Old views and new insights: taxonomic revision of the Bukovina blind mole rat, Spalax graecus (Rodentia: Spalacinae)

As a result of their rather uniform external appearance and gross cranial morphology, the systematics of blind mole rats has been hotly debated over the last century; however, the separation of the large-bodied and small-bodied blind mole rats at the genus level (Spalax and Nannospalax, respectively), suggested earlier on morphological grounds, is strongly supported by recent molecular biological evidence. The species of Spalax have so far been distinguished from each other by cranial traits only, especially the outline of sutures of the cranium, and the shape and relative size of the nasal and parietal bones. Based on mitochondrial DNA sequences (with the widest taxonomic and geographic coverage so far) and detailed anatomical comparisons of museum specimens, we herewith provide a revision of the taxonomic and phylogenetic status of the westernmost representative of the genus, Spalax graecus s.l. We clarify that antiquus and istricus – presently regarded as synonyms of graecus – are well-defined species, and they together form a separate clade within Spalax. The robustness of our conclusions is supported by the combined evidence of morphology, multilocus phylogeny, species distribution, and taxon history (species congruence with past tectonic and climate events)

Kutatási füzetek 19.

Szerkesztők: Bene Krisztián; Dávid Ferenc; Deák Máté; Gőzsy Zoltán; Vitári Zsolt | További szerzők: Árvai Tamás Kristóf; Berta János; Csibi Norbert; Farkas Péter; Gazdag László; Glanz, Susan; Hantos-Varga Márta; Madácsy József; Szarka Evelin; Szőke Noémi; Zárol Evelin | Cím: Kutatási füzetek 19. | Megjelenési adatok: Pécsi Tudományegyetem, Pécs, 2013. | ISSN: 1416-0986 | Megjegyzés: A Kutatási Füzetek a Pécsi Tudományegyetem Interdiszciplináris Doktori Iskolájának kiadványsorozata. Az MTA–PTE Magyarország. A kötet a Tudományos képzés műhelyeinek támogatása a Pécsi Tudományegyetemen (TÁMOP 4.2.2/B-10/1-2010-0029) projekt támogatásával készült.(1) Árvai Tamás Kristóf: Asszíria mentális háborúja 13-34 | (2) Berta János: Miért adhat a hetvenes évek magyar dokumentumfilmje a (társadalom)történetírás számára? 35-55 | (3) Csibi Norbert: Jubileumi seregszemle - Az 1910. évi magyarországi országos katolikus nagygyűlés és közművelődési szakosztálya 57-77 | (4) Farkas Péter: Bíráskodás a veszprémi püspökség egyházi nemesei felett a 14. században 79-97 | (5) Gazdag László: Herczeg Ferenc és a magyar társadalmi kérdések 99-121 | (6) Glanz, Susan: The Battles of Hunyadi János in America 123-149 | (7) Hantos-Varga Márta: A katolikus politikai cselekvés teoretikus megközelítése a két világháború közötti Magyarországon 151-170 | (8) Madácsy József: Gregory Bateson és az Anonim Alkoholisták II. 171-191 | (9) Szarka Evelin: Az istenek szigete a 21. században – Spirituális építészeti elvek és a városfejlesztés nehézségei Balin 193-214 | (10) Szőke Noémi: A munkásosztálybeli szingli 215-236 | (11) Zárol Evelin: A Dél-Dunántúli Régió időseket gondozó intézményrendszere 237-26

Spreading depression and evoked potentials recorded in the somatosensory cortex of the rat

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is associated with changes in the caliber of surface blood vessels; others have described it as a phenomenon which arises spontaneously and repetitively following acute cortical injury in animals, including both focal ischemia and trauma, while yet other researchers consider it to be an electrophysiological substrate of migraine aura, which may trigger headache. Our group is involved in research into both migraine and ischemia-induced pathophysiological states. It therefore appeared reasonable to include the study of CSD in the methodological repertoire utilized in our laboratory. We introduced two models of CSD induction: CSD evoked during continuous topical KCl application and CSD induced through a single KCl microinjection into the cortical tissue. This paper describes details of these two methods and of basic parameters of CSDs

Kainate postconditioning restores LTP in ischemic hippocampal CA1: Onset-dependent second pathophysiological stress

Postconditioning can be induced by a broad range of stimuli within minutes to days after an ischemic cerebral insult. A special form is elicited by pharmacological intervention called second pathophysiological stress. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of low-dose (5 mg/kg) kainate postconditioning with onsets 0, 24 and 48 h after the ischemic insult on the hippocampal synaptic plasticity in a 2-vessel occlusion model in rat. The hippocampal function was tested by LTP measurements of Schaffer collateral-CA1 pyramidal cell synapses in acute slices and the changes in density of Golgi-Cox-stained apical dendritic spines. Postconditioning 0 and 24 h after ischemia was not protective, whereas 48-h-onset postconditioning resulted in the reappearance of a normal spine density (>100,000 spines) 3 days after ischemia, in parallel with the long-term restoration of the damaged LTP function. Similar, but somewhat less effects were observed after 10 days. Our data clearly demonstrate the onset dependence of postconditioning elicited by a subconvulsant dose of kainate treatment in global ischemia, with restoration of the structural plasticity and hippocampal function. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved