Chromosomes of three Asian mammals: Meriones meridianus (Rodentia:Gerbillinae), Spermophilopsis leptodactylus (Rodentia:Sciuridae), Ochotona rufescens (Lagomorpha:Ochotonidae).
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Two species of wild rodents (Ord's kangaroo rat, Dipodomys ordii Woodhouse, and the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque) were fed 0, 2, and 20% (AI) by weight concentrations of carbaryl-bran grasshopper bait in the laboratory to determine whether the bait would be consumed, the total quantity of bait consumed within a specified period, whether mortality would occur, and whether bait would be consumed if other foods were readily available. Consumption tests showed that bait ingestion was inversely proportional to concentration. No mortalities occurred at the 0% level, whereas the 2 and 20% concentration treatments resulted in 18.8 and 97.0% mortality, respectively. The apparent repellency of 20% bait indicated that starvation may have caused the deaths. Food preference tests disclosed that D. ordii and P. leucopus preferred natural forage rather than treated and untreated wheat bran in the laboratory.
The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the evolution of chorioallantoic placental characters in Rodentia. The analysis is based on pre-existing hypotheses of rodent relationships and the tracing of character evolution. Data on 64 rodent species of 49 genera are derived from the literature. New results refer to the hystricognath species Petromus typicus A. Smith, 1831 and Octodon degus (Molina, 1782). This comprehensive analysis confirms that the stem species pattern of Rodentia is characterised by a haemochorial placenta which is divided horizontally. Inside the placental labyrinth, fetal vessels and their trophoblastic external border build up a network through which the maternal blood flows. The trophoblastic tissue is one-layered, syncytial and possess a considerable surface extension. Within Rodentia, evolutionary transformations occurred on the macroscopic as well as the fine structural level. The results suggest that the stem species of Hystricognathi underwent transformations only on the macroscopic level, i.e., forming a ring-shaped arrangement of placental regions with centrally situated maternal arteries and the acquisition of a subplacenta. By contrast, in Muridae the chorioallantoic placenta shows derived features only in regard to the fine structure of the labyrinth, i.e. the interhaemal membrane is modified in composition, and the fetal capillary endothelium is fenestrated. Geomyoidea underwent transformations on both levels. Macroscopically, their placenta is modified into a hillock shape. Microscopically, the interhaemal membrane is formed by the cytotrophoblast. In addition to the mentioned transformations, some aspects of other fetal membrane differentiation in Rodentia are briefly discussed.
Many large sebaceous glands have been described, and functions such as scent production suggested, but gland size has seldom been studied in relation to the surface area of their hair follicles. However, investigating this relationship is essential for establishing whether glands produce more sebum than would be required for lubricating associated hair alone. Here, the relationship between sebaceous gland size and the surface area of the associated hair follicles has been studied. Glands on the heads of 20 species from three orders were compared with those associated with fur hairs. In all species, the fur hairs had small hair follicles with small sebaceous glands, as had the mystacial and submandibular hairs of Rodentia. Medium-sized glands and hairs were found in the mystacial and submandibular region in Insectivora, and in the circumoral region in Chiroptera and Rodentia. Large glands and hairs were found on a pad in the corner of the mouth in Rodentia. Although the size of glands was not directly proportional to hair size, some gross trends were noted. Vibrissae had either no or very small sebaceous glands. It is likely that sebum has to be provided from elsewhere to lubricate their surfaces. The glands on the snout of Insectivora and Chiroptera are clearly enlarged and could probably produce more sebum than would be required for grooming vibrissae alone. In Rodentia, vibrissae were surrounded by small hair and glands, and the nearest glands large enough to provide sebum were the glands on the pad in the mouth corner.
Phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences from primates, rodents, lagomorphs, artiodactyls, carnivores, and birds strongly suggests that the order Rodentia is an outgroup to the other four mammalian orders and that Artiodactyla and Carnivora belong to a superordinal clade. Further, there is strong evidence against the Glires concept, which unites Lagomorpha and Rodentia. The radiation among Lagomorpha, Primates, and Artiodactyla--Carnivora is very bush-like, but there is some evidence that Lagomorpha has branched off first. Thus, the branching sequence for these five orders of mammals seems to be Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Primates, Artiodactyla, and Carnivora. The branching date for Rodentia could be as early as 100 million years ago. The rate of nucleotide substitution in the rodent lineage is shown to be at least 1.5 times higher than those in the other four mammalian lineages.
Complementary DNA clones encoding plasma alpha-1-antiproteinase (also called alpha-1-antitrypsin or alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor) were isolated from Syrian hamster liver cDNA library and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence of putative reactive site (P3-P'3) was Ile-Pro-Met-Ser-Val-Pro, characteristic of alpha-1-antiproteinase of orthodox type (Suzuki, Y. et al. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 928-932). A molecular phylogenetic tree of all known orthologous proteins was constructed based on the synonymous substitution rate. The result shows that the hamster has branched off first before the divergence among mice, rats, and gerbils, and that the rabbit is the closest relative of the guinea pig which is separated from the rodents. Although this tree differs largely from the classical phylogeny based on the morphology (hamsters and gerbils belong to the same family, Cricetidae, and the guinea pig belongs to the order Rodentia), it lends support to recent concepts that the hamster and guinea pig differ, in a number of biochemical features, not only from each other but also from mice and rats, and that the guinea pig may belong to an order distinct from Rodentia.
The hemoglobins of the four karyotypes of Spalax ehrenbergi (2n = 52, 54, 58, 60) did not show any differences in their electrophoretic pattern and in high performance liquid chromatography. The complete amino-acid sequence of mole rat hemoglobin (Spalax ehrenbergi), chromosome species 2n = 52, is presented. It was elucidated by automatic Edman degradation of the chains, the tryptic peptides, and the C-terminal peptide obtained by acid hydrolysis of the Asp-Pro bond in beta-chains. The alpha- and beta-chains are identical with those of the chromosome species 2n = 60. A comparison of the hemoglobins of mole rat, mouse, and other rodents shows homology but no indication of adaptation to subterranean life. In all probability alpha 11(A9)Arg and alpha 120(H3)Gly, unique in mole rat among all mammalian hemoglobins, are not involved in high oxygen affinity. The construction of a phylogenetic tree by the maximum parsimony method, based on hemoglobin sequences, made it possible to show that Rodentia originated as a monophyletic clade, and to find the phylogenetic relationship of Spalacidae to other Rodentia (Mus, Rattus, Ondatra, Mesocricetus, Citellus, and Cavia). Among all rodents the slowest rate of nucleotide replacements occurred in the lineage to Spalax (20%) and the fastest in the lineage to Cavia (59%).
In Colombia, the natural intermediate host of Echinococcus vogeli Rausch and Bernstein, 1972 is the paca, Cuniculus paca L. (Rodentia: Dasyproctidae). The larval cestode develops in the liver of the host, where it usually is situated superficially, partly exposed beneath Glisson's capsule. The infective larva consists of a subspherical to asymmetrical, fluid-filled vesicle, up to 30 mm in diameter, enclosed by a thick laminated membrane. It typically contains numerous chambers, often interconnected, produced by endogenous proliferation of germinal and laminated tissue, within which brood capsules arise in an irregular pattern from the germinal layer. Invasive growth by means of exogenous proliferation, typical of infections in man, was not observed in the natural intermediate host. The development of the larval cestode is described on the basis of material from pacas, supplemented by observations on early-stage lesions in experimentally infected nutrias, Myocastor coypus (Molina) (Rodentia: Capromyidae). The tissue response is characterized for early-stage, mature (infective), and degenerating larvae in the comparatively long-lived intermediate host. In addition to previously reported differences in size and form of rostellar hooks, other morphologic characteristics are defined by which the larval stage of E. vogeli is distinguished from that of E. oligarthrus (Diesing, 1863). Pathogenesis by the larval E. vogeli in man, like that by the larval E. multilocularis Leuckart, 1863, is the consequence of atypical proliferation of vesicles attributable to parasite-host incompatibility.
The order Rodentia includes nearly half of all living mammalian species. Phylogenetic relationships among 22 species of rodents were investigated by use of a 1.2-kb region from exon 1 of the single-copy nuclear gene IRBP. IRBP has been extensively used for study of interordinal phylogeny in mammals, which allowed inclusion of 50 outgroup species, representing every eutherian order plus seven marsupials. Several clades were strongly supported, regardless of analytical method or inclusion/exclusion of data. These include a monophyletic Muroidea, with a clade including Spalax and Rhizomys as the first divergence; a clade uniting Zapus with Dipus, but excluding Sicista; a monophyletic Myodonta (Muroidea plus Dipodidae); and a clade including Aplodontidae as sister to Sciuridae. One bipartition, separating Hystricognathi and Geomyoidea from the remaining rodents, is strongly supported in all analyses that include third-position sites but almost completely absent from analyses that exclude third-position sites. A combination of nonstationary nucleotide composition and branch length effects may be causing all methods examined (including those using the LogDet distance) to support an incorrect conclusion when third-position sites are analyzed together with first- and second-position sites.
We report eleven new families of MEdium Reiteration frequency (MER) interspersed repeats in the genomes of Primates, Rodentia, and Lagomorpha. Two families of the human repeats, MER 46 and MER 47, represent non-autonomous DNA transposons. These sequences are flanked by TA target site duplications and have terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) similar to TIRs of DNA transposons. The sequences of five other families of repeats, MER41, MER48, MER50, MER51, and RMER3, resemble long terminal repeats of retroviruses. A potential involvement of some of the reported MER repeats in the regulation of transcription and genetic rearrangements is suggested. Age estimations place the origin of most MER repeats at the time of decline in MIR (Mammalian-wide Interspersed Repeats) retroposition and before the origin of the Alu family.
NAD-linked lactate malate, glycerophosphate, alcohol and nonspecific dehydrogenases, aspartate aminotransferases, and soluble esterases from extracts of tissues of individuals from a wild population of Calomys musculinus (Rodentia, Cricetidae) have been analyzed by means of starch gel electrophoresis and specific staining. Allelic frequencies and heterozygosity have been determined. Mendelian inheritance of some of the variants detected was confirmed by breeding experiments. Ten out of fifteen (66.6%) of the genetic loci investigated presented polymorphism. Mean heterozygosity per locus was very high (H = 0.2014, SE 0.046).
Buoyant density in CsCl, melting temperature, and G + C base content of the DNA from four species of Akodon (Rodentia, Cricetidae) were determined. The buoyant density values of 1.699-1.701 g/cm3 were in accordance with the data reported for other cricetids. No satellite bands were seen in neutral CsCl. The Tm values determined in 1 x SSC ranged from 86.2 to 87.0 C, which corresponds to G + C contents of 41.2-43.2%. There was good agreement in DNA base composition of the four species, although values were slightly higher in A. obscurus, suggesting a certain degree of interspecies variability.
The ultrastructural changes observed during the growth phase of oocytes of Ctenomys torquatus (Rodentia, Octodontidae) are reported. Interest was particularly centered on the transformation and/or distribution of the components of the endoplasmic reticulum. According to the observations made it is suggested that the endoplasmic reticulum stores some kind of material which may support early stages of development.
Observations of dental microwear are used to analyse the correlation between changes in molar tooth crown morphology and the direction of masticatory movement during the evolution of Myodonta (Rodentia, Mammalia). The studied sample includes 36 specimens representing both superfamilies of Myodonta (Muroidea and Dipodoidea) spanning 16 dipodoid and 9 muroid species. Microscopic scratches on occlusal surfaces resulting from contact between opposite teeth during mastication are analysed. Using these features, we determine the direction of masticatory movements. Microwear patterns display diverse orientations among Dipodoidea: oblique in Sicistinae, Euchoreutinae and Zapodinae, propalinal in Dipodinae and intermediary in Allactaginae. Similarly, Muroidea exhibit the following orientations: oblique in Cricetinae and propalinal in Arvicolinae, Cricetomyinae, Gerbillinae and Murinae. These various chewing types illustrate different evolutionary grades within the superfamilies. Acquisition of the antero-posterior masticatory movement in Dipodoidea is related to flattening of the molar occlusal surface. However, in some muroid subfamilies, this direction of mastication is associated with low-crowned and cuspidate molars (Cricetomyinae, Murinae).
Multiple 2'-5' oligoadenylate (2-5A) synthetases are important components of innate immunity in mammals. Gene families encoding these proteins have previously been studied mainly in humans and mice. To reconstruct the evolution of this gene family in mammals, a search for additional 2-5A synthetase genes was performed in rat, cattle, pig, and dog. Twelve 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase (Oas) genes were identified in the rat genome, including eight Oas1 genes, two Oas1 pseudogenes, single copies of Oas2 and Oas3, and two Oas-like genes, Oasl1 and Oasl2. Four OAS genes were detected in the pig genome and five OAS genes were found in both the cattle and dog genomes. An OAS3 gene was not found in either the cattle or the pig genome. While two tandemly duplicated OAS-like (OASL) genes were identified in the dog genome, only a single OASL orthologue was found in both the cattle and the pig genomes. The bovine and porcine OASL genes contain premature stop codons and encode truncated proteins, which lack the typical C-terminal double ubiquitin domains. The cDNA sequences of the rat, cattle, pig, and dog OAS genes were amplified, sequenced and compared with each other and with those in the human, mouse, horse, and chicken genomes. Evidence of concerted evolution of paralogous 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase 1 genes was obtained in rodents (Rodentia) and even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Calculations using the nonparametric Kolmogorov-Smirnov test suggested that the homogenization of paralogous OAS1 sequences was due to gene conversion rather than stabilizing selection.
1. Molecular data indicate that caviomorphs (guinea-pig-like rodents) and myomorphs (rat-like rodents) are not monophyletic. 2. Rather, the evolutionary lineage leading to the guinea-pig may have branched off prior to the divergence among myomorphs, lagomorphs, primates, chiropterans, artiodactyls, and carnivores. 3. Thus, the guinea-pig lineage probably represents an ancient eutherian lineage, and should be conferred an independent ordinal status. 4. The gundis (Ctenodactylidae) also seem to have branched off before the divergence among myomorphs, primates, and artiodactyls, but after the divergence of the guinea-pig. 5. Therefore, the order Rodentia as defined at the present time is in all probability a paraphyletic group devoid of taxonomic validity. 6. Previous claims pertaining to large differences in the rate of molecular evolution between guinea-pigs and myomorphs may have been exaggerated in many cases as a result of the erroneous phylogenetic position attributed to the guinea-pig. 7. The average rate of amino acid replacement in the guinea-pig is comparable to that in the rat and the mouse. 8. Protein-coding genes of myomorphs and caviomorphs evole, on average, about two times faster than their counterparts in gundis and humans.
This work is the first report of subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum (Rodentia: Octodontidae) as intermediate host of Taenia taeniaeformis in urban areas of Mar de Cobo (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) and to experimentally reproduce in domestic dogs the adult stage of this parasite. Prevalence, mean abundance and mean intensity of infection with T. taeniaeformis larvae in the liver and peritoneal cavity of C. talarum were 64%, 15.3 and 9.8, respectively. Ten adults of T. taeniaeformis were obtained from experimentally infected dogs. Information about the role of subterranean rodents in the life cycle of this parasite is also given. The above mentioned data indicate that T. taeniaeformis is a frequent parasite of this species of rodents, at least within the study area. Also explanations for the high prevalence of larval forms of this parasite in C. talarum populations are given.