scholarly journals Comparative studies on storage cells in tardigrades during starvation and anhydrobiosis

2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Reuner ◽  
Steffen Hengherr ◽  
Franz Brümmer ◽  
Ralph O. Schill

Abstract The impact of starvation and anhydrobiosis on the number and size of the storage cells in the tardigrade species Milnesium tardigradum, Paramacrobiotus tonollii and Macrobiotus sapiens was investigated to gain more insight on the energetic side of anhydrobiosis. Storage cells are free floating cells within the body cavity of tardigrades and are presumed to store and release energy in form of glycogen, protein and fat to maintain a constant nutrient regime for the other tissues. The body size of the animals was not correlated with the size of the storage cells, however, M. tardigradum the largest species analysed also had the largest storage cells. A reduction in the size of the storage cells is apparent in all three species after seven days of starvation. A seven-day period of anhydrobiosis leads to a decrease in cell size in M. tardigradum but not in P. tonollii and M. sapiens. Although M. sapiens was raised on green algae, and M. tardigradum and P. tonollii were fed with rotifers and nematodes this difference in nourishment was not reflected in the response of the storage cells to anhydrobiosis.

Paleobiology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas S. Glazier ◽  
Matthew G. Powell ◽  
Travis J. Deptola

We infer the body-size scaling slope of metabolic rate in a trilobite by applying a cell-size model that has been proposed to explain metabolic scaling in living organisms. This application is especially tractable in fossil arthropods with well-preserved compound eyes because the number and size of eye facets appear to be useful proxies for the relative number and size of cells in the body. As a case study, we examined the ontogenetic scaling of facet size and number in a ∼390-Myr-old local assemblage of the trilobite Eldredgeops rana, which has well-preserved compound eyes and a wide body-size range. Growth in total eye lens area resulted from increases in both facet area and number in relatively small (presumably young) specimens, but only from increases in facet area in large (presumably more mature) specimens. These results suggest that early growth in E. rana involved both cell multiplication and enlargement, whereas later growth involved only cell enlargement. If the cell-size model is correct, then metabolic rate scaled allometrically in E. rana, and the scaling slope of log metabolic rate versus log body mass decreased from ∼0.85 to 0.63 as these animals grew. This inferred age-specific change in metabolic scaling is consistent with similar changes frequently observed in living animals. Additional preliminary analyses of literature data on other trilobites also suggest that the metabolic scaling slope was <1 in benthic species, but ∼1 in pelagic species, as has also been observed in living invertebrates. The eye-facet size (EFS) method featured here opens up new possibilities for examining the bioenergetic allometry of extinct arthropods.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (32) ◽  
pp. E4620-E4629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Z. Bar ◽  
Chayki Charar ◽  
Jehudith Dorfman ◽  
Tam Yadid ◽  
Lionel Tafforeau ◽  
...  

Dietary restriction (DR) is a metabolic intervention that extends the lifespan of multiple species, including yeast, flies, nematodes, rodents, and, arguably, rhesus monkeys and humans. Hallmarks of lifelong DR are reductions in body size, fecundity, and fat accumulation, as well as slower development. We have identified atx-2, the Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of the human ATXN2L and ATXN2 genes, as the regulator of these multiple DR phenotypes. Down-regulation of atx-2 increases the body size, cell size, and fat content of dietary-restricted animals and speeds animal development, whereas overexpression of atx-2 is sufficient to reduce the body size and brood size of wild-type animals. atx-2 regulates the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, downstream of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and upstream of ribosomal protein S6 kinase and mTOR complex 1 (TORC1), by its direct association with Rab GDP dissociation inhibitor β, which likely regulates RHEB shuttling between GDP-bound and GTP-bound forms. Taken together, this work identifies a previously unknown mechanism regulating multiple aspects of DR, as well as unknown regulators of the mTOR pathway. They also extend our understanding of diet-dependent growth retardation, and offers a potential mechanism to treat obesity.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Tietje ◽  
William J. Foster ◽  
Jana Gliwa ◽  
Clara Lembke ◽  
Autumn Pugh ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt; The impact of mass extinctions on the body sizes of animals has received considerable attention and debate, as to whether the reduced size of post-extinction organisms is due to the selective extinction of large species, absence of large species as a stochastic effect of low-diversity faunas, or a size decrease within surviving genera and species. Here, we investigated the body sizes of bivalves following the end-Permian mass extinction event and show that the shell size increase of bivalve genera was driven by both evolutionary and ecophenotypic responses. First, some genera&amp;#160;show significant increases in body size with the evolution of new species. Further, the same genera record significant within-species increases in average and maximum body size into the late Induan, indicating that ecophenotypic changes were also involved on long-term body size trends. These increases are associated with invigorated ocean circulation, improved oxygenation of the seafloor, and probably increased food supply.&lt;/p&gt;


2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis García-Prieto ◽  
Nallely Ruiz-Torres ◽  
David Osorio-Sarabia ◽  
Aldo Merlo-Serna

AbstractA new nematode species, Foleyellides rhinellae sp. nov. (Onchocercidae), is described from specimens found in the body cavity of the cane toad, Rhinella marina (Linnaeus) (Anura, Bufonidae), in the Laguna de Coyuca, Guerrero, in the Pacific slope of Mexico. The new species differs from the other nine species of Foleyellides by infecting bufonid anurans and by the number and arrangement of caudal papillae. Other distinguishing feature of the new species is the size of the left spicule (0.16–0.23 long), the smallest recorded among the species included in the genus. Foleyellides rhinellae sp. nov. is the second known species of the genus recorded from amphibians of Mexico.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
MA Ebrahiem

The study aimed to investigate the impact of supplementary feeding on the young camels calve growth rate and daily gain. A total of 16 heads of young male camel calves from the Arabic camel breeds were selected and div ided into four equal groups (1, 2,3,4). Four heads of camel calves in each group, their body weight ranged from 176 - 220 kg. Experimental animal in group one was control supplemented nothings jus t depend on the natural range land, group two was feed on watermelon seeds, group three was allowanced concentrated diet composed of ground nut cake and the animals in group four intake mixture diet consist of watermelon seeds and ground nut cake 50% for e ach. The body weight of the experimental animal was determined biweekly using table balance. The random complete experimental design was used and the Analysis of variance and Tukey test were applied for data analysis and means separation. The results indic ated that the average Body weights of the camel calves were 174.75±3.3, 275.93± 9.0, 241.50± 8.5 and 236.50±8.2 Kg, in group one, two, three and four respectively. The higher body weight was recorded in group two (275.93±9 Kg) in which the animals feed on watermelon seeds and followed by group three and four (241.50± 8.5 and 236.50±8.2) respectively. On the other hand the less camel calves body weight was obtained in group one (control) that experimental animals not intake supplementary feeding. Highly diff erences (P ≤ 0.01) were obtained in the body weight between the groups. The daily gain of the first group, second, third and fourth were 214±12g, 624±28g, 542±19g and 528±12g, respectively, while no significant differences (P ≥ 0.01) between diets groundnut cake 242 kg and mixture diet 237 kg. The protein content was higher in ground nut cake 41% when compared to the protein content in watermelon seeds 36%, on the other hand the percentage of fat was highest in watermelon seeds 27.8% compared to ground nut ca ke 13.4%.


2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 755-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Bryl ◽  
Hanna Bis-Wencel ◽  
Brygida Ślaska ◽  
Bożena Nowakowicz-Dębek ◽  
Zbigniew Bełkot ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the leptin concentration and body weight of mink females on the birth parameters of their kits. Blood samples were collected 3 times during preparation for reproduction, 7±2 days before mating. Total leptin concentration in serum was measured using commercial RIA kits (Millipore, St. Charles, Missouri USA). Research was conducted on 20 clinically healthy scanbrown female minks (Neovison Vison) aged 2-3 years. To evaluate their body condition, the females were divided into two groups based on the BCS scoring system. In the first group, referred to as BCS 2, lean females were included, and the second group (BCS 4) consisted of obese females. In mink dams belonging to BCS 2, the average leptin values were one-fourth of those in the BCS 4 group. The results obtained indicate the influence of the body mass of minks during preparation for reproduction on serum leptin concentration. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test showed a statistically significant difference between weights and leptin concentrations in groups BCS 2 and BCS 4. Among the other traits, such differences were not found. The analysis of results obtained in the two mink groups did not reveal a clear relationship between leptin in the serum of mothers before mating and the birth parameters of their kits.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 981
Author(s):  
Slobodan Milanović ◽  
Katarina Mladenović ◽  
Bojan Stojnić ◽  
Alejandro Solla ◽  
Ivan Milenković ◽  
...  

Food webs on forest trees include plant pathogens, arthropods, and their natural enemies. To increase the understanding of the impact of a plant pathogen on herbivore-natural enemy interactions, we studied the powdery mildew fungus Erysiphe alphitoides, the phytophagous mite Schizotetranychus garmani, and the predatory and mycophagous mite Euseius finlandicus in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) leaves. In June, July and August of 2016, we assessed the severity of powdery mildew, mite population density and adult female mite size in 30 trees in three forests near Belgrade, Serbia. In August, the infection severity of E. alphitoides related positively to the population density of S. garmani and negatively to the body size of S. garmani females. Throughout the vegetative season, the infection severity of E. alphitoides related positively to the population density of E. finlandicus but not to its body size. The effect of E. alphitoides on the population density and adult size of S. garmani was not mediated by the population density of E. finlandicus, and vice versa. Interactions were consistent in all forests and varied with the summer month. Our findings indicate that E. alphitoides can influence the average body size and population densities of prey and predatory mites studied, irrespective of predator-prey relationships.


Fossil Record ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andris Bukejs ◽  
Jan Bezděk ◽  
Vitalii I. Alekseev ◽  
Kristaps Kairišs ◽  
Ryan C. McKellar

Abstract. A male representative of the extinct species Calomicrus eocenicus Bukejs et Bezděk, 2014 (Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae) is found and described for the first time from Eocene Baltic amber using X-ray microtomography. The aedeagus is well preserved within the body cavity of the specimen, and it is illustrated in detail. This fossil species exhibits distinct sexual dimorphism: the male has a smaller total body size, as well as a copula-adapted modification in abdominal ventrite 5 (apical margin deeply trilobed, with round medial fovea present); meanwhile the female is larger in body size and has a simple abdominal ventrite 5 (without fovea, non-incised and widely rounded apically). Similar sexually dimorphic characters are typical for extant members of the tribe Luperini, and this report is the first time that they are described in an Eocene species. The known sexually dimorphic characters present in Coleoptera within Eocene Baltic amber are briefly discussed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
HC. Giacomini ◽  
P. De Marco Jr.

In the lakes of the Middle Rio Doce, Minas Gerais (MG), two groups of larval Libellulidae are distinguished by preferences of habitat use: one uses mainly aquatic macrophytes and the other uses the bottom substrate. The goal of this work was to verify if there is a morphological distinction between the two groups of species. Thirteen body measures were taken from the larvae and analyzed. No difference was found between the two groups of species regarding the body size, but shape differences were observed for two morphological variables. The species that use mainly macrophytes tend to have larger relative measures of the labium and smaller measures of the abdomen width. Advantages in resource obtainment and in vulnerability to predation are probably the explanations for the morphological divergence among these larval groups.


1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 1312-1317 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. McGladdery

The fillets and body cavities of the 305 Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus) collected from six locations around the east coast of Canada were examined for Anisakis simplex larvae. The fillets were checked by candling over a fluorescent light and by digestion in a pepsin – HCl acid solution. The results demonstrated the inaccuracy of candling as a technique for detecting A. simplex larvae in the musculature of herring. Anisakis simplex larvae were found in the muscle of 7.9% of the herring examined, and all herring with fillet infections were from one sample collected from southern Newfoundland in February 1983. All had over 15 larvae in the body cavity. Since none of the other herring examined had over eight larvae in the body cavity, I concluded that most Canadian Atlantic herring are safe for consumption raw, salted, smoked, or pickled. The results from Canadian Atlantic herring were compared with those from herring collected by Smith and Wootten from around Britain. The only Canadian Atlantic herring found with a similar level of infection to those were from southern Newfoundland.


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