In this study, two mountain frogs (Rana camerani and Rana macrocnemis) were collected in the Antalya Province in south-western Turkey during 2001 and 2002 and were examined for helminths. Out of 15 Rana camerani, 10 (66.7%) were infected with 1 or more helminths and out of 20 Rana macrocnemis, 17 (85%) were infected with 1 or more helminths. The helminth fauna of Rana camerani included 4 specie...

immune genes of the major histocompatibility complex (mhc) are among the most polymorphic genes in the vertebrate genome. due to their polymorphic nature, they are often used to assess the adaptive genetic variability of natural populations. this study describes the first molecular characterization of 13 partial mhc class iib sequences from three european ranid frogs.  the utility of previously...

Fourteen adult frogs including six banded frog, Rana camerani and eight marsh frog, Rana ridibunda ridibunda were collected from two sites of Chahar Mahal-o-Bakhtiari province at the southwest of Iran and then were examined for helminth parasites. Only Dolichosaccus rastellus  (50%) was found in R. camerani, Skrjabinoeces similis (50%) and metacercarian cysts of Codonocephalus urniger (12....

Mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the control region and 12S rRNA in leopard frogs from the Sierra El Aguaje of southern Sonora, Mexico, together with GenBank sequences, were used to infer taxonomic identity and provide phylogenetic hypotheses for relationships with other members of the Rana pipiens complex. We show that frogs from the Sierra El Aguaje belong to the Rana berlandieri subgroup...

Experiments are described in which eggs of Rana species were treated prior to insemination with antisera prepared against oviducal materials of Rana, Bufo, and Ambystoma species. Three types of treatment with antisera were employed. Eggs of Rana pipiens and R. clamitans were treated with antisera against materials prepared from whole oviducts, or from upper and lower segments of oviducts, of R....

ii I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. Abstract Exposure of cells to environmental or chemical stressors will initiate the heat shock response, which is mediated by heat shock proteins. Heat shock...

Ecologists have often suggested that the presence of pathogens that differentially affect interacting species may affect the outcome of interactions, yet few experimental studies have documented pathogen-mediated interactions using a natural host–parasite system. We studied the effects of a pathogenic water mold, Saprolegnia ferax, on competitive interactions between the Cascades frog Rana casc...