Planktonic larvae experiencing short periods of starvation or reduced food supply often grow and develop more slowly, have poor survival, fail to metamorphose, metamorphose at smaller sizes, or grow slowly as juveniles. In this study, we examined the impact of short periods of food limitation at various stages of larval development on larval and juvenile growth in Crepidula fornicata. In additi...

The stunting effect of ocean acidification on development of calcifying invertebrate larvae has emerged as a significant effect of global change. We assessed the arm growth response of sea urchin echinoplutei, here used as a proxy of larval calcification, to increased seawater acidity/pCO2 and decreased carbonate mineral saturation in a global synthesis of data from 15 species. Phylogenetic rel...

Cell growth and proliferation depend upon many different aspects of lipid metabolism. One key signaling pathway that is utilized in many different anabolic contexts involves Phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and its membrane lipid products, the Phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphates. It remains unclear, however, which other branches of lipid metabolism interact with the PI3K signaling ...

Ciliate protists and rotifers are ubiquitous in aquatic habitats and can comprise a significant portion of the microbial food resources available to larval mosquitoes, often showing substantial declines in abundance in the presence of mosquito larvae. This top-down regulation of protists is reported to be strong for mosquitoes inhabiting small aquatic containers such as pitcher plants or tree h...

Drosophila has helped us understand the genetic mechanisms of pattern formation. Particularly useful have been those organs in which different cell identities and polarities are displayed cell by cell in the cuticle and epidermis (Lawrence, 1992; Bejsovec and Wieschaus, 1993; Freeman, 1997). Here we use the pattern of larval denticles and muscle attachments and ask how this pattern is maintaine...

Members of the Myc family of proto-oncogenes have long been implicated in regulating proliferation, apoptosis and oncogenesis. Recently, transcriptional and biological studies have suggested a direct role for Myc in regulating growth. We have used dm(4), a new null allele of the Drosophila diminutive (dm) gene, which encodes dMyc on the X chromosome, to investigate a role for dMyc in larval end...

Body size and development time are important life history traits because they are often highly correlated with fitness. Although the developmental mechanisms that control growth have been well studied, the mechanisms that control how a species-characteristic body size is achieved remain poorly understood. In insects adult body size is determined by the number of larval molts, the size increment...

The present study explored the embryonic and larval development of an endangered fish species Nandus nandus and resolved larval growth performances with the dietary supplementation of different types of lipids. Fertilized eggs were collected from fiber glass tanks immediately after spontaneous spawning of N. nandus, which were fed with a 1% phospholipid (squid meal) supplemented diet for 3 mont...

One of our objectives in this investigation is to determine responses of S. littoralis through different developmental stages and generations to secondary metabolic compound presumably gossypol. Gossypol did not significantly show antifeedant except with high concentration (1.7% gossypol in the diet) that gave 10.6, 21.9, and 46.8% for three generations, respectively. Significantly longer larva...

One of our objectives in this investigation is to determine responses of S. littoralis through different developmental stages and generations to secondary metabolic compound presumably gossypol. Gossypol did not significantly show antifeedant except with high concentration (1.7% gossypol in the diet) that gave 10.6, 21.9, and 46.8% for three generations, respectively. Significantly longer larva...