Arginine kinase (AK) was isolated from the longitudinal muscle of the sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus. Unlike the monomeric 40 kDa AKs from molluscs and arthropods, but like the cytoplasmic isoenzymes of vertebrate creatine kinase (CK), the Stichopus enzyme was dimeric. To explore the evolutionary origin of the dimeric AK, we determined its cDNA-derived amino acid sequence of 370 residues. A c...

Allozyme electrophoresis analysis were performed in four species of Hypostomus (Loricariidae), H. albopunctatus, H. hermanni, H. regani, and Hypostomus sp. 1/NUP 5612 from the Ivaí river, a tributary of the upper Paraná river. The study of 14 loci revealed diagnostic characters and exclusive alleles in a low frequency. The heterozygosity ranged from 0.000 in H. albopunctatus to 0.199 in H. herm...

To test phylogenetic relationships within the genus Testudo (Testudines: Testudinidae), we have sequenced a fragment of the mitochondrial (mt) 12S rRNA gene of 98 tortoise specimens belonging to the genera Testudo, Indotestudo, and Geochelone. Maximum likelihood and neighbor-joining methods identify two main clades of Mediterranean tortoises, one composed of the species Testudo graeca, Testudo ...

HISTORY A male Herman’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni hermanni), from a rescue centre on Majorca Island (Spain), was referred to the CRARC (Catalonian Reptile and Amphibian Rehabilitation Centre (Barcelona, Spain)) for evaluation of anorexia of 2-month duration. The tortoise belonged to a group of tortoises that were to be released into the Montsant Natural Park (Catalonia, Spain). At the time of ...

This study aimed to determine phylogenetic relationship between and among selected species of sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) using 16S mitochondrial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene. Phylogenetic analyses of 37 partial sequences of 16S mitochondrial rRNA gene using three main methods namely neighbour joining (NJ), maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) showed the presence of ...