Xenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802) has been the subject of numerous studies but is taxonomically poorly understood. Part of the Cytochrome b gene in mitochondrial DNA was sequenced from 50 individual Xenopus from three currently recognised species, taken from 28 localities in southern Africa, and from an outgroup of two West African X. epitropicalis. Phylogenetic analyses of these data reveal well-s...

Numerous freshwater acanthocephalans are able to alter the behaviour of their intermediate hosts increase predation risk by final hosts, thereby enhancing trophic transmission between two hosts. Because temperature is widely expected impact host-parasite interactions, we investigated how it can affect movements both uninfected and Pomphorhynchus laevis-infected Gammarus pulex in an artificial s...

Microarrays have great potential for the study of developmental biology. As a model system Xenopus is well suited for making the most of this potential. However, Xenopus laevis has undergone a genome wide duplication meaning that most genes are represented by two paralogues. This causes a number of problems. Most importantly the presence of duplicated genes mean that a X. laevis microarray will...

RIC-3 enhances the functional expression of certain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in vertebrates and invertebrates and increases the availability of functional receptors in cultured cells and Xenopus laevis oocytes. Maximal activity of RIC-3 may be cell-type dependent, so neither mammalian nor invertebrate proteins is optimal in amphibian oocytes. We cloned the X. laevis ric-3 cDNA...

Camellia is a genus of evergreen shrubs or trees, such as C. japonica, sinensis, oleifera, etc. A group beneficial soil microorganisms, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), inhabit the rhizosphere these spp. total eight genera Acaulospora, Entrophospora, Funneliformis, Gigaspora, Glomus, Pacispora, Scutellospora, and Sclerocystis were found to be associated with plants Glomus and/or Acaulospora ...

In a study on AMF (Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi) flora of alfalfa rhizosphere in Kohgiluyeh and Boierahmad province (SW Iran), 23 species belonging to nine genera: Acaulospora, Claroideoglomus, Diversispora, Entrophospora, Funneliformis, Gigaspora, Glomus, Septoglomus and Scutellospora, were identified.F. mosseae was the most abundant species. Also this is the first report of A. spinosa from Iran.

To understand the evolution of duplicate genes, we compared rates of nucleotide substitution between 17 pairs of nonallelic duplicated genes in the tetraploid frog Xenopus laevis with rates between the orthologous loci of human and rodent. For all duplicated X. laevis genes, the number of synonymous substitutions per site (dS) was greater than the number of nonsynonymous substitutions per site ...

The synonymy of Hypocaccus (Baeckmanniolus) virescens Thérond, 1963 and Hypocaccus (Baeckmanniolus) laevis Thérond, 1963 is rejected following the examination of the type specimens of both species. Hypocaccus (Baeckmanniolus) laevis stat. restit. is reinstated as valid. The two species differ mainly in the dorsal sculpture, pronotal shape, shape of protibia as well as in other minor characters....