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At least 1,621 records · Page 90Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Adiposity and androstenedione production in relation to delayed ovulation in the Indian bat, Scotophilus heathi.

Observations on body weight, circulating androstenedione concentrations and morphology of ovarian stroma were made in Scotophilus heathi during the period of delayed ovulation to make a comparison with polycystic ovarian syndrome in women. Body weight of bats increased from a level of 31.00 +/- 0.30 g in August and reached a peak of 45.00 +/- 0.46 g in November. This increase in body weight was due to accumulation of adipose tissue. The body weight declined gradually from December onwards and finally reached a basal level in March. The circulating androstenedione concentration showed a gradual increase from 36.80 +/- 15.54 ng/ml in August and reached a peak level of 220.50 +/- 50.10 ng/ml in November. Androstenedione concentration reached the lowest level in the March, just before ovulation. Morphological study showed extensive distribution of luteinized stromal cells or interstitial cells (ICs). Morphometric study showed that during the period of ovulatory delay, more than 75% area of the ovary was occupied by the ICs. Hyperandrogenism, anovulation, obesity (fat deposition) and stromal hyperthecosis present during delayed ovulation in S. heathi may serve as an experimental model for some aspects of the polycystic ovarian condition in women.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1995

Symbiotic bacteria in the accessory submandibular gland of the club-footed bat, Tylonycteris pachypus.

The lumina of the secretory endpieces and, to a lesser extent, of the duct system of the accessory submandibular gland of the club-footed bat, Tylonycteris pachypus, contain numerous rod shaped bacteria. Despite their abundance, these microbes do not evoke an inflammatory response by the glands. The major submandibular gland, as well as the other major salivary glands in these exotic animals contain no bacteria whatsoever. It is concluded that the bacteria in the accessory submandibular gland are symbionts, and that they may play a role in digestion or in the social behavior of their host organisms.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Conflicting molecular phylogenies of European long-eared bats (Plecotus) can be explained by cryptic diversity.

Conflicting phylogenetic signals of two data sets that analyse different portions of the same molecule are unexpected and require an explanation. In the present paper we test whether (i) differential evolution of two mitochondrial genes or (ii) cryptic diversity can better explain conflicting results of two recently published molecular phylogenies on the same set of species of long-eared bats (genus Plecotus). We sequenced 1714bp of three mitochondrial regions (16S, ND1, and D-loop) of 35 Plecotus populations from 10 European countries. A likelihood ratio test revealed congruent phylogenetic signals of the three data partitions. Our phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that the existence of a previously undetected Plecotus lineage caused the incongruities of previous studies. This lineage is differentiated on the species level and lives in sympatry with its sister lineage, Plecotus auritus, in Switzerland and Northern Italy. A molecular clock indicates that all European Plecotus species are of mid or late Pliocene origin. Plecotus indet. was previously described as an intergrade between P. auritus and Plecotus austriacus since it shares morphological characters with both. It is currently known from elevations above 800 m a.s.l. in the Alps, the Dinarian Alps and the Pindos mountains in Greece. Since we could demonstrate that incongruities of two molecular analyses simply arose from the mis-identification of one lineage, we conclude that molecular phylogenetic analyses do not free systematists from a thorough inclusion of morphological and ecological data.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Phylogeography of pipistrelle-like bats within the Canary Islands, based on mtDNA sequences.

Evolution of three Canary Island Vespertilionid bat species, Pipistrellus kuhlii, Pipistrellus maderensis, and Hypsugo savii was studied by comparison of approximately 1 kbp of mtDNA (from cytochrome b and 16S rRNA genes) between islands. mtDNA reveals that both P. kuhlii and P. maderensis exist in sympatry on Tenerife (and possibly other islands). Their morphological similarity explains why their co-occurrence had not been detected previously. Levels of sequence divergence are quite low within P. maderensis. Haplotypes were either identical or separated by </=2 mutational steps on two of the islands (La Gomera and El Hierro). However there is sufficient between-island divergence between haplotypes from Tenerife, La Palma, and La Gomera/El Hierro to suggest that they could represent three evolutionary significant units (ESU). H. savii has an overlapping island distribution but a contrasting phylogeographical pattern. Most significantly, sequence divergence is greatest between La Gomera and El Hierro (>/=12 mutational steps) indicating colonization of the latter from the former sometime during the last approximately 1.2 Ma, with low subsequent gene flow. Unlike P. maderensis the El Hierro population alone appears to represent an ESU. The H. savii haplotypes detected in Gran Canaria and Tenerife are identical or separated by 1 mutational step.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Incomplete distance matrices, supertrees and bat phylogeny.

In this paper, we evaluate the relative performance of competing approaches for estimating phylogenies from incomplete distance matrices. The direct approach proceeds with phylogenetic reconstruction while ignoring missing cells, whereas the indirect approach proceeds by estimating the missing distances prior to phylogenetic analysis. Two distinct indirect procedures based on the ultrametric inequality and the four-point condition are further compared. Using simulations, we show that more reliable results are obtained when such indirect methods are used. Expectedly, the phylogenies become less accurate as the percentage of missing cells increases, but combining different estimation methods greatly improves the accuracy. An application to bat phylogeny confirms the results obtained in the simulation study and illustrates the effect of missing distances in the construction of supertrees.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Standard energetics of phyllostomid bats: the inadequacies of phylogenetic-contrast analyses.

The basal rates of metabolism (BMR) of bats belonging to the family Phyllostomidae are re-examined after an earlier correlation with food habits was rejected because it did not take phylogeny into consideration. This rejection was based on an erroneous attribution of food habits and on an analytical method, phylogenetic contrasts, that ignores interactions that occur among character states and preferentially attributes responsibility for character states to phylogeny. The re-examination made here was based on analysis of covariance, which makes no a priori assumptions on the relative impact of factors that influence character states and permits factor interactions to be identified. A resulting model, based on variation in body mass, food habits, occurrence with respect to elevation, and residence on islands or continents, accounts for 99.4% of the variation in the BMR of 30 species of phyllostomids. Basal rate is also correlated with subfamily, but only if food habits are excluded because they are correlated with subfamily affiliation, as is residence on islands and continents, two examples of factor interaction. The preference to assign the effects of food habits and island residence on basal rate to subfamily affiliation (and phylogeny) is not justified. The concept that quantitative physiological characters can be transmitted via phylogeny without regard to the habits of animals and the characteristics of their environments cannot be defended. Phylogeny is the historical context in which the evolution of character states occurs, not the 'cause' of their evolution.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Castroia kamariae sp. nov. and Limatulum kuziai sp. nov. (Lecithodendriidae) from the free-tailed bat (Tadarida mops de Blainville) from West Malaysia.

Thirteen bats, Tadarida mops de Blainville, collected from the Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were found positive for the trematodes Castroia kamariae sp. nov. and Limatulum kuziai sp. nov. Two distinct but morphologically similar forms of Castroia kamariae were recovered. The morphological type is apparently determined by its location in the host intestine.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Studies on trematodes of the genus Lecithodendrium Looss, 1896 from some Egyptian bats, with a description of two new species.

The genus Lecithodendrium Looss, 1896 is reviewed and its prevalence in some Egyptian bats is reported. Lecithodendrium aegyptiacus n.sp. is described from Asellia tridens tridens and Rhinopoma hardwickei cystops. It can be easily differentiated from other species of the genus by the lobulation of the ovary and testes and the presence of tegumental spines all over the body of the trematode. Lecithodendrium duboisi n.sp. is described from Taphozous nudiventris nudiventris. It differs from the other known species of the genus by the characteristic arrangement of the vitellaria in the form of a continuous band posterior to the testes, while in the other species of the genus the vitellaria occur in the form of two separate clusters of post-testicular vitelline follicles.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Immunological comparison of four Trypanosoma spp. (sub-genus Schizotrypanum) from bats.

The antigenic differences and similarities between culture forms of Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) hedricki, Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) myoti, Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) vespertilionis and Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) dionisii, all isolated from bats, were compared using the double-diffusion technique. Antiserum to each trypanosome species was produced in rabbits by inoculating them with sonicated culture forms. Two isolates of T. hedricki were antigenically identical to each other, as were 2 isolates of T. myoti. There were several common antigens between the species. However, at least 1 antigen of each species was distinct from those of the other species.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Detection of multiple strains of rabies virus RNA using primers designed to target Mexican vampire bat variants.

A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), that uses primers specifically designed to amplify a portion of the N gene of vampire bat strains of rabies that circulate in Mexico, but also recognizing most of the rabies variants circulating in endemic areas, was established. This standardized PCR assay was able to detect viral RNA in tenfold serial dilutions up to a 10(7) dilution using stock virus at an original titre of 10(7.5) LD50. The assay was highly specific for rabies virus. Forty different rabies isolates recovered from different species and geographical regions in the country were diagnosed as positive and negative by the fluorescent antibody test (FAT). These same samples were re-examined by both PCR and the mouse inoculation test (MIT). Compared with MIT the PCR exhibited an epidemiological sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 91% while its positive predictive value was 96%.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Catalytic domain structure of vampire bat plasminogen activator: a molecular paradigm for proteolysis without activation cleavage.

The saliva of the blood-eating vampire bat Desmodus rotundus contains plasminogen activators (PAs) that maintain the fluidity of the prey's blood by activating plasminogen and dissolving developing fibrin clots. D. rotundus salivary PAs (DSPAs) are composed of evolutionarily conserved domains reminiscent of human tissue-type PA (tPA), but their catalytic domain lacks a plasmin-sensitive "activation cleavage site". Despite this, all DSPAs are intrinsically active and enormously stimulated in the presence of fibrin. The recombinant catalytic domain of DSPAalpha1 has been crystallized in a covalent complex with Glu-Gly-Arg-chloromethyl ketone and its structure solved at 2.9 A resolution. The structure is similar to that of activated two-chain human tPA. Despite its single-chain status, the activation domain is observed in an enzymatically active conformation, with a functional substrate binding site and active site accommodating the peptidylmethylene inhibitor. The activation pocket, which normally receives the N-terminal Ile16, is occupied by the side chain of Lys156, whose distal ammonium group makes an internal salt bridge with the carboxylate group of Asp194. Lys156 is in a groove shielded from the bulk solvent by the intact "activation loop" (Gln10-Phe21), favoring Lys156-Asp194 salt bridge formation and stabilization of a functional substrate binding site. Together with the characteristic 186 insertion loop, the activation loop could act as a switch, effecting full single-chain enzymatic activity upon binding to fibrin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1985

Synthesis of new bis(aminoethanethiol) (BAT) derivatives: possible ligands for 99mTc brain imaging agents.

In developing new brain perfusion imaging agents for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), five 99mTc-labeled neutral bis(aminoethanethiol) (BAT) derivatives capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier are reported. The five ligands are prepared by two versatile synthetic methods that can specifically introduce substituents on one of the carbons between two nitrogens. These ligands formed stable and neutral complexes with the reduced 99mTc, using either Sn(II) or sodium borohydride to reduce sodium [99mTc]pertechnetate. The biodistribution in rats was evaluated with [125I]iodoantipyrine, a freely diffusible tracer, as the internal reference. Compounds with a free hydroxyl group, 6 and 15, showed lower brain uptake. High initial brain uptake was observed for compounds 10 and 14, 1.28 and 2.30% dose/organ, respectively. Compounds of this type may be used as a basis for future structural modification to improve brain uptake and retention.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

A comparative ZOO-FISH analysis in bats elucidates the phylogenetic relationships between Megachiroptera and five microchiropteran families.

Fluorescence in-situ hybridization with human whole chromosome painting probes (WCPs) was applied to compare the karyotypes of members of five bat families. Twenty-five evolutionarily conserved units (ECUs) were identified by ZOO-FISH analysis. In 10 of these 25 ECUs, thorough GTG-band comparison revealed an identical banding pattern in all families studied. Differences in the remaining ECUs were used as characters to judge the phylogenetic relationships within Chiroptera. Close relationships were found between Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae. Also closely related are the representatives of the yangochiropteran families Phyllostomidae (genus studied: Glossophaga, Volleth et al. 1999), Molossidae and Vespertilionidae. All microchiropteran species studied here share four common features not found in the megachiropteran species Eonycteris spelaea. Two of these are considered as derived characters with a high probability of parallel evolution. On the other hand, Eonycteris shares one common, probably derived feature with the rhinolophoid families Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae and an additional one only with Hipposideridae. At the moment, the relationships between Yangochiroptera, Rhinolophoidea and Megachiroptera must be left in an unsolved trichotomy. Comparison of neighboring segment combinations found in Chiroptera with those found in other mammalian taxa revealed six synapomorphic features for Chiroptera. Therefore, for karyological reasons, monophyly of Chiroptera is strongly supported.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Karyotype comparison and phylogenetic relationships of Pipistrellus-like bats (Vespertilionidae; Chiroptera; Mammalia).

Detailed karyotype descriptions of 20 Pipistrellus-like bat species belonging to the family Vespertilionidae are presented. For the first time, chromosomal complements of four species, i.e. Pipistrellus stenopterus (2n = 32), P. javanicus (2n = 34), Hypsugo eisentrauti (2n = 42) and H. crassulus (2n = 30) are reported. A Pipistrellus kuhlii-like species from Madagascar represents a separate species distinguished from the European Pipistrellus kuhlii (2n = 44) by a diploid chromosome number of 42. Banded karyotypes are presented for the first time for Scotozous dormeri, Hypsugo capensis, Hesperoptenus blanfordi, Tylonycteris pachypus and robustula. Chromosomal evolution in the family Vespertilionidae is characterized by the conservation of entire chromosomal arms and reductions in diploid chromosome number via Robertsonian fusions. Less frequently, centric fissions, para- and pericentric inversions and centromere shifts were found to have occurred. In several cases a certain type of chromosomal change predominates in a karyotype. Examples of this are the acquisition of interstitial heterochromatic bands in Tylonycteris robustula, and centric shifts in P. javanicus, H. eisentrauti and Hesp. blanfordi. The species examined here belong to three tribes, i.e. Pipistrellini, Vespertilionini and Eptesicini, which are distinguished by chromosomal characteristics. According to our results, the species Pipistrellus (Neoromicia) capensis belongs to the Vespertilionini and not to the Pipistrellini. We therefore propose to elevate the subgenus Neoromicia to generic rank.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Localization of rRNA genes in Phyllostomidae bats reveals silent NORs in Artibeus cinereus.

We analyzed the nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) of thirteen bats from genera Phyllostomus, Phylloderma, Trachops, Tonatia, Sturnira, Platyrrhinus, Artibeus and Glossophaga. We used silver staining and FISH with rDNA probe. Nine species had only one Ag-NOR-bearing chromosome pair. Artibeus lituratus, A. jamaicensis and A. fimbriatus presented multiple Ag-NORs located in the short arms of pairs 5, 6 and 7, and an additional mark in the long arm of one chromosome 5 in A. fimbriatus. Artibeus cinereus showed Ag-NORs in the chromosome pairs 10 and 13. The chromosomal location of rRNA genes using FISH agreed with the number and position of NORs in all but one species. In A. cinereus the hybridization signals were seen in three chromosome pairs 9, 10 and 13. This suggests the occurrence of silent NORs in pair 9. Differences in the size and intensity of the hybridization signals were also observed in the pair 9 of A. cinereus.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Karyotypic characterization of the bat species Molossus ater, M. molossus and Molossops planirostris (Chiroptera, Molossidae) using FISH and banding techniques.

The karyotypes of the bat species Molossus ater, M. molossus (2n = 48; NF = 64) and Molossops planirostris (2n = 34; NF = 60) were analyzed by G-, C-banding, silver nitrate staining (AgNO3), base-specific fluorochromes and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). The two species of Molossus presented the constitutive heterochromatin (CH) in the pericentromeric regions of all autosomes and in the X chromosome, while the Y chromosome was completely heterochromatic. Molossops planirostris showed conspicuous CH blocks in the pericentromeric regions of the pairs 4, 5, 8, 15, 16 and in the short arm of the X chromosome, while the Y did not present any CH block. Pretreated slides for C-banding stained with DAPI (CB-DAPI) revealed a similar pattern of C-banding (CBG) for these species. Sequential staining (AgNO3/CMA3/DAPI) in M. planirostris showed that the nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) are weakly CMA3 positive and DAPI negative. In the three species, triple staining with CMA3/DA/DAPI revealed R-banding with CMA3 and uniform staining with DAPI. The ribosomal cistrons detected by FISH were present only in the pair 5 in both species of Molossus, and in two pairs of medium sized chromosomes (pairs 9 and 10) of Molossops planirostris. The results obtained by FISH, compared with those by AgNO3 staining, indicated that all NORs in these species are transcriptionally active.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Behavior of college baseball players in a virtual batting task.

A baseball batting simulation was used to investigate the information used to hit a baseball. Measures of spatial and temporal swing accuracy were used to test whether batters (a) use speed to estimate pitch height, (b) initiate a constant swing duration at a fixed time to contact, (c) are influenced by the history of previous pitches and pitch count, and (d) use rotation direction. Batters were experienced college players. Pitch speed variance led to predictable spatial errors, and spatial accuracy was worse than temporal accuracy. Swing duration was generally variable. The history of the previous 3 pitches and the pitch count had significant effects on accuracy, and performance improved when rotation cues were added. There were significant effects of expertise on hitting strategy.

Baseball↗
PubMed1998

Corticofugal modulation of the midbrain frequency map in the bat auditory system.

The auditory system, like the visual and somatosensory systems, contains topographic maps in its central neural pathways. These maps can be modified by sensory deprivation, injury and experience in both young and adult animals. Such plasticity has been explained by changes in the divergent and convergent projections of the ascending sensory system. Another possibility, however, is that plasticity may be mediated by descending corticofugal connections. We have investigated the role of descending connections from the cortex to the inferior colliculus of the big brown bat. Electrical stimulation of the auditory cortex causes a downward shift in the preferred frequencies of collicular neurons toward that of the stimulated cortical neurons. This results in a change in the frequency map within the colliculus. Moreover, similar changes can be induced by repeated bursts of sound at moderate intensities. Thus, one role of the mammalian corticofugal system may be to modify subcortical sensory maps in response to sensory experience.

Animals↗