Crustaceans are covered by a cuticle that does not grow. In order for an individual to grow, the cuticle must periodically be shed (ecdysis). Replacement of the old cuticle with a new one depends on processes that require precise timing and control, yet the nature and location of these controls remain unclear. A candidate site for them is within the hypodermal microvilli. These cellular structu...

The body wall cuticle of adult females of Meloidodera charis, Atolodera lonicerae, and Sarisodera hydrophila is examined by transmission electron and light microscopy for comparison with Heterodera schachtii and previous observations of additional species of Heterodera, Globodera, and Punctodera. The cuticle of M. charis is least complex, consisting of layers A, B, C (with A outermost), and var...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In bryophytes the sporophyte offspring are in contact with, nourished from, and partially surrounded by the maternal gametophyte throughout their lifespan. During early development, the moss sporophyte is covered by the calyptra, a cap of maternal gametophyte tissue that has a multilayered cuticle. In this study the effects on sporophyte offspring fitness of removing the mat...

Recent studies suggest that fruit cuticle is an important contributing factor to tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit shelf life and storability. Moreover, it has been hypothesized that variation in fruit cuticle composition may underlie differences in traits such as fruit resistance to desiccation and microbial infection. To gain a better understanding of cuticle lipid composition diversity dur...

Recently, we proposed a hierarchical model for the elastic properties of mineralized lobster cuticle using (i) ab initio calculations for the chitin properties and (ii) hierarchical homogenization performed in a bottom-up order through all length scales. It has been found that the cuticle possesses nearly extremal, excellent mechanical properties in terms of stiffness that strongly depend on th...

Keratin micro-tubes were obtained by heating medullated keratin fibres to temperatures above 230°C under nitrogen atmosphere, when, as documented by microscopy, the cortex (the core of the fibre) melts from the medulla outwards, followed by pyrolysis of the material through the remaining solid cuticle (shell) layer. The resulted hollow tubes from fibres void of cortical material keep the extern...

The insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae produces several extracellular cuticle-degrading proteases and evidence is consistent that one of these, a chymoelastase PRl, is a determinant of pathogenicity. We have shown previously that the wide-domain regulatory circuits of carbon and nitrogen derepression regulate PRI production. In the present work we have established in addition that ...

1. The mechanical properties of loops of cuticle cut from the abdomens of 5th instar Rhodnius have been investigated. The cuticle shows pronounced viscoelastic behaviour. 2. Stress-relaxation tests show a continuously falling modulus over a wide range of times after the imposition of a strain. 3. Plasticized samples of cuticle show stress-relaxation curves which are shifted along the time axis ...

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasitic nematode that needs to develop in different hosts in different larval stages. Freshwater snails, such as Pomacea canaliculata, are the intermediate host, and rats are the definitive host. Periodic shedding of the cuticle (moulting) is an important biological process for the survival and development of the parasite in the intermediate and definitive hos...

Mango fruit (Mangifera indica L.) are highly perishable and have a limited shelf life, due to postharvest desiccation and senescence, which limits their global distribution. Recent studies of tomato fruit suggest that these traits are influenced by the expression of genes that are associated with cuticle metabolism. However, studies of these phenomena in mango fruit are limited by the lack of g...