Search results for "cilia"
showing 10 items of 3650 documents
Immunocompetence increases with larval body size in a phytophagous moth
2013
Despite the obvious benefit of an immune system, its efficacy against pathogens and parasites may show great variation among individuals, populations and species. Understanding the causes of this variation is becoming a central theme in ecology. Many biotic and abiotic factors are known to influence immunocompetence (temperature, age, etc.). However, for a given age, size among individuals varies, probably as a result of accumulated resources. Thus, these variable resources could be allocated to immune defence and, consequently, body size may explain part of the variation in immune responsiveness. However, the influence of body size on immune defence is often overlooked. The present study i…
Urban landscape evolution as a consequence of an invasive pest: The case of a small sicilian town
2017
The Red Palm Weevil (RPW), after its accidental introduction in Italy in 2005, determined a progressive disruption of Canary palms mostly in the central and southern regions. As it is difficult to undertake the management of this pest, the possibility of substituting the killed/symptomatic palms with other ornamental trees has been recently discussed. In this context, understanding the citizens' needs about green areas can improve the management of public parks and urban greening. Involving citizens on the natural resource management using public participation processes is crucial. The case study of a small town of Sicily (Italy) was treated and the spread of this pest was monitored. Moreov…
Isozyme analysis of genetic diversity in wild Sicilian populations of Brassica sect. Brassica in view of genetic resources management
2004
In Sicily and in the small surrounding islands the section Brassica of the genus Brassica comprises five species, B. insularis Moris, B. incana Ten., B. macrocarpa Guss., B. rupestris Raf. and B. villosa Biv. These taxa represent a genetic resource as relatives of kale crops but some populations are endangered or threatened, thus isozyme analyses were performed to assess the genetic diversity degree at population and species levels in order to assist the design of conservation management programs. Eleven loci from five enzyme systems (aconitase, leucine aminopeptidase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, phosphoglucoisomerase phosphoglucomutase) were analyzed in sixteen natural population (fi…
Alkaline phosphatase survey in pecorino siciliano PDO cheese
2021
The determination of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in cheeses has become an official method for controlling cheeses with a protected designation of origin (PDO), all of which use raw milk. PDO cheeses, characterized by high craftsmanship, usually have an uneven quality. However, for these cheeses, it is necessary to establish ALP values so that they can be defined as a raw milk product. In this study, a dataset with Pecorino Siciliano PDO samples was analyzed to determine ALP both at the core and under the rind. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the different zones in Pecorino cheese. A second dataset of 100 pecorino cheese samples determined that ALP was only…
Different lineages of freshwater jellyfishes (Cnidaria, Olindiidae, Craspedacusta) invading Europe: another piece of the puzzle from Sicily, Italy
2018
Correctly identifying and mapping the distribution patterns of passively dispersing freshwater organisms is an important task to understand the mechanisms through which these organisms move across the world and to counteract the introduction of invasive alien species in a timely way; moreover, in the light of the growing evidence of the pervasiveness of cryptic species and cryptic biological invasions among all animal groups, the use of molecular identification tools is strongly advisable. In this context, we present the first record of the freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester, 1880 in the Mediterranean island of Sicily, Italy. This invasive species, native to China, was fo…
Modelling the effects of more selective trawl nets on the productivity of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) and deep-water rose shrimp (Parapenae…
2018
Single-species Gadget models were used to assess the effects of using a sorting grid mounted on the traditional trawl net used by Sicilian trawlers to exploit the deep-water rose shrimp in the Strait of Sicily. The main commercial by-catch species of this fleet is the European hake (Merluccius merluccius), often caught at sizes well below the minimum conservation reference size. Selectivity curves based on the results of an experimental survey carried out in the area using a commercial trawler equipped with an ad hoc-designed sorting grid were incorporated into single-species Gadget models to forecast the effects of changing fishery selectivity on the performance of the two stocks in terms …
EVOLUTION OF HSP90 EXPRESSION IN TETRAHYMENA THERMOPHILA (PROTOZOA, CILIATA) POPULATIONS EXPOSED TO THERMALLY VARIABLE ENVIRONMENTS
2004
Evolutionary consequences of thermally varying environments were studied in the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila. Replicated lines were propagated for 60 days, a maximum of 500 generations, in stable, slowly fluctuating (red spectrum), and rapidly fluctuating (blue spectrum) temperatures. The red and blue fluctuations had a dominant period length of 15 days and two hours, respectively. The mean temperature of all time series was 25 degrees C and the fluctuating temperatures had the same minimum (10 degrees C), maximum (40 degrees C), and variance. During the experiment, population sizes and biomasses were monitored at three-day intervals. After the experiment, carrying capacity an…
Defense strategies used by two sympatric vineyard moth pests.
2014
8 pages; International audience; Natural enemies including parasitoids are the major biological cause of mortality among phytophagous insects. In response to parasitism, these insects have evolved a set of defenses to protect themselves, including behavioral, morphological, physiological and immunological barriers. According to life history theory, resources are partitioned to various functions including defense, implying trade-offs among defense mechanisms. In this study we characterized the relative investment in behavioral, physical and immunological defense systems in two sympatric species of Tortricidae (Eupoecilia ambiguella, Lobesia botrana) which are important grapevine moth pests. …
Relationships among Abies nebrodensis, A. alba and A. cephalonica in the morphological and anatomical needle characteristics
2017
AbstractWe used 39 morphological and anatomical needle traits in the biometric comparisons Abies nebrodensis with A. alba and A. cephalonica. The multivariate analyses were utilised and a closer relationship of A. nebrodensis to A. cephalonica than to A. alba was detected, in contrast to what has been shown for cone characteristics.
Dispersal of Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus: the first case of long-distance relocation of an individual from France to Sicily.
2016
ABSTRACTKnowledge of juvenile dispersal is important for understanding population dynamics and for effective conservation, particularly of geographically isolated raptor populations. Here, we report the first documented case of a long-distance movement of an Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus from the French population to Sicily. This observation opens a new perspective for the conservation of the small and endangered Sicilian population of this species, providing evidence that persistence of the Italian population may be aided by new input from other countries.