Mixotrophic dinoflagellate

Dinoflagellates are eukaryotic plankton, existing in marine and freshwater environments. Previously, dinoflagellates had been grouped into two categories, phagotrophs and phototrophs. Mixotrophs, however include a combination of phagotrophy and phototrophy. Mixotrophic dinoflagellates are a sub-type of planktonic dinoflagellates and are part of the phylum Dinoflagellata. They are flagellated eukaryotes that combine photoautotrophy when light is available, and heterotrophy via phagocytosis. Dinoflagellates are one of the most diverse and numerous species of phytoplankton, second to diatoms.
Dinoflagellates have long whip-like structures called flagella that allow them to move freely throughout the water column. They are mainly marine but can also be found in freshwater environments. Combinations of phototrophy and phagotrophy allow organisms to supplement their inorganic nutrient uptake This means an increased trophic transfer to higher levels in food web compared to the traditional food web.
Mixotrophic dinoflagellates have the ability to thrive in changing ocean environments, resulting in shifts in red tide phenomenon and paralytic shellfish poisoning. It is unknown as to how many species of dinoflagellates have mixotrophic capabilities, as this is a relatively new feeding-mechanism discovery.
Species.
Some dinoflagellates that live as parasites are probably mixotrophic.
"Karenia", "Karlodinium", and "Lepidodinium" are some of the dinoflagellate genera which are thought to contain peridinin, a carotenoid pigment necessary for photosynthesis in dinoflagellates; however, chlorophyll b has been found in these genera as an accessory pigment. This discovery has led scientists to assume that the pigment chlorophyll b actually came from prey which had been ingested by the dinoflagellates.
Some species of mixotrophic dinoflagellate are able to feed on toxic prey such as toxic algae and other toxic organisms. For example, "Lingulodinium polyedrum" and "Akashiwo sanguinea" are two species of mixotrophic dinoflagellates that are known to feed on the toxic dinoflagellate, "Alexandrium tamarense".
Certain species of mixotrophic dinoflagellates can be affected by light intensity and nutrient conditions . For example, ingestion rates of "Fragilidium subglobosum", "Gymnodinium gracilentum", and "Karlodinium veneficum" increase as light intensity increases up to 75 to 100 µmol photon m−2 s−1. In contrast, other species are not affected by light intensity. As well, ingestion rates of the mixotrophic dinoflagellate "Ceratium furca" are affected by intracellular nutrient concentrations.
Types of feeding.
Marine dinoflagellate species undergo three major trophic modes: autotrophy, mixotrophy and heterotrophy. Many species of dinoflagellates were previously assumed to be exclusively autotrophic; however, recent research has revealed that many dinoflagellates that were thought to be exclusively phototrophic are actually mixotrophic. Mixotrophic dinoflagellates can undergo both photosynthesis and phagocytosis as methods of feeding. Mixotrophic dinoflagellates with individual plastids that depend mostly on photosynthesis can prey on other cells as their secondary source of nutrients. On the other hand, mixotrophic dinoflagellates with individual plastids that depend mainly on phagocytosis are also photosynthetic due to chloroplasts 'stolen' from their prey (kleptochloroplasts) or because of algal endosymbionts. It was discovered that the mixotrophic dinoflagellates "Gonyaulax polygramma" and "Scrippsiella" spp. can engulf small-size prey using their apical horn while larger prey are engulfed via their sulcus, showing that dinoflagellates can have more than one mouth for feeding. Moreover, mixotrophic dinoflagellates belonging to the species "Karlodinium armiger", can capture small prey by direct engulfment or can use an extendable peduncle to capture larger prey.
Implications for microbial food webs.
Mixotroph dinoflagellates belonging to the species "Gymnodinium sanguineum" feed on nanociliate populations in Chesapeake Bay. Predation on ciliates is advantageous for "G. sanguineum" as the ciliates provide a source of nitrogen which is limiting to the growth of purely photosynthetic dinoflagellates. By preying on ciliates, these dinoflagellates reverse the normal flow of material from primary producer to consumer and influence the trophodynamics of the microbial food web in Chesapeake Bay
Several established ecological models of marine microbial food webs have not included feeding by mixotrophic dinoflagellates. These additions would include feeding by mixotrophic dinoflagellates on bacteria, phytoplankton, other mixotrophic dinoflagellates and nanoflagellates, and heterotrophic protists. The impact of grazing by mixotrophic dinoflagellates will affect particular prey species and be influenced by the abundance of dinoflagellate predators and their ingestion rates. Another consideration would be to include predator-prey relationships of mixotrophic dinoflagellates at a species level due to co-existence in offshore and oceanic waters.
The diversity of mixotrophic dinoflagellate species and their interactions with other marine organisms contributes to their diverse roles in different niche environments. For example, mixotrophic and heterotrophic dinoflagellates may act as predators on a wide range of prey types due to their diverse feeding mechanisms. Including mixotrophic dinoflagellates would better explain the control of prey population and cycling of limited materials as well as competition between other organisms for larger prey.
Climate Change and Ocean Acidification.
As CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere increase via anthropogenic causes, acidification of the ocean will increase as the result of increasing CO2 sequestration by the ocean; the ocean is a great sink for carbon, absorbing more as its concentration in the atmosphere increases. As this occurs, there will be species and community composition shifts in marine plankton communities. Mixotrophic dinoflagellates will be favoured over photosynthetic dinoflagellates, as the oceans will become more nutrient limited and mixotrophs will not have to rely only on inorganic nutrients but will be able to take advantage of being able to consume particulate organic matter.
With an increase in temperature, there is an increase in water column stability, which leads to favourable conditions for mixotrophic growth. Mixotrophs can grow in low nutrient (more stable) environments and become dominant members of planktonic communities. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can be caused by increased stability or increases in nutrients due to acidification and climate change, as well. This can have large impacts on the food chain and pose harmful effects to humans and their food sources through harmful blooms of dinoflagellates and other taxa, and lead to paralytic shellfish poisoning, for example.
Influence on red tide and HABs.
Many mixotrophic and some heterotrophic dinoflagellates are known to cause red tides or harmful blooms that result in large-scale mortality of fish and shellfish. Studies on red tides have been conducted to determine the mechanism of outbreak and the persistence of red tides caused by mixotrophic dinoflagellates such as "Karenia brevis", "Prorocentrum donghaiense" and "Prorocentrum minimum" in low nutrient concentration waters. In the case of serial red tides, one mixotrophic dinoflagellate species is dominated by another mixotrophic species in rapid succession over a short span of days. A possible explanation for the occurrence of different dominant mixotrophic dinoflagellates during serial red tides is the ability of mixotrophic dinoflagellates to feed on both heterotrophic bacteria and cyanobacteria (such as "Synecchococcus") spp., which provide limiting nutrients such as phosphorus, and nitrogen simultaneously. It is proposed that during serial red tides, feeding by larger mixotrophic dinoflagellates on smaller species may be a driving force for the succession of dominant species. Nitrogen and phosphorus is taken up by direct transfer of the materials and energy between the mixotrophic dinoflagellates; therefore, nutrient supply does not rely on the release of nitrogen and phosphorus by other organisms. Hence, mixotrophy can cause uncoupling between nutrient concentrations and the abundance of mixotrophic dinoflagellates in natural environments.
Red tides are a type of harmful algal bloom (HABs); both are the result of massive proliferation of algae that result in very high concentrations of cells that visibly colour the water. The very high levels of biomass in Red Tides or HABs can have direct toxic effects through the release of toxic compounds or indirect effects through oxygen depletion on mammals, fish, shellfish, and humans. PSP (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning) is one example of a toxin that is produced by dinoflagellates that can have lethal consequences if contaminated shellfish are ingested; the toxin is a neuro-inhibitor that is concentrated in the flesh of bivalves and molluscs that have fed on toxic algae The toxin concentrations can cause harmful and even deadly effects on humans and marine mammal populations that feed on contaminated shellfish.
Relationship to other organisms.
Mixotrophic dinoflagellates can feed on various organisms including bacteria, picoeukaryotes, nanoflagellates, diatoms, protists, metazoans and other dinoflagellates, as well. Feeding and digestion rates in mixotrophic dinoflagellates are lower than those in strictly heterotrophic dinoflagellates. Mixotrophic dinoflagellates do not feed on blood, eggs, adult metazoans, and flesh, such as occurs in some heterotrophic dinoflagellates.


Cytoplast

A cytoplast is a medical term that is used to describe a cell membrane and the cytoplasm. It is occasionally used to describe a cell in which the nucleus has been removed. It is a part of biology.


Citrus tristeza virus

Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is a viral species of the genus "Closterovirus" that causes the most economically damaging disease to its namesake plant genus, "Citrus". The disease has led to the death of millions of "Citrus" trees all over the world and has rendered millions of others useless for production. Farmers in Brazil and other South American countries gave it the name "tristeza", meaning sadness in Portuguese and Spanish, referring to the devastation produced by the disease in the 1930s. The virus is transmitted most efficiently by the brown citrus aphid.
The pathogen.
CTV is a flexuous rod virus with dimensions of 2000 nm long and 12 nm in diameter. The CTV genome is typically between 19.2 and 19.3 kb long and consists of a single strand of (+)-sense RNA enclosed by two types of capsid proteins. The size of its genome makes CTV one of the largest RNA viruses known. The CTV genome contains 12 open reading frames, which could encode at least 17 proteins.
Hosts and symptoms.
CTV infects several species of the plant genus, "Citrus", including sour orange ("Citrus aurantium") and any "Citrus" grafted onto sour orange rootstock, key lime and Seville orange ("C. × aurantifolia"), Hassaku orange and sweet orange ("C. × sinensis"), grapefruit ("C. × paradisi"), and mandarin ("C. reticulata").
CTV is also known to infect "Aeglopsis chevalieri", "Afraegle paniculata" and "Pamburus missionis" of the citrus subfamily Aurantioideae, as well as "Passiflora gracilis" which belongs to an entirely different lineage of rosid plants. CTV is distributed worldwide and can be found wherever citrus trees grow.
Symptoms of CTV infection are highly variable and depend on several factors including host, virulence of the particular virus strain, and environmental conditions. The three most common groupings of symptoms are decline (quick and slow), stem-pitting, and seedling yellows.
Decline is generally exhibited with sweet orange, mandarin, or grapefruit when they are grafted on infected sour orange rootstock. This decline includes chlorotic leaves and general dieback of the infected tree. Decline may be slow, lasting several months to years after the first symptoms are noticed. In this case the infected tree will also show a bulge above the bud union and honeycombing on the inner face of the original sour orange root stock bark. The decline may also be quick, resulting in host death just days after the first symptoms are noticed.
Stem-pitting is another symptom of CTV that manifests in most host types under the proper conditions, and especially in "Citrus" trees grafted onto sour orange rootstock. The host will develop pits in the trunk and stem. This results is decreased tree vigor and reduced fruit yield. This is typically caused by the more virulent strains of CTV.
The third major symptom of CTV infection is seedling yellows. This tends to occur on sour orange, Natsudaidai, lemon and buntan. Symptoms include yellowing of foliage and general dieback.
Diagnosis.
CTV is classically diagnosed by graft-inoculating a Mexican lime ("Citrus aurantifolia") with tissue from a diseased plant. The Mexican lime will develop highly predictable symptoms. Symptoms on the leaves begin as clear veins that turn corky, which is then followed by chlorosis and cupping of the leaf. Particularly severe strains may result in stunting, and stem-pitting may also occur. Alternatively CTV can be indicated by the presence of aggregates of cross-banded inclusion bodies in the phloem of the diseased plant.
Other diagnostic procedures include electron microscopy, double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA), tissue-print ELISA, and PCR-based assays. These methods identify signs of the virus, such as its microscopic structure (electron microscopy), the presence of its proteins’ antigens (ELISA) or the presence of its RNA (PCR).
Epidemiology.
CTV is a virus that is limited to the phloem tissues of its host. It is transmitted semi-persistently by vectors that penetrate the phloem to extract sap, mostly the aphid species that colonize the crop. The brown citrus aphid is considerably more efficient at transmitting the virus than are other aphids that infest citrus. In Florida, it has been shown to be from six to twenty five times as efficient as "Aphis gossypii", the most efficient vector found in the state before the introduction of the brown citrus aphid prior to 1995. This efficiency is enhanced by the narrow host range of the brown citrus aphid and its tendency to produce winged forms in order to colonize new growth. "A. gossypii" has a much wider host range, including hundreds of plant species in Florida, and the transmission of the virus is blocked when it feeds on a different host.
Environment.
Aphids are the main vector by which CTV is transmitted. Initially the United States had as vectors only "Aphis gossypii" (melon-and-cotton aphid), "A.spiraecola" (green citrus aphid), and the black (or brown) citrus aphid "Toxoptera aurantii". These aphids transmit the virus much less efficiently than "Toxoptera citricida", the oriental citrus aphid. "Toxoptera citricida" had been found in East Asia and South America, and had slowly made its way up through Central America and the Caribbean Islands. By 1993 it had reached Cuba, and in 1995 it was found in Florida.
The aphids require at least 30 to 60 minutes of feeding to acquire the virus, and remain viruliferous for at least 24 hours after. "T. citricida" is much more efficient than the other aphids, and it can transmit CTV strains causing severe stem pitting or decline that the other aphids cannot vector. Even though "A. spiraecola" is less efficient, it tends to have higher populations and thus can still transfer the virus fairly well. "T. aurantii" has been shown to only transmit certain strains of CTV. Of the three lesser efficient aphids, "A. gossypii" has a 78% transmission efficiency, while "A. spiraecola" and "T. aurantii" are between 0-6%. The main cultural practice that increases the severity of the CTV is when the citrus trees are grafted onto the sour orange rootstock. Using CTV infected budwood for grafting can transfer the CTV from the original tree to the new one.
Management.
When CTV was first discovered quarantine was the best management strategy, now quarantining only works for areas where a small amount of trees are infected. The other approach that was adopted after "T. citricida" came to the U.S. was destroying any tree in which the budwood was not free of CTV. This is a more drastic measure but must be done due to how fast "T. citricida" can spread the virus. If there is any CTV in the area, avoid grafting trees on sour orange rootstock and instead graft on tristeza-tolerant rootstock. Since the virus has been in Asia a long time they have used rootstock from trifoliate orange, Sunki, and Shiikuwasha ("C. × depressa") for many years. Some hybrids, such as Troyer citrange or Swingle citromelo, show promise as resistant root-stock. Also, using scion varieties tolerant to stem pitting is recommended.
The production of virus-free trees by shoot-tip grafting or heat treatment is very important. If it is possible to keep the field permanently free of CTV, the planting of virus-free trees is practical. In areas where it is difficult to find a virus-free field, preinoculation with a mild CTV strain protects trees against infection with a severe strain of CTV. Bud-stock trees should be inoculated with a mild CTV strain at least four to six months prior to propagation. They should then be kept in a greenhouse, under aphid-free conditions. It is also recommended that nurseries of young plants grown for propagation should be kept vector-free. Top-grafting with pre-inoculated buds onto interstock trees infested with severe CTV is not effective, because the tree has little protection against the disease. It is necessary to spray nursery plants and young trees with insecticide occasionally, to control aphids. This should retard any re-infection with the virus.
A biological approach has been to bring in a parasitoid wasp from Asia that naturally controls "A. spiraecola". This approach was stopped when "T. citricida" arrived due to it not being a parasite of the more important aphid. There is a natural parasite of aphids in Florida in the gall midge family Cecidomyiidae that attempts to keep aphid levels down, however due to the influx in aphid population it has not been able to keep populations down.
Importance.
CTV is the most economically important and damaging virus of citrus trees. It can be spread quickly and do damage not only by killing trees with sour orange rootstock, but also by stem pitting normal citrus trees. It has killed more than 80 million trees worldwide, mainly in South Africa since 1910, Argentina (10 million) and Brazil (6 million) since 1970, and the U.S. (3 million) since 1950. With the spreading of "T. citricida" the severity and impact has increased dramatically in Central America and the U.S. In Spain there has been a progressive decline in production from over 40 million sweet orange and mandarin trees.


Pelagomonas

Pelagomonas is a genus of heterokont algae. It is a monotypic genus and includes a single species, Pelagomonas calceolata which is a unicellular flagellate organism, an ubiquitous constituent of marine picoplankton. It is an ultra-planktonic marine alga.
Description.
"Pelagomonas calceolata" is uniflagellate, about 1.5 × 3 μm in size. Microtubular roots, striated roots and a second basal body are absent. A thin organic theca surrounds most of the cell. There is a single chloroplast with a girdle lamella and a single, dense mitochondrion with tubular cristae. A single Golgi body with swelled cisternae lies beneath the flagellum, and each cell has an ejectile organelle that putatively releases a cylindrical structure. A vacuole, or cluster of vacuoles, contains the putative carbohydrate storage product.


Lokiarchaeum


Basfia succiniciproducens

Basfia succiniciproducens is a gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, and immobile bacterium from the Pasteurellaceae family. It was first isolated from bovine rumen in 2008. Its ability to produce relatively large quantities of succinic acid through fermentation in biomass hydrolysates is potentially important for industrial biotechnology.
Features.
Its beneficial features include broad facultative anaerobic metabolism, genetic tractability, and substrate utilization. The bacterium is cocci to rod-shaped and, like all Pasteurellaceae, has no flagella, i.e., it cannot actively move. The bacterium is gram-negative, i.e., it only has a thin, single-layer murein envelope that does not contain any teichoic acids. Information on individual cell sizes is not scientifically documented. Colonies reach a diameter of 0.1 to 0.5 millimeters after 24 hours of growth and are colored translucent gray.
"Basfia succiniciproducens", like the majority of proteobacteria, was characterized solely by physiological or biochemical features, while it has no eidonomic features compared to other species and genera of the Pasteurellaceae. The first description fulfills the minimum standards applicable for characterizing a new species and genus within the Pasteurellaceae.
All known strains anaerobically produce significant amounts of succinic acid, acetic acid, and formic acid as metabolic products during fermentation.
Isolation.
The bacterium was isolated during a screening for bacteria from the rumen of domestic cattle that are potentially useful in succinic acid production. It was first isolated in 2008, but its scientific description was made available in 2009. However, according to information from Kuhnert et al. 2009, it was not validly described.
Characteristics.
B. succiniciproducens can be cultivated biotechnologically both on the classic fermentation medium glucose (sugar syrup, starch) and on glycerine. Glycerin is obtained as raw glycerin in the production of rapeseed methyl ester (biodiesel) in large quantities and is therefore available as an inexpensive raw material for combined use.
In 2008, Scholten was able to achieve yields of up to 5.8 g/l succinic acid based on D-glucose and sucrose with the newly isolated and at the time not yet described bacterium, with a productivity of up to 1.5 g/l 1·h, and the yield was a maximum of 0.6 grams of succinic acid per gram of substrate. They achieved yields of 8.4 g/l, 0.9 g/l·h, and 1.2 g/g substrate with raw glycerol. In comparison with other bacteria, particularly Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens, Escherichia coli, and Actinobacillus succinogenes, the maximum yield per liter is comparatively low, but the yield based on the substrate input and the productivity are comparable and can also be optimized by optimizing the logs. Bacteria based on raw glycerin as a substrate, for which the first approaches to continuous cultivation are in development, show particularly good properties.
Application of succinic acid.
Succinic acid is a chemical with an annual demand of around 15,000 tons. It is conventionally produced based on butadiene and n-butane with maleic anhydride as an intermediate. It is primarily used as a basis for various chemical and pharmaceutical industries (tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-butanediol, etc.) and bio-based plastics such as polyamides (PA), polyesters, co-polyesters, and polyesteramides. Succinic acid is of interest as a biotechnologically manufactured product, and the market potential of several hundred thousand tons is forecasted. Together with other representatives of the C4-dicarboxylic acids, such as fumaric and malic acid, the US Department of Energy identified succinic acid in 2004 as one of twelve platform chemicals with particular biotechnological manufacturing potential.
Various other potential succinic acid producers have been examined, such as Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens, Escherichia coli, Mannheimia succiniciproducens, and Corynebacterium glutamicum. Metabolic engineering for the production of high quantities of succinic acid should be optimized.


Iflaviridae

Iflaviridae is a family of positive sense RNA viruses insect-infecting viruses. Some of the insects commonly infected by iflaviruses include aphids, leafhoppers, flies, bees, ants, silkworms and wasps. The name "Ifla" is derived from the name "Infectious flacherie virus", for the type species. There is only one genus (Iflavirus) and 15 species in this family, including the type species "Infectious flacherie virus".
Structure.
Members of this family are insect-infecting viruses that consist of positive single-strand RNA genomes translated into a single polyprotein of ~3000 amino acids long. It encodes helicase, protease and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase enzymes and four structural proteins (VP1–4). The non-enveloped capsid has an icosahedral T=pseudo3 symmetry and is around 30 nm in diameter. VP1, VP2 and VP3 form the outer portion, with VP4 located internally. Genomes are linear and non-segmented, around 8.8-9.7kb in length.
Life cycle.
Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by attachment to host receptors, which mediates endocytosis. Replication follows the positive stranded RNA virus replication model. Positive stranded RNA virus transcription is the method of transcription. Translation takes place by ribosomal skipping. Insects serve as the natural host.
Pathogenicity.
Several viruses in this family are economically important because they are highly pathogenic to their honeybee and silkworm hosts, while others (including "Dinocampus coccinellae paralysis virus", "Nasonia vitripennis virus" and "Venturia canescens picorna-like virus") appear to cause little or no symptoms.
Taxonomy.
The family "Iflaviridae" contains one genus, "Iflavirus", with the following 15 species:


Candidatus Thiodictyon syntrophicum

"Candidatus Thiodictyon syntrophicum" is a gram-negative bacterium classified within purple sulfur bacteria (PSB). "Ca." T. syntrophicum"" grows best under micro-oxic and low light conditions. There has only been one successful enrichment of "Ca." T. syntrophicum""; "Ca." T. syntrophicum"" strain Cad16T.
Classification.
"Ca." T. syntrophicum"" belongs to the family "Chromatiaceae" and class "Gammaproteobacteria." This species is known to be related to the genera "Lamprocystis", "Thiocystis" and "Thiocapsa." Strain Cad16T was previously assigned to the genus "Lamprocystis", but was recently reassigned to the genus "Thiodictyon" by Peduzzi et al. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was used to separate Cad16T from "Lamprocystis" due to differences in cell morphology/arrangement, caretenoid groups and chemolithotrophic growth; all of which are important factors used to consider Cad16T a member of the genus "Thiodictyon" rather than the genus "Lamprocystis".
Strain Cad16T.
Cad16T is a novel strain of ""Ca." T. syntrophicum""," which was isolated from the chemocline of a crenogenic meromictic lake. 16S rRNA gene sequence data shows that Cad16T is closely related to "Thiodictyon bacillosum" DSM234T (99.2% sequence similarity) and "Thiodictyon elegans" DSM232T (98.9% sequence similarity).
Environment.
The Cad16T strain of "Ca. T. syntrophicum" was isolated from Lake Cadagno. This lake is crenogenic and meromictic, and its layers create diverse ecological niches which support the growth of diverse and often novel species. Lake Cadagno is euxinic, meaning it is both anoxic and sulphidic at depth. Its chemocline, which occurs at approximately 12 m, is quite narrow and has high concentrations of sulfide, sulfate, oxygen and light. A turbidity maximum also correlates with the chemocline, and this is caused by high concentrations of anaerobic phototrophic sulfur bacteria.
Carbon fixation.
"Ca. T. syntrophicum" strain Cad16T has the capability for CO2 fixation, and was found to play a key role in the overall inorganic carbon fixation that occurred in Lake Cadagno.  Within the chemocline of Lake Cadagno, Cad16T and another isolate from the lake, CadA31 (a PSB), were the two most efficient CO2 fixing strains, and researchers found that CO2 fixation occurred in both light and dark conditions. However, Cad16T was most likely the main contributor to light and dark carbon fixation within the chemocline of the lake, as Storelli et al. found that this strain assimilated approximately 25.9% of all hypothetical carbon fixed within the chemocline.
Sulfur cycling.
Strain Cad16T of "Ca. T. syntrophicum" is a species of PSB. Researchers discovered that strain Cad16T creates and stores sulfur globules intracellularly. The pure cultures of Cad16T were found to utilize sulfide and elemental sulfur as their electron donors.
Cad16T is known to have syntrophic associations and cell-to-cell aggregation with "Desulfocapsa sp.," which is also a member of the genus "Thiodictyon". "Desulfocapsa sp." is a sulfate reducing and sulfur disproportionating bacteria found in both mixed culture and within the natural environment.


Microthrix


Giardiavirus

Giardiavirus is a genus of viruses, in the family Totiviridae. Protozoa serve as natural hosts. There is only one species in this genus: Giardia lamblia virus.
Structure.
Viruses in "Giardiavirus" are non-enveloped, with icosahedral geometries, and T=2 symmetry. The diameter is around 36 nm. Genomes are linear, around 6277kb in length. The genome has 2 open reading frames.
Life cycle.
Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by attachment to host receptors, which mediates endocytosis. Replication follows the double-stranded RNA virus replication model. Double-stranded rna virus transcription is the method of transcription. Translation takes place by -1 ribosomal frameshifting, and viral initiation. Protozoa serve as the natural host.
Taxonomy.
The genus "Giardiavirus" has one species:


Rarobacteraceae

Rarobacteraceae is a monotypic Actinomycete family.
Phylogeny.
The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
and the phylogeny is based on 16S rRNA-based LTP release 106 by The All-Species Living Tree Project


Acidovorax aerodenitrificans

Acidovorax aerodenitrificans is a bacterium from the genus of "Acidovorax" and the family of Comamonadaceae.


Clostridium cadaveris

Clostridium cadaveris is an enteric, gas-forming, motile, strictly anaerobic gram-positive bacterium of the genus "Clostridium". First described by Klein in 1899, it was noted to be the most prominent bacteria during human decomposition; historically it was described as "putrefying flora".
"Clostridium cadaveris" is usually considered non-pathogenic; unlike other species of "Clostridium", it does not produce toxins. "Clostridium cadaveris" is found in soil, water, and is a normal component of the human intestinal tract.
The genus "Clostridium" is large and phylogenetically diverse, comprising over 150 species. Clostridia are found extensively in nature predominantly as benign soil saprophytes. A number of "Clostridium" species are pathogenic to humans. Members including "C.botulinium", "C. perfringens", and "C.septicum" are spore forming and the cause of botulism and gas gangrene respectively. "Clostridium cadaveris" is closely related phylogenetically to "Clostridium fallax" and "Clostridium intestinale".
Infections in humans due to "C. cadaveris" are rare and the organism is seldom found is clinical specimens. Most cases reported in medical literature document infections in immunocompromised patients, but isolated cases in immunocompetent hosts have been reported.
Colony characteristics.
Primary isolation media is blood agar incubated anaerobically at 35-37 degrees Celsius for 40–48 hours. Microscopic appearance shows gram positive rods with both smooth and rough colony types and further spore staining technique may be utilized to determine spore shape and position. Currently the standard to identify clostridial species such as "C. cadaveris" is via molecular techniques utilizing ribosomal RNA gene sequencing.
Infections.
Infections due to "C. cadaveris" are rare and present predominantly as bacteremia of gastro-intestinal origin and may occur endogenously. Associated risk factors for bacteremia due to "C. cadaveris" include a compromised immune system, trauma, recent surgical procedures, diabetes, and perforated bowel. Bacteremia and sepsis caused by "Clostridium cadaveris" have been implicated following orthopedic procedures, in patients undergoing oncological treatment, and in cases of necrotic decubitus. Due to the rare clinical manifestation of bacteremia attributed to "C. cadaveris", the organism's susceptibility to antibiotic treatment is not well documented. Case reports indicate a susceptibility to most antibiotics including metronidazole and penicillin as well as resistance to clindamycin and possibly beta-lactams. Infections may be persistent due to the organisms ability to sporulate.
In the human gut.
"Clostridium cadaveris" normally colonizes in the gastrointestinal tract. Microbiota (gut flora) contain between 400 and 800 bacterial species and are usually classified in two divisions: Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes; "Clostridium cadaveris" are Firmicutes. Species diversity of human microbiota is unique and microbiota display unequal distribution in the digestive tract. Smaller populations are found in the small intestines, whereas populations one hundredfold are found in the ileum, colon, and rectum. Imbalance of the ratio between Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes levels are connected to obesity, Crohn's disease, and other health complications. Antibiotic treatment can also alter the balance of microbiota causing pathogenic bacterial growth.
In human decomposition.
In humans, one of the first signs of decomposition is a yellow-green discolorization of the abdomen in the area of the cecum due to the build up of gases from bacteria and autolysis of cells. "Clostridium cadaveris", "C. welchii", "E. coli", and "B. aerogenes" are found in large numbers after death due to nutrient supply for anaerobic bacteria allowing for optimal organismal growth. In initial stages of decomposition bacteria feed on both intestinal contents and intestinal tissues, prolific colonization occurs allowing digestive enzymes and anaerobic bacteria such as "C. cadaveris" to breach the intestinal tract invading other tissues and organs. Translocation and proliferation of gut flora such as "C. cadaveris" allow for these organisms to serve as bacterial indicators for time of death in individuals.


Mivirus

Mivirus is a genus of negative-strand RNA viruses which infect arthropods. Member viruses have nonsegmented and bisegmented genomes. There are nine species in the genus.
Etymology.
The name "Mivirus" derives from (), the ancestral name of King Zhuang of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period, along with "-virus", the suffix for a virus genus.
Genome.
Miviruses have nonsegmented and bisegmented genomes which are linear. Some member viruses may have circular genomes.
Taxonomy.
The following species are recognized:


Acaulospora dilatata

Acaulospora dilatata is a species of fungus in the family Acaulosporaceae. It forms arbuscular mycorrhiza and vesicles in roots. Originally found in West Virginia in soil associated with "Andropogon virginicus", the fungus was described as new to science in 1986.


Harpellaceae

The Harpellaceae are a family of fungi in the Harpellales order. The family contains 5 genera and 40 species.


The FASEB Journal

The FASEB Journal is a scientific journal related to experimental biosciences, promoting scientific progress and education. It is published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, that was founded in 1912 originally by 3 societies (29 as of January 2019, see current list).


Santa Claus Village

Santa Claus Village is an amusement park in Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland. It was opened in 1985.
Location and transportation.
Santa Claus Village is located about northeast of Rovaniemi and about from the Rovaniemi Airport.
The first original home of Santa Claus was Korvatunturi. In 1985, Rovaniemi was declared as an official hometown of Santa Claus.
Awards.
The Santa Claus Park that is connected to the Santa Claus Village was in 2007 awarded by Topworld International and placed as the second best Travel Adventure in Finland. So long in 2008, it still holds second position after Topworld invited travellers to vote for their own Top 10 list over adventures.


Gaeana maculata

Gaeana maculata is the type species of cicadas in the genus "Gaeana". It was first described by Dru Drury in 1773, from China.
Description.
Upper side: head black. Eyes yellow brown, round, and projecting from the head a little; between them are two small orange spots. Antennae small and short. Thorax black, with four orange spots in a row, placed across it, and behind them two others. Abdomen black, consisting of seven annuli or rings, besides the tail part, the last of which is edged with orange. Anus orange-coloured, and furnished with a bristle for oviposition. Wings black, spotted, and streaked with orange; the anterior having a row of streaks along the external edges, and five distinct orange spots crossing the middle, near the shoulders: the posterior having a large orange patch on the abdominal edges, and a small round spot above it, with five small fainter ones placed along the external edges.
Under side: head black, terminating in a long slender beak, which extends between the legs, to the abdomen; two small orange spots are placed just below the eyes. Thorax with an orange spot on each side. Legs and abdomen black; the latter having six orange spots, three on each side. Wings as on the upper side. Wing-span 3¾ inches (95 mm).


Stictic acid

Stictic acid is an aromatic organic compound, a product of secondary metabolism in some species of lichens.
Stictic acid is the subject of preliminary biomedical research. Stictic acid has cytotoxic and apoptotic effects "in vitro". Computational studies suggest stictic acid may also stimulate p53 reactivation.


Paramastigidae


Marihabitans asiaticum

Marihabitans asiaticum is a species of Gram positive, nonmotile, non-sporeforming bacteria. The bacteria are aerobic and mesophilic, and the cells are irregular rods or coccoid. The species was first described in 2008, and it was originally isolated in 2003 from surface seawater collected at the Kesennuma ferry port in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The species name refers to the region (Asia) from which it was first isolated. "M. asiaticum" is the type species of genus "Marihabitans", and is currently the only species in the genus.
The growth temperature range for "Marihabitans asiaticum" is 18-34 °C. The optimum pH is 9.0, and the species can tolerate NaCl salt concentrations of up to 7%. Cells form yellow-pigmented colonies on agar.


Nina Strokata Karavanska

Nina Antonovna Karavanska (maiden name - Strokata; born January 31, 1926, in Odesa, Ukraine - died August 2, 1998, in Denton, Texas) was a Ukrainian dissident, Soviet microbiologist and immunologist. She was a member of the dissident movement in the USSR, a co-founder of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and one of the leading human rights activists in Odesa during the Soviet period. She is the author of about 23 scientific papers in the field of clinical microbiology and immunology. She spoke Ukrainian, English, German, Polish, and Romanian. She was the wife of Sviatoslav Karavansky.
Biography.
Early years.
Nina Antonovna Strokata was born on January 31, 1926 (according to other sources in 1925) in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, which was then part of the Ukrainian SSR, USSR. After graduating from high school, she entered the Odesa Medical Institute (now - Odessa National Medical University), which she graduated in 1947. In the following years, Nina Antonivna worked as a specialist in various Ukrainian cities (including from 1951 to 1952 at the Odesa Medical Institute).
After graduating from the institute, she worked as a junior researcher, an assistant at the Department of Epidemiology, and then an assistant at the Department of Microbiology of the institute. According to the distribution, Nina Strokata was sent to the local district hospital for two years in the Tatarbunary district, and later as the head of the medical department.
In 1961, Nina Antonivna met one of the activists of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, Sviatoslav Karavansky, who at that time had just returned to his homeland after 16 years in prison. He arrived in Odessa after the amnesty. They later married. A year later she returned to Odessa, continued to work at the medical institute. In 1963, she was accepted as a junior researcher at the Central Research Laboratory at the university, where she worked until 1971. At that time she had prepared her PhD thesis. Karavansky resumed his studies at the evening department of the philological faculty of Odessa State University (now the Mechnikov I.I. Odessa National University), and also joined the opposition struggle. He prepared and distributed samizdat in Odesa, and promoted the Ukrainian language. In November 1965, Sviatoslav Yosypovych was arrested for the second time and two days later he was sent without trial to serve a 25-year term. Since then, Nina Karavanska was fighting against the illegal arrests and convictions of her husband, despite the fact that the management of the institute demanded that she give up her husband.
Dissident movement.
After her husband was detained, the KGB tried to persuade Nina to denounce Sviatoslav for his actions, but the latter remained with him and did not leave her husband. In December 1966, Nina Karavanska appealed to the head of the camp where her husband was staying, as well as to Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, and to the French communist newspaper L'Humanité. The petition stated:
"For 18 years, the camp administration has been unable to influence prisoner S.I. Karavansky, and his family is not allowed to maintain contact with him. Therefore, I, the wife of S.I. Karavansky, ask for him to be shot in order to end my husband's many years of suffering and the endless conflicts between Karavansky and the administration."
Despite this request, in April 1970, Sviatoslav Karavansky was sentenced in prison to an additional term of 5 years in prison and 3 years in exile. Attempts to defend the man in court led to the judge issuing a separate decision, which he sent to the Odessa Medical Institute, "to take measures of public influence against Nina Antonovna Strokata in order to instill in her a sense of high patriotic duty as a citizen of the USSR." The result of this decision was the persecution of Strokata, condemnation of her behavior in the team and in the administration. Prolonged harassment at work ended with her dismissal in May 1971. As Nina Antonovna could not get a job in Odessa, she went to the city of Nalchik, where she was hired as a teacher at a medical school. In the autumn of the same year, she exchanged her apartment in Odessa for housing in Nalchik, and on December 5, she settled there with the family of Yuri-Bohdan Shukhevych.
Arrest and imprisonment.
At that time, a doctor, Oleksiy Prytyk, was arrested in Odesa. He admitted that Strokata had brought samizdat from Kyiv and Lviv, and he and Oleksiy Riznikov had distributed it. All three were charged with anti-Soviet agitation, distributing and reading samizdat, and raising funds to help political prisoners. As a result, on December 6, 1971, Nina Antonovna was arrested. She was accused of distributing the Ukrainian Herald, samizdat, and writing a letter in defense of Yuli Daniel. In connection with this arrest, Ihor Kalynets and Viacheslav Chornovil set up a Public Committee in Lviv to protect Strokata, which included Vasyl Stus, Leonid Tymchuk, Pyotr Yakir and others. It was the first open human rights organization in Ukraine. But in early 1972, almost all the members of the committee were imprisoned. They managed to publish only two documents - a statement on the establishment of the committee and a bulletin "Who is N.A. Strokata (Karavanska)?" In addition, the American Society of Microbiologists, among others, defended Strokata, and elected her a member.
On May 19, 1972, Nina Antonivna was sentenced under Part 1 of Article 62 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR to 4 years in a maximum security camp on charges of "conducting anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." The woman was serving her sentence in the women's department of the ZhKh-385/3 camp, located in the village of Barashevo, Tengushevsky District, Mordovia. Even during her nine-month stay in the KGB prison, Karavanska's health deteriorated, and her condition in the camp deteriorated significantly. In captivity, she participated in the hunger strikes of women political prisoners. In particular, Daria Husyak, Nadiya Svitlychna, Iryna Senyk, Iryna Stasiv-Kalynets, Stefania Shabatura, etc. were in the camp with her. Nina Strokata spent the last days of her term in the oncology hospital. At the end of 1975, she was released from a concentration camp with a ban on returning to Ukraine. In response, Strokata renounced Soviet citizenship.
Subsequent years.
After her release, Nina Antonivna settled in Tarusa, Kaluga Oblast, where she was monitored by security forces for a year. Life in the north affected the health of Strokata. So in October of the following year, 1976, she became seriously ill and was taken to a local regional hospital, where she was discharged at her request in November. This decision was due to the desire to go for treatment in the capital's hospital with more experienced staff. Nina Antonivna went to one of these hospitals without asking permission from the police on November 20 and lay there until January 4 of the following year. On January 17, the court fined the woman 20 rubles for this violation, and on February 3, she was again placed under supervision for another six months. In the following years, this term was extended several more times.
As early as 1976, Nina Karavanska became one of the founding members of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, which was founded by Soviet dissidents to promote the Helsinki Accords. She took an active part in this movement, in particular, all documents and appeals of the group were created with the participation of Nina Antonovna and signed. In addition, she also maintained contact with the Moscow Helsinki Group.
Only then, that is 10 years after the arrest of Sviatoslav Karavansky, was Nina allowed a one-day meeting with her husband. After he was released in 1979, the couple tried to get permission to return to Ukraine, but failed. Fearing another imprisonment of Sviatoslav, who had spent 31 years in concentration camps by that time, the Karavanskys left for Vienna on November 30 of that year. On December 11, they arrived in the United States, where they settled in Denton, Texas.
There Nina Antonovna spoke, wrote articles, told the Ukrainian diaspora and other Americans the truth about the national liberation movement in Ukraine, organized moral and material support for Soviet prisoners and their families, and conducted public work. There she became a member of the Foreign Representation of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group. In 1980 she published the book "Ukrainian Women in the Soviet Union: Documented Persecution," and in 1981 - "A Family Torn Apart." On August 2, 1998, Nina Antonovna Karavanska-Strokata died in Denton.
Works.
Nina Strokata has published two books about her public work:
Memorium.
On November 8, 2006, President Yushchenko posthumously awarded Nina Strokata the Order for Courage of the First Degree "for civil courage, devotion in the struggle for the establishment of the ideals of freedom and democracy, and on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Ukrainian Public Group to promote the implementation of the Helsinki Accords.”


The Dragon (poem)

"The Dragon", by the Iraqi poet Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayyati (1926–1999), was originally published in 1996. The translation by Farouk Abdel Wahab, Najat Rahman, and Carolina Hotchandani is from the volume "Iraqi Poetry Today" () (c) 2003, edited by Saadi Simawe.
"The Dragon" is an example of al-Bayyati's frequent incorporation of mythological figures into his poetry.


Mycobacterium conspicuum

Mycobacterium conspicuum is a species of the phylum Actinobacteria (Gram-positive bacteria with high guanine and cytosine content, one of the dominant phyla of all bacteria), belonging to the genus "Mycobacterium".
Description.
Gram-positive and nonmotile acid-fast coccobacilli. Does not form spores, capsules or aerial hyphae.
Colony characteristics
Physiology
Pathogenesis.
Opportunistic pathogen, disseminated mycobacteriosis, Biosafety level 2.
Type Strain.
First isolated from two male HIV infected patients in Germany.
Strain 3895/92 = ATCC 700090 = CIP 105165 = DSM 44136.


Yunchangviricetes


Cardoreovirus

Cardoreovirus is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family "Reoviridae" and subfamily "Sedoreovirinae". Crabs serve as natural hosts. There is only one species in this genus: "Eriocheir sinensis reovirus". Diseases associated with this genus include: trembling disease. The name derives from Latin words ""car"cinus" which means crab and ""do"eca" which means twelve in reference to the number genome segments.
Structure.
Viruses in the genus "Cardoreovirus" are non-enveloped. They have an icosahedral capsid that is three-layered. The inner shell has T=2 symmetry and the middle shell has T=13 symmetry. The diameter is around 55 nm.
Genome.
The genome is made of double-stranded RNA. It is linear and has twelve segments.
Life cycle.
Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by attachment to host receptors, which mediates endocytosis. Replication follows the double-stranded RNA virus replication model. Double-stranded RNA virus transcription is the method of transcription. The virus exits the host cell by monopartite non-tubule guided viral movement. Crabs serve as the natural host. Transmission routes are passive diffusion.
Taxonomy.
The genus contains one species:


Oncotic pressure

Oncotic pressure, or colloid osmotic-pressure, is a form of osmotic pressure induced by the proteins, notably albumin, in a blood vessel's plasma (blood/liquid) that displaces water molecules, thus creating a relative water molecule deficit with water molecules moving back into the circulatory system within the lower venous pressure end of capillaries. It has the opposing effect of both hydrostatic blood pressure pushing water and small molecules out of the blood into the interstitial spaces within the arterial end of capillaries and interstitial colloidal osmotic pressure. These interacting factors determine the partition balancing of total body extracellular water between the blood plasma and the larger extracellular water volume outside the blood stream.
It has a major effect on the pressure across the glomerular filter. However, this concept has been strongly criticised and attention has been shifted to the impact of the intravascular glycocalyx layer as the major player.
Description.
Throughout the body, dissolved compounds have an osmotic pressure. Because large plasma proteins cannot easily cross through the capillary walls, their effect on the osmotic pressure of the capillary interiors will, to some extent, balance out the tendency for fluid to leak out of the capillaries. In other words, the osmotic pressure tends to pull fluid into the capillaries. In conditions where plasma proteins are reduced, e.g. from being lost in the urine (proteinuria), there will be a reduction in oncotic pressure and an increase in filtration across the capillary, resulting in excess fluid buildup in the tissues (edema).
The large majority of oncotic pressure in capillaries is generated by the presence of high quantities of albumin, a protein that constitutes approximately 80% of the total oncotic pressure exerted by blood plasma on interstitial fluid . The total oncotic pressure of an average capillary is about 28 mmHg with albumin contributing approximately 22 mmHg of this oncotic pressure. Because blood proteins cannot escape through capillary endothelium, oncotic pressure of capillary beds tends to draw water into the vessels. It is necessary to understand the oncotic pressure as a balance; because the blood proteins reduce interior permeability, less plasma fluid can exit the vessel.
Oncotic pressure is represented by the symbol Π or π in the Starling equation and elsewhere.
Types of fluids.
In the clinical setting, there are two types of fluids that are used for intravenous drips: crystalloids and colloids. Crystalloids are aqueous solutions of mineral salts or other water-soluble molecules. Colloids contain larger insoluble molecules, such as gelatin.
Oncotic pressure values are approximately 290 mOsm per kg of water, which slightly differs from the osmotic pressure of the blood that has values approximating 300 mOsm /L.


Favillea

Favillea is a genus of fungi within the Sclerodermataceae family.


Oleavirus

Oleavirus is a genus of viruses, in the family "Bromoviridae". Olive trees serve as natural hosts. There is only one species in this genus: "Olive latent virus 2".
Structure.
Viruses in the genus "Oleavirus" are non-enveloped, with icosahedral, Quasi-spherical, and Bacilliform geometries, and T=1 symmetry. The diameter is around 26 nm, with a length of 55 nm and a width of 18 nm. Genomes are linear and segmented, tripartite, around 123kb in length.
Life cycle.
Viral replication is cytoplasmic, and is lysogenic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by penetration into the host cell. Replication follows the positive stranded RNA virus replication model. Positive stranded rna virus transcription, using the internal initiation model of subgenomic rna transcription is the method of transcription. The virus exits the host cell by tubule-guided viral movement. Olive tree serve as the natural host. Transmission routes are mechanical and grafting.


Chytriomyces

Chytriomyces is the type genus of fungi in the family Chytriomycetaceae. The genus was described by mycologist John Sidney Karling in 1945. The family, created by Peter Letcher in 2011, contains species with a Group I-type zoospore, distinguishing it from Chytridiaceae members, which have a Group II-type zoospore.
Taxonomy.
J. S. Karling circumscribed "Chytriomyces" in 1945 for the species "C. hyalinus" and "C. aureus". The genus was intended to include monocentric chytrids with operculate, apophysate, epibiotic zoosporangia that exhibited vesicular zoospore discharge. Another requirement was resting spores that function as prosporangia during germination. With time and the addition of species, the generic concept was altered to include species lacking one or more of these features. Karling was not clear as to which of his species was the type; "C. hyalinus" was later designated the type. With the use of molecular phylogenetics, it has been determined that several species in this genus did not belong. For example, it was shown that "C. poculatus" and "C. angularis" were better classified in the new genus "Lobulomyces".


Akhouri Sinha

Akhouri Sinha is a professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development at the University of Minnesota. The United States has named a mountain in Antarctica in honour of Sinha, Mt Sinha. Mr Sinha's native place is Churamanpur, a village in the state of Bihar in the eastern part of India.


Austropaxillus

Austropaxillus is a genus of fungi in the family Serpulaceae, containing nine species found in Australia, New Zealand and South America.
Taxonomy and naming.
In 1999, Andreas Bresinsky and colleagues studied the genus "Paxillus", which appeared to have a centre of diversity in the Southern Hemisphere as a number of species had been described from Australia and New Zealand, and Chile and Argentina in southern South America. Genetic analysis revealed that members of what had been broadly construed as "Paxillus" fell into three distinct clades. The Southern Hemisphere species were found to be in a lineage that is most closely related to the brown rot genus "Serpula". Supporting this is the finding that the compound 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylglyoxylic acid has been isolated from members of both "Austropaxillus" and "Serpula". Hence they moved these species into the new genus "Austropaxillus". Later analysis revealed a relationship to "Gymnopaxillus", a small genus of truffle-like fungi known from south-eastern Australia, Argentina, and Chile. "Austropaxillus" and "Gymnopaxillus", both mycorrhizal genera, form a monophyletic clade that is sister to the saprotrophic genus "Serpula". Using molecular clock analysis, the split between "Austropaxillus" and "Serpula" has been estimated to have occurred about 34.9 mya, roughly coinciding with the separation of South America and Australia from Antarctica.
The prefix "Austro" is derived from the Latin word "auster" "south". The type species is "Austropaxillus statuum" from South America.
Description.
Morphologically, the fruit bodies of these fungi resemble those of "Paxillus", namely they have funnel-shaped caps with inrolled margins and decurrent gills. In the case of "Austropaxillus", the gills are always forked. The spore print is brown. Microscopically they have long spindle-shaped spores from 7.8 to 16 μm long.
Species.
According to the "Dictionary of the Fungi" (10th edition, 2008), the genus contains nine species found in the temperate Southern Hemisphere. Bresinsky and Jarosch defined the species "Austropaxillus aurantiacus" in their 1999 publication on the genus, but this is not a valid name because it is a homonym of "Paxillus aurantiacus" published by Job Bicknell Ellis in 1882. It is now known as "Austropaxillus macnabbii".
Cleland described a "Paxillus aureus" and "P. eucalyptorum" but no type material or subsequent collections exist.
Ecology.
"Austropaxillus" species form mycorrhizal relationships with trees of the genus "Nothofagus" and less commonly "Eucalyptus".


Pectobacteriaceae

The Pectobacteriaceae are a family of Gram-negative bacteria which largely consist of plant pathogens. This family is a member of the order Enterobacterales in the class Gammaproteobacteria of the phylum Proteobacteria. Genera in this family include the type genus "Pectobacterium", along with "Brenneria, Dickeya, Lonsdalea", and" Sodalis".


Hysterothylacium

Hysterothylacium is a genus of parasitic roundworms in the family Raphidascarididae. As of 2020 it consists of over 70 species and is considered one of the largest of the ascaridoid genera parasitising fish.
Ecology.
Species in the genus complete their life cycle between predatory teleost fish as their final host and various species of invertebrates and teleost as their intermediate hosts. These parasites are not host specific in the larval stages and infect a broad range of fish species; thus they are widely distributed throughout the aquatic ecosystem and exhibit a global distribution. "Hysterothylacium aduncum" infection in fish has been associated with mechanical damage to the heart, eye and fish musculature which occurs as a result of parasite larval migration. Catastrophic loss of fish fry due to infection with an unknown species of "Hysterothylacium" has been reported. Human infection is not common but has been reported in Japan.


Rymovirus

Rymovirus is a genus of viruses, in the family "Potyviridae". Plants serve as natural hosts. There are currently three species in this genus including the type species "Ryegrass mosaic virus".
Taxonomy.
Group: ssRNA(+)
Structure.
Viruses in Rymovirus are non-enveloped, with flexuous and filamentous geometries. The diameter is around 11-15 nm, with a length of 200-300 nm. Genomes are linear and non-segmented, bipartite, around 9-10kb in length.
Life cycle.
Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by penetration into the host cell. Replication follows the positive stranded RNA virus replication model. Positive stranded RNA virus transcription is the method of transcription. The virus exits the host cell by tubule-guided viral movement.
Plants serve as the natural host. The virus is transmitted via a vector (mite). Transmission routes are vector and mechanical.


Ellioviricetes


Banchinae

Banchinae is a subfamily of ichneumonid parasitoid wasps containing about 1,500 species; the genera "Glypta" and "Lissonota" are very large. The three tribes (Banchini, Glyptini and Atrophini) are all distributed worldwide.
In older treatments, the Lycorininae, Neorhacodinae and Stilbopinae are often included in the Banchinae; newer works usually consider them separate families.
All banchines are koinobiont endoparasites of Lepidoptera. The Glyptini parasitise Tortricoidea. Atrophini parasitise a wider range of small moths. Species of "Lissonota" have long ovipositors able to reach deep wood-boring Lepidoptera such as Cossidae. Banchinae and Campopleginae are the only subfamilies of Ichneumonidae known to have polydnaviruses.
Most Banchinae have a stalked diamond-shaped areolet. A lobe of the propodeum projects over the middle coxae. The propodeum has few ridges (carinae), and the face is described as goat-like.
Genera.
These 47 genera belong to the subfamily Banchinae:


Amoebophilus

Amoebophilus is a genus of zygomycete fungi that parasitizes amoeba.
Morphology.
"Amoebophilus" species are ectoparasites of amoeba. The thallus is composed of an internal haustorium that can be heart-shaped, globose, or lobose. Trailing chains of four or more conidia are produced from the haustorium. Zygospores are spherical at first and become polyhedral with age.
Ecology.
"Amoebophilus" species have been reported from forest and agricultural soils and freshwater ponds where they infect free living amoeba. Infection begins when a conidium comes in contact with an amoeba. The conidium produces a penetration tube to invade the host and form the haustorium. Once the haustorium is formed, the conidium germinates and gives rise to a chain of conidia. Due to difficulties in identifying amoeba, the host ranges of most species are unknown, with the exception of "Amoebophilus simplex", which is restricted to species of "Mayorella".
Taxonomy.
"Amoebophilus" species were first observed by Leidy in 1874 who mistook them as part of the amoeba and used them to describe a new genus. In 1902, Penard pointed out that the filaments observed by Leidy were in fact a parasite. The genus was formerly erected by Dangeard in 1910 based on parasitized individuals of "Pelomyxa vorax"; he named the species after Penard.


Tobravirus

Tobravirus is a genus of viruses, in the family "Virgaviridae". Plants serve as natural hosts. There are three species in this genus. Diseases associated with this genus include: SBWMV: green and yellow mosaic.
Taxonomy.
The following three species are assigned to the genus:
Structure.
Viruses in the genus "Tobravirus" are non-enveloped, with rod-shaped geometries, and helical symmetry. The diameter is around 22 nm, with two lengths: 46-115 nm and 180–215 nm. Genomes are linear and segmented, bipartite, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA around 26.84.5kb in total length (8600–11300 nucleotides for each length).
Life cycle.
Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by penetration into the host cell. Replication follows the positive stranded RNA virus replication model. Positive stranded RNA virus transcription is the method of transcription. Translation takes place by suppression of termination. The virus exits the host cell by monopartite non-tubule guided viral movement. Plants serve as the natural host. The virus is transmitted via a vector (mechanical nematodes trichodorus and paratrichodorus). Transmission routes are vector and mechanical.


Trouble with Lichen

Trouble with Lichen (published 1960) is a science fiction novel by British writer John Wyndham.
Plot summary.
The plot concerns a young female biochemist who discovers that a chemical extracted from an unusual strain of lichen can be used to slow down the ageing process, enabling people to live to around 200–300 years. Wyndham speculates how society would deal with this prospect.
The two central characters are Diana Brackley and Francis Saxover, two biochemists who run parallel investigations into the properties of a specific species of lichen after Diana notices that a trace of the specimen prevents some milk turning sour.
She and Francis separately manage to extract from the lichen a new drug, dubbed Antigerone, which slows down the body's ageing process. While Francis uses it only on himself and his immediate family (without their knowledge), Diana founds a cosmetic spa, and builds up a clientele of some of the most powerful women in England, giving them low doses of Antigerone, preserving their beauty and youth. When Francis finds out about the spas, he erroneously assumes that Diana's motive is profit. Diana's aim, however, is actually female empowerment, intending to gain the support of these influential women, believing that if Antigerone became publicly known, it would be reserved only for the men in power.
After a customer suffers an allergic reaction to one of Diana's products, the secret of the drug begins to emerge. Diana tries to cover up the real source of the drug, since the lichen is very rare and difficult to grow, but when it is finally discovered she fakes her own death in the hope of inspiring the women of Britain to fight for the rights she tried to secure for them.
Francis realizes that Diana may not really be dead, and tracks her down to a remote farm where she has succeeded in growing a small amount of the lichen. Diana plans to rejoin the world under the guise of being her own sister, and continue the work she left off.
Parallel in later scientific developments.
Biogerontologist Richard Faragher of the British Society for Research on Ageing has noted that there is a parallel between Antigerone and rapamycin, a polyketide drug produced by soil bacteria discovered on Easter Island. Although originally developed as an antifungal medication and used clinically primarily as an immunosuppressive to prevent immune rejection of transplanted organs, rapamycin has been the subject of intense interest as a potential anti-ageing drug. This new interest began with a 2009 study in which rapamycin increased the remaining lifespans of mice that were already in late middle age by between 28 and 38% as tallied from the initiation of treatment (amounting to a 9-14% increase in overall maximum lifespan). This was the first unambiguous case of a drug increasing the maximum lifespan of a mammal, and suggests the possibility of an effective anti-ageing treatment for humans that could be initiated when the recipients were already in middle age or older, as opposed to requiring a lifelong regimen beginning in youth.
Rapamycin has subsequently been shown to extend mouse lifespan in several separate experiments, and is now being tested for this purpose in nonhuman primates (the marmoset monkey), and with an ongoing attempt to organise a study in dogs.
Surprisingly, granted rapamycin's known immunosuppressive effects, a synthetic analogue of rapamycin was found to "rejuvenate" immune function (as measured by immunological response to influenza vaccination) in elderly humans, further fuelling optimism for the potential of analogues of rapamycin as possible anti-ageing drugs for humans.
Adaptations.
The BBC Home Service broadcast a 90-minute radio adaptation by Archie Campbell on 26 November 1962, with Rosalie Crutchley as Diana Brackley and Hugh Latimer as Francis Saxover.
A five-part abridged reading of the novel read by Joanna Tope was broadcast on BBC Radio 7 29 October - 2 November 2007, later re-broadcast in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2019 and most recently 2021.


Sheepbed Formation

The Sheepbed Formation is a geologic formation in Northwest Territories. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ediacaran period.


Candida tolerans

Candida tolerans is an ascomycetous yeast species first isolated from Australian "Hibiscus" flowers. It is small and a pseudomycelium is formed. The carbon and nitrogen assimilation pattern is similar to that of "Zygosaccharomyces rouxii". Its type strain is UWO (PS) 98-115.5 (CBS 8613).


Apicomplexa

The Apicomplexa (also called Apicomplexia) are a large phylum of parasitic alveolates. Most of them possess a unique form of organelle that comprises a type of plastid called an apicoplast, and an apical complex structure. The organelle is an adaptation that the apicomplexan applies in penetration of a host cell.
The Apicomplexa are unicellular and spore-forming. All species are obligate endoparasites of animals, except "Nephromyces", a symbiont in marine animals, originally classified as a chytrid fungus. Motile structures such as flagella or pseudopods are present only in certain gamete stages.
The Apicomplexa are a diverse group that includes organisms such as the coccidia, gregarines, piroplasms, haemogregarines, and plasmodia.
Diseases caused by Apicomplexa include:
The name of the taxon Apicomplexa derives from two Latin words—"apex" (top) and "complexus" (infolds)—and refers to a set of organelles in the sporozoite. The Apicomplexa comprise the bulk of what used to be called the Sporozoa, a group of parasitic protozoans, in general without flagella, cilia, or pseudopods. Most of the Apicomplexa are motile, however, by use of a gliding mechanism
that uses adhesions and small static myosin motors. The other main lines were the Ascetosporea (now in Rhizaria), the Myxozoa (now known to be highly derived cnidarian animals), and the Microsporidia (now known to be derived from fungi). Sometimes, the name Sporozoa is taken as a synonym for the Apicomplexa, or occasionally as a subset.
Description.
The phylum Apicomplexa contains all eukaryotes with a group of structures and organelles collectively termed the apical complex. This complex consists of structural components and secretory organelles that are required for invasion of host cells during the parasitic stages of the Apicomplexan life cycle. Apicomplexa have complex life cycles, involving several stages and typically undergoing both asexual and sexual replication. All Apicomplexa are obligate parasites for some portion of their life cycle, with some parasitizing two separate hosts for their asexual and sexual stages.
Besides the conserved apical complex, Apicomplexa are morphologically diverse. Different organisms within Apicomplexa, as well as different life stages for a given apicomplexan, can vary substantially in size, shape, and subcellular structure. Like other eukaryotes, Apicomplexa have a nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex. Apicomplexa generally have a single mitochondrion, as well as another endosymbiont-derived organelle called the apicoplast which maintains a separate 35 kilobase circular genome (with the exception of "Cryptosporidium" species and "Gregarina niphandrodes" which lack an apicoplast).
All members of this phylum have an infectious stage—the sporozoite—which possesses three distinct structures in an apical complex. The apical complex consists of a set of spirally arranged microtubules (the conoid), a secretory body (the rhoptry) and one or more polar rings. Additional slender electron-dense secretory bodies (micronemes) surrounded by one or two polar rings may also be present. This structure gives the phylum its name. A further group of spherical organelles is distributed throughout the cell rather than being localized at the apical complex and are known as the dense granules. These typically have a mean diameter around 0.7 μm. Secretion of the dense-granule content takes place after parasite invasion and localization within the parasitophorous vacuole and persists for several minutes.
Replication:
Mobility:
Apicomplexans have a unique gliding capability which enables them to cross through tissues and enter and leave their host cells. This gliding ability is made possible by the use of adhesions and small static myosin motors.
Other features common to this phylum are a lack of cilia, sexual reproduction, use of micropores for feeding, and the production of oocysts containing sporozoites as the infective form.
Transposons appear to be rare in this phylum, but have been identified in the genera "Ascogregarina" and "Eimeria".
Life cycle.
Most members have a complex lifecycle, involving both asexual and sexual reproduction. Typically, a host is infected via an active invasion by the parasites (similar to entosis), which divide to produce sporozoites that enter its cells. Eventually, the cells burst, releasing merozoites, which infect new cells. This may occur several times, until gamonts are produced, forming gametes that fuse to create new cysts. Many variations occur on this basic pattern, however, and many Apicomplexa have more than one host.
The apical complex includes vesicles called rhoptries and micronemes, which open at the anterior of the cell. These secrete enzymes that allow the parasite to enter other cells. The tip is surrounded by a band of microtubules, called the polar ring, and among the Conoidasida is also a funnel of tubulin proteins called the conoid. Over the rest of the cell, except for a diminished mouth called the micropore, the membrane is supported by vesicles called alveoli, forming a semirigid pellicle.
The presence of alveoli and other traits place the Apicomplexa among a group called the alveolates. Several related flagellates, such as "Perkinsus" and "Colpodella", have structures similar to the polar ring and were formerly included here, but most appear to be closer relatives of the dinoflagellates. They are probably similar to the common ancestor of the two groups.
Another similarity is that many apicomplexan cells contain a single plastid, called the apicoplast, surrounded by either three or four membranes. Its functions are thought to include tasks such as lipid and heme biosynthesis, and it appears to be necessary for survival. In general, plastids are considered to have a common origin with the chloroplasts of dinoflagellates, and evidence points to an origin from red algae rather than green.
Subgroups.
Within this phylum are four groups — coccidians, gregarines, haemosporidians (or haematozoans, including in addition piroplasms), and marosporidians. The coccidians and haematozoans appear to be relatively closely related.
"Perkinsus ", while once considered a member of the Apicomplexa, has been moved to a new phylum — Perkinsozoa.
Gregarines.
The gregarines are generally parasites of annelids, arthropods, and mollusks. They are often found in the guts of their hosts, but may invade the other tissues. In the typical gregarine lifecycle, a trophozoite develops within a host cell into a schizont. This then divides into a number of merozoites by schizogony. The merozoites are released by lysing the host cell, which in turn invade other cells. At some point in the apicomplexan lifecycle, gametocytes are formed. These are released by lysis of the host cells, which group together. Each gametocyte forms multiple gametes. The gametes fuse with another to form oocysts. The oocysts leave the host to be taken up by a new host.
Coccidians.
In general, coccidians are parasites of vertebrates. Like gregarines, they are commonly parasites of the epithelial cells of the gut, but may infect other tissues.
The coccidian lifecycle involves merogony, gametogony, and sporogony. While similar to that of the gregarines it differs in zygote formation. Some trophozoites enlarge and become macrogamete, whereas others divide repeatedly to form microgametes (anisogamy). The microgametes are motile and must reach the macrogamete to fertilize it. The fertilized macrogamete forms a zygote that in its turn forms an oocyst that is normally released from the body. Syzygy, when it occurs, involves markedly anisogamous gametes. The lifecycle is typically haploid, with the only diploid stage occurring in the zygote, which is normally short-lived.
The main difference between the coccidians and the gregarines is in the gamonts. In the coccidia, these are small, intracellular, and without epimerites or mucrons. In the gregarines, these are large, extracellular, and possess epimerites or mucrons. A second difference between the coccidia and the gregarines also lies in the gamonts. In the coccidians, a single gamont becomes a macrogametocyte, whereas in the gregarines, the gamonts give rise to multiple gametocytes.
Haemosporidia.
The Haemosporidia have more complex lifecycles that alternate between an arthropod and a vertebrate host. The trophozoite parasitises erythrocytes or other tissues in the vertebrate host. Microgametes and macrogametes are always found in the blood. The gametes are taken up by the insect vector during a blood meal. The microgametes migrate within the gut of the insect vector and fuse with the macrogametes. The fertilized macrogamete now becomes an ookinete, which penetrates the body of the vector. The ookinete then transforms into an oocyst and divides initially by meiosis and then by mitosis (haplontic lifecycle) to give rise to the sporozoites. The sporozoites escape from the oocyst and migrate within the body of the vector to the salivary glands where they are injected into the new vertebrate host when the insect vector feeds again.
Marosporida.
The class Marosporida is a newly recognized lineage of apicomplexans that is sister to the Coccidia and Hematozoa. It is defined as a phylogenetic clade containing "Aggregata octopiana" , "Merocystis kathae" (both Aggregatidae, originally coccidians), "Rhytidocystis" sp. 1 and "Rhytidocystis" sp. 2 (Rhytidocystidae , originally coccidians, Agamococcidiorida), and "Margolisiella islandica" (closely related to Rhytidocystidae). Marosporida infect marine invertebrates. Members of this clade retain plastid genomes and the canonical apicomplexan plastid metabolism. However, marosporidians have the most reduced apicoplast genomes sequenced to date, lack canonical plastidial RNA polymerase and so provide new insights into reductive organelle evolution.
Ecology and distribution.
Many of the apicomplexan parasites are important pathogens of human and domestic animals. In contrast to bacterial pathogens, these apicomplexan parasites are eukaryotic and share many metabolic pathways with their animal hosts. This makes therapeutic target development extremely difficult – a drug that harms an apicomplexan parasite is also likely to harm its human host. At present, no effective vaccines are available for most diseases caused by these parasites. Biomedical research on these parasites is challenging because it is often difficult, if not impossible, to maintain live parasite cultures in the laboratory and to genetically manipulate these organisms. In recent years, several of the apicomplexan species have been selected for genome sequencing. The availability of genome sequences provides a new opportunity for scientists to learn more about the evolution and biochemical capacity of these parasites. The predominant source of this genomic information is the EuPathDB family of websites, which currently provides specialised services for "Plasmodium" species (PlasmoDB), coccidians (ToxoDB), piroplasms (PiroplasmaDB), and "Cryptosporidium" species (CryptoDB). One possible target for drugs is the plastid, and in fact existing drugs such as tetracyclines, which are effective against apicomplexans, seem to operate against the plastid.
Many Coccidiomorpha have an intermediate host, as well as a primary host, and the evolution of hosts proceeded in different ways and at different times in these groups. For some coccidiomorphs, the original host has become the intermediate host, whereas in others it has become the definitive host. In the genera "Aggregata", "Atoxoplasma", "Cystoisospora", "Schellackia", and "Toxoplasma", the original is now definitive, whereas in "Akiba", "Babesiosoma", "Babesia", "Haemogregarina", "Haemoproteus", "Hepatozoon", "Karyolysus", "Leucocytozoon", "Plasmodium", "Sarcocystis", and "Theileria", the original hosts are now intermediate.
Similar strategies to increase the likelihood of transmission have evolved in multiple genera. Polyenergid oocysts and tissue cysts are found in representatives of the orders Protococcidiorida and Eimeriida. Hypnozoites are found in "Karyolysus lacerate" and most species of "Plasmodium"; transovarial transmission of parasites occurs in lifecycles of "Karyolysus" and "Babesia".
Horizontal gene transfer appears to have occurred early on in this phylum's evolution with the transfer of a histone H4 lysine 20 (H4K20) modifier, KMT5A (Set8), from an animal host to the ancestor of apicomplexans. A second gene—H3K36 methyltransferase (Ashr3 in plants)—may have also be horizontally transferred.
Blood-borne genera.
Within the Apicomplexa are three suborders of parasites:
Within the Adelorina are species that infect invertebrates and others that infect vertebrates. The Eimeriorina—the largest suborder in this phylum—the lifecycle involves both sexual and asexual stages. The asexual stages reproduce by schizogony. The male gametocyte produces a large number of gametes and the zygote gives rise to an oocyst, which is the infective stage. The majority are monoxenous (infect one host only), but a few are heteroxenous (lifecycle involves two or more hosts).
The number of families in this later suborder is debated, with the number of families being between one and 20 depending on the authority and the number of genera being between 19 and 25.
Taxonomy.
History.
The first Apicomplexa protozoan was seen by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who in 1674 saw probably oocysts of "Eimeria stiedae" in the gall bladder of a rabbit. The first species of the phylum to be described, "Gregarina ovata" in earwigs intestines, was named by Dufour in 1828. He thought that they were a peculiar group related to the trematodes, at that time included in Vermes. Since then, many more have been identified and named. During 1826–1850, 41 species and six genera of Apicomplexa were named. In 1951–1975, 1873 new species and 83 new genera were added.
The older taxon Sporozoa, included in Protozoa, was created by Leuckart in 1879 and adopted by Bütschli in 1880. Through history, it grouped with the current Apicomplexa many unrelated groups. For example, Kudo (1954) included in the Sporozoa species of the Ascetosporea (Rhizaria), Microsporidia (Fungi), Myxozoa (Animalia), and "Helicosporidium" (Chlorophyta), while Zierdt (1978) included the genus "Blastocystis" (Stramenopiles). "Dermocystidium" was also thought to be sporozoan. Not all of these groups had spores, but all were parasitic. However, other parasitic or symbiotic unicellular organisms were included too in protozoan groups outside Sporozoa (Flagellata, Ciliophora and Sarcodina), if they had flagella (e.g., many Kinetoplastida, Retortamonadida, Diplomonadida, Trichomonadida, Hypermastigida), cilia (e.g., "Balantidium") or pseudopods (e.g., "Entamoeba, Acanthamoeba, Naegleria"). If they had cell walls, they also could be included in plant kingdom between bacteria or yeasts.
Sporozoa is no longer regarded as biologically valid and its use is discouraged, although some authors still use it as a synonym for the Apicomplexa. More recently, other groups were excluded from Apicomplexa, e.g., "Perkinsus" and "Colpodella" (now in Protalveolata).
The field of classifying Apicomplexa is in flux and classification has changed throughout the years since it was formally named in 1970.
By 1987, a comprehensive survey of the phylum was completed: in all, 4516 species and 339 genera had been named. They consisted of:
Although considerable revision of this phylum has been done (the order Haemosporidia now has 17 genera rather than 9), these numbers are probably still approximately correct.
Jacques Euzéby (1988).
Jacques Euzéby in 1988 created a new class Haemosporidiasina by merging subclass Piroplasmasina and suborder Haemospororina.
The division into Achromatorida and Chromatorida, although proposed on morphological grounds, may have a biological basis, as the ability to store haemozoin appears to have evolved only once.
Roberts and Janovy (1996).
Roberts and Janovy in 1996 divided the phylum into the following subclasses and suborders (omitting classes and orders):
These form the following five taxonomic groups:
Perkins (2000).
This scheme is taken from Perkins et al. It is outdated as the Perkinsidae have since been recognised as a sister group to the dinoflagellates rather that the Apicomplexia. The remainder of the scheme appears to be valid:
The name Protospiromonadida has been proposed for the common ancestor of the Gregarinomorpha and Coccidiomorpha.
Another group of organisms that belong in this taxon are the corallicolids. These are found in coral reef gastric cavities. Their relationship to the others in this phylum has yet to be established.
Another genus has been identified - "Nephromyces" - which appears to be a sister taxon to the Heamatozoa. This genus is found in the renal sac of molgulid ascidian tunicates.
Evolution.
All members of this phylum are parasitic and evolved from a free-living ancestor. This lifestyle is presumed to have evolved at the time of the divergence of dinoflagellates and apicomplexans. Further evolution of this phylum has been estimated to have occurred about . The oldest extant clade is thought to be the archigregarines.
These phylogenetic relations have rarely been studied at the subclass level. The Haemosporidia are related to the gregarines, and the piroplasms and coccidians are sister groups. The Haemosporidia and the Piroplasma appear to be sister clades, and are more closely related to the coccidians than to the gregarines. Marosporida is a sister group to Coccidiomorphea.


Strepsiptera

The Strepsiptera are an endopterygote order of insects with nine extant families that include about 600 described species. They are endoparasites in other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches. Females of most species never emerge from the host after entering its body, finally dying inside it. The early-stage larvae do emerge because they must find an unoccupied living host, and the short-lived males must emerge to seek a receptive female in her host. They are believed to be most closely related to beetles, from which they diverged 300–350 million years ago, but do not appear in the fossil record until the Mid-Cretaceous around 100 million years ago.
The order is not well known to non-specialists, and the nearest they have to a common name is "stylops". The name of the order translates to "twisted wing"', giving rise to another name used for the order, twisted-wing insects.
Appearance and biology.
Males of the Strepsiptera have wings, legs, eyes, and antennae, though their mouthparts cannot be used for feeding. Many have mouthparts modified into sensory structures. To the uninitiated the males superficially look like flies. Adult males are very short-lived, usually surviving less than five hours, and do not feed. Females, in all families except the Mengenillidae, are not known to leave their hosts and are neotenic in form, lacking wings, legs, and eyes. Virgin females release a pheromone which the males use to locate them.
In the Stylopidia, the female's anterior region protrudes out of the host body and the male mates by rupturing the female's brood canal opening, which lies between the head and prothorax. Sperm passes through the opening in a process termed hypodermic insemination. The offspring consume their mother from the inside in a process known as hemocelous viviparity. Each female then produces many thousands of planidium larvae that emerge from the brood opening on the head, which protrudes outside the host body. These larvae have legs and actively search out new hosts. Their legs are partly vestigial in that they lack a trochanter, the leg segment that forms the articulation between the basal coxa and the femur).
Strepsiptera of various species have been documented to attack hosts in many orders, including members of the orders Zygentoma, Orthoptera, Blattodea, Mantodea, Heteroptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera. In the strepsipteran family Myrmecolacidae, the males parasitize ants, while the females parasitize Orthoptera.
Strepsiptera eggs hatch inside the female, and the planidium larvae can move around freely within the female's haemocoel; this behavior is unique to these insects. The larvae escape through the female's brood canal, which communicates with the outside world. The larvae are very active, because they only have a limited amount of time to find a host before they exhaust their food reserves. These first-instar larvae have stemmata (simple, single-lens eyes). When the larvae latch onto a host, they enter it by secreting enzymes that soften the cuticle, usually in the abdominal region of the host. Some species have been reported to enter the eggs of hosts. Larvae of "Stichotrema dallatorreanurn" Hofeneder from Papua New Guinea were found to enter their orthopteran host's tarsus (foot). Once inside the host, they undergo hypermetamorphosis and become a less-mobile, legless larval form. They induce the host to produce a bag-like structure inside which they feed and grow. This structure, made from host tissue, protects them from the immune defences of the host. Larvae go through four more
instars, and in each moult the older cuticle separates but is not discarded ("apolysis without ecdysis"), so multiple layers form around the larvae.
Male larvae pupate after the last moult, but females directly become neotenous adults. The colour and shape of the host's abdomen may be changed and the host usually becomes sterile. The parasites then undergo pupation to become adults. Adult males emerge from the host bodies, while females stay inside. Females may occupy up to 90% of the abdominal volume of their hosts.
Adult male Strepsiptera have eyes unlike those of any other insect, resembling the schizochroal eyes found in the trilobite group known as the Phacopina. Instead of a compound eye consisting of hundreds to thousands of ommatidia, that each produce a pixel of the entire image - the strepsipteran eyes consist of only a few dozen "eyelets" that each produce a complete image. These eyelets are separated by cuticle and/or setae, giving the cluster eye as a whole a blackberry-like appearance.
Very rarely, multiple females may live within a single stylopized host; multiple males within a single host are somewhat more common. Adult males are rarely observed, however, although specimens may be lured using cages containing virgin females. Nocturnal specimens can also be collected at light traps.
Strepsiptera of the family Myrmecolacidae can cause their ant hosts to linger on the tips of grass leaves, increasing the chance of being found by the parasite's males (in case of females) and putting them in a good position for male emergence (in case of males).
Classification.
The order, named by William Kirby in 1813, is named for the hind wings, which are held at a twisted angle when at rest (from Greek (strephein), to twist; and (pteron), wing). The fore wings are reduced to halteres.
Strepsiptera were once believed to be the sister group to the beetle families Meloidae and Ripiphoridae, which have similar parasitic development and forewing reduction; early molecular research suggested their inclusion as a sister group to the flies, in a clade called the halteria, which have one pair of the wings modified into halteres, and failed to support their relationship to the beetles. Further molecular studies, however, suggested they are outside the clade Mecopterida (containing the Diptera and Lepidoptera), but found no strong evidence for affinity with any other extant group. Study of their evolutionary position has been problematic due to difficulties in phylogenetic analysis arising from long branch attraction. The most basal strepsipteran is the fossil "Protoxenos janzeni" discovered in Baltic amber, while the most basal living strepsipteran is "Bahiaxenos relictus", the sole member of the family Bahiaxenidae. The earliest known strepsipteran fossils are those of "Cretostylops engeli", "Kinzelbachilla ellenbergeri", "Phthanoxenos nervosus" and "Heterobathmilla kakopoios," discovered in middle Cretaceous Burmese amber from Myanmar.
In 2012, a fresh molecular study revived the assertion that the Stepsiptera are the sister group of the Coleoptera (beetles).
Families.
The Strepsiptera have two major groups: the Stylopidia and Mengenillidia. The Mengenillidia include three extinct families (Cretostylopidae, Protoxenidae, and Mengeidae) plus two extant families (Bahiaxenidae and Mengenillidae; the latter is not monophyletic, however.) They are considered more primitive, and the known females (Mengenillidae only) are free-living, with rudimentary legs and antennae. The females have a single genital opening. The males have strong mandibles, a distinct labrum, and more than five antennal segments.
The other group, the Stylopidia, includes seven families: the Corioxenidae, Halictophagidae, Callipharixenidae, Bohartillidae, Elenchidae, Myrmecolacidae, and Stylopidae. All Stylopidia have endoparasitic females having multiple genital openings.
The Stylopidae have four-segmented tarsi and four- to six-segmented antennae, with the third segment having a lateral process. The family Stylopidae may be paraphyletic. The Elenchidae have two-segmented tarsi and four-segmented antennae, with the third segment having a lateral process. The Halictophagidae have three-segmented tarsi and seven-segmented antennae, with lateral processes from the third and fourth segments.
The Stylopidae mostly parasitize wasps and bees, the Elenchidae are known to parasitize "Fulgoroidea", while the Halictophagidae are found on leafhoppers, treehoppers, and mole cricket hosts.
Strepsipteran insects in the genus "Xenos" parasitize "Polistes carnifex", a species of social wasps. These obligate parasites infect the developing wasp larvae in the nest and are present within the abdomens of female wasps when they hatch out. Here they remain until they thrust through the cuticle and pupate (males) or release infective first-instar larvae onto flowers (females). These larvae are transported back to their nests by foraging wasps.
Uses.
Some insects which have been considered as pests may have strepsipteran endoparasites. Inoculation of a pest population with the corresponding parasitoid may sometimes aid in reducing the impact of such pests, although no strepsipterans have ever been tested for use in this capacity, let alone being available for such purposes, either commercially or experimentally. In India the species "Halictophagus palmae" was first described as a new species in 2000, and in the original description the authors mused about the possible future uses of their discovery. A 2011 book later mentioned these musings.


Photophobia (biology)

In biology, photophobia (adjective: photophobic) is negative response to light.
Photophobia is a behavior demonstrated by insects or other animals which seek to stay out of the light.
In botany, the term photophobia/photophobic describes shade-loving plants that thrive in low light conditions.
Photophobia (or photophobic response) may also refer to a negative phototaxis or phototropism response.


Vashta Nerada


Thorselliaceae

Thorselliaceae is a family of bacteria belonging to the class Gammaproteobacteria and it was first described in February 2015. It is not assigned to an order. The family consists of four species in two genera. The bacteria are Gram-negative and rod shaped, approximately 1 μm wide and 2 μm long. They are facultative anaerobes and motile. Thorselliaceae bacteria have been found around the world associated with vector mosquitoes, mainly with vectors of malaria.
The first described species was "Thorsellia anophelis". It was isolated from the midgut of the malaria mosquito "Anopheles arabiensis" from Kenya. This new bacterium was given its name after the Swedish researcher Walborg Thorsell who worked with mosquitoes and insecticides against mosquitoes for many years. "Thorsellia" bacteria have now been found in mosquito species that are the major vectors of malaria in Africa, Asia and South America. The bacteria have also been found in the waters where the malaria mosquitoes breed. Some properties of "Thorsellia" suggest that they are adapted to the mosquito guts, they can accept an alkaline pH, which is found in mosquito larvae and they grow faster in blood culture. However, "T. anophelis" has also been found in the reproductive tissues of male and female "Anopheles gambiae" and "An". "coluzzii" mosquitoes.
Currently, little is known about Thorselliaceae in nature apart from that it has been shown in several studies that "Thorsellia anophelis" dominate the malaria mosquito gut flora and their breeding waters.
"Thorsellia" has besides in "Anopheles" also been found to dominate the gut flora in the mosquito species "Culex tarsalis", which is a vector of among other things, West Nile virus and encephalitis. It as also been shown that "T. anophelis" is much more abundant in "Cx". "nigripalpus" than in "Cx". "coronator". "Coetzeea" (named after the South African mosquito researcher Maureen Coetzee) has so far only been found in Brazilian "Anopheles darlingi".
Application.
A possible application of Thorselliaceae is in paratransgenesis to prevent the transmission of malaria. This would involve genetically transforming the bacteria with genes that produce effector molecules against malaria parasites inside the malaria mosquito gut. Thorselliaceae can be grown in the laboratory under normal conditions and are related to the bacterium "Escherichia coli" which suggests that the molecular techniques needed could be similar to those available for "E. coli".


Listeriaceae

The Listeriaceae are a family of Gram-positive bacteria. The cells are short rods and can form filaments. They are aerobic or facultative anaerobic. Spores are not formed. Some species can cause human and animal listeriosis.