The evolutionary trajectories of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) receptor remain enigmatic since the discovery of physiologically functional GHRH-GHRH receptor (GHRHR) in non-mammalian vertebrates in 2007. Interestingly, subsequent studies have described the identification of a GHRHR(2) in chicken in addition to the GHRHR and the closely related paralogous receptor, PACAP-related peptid...

41 Four specimens of the olive sea snake, Aipysurus laevis, were collected off the 42 coast of Western Australia, and the venom proteome was characterized and 43 quantitatively estimated by RP-HPLC, SDS-PAGE, and MALDI-TOF-TOF analyses. A. 44 laevis venom is remarkably simple and consists of phospholipases A2 (71.2%), three45 finger toxins (3FTx; 25.3%), cysteine-rich secretory proteins (CRISP;...

We observed a slight drop in the growth of Xenopus laevis and Pseudacris triseriata larvae following acute exposure (24-48 h) during egg development to three concentrations of TCDD (0.3, 3.0, 30.0 microg/l). Our exposure protocol was modeled on a previous investigation that was designed to mimic the effects of maternal deposition of TCDD. The doses selected were consistent with known rates of m...

The widespread African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) occurs in sympatry with the IUCN Endangered Cape platanna (Xenopus gilli) throughout its entire range in the south-western Cape, South Africa. In order to investigate aspects of the interspecific competition between populations of X. laevis and X. gilli, an assessment of their niche differentiation was conducted through a comprehensive study o...

Over the last few decades, the amphibian Xenopus laevis1 has been used as a unique comparative model to study the developmental and immunological aspects of tissue transplantation as well as self tolerance (Du Pasquier, Schwager et al. 1989; Robert and Ohta 2009). The immune system of X. laevis, one of the best defined outside mammals and chickens, is fundamentally similar to that of mammals. N...

Oct-1 and a second, previously unidentified octamer-binding protein (Oct-R) have been identified in extracts of Xenopus laevis oocytes and embryos. Oct-1 does not bind to the octamer motif associated with certain Xenopus laevis histone H2B gene promoters, whereas Oct-R binds well to this motif, but only in the sequence context of the H2B gene promoter.