Among the various virulence factors produced by Aeromonas hydrophila, a type II secretion system (T2SS)-secreted cytotoxic enterotoxin (Act) and the T3SS are crucial in the pathogenesis of Aeromonas-associated infections. Our laboratory molecularly characterized both Act and the T3SS from a diarrheal isolate, SSU of A. hydrophila, and defined the role of some regulatory genes in modulating the ...

Traditional textbook phylogeny splits bilaterians into protostomes and deuterostomes according to whether their mouth derives from the blastopore or not. This scheme has been largely confirmed by small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU) molecular phylogeny. However, some phyla, such as the lophphorate phyla Phoronida and Brachiopoda as well as the Chaetognatha exhibit classical deuterostome embryologi...

Ecological adaptation to environmental changes is a strong driver of evolution, enabling speciation of pelagic plankton in the open ocean without the presence of effective physical barriers to gene flow. The tropical ocean environment, which plays an important role in shaping marine biodiversity, has drastically and frequently changed since the Pliocene. Nevertheless, the evolutionary history o...

Diplomonad flagellates infect a wide range of fish hosts in aquaculture and in the wild in North America, Asia and Europe. Intestinal diplomonad infection in juvenile farmed trout can be associated with morbidity and mortality, and in Germany, diplomonads in trout are commonly reported, and yet are poorly characterised. We therefore undertook a comprehensive study of diplomonads from German rai...

Although the molecular phylogeny, evolution and biodiversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are becoming clearer, phylotaxonomically reliable sequence data are still limited. To fill this gap, a data set allowing resolution and environmental tracing across all taxonomic levels is provided. Two overlapping nuclear DNA regions, totalling c. 3 kb, were analysed: the small subunit (SSU) rRNA...

Previous studies have recorded Spironucleus torosus Poynton et Morrison, 1990 from several species of gadoid fishes, including the only freshwater gadoid, the burbot Lota lota (L.). Two morphologically different isolates of S. torosus have been described (elongate and pyriform). Both have been found in saltwater, while only the elongate has been found in freshwater. To address the conspecificit...

The genomes of Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania major have been sequenced, but the phylogenetic relationships of these three protozoa remain uncertain. We have constructed trypanosomatid phylogenies based on genes for glycosomal glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) and small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA). Trees based on gGAPDH nucleotide and amino acid sequence...