Search results for "Vertebrates"
showing 10 items of 440 documents
Evidence for differential and redundant function of the Sox genes Dichaete and SoxN during CNS development in Drosophila.
2002
Group B Sox-domain proteins encompass a class of conserved DNA-binding proteins expressed from the earliest stages of metazoan CNS development. In all higher organisms studied to date, related Group B Sox proteins are co-expressed in the developing CNS; in vertebrates there are three (Sox1, Sox2 and Sox3) and in Drosophila there are two (SoxNeuro and Dichaete). It has been suggested there may be a degree of functional redundancy in Sox function during CNS development. We describe the CNS phenotype of a null mutation in the Drosophila SoxNeuro gene and provide the first direct evidence for both redundant and differential Sox function during CNS development in Drosophila. In the lateral neuro…
Neuroglobin, cytoglobin, and a novel, eye-specific globin from chicken
2004
Neuroglobin and cytoglobin are two recently discovered respiratory proteins of vertebrates. Here we report the first identification and expression analyses of these proteins in bird species. Neuroglobin from the domestic chicken Gallus gallus differs in approximately 30% from the mammalian proteins, but its genome structure shows the conservation of the B12.2, E11.0, and G7.0 intron positions. The chicken cytoglobin protein is shorter than the mammalian orthologs, from which it differs overall by approximately 25%, due to the absence of the C-terminal exon in the gene. Comparison of chicken and mammalian gene order shows that neuroglobin and cytoglobin are located on conserved syntenic chro…
Ecology and extent of freshwater browning - What we know and what should be studied next in the context of global change
2022
Water browning or brownification refers to increasing water color, often related to increasing dissolved organic matter (DOM) and carbon (DOC) content in freshwaters. Browning has been recognized as a significant physicochemical phenomenon altering boreal lakes, but our understanding of its ecological consequences in different freshwater habitats and regions is limited. Here, we review the consequences of browning on different freshwater habitats, food webs and aquatic-terrestrial habitat coupling. We examine global trends of browning and DOM/DOC, and the use of remote sensing as a tool to investigate browning from local to global scales. Studies have focused on lakes and rivers while seldo…
Use of artificial substrates for sampling benthic macroinvertebrates in the assessment of water quality of large lowland rivers
2004
The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the usefulness of the artificial substrate sampler in collecting macroinvertebrates for water quality assessment of Polish lowland rivers. This paper presents the results of a comparative study between two different sampling techniques, i.e. nettings filled with brick as artificial substrates and handnet sampling. The validity of applying the biotic index method is also demonstrated. The Belgian Biotic Index (BBI) method and the lower Nysa Kłodzka river were chosen for study. Macroinvertebrates were collected seasonally at five sampling sites. Although some invertebrate taxa revealed a specific preference for one of the two tested sampling…
An extended Benthic Quality Index for assessment of lake profundal macroinvertebrates: addition of indicator taxa by multivariate ordination and weig…
2014
The chironomid Benthic Quality Index (BQI) is a widely used metric in assessments of lake status. The BQI is based on 7 indicator taxa, which like most profundal fauna, often occur sporadically in low densities. Hence, a major weakness of the index is that it cannot be calculated when indicator taxa are not captured. Thus, an extension of the BQI that incorporates more macroinvertebrate taxa is desirable. We used 2 statistical approaches (Detrended Correspondence Analysis and Weighted Averaging) to estimate new benthic quality indicator scores for profundal macroinvertebrate taxa and to construct modified BQIs called Profundal Invertebrate Community Metrics (PICMs). We calibrated the PICMs …
Trophic Transfer of Trace Elements in an Isotopically Constructed Food Chain From a Semi-enclosed Marine Coastal Area (Stagnone di Marsala, Sicily, M…
2012
Trace element accumulation is particularly important in coastal and transitional environments, which act as contaminant buffers between the continental and marine systems. We compared trace element transfer to the biota in two locations with different open-sea exposures in a semi-enclosed marine coastal area (Stagnone di Marsala, Sicily, Italy) using isotopically reconstructed food chains. Samples of sediment, macroalgae, seagrasses, invertebrates, fish, and bird feathers were sampled in July 2006 and analysed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (δ(13)C, δ(15)N) and trace elements (arsenic [As], cadmium [Cd], total mercury [THg], and lead [Pb]). Trophic magnification factors were calcul…
Prevalence and factors associated with circadian blood pressure patterns in hypertensive patients.
2009
Comment in Timing of antihypertensive therapy and circadian blood pressure pattern. [Hypertension. 2009] Timing of antihypertensive therapy and circadian blood pressure pattern. Almirall J, Martínez-Ocaña JC, Comas L. Hypertension. 2009 Jun; 53(6):e41; author reply e42. Epub 2009 May 4. Dipping comes of age: the importance of nocturnal blood pressure. [Hypertension. 2009]. Dipping comes of age: the importance of nocturnal blood pressure. O'Brien E. Hypertension. 2009 Mar; 53(3):446-7. Epub 2009 Jan 26.Nondipping in patients with hypertension. [Hypertension. 2009] Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring has become useful in the diagnosis and management of hypertensive individuals. In addit…
Prognostic Impact of let-7e MicroRNA and Its Target Genes in Localized High-Risk Intestinal GIST: A Spanish Group for Research on Sarcoma (GEIS) Study
2020
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, and they have been described as being associated with tumor prognosis. Here, miRNA profiling was planned to explore new molecular prognostic biomarkers in localized intestinal high-risk GIST. Paraffin tumor blocks of 14 and 86 patients were used in the discovery and expansion sets, respectively. GeneChip miRNA v3.0 was employed to identify the miRNAs differentially expressed between relapsed and non-relapsed patient samples, which were validated in the expansion set, by qRT-PCR. RT2 Profiler PCR Array was used for the screening of let-7e targets. Expression levels were co…
Zebrafish Fins as a Model System for Skeletal Human Studies
2007
Recent studies on the morphogenesis of the fins ofDanio rerio(zebrafish) during development and regeneration suggest that a number of inductive signals involved in the process are similar to some of those that affect bone and cartilage differentiation in mammals and humans. Akimenko et al. (2002) has shown that bone morphogenetic protein-2b (BMP2b) is involved in the induction of dermal bone differentiation during fin regeneration. Many other groups have also shown that molecules from the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily (TGFβ), including BMP2, are effective in promoting chondrogenesis and osteogenesisin vivoin higher vertebrates, including humans. In the present study, we review…
Leishmania tarentolae and Leishmania infantum in humans, dogs and cats in the Pelagie archipelago, southern Italy.
2021
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania infantum is endemic in the Mediterranean basin with most of the infected human patients remaining asymptomatic. Recently, the saurian-associated Leishmania tarentolae was detected in human blood donors and in sheltered dogs. The circulation of L. infantum and L. tarentolae was investigated in humans, dogs and cats living in the Pelagie islands (Sicily, Italy) by multiple serological and molecular testing. Human serum samples (n = 346) were tested to assess the exposure to L. infantum by immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) and to L. tarentolae by IFAT. Meanwhile, sera from do…