Dispersal heterogeneity is an important process that can compensate for downstream advection, enabling aquatic organisms to persist or spread upstream. Our main focus was the effect of year-to-year variation in larval dispersal on invasion spread rate. We used the green crab, Carcinus maenas, as a case study. This species was first introduced over 200 years ago to the east coast of North Americ...

The evolution of foraging in Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) is studied using outbred populations that had been differentiated using laboratory selection. The foraging behaviour of Drosophila larvae is measured using the foraging path length of 72-h-old larvae. The foraging path length is the distance travelled by foraging larvae over 5 min. Populations of Drosophila selected for rapid develop...

Background: Echinococcosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus. Several native and recombinant antigens, derived from different stages of E. granulosus life cycle, have been used for vaccine trials. In vitro reared adult worms are good candidates for vaccination as they do not produce fertile egg/s and do not have any risk of contamination for r...

Several important nematode parasites have been found to express members of a gene family variously termed as venom allergen antigen homologue (vah) or Ancylostoma secreted protein (asp). In some cases these products are secreted by infective larval stages and have been suggested to be effective vaccine immunogens. We isolated the corresponding gene from the human filarial nematode, Brugia malay...

BACKGROUND In some regions in Africa, elimination of onchocerciasis may be possible with mass drug administration, although there is concern based on several factors that onchocerciasis cannot be eliminated solely through this approach. A vaccine against Onchocerca volvulus would provide a critical tool for the ultimate elimination of this infection. Previous studies have demonstrated that immu...

BACKGROUND Antigen B (EgAgB) is a major protein produced by the metacestode cyst of Echinococcus granulosus, the causative agent of cystic hydatid disease. This protein has been shown to play an important role in modulating host immune responses, although its precise biological function still remains unknown. It is generally accepted that EgAgB is comprised of a gene family of five subfamilies ...

Chrysomelinae is one of the largest subfamilies in Chrysomelidae, yet much basic information remains unknown for Neotropical species. The present study aims to compile the first regional list of Chrysomelinae for the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and assemble natural history traits obtained from our fieldwork from 2005 to 2010 in Serra dos Órgãos National Park, a mountainous area of Atlantic...