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Arthropod Structure & Development Mar 2016
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Fossils; Paleontology
PubMed: 26806554
DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2016.01.007 -
The Science of the Total Environment Aug 2017This review is the first assembling information on intersexuality in aquatic invertebrates, from freshwater to estuarine and marine environments. Intersex is a condition... (Review)
Review
This review is the first assembling information on intersexuality in aquatic invertebrates, from freshwater to estuarine and marine environments. Intersex is a condition whereby an individual of a gonochorist (separate sexes) species has oocytes or distinct stages of spermatogonia, at varying degrees of development, within the normal gonad of the opposite gender (i.e. spermatocytes in the ovary or oocytes in the testis), often involving alterations in the gonadal structure, reproductive tract or external genitalia. By the end of 2016 we found approximately 340 records of aquatic invertebrate species evidencing signs of intersexuality (or imposex), all comprised within the Phyla Mollusca and Arthropoda. Gastropod molluscs are by far the group with more examples documented (256 species), followed by crustaceans, i.e., decapods, copepods and amphipods. To our knowledge no further cases of intersexuality were known concerning other invertebrate taxa. Despite some reports suggesting that a baseline level of intersexuality may occur naturally in some populations, the causes are multifaceted and mostly linked with environmental contamination by estrogenic and organotin endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), parasitism, and genetic/environmental sex determination abnormalities. A more comprehensive discussion about the origin of intersexuality, prevalence and causes, knowledge gaps and future research directions in the light of new omics scientific advances (genomics, proteomics and transcriptomics) is also provided. The lack of studies linking molecular responses of invertebrate intersex individuals to multiple stressors represents a true challenge to be further investigated in the future.
Topics: Animals; Aquatic Organisms; Arthropods; Disorders of Sex Development; Endocrine Disruptors; Environmental Pollution; Female; Male; Mollusca; Prevalence
PubMed: 28325592
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.099 -
Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases... Mar 2019The Arthropod Containment Guidelines are a product of the work of the American Committee of Medical Entomology, a subcommittee of the American Society of Tropical...
The Arthropod Containment Guidelines are a product of the work of the American Committee of Medical Entomology, a subcommittee of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The guidelines provide a reference for research laboratories to assess risk and establish protocols for the safe handling of arthropod vectors of human and animal disease agents. The guidelines were originally published in 2004 and have been updated here to reflect the spectrum of vector taxa under investigation, and the demands of working with vector arthropods in the context of the Select Agent Rule.
Topics: Animals; Arthropod Vectors; Arthropods; Containment of Biohazards; Disease Vectors; Genetic Engineering; Guidelines as Topic; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Risk Assessment; United States; Zoonoses
PubMed: 30694736
DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2018.2431 -
Ontogenez 2015Science has accumulated to date such amounts of valuable and diverse information that no scientists can be encyclopedists (like those of the 17th and 18th centuries).... (Review)
Review
Science has accumulated to date such amounts of valuable and diverse information that no scientists can be encyclopedists (like those of the 17th and 18th centuries). Now every scientist is usually well informed only in one particular area and often needs consultations of other specialists. The current situation in biology is similar. In addition to evolutionary morphology, which represents fundamentals of zoology, there is a new, clearly cutting-edge and progressive area of studies, molecular genetics, which has already revealed many important general biological patterns. But the conclusions that follow from examining natural phenomena from this new point of view using new methods sometimes prove to be at odds with conventional notions. Considerable controversies have emerged on the phylogenetic position of the type Arthropoda. The peculiar features of the general body plan and the type of development of these animals seem to give evidence that they evolved from Annelida, with which they are often combined under the name Articulata. But attempts have been made to replace this concept by the idea that the clade Ecdysozoa, which includes Arthropods as well as such animals with low levels of organization as Nematoda and Priapulida, emerged early in the evolution of Bilateria. The main reason for combining the said animals in this clade is the fact that they have molts regulated with ecdysone; this point of view is supported by molecular genetic arguments. Although in this review this controversial problem is considered from the morphological point of view, the main purpose of the review is to emphasize the need to establish mutual understanding.between morphologists and molecular biologists and carefully find out the causes of the existing disagreements. Rather than ideological opponents, the two areas of science should be allies helping each other to solve complicated problems.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Phylogeny
PubMed: 26204767
DOI: No ID Found -
Arthropod Structure & Development May 2017Virtually all arthropods all arthropods add their body segments sequentially, one by one in an anterior to posterior progression. That process requires not only segment... (Review)
Review
Virtually all arthropods all arthropods add their body segments sequentially, one by one in an anterior to posterior progression. That process requires not only segment specification but typically growth and elongation. Here we review the functions of some of the key genes that regulate segmentation: Wnt, caudal, Notch pathway, and pair-rule genes, and discuss what can be inferred about their evolution. We focus on how these regulatory factors are integrated with growth and elongation and discuss the importance and challenges of baseline measures of growth and elongation. We emphasize a perspective that integrates the genetic regulation of segment patterning with the cellular mechanisms of growth and elongation.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Body Patterning; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
PubMed: 27720841
DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2016.10.003 -
Results and Problems in Cell... 2019The subphylum Chelicerata represents one of the oldest groups among arthropods and comprises more than a dozen orders. Representatives of particular orders differ... (Review)
Review
The subphylum Chelicerata represents one of the oldest groups among arthropods and comprises more than a dozen orders. Representatives of particular orders differ significantly in their external morphology, reproductive biology, behavior, and structure of internal organs, e.g. of the respiratory system. However, in almost all chelicerates (excluding some mites) the female gonads show a similar architecture. In this chapter, the chelicerate-type ovary structure and the course of oogenesis are described. Structural and functional diversities of the chelicerate-type ovary in non-matrotrophic and matrotrophic arachnids are also presented.
Topics: Animals; Arachnida; Arthropods; Female; Oogenesis; Ovary
PubMed: 31598868
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-23459-1_19 -
Nature Oct 2023Trilobites are among the most iconic of fossils and formed a prominent component of marine ecosystems during most of their 270-million-year-long history from the early...
Trilobites are among the most iconic of fossils and formed a prominent component of marine ecosystems during most of their 270-million-year-long history from the early Cambrian period to the end Permian period. More than 20,000 species have been described to date, with presumed lifestyles ranging from infaunal burrowing to a planktonic life in the water column. Inferred trophic roles range from detritivores to predators, but all are based on indirect evidence such as body and gut morphology, modes of preservation and attributed feeding traces; no trilobite specimen with internal gut contents has been described. Here we present the complete and fully itemized gut contents of an Ordovician trilobite, Bohemolichas incola, preserved three-dimensionally in a siliceous nodule and visualized by synchrotron microtomography. The tightly packed, almost continuous gut fill comprises partly fragmented calcareous shells indicating high feeding intensity. The lack of dissolution of the shells implies a neutral or alkaline environment along the entire length of the intestine supporting digestive enzymes comparable to those in modern crustaceans or chelicerates. Scavengers burrowing into the trilobite carcase targeted soft tissues below the glabella but avoided the gut, suggesting noxious conditions and possibly ongoing enzymatic activity.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Biological Evolution; Crustacea; Fossils; Synchrotrons; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Intestines; Aquatic Organisms
PubMed: 37758946
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06567-7 -
Results and Problems in Cell... 2019All extant species are an outcome of nature's "experiments" during evolution, and hence multiple species need to be studied and compared to gain a thorough understanding... (Review)
Review
All extant species are an outcome of nature's "experiments" during evolution, and hence multiple species need to be studied and compared to gain a thorough understanding of evolutionary processes. The field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) aspires to expand the number of species studied, because most functional genetic studies in animals have been limited to a small number of "traditional" model organisms, many of which belong to the same phylum (Chordata). The phylum Arthropoda, and particularly its component class Insecta, possesses many important characteristics that are considered favorable and attractive for evo-devo research, including an astonishing diversity of extant species and a wide disparity in body plans. The development of the most thoroughly investigated insect genetic model system to date, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (a holometabolous insect), appears highly derived with respect to other insects and indeed with respect to most arthropods. In comparison, crickets (a basally branching hemimetabolous insect lineage compared to the Holometabola) are thought to embody many developmental features that make them more representative of insects. Here we focus on crickets as emerging models to study problems in a wide range of biological areas and summarize the currently available molecular, genomic, forward and reverse genetic, imaging and computational tool kit that has been established or adapted for cricket research. With an emphasis on the cricket species Gryllus bimaculatus, we highlight recent efforts made by the scientific community in establishing this species as a laboratory model for cellular biology and developmental genetics. This broad toolkit has the potential to accelerate many traditional areas of cricket research, including studies of adaptation, evolution, neuroethology, physiology, endocrinology, regeneration, and reproductive behavior. It may also help to establish newer areas, for example, the use of crickets as animal infection model systems and human food sources.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila melanogaster; Food Supply; Gryllidae; Models, Animal
PubMed: 31598857
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-23459-1_8 -
Current Opinion in Insect Science Aug 2018The diversity of societies and forms of social interaction across the Arthropoda is commensurate with the great taxonomic diversity within this pylum. Social evolution... (Review)
Review
The diversity of societies and forms of social interaction across the Arthropoda is commensurate with the great taxonomic diversity within this pylum. Social evolution research has, however, largely focused on a small subset of social forms; namely, those deemed to be 'eusocial'-groups exhibiting overlapping generations, cooperative brood care, and reproductive division of labor. Here I provide a brief overview of the 'other', non-eusocial, societies of insects and allies, defining the main social traits of interest and summarizing recent work. Four active and emerging fields of inquiry in the other insect societies are discussed.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Behavior, Animal; Biological Evolution; Insecta; Social Behavior
PubMed: 30551766
DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.04.008 -
Future Microbiology Mar 2021Arthropod vectors have historically been identified morphologically, and more recently using molecular biology methods. However, both of these methods are time-consuming... (Review)
Review
Arthropod vectors have historically been identified morphologically, and more recently using molecular biology methods. However, both of these methods are time-consuming and require specific expertise and equipment. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, which has revolutionized the routine identification of microorganisms in clinical microbiology laboratories, was recently successfully applied to the identification of arthropod vectors. Since then, the robustness of this identification technique has been confirmed, extended to a large panel of arthropod vectors, and assessed for detecting blood feeding behavior and identifying the infection status in regard to certain pathogenic agents. In this study, we summarize the state-of-the-art of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry applied to the identification of arthropod vectors (ticks, mosquitoes, phlebotomine sand-flies, fleas, triatomines, lice and ), their trophic preferences and their ability to discriminate between infection statuses.
Topics: Animals; Arthropod Vectors; Arthropods; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Communicable Diseases; Entomology; Humans; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
PubMed: 33733821
DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2020-0145