Animal colour signals used in intraspecies communications can generally be attributed to a composite effect of structural and pigmentary colours. Notably, the functional role of iridescent coloration that is 'purely' structural (i.e., absence of pigments) is poorly understood. Recent studies reveal that iridescent colorations can reliably indicate individual quality, but evidence of iridescence...

The afp1 gene, which encodes the antifungal protein AFP1, was cloned from nikkomycin-producing Streptomyces tendae Tü901, using a nikkomycin-negative mutant as a host and screening transformants for antifungal activity against Paecilomyces variotii in agar diffusion assays. The 384-bp afp1 gene has a low G+C content (63%) and a transcription termination structure with a poly(T) region, unusual ...

Natural breeding habitats of Aedes aegypti in the Caribbean region were reviewed by conducting larval surveys in Trinidad. Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands and referring to records from the Mosquitoes of Middle America project. Twelve types of natural habitats were recorded: rock holes (9.7%), calabashes (2.4%), tree holes (19.5%), leaf axils (4.8%), bamboo joints (14.9%), papaya stumps...

Highly toxic arsenate occurs naturally in some well water as well as in industrial wastewaters. Removal of arsenate (As(V)) by biosorption with acid-washed crab shells (AWCS) is very sensitive to solution pH. It greatly increased when the solution pH was lowered from 3.44+/-0.07 to 2.51+/-0.02, but it was reduced at pH below 1.99+/-0.01. Change of solution pH not only affected the charged funct...

Chitin is mainly extracted from crustaceans, but this resource seasonally dependent and can represent a major drawback to satisfy the traceability criterion for high valuable applications. Insect resources are alternatives due their lower mineral content. However, deacetylation of chitin into chitosan still an expensive process. Therefore, we herein compare impact both DES/IL-pretreatments on e...

The aim of this study was to characterize the pattern of shell occupation by the hermit crab Isocheles sawayai Forest and Saint-Laurent, 1968, from the Caraguatatuba region. The percentage of shell types that were occupied and the morphometric relationships between hermit crabs and occupied shells were analyzed from systematized collections that were conducted monthly from July 2001 to June 200...

The present study aimed to comparatively verify the relation between the hermit crabs and the shells they use in two populations of Loxopagurus loxochelis. Samples were collected monthly from July 2002 to June 2003, at Caraguatatuba and Ubatuba Bay, São Paulo, Brazil. The animals sampled had their sex identified, were weighed and measured; their shells were identified, measured and weighed, and...