Cryptic Lineages in the Cardiocondyla sl. kagutsuchi Terayama (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Discovered by Phylogenetic and Morphological Approaches

The taxonomy of ant species in the genus Cardiocondyla is very confused due to the extreme difficulty in separating many species based on morphology alone. In Japan, one group of the species complex Cardiocondyla sl. kagutsuchi has both winged and wingless worker-like (ergatoid) males (dimorphic) whereas others have only ergatoid males (monomorphic). The presence of both groups prompted us to hypothesize that C. sl. kagutsuchi presumably includes several independent species with differences in their male wing morphologies. However, whether any species boundary actually exists between the male groups has remained unsolved over the 10+ years since the previous revision of this genus. In this study, using discriminant and phylogenetic analyses, we compared the worker caste morphology of this species complex among lineages detected by phylogenetic analyses. In addition, we examined the number of sexuals present in field colonies. Our results revealed the existence of at least three morphological and phylogenetic groups within this species complex

The Spatial Distribution of mtDNA and Phylogeographic Analysis of the Ant Cardiocondyla kagutsuchi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Japan

In this study, we investigated the geographical distribution of haplotypes of Cardiocondyla kagutsuchi Terayama in Japan using COI/II mitochondrial DNA. We also examined their genealogy with C. kagutsuchi in other areas and their close relative species. Four haplotypes were found. While two of them were found in a limited area (Ishigaki and Okinawa Islands) separately, the others were distributed widely across Honsyu, Shikoku, and Kyusyu areas in Japan. The newly invaded area by C. kagutsuchi in Japan was Shizuoka prefecture. Their haplotype of Shizuoka were the same as the two haplotypes of the Honsyu, Shikoku, and Kyusyu areas. The haplotype network showed that the two haplotypes were distant from each other. The distance between them was 33, even though the two haplotypes are distributed in the same area. From the phylogenetic tree that we constructed, we found that C. strigifrons was in the same clade as C. kagutsuchi

A preliminary proposal of policy for dairy herd health management from the viewpoints of culling in the Hiroshima University Farm

近年日本の乳牛の平均除籍産次数が3.4産程度に低下しており，対策が必要な現状にある．本研究の目的は，本学農場の乳牛除籍の傾向を把握して，対策について考察することである．2000～2015年度の本農場の記録をもとに解析した．本農場では常時20～25頭程度の搾乳牛が飼養され，2011年3月までは1日2回のパーラー搾乳，それ以降は24時間自動搾乳が行われた．期間内に83頭の乳牛が除籍になり，うち67頭が肉畜として出荷され，16頭が農場内で死亡した．除籍頭数割合は産次とともに増加し，6産時が最も多かった．除籍率は，初産時が最も低く，徐々に増加して4産，5産時に40%を超え，6産時に急激に増加して77.8%となった．除籍理由として，繁殖障害，乳房炎等の疾病が推察された．一般的な繁殖成績改善と疾病予防を進めるとともに，6産以降は繁殖と疾病の履歴に基づき，飼養継続の判断基準確立が必要と考えられた．In Japan, mean value for parity of dairy cows at culling has decreased to 3.4; measures to improve this are required. The aim of the present study is to understand the trends of culling of dairy cows at the Hiroshima University Farm. For that purpose, the farm’s records for dairy cow culling during the period of 2000–2015 were analyzed. At the farm, 20–27 dairy cows are regularly being milked. In March 2011, the milking system at the farm was changed from a milking parlor system to an automatic milking system. During the 16 years analyzed, 67 cows sold for meat and 16 cows that died at the farm totaled to 83 culled cows. The proportion of culled cows for each parity to total culled cows increased with increasing parity, and the number of cows culled at their 6th parity was the highest. The proportion of culled cows to cows that delivered at each parity gradually increased to more than 40% at the 5th parity, and drastically increased to more than 77.8% at the 6th parity. The reasons for culling were reproductive difficulty and diseases, such as mastitis. Therefore, general measures for improving reproductive performance and disease prevention should be taken for the cows at the 4th or lower parity. In addition, for dairy cows at the 5th or higher parity, a diagnostic decision on whether they are artificially inseminated for further delivery or not might be required depending on the individual cow’s record of reproduction and diseases

A novel diagnostic method targeting genomic instability in intracystic tumors of the breast

Background: Even after needle biopsy, the preoperative differential diagnoses of intracystic tumors of the breast are challenging because of their nonspecific radiological characteristics and subtle cytological and histological appearance. The aim of this study is to investigate a novel diagnostic method, targeting genomic instability (GIN) in intracystic tumors of the breast, using tumor DNA from samples obtained by fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). Methods: Thirteen consecutive intracystic tumors of the breast, including five cancers and eight benign tumors, were studied. Three FNAB passages per tumor were used for array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) analysis to quantify GIN in each tumor. Tumor DNA from the main tumor, taken from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks corresponding to FNAB samples, was also analyzed to compare cytogenetic profiles between these sample types. Results: After three FNAB passages, an average of 7.09 μg (0.24?25.0 μg) of DNA was obtained. The quality of the DNA and the aCGH data was excellent, as judged by the mean derivative log ratio spread (DLRSpread) of 0.22 (0.15?0.29). The cytogenetic profiles of paired FNAB and main tumor FFPE samples were highly similar, with an average concordance rate of 97.7 % (81.2?100 %). aCGH analysis from FNAB samples showed significantly more GIN in cancers than in benign tumors, with mean frequencies of aberrant chromosomal regions of 17.5 and 0.34 %, respectively (Wilcoxon’s rank sum test, P = 0.0016). Conclusions: Our novel diagnostic method, which targets GIN, can clearly distinguish cancers from benign tumors of breast intracystic lesions with minimal invasion, thereby avoiding the need for surgical excisional biopsy

Haploinsufficiency of interferon regulatory factor 4 strongly protects against autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice

Aims/hypothesis: Interferon regulatory factor (IRF)4 plays a critical role in lymphoid development and the regulation of immune responses. Genetic deletion of IRF4 has been shown to suppress autoimmune disease in several mouse models, but its role in autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice remains unknown. Methods: To address the role of IRF4 in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice, we generated IRF4-knockout NOD mice and investigated the impact of the genetic deletion of IRF4 on diabetes, insulitis and insulin autoantibody; the effector function of T cells in vivo and in vitro; and the proportion of dendritic cell subsets. Results: Heterozygous IRF4-deficient NOD mice maintained the number and phenotype of T cells at levels similar to NOD mice. However, diabetes and autoantibody production were completely suppressed in both heterozygous and homozygous IRF4-deficient NOD mice. The level of insulitis was strongly suppressed in both heterozygous and homozygous IRF4-deficient mice, with minimal insulitis observed in heterozygous mice. An adoptive transfer study revealed that IRF4 deficiency conferred disease resistance in a gene-dose-dependent manner in recipient NOD/severe combined immunodeficiency mice. Furthermore, the proportion of migratory dendritic cells in lymph nodes was reduced in heterozygous and homozygous IRF4-deficient NOD mice in an IRF4 dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the levels of IRF4 in T cells and dendritic cells are important for the pathogenesis of diabetes in NOD mice. Conclusions/interpretation: Haploinsufficiency of IRF4 halted disease development in NOD mice. Our findings suggest that an IRF4-targeted strategy might be useful for modulating autoimmunity in type 1 diabetes

FIGURE 13 in A taxonomic revision of the Cardiocondyla nuda group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

FIGURE 13. Gaster of Cardiocondyla atalanta in dorsal aspect. Australia: Queensland: Lockhart-11 km NW, 2014.07.22, leg. Heinze, No AUS24 [12.74°S, 143.26°E].Published as part of Seifert, Bernhard, Okita, Ichiro & Heinze, Jürgen, 2017, A taxonomic revision of the Cardiocondyla nuda group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), pp. 324-356 in Zootaxa 4290 (2) on page 350, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4290.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/82907

A taxonomic revision of the Cardiocondyla nuda group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

A taxonomic revision of the Cardiocondyla nuda species group is presented based on methods of Numeric Morphology-Based Alpha-Taxonomy (NUMOBAT) and supplemented by analysis of mtDNA. A total of 258 samples with 571 worker individuals were investigated by the hierarchical and non-hierarchical exploratory data analyses NC-Ward and NC-K-Means clustering considering 16 NUMOBAT characters. Two species are described as new, increasing the number of species in the group to eight. We separate the group into two main clades: the C. mauritanica species complex, which is of Oriental and Indo-Australian origin and contains the cryptic species C. mauritanica Forel 1890, C. strigifrons Viehmeyer 1922, C. kagutsuchi Terayama 1999, and C. itsukii sp. nov. and the Australasian and Polynesian C. nuda species complex with the cryptic species C. nuda (Mayr 1866), C. atalanta Forel 1915, C. paranuda Seifert 2003, and C. compressa sp. nov. The mean error of the two NC-clustering methods relative to the controlling linear discriminant analysis was 0.4% in C. mauritanica, 2.2% in C. itsukii, 0% in C. strigifrons, 0% in C. kagutsuchi, 1.5% in C. nuda, 3.2% in C. atalanta and 3.2% in C. paranuda-all these data are below the 4% threshold recommended by the Pragmatic Species Concept. The morphologically determined species clusters were confirmed by mtDNA data with a rather strong sequence divergence among the cryptic species of the C. nuda complex of 5.6-7.9%. The mean mismatch of two different mtDNA analyses with NUMOBAT clustering was 5.4% in 54 samples of seven species of the C. nuda group for which mtDNA data were available. The mismatch thus is smaller than in many other studies of Eumetazoa in general or ants in particular and is probably explained by low frequencies of ancient hybridization and/or incomplete lineage sorting. Comments on zooge-ography, colony demography and behavior are given in the species sections and determination keys are provided. Cardiocondyla ectopia Snelling 1974 and Leptothorax caparica Henin, Paiva & Collingwood 2002 (syn nov.) are synonymized under Cardiocondyla mauritanica. Cardiocondyla nuda sculptinodis is not a member of the C. nuda group and is moved to C. shuckardi sculptinodis, a revived combination