A unique Cretaceous–Paleogene lineage of piranha-jawed pycnodont fishes

Paleontology. Primitive jawed fishes had teeth of their own design.

Widespread distribution of a unique marine protistan lineage

Unicellular eukaryotes (protists) are key components of marine food webs, yet knowledge of their diversity, distributions and respective ecologies is limited. We investigated uncultured protists using 18S rRNA gene sequencing, phylogenetic analyses, specific fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probes and other methods. Because few studies have been conducted in warm water systems, we focu...

A unique lineage gives rise to the meibomian gland

PURPOSE To identify the lineage that contributes to the morphogenesis of the meibomian gland. METHODS To examine which cell lineage gives rise to the meibomian gland, the expression of Pax6 as well as that of various cytokeratin markers, including keratin 14 (Krt14), Krt15, Krt4, and Krt10, was examined with immunofluorescent staining of C57BL/6J mouse eyelids from P2 to P11 pups and adult mi...

Classical dendritic cells as a unique immune cell lineage

Despite the critical role of classical dendritic cells (cDCs) in the initiation of adaptive immune responses, the genetic and phenotypic definition of cDCs remains moot. Two new studies designate Zbtb46 as a novel transcription factor that is specifically expressed in all cDCs in both humans and mice. Although Zbtb46 appears dispensable for cDC development, its specific pattern of expression su...

Influenza: A Unique Disease

Dear Editor-in-Chief, Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus (1). Symptoms can be mild to severe (2). The most common symptoms include: high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, sneezing, and feeling tired (1). Three of the four types of influenza viruses affect people, Type A, Type B, and Type C (3, 4). Type D ha...