Rotifers of the asexual class Bdelloidea are unusual in possessing two or more divergent copies of every gene that has been examined. Phylogenetic analysis of the heat-shock gene hsp82 and the TATA-box-binding protein gene tbp in multiple bdelloid species suggested that for each gene, each copy belonged to one of two lineages that began to diverge before the bdelloid radiation. Such gene trees ...

A leading hypothesis for the evolutionary maintenance of sexual reproduction proposes that sex is advantageous because it facilitates adaptation. Changes in the environment stimulate adaptation but not all changes are equivalent; a change may occur along one or multiple environmental dimensions. In two evolution experiments with the facultatively sexual rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, we test ...

The zooplankton community structure in Eğirdir Lake (Isparta-Turkey) was studied monthly throughout an annual cycle (January 2010-December 2010). The zooplankton community was represented by three main groups: Rotifera, Cladocera and Copepoda, respectively comprised 89.62%, 7.78% and 2.60% of the total zooplankton abundance. Eğirdir Lake was dominated by the rotifera Polyarthra dolichoptera in ...

Two new Bdellidae, Biscirus iranensis Paktinat-Saeej & Bagheri sp. nov. and Bdella farabii Paktinat-Saeej & Bagheri sp. nov., are described from northern Iran. The monotypic genus Neobiscirus considered a junior synonym of Biscirus, and its only species therefore considered Biscirus kobachidzei (Gomelauri, 1963) comb. nov.

Hydrological pulses are the main factor regulating the structure of biological communities in floodplains. Reservoirs above this ecosystem change the environment's dynamics and the community's biodiversity. This study evaluated the structure and stability of the rotifer community in response to changes in hydrological pulses after the Porto Primavera impoundment in the Upper Paraná River floodp...