A 1.9-kilobase region of the period locus was sequenced in six individuals of Drosophila melanogaster and from six individuals of each of three sibling species: Drosophila simulans, Drosophila sechellia and Drosophila mauritiana. Extensive genealogical analysis of 174 polymorphic sites reveals a complex history. It appears that D. simulans, as a large population still segregating very old linea...

Sexual isolating mechanisms that act before fertilization are often considered the most important genetic barriers leading to speciation in animals. While recent progress has been made toward understanding the genetic basis of the postzygotic isolating mechanisms of hybrid sterility and inviability, little is known about the genetic basis of prezygotic sexual isolation. Here, we map quantitativ...

Active and inactive mariner elements from natural and laboratory populations of Drosophila simulans were isolated and sequenced in order to assess their nucleotide variability and to compare them with previously isolated mariner elements from the sibling species Drosophila mauritiana and Drosophila sechellia. The active elements of D. simulans are very similar among themselves (average 99.7% nu...

The methanol leaf extracts of Acacia nilotica, Sida cordifolia, Tinospora cordifolia, Withania somnifer and Ziziphus mauritiana showed significant antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Staphylococcus aureus and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. malvacearum and antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus, Dreschlera turcica and Fusarium verticil...

The species divergence times and demographic histories of Drosophila melanogaster and its three sibling species, D. mauritiana, D. simulans, and D. yakuba, were investigated using a maximum likelihood (ML) method. Thirty-nine orthologous loci for these four species were retrieved from DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank database. Both autosomal and X-linked loci were used in this study. A significant degree of r...

In mosquito control programs, insecticides of botanical origin have the potential to eliminate eggs, larvae, and adults. So, the larvicidal, ovicidal, and oviposition-deterrent activities of petroleum ether and ethyl acetate extracts of the leaves of Eugenia jambolana, Solidago canadensis, Euodia ridleyi, and Spilanthes mauritiana were assayed against the three vector mosquito species, namely A...

Ingestion of 'Binthamburu' (Ipomoea asarifolia) by misidentification as 'kankun' (Ipomoea aquatica) as a leafy vegetable causes acute gastrointestinal symptoms and confusion. The authors have encountered four such cases in the past. All cases have been recorded from the dry zone of the country. Both plants are two trailing vines similar in their appearance and preferring the wet habitats. Durin...

Two regions of the genome, a 1-kbp portion of the zeste locus and a 1.1-kbp portion of the yolk protein 2 locus, were sequenced in six individuals from each of four species: Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans, D. mauritiana, and D. sechellia. The species and strains were the same as those of a previous study of a 1.9-kbp region of the period locus. No evidence was found for recent balancing o...