Earthworms affect nitrogen cycling directly through the consumption and assimilation of organic N and the turnover of N through excretion and mortality. Although earthworms can process large quantities of organic matter, organic-matter consumption by earthworms based on their nitrogen requirements has not been quanti®ed. Organic-matter consumption and the ef®ciency of nitrogen assimilation by e...

The purpose of this study was to determine which suture material is the most appropriate for dermal closure of terrestrial annelids. This paper describes the tissue reactions of the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris, to five different types of suture materials in order to determine which suture material is the most appropriate for dermal closure. Silk, monofilament nylon, polydiaxonone, polyglact...

Encapsulation is an essential process of the invertebrate immune system and includes the prophenoloxidase (proPO) cascade. We present an assay for evaluating this immune response, now newly adapted to earthworms. Coelomic fluid is withdrawn and coelomocytes are stained with l-Dopa. We studied assay repeatability and the correlation between number of PO-active cells and infection level of the pa...

1. Two high molecular invertebrate hemoglobins (the erythrocruorins of Lumbricus terrestris and of Nereis virens) as well as the low molecular erythrocruorin of Glycera dibranchiata Ehlers were studied. Their physical chemical properties were compared with those of vertebrate hemoglobin. 2. The hemin of the blood pigment of Glycera dibranchiata Ehlers was shown to be identical with that of vert...

Many annelids, including the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris, have giant cooperative respiratory proteins (molecular masses greater than 3.5 million Da) freely dissolved in the blood, rather than packaged in cells. These complexes, termed either erythrocruorins or hemoglobins, are assembled from many copies of both hemoglobin subunits and nonhemoglobin or "linker" subunits. In this paper, we pre...

Installation of subsurface tile lines in poorly drained soils is a beneficial management practice that enhances crop productivity. In some instances, however, they can contribute to offsite losses of agricultural chemicals and sediment in drain flow. Movement of these materials through soil macropores (earthworm burrows and cracks) has been shown to contribute to this phenomenon. In order to de...

Many soft-bodied invertebrates use a flexible, fluid-filled hydrostatic skeleton for burrowing. The aim of our study was to compare the scaling and morphology between surface-dwelling and burrowing earthworm ecotypes to explore the specializations of non-rigid musculoskeletal systems for burrowing locomotion. We compared the scaling of adult lumbricid earthworms across species and ecotypes to d...

The dissociation of the extracellular hemoglobin of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris was investigated. At neutral pH, its sz00,~ = 58.9 f 0.2 S and D:o,w = 1.61 f 0.05 X 1O-7 cm2 s-l corresponded to a molecular weight of 3.23 f 0.18 x 106. A minimum molecular weight of 24,000 per heme group was determined from the iron and heme contents, 0.221 f 0.011 weight % and 2.78 =k 0.14 weight %, respe...