Desulfovibrio africanus strain PCS is an anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacterium (SRB) isolated from sediment from Paleta Creek, San Diego, CA. Strain PCS is capable of reducing metals such as Fe(III) and Cr(VI), has a cell cycle, and is predicted to produce methylmercury. We present the D. africanus PCS genome sequence.

The discovery of Australopithecus afarensis has led to new interpretations of hominid phylogeny, some of which reject A. africanus as an ancestor of Homo. Analysis of buccolingual tooth crown dimensions in australopithecines and Homo species by Johanson and White (Science 202:321-330, 1979) revealed that the South African gracile australopithecines are intermediate in size between Laetoli/hadar...

Lyctus africanus is a cosmopolitan powder-post beetle that is considered one of the major pests threatening timber and timber products. Because infestations of this beetle are inconspicuous, damage is difficult to detect and identification is often delayed. We identified the chemical compounds involved in the aggregation behavior of L. africanus using preparations of crude hexanic extracts from...

We studied the usefulness of woodand cellulose-based diets for L. africanus Lesne. Three diets were prepared which differed on the base ingredients; wood particles (Diet 1), cellulose powder (Diet 2), and alpha-cellulose (Diet 3). The diets were provided to adult L. africanus and the number of larvae, as well as the number of adults that emerged sex ratio, and body weight of the progeny was det...

Morphology of the dentofacial complex of early hominins has figured prominently in the inference of their dietary adaptations. Recent theoretical analysis of craniofacial morphology of Australopithecus africanus proposes that skull form in this taxon represents adaptation to feeding on large, hard objects. A modern analog for this specific dietary specialization is provided by the West African ...

Australopithecus africanus is an early hominin (i.e., human relative) believed to exhibit stress-reducing adaptations in its craniofacial skeleton that may be related to the consumption of resistant food items using its premolar teeth. Finite element analyses simulating molar and premolar biting were used to test the hypothesis that the cranium of A. africanus is structurally more rigid than th...

The rplKAJL-rpoBC operon or beta operon is a classic bacterial gene cluster, which codes for proteins K, A, J and L of the large ribosomal subunit, as well as proteins B (beta subunit) and C (beta' subunit) of RNA polymerase. In the early 1990s, the operon was obtained as a 2.6 kbp DNA fragment (In-2.6) by random cloning of DNA from periwinkle plants infected with the Poona (India) strain of th...

In 1994, the uncultured phloem-restricted bacteria of citrus huanglongbing (ex-greening) disease in Asia and Africa were characterized as 'Candidatus Liberobacter asiaticum' and 'Candidatus Liberobacter africanum', respectively. Following the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria, the two bacterial species have now been renamed 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' and 'Cand...

Endoparasites of fish-eating birds, Phalacrocorax africanus, P. carbo, Anhinga melanogaster and Ardea cinerea collected from Lake Chivero near Harare, Zimbabwe, were investigated. Adult Contracaecum spp. were found in the gastrointestinal tract (prevalence 100 % in P. africanus, P. carbo and A. melanogaster; 25 % in A. cinerea). Parasite intensity was 11-24 (mean 19) in P. africanus, 4-10 (mean...