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At least 1,225 records · Page 68Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Lung use and development in Xenopus laevis tadpoles.

Shortly after hatching, Xenopus laevis tadpoles fill their lungs with air. We examined the role played by early lung use in these organisms, since they are able to respire with both their lungs and their gills. We investigated the effect on X. laevis development when the larvae were prevented from inflating their lungs, and whether early lung use influenced the size of the lungs or the tadpole's ability to metamorphose. Tadpoles that were denied access to air had lungs one-half the size of those of controls. This difference in lung size was too large to be explained merely by a stretching of the lung due to inflation. The longer tadpoles were denied access to air, the longer they took to metamorphose, and their probability of completing metamorphosis diminished. One tadpole raise throughout its larval life without access to air successfully metamorphosed but had abnormal, solidified lungs and an enlarged heart. Collectively, these experiments demonstrate that early lung use in tadpoles is important in determining both ultimate lung size and the probability of successfully metamorphosing. Lung use during early larval development in X. laevis is not absolutely necessary for survival through metamorphosis, but its absence severely handicaps growth.

Air↗
PubMed2005

Decreased sensory stimulation reduces behavioral responding, retards development, and alters neuronal connectivity in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Activity-dependent plasticity is a critical component of nervous systems. We show that in Caenorhabditis elegans, worms raised in isolation made smaller responses to mechanosensory stimulation and were smaller and slower to begin laying eggs than age-matched group-raised worms. The glutamate receptor gene GLR-1 was critical for the observed alterations in behavior but not in size, whereas the cGMP-dependent protein kinase gene EGL-4 was critical for the observed changes in size but not the changes in behavior. Mechanosensory stimulation during development reversed the effects of isolation on behavior and began to reduce the effects of isolation on size. In C. elegans, the six mechanosensory touch neurons synapse onto the four pair of command interneurons for forward and backward movement. Touch (mechanosensory) neurons of worms raised in isolation expressed lower levels of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged synaptobrevin than touch neurons of worms raised in colonies. Command interneurons of worms raised in isolation expressed lower levels of GFP-tagged glutamate receptors than command interneurons of worms raised in groups. Brief mechanical stimulation during larval development rescued the expression of GFP-tagged glutamate receptors but not GFP-tagged synaptobrevin. Together, these results indicate that the level of stimulation experienced by C. elegans during development profoundly affects the development of neuronal connectivity and has widespread cellular and behavioral consequences.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

A duplicated copy of DMRT1 in the sex-determining region of the Y chromosome of the medaka, Oryzias latipes.

The genes that determine the development of the male or female sex are known in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila, and most mammals. In many other organisms the existence of sex-determining factors has been shown by genetic evidence but the genes are unknown. We have found that in the fish medaka the Y chromosome-specific region spans only about 280 kb. It contains a duplicated copy of the autosomal DMRT1 gene, named DMRT1Y. This is the only functional gene in this chromosome segment and maps precisely to the male sex-determining locus. The gene is expressed during male embryonic and larval development and in the Sertoli cells of the adult testes. These features make DMRT1Y a candidate for the medaka male sex-determining gene.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

The ontogeny of complement component C3 in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.)--an immunohistochemical study.

The complement system in fish is well developed and plays an important role in the immune response. Very little is known about the ontogeny of C3 in fish and no study has previously been done on the development of C3 in teleosts. In this study we have detected the presence of C3 in cod larvae from the age of 1 day post hatching (p.h.) till 57 days p.h., using immunohistochemistry. The specific primary antibodies used, were produced against the beta-chain of cod C3. Immunostaining on cod larvae sections revealed that C3 is detectable in the yolksac membrane from day 1 p.h., and in liver, brain, kidney and muscle from day 2 p.h. C3 was also detected in other organs such as eye, notochord, stomach, intestines, pancreas, heart and gills at different stages of cod larval development. These findings suggest that complement is not only important in immune defence against invading pathogens but may also play a role in the formation and generation of different organs.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Proliferative activity in the frog brain: a PCNA-immunohistochemistry analysis.

By means proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunohistochemistry, we have provided a detailed neuroanatomical mapping of proliferative activity during development and adulthood in the frog (Rana esculenta) brain. Western blot analysis confirmed the presence of this protein in brain extracts from adults and tadpoles. Proliferative activity was observed in the ventricular and subventricular zones throughout the brain. The present study provides details as to which of the morphologically distinguishable brain region(s) has a long-lasting proliferative activity and in which region this activity undergoes a progressive decrease during development. In the subventricular zones of the third ventricle, PCNA-labeled cells were particularly abundant in the magnocellular preoptic nucleus and the ventromedial thalamic nucleus. It was observed that proliferation zones are present practically in all major subdivisions of the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain, including the cerebellum in which PCNA-labeled cells were located in the outer granular layer and the inner molecular layer. The habenulae, epiphysis and isthmic nuclei never showed the presence of PCNA-immunoreactive nuclei. The widespread proliferative activity implies that the frog brain has a great potential for neurogenesis/gliogenesis not only during larval development but also in the adulthood.

Aging↗
PubMed2003

Foliar quality influences tree-herbivore-parasitoid interactions: effects of elevated CO2, O3, and plant genotype.

This study examined the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2)-, ozone (O3)-, and genotype-mediated changes in quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) chemistry on performance of the forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria) and its dipteran parasitoid (Compsilura concinnata) at the Aspen Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) site. Parasitized and non-parasitized forest tent caterpillars were reared on two aspen genotypes under elevated levels of CO2 and O3, alone and in combination. Foliage was collected for determination of the chemical composition of leaves fed upon by forest tent caterpillars during the period of endoparasitoid larval development. Elevated CO2 decreased nitrogen levels but had no effect on concentrations of carbon-based compounds. In contrast, elevated O3 decreased nitrogen and phenolic glycoside levels, but increased concentrations of starch and condensed tannins. Foliar chemistry also differed between aspen genotypes. CO2, O3, genotype, and their interactions altered forest tent caterpillar performance, and differentially so between sexes. In general, enriched CO2 had little effect on forest tent caterpillar performance under ambient O3, but reduced performance (for insects on one aspen genotype) under elevated O3. Conversely, elevated O3 improved forest tent caterpillar performance under ambient, but not elevated, CO2. Parasitoid larval survivorship decreased under elevated O3, depending upon levels of CO2 and aspen genotype. Additionally, larval performance and masses of mature female parasitoids differed between aspen genotypes. These results suggest that host-parasitoid interactions in forest systems may be altered by atmospheric conditions anticipated for the future, and that the degree of change may be influenced by plant genotype.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

The RXR homolog ultraspiracle is an essential component of the Drosophila ecdysone receptor.

Pulses of the steroid hormone ecdysone function as key temporal signals during insect development, coordinating the major postembryonic developmental transitions, including molting and metamorphosis. In vitro studies have demonstrated that the EcR ecdysone receptor requires an RXR heterodimer partner for its activity, encoded by the ultraspiracle (usp) locus. We show here that usp exerts no apparent function in mid-third instar larvae, when a regulatory hierarchy prepares the animal for the onset of metamorphosis. Rather, usp is required in late third instar larvae for appropriate developmental and transcriptional responses to the ecdysone pulse that triggers puparium formation. The imaginal discs in usp mutants begin to evert but do not elongate or differentiate, the larval midgut and salivary glands fail to undergo programmed cell death and the adult midgut fails to form. Consistent with these developmental phenotypes, usp mutants show pleiotropic defects in ecdysone-regulated gene expression at the larval-prepupal transition. usp mutants also recapitulate aspects of a larval molt at puparium formation, forming a supernumerary cuticle. These observations indicate that usp is required for ecdysone receptor activity in vivo, demonstrate that the EcR/USP heterodimer functions in a stage-specific manner during the onset of metamorphosis and implicate a role for usp in the decision to molt or pupariate in response to ecdysone pulses during larval development.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Cell contact regulates neuroblast formation in the Caenorhabditis elegans lateral epidermis.

A single line of epidermal seam cells lies along each side of the nematode C. elegans. During normal development, one of these cells, V5, produces a neuroblast that will give rise to a sensory structure, the postdeirid. If seam cells located either anterior or posterior to V5 are ablated however, this neuroblast formation is blocked. Because of this requirement for the presence of adjacent seam cells, we have asked whether V5's ability to produce a neuroblast depends on direct contact with its seam cell neighbors. We find that direct contact between seam cells is required for commitment to neuroblast production. Seam cells lose and reform their contacts with each other as they go through rounds of cell division during larval development. Signaling required for neuroblast formation occurs when the seam cells make contact after their first round of division. If this contact is prevented, no neuroblast is made; when it is delayed, the time of signaling is also delayed. The characteristics of these signals suggest that a seam cell must be part of a continuous epithelium in order to develop normally and that signaling may occur via a cell recognition/cell adhesion pathway. The effect of seam cell ablations on neuroblast formation is altered in mab-5(-) animals, suggesting that this HOM-C gene is part of the pathway by which seam cell signaling controls the decision to make a postdeirid neuroblast.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

LET-60 RAS modulates effects of insulin/IGF-1 signaling on development and aging in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The DAF-2 insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptor signals via a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway to control dauer larva formation and adult longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Yet epistasis analysis suggests signal bifurcation downstream of DAF-2. We have used epistasis analysis to test whether the Ras pathway (which plays a role in signaling from mammalian insulin receptors) acts downstream of DAF-2. We find that an activated Ras mutation, let-60(n1046gf), weakly suppresses constitutive dauer diapause in daf-2 and age-1 (PI3K) mutants. Moreover, increased Ras pathway signaling partially suppresses the daf-2 mutant feeding defect, while reduced Ras pathway signaling enhances it. By contrast, activated Ras extends the longevity induced by mutation of daf-2, while reduced Ras pathway signaling partially suppresses it. Thus, Ras pathway signaling appears to act with insulin/IGF-1 signaling during larval development, but against it during aging.

Aging↗
PubMed2002

The potential of intermittent irrigation for increasing rice yields, lowering water consumption, reducing methane emissions, and controlling malaria in African rice fields.

Rice production in sub-Saharan Africa has more than doubled in the last 3 decades and the potential to further develop rice-harvested areas is considerable. Several studies have demonstrated that the transformation of arable land into rice irrigation might create suitable habitats for large populations of disease vectors. Prominent among those are anopheline mosquitoes responsible for transmission of malaria. The method of irrigation on an intermittent basis during the rice-cropping calendar has gained renewed interest as a potentially effective malaria control strategy since the early 1980s. We review the experiences of the past 80 years with intermittent irrigation in the cultivation of rice. This method has been shown to reduce significantly the density of malaria vectors by curtailing their larval development. Furthermore, reduced methane emissions and water savings with at least equal yields were achieved in intermittently irrigated rice fields. We explore and discuss under what conditions intermittent irrigation might be beneficial in new rice-growing areas and identify steps that have to be taken to expand such programs in the future.

Africa South of the Sahara↗
PubMed2005

Dependency of copper toxicity to polychaete larvae on algal concentration.

Algae are often used as food in aquatic metal toxicity tests to maintain the well-being of test animals. Such food addition may change metal bioavailability because of the reduction of aqueous metal concentration and the increase in particle-bound metal concentration. While the importance of aqueous exposure pathway is widely recognized, few studies have determined the contribution of the dietary pathway to the overall metal toxicity to aquatic invertebrates. In this study, we determined the toxicity of both algal-bound copper alone and copper solution containing algae to the larvae of marine polychaete Hydroides elegans. Algae that had been pre-exposed to copper at up to 1024 microg l(-1), when fed to the larvae, did not cause significant abnormal larval development. However, when larvae were exposed to algal-copper mixture, percentage of normal larvae could be modeled as a logistic function of aqueous copper concentration, with a 48-h EC(50) (mean +/- S.E.) of 64.9 +/- 4.8 microg Cul(-1). When the toxicity was expressed using total copper concentration, the EC(50) ranged from 58.4 +/- 4.5 microg l(-1) in the control to 121.9 +/- 9.9 microg l(-1) in the 10(6) cells ml(-1) algal treatment. This study highlights the dependency of copper toxicity on the aqueous exposure pathway in this polychaete and the importance of considering algal binding of the metal in larval toxicological tests.

Adsorption↗
PubMed2001

Induced emissions of apple fruit volatiles by the codling moth: changing patterns with different time periods after infestation and different larval instars.

The changes in the emission of volatiles from mature apple fruits in response to larval feeding by the codling moth (Cydia pomonella) under laboratory conditions are reported. A time course experiment investigated the emission of volatiles throughout the period of larval development following infestation. The volatiles consisted mainly of esters, a few aldehydes, and the terpene alpha-farnesene. Infested apples emitted the same compounds as healthy apples. The quantities of volatiles released were much higher for infested as compared to healthy fruits for an initial three day period. Following this period there was a decrease in volatile emissions (days 6-9), eventually declining back to the levels emitted from healthy apples or below by 9-21 days after infestation. In a separate experiment, the volatile emissions from healthy and artificially damaged fruits were compared to those from herbivore damaged fruits for each of the five larval instars of C. pommonella. The results from the discriminant analysis indicate that the most effective induction of volatiles occurred when fruits were infested with first instar larvae. Induction by first instar larvae was generally higher than after infestation by later instars, and for most compounds it also exceeded the emission from artificially damaged fruits.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Stage specific mortality and humoral immune responses during pulse and trickle infestations of the common cattle grub, Hypoderma lineatum (Diptera: Oestridae).

Stage specific survival of larvae and pupae of the common cattle grub, Hypoderma lineatum de Villers, was compared in cattle artificially infested with larvae delivered by subcutaneous injection as a single infestation of 100 larvae, in trickle infestations of either two doses of 50 larvae, separated by 15 days, or in four doses of 25 larvae, separated by 9, 6, and 6 days, respectively. The duration of the migratory and 'warble' phases were also compared between treatments. The kinetics of the antibody response was monitored throughout the larval development by ELISA. No difference was noted in the level of antibodies among the three treatments. Mortality of first-instars differed among the infestation groups with mortality in the single pulse infestation group<two dose trickle infestation<four dose trickle infestation. A similar trend was seen in second and third instar mortality. These data suggest that host immune responses are activated by the first larvae to enter the animal and that this activation negatively affects the later arriving larvae. This may have consequences for the population biology of cattle grubs and suggests that synchronization of the adult stages is important to the survival of larval stages in the hosts.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Effects of temperature on development of Phormia regina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and use of developmental data in determining time intervals in forensic entomology.

Precise developmental data for forensic indicator blow fly species are essential for accuracy in the estimate of the post-mortem interval (PMI). Why, then, does the determination of the PMI result in conflicting time frames when published conspecific developmental data are used? To answer this question, we conducted constant temperature trials between the developmental minimum temperature and upper threshold temperatures (8-32 degrees C) on the forensically important blow fly species Phormia regina (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Flies were reared using two designs to quantify sources of variation. We measured rearing container temperatures and internal growth chamber temperatures by using thermocouples to accurately record temperatures experienced by larvae and to construct a degree-day model. Differences in experimental design, as seen across temperature studies for this fly species, did not significantly impact larval development. We also found that using set chamber temperatures rather than rearing container temperatures altered the final degree-day model. Using any minimum threshold (including an empirically determined true minimum) other than that from linear interpolation (x-intercept) violated degree-day assumptions and invalidated estimates of the PMI. We observed the minimum developmental temperature to be higher (14 degrees C) than that generated under the x-intercept method (5.46 degrees C) by using data from oviposition to adult emergence. This difference along with the noted difference in accumulated degree-days (using different base temperatures) suggests a need for additional experimentation on other forensically important fly species at low temperature thresholds to help with development of curvilinear models. Former and current estimates of the PMI may be inaccurate if the process to determine the time frame ignored degree-day model assumptions or was based upon questionable data sets.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Development rates of two Xenopsylla flea species in relation to air temperature and humidity.

The rate of development of immature fleas, Xenopsylla conformis Wagner and Xenopsylla ramesis Rothschild (Siphonaptera: Xenopsyllidae) was studied in the laboratory at 25 degrees C and 28 degrees C with 40, 55, 75 and 92% relative humidity (RH). These fleas are separately associated with the host jird Meriones crassus Sundevall in different microhabitats of the Ramon erosion cirque, Negev Highlands, Israel. This study of basic climatic factors in relation to flea bionomics provides the basis for ecological investigations to interpret reasons for paratopic local distributions of these two species of congeneric fleas on the same host. Both air temperature and RH were positively correlated with duration of egg and larval stages in both species. Change of humidity between egg and larval environments did not affect duration of larval development at any temperature. At each temperature and RH, the eggs and larvae of X. ramesis did not differ between males and females in the duration of their development, whereas female eggs and larvae of X. conformis usually developed significantly faster than those of males. For both species, male pupae developed slower than female pupae at the same air temperature and RH. Air temperature, but not RH, affected the duration of pupal development. At each humidity, duration of the pupal stage was significantly longer at 25 degrees C than at 28 degrees C: 15.3+/-1.7 vs. 11.7+/-1.2 days in X. conformis; 14.1+/-2.0 vs. 11.5+/-1.7 days in X. ramesis, with a significantly shorter pupal period of the latter species at 25 degrees C. These limited interspecific bionomic contrasts in relation to basic climatic factors appear insufficient to explain the differential habitat distributions of X. conformis and X. ramesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Cell growth activity of growth-blocking peptide.

Growth-blocking peptide (GBP) is an insect biogenic peptide that retards the development of lepidopteran larvae. cDNAs encoding GBP were isolated from three lepidopteran species: Pseudaletia separata, Mamestra brassicae and Spodoptera litura. Comparison of these molecules revealed that the GBP coding regions were 70% homologous. In contrast, the upstream regions of the deduced propeptides were only 33% identical. Sequence analysis further suggested that GBP shares some structural similarities with human epidermal growth factors. Bioassay data revealed that several pmol/ml of GBP stimulated DNA synthesis of a human keratinocyte cell line and of SF-9 insect cells. However, several nmol/ml of GBP did not stimulate cell proliferation at all. In vivo studies similarly indicated that low concentrations of GBP stimulated larval growth while high concentrations of GBP retarded growth. These data suggest that GBP acts as a growth factor that regulates insect larval development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Embryology, ethology and ecology of ontogenetic critical periods in fish.

Overviews of critical period concepts, as they appear at several biological levels, are presented. In embryology, critical periods generally refer to restricted periods in development during which undifferentiated groups of cells can be induced to differentiate. In neurobiology, critical periods are those during which neural circuits are particularly plastic and subject to molding by cellular processes and by experience. The ethological critical period concept advances the idea that an individual's behavioral characteristics can be more strongly influenced by a given event (some stimulus) at one stage of development than at others. For example, this is the period during which young birds imprint upon their parent(s) and learn their species' songs, or during which young salmon imprint to the odor of their home streams. The fisheries science critical period, an ecological concept, refers to a restricted time in the early life history of fish during which there is massive mortality. For many fish, this event is generally considered the primary factor controlling the size of the adult population. The cause of variable mortality between years is thought to be a result of differential food availability and predation during a critical stage in early fish larval development. At each biological level of the critical period, spatial and temporal overlap between the developing organism and specific environmental input is essential. It is likely that critical periods in embryology, neurobiology and ethology are causally interrelated in a hierarchical manner and that they can be manifested as ecological critical periods.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Efficient activation of gene expression using a heat-shock inducible Gal4/Vp16-UAS system in medaka.

BACKGROUND: Genetic interference by DNA, mRNA or morpholino injection is a widely used approach to study gene function in developmental biology. However, the lack of temporal control over the activity of interfering molecules often hampers investigation of gene function required during later stages of embryogenesis. To elucidate the roles of genes during embryogenesis a precise temporal control of transgene expression levels in the developing organism is on demand. RESULTS: We have generated a transgenic Gal4/Vp16 activator line that is heat-shock inducible, thereby providing a tool to drive the expression of specific effector genes via Gal4/Vp16. Merging the Gal4/Vp16-UAS system with the I-SceI meganuclease and the Sleeping Beauty transposon system allows inducible gene expression in an entirely uniform manner without the need to generate transgenic effector lines. Combination of this system with fluorescent protein reporters furthermore facilitates the direct visualization of transgene expressing cells in live embryos. CONCLUSION: The combinatorial properties of this expression system provide a powerful tool for the analysis of gene function during embryonic and larval development in fish by ectopic expression of gene products.

Animals↗