Cyclotides are diverse plant backbone cyclized peptides that have attracted interest as pharmaceutical scaffolds, but fundamentals of their biosynthetic origin remain elusive. Backbone cyclization is a key enzyme-mediated step of cyclotide biosynthesis and confers a measure of stability on the resultant cyclotide. Furthermore, cyclization would be desirable for engineered peptides. Here we repo...

The association of Vibrio cholerae with zooplankton has been suggested as an important factor in transmission of human epidemic cholera, and the ability to colonize zooplankton surfaces may play a role in the temporal variation and predominance of the two different serogroups (V. cholerae O1 El Tor and O139) in the aquatic environment. To date, interactions between specific serogroups and speci...

Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) is an example of a freshwater fish species whose remarkable diffusion outside its native range has led to it being placed on the list of the world's hundred worst invasive alien species (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Here, we investigate mosquitofish shoaling tendency using a dichotomous choice test in which computer-animated images of their co...

The mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, and the inland silverside, Menidia beryllina, were evaluated in experimental, one-tenth hectare wild rice plots in Lake County, California, for their impact on densities of Culex tarsalis, Anopheles freeborni and Anopheles franciscanus. Gambusia affinis were tested at 0.6 and 1.7 kg/ha and the silversides at ca. 0.9 kg/ha. The silversides did not survive well...

Helminth parasites of mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) were surveyed in Bayou Traverse, a waterway in the LaBranche wetlands of southeastern Louisiana, U.S.A. In total, 1,255 parasites belonging to 8 species were collected and identified, including Ascocotyle ampullacea, Ascocotyle mcintoshi, Ascocotyle tenuicollis, Phagicola diminuta, Phagicola sp., Echinochasmus swartzi, Posthodiplostomum mini...

Endosulfan, a broad-spectrum non-systemic organochlorine (OC) pesticide is extensively used to control a wide variety of pests in agriculture, horticulture and public health programmes. Biochemical changes occurring in the metabolically active tissues of gills (GL), hepatopancreas (HP) and muscle (MU) of the penaeid shrimp, Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius) on exposure to two sublethal doses (4...

Interest in cryptic species has increased significantly with current progress in genetic methods. The large number of cryptic species suggests that the resolution of traditional morphological techniques may be insufficient for taxonomical research. However, some species now considered to be cryptic may, in fact, be designated pseudocryptic after close morphological examination. Thus the "crypti...

Five species of Oxyporinae: Oxyporus occipitalis Fauvel, Oxyporus quinquemaculatus LeConte, Oxyporus major Gravenhorst, Oxyporus rufipennis LeConte, and Oxyporus stygicus Say, are newly recorded from New Brunswick, bringing the number of Oxyporinae known from the province to eight. The first documented records from New Brunswick are provided for Oxyporus kiteleyi reported by Majka et al. (2011)...

Understanding/predicting ecological invasions is an important challenge in modern ecology because of their immense economical and ecological costs. Recent studies have revealed that within-species variation in behaviour (i.e. animal personality) can shed light on the invasion process. The general hypothesis is that individuals' personality type may affect their colonization success, suggesting ...