Objective(s): To present a brief overview of various natural sources of antimicrobials with the aim of highlighting invertebrates living in polluted environments as additional sources of antimicrobials. Materials and Methods: A PubMed search using antibacterials, antimicrobials, invertebrates, and natural products as keywords was carried out. In addition, we consulted conference proceedings, or...

qanat is one of the important inland aquatic ecosystems commonly containing freshwater in arid and semi-aridregions. there are 37 qanat chains in kerman county in the kerman province of iran. during past years, some ofthem have been dried as a result of deep wells digging in their vicinities. the present study used morphomeristicanalysis to characterize fishes and invertebrate fauna in the qana...

After infection with the digenetic trematode Echinostoma paraensei, hemolymph of the snail Biomphalaria glabrata contains lectins comprised of 65-kDa subunits that precipitate polypeptides secreted by E. paraensei intramolluscan larvae. Comparable activity is lacking in hemolymph of uninfected snails. Three different cDNAs with sequence similarities to peptides derived from the 65-kDa lectins w...

Tarantula venom glands produce a large variety of bioactive peptides. Here we present the identification of venom components obtained by sequencing clones isolated from a cDNA library prepared from the venom glands of the Chilean common tarantula, Grammostola rosea. The cDNA sequences of about 1500 clones out of 4000 clones were analyzed after selection using several criteria. Forty-eight novel...

Cnidarians are the most primitive animals to possess a nervous system. This phylum is composed of the classes Scyphozoa (jellyfish), Cubozoa (box jellyfish), and Hydrozoa (e.g., Hydra, Hydractinia), which make up the subphylum Medusozoa, as well as the class Anthozoa (sea anemones and corals). Neuropeptides have an early evolutionary origin and are already abundant in cnidarians. For example, f...

Bioactive peptides play critical roles in regulating most biological processes in animals. The elucidation of the amino acid sequence of these regulatory peptides is crucial for our understanding of animal physiology. Most of the (neuro)peptides currently known were identified by purification and subsequent amino acid sequencing. With the entire genome sequence of some animals now available, it...

Bioactive peptides play critical roles in regulating most biological processes in animals. The elucidation of the amino acid sequence of these regulatory peptides is crucial for our understanding of animal physiology. Most of the (neuro)peptides currently known were identified by purification and subsequent amino acid sequencing. With the entire genome sequence of some animals now available, it...