Development and Organization of the Lamprey Telencephalon with Special Reference to the GABAergic System

Lampreys, together with hagfishes, represent the sister group of gnathostome vertebrates. There is an increasing interest for comparing the forebrain organization observed in lampreys and gnathostomes to shed light on vertebrate brain evolution. Within the prosencephalon, there is now a general agreement on the major subdivisions of the lamprey diencephalon; however, the organization of the telencephalon, and particularly its pallial subdivisions, is still a matter of controversy. In this study, recent progress on the development and organization of the lamprey telencephalon is reviewed, with particular emphasis on the GABA immunoreactive cell populations trying to understand their putative origin. First, we describe some early general cytoarchitectonic events by searching the classical literature as well as our collection of embryonic and prolarval series of hematoxylin-stained sections. Then, we comment on the cell proliferation activity throughout the larval period, followed by a detailed description of the early events on the development of the telencephalic GABAergic system. In this context, lampreys apparently do not possess the same molecularly distinct subdivisions of the gnathostome basal telencephalon because of the absence of a Nkx2.1-expressing domain in the developing subpallium; a fact that has been related to the absence of a medial ganglionic eminence as well as of its derived nucleus in gnathostomes, the pallidum. Therefore, these data raise interesting questions such as whether or not a different mechanism to specify telencephalic GABAergic neurons exists in lampreys or what are their migration pathways. Finally, we summarize the organization of the adult lamprey telencephalon by analyzing the main proposed conceptions, including the available data on the expression pattern of some developmental regulatory genes which are of importance for building its adult shape

Empleo de herramientas virtuales para la creación de material didáctico de acceso libre

[SPA]Potenciar el aprendizaje autónomo del alumno siguiendo un determinado itinerario es uno de los postulados del denominado Plan Bolonia; en este contexto, además de otras funciones, el profesor ha de actuar como guía, enseñando y ayudando a alcanzar las habilidades y competencias marcadas como objetivos en cada materia. En algunos casos, esto significa la introducción paulatina de cambios en la metodología docente y la introducción de nuevas herramientas para facilitar el trabajo autónomo del alumno. Como profesores responsables de la experiencia piloto de adaptación al EEES de la materia Citología e Histología Vegetal y Animal iniciada en el año 2007 en la Universidad de Vigo, consideramos oportuno crear una herramienta propia para nuestro ámbito de conocimiento: un atlas histológico virtual. Asimismo, creímos que dicho atlas debía cumplir una serie de requisitos, tales como: abarcar la mayor parte de los aspectos relacionados con la Citología e Histología, disponer de gran cantidad de ilustraciones originales, ser fácil de usar, intuitivo y ameno, ser interactivo y potenciar el autoaprendizaje, diseñarse mediante programas de software libre, y ser de acceso y uso libre. [ENG]Promoting the autonomous learning of the students following a specific itinerary is one of the postulates of the so called Bologna Process; in this context, besides other functions, the professor should act as a guide, teaching and helping 2078 students to achieve the skills and competences marked like objectives in each subject. In some cases, this means a gradual introduction of changes in the teaching methodology and the introduction of new tools to facilitate the autonomous work of the students. As the responsible professors for the pilot experience of adaptation to the EEES of the matter Cytology and Animal and Plant Histology started in 2007 at the University of Vigo, we considered opportune to create our own tool for cell biology teaching: a virtual histological atlas. Likewise, we believed that the atlas should meet a series of requirements, such as: to cover most aspects of Cytology and Histology, to include a high number of original illustrations, to be easy to use, intuitive and mild (fun) pleasant, to be interactive and encourage self-learning, to be designed by free software, and to be of free access and use.Campus Mare Nostrum, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Universidad de Murcia, Región de Murci

Influencia del tipo de vegetación en la cantidad de Hg acumulado en horizontes orgânicos de suelos forestales del NE de Portugal

El papel de los suelos forestales como reservorio de Hg es clave en su ciclo biogeoquímico en los ecosistemas terrestres, función que puede verse influenciada por el tipo de especie forestal en base a la diferente capacidad de estas para capturar el Hg atmosférico y de transferirlo hacia los horizontes superficiales mediante la caída de material senescente. El principal objetivo de este estudio es evaluar el efecto del tipo de especie forestal en la presencia y acumulación (reservorio) de Hg en los horizontes orgánicos de suelos forestales. En el NE de Portugal se seleccionaron nueve parcelas forestales, tres dominadas por Pseudotsugamenziesii (PM), otras tres por Pinusnigra (PN) y tres más por Quercuspyrenaica (QP). En todas ellas se tomaron muestras de los horizontes orgánicos (Oi, Oe y Oa) en 5 localizaciones diferentes, analizando los niveles de Hg total (HgT) en cada una de las muestras (n= 134). Los niveles medios de HgT en los suelos de las parcelas de PM fueron 112, 170 y 142 ng g‐1 en los subhorizontes Oi, Oe y Oa, respectivamente. Estos valores fueron significativamente mayores que sus equivalentes en los suelos de PN (65, 92 y 108 ng g‐1 en Oi, Oe y Oa) y en los de QP (75, 106 y 122 ng g‐1 en Oi, Oe y Oa), mientras que no hubo diferencias entre los subhorizontes O de PN y QP. El HgT acumulado en los horizontes orgánicos (reservorio) fue también significativamente mayor en las parcelas de PM cuyos valores (83, 162 y 226 μg m‐2 para subhorizontes Oi, Oe y Oa, respectivamente) son el doble del que presentan las parcelas de PN (47, 74 y 108 μg m‐2 para Oi, Oe y Oa) y de QP (45, 40 y 105 μg m‐2 para Oi, Oe y Oa). Estos resultados indican que el tipo de especie ejerce una notable influencia en la presencia y acumulación de HgT en las capas más superficiales de los suelos forestales, especialmente cuando se trata de coníferas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Ecological values of the Miño estuary and good practices related to ornithology

The Miño estuary (northwest of the Iberian Peninsula) is included in two natural protected areas of the EU Natura 2000 Galician network, one under the Habitats Directive (Site of Community Importance Baixo Miño), and other under the Birds Directive (Bird Special Protection Area Esteiro do Miño); the last cataloging deal with areas of particular relevance for migratory or endangered birds that requires a status of protection to ensure their protection and conservation. Moreover, the Miño estuary comprises a total of 32 habitats classified of Community interest by the European Habitats Directive, where numerous species of aquatic birds can be observed, especially during overwinter and migratory periods. The local naturalist association ANABAM is developing a number of activities for the conservation, study, divulgation and defense of the natural environment of the Baixo Miño area. Here, we emphasize the ornithological values of this area focusing on the water birds. A total of 79 species were recorded during the censuses carried out during the autumn-winter seasons of the last 26 years. They belong to 20 families included in 9 orders. Moreover, we describe two activities developed by ANABAM that are specially related to birding: guided birding tours and a campaign of birding tourism. More than 10,000 persons (mostly primary and high school students) had attended these two activities. In addition to the promotion of birding, these actions are also aimed to divulgate the natural values of the Baixo Miño area

Expression of a novel D4 dopamine receptor in the lamprey brain. Evolutionary considerations about dopamine receptors.

Numerous data reported in lampreys, which belong to the phylogenetically oldest branch of vertebrates, show that the dopaminergic system was already well developed at the dawn of vertebrate evolution. The expression of dopamine in the lamprey brain is well conserved when compared to other vertebrates, and this is also true for the D2 receptor. Additionally, the key role of dopamine in the striatum, modulating the excitability in the direct and indirect pathways through the D1 and D2 receptors, has also been recently reported in these animals. The moment of divergence regarding the two whole genome duplications occurred in vertebrates suggests that additional receptors, apart from the D1 and D2 previously reported, could be present in lampreys. We used in situ hybridization to characterize the expression of a novel dopamine receptor, which we have identified as a D4 receptor according to the phylogenetic analysis. The D4 receptor shows in the sea lamprey a more restricted expression pattern than the D2 subtype, as reported in mammals. Its main expression areas are the striatum, lateral and ventral pallial sectors, several hypothalamic regions, habenula, and mesencephalic and rhombencephalic motoneurons. Some expression areas are well conserved through vertebrate evolution, as is the case of the striatum or the habenula, but the controversies regarding the D4 receptor expression in other vertebrates hampers for a complete comparison, especially in rhombencephalic regions. Our results further support that the dopaminergic system in vertebrates is well conserved and suggest that at least some functions of the D4 receptor were already present before the divergence of lampreys

Dynamic expression of the LIM-homeodomain gene Lhx15 through larval brain development of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus).

LIM-homeodomain genes encode a family of transcription factors with highly conserved roles in the patterning and regionalisation of the vertebrate brain. The expression of one of those genes, Lhx15, in the embryonic lamprey brain, characterises precise functional subdivisions. In order to analyse the non-embryonic development of the lamprey brain, we chose this gene to perform in situ hybridisations in Petromyzon marinus larvae of different ages. We demonstrate the usefulness of Lhx15 to follow the development and morphogenesis of brain structures and show the dynamical expression of this gene through time. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the evolutionary conservation of the expression of this gene in the spinal cord, notochord and urogenital system