Successful transmission of macroparasites is dependent on exposure of susceptible hosts to free-living infective stages. When these hosts are herbivores that feed mostly on a single food plant then natural selection should favour those infective larvae that selectively ascend this main food plant. Red grouse feed predominantly on heather, Calluna vulgaris, so we predict that the infective larva...

The beneficial effects of direct predation by zoophytophagous biological control agents (BCAs), such as the mirid bug Nesidiocoris tenuis, are well-known. However, the benefits of zoophytophagous BCAs' relation with host plants, via induction of plant defensive responses, have not been investigated until recently. To date, only the females of certain zoophytophagous BCAs have been demonstrated ...

Most corals undergo spawning after a particular moon phase, but how moon-related spawning is endogenously regulated in corals remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether dopamine (DA) affects spawning in Acropora tenuis. When pieces of four A. tenuis colonies were reared under a natural photoperiod and water temperature, spawning was observed after the predicted ...

BACKGROUND Multi-resistantmicroorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida tropicalis e Candida krusei are the main causes of microbial infections. Padina sanctae-crucis is a seaweed often used to check the contamination of ecosystems by materials such as heavy metals, but studies of the antimicrobial activity of the same seaweed were not found. ...

Terrestrial gastropods were collected from wetland, grassland, and forested habitats throughout eastern and southcentral South Dakota from May-August of 1999 and 2000 to assess the role of gastropods in transmission of meningeal worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis) to white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations throughout the state. A total of 4,063 gastropods representing 14 species, f...

Transcriptional status of two intra-genomic ITS variants (Type-I and Type-II) identified in Vigna unguiculata ssp. tenuis (NI 1637) was analysed by RT-PCR. Total RNA was isolated from leaves, stem and roots of 15-day old seedlings and was reverse transcribed using specific primers for amplifying ITS-1 and ITS-2. Gel electrophoresis on a high-resolution agarose revealed that only Type-II variant...

Taxonomic study of the genus Padina (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) from the Persian Gulf coast was conducted based on morphology and molecular phylogenetic analyses using chloroplast encoded large subunit RuBisCo (rbcL) gene sequences. Detailed descriptions of each species found in this study are described. Several morphological characters, such as number of cell layers composing the thallus, pr...

Stored lipids in marine planktonic larvae play an important role in buoyancy and as an energy source and thus are a key to understanding the dispersal and settlement potential of larvae. However, little is known about lipid content and composition in different coral species or their temporal changes during larval dispersal. We examined the lipid content and composition of eggs and planula larva...

A key notion bridging the gap between quantum operator algebras [22] and vertex operator algebras [4][8] is the definition of the commutativity of a pair of quantum operators (see section 2 below). This is not commutativity in any ordinary sense, but it is clearly the correct generalization to the quantum context. The main purpose of the current paper is to begin laying the foundations for a co...

A main goal of the neuroscience of consciousness is: find the neural correlate to conscious experiences (NCC). When have we achieved this goal? The answer depends on our operationalization of "NCC." Chalmers (2000) shaped the widely accepted operationalization according to which an NCC is a neural system with a state which is minimally sufficient (but not necessary) for an experience. A deeper ...