A long-term goal of developmental biology is to understand how morphogens establish gradients that promote proper tissue patterning. A number of reports describe the formation of the Wg (Wnt1) gradient in Drosophila and have shown that Porcupine, a predicted membrane-bound O-acyl transferase, is required for the correct distribution of Wg protein. The discovery that Wnts are palmitoylated on a ...

Wnts are small secreted glycoproteins that are highly conserved among species. To date, 19 Wnts have been described, which initiate a signal transduction cascade that is either β-catenin dependent or independent, culminating in the regulation of hundreds of target genes. Extracellular release of Wnts is dependent on lipidation of Wnts by porcupine, a membrane-bound-O-acyltransferase protein in ...

The crested porcupine Hystrix cristata is one of the most well-known members Family Hystricidae, yet very little known regarding its geographic variability in Africa. Two alternative hypotheses exist; pre-1940s classical taxonomy supported existence a distinct Eastern African species, galeata, whereas recent molecular data seem to support only North-South separation inside single with geographi...

Abstract The crested porcupine ( Hystrix cristata ) underwent a rapid and widespread range expansion in Italy. Nowadays the species is moving towards northernmost regions of country its occurrence increasing highly anthropized Po Plain. Our objectives were to evaluate suitability Plain for species, as well identify dispersal corridors connecting northern Apennines areas Prealps. We modelled hom...

Host diet influences the diversity and metabolic activities of the gut microbiome. Previous studies have shown that the gut microbiome provides a wide array of enzymes that enable processing of diverse dietary components. Because the primary diet of the porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, is lignified plant material, we reasoned that the porcupine microbiome would be replete with enzymes required to...

Adult females of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), were collected from a North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, in eastern Ontario, Canada. This porcupine parasitism indicates that an established population I. is present local vicinity. tick species known to parasitize more than 150 different vertebrate hosts, including porcupine. The presence ticks parasitizing ...