Endocranial morphology of Pygoscelis calderensis (Aves, Spheniscidae) from the Neogene of Chile and remarks on brain morphology in modern Pygoscelis

Fil: Paulina-Carabajal, Ariana. Museo Carmen Funes. Neuquen; ArgentinaFil: Acosta Hospitaleche, Carolina. División Paleontología Vertebrados. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Yury-Yáñez, Roberto E.. Laboratorio de Zoología de Vertebrados. Universidad de Chile; Chil

Descripción de dos nuevas especies de pseudoscorpiones cavernícolas de la provincia de Cádiz (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpionida, Chthoniidae, Neobisiidae)

Two new species of cave-dwelling Pseudoscorpionida from Cádiz (South Spain) are described: Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) aguileraorum sp. n. and Neobisium (Ommatoblothrus) rodrigoi sp. n., and it is compared with the close relatives species.Se describen dos nuevas especies de Pseudoscorpionida cavernícolas procedentes de la provincia de Cádiz (sur de España): Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) aguileraorum sp. n. y Neobisium (Ommatoblothrus) rodrigoi sp. n., y se comparan con las especias más próximas

Genetic pest management and the background genetics of release strains

Genetic pest management (GPM) methods involve releasing modified versions of a pest species to mate with wild pests in the target area. Proposed for a wide range of applications in public health, agriculture and conservation, most progress has been made with pest insects. Offspring of the released modified insects and wild pests carry the modification—which might be transgenes, artificially introduced Wolbachia or genetic damage from radiation, for example—but they also carry a complete haploid genome from their laboratory-reared parent, as well as one from their wild parent. Unless these F1 hybrids are completely unable to reproduce, further mating will lead to introgression of DNA sequences from the release strain into the wild population. We discuss issues around strain selection and the potential consequences of such introgression. We conclude that such introgression is probably harmless in almost all circumstances, and could, in theory, provide specific additional benefits to the release programme. We outline population monitoring approaches that could be used, going forward, to determine how background genetics may affect GPM

Zoonosis parasitarias en caninos de un área vulnerable

Los caninos pueden diseminar con sus heces enteroparásitos transmisibles a humanos y como animales centinela, pueden utilizarse para realizar vigilancia de la circulación de patógenos. El objetivo de la presente investigación fue determinar la presencia de enteroparásitos en caninos de un área de riesgo sanitario. Entre febrero de 2016 y diciembre de 2019 se tomaron muestras fecales a caninos mediante enema jabonoso. En el Laboratorio, se realizó la observación en fresco y luego las muestras se concentraron por las técnicas de Telemann modificada y Sheather. Sobre las 375 heces caninas analizadas, 309 (82,4 %) estaban parasitadas, siendo Ancylostoma caninum, Toxocara canis y Uncinaria stenocephala las especies más frecuentes. Se observó mayor frecuencia de parasitosis entre los machos (86,6 %) que en las hembras (77,9 %), entre los perros de edad menor o igual a 1 año y entre los que tenían el hábito de enterrar huesos. Los resultados revelan una alta prevalencia de enteroparásitos en los caninos, varios de ellos zoonóticos, lo cual significa un elevado riesgo de infección para los habitantes del área.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

The Braincase of the Basal Sauropod Dinosaur Spinophorosaurus and 3D Reconstructions of the Cranial Endocast and Inner Ear

Background: Sauropod dinosaurs were the largest animals ever to walk on land, and, as a result, the evolution of their remarkable adaptations has been of great interest. The braincase is of particular interest because it houses the brain and inner ear. However, only a few studies of these structures in sauropods are available to date. Because of the phylogenetic position of Spinophorosaurus nigerensis as a basal eusauropod, the braincase has the potential to provide key evidence on the evolutionary transition relative to other dinosaurs. Methodology/Principal Findings: The only known braincase of Spinophorosaurus (‘Argiles de l'Irhazer’, Irhazer Group; Agadez region, Niger) differs significantly from those of the Jurassic sauropods examined, except potentially for Atlasaurus imelakei (Tilougguit Formation, Morocco). The basisphenoids of Spinophorosaurus and Atlasaurus bear basipterygoid processes that are comparable in being directed strongly caudally. The Spinophorosaurus specimen was CT scanned, and 3D renderings of the cranial endocast and inner-ear system were generated. The endocast resembles that of most other sauropods in having well-marked pontine and cerebral flexures, a large and oblong pituitary fossa, and in having the brain structure obscured by the former existence of relatively thick meninges and dural venous sinuses. The labyrinth is characterized by long and proportionally slender semicircular canals. This condition recalls, in particular, that of the basal non-sauropod sauropodomorph Massospondylus and the basal titanosauriform Giraffatitan. Conclusions/Significance: Spinophorosaurus has a moderately derived paleoneuroanatomical pattern. In contrast to what might be expected early within a lineage leading to plant-eating graviportal quadrupeds, Spinophorosaurus and other (but not all) sauropodomorphs show no reduction of the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear. This character-state is possibly a primitive retention in Spinophorosaurus, but due the scarcity of data it remains unclear whether it is also the case in the various later sauropods in which it is present or whether it has developed homoplastically in these taxa. Any interpretations remain tentative pending the more comprehensive quantitative analysis underway, but the size and morphology of the labyrinth of sauropodomorphs may be related to neck length and mobility, among other factors.The sojourns of Dr. Knoll in the Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin) were partly funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through a sponsorship of renewed research stay in Germany and by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” Program through a Synthesys grant (http://www.synthesys.info/). Dr. Knoll is currently supported by the Ramón y Cajal Program. This is a contribution to the research project CGL2009-12143, from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Madrid), conducted by Dr. Knoll (PI), Dr. Witmer, and Dr. Schwarz-Wings. Dr. Witmer and Dr. Ridgely acknowledge funding support from the United States National Science Foundation (IBN-9601174, IBN-0343744, IOB-0517257) and the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. The Ohio Supercomputing Center also provided support.Peer reviewe

The genetic architecture of a host shift: An adaptive walk protected an aphid and its endosymbiont from plant chemical defenses

This is the final version. Available from American Association for the Advancement of Science via the DOI in this record. The RNA and DNA sequence data generated in this study have been deposited with NCBI under accession number PRJNA574571. The sequence of RPS11/ADAMTS9 has been deposited under NCBI accession number MF1555663, and the accession numbers of other genes characterized in this study can be found in data file S1. All other data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials. Additional data related to this paper may be requested from the authors.Host shifts can lead to ecological speciation and the emergence of new pests and pathogens. However, the mutational events that facilitate the exploitation of novel hosts are poorly understood. Here, we characterize an adaptive walk underpinning the host shift of the aphid Myzus persicae to tobacco, including evolution of mechanisms that overcame tobacco chemical defenses. A series of mutational events added as many as 1.5 million nucleotides to the genome of the tobacco-adapted subspecies, M. p. nicotianae, and yielded profound increases in expression of an enzyme that efficiently detoxifies nicotine, both in aphid gut tissue and in the bacteriocytes housing the obligate aphid symbiont Buchnera aphidicola. This dual evolutionary solution overcame the challenge of preserving fitness of a mutualistic symbiosis during adaptation to a toxic novel host. Our results reveal the intricate processes by which genetic novelty can arise and drive the evolution of key innovations required for ecological adaptation.European Union Horizon 2020Czech Science FoundationCzech Science FoundationEuropean Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech RepublicBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

Los caninos de un área vulnerable como bioindicadores de la presencia de Toxocara canis

Los nematodes enteroparásitos, del género Toxocara ocasionan en humanos, toxocarosis, enfermedad tambien denominada síndrome de larvas migrans o nematodiasis larval sistémica. Las localizaciones neurológica, pulmonar y ocular son severas. Se investigó la presencia de Toxocara canis en heces de caninos (bioindicadores),durante un período de cinco años. Se halló elevada prevalencia no observándose variabilidad anual importante. Se correlacionó la parasitosis por rangos etáreos y se observó que los mayores eliminadores fueron los animales de hasta un año de edad. La eliminación de huevos fue menor a medida que la edad ascendió. Se concluye que el agente circula en el área y que los profesionales médicos debieran incluir a esta enfermedad parasitaria entre los diagnósticos diferenciales.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Los caninos de un área vulnerable como bioindicadores de la presencia de Toxocara canis

Los nematodes enteroparásitos, del género Toxocara ocasionan en humanos, toxocarosis, enfermedad tambien denominada síndrome de larvas migrans o nematodiasis larval sistémica. Las localizaciones neurológica, pulmonar y ocular son severas. Se investigó la presencia de Toxocara canis en heces de caninos (bioindicadores),durante un período de cinco años. Se halló elevada prevalencia no observándose variabilidad anual importante. Se correlacionó la parasitosis por rangos etáreos y se observó que los mayores eliminadores fueron los animales de hasta un año de edad. La eliminación de huevos fue menor a medida que la edad ascendió. Se concluye que el agente circula en el área y que los profesionales médicos debieran incluir a esta enfermedad parasitaria entre los diagnósticos diferenciales.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Los caninos de un área vulnerable como bioindicadores de la presencia de Toxocara canis

Los nematodes enteroparásitos, del género Toxocara ocasionan en humanos, toxocarosis, enfermedad tambien denominada síndrome de larvas migrans o nematodiasis larval sistémica. Las localizaciones neurológica, pulmonar y ocular son severas. Se investigó la presencia de Toxocara canis en heces de caninos (bioindicadores),durante un período de cinco años. Se halló elevada prevalencia no observándose variabilidad anual importante. Se correlacionó la parasitosis por rangos etáreos y se observó que los mayores eliminadores fueron los animales de hasta un año de edad. La eliminación de huevos fue menor a medida que la edad ascendió. Se concluye que el agente circula en el área y que los profesionales médicos debieran incluir a esta enfermedad parasitaria entre los diagnósticos diferenciales.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Optimizing CRE and PhiC31 mediated recombination in Aedes aegypti

Introduction: Genetic manipulation of Aedes aegypti is key to developing a deeper understanding of this insects’ biology, vector-virus interactions and makes future genetic control strategies possible. Despite some advances, this process remains laborious and requires highly skilled researchers and specialist equipment.Methods: Here we present two improved methods for genetic manipulation in this species. Use of transgenic lines which express Cre recombinase and a plasmid-based method for expressing PhiC31 when injected into early embryos.Results: Use of transgenic lines which express Cre recombinase allowed, by simple crossing schemes, germline or somatic recombination of transgenes, which could be utilized for numerous genetic manipulations. PhiC31 integrase based methods for site-specific integration of genetic elements was also improved, by developing a plasmid which expresses PhiC31 when injected into early embryos, eliminating the need to use costly and unstable mRNA as is the current standard.Discussion: Here we have expanded the toolbox for synthetic biology in Ae. aegypti. These methods can be easily transferred into other mosquito and even insect species by identifying appropriate promoter sequences. This advances the ability to manipulate these insects for fundamental studies, and for more applied approaches for pest control