Despite mycologists' interest in its unique spore-dispersal mechanism, systematic studies of the genus Sphaerobolus have received little attention. In our previous work multiple gene genealogies indicated the existence of three divergent lineages in the genus Sphaerobolus, each representing a phylogenetic species. Macro- and micromorphological analyses of colony and fruit-body characters presen...

Phylogenetic analyses of 27 artillery fungus (Sphaerobolus sp.) isolates were conducted to identify species boundaries in the genus Sphaerobolus. Multiple gene genealogies inferred from maximum likelihood, Bayesian, and maximum-parsimony analyses of sequence data from individual loci (mtSSU, ITS, EF 1-alpha, and LSU) and a combined dataset (mtSSU, ITS, and EF 1-alpha) concordantly indicate the ...

The pitahaya, pitaya or dragon fruit is an exotic fruit that comes from a type of cactus and has a lot of beneficial nutrients for health. It is a cacti plant, and as such, very resistant to droughts. The plant is a succulent, rustic cactus, with long triangular stems, whose tentacles search the rocks incessantly for which they feel a special predilection, whether there is earth nearby or not; ...

Motility of spermatozoa was studied on 12 and 7 specimens of Acipenser persicus and A. stellatus, respectively. The density measured to be 2.22±0.65x109ml-1 in A. persicus and 2.21±0.55x109ml-1 in A. stellatus. Semen samples were diluted with two extenders containing tris 118mM, sucrose 23.4mM, pH=8, egg yolk (20%), dimethyl sulfoxide (15%) and penicillin potassium (500IU/ml) and biociphus exte...

Capniomyces stellatus is a host-specific endosymbiotic fungus, living in the hindgut of stoneflies (especially in Allocapnia). Here, we present the first draft genome sequence of the fungus, as well as the ab initio gene prediction and function analyses, which will facilitate the study and comparative analyses of insect-associated fungi.

1. Two common species of acorn barnacle, Chthamalus montagui and C. stellatus , with similar resource needs, occur together on rocky shores of NW Europe but differ in their adult distribution over two environmental gradients, wave exposure and vertical height on the shore. 2. A sampling programme was undertaken over 2 years to determine the causal mechanisms of this differential distribution. T...

Four new species of the genus Hatschekia Poche, 1902 (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida: Hatschekiidae) are described based on female specimens collected from pufferfishes (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) caught in coastal waters off the Ryukyu Islands, Japan: H. longiabdominalis sp. n. on Arothron hispidus (Linnaeus), H. geniculata sp. n. on A. hispidus (type host) and A. stellatus (Bloch et Schn...

The North Atlantic red alga Mastocarpus stellatus is characterized by two life histories (sexual-type and direct-type), which correspond to two geographically isolated breeding groups. These features enable M. stellatus to be an interesting model to investigate how environmental shift and apomictic propagation have influenced its population genetic structure, historical demography and distribut...

Microsatellite markers (N = 5) were developed for analysis of genetic variation in 15 populations of the columnar cactus Stenocereus stellatus, managed under traditional agriculture practices in central Mexico. Microsatellite diversity was analyzed within and among populations, between geographic regions, and among population management types to provide detailed insight into historical gene flo...