Immunolocalisation of vasoactive intestinal peptide and substance P in the developing gut of Dicentrarchus labrax (L.)

This study was carried out on the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) to follow, during development, the appearance and distribution of substance P (SP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), which act on gut motility. The results suggest that SP and VIP play an important role as neuromodulators, influencing the motility of the digestive tract starting from the early stages of gut development, even prior to exotrophic feeding. In the peptidergic nervous system, the appearance of immunoreactivity to SP began at the rectum and followed a distal to proximal gradient, whereas for VIP, it began proximally and progressed along a proximal to distal gradient. The two peptides also appeared in gut epithelial cells. In some regions, all the cells were positive. From this distribution of positive cells, we conclude that these peptides may also have other roles, besides being neurotransmitters in the enteric nervous system and hormones of the gastro-entero-pancreatic system. VIP and SP might have paracrine and/or autocrine activity in the physiological maturation of the gut epithelium, as it has already been hypothesised for other peptides

Fantastic animals as an experimental model to teach animal adaptation

Background: Science curricula and teachers should emphasize evolution in a mannercommensurate with its importance as a unifying concept in science. The concept of adaptationrepresents a first step to understand the results of natural selection. We settled an experimentalproject of alternative didactic to improve knowledge of organism adaptation. Students wereinvolved and stimulated in learning processes by creative activities. To set adaptation in a historicframe, fossil records as evidence of past life and evolution were considered.Results: The experimental project is schematized in nine phases: review of previous knowledge;lesson on fossils; lesson on fantastic animals; planning an imaginary world; creation of an imaginaryanimal; revision of the imaginary animals; adaptations of real animals; adaptations of fossil animals;and public exposition. A rubric to evaluate the student's performances is reported. The projectinvolved professors and students of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and of the "G.Marconi" Secondary School of First Degree (Modena, Italy).Conclusion: The educational objectives of the project are in line with the National Indications ofthe Italian Ministry of Public Instruction: knowledge of the characteristics of living beings, themeanings of the term "adaptation", the meaning of fossils, the definition of ecosystem, and theparticularity of the different biomes. At the end of the project, students will be able to graspparticular adaptations of real organisms and to deduce information about the environment in whichthe organism evolved. This project allows students to review previous knowledge and to form theirpersonalities

Fantastic animals as an experimental model to teach animal adaptation

Background: Science curricula and teachers should emphasize evolution in a mannercommensurate with its importance as a unifying concept in science. The concept of adaptationrepresents a first step to understand the results of natural selection. We settled an experimentalproject of alternative didactic to improve knowledge of organism adaptation. Students wereinvolved and stimulated in learning processes by creative activities. To set adaptation in a historicframe, fossil records as evidence of past life and evolution were considered.Results: The experimental project is schematized in nine phases: review of previous knowledge;lesson on fossils; lesson on fantastic animals; planning an imaginary world; creation of an imaginaryanimal; revision of the imaginary animals; adaptations of real animals; adaptations of fossil animals;and public exposition. A rubric to evaluate the student's performances is reported. The projectinvolved professors and students of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and of the "G.Marconi" Secondary School of First Degree (Modena, Italy).Conclusion: The educational objectives of the project are in line with the National Indications ofthe Italian Ministry of Public Instruction: knowledge of the characteristics of living beings, themeanings of the term "adaptation", the meaning of fossils, the definition of ecosystem, and theparticularity of the different biomes. At the end of the project, students will be able to graspparticular adaptations of real organisms and to deduce information about the environment in whichthe organism evolved. This project allows students to review previous knowledge and to form theirpersonalities

The avian community of the karen mogensen reserve, a wealth of biodiversity within the poorly investigated and threatened environments of northwestern costa rica

Despite being characterized by some of the most threatened forest ecosystems of Mesoamerica, the Nicoya Peninsula is among the least known regions of neotropical Costa Rica in terms of its birdlife. Within this region, in the framework of an ongoing international cooperation program between Italy and Costa Rica, we had the opportunity to investigate the Karen Mogensen Reserve, a protected area distinguished by the presence of a variety of habitats, including tropical dry forest and moist forest. Species richness in the Reserve was relatively high compared with similar areas in northwestern Costa Rica. A series of surveys carried out over a 20-year period documented an avian community consisting of 207 species, of which 115 were breeding in the zone and another 14 were potentially breeding. We recorded five IUCN globally Vulnerable or Near-Threatened species, along with six species reported for the first time from the Nicoya Peninsula, each representing range extension of more than 100 km. Twenty-six species, mostly breeding in the area, are at their southernmost range borders, and are likely susceptible to global environmental alterations, such as the effects of climate change. Furthermore, our study revealed the presence of two species endemic to a restricted area of Central America and four subspecies endemic to Costa Rica, along with breeding populations of two species that are geographically isolated from the main ones. The present analysis led to the ecological characterization of the resident avian community, showing that 65% of the species are strictly associated with forested environments, and especially with the understory or middle tree level, hence more vulnerable to environmental change (climatic, anthropogenic, etc.) and susceptible to local extinction. These results underscore the importance of the Karen Mogensen Reserve for bird conservation within a vulnerable environmental context, and warrant the continuation of periodic bird surveys, taxonomic study of isolated populations or endemic taxa, and improvement of local conservation measures. The data collected will be an important tool for future studies aimed at evaluating the consequences of habitat fragmentation and to monitor the effects of climate change on the resident avifauna. We exhort the creation of programs that integrate bird monitoring, ecological research, conservation initiatives, and the involvement of the local communities, by promoting environmental education, capacity-building, and income generation. To this purpose, the Karen Mogensen Reserve may represent a convincing model and valuable example to apply in similar neotropical contexts

Capitolo 5- Apparato digerente

Viene descritto l'apparato digerente nei vertebrati con particolare attenzione alla struttura microscopica

Differentiation, structure and histochemistry in the epidermis of the minnow Phoxinus phoxinus L.

Development of the skin in samples of Phoxinus phoxinus was studied and its histochemical characterization was performed in adult animals, taking into particular consideration the goblet cells. Skin development is complete in 3-4 months. Club cells appear after 1 month. Mucous cells only PAS positive are located in superficial layers in 1 month old animals. In 3-4 month old animals and in adults mucous cells are present in all layers and they are PAS positive in basal layer only

Le analisi archeobiologiche di Santo Stefano in Vicolongo. Resti animali

Vengono descritti i riconoscimenti di reperti scheletrici animali effettuati su due lotti di campioni provenienti dal sito medievale di Santo Stefano in Vicolongo, scoperto nel comune di Novi ai margini, settentrionali dell'odierna provincia di Modena. Il materiale esaminato evidenzia attività di allevamento dei più consueti mammiferi domestici utilizzati sia a scopo alimentare sia per attività secondarie, nonchè attività di pesc

The early stress responses in fish larvae

During the life cycle of fish the larval stages are the most interesting and variable. Teleost larvae undergo a daily increase in adaptability and many organs differentiate and become active. These processes are concerted and require an early neuro-immune-endocrine integration. In larvae communication among the nervous, endocrine and immune systems utilizes several known signal molecule families which could be different from those of the adult fish. The immune-neuroendocrine system was studied in several fish species, among which in particular the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), that is a species of great commercial interest, very important in aquaculture and thus highly studied. Indeed the immune system of this species is the best known among marine teleosts. In this review the data on main signal molecules of stress carried out on larvae of fish are considered and discussed. For sea bass active roles in the early immunological responses of some well-known molecules involved in the stress, such as ACTH, nitric oxide, CRF, HSP-70 and cortisol have been proposed. These molecules and/or their receptors are biologically active mainly in the gut before complete differentiation of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), probably acting in an autocrine/paracrine way. An intriguing idea emerges from all results of these researches; the molecules involved in stress responses, expressed in the adult cells of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, during the larval life of fish are present in several other localizations, where they perform probably the same role. It may be hypothesized that the functions performed by hypothalamic-pituitary system are particularly important for the survival of the larva and therefore they comprises several other localizations of body. Indeed the larval stages of fish are very crucial phases that include many physiological changes and several possible stress both internal and environmental