Free-living nematodes constitute an important component of estuarine and marine benthic ecosystems. Some marine and soil nematodes are known to harbor microbes, including symbiotic bacteria and fungi, in their external cuticle as well as internally. While assessing diversity of marine nematodes from southwest England using molecular approaches, we found evidence of coamplification of fungal 18S...

To understand the fine-scale effects of changes in nutrient availability on eukaryotic soil microorganisms communities, a multiple barcoding approach was used to analyse soil samples from four different treatments in a long-term fertilization experiment. We performed PCR amplification on soil DNA with primer pairs specifically targeting the 18S rRNA genes of all eukaryotes and three protist gro...

A neogregarine parasite of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, was discovered recently in Florida and tentatively placed in the Mattesia genus based on morphological characterization. S. invicta infected with this Mattesia species exhibited a characteristic yellowing of the cuticle which was designated Mattesia "yellow-head disease" (YHD). The 18S rRNA gene sequence from Mattesia YHD...

To investigate gene specificity at the level of translation in both the human genome and viruses, we devised a high-throughput bicistronic assay to quantify cap-independent translation. We uncovered thousands of novel cap-independent translation sequences, and we provide insights on the landscape of translational regulation in both humans and viruses. We find extensive translational elements in...

During a routine health check of a wild-caught North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) small piroplasms were noted within erythrocytes. Analyses of the 18S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene sequences determined that this was a genetically unique organism most closely related to Babesia microti-like parasites found in other small carnivores. Subsequently 39 wild-trapped North America...

Rhinosporidium seeberi, a microorganism that can infect the mucosal surfaces of humans and animals, has been classified as a fungus on the basis of morphologic and histochemical characteristics. Using consensus polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we amplified a portion of the R. seeberi 18S rRNA gene directly from infected tissue. Analysis of the aligned sequence and inference of phylogenetic rela...

The objective of this study was to report for the first time infection by Hepatozoon spp. and Babesia spp. in 10 dogs from the city of Cuiabá, State of Mato Grosso, central-western Brazil. A pair of primers that amplifies a 574 bp fragment of the 18S rRNA of Hepatozoon spp., and a pair of primers that amplifies a 551 bp fragment of the gene 18S rRNA for Babesia spp. were used. Six dogs were pos...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a syndrome characterized by intermittent nocturnal hypoxia, sleep fragmentation, hypercapnia and respiratory effort, and it has been associated with several complications, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Quantitative real-time PCR has been performed in previous OSA-related studies; however, these studies were not validated using proper reference gene...

Giardia and Cryptosporidium are amongst the most common protozoan parasites identified as causing enteric disease in pinnipeds. A number of Giardia assemblages and Cryptosporidium species and genotypes are common in humans and terrestrial mammals and have also been identified in marine mammals. To investigate the occurrence of these parasites in an endangered marine mammal, the Australian sea l...