Abstract The basal splits within Syndermata probably date back hundreds of millions years, and extant syndermatans greatly differ in reproduction modes (parthenogenesis, metagenesis, heterosexuality) lifestyles (free-living, epizoic, endoparasitic). Against this background, the present investigation aims to reconstruct genome transcriptome metrics last common ancestor (LCA) Syndermata. We espec...

In the current study, the hepatotoxic peptide microcystins, were measured in the zooplankton community of Jacarepaguá Lagoon during a 6-month period. Concurrent phytoplankton and seston samples were obtained. Microcystins were measured in seston and phytoplankton by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and in zooplankton by an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA). Zooplankton com...

Axenic rotifers were cultured under synxenic conditions on a bacteria-free artificial diet. The cultures were inoculated either with one of four strains of cultured marine bacteria, or with mixtures of bacteria made up with the same four strains and differing only in the proportions of cells from each strain within the blends. Control cultures were inoculated with bacteria present in Ž . freshl...

To estimate the changes in the life history of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis O.F. Müller under starvation, we carried out an individual culture and determined the effects of periodical food deprivation on its asexual reproductive characteristics such as lifespan, reproductive period, age at first egg and offspring production, and lifetime fecundity (total number of offspring produced in her...

BACKGROUND Inbreeding depression is an important evolutionary factor, particularly when new habitats are colonized by few individuals. Then, inbreeding depression by drift could favour the establishment of later immigrants because their hybrid offspring would enjoy higher fitness. Rotifers are the only major zooplanktonic group where information on inbreeding depression is still critically scar...

TGF-β signalling plays a key role in the patterning of metazoan body plans and growth. It is widely regarded as a 'module' capable of co-option into novel functions. The TGF-β pathway arose in the Metazoan lineage, and while it is generally regarded as well conserved across evolutionary time, its components have been largely studied in the Ecdysozoa and Deuterostomia. The recent discovery of th...