pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Repeatability of Baseline Corticosterone and Acute Stress Responses to Capture, and Patterns of Reproductive Hormones in Vitellogenic and Non-Vitellogenic Female Fijian Ground Frog (Platymantis vitiana)

The survival of animal species and individuals is largely determined by their ability to express physiological stress responses to predictable and unpredictable environmental challenges. Currently, there is no empirical evidence presenting the stress endocrine responses of female frogs during breeding between different reproductive groups. In this study, non-invasive urine sampling and standard capture and handling protocol were used to quantify baseline and short-term corticosterone stress responses in vitellogenic and non-vitellogenic female Fijian ground frog (Platymantis vitiana) during the annual breeding period. Urinary oestrogen and progesterone metabolites were also quantified in the same frog urine samples. Repeated sampling of the female frogs (n = 20) on three occasions enabled repeatability (r) of reproductive and stress hormones to be quantified. All female frogs generated urinary corticosterone responses to the standard capture and handling stressor. Both baseline and short-term corticosterone responses were significantly higher in magnitude in the vitellogenic females in comparison to the non-vitellogenic female frogs. Vitellogenic females also showed significantly higher levels of urinary oestrogen and progesterone metabolites in comparison to the non-vitellogenic females. Baseline urinary corticosterone, short-term corticosterone responses, urinary oestrogen and progesterone metabolites were highly repeatable for both female groups. The results highlight the importance of reproductive and stress hormones during the breeding period in female ground frogs. Future studies should determine the role of potential biological stressors (such as interactions with invasive species) that could be mediating the observed differences in stress endocrine responses of the vitellogenic and non-vitellogenic female frogs.Griffith Sciences, Griffith School of EnvironmentFull Tex
Stress and chytridiomycosis: Exogenous exposure to corticosterone does not alter amphibian susceptibility to a fungal pathogen

Recent emergence and spread of the amphibian fungal pathogen,  Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis  (Bd) has been attributed to a number of factors, including environmental stressors that increase host susceptibility to Bd. Physiological stress can increase circulating levels of the hormone, corticosterone, which can alter a host's physiology and affect its susceptibility to pathogens. We experimentally elevated whole‐body levels of corticosterone in both larval and post‐metamorphic amphibians, and subsequently tested their susceptibility to Bd. Larvae of three species were tested ( Anaxyrus boreas ,  Rana cascadae , and  Lithobates catesbeianus ) and one species was tested after metamorphosis ( R. cascadae ). After exposure to Bd, we measured whole‐body corticosterone, infection, mortality, growth, and development. We found that exposure to exogenous corticosterone had no effect on Bd infection in any species or at either life stage. Species varied in whole‐body corticosterone levels and exposure to corticosterone reduced mass in  A. boreas  and  R. cascadae  larvae. Exposure to Bd did not affect mortality, but had a number of sublethal effects. Across species, larvae exposed to Bd had higher corticosterone levels than unexposed larvae, but the opposite pattern was found in post‐metamorphic  R. cascadae . Bd exposure also increased larval length in all species and increased mass in  R. cascadae  larvae. Our results indicate that caution is warranted in assuming a strong link between elevated levels of corticosterone and disease susceptibility in amphibians. The role of physiological stress in altering Bd prevalence in amphibian populations is likely much more complicated than can be explained by examining a single “stress” endpoint.  J. Exp. Zool. 321A:243–253, 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Effects of a Novel Climate on Stress Response and Immune Function in Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta)

Climate change may subject animals to increasingly stressful environmental conditions, which could have negative physiological consequences if stress levels are elevated for long periods. We conducted a manipulative experiment to determine the effects of a novel climate on stress levels and immune function in a model reptile species, the painted turtle. We collected turtles from four populations across the species' geographic range and housed them in a common-garden in one population's local climate. We measured levels of the stress hormone corticosterone and tested two aspects of innate immune function, bactericidal capacity and natural antibody agglutination, at the time of capture (baseline) and three additional time points over 1 year. The four populations did not differ in corticosterone levels over the course of 1 year, and corticosterone levels were also similar at each sampling period except that post-hibernation corticosterone levels were signi fi cantly lower than the previous three time points. Furthermore, we found no evidence that elevated corticosterone depressed immune function in the painted turtle. Our study suggests that turtles exposed to novel climatic conditions did not display a detectable stress response, nor did the novel climate depress immune function in the transplanted populations. Therefore, in terms of innate immune function, turtles may be relatively resilient to at least small changes in climatic conditions.Fil: Refsnider, Jeanine M.. University Of California Berkeley; Estados UnidosFil: Palacios, María. G.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico.; ArgentinaFil: Reding, Dawn M.. Luther College. Department of Biology; Estados UnidosFil: Bronikowski, Anne M.. Iowa State University. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology.; Estados Unido
The strange case of the tetragenous Anodonta anatina

Unionoid freshwater mussels have a unique life cycle with a form of parental care where the larvae are developed and kept inside the gills until release, followed by an obligate parasitic stage on fish. The size and location of the marsupium have been used as important phylogenetic characters in unionoids and in Anodontini its location was described exclusively on the outer demibranchs. Two recent surveys in a lake in the North of Portugal revealed large anodontine mussels morphological identical to Anodonta anatina but with glochidia in both demibranchs and with an unusual large size. In order to establish the identity of these mussels, a barcoding approach was used and an anatomical description of the gills and glochidia was performed. These mussels were identified as A. anatina and presented an inner demibranch pair with tripartite tubes. The glochidial sizes were much higher than previously reported for the species reaching maximum (length × height) values of 566 × 552 μm. This species reveals a high ecological plasticity being able to change its size and anatomy to increase its fertility as well as infestation performance. J. Exp. Zool. 9999A:XX-XX, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Passage marker excretion in red kangaroo (Macropus rufus), collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) and colobine monkeys (Colobus angolensis, C. polykomos, Trachypithecus johnii)

Ruminants are characterised by an efficient particle sorting mechanism in the forestomach followed by selective rechewing of large food particles. For the non-ruminating foregut fermenter pygmy hippo it was demonstrated that large particles are excreted as fast as, or faster than, the small particles. The same has been suggested for other non-ruminating foregut fermenters. We determined the mean retention time of fluids and different sized particles in six red kangaroos (Macropus rufus), seven collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu) and three colobine monkeys (Colobus angolensis, C. polykomos, Trachypithecus johnii). We fed Co-EDTA as fluid and mordanted fibre as particle markers (Cr, Ce). Mean (± SD) total tract retention time for fluids, small and large particles was 14±2 h, 29±10 h and 30±9 h in red kangaroos, 26±2 h, 34±5 h and 32±3 h in collared peccaries and 57±17 h, 55±19 h and 54±19 h in colobine monkeys, respectively. Large and small particles were excreted simultaneously in all species. There was no difference in the excretion of fluids and particles in the colobine monkeys, in contrast to the other foregut fermenters. In the non-primate, non-ruminant foregut fermenters, the difference in the excretion of fluids and small particles decreases with increasing food intake. In contrast, ruminants keep this differential excretion constant at different intake levels. This may be a prerequisite for the sorting of particles in their forestomach and enable them to achieve higher food intake rates. The functional significance of differential excretion of fluids and particles from the forestomach requires further investigations
To chew or not to chew: fecal particle size in herbivorous reptiles and mammals

A major difference between reptile and mammalian herbivores is that the former do not masticate their food. Actually, food particle size reduction by chewing is usually considered one of the adaptations facilitating the higher metabolic rates of mammals. However, quantitative comparisons of ingesta particle size between the clades have, to our knowledge, not been performed so far. We measured mean fecal particle size (MPS) in 79 captive individuals of 14 reptile herbivore species (tortoises, lizards, and Corucia zebrata) by wet sieving and compared the results with a mammalian dataset. MPS increased with body mass in both clades, but at a significantly higher level in reptiles. Limited evidence in free-ranging and captive individuals of Testudo hermanni indicates that in reptiles, the ability to crop food and food particle size significantly influence fecal particle size. The opportunistic observation of a drastic particle size difference between stomach and intestinal contents corroborates findings that in reptiles, in contrast to terrestrial mammals, significant ingesta particle size reduction does occur in the gastrointestinal tract, most likely owing to microbial action during very long ingesta retention. Whether behavioral adaptations to controlling ingesta particle size, such as deliberate small bite sizes, are adaptive strategies in reptiles remains to be investigated
Early exposure to daily thermocycles in Solea senegalensis

28 p., 6 figures and referencesThe effect of water temperature during the development of fish larvae on sex differentiation is well known, but not so well known is the impact of the daily thermocycles. Our aim was to investigate the effect of early exposure of Senegal sole larvae to different temperature cycles on gonad development, sex ratio and sex steroid (11-ketotestosterone, 11-KT; estradiol, E2; and testosterone, T) content in muscle extracts of juveniles. From 1 to 97 DPH (days post-hatching) fish larvae and post larvae were subjected to three temperature regimes: TC (Thermophase-Cryophase); CT (Cryophase-Thermophase); and constant temperature. In fish exposed to TC, sex determination occurred earlier, since 90% of soles were males/females at 110 DPH, whereas 45% of fish under CT were undifferentiated at that time. Fish under TC showed the highest growth rates, followed by fish under constant temperature and by fish under CT, the differences being statistically significant between the TC and CT groups. Regarding sex ratio, juveniles exposed to TC showed a higher proportion of females than fish under CT or constant temperature. Under TC, fish showed the highest concentration of E2, while 11-KT concentration was highest in fish under CT and constant temperature. Fish under constant temperature and CT showed higher T levels than those under TC. These results provide the first insights into the effect of daily thermocycles on sex differentiation in fish, and underline the key role of natural environmental cycles on the control of sex ratios during larval development, which may be applied to the manipulation of sex ratio in aquaculture.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) by projects “Circasole” AGL2007-66507-C02-02 and “Reprosole” AGL2006-13777-C03. AQUAGENOMICS 28502 (Consolider-Ingenio Program), and FUNDACIÓN SENECA by project 05690/PI/07 awarded to Francisco Javier Sánchez Vázquez and Generalitat Valenciana project ACOMP/2006/202 to Evaristo Mañanós. Thanks are also due to COST ACTION 867 (Fish Welfare) and FA0801 (Larvanet), where part of these results were presented and discusse
Mating does not influence reproductive investment, in a viviparous lizard.

Mating is crucial for females that reproduce exclusively sexually and should influence their investment into reproduction. Although reproductive adjustments in response to mate quality have been tested in a wide range of species, the effect of exposure to males and mating per se has seldom been studied. Compensatory mechanisms against the absence of mating may evolve more frequently in viviparous females, which pay higher direct costs of reproduction, due to gestation, than oviparous females. To test the existence of such mechanisms in a viviparous species, we experimentally manipulated the mating opportunity of viviparous female lizard, Lacerta (Zootoca) vivipara. We assessed the effect of mating on ovulation, postpartum body condition and parturition date, as well as on changes in locomotor performances and body temperatures during the breeding cycle. Female lizards ovulated spontaneously and mating had no influence on litter size, locomotor impairment or on selected body temperature. However, offspring production induced a more pronounced locomotor impairment and physical burden than the production of undeveloped eggs. Postpartum body condition and parturition dates were not different among females. This result suggests that gestation length is not determined by an embryonic signal. In the common lizard, viviparity is not associated with facultative ovulation and a control of litter size after ovulation, in response to the absence of mating
Aspects of sound communication in the pearlfish Carapus boraborensis and Carapus homei (Carapidae)

Several species of Carapidae are known to have symbiotic relationships with marine invertebrates. The two most common species in Moorea (French Polynesia), Carapus boraborensis and Carapus homei, undergo conspecific and heterospecific encounters in the same holothurian host during which they produce sounds. Another characteristic of these fish lies in their abilities to produce sounds. The objective of this study was dual: (1) to seek if there was a sexual difference in the sounds produced by C. boraborensis; (2) to seek if there was a difference in the sound emissions between heterospecific and conspecific encounters. In each trial, sounds were only recorded when one individual entered the sea cucumber that was already occupied. In encounters, sounds were structured in regular pulse emissions whose pulse lengths and periods allowed to significantly distinguish each species, as well as both sexes in C. boraborensis. In the latter species, results show for the first time that temporal features of the emitted sounds can have a functional importance in sex identification. In heterospecific encounters, sounds were reduced 68% of the time to a single pulse emission and there was a modification in the pulse length of each species: it shortens in C. homei and it lengthens in C. boraborensis. It highlights that both carapids are able to adapt their sounds to the facing species. Because a modification of the sound appears to be done at the first emission, it is supposed that recognition precedes the sound emission.Peer reviewe
Amelogenin in cranio-facial development: the tooth as a model to study the role of amelogenin during embryogenesis

The amelogenins comprise 90% of the developing extracellular enamel matrix proteins and play a major role in the biomineralization and structural organization of enamel. Amelogenins were also detected, in smaller amounts, in postnatal calcifying mesenchymal tissues, and in several nonmineralizing tissues including brain. Low molecular mass amelogenin isoforms were suggested to have signaling activity; to produce ectopically chondrogenic and osteogenic-like tissue and to affect mouse tooth germ differentiation in vitro. Recently, some amelogenin isoforms were found to bind to the cell surface receptors; LAMP-1, LAMP-2 and CD63, and subsequently localize to the perinuclear region of the cell. The recombinant amelogenin protein (rHAM(+)) alone brought about regeneration of the tooth supporting tissues: cementum, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone, in the dog model, through recruitment of progenitor cells and mesenchymal stem cells.We show that amelogenin is expressed in various tissues of the developing mouse embryonic cranio-facial complex such as brain, eye, ganglia, peripheral nerve trunks, cartilage and bone, and is already expressed at E10.5 in the brain and eye, long before the initiation of tooth formation. Amelogenin protein expression was detected in the tooth germ (dental lamina) already at E13.5, much earlier than previously reported (E19). Application of amelogenin (rHAM(+)) beads together with DiI, on E13.5 and E14.5 embryonic mandibular mesenchyme and on embryonic tooth germ, revealed recruitment of mesenchymal cells. The present results indicate that amelogenin has an important role in many tissues of the cranio-facial complex during mouse embryonic development and differentiation, and might be a multifunctional protein
Repeated sequence homogenization between the control and pseudo-control regions in the mitochondrial genomes of the subfamily Aquilinae

In birds, the noncoding control region (CR) and its flanking genes are the only parts of the mitochondrial (mt) genome that have been modified by intragenomic rearrangements. In raptors, two noncoding regions are present: the CR has shifted to a new position with respect to the “ancestral avian gene order,” whereas the pseudo-control region (ΨCR) is located at the original genomic position of the CR. As possible mechanisms for this rearrangement, duplication and transposition have been considered. During characterization of the mt gene order in Bonelli's eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus, we detected intragenomic sequence similarity between the two regions supporting the duplication hypothesis. We performed intra- and intergenomic sequence comparisons in H. fasciatus and other falconiform species to trace the evolution of the noncoding mtDNA regions in Falconiformes. We identified sections displaying different levels of similarity between the CR and ΨCR. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses, we outline an evolutionary scenario of the underlying mutation events involving duplication and homogenization processes followed by sporadic deletions. Apparently, homogenization may easily occur if sufficient sequence similarity between the CR and ΨCR exists. Moreover, homogenization itself allows perpetuation of this continued equalization, unless this process is stopped by deletion. The Pandionidae and the Aquilinae seem to be the only two lineages of Falconiformes where homology between both regionsis still detectable, whereas in other raptors no similarity was found so far. In these two lineages, the process of sequence degeneration may have slowed down by homogenization events retaining high sequence similarity at least in some sections.Terra Natura Foundation; European Synthesys program; Grant number: AT-TAF-2434; Government of the Comunidad Valenciana; Spanish Ministry of Education and Science; Grant number: AP2001-1444
The Anthropoid Postcranial Axial Skeleton: Comments on Development, Variation, and Evolution

Within-species phenotypic variation is the raw material on which natural selection acts to shape evolutionary change, and understanding more about the developmental genetics of intraspecific as well as interspecific phenotypic variation is an important component of the Evo-Devo agenda. The axial skeleton is a useful system to analyze from such a perspective. Its development is increasingly well understood, and between-species differences in functionally important developmental
parameters are well documented. I present data on intraspecific variation in the axial postcranial skeleton of some Primates, including hominoids (apes and humans). Hominoid species are particularly valuable, because counts of total numbers of vertebrae, and hence original somite numbers, are available for large samples. Evolutionary changes in the axial skeleton of various primate lineages, including bipedal humans, are reviewed, and hypotheses presented to explain the
changes in terms of developmental genetics. Further relevant experiments on model organisms are suggested in order to explore more fully the differences in developmental processes between primate
species, and hence to test these hypotheses.Anthropolog
Cell proliferation dynamics in regeneration of the operculum head appendage in the annelid Pomatoceros lamarckii

Regeneration of lost or damaged appendages is a widespread and ecologically important ability in the animal kingdom, and also of great significance to developing regenerative medicine. The operculum of serpulid polychaetes is one among the many diverse appendages found in the lophotrochozoan superphylum, a clade hitherto understudied with respect to the mechanisms of appendage regeneration. In this study, we establish the normal time course of opercular regeneration in the serpulid Pomatoceros lamarckii and describe cell proliferation patterns in the regenerating opercular filament. The P. lamarckii operculum regenerates through a rapid and consistent series of morphogenetic events. Based on 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) labelling and anti-phosphohistone H3 immunohistochemistry, opercular regeneration appears to be a mixture of an early morphallactic stage and a later phase characterised by widespread proliferative activity within the opercular filament. Tracking residual pigmentation suggests that the distal part of the stump gives rise to the most distal structures of the operculum via morphallactic remodelling, whereas more proximal structures are derived from the proximal stump. Our work underscores the diversity of regenerative strategies employed by animals and introduces P. lamarckii as an emerging model of appendage regeneration.PostprintPeer reviewe
Cleavage pattern and development of isolated D blastomeres in bivalves

Although bivalves develop through spiral cleavage patterns, similar to other lophotrochozoans, the cleavage pattern of D lineage blastomeres is unique, since 2d shows four rounds of stereotypic unequal cleavage before bilateral cleavage of the largest derivative of 2d: 2d1121. This unique modification of spiral cleavage is directly associated with the characteristic morphology of bivalves, namely, bilaterally separated shell plates, because the bilateral shell plates are thought to be derived from the bilateral derivatives of 2d1121. In this report, to determine whether the unique cleavage pattern of bivalves is regulated depending on the interaction with other cells or by cell autonomous mechanisms, we performed cell isolation experiments and observed subsequent cleavage patterns of isolated blastomeres. When focusing on the largest derivatives of D blastomeres, 8% of isolated D blastomeres followed the cleavage pattern of normal development up to bilateral cleavage. Importantly, the remainder of the partial embryos ended cleavage before that stage, and none of the isolated blastomeres showed abnormal cleavage patterns. We also examined the development of isolated blastomeres and found that isolated D blastomeres could develop shell plates, whereas larvae developed from AB blastomeres never had shell plates. Based on these observations, we concluded that D blastomeres control their unique cleavage pattern through intrinsic mechanisms and develop shell glands autonomously without any cell–cell interaction with other lineages