Myosides seriehispidus Roelofs : an Asian weevil new to the United States (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

Myosides seriehispidus Roelofs, a small cryptic broadnosed weevil from Japan, is reported as established in the eastern U.S. since at least 1973. This nocturnal weevil has been collected most often from leaflitter using berleses. The genus and species are redescribed and placement in Kissinger's key to genera of North American weevils is indicated. Dorsal and lateral habitus photographs of this species are included

Book Review: A World Catalogue of Families and Genera of Curculionoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) (Excepting Scolytidae and Platypodidae)

Alonso-Zarazaga, M. A. and C. H. C. Lyal 1999. A World Catalogue of Families and Genera of Curculionoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) (Excepting Scolytidae and Platypodidae) 316 pp. ,Publ. Date 27 Dec. 1999.ISBN: 84-605-99994-9, from ENTOMOPRAXIS S.c., Apartado 36164, 08080 Barcelona (Spain), Tel. & Fax: 34 - 933 230 877, e-mail: [email protected], ttp://www.entomopraxis.com/news.htm.Cost: 78 Euros + 4% VAT + postage

On the genus Anchonus Schönherr in Florida (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Four species of Anchonus Schonherr occur in Florida: A. flol'idanus Schwarz, A. dul'yi Blatchley, A. blatchleyi Sleeper, and A. suillus (Fabricius), which is recorded from Florida and the continental United States for the first time. The species are distinguished in a key and illustrated. A lectotype is selected for A. floridanus

An anotated list of the Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) of Dominica (excluding Scolytinae and Platypodidae)

Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) of the West Indian island of Dominica are composed of 111 genera and 214 species and subspecies. Some of the species listed are morphospecies, or are known to be undescribed, but all are identified at least to genus. Previously the fauna was recorded as 31 species. Numbers presented herein represent a seven-fold increase in species diversity. Furthermore, the widespread nature of many species demonstrates that the supposedly endemic faunas of many West Indian islands may be based on collecting biases or a lack of people capable of providing species level identifications

Nickel-doped ceria nanoparticles : the effect of annealing on room temperature ferromagnetism

Nickel-doped cerium dioxide nanoparticles exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism due to high oxygen mobility within the doped CeO2 lattice. CeO2 is an excellent doping matrix as it can lose oxygen whilst retaining its structure. This leads to increased oxygen mobility within the fluorite CeO2 lattice, leading to the formation of Ce3+ and Ce4+ species and hence doped ceria shows a high propensity for numerous catalytic processes. Magnetic ceria are important in several applications from magnetic data storage devices to magnetically recoverable catalysts. We investigate the effect doping nickel into a CeO2 lattice has on the room temperature ferromagnetism in monodisperse cerium dioxide nanoparticles synthesised by the thermal decomposition of cerium(III) and nickel(II) oleate metal organic precursors before and after annealing. The composition of nanoparticles pre- and post-anneal were analysed using: TEM (transmission electron microscopy), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), EDS (energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) and XRD (X-ray diffraction). Optical and magnetic properties were also studied using UV/Visible spectroscopy and SQUID (superconducting interference device) magnetometry respectively

Sexual Dimorphism of Rhyssomatus subtilis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Examination with a binocular microscope of adults of Rhyssomatus subtilis Fielder (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) revealed distinct differences between the sexes in the foreleg, which permits their differentiation with complete accuracy. In the female the profemual process is weak, subacute, angulate and the protibia has an uncus and mucro. In the male the profemur process is strong, curved, subacute, tooth-like and lacks an protibia uncus.La examinación con microscopio binocular de los adultos de Rhyssomatus subtilis Fielder (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) revelan diferencia entre los sexos en las patas delanteras, permitiendo diferenciarlos con completa precisión. Las hembras presentan el proceso femoral anterior débil, subagudo, angulado y la protibia con uncus y mucro presente. En los machos el proceso femoral anterior es fuerte, curvado, subagudo, con diente y la protibia no presenta uncus.Fil: Cazado, Lucas Emiliano. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán. Instituto de Tecnología Agroindustrial del Noroeste Argentino; Argentina; ArgentinaFil: O'brien, Charles W..Fil: Casmuz, Augusto S.. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; ArgentinaFil: Gastaminza, Gerardo A.. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; ArgentinaFil: Murúa, María Gabriela. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán. Instituto de Tecnología Agroindustrial del Noroeste Argentino; Argentina; Argentin

Isolation and sequence analysis of CDC43, a gene involved in the controol of cell polarity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC43 gene product is involved in establishing cell polarity during the cell-division cycle. When grown at restrictive temperatures, temperature-sensitive cdc43 mutants are unable to form buds and display delocalized cell-surface deposition [Adams et al., J. Cell Biol. (1990) in press]. We have isolated a cdc43-complementing plasmid from a yeast genomic-DNA library and localized the CDC43 gene, by subcloning and transposon-mutagenesis experiments, to a 1.2-kb region of DNA that contained only one significant ATG-initiated open reading frame of 213 codons. The putative CDC43 gene product contains a possible nuclear-localization signal sequence a cysteine-rich domain and a histidine-rich domain, and a region that is similar in structure to [alpha]-helix-turn-[alpha]-helix structural domains present in some prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA-binding proteins.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28558/1/0000360.pd

Correlations between in situ denitrification activity and nir-gene abundances in pristine and impacted prairie streams

Denitrification is a process that reduces nitrogen levels in headwaters and other streams. We compared nirS and nirK abundances with the absolute rate of denitrification, the longitudinal coefficient of denitrification (i.e., Kden, which represents optimal denitrification rates at given environmental conditions), and water quality in seven prairie streams to determine if nir-gene abundances explain denitrification activity. Previous work showed that absolute rates of denitrification correlate with nitrate levels; however, no correlation has been found for denitrification efficiency, which we hypothesise might be related to gene abundances. Water-column nitrate and soluble-reactive phosphorus levels significantly correlated with absolute rates of denitrification, but nir-gene abundances did not. However, nirS and nirK abundances significantly correlated with Kden, as well as phosphorus, although no correlation was found between Kden and nitrate. These data confirm that absolute denitrification rates are controlled by nitrate load, but intrinsic denitrification efficiency is linked to nirS and nirK gene abundances

Unusual Intron Conservation near Tissue-Regulated Exons Found by Splicing Microarrays

Alternative splicing contributes to both gene regulation and protein diversity. To discover broad relationships between regulation of alternative splicing and sequence conservation, we applied a systems approach, using oligonucleotide microarrays designed to capture splicing information across the mouse genome. In a set of 22 adult tissues, we observe differential expression of RNA containing at least two alternative splice junctions for about 40% of the 6,216 alternative events we could detect. Statistical comparisons identify 171 cassette exons whose inclusion or skipping is different in brain relative to other tissues and another 28 exons whose splicing is different in muscle. A subset of these exons is associated with unusual blocks of intron sequence whose conservation in vertebrates rivals that of protein-coding exons. By focusing on sets of exons with similar regulatory patterns, we have identified new sequence motifs implicated in brain and muscle splicing regulation. Of note is a motif that is strikingly similar to the branchpoint consensus but is located downstream of the 5′ splice site of exons included in muscle. Analysis of three paralogous membrane-associated guanylate kinase genes reveals that each contains a paralogous tissue-regulated exon with a similar tissue inclusion pattern. While the intron sequences flanking these exons remain highly conserved among mammalian orthologs, the paralogous flanking intron sequences have diverged considerably, suggesting unusually complex evolution of the regulation of alternative splicing in multigene families