Decline of unique Pontocaspian biodiversity in the Black Sea Basin: a review

Environmental Biolog

Transcriptomics of the Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius)

BACKGROUND: Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are blood-feeding insects poised to become one of the major pests in households throughout the United States. Resistance of C. lectularius to insecticides/pesticides is one factor thought to be involved in its sudden resurgence. Despite its high-impact status, scant knowledge exists at the genomic level for C. lectularius. Hence, we subjected the C. lectularius transcriptome to 454 pyrosequencing in order to identify potential genes involved in pesticide resistance. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using 454 pyrosequencing, we obtained a total of 216,419 reads with 79,596,412 bp, which were assembled into 35,646 expressed sequence tags (3902 contigs and 31744 singletons). Nearly 85.9% of the C. lectularius sequences showed similarity to insect sequences, but 44.8% of the deduced proteins of C. lectularius did not show similarity with sequences in the GenBank non-redundant database. KEGG analysis revealed putative members of several detoxification pathways involved in pesticide resistance. Lamprin domains, Protein Kinase domains, Protein Tyrosine Kinase domains and cytochrome P450 domains were among the top Pfam domains predicted for the C. lectularius sequences. An initial assessment of putative defense genes, including a cytochrome P450 and a glutathione-S-transferase (GST), revealed high transcript levels for the cytochrome P450 (CYP9) in pesticide-exposed versus pesticide-susceptible C. lectularius populations. A significant number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (296) and microsatellite loci (370) were predicted in the C. lectularius sequences. Furthermore, 59 putative sequences of Wolbachia were retrieved from the database. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge this is the first study to elucidate the genetic makeup of C. lectularius. This pyrosequencing effort provides clues to the identification of potential detoxification genes involved in pesticide resistance of C. lectularius and lays the foundation for future functional genomics studies

The Cardiidae of the Panglao Marine Biodiversity Project 2004 and the Panglao 2005 Deep-Sea Cruise with descriptions of four new species (Bivalvia)

Sixty-three Cardiidae species (including Tridacninae) sampled by the 2004 Panglao Marine Biodiversity Project (PMBP) to Panglao, Philippines, and the PANGLAO 2005 Deep-Sea Cruise are described. In addition, Cardiidae species lists of the Philippine Cuming Tour 2005 and AURORA 2007 expedition are provided. Four species are new to science: Fragum grasi spec. nov., Frigidocardium helios spec. nov., F. sancticaroli spec. nov. and Microcardium velatum spec. nov. For the following six species this paper includes the first published records for the Philippines: Acrosterigma dianthinum (Melvill & Standen, 1899), F. torresi (E.A. Smith, 1885), Fulvia (Laevifulvia) subquadrata Vidal & Kirkendale, 2007, Microfragum erugatum (Tate, 1889), M. subfestivum (Vidal & Kirkendale, 2007) and Vasticardium sewelli (Prashad, 1932). Indo-Pacific range extensions for several other species are given. Ecological data support assignment of Afrocardium to Orthocardiinae. Cardium (Ctenocardia) victor Angas, 1872 and Cardium bomasense Martin, 1917 are transferred to Freneixicardia, the former being the sole extant representative of the genus, and of which Cardium (Trachycardium) hulshofi Pannekoek, 1936 is a new synonym. Based on shell morphology, it is shown that the current variously adopted generic assignments of Cardium lobulatum Deshayes, 1855, C. attenuatum G.B. Sowerby 2nd, 1841, C. biradiatum Bruguière, 1789 and C. multipunctatum G.B. Sowerby 1st in Broderip & Sowerby 2nd, 1833 are unsatisfactory. As a consequence, the alleged Indo-Pacific presence of the genus Laevicardium is questionable. Fulvia (Laevifulvia) imperfecta Vidal & Kirkendale, 2007 is a new synonym of "Laevicardium" lobulatum Deshayes, 1855. Habitat preferences of the taxa encountered during PMBP 2004 are defined, based on four main macro-habitat categories. SEM photos, showing the early ontogenetic stages, demonstrate markedly allomorphic growth of some taxa. Description of the process of development to the terminal shell shape provides a more complete species concept and rigorous species delimitation

MOTHERS' EXPERIENCES WHEN THEIR INFANTS WERE DIAGNOSED WITH CLEFT LIPS ANDIOR PALATES

Traditionally the diagnosis of cleft lip and palate was made at birth or soon thereafter, but modem technology has led to the identification of cleft lip prenatally The aim of this study was to describe 16 mothers' experiences of pre- and postnatal diagnosis of their infants' cleft lip and palate, and to develop clinical guidelines for craniofacial team members, to meet parental expectations and needs in both pre- and postnatal periods. In order to provide the best possible care to each affected child and the most effective support to each mother, it is of the utmost importance that craniofacial teams have guidelines to assist them in developing a more accountable, effective and sensitive service to these mothers. An exploratory, descriptive quantitative survey research design was selected to describe mothers' reactions to and perceptions of the pre- and postnatal diagnosis. Scheduled structured interviews were used as a data collecting technique. The results indicated that, irrespective of the time of diagnosis, the mothers required support that included emotional support, information, interaction with other parents of children with clefts, and a team approach. This study emphasised the importance of understanding parental preferences in order to enhance the team approach and also highlighted the need for further research

Mothers' experiences when their infants were diagnosed with cleft lips and / or palates: research

Traditionally the diagnosis of cleft lip and palate was made at birth or soon thereafter, but modern technology has led to the identification of cleft lip prenatally. The aim of this study was to describe 16 mothers' experiences of pre- and postnatal diagnosis of their infants' cleft lip and palate, and to develop clinical guidelines for craniofacial team members, to meet parental expectations and needs in both pre- and postnatal periods. In order to provide the best possible care to each affected child and the most effective support to each mother, it is of the utmost importance that craniofacial teams have guidelines to assist them in developing a more accountable, effective and sensitive service to these mothers. An exploratory, descriptive quantitative survey research design was selected to describe mothers' reactions to and perceptions of the pre- and postnatal diagnosis. Scheduled structured interviews were used as a data collecting technique. The results indicated that, irrespective of the time of diagnosis, the mothers required support that included emotional support, information, interaction with other parents of children with clefts, and a team approach. This study emphasised the importance of understanding parental preferences in order to enhance the team approach and also highlighted the need for further research. Tradisioneel is die diagnose van gesplete lip en verhemelte met geboorte, of kort daarna gemaak, maar moderne tegnologie het gelei tot die identifikasie van gesplete lip prenataal. Die doel van hierdie studie was om 16 moeders se ervarings van die pre- en postnatale diagnose van hul babas se gesplete lip en verhemelte, te beskryf, en om sodoende kliniese riglyne te ontwikkel vir kraniofasiale spanlede, ten einde hulle toe te rus om aan ouers se behoeftes te voldoen in die pre- en postnatale periodes. Ten einde die beste moontlike versorging te bied aan elke kind wat geaffekteer is, en aan elke moeder die mees effektiewe ondersteuning te gee, is dit uiters belangrik dat die kraniofasiale spanlede oor riglyne sal beskik wat hulle sal ondersteun om 'n meer verantwoordbare, effektiewe en sensitiewe diens te lewer. 'n Beskrywende kwantitatiewe opname navorsingsontwerp is gekies om moeders se reaksies en persepsies van die pre- en postnatale diagnose te beskryf. Geskeduleerde, gestruktureerde onderhoude is gebruik as data opname tegniek. Die resultate het aangedui dat ongeag die tyd van diagnose, moeders ondersteuning benodig. Hierdie ondersteuning sluit in emosionele ondersteuning, inligting, interaksie met ander ouers van kinders met gesplete lip en / of verhemelte, en 'n spanbenadering. Die resultate het die behoefte aan verdere navorsing na vore gebring. (Health SA Gesondheid: interdisciplinary research journal: 2002 7(2): 56-67

Acrosterigma suduirauti, a new species of the Acrosterigma uniornatum species group (Bivalvia : Cardiidae) from the Philippines

Volume: 8Start Page: 71End Page: 7

The West African enigma: Systematics, evolution, and palaeobiogeography of cardiid bivalve Procardium

Procardium gen. nov. is proposed for a group of early Miocene to Recent large cardiids in the subfamily Cardiinae. The type species is Cardium indicum, the only living representative, previously assigned to the genus Cardium. It is a mainly West African species, with a very limited occurrence in the westernmost Mediterranean. Procardium gen. nov. and Cardium differ markedly with regard to shell characters and have distinct evolutionary and biogeographic histories. Six species, in the early Miocene to Pleistocene range, and one Recent species are assigned to the new genus: Procardium magnei sp. nov., P. jansseni sp. nov., P. danubianum, P. kunstleri, P. avisanense, P. diluvianum, and P. indicum. During the Miocene, Procardium gen. nov. had a wide distribution in Europe, including the Proto-Mediterranean Sea, Western and Central Paratethys and NE Atlantic, with a maximum diversity during the Langhian and Serravallian. Its palaeobiogeographic history was strongly controlled by climate. During the Langhian stage, warm conditions allowed the genus to reach its highest latitude, ca. 54° N, in the southern North Sea Basin. With cooling, its latitudinal range gradually retreated southward, becoming mainly Mediterranean in the Pliocene–Pleistocene, and West African at present

Vepricardium vidali spec. nov. from southern Arabia, Oman and Yemen

Vepricardium vidali spec. nov. is described from the Indo-West Pacific