, and geophysical factors in the determination of species richness in caves. Biological inventories from 21 caves located in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula along with partial least square (PLS) regression analysis were used to assess the relative importance of the different explanatory variables. The caves were grouped according to the similarity in their species composition; the effect that spatial distance could have on similarity was also studied using correlation between matrices. The energy and speleogenesis of caves account…
“The Best Laid Plans” : Do Individual Differences in Planfulness Moderate Effects of Implementation Intention Interventions?
2022
While there is good evidence supporting the positive effect of planning strategies like implementation intentions on the relationship between intention and behavior, there is less evidence on the moderating role of individual differences in planning capacity on this effect. This study aimed to examine the role of individual differences in planfulness on the effect of planning strategies on the intention–behavior gap. Specifically, this study investigated the influence of planfulness on the effectiveness of implementation intentions on goal-directed behavior using an experimental design. Undergraduate university students (N = 142) with high and low levels of planfulness based on a priori sco…
Host Developmental Stage Effects on Parasite Resistance and Tolerance.
2022
Hosts can defend themselves against parasites either by preventing or limiting infections (resistance) or by limiting parasite-induced damage (tolerance). However, it remains underexplored how these defense types vary over host development with shifting patterns of resource allocation priorities. Here, we studied the role played by developmental stage in resistance and tolerance in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). This anadromous fish has distinct life stages related to living in freshwater and seawater. We experimentally exposed 1-year-old salmon, either at the freshwater stage or at the stage transitioning to the marine phase, to the trematode Diplostomum pseudospathaceum. Using 56 pedigree…
Interstitial Telomeric-like Repeats (ITR) in Seed Plants as Assessed by Molecular Cytogenetic Techniques: A Review.
2021
The discovery of telomeric repeats in interstitial regions of plant chromosomes (ITRs) through molecular cytogenetic techniques was achieved several decades ago. However, the information is scattered and has not been critically evaluated from an evolutionary perspective. Based on the analysis of currently available data, it is shown that ITRs are widespread in major evolutionary lineages sampled. However, their presence has been detected in only 45.6% of the analysed families, 26.7% of the sampled genera, and in 23.8% of the studied species. The number of ITR sites greatly varies among congeneric species and higher taxonomic units, and range from one to 72 signals. ITR signals mostly occurs…