Search results for "snail"
showing 10 items of 133 documents
At the Central European-Balkan transition: forest land snail faunas of the Banat contrasted with those of the Carpathian chain
2015
Twenty-nine forest sites in six sampling areas in the Banat region of Romania, adjacent to Serbia, were sampled to obtain inventories of their snail faunas and to make comparisons between these and previously studied faunas in the mountains from the Sudetes in the north-west to the Southern Transylvanian Carpathians in the south. 65 species were recorded overall, with between 13 and 33 at individual sites. Among the six sampling areas that on Schist rock at high altitude differed markedly from the others, and contained mainly species also found in Carpathian forests further north. The remainder, mainly on limestone, also differed among themselves, but contained more species endemic to the r…
Analysis of trematode parasite communities in fish eye lenses by pyrosequencing of naturally pooled DNA.
2011
Infections by multiple parasite species are common in nature and have important consequences for between species interactions and coevolutionary dynamics with the host populations. For example ecological and evolutionary factors underlying the structure of parasite communities determine the range of hosts a parasite can infect and set the basis for both evolution of host defences and parasite virulence as well as management of diseases. Studies investigating these factors have been facilitated in the recent past by genetic methods which surmount difficulties of traditional morphological taxonomy in identifying individual parasite species. Here we take a step further and present a novel meth…
Mediterranean forage legumes grown alone or in mixture with annual ryegrass: biomass production, N2 fixation, and indices of intercrop efficiency
2016
Aims: To evaluate the productivity and N2 fixation of a range of Mediterranean forage legume species as well as their ability to be grown in mixture with a forage grass, and to verify whether N transfer occurs from the legume to the non-legume component of the mixtures and, if so, to what extent this process is affected by legume species. Methods: Seven legume species (Hedysarum coronarium L., Medicago scutellata L., Trifolium resupinatum L., Trifolium squarrosum L., Trigonella foenum-graecum L., Vicia sativa L., Vicia villosa Roth) were grown alone or in mixture with annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.). Biomass and N yields and biological N2 fixation (15N dilution technique) were measu…
An experimental heat wave changes immune defense and life history traits in a freshwater snail
2013
The predicted increase in frequency and severity of heat waves due to climate change is expected to alter disease dynamics by reducing hosts' ability to resist infections. This could take place via two different mechanisms: (1) through general reduction in hosts' performance under harsh environmental conditions and/or (2) through altered resource allocation that reduces expression of defense traits in order to maintain other traits. We tested these alternative hypotheses by measuring the effect of an experimental heat wave (25 vs. 15°C) on the constitutive level of immune defense (hemocyte concentration, phenoloxidase [PO]‐like activity, antibacterial activity of hemolymph), and life histor…
Direct and transgenerational effects of an experimental heatwave on early life stages in a freshwater snail
2019
1. Global climate change imposes a serious threat to natural populations of many species. Estimates of the effects of climate change‐mediated environmental stresses are, however, often based only on their direct effects on organisms, and neglect the potential transgenerational (e.g. maternal) effects. 2. We tested whether high temperature (i.e. an experimental heatwave), which is known to reduce the performance of adult Lymnaea stagnalis snails, affects the produced offspring (eggs and hatchlings) through maternal effects, and how strong these effects are compared with the effects of direct exposure of offspring to high temperature. We examined the effect of maternal thermal environment (15…
Outbreak of urogenital schistosomiasis in Corsica (France): an epidemiological case study
2016
Summary Background Schistosomiasis is a snail-borne parasitic disease endemic in several tropical and subtropical countries. However, in the summer of 2013, an unexpected outbreak of urogenital schistosomiasis occurred in Corsica, with more than 120 local people or tourists infected. We used a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the epidemiology of urogenital schistosomiasis in Corsica, aiming to elucidate the origin of the outbreak. Methods We did parasitological and malacological surveys at nine potential sites of infection. With the snails found, we carried out snail–parasite compatibility experiments by exposing snails to schistosome larvae recovered from the urine of a locally in…
DNA multigene characterization of Fasciola hepatica and Lymnaea neotropica and its fascioliasis transmission capacity in Uruguay, with historical cor…
2017
Background Fascioliasis is a pathogenic disease transmitted by lymnaeid snails and recently emerging in humans, in part due to effects of climate changes, anthropogenic environment modifications, import/export and movements of livestock. South America is the continent presenting more human fascioliasis hyperendemic areas and the highest prevalences and intensities known. These scenarios appear mainly linked to altitude areas in Andean countries, whereas lowland areas of non-Andean countries, such as Uruguay, only show sporadic human cases or outbreaks. A study including DNA marker sequencing of fasciolids and lymnaeids, an experimental study of the life cycle in Uruguay, and a review of hum…
Fasciola hepatica reinfection potentiates a mixed Th1/Th2/Th17/Treg response and correlates with the clinical phenotypes of anemia.
2016
Background: Fascioliasis is a severe zoonotic disease of worldwide extension caused by liver flukes. In human fascioliasis hyperendemic areas, reinfection and chronicity are the norm and anemia is the main sign. Herein, the profile of the Th1/Th2/Th17/Treg expression levels is analyzed after reinfection, correlating them with their corresponding hematological biomarkers of morbidity. Methodology/Principal findings: The experimental design reproduces the usual reinfection/chronicity conditions in human fascioliasis endemic areas and included Fasciola hepatica primo-infected Wistar rats (PI) and rats reinfected at 8 weeks (R8), and at 12 weeks (R12), and negative control rats. In a cross-sect…
Chronic myelogenous leukaemia exosomes modulate bone marrow microenvironment through activation of epidermal growth factor receptor
2016
Abstract Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) is a clonal myeloproliferative disorder. Recent evidence indicates that altered crosstalk between CML and mesenchymal stromal cells may affect leukaemia survival; moreover, vesicles released by both tumour and non‐tumour cells into the microenvironment provide a suitable niche for cancer cell growth and survival. We previously demonstrated that leukaemic and stromal cells establish an exosome‐mediated bidirectional crosstalk leading to the production of IL8 in stromal cells, thus sustaining the survival of CML cells. Human cell lines used are LAMA84 (CML cells), HS5 (stromal cells) and bone marrow primary stromal cells; gene expression and protei…
GDF11 exhibits tumor suppressive properties in hepatocellular carcinoma cells by restricting clonal expansion and invasion.
2019
Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) has been characterized as a key regulator of differentiation in cells that retain stemness features, despite some controversies in age-related studies. GDF11 has been poorly investigated in cancer, particularly in those with stemness capacity, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most aggressive cancers worldwide. Here, we focused on investigating the effects of GDF11 in liver cancer cells. GDF11 treatment significantly reduced proliferation, colony and spheroid formation in HCC cell lines. Consistently, down-regulation of CDK6, cyclin D1, cyclin A, and concomitant upregulation of p27 was observed after 24 h of treatment. Interestingly,…