Transposable elements (TEs) constitute a substantial portion of many eukaryotic genomes, and can in principle contribute to evolutionary innovation as well as genomic deterioration. Daphnia pulex serves as a useful model for studying TE dynamics as a potential cause and/or consequence of asexuality. We analyzed insertion polymorphisms of TEs in 20 sexual and 20 asexual isolates of D. pulex acro...

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability held in many organisms to produce different phenotypes with a given genome in response to environmental stimuli, such as temperature, nutrition and various biological interactions. It seems likely that environmental signals induce a variety of mechanistic responses that influence ontogenetic processes. Inducible defenses, in which prey animals alter their mo...

The cladoceran crustacean Daphnia pulex has served as a standard organism for aquatic toxicity testing for decades. The model organism status of D. pulex rests largely on its remarkable ability to rapidly adapt morphologically, physiologically and behaviorally to a wide range of environmental challenges, as well as on its parthenogenetic reproduction and ease of laboratory culture. As in all mu...

BACKGROUND The cosmopolitan microcrustacean Daphnia pulex provides a model system for both human health research and monitoring ecosystem integrity. It is the first crustacean to have its complete genome sequenced, an unprecedented ca. 36% of which has no known homologs with any other species. Moreover, D. pulex is ideally suited for experimental manipulation because of its short reproductive c...

Daphnia p&x (Crustacea, Cladocera) was fed the blue-green algae (Cyanophyceae) Anacystis nidulans, Synechococcus elongata, S. cedrorum, Merismopedia sp., Anabaena flosaquae, Synechocystis sp., and Gloeocapsa alpicola. The green algae ( Chlorophyceae) Ankistrodesmus falcatus and Chlorella uulgaris were used for comparison. Direct observations were made of D. pulex feeding in depression slides fi...

Paland and Lynch (Reports, 17 February 2006, p. 990) showed that in Daphnia pulex, the ratio of amino acid replacement to silent substitution in mitochondrial genes is higher in asexual lineages than in sexual lineages. If this base-composition bias is maintained by selection, it too should alter following transitions in reproductive mode. Analysis reveals no such change in the genomes of D. pu...

Ecotoxicological endpoints based on behavioral traits (e.g., predator avoidance, feeding, and locomotion) may be more sensitive and give more insights into patterns of sublethal toxicity than survivorship tests. In this study, the density-dependent grazing rate of Daphnia pulex pre-exposed to p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) (insecticide metabolite) and glyphosate (herbicide), via wa...

Daphnia p&x (Crustacea, Cladocera) was fed the blue-green algae (Cyanophyceae) Anacystis nidulans, Synechococcus elongata, S. cedrorum, Merismopedia sp., Anabaena flosaquae, Synechocystis sp., and Gloeocapsa alpicola. The green algae ( Chlorophyceae) Ankistrodesmus falcatus and Chlorella uulgaris were used for comparison. Direct observations were made of D. pulex feeding in depression slides fi...

Under favorable conditions, the micro-crustacean Daphnia pulex produces female offspring by parthenogenesis, whereas under unfavorable conditions, they produce male offspring to induce sexual reproduction (environmental sex determination: ESD). We recently established a suitable system for ESD studies using D. pulex WTN6 strain, in which the sex of the offspring can be regulated by alterations ...

The antibacterial properties of nanosilver have led to a versatile application spectrum including medical purposes and personal care products. However, the increasing use of nanosilver has raised concerns about its environmental impacts. Long-term exposure studies with aquatic invertebrates are essential to assess possible adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, acute (48 h...