Background Alpacas (Vicugna pacos), earlier named Lama pacos, belong to the family Camelidae of which there are 7 living species. Four are native to South America and of those four two are domestic species, the alpaca (Vicugna pacos) and the llama (Lama glama) and two are wild, the vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) and the guanaco (Lama guanicoe). These species are often referred to as the New World cam...

The characteristics of male and female reproductive tracts and reproductive physiology in camelids are described. An account is given on methods of collection, characteristics and storage of semen, and fertility after artificial insemination (AI) with fresh, liquid-stored and frozen-thawed lamoid and camel semen.

BACKGROUND Recombinant antibodies from Camelidae (VHHs) are potentially useful tools for both basic research and biotechnological applications because of their small size, robustness, easy handling and possibility to refold after chemio-physical denaturation. Their heat tolerance is a particularly interesting feature because it has been recently related to both high yields during recombinant ex...

We analyzed the effects of population density and climatic variables on the rate of population growth in the guanaco ( Lama guanicoe), a wild camelid species in South America. We used a time series of 36 years (1977-2012) of population sampling in Tierra del Fuego, Chile. Individuals were grouped in three age-classes: newborns, juveniles, and adults; for each year a female population transition...

Although cetaceans (whales, porpoises, and dolphins) have multi-chambered stomachs, feeding habits of modern cetaceans have dramatically changed from herbivorous to carnivorous. However, the genetic basis underlying this dietary switch remains unexplored. Here, we present the first systematic investigation of 10 digestive enzymes genes (i.e., CYP7A1, CTRC, LIPC, LIPF, PNLIP, PGC, PRSS1, SI, SLC...

BACKGROUND The isolation of recombinant antibody fragments from displayed libraries represents a powerful alternative to the generation of IgGs using hybridoma technology. The selected antibody fragments can then be easily engineered into (multi)-tagged constructs of variable mass and complexity as well as reconstituted into Camelidae IgG-like molecules when expressed fused to Fc domains. Never...

We explored the possibility to apply single-domain antibodies from Camelidae for immunoaffinity purification of the ice structuring protein (ISP) from Lolium perenne, which modifies ice crystal growth and therefore has potential application in medicine, biotechnology, agriculture and (frozen) foods. Using phage display together with an appropriate selection method, a group of candidate fragment...

Six New World Camelidae microsatellite primer pairs were used to investigate the genetic polymorphism in Jaisalmeri camel. Polymerase chain reactions were carried out for 30 unrelated camels of Jaisalmeri breed. The amplification products were resolved in 6% (denaturing) urea PAGE and stained with silver nitrate. All the 6 microsatellite primer pairs were found polymorphic in Jaisalmeri camel. ...

The discovery of naturally occurring, heavy-chain only antibodies in Camelidae, and their further development into small recombinant nanobodies, presents attractive alternatives in drug delivery and imaging. Easily expressed in microorganisms and amenable to engineering, nanobody derivatives are soluble, stable, versatile, and have unique refolding capacities, reduced aggregation tendencies, an...