Mosquitoes in the Culex (Culex) pipiens complex of species, known as vectors of periodic filariasis and deadly encephalitides, have recently emerged as important vectors of West Nile virus in the United States. Highly conserved morphology but marked differences in potential vectorial capacity require the development of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based tests that unambiguously distinguish a...

Host feeding patterns were examined for four species of Culex mosquitoes collected from 18 sites in or adjacent to East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, from November 2002 to October 2004. Host DNA from 37 bloodfed Culex coronator Dyar and Knab, 67 bloodfed Cx. salinarius Coquillett, 112 bloodfed Cx. nigripalpus Theobald, and 684 bloodfed Cx. quinquefasciatus Say were identified. The percentages of bloo...

background : the aim of this study was to design pictorial key and taxonomic literature of culex pipiens complex in iran. methods: larvae were collected using standard dipping methods in 13 randomly selected areas of bushehr, hame­dan, kerman, khorasan-e-razavi, khuzistan, mazandaran, tehran, sistan and baluchistan and yazd provinces from april 2009 to october 2010. the data were analyzed using...

To identify the mosquito species competent for West Nile virus (WNV) transmission, we evaluated 10 California species that are known vectors of other arboviruses or major pests: Culex tarsalis, Cx. pipiens pipiens, Cx. p. quinquefasciatus, Cx. stigmatosoma, Cx. erythrothorax, Ochlerotatus dorsalis, Oc. melanimon, Oc. sierrensis, Aedes vexans, and Culiseta inornata. All 10 became infected and we...

; Factorial () ; Factorial calculates the factorial of an input ; integer given in the AX register and returns the ; result in the AX register. Assumes input is ; nonnegative. Factorial PUSHA ; Save all registers on stack MOV CX,AX ; Initialize loop counter MOV AX,0 ; Initialize result CMP CX,0 ; Check for zero case JE .Done .Factorialloop: MUL CX ; AX = AX * CX LOOP Factorial ; Decrement CX, j...

The genetic context, phylogeny, and biochemistry of a gene flanking the H(2)-forming methylene-H(4)-methanopterin dehydrogenase gene (hmdA), here designated hmdB, indicate that it is a new member of the radical S-adenosylmethionine enzyme superfamily. In contrast to the characteristic CX(3)CX(2)C or CX(2)CX(4)C motif defining this family, HmdB contains a unique CX(5)CX(2)C motif.

Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) accumulate in fat during obesity and resemble foam cells in atherosclerotic lesions, suggesting that common mechanisms underlie both inflammatory conditions. CX(3)CR1 and its ligand fractalkine/CX(3)CL1 contribute to macrophage recruitment and inflammation in atherosclerosis, but their role in obesity-induced adipose tissue inflammation is unknown. Therefore, w...

BACKGROUND Fractalkine/CX(3)CL1, a surface chemokine, binds to CX(3)CR1 expressed by different lymphocyte subsets. Since CX(3)CL1 has been detected in the germinal centres of secondary lymphoid tissue, in this study we have investigated CX(3)CR1 expression and function in human naïve, germinal centre and memory B cells isolated from tonsil or peripheral blood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS W...

The definition and phylogenetic placement of the autogenous molestus form of Culex pipiens has puzzled entomologists for decades. We identified genetic differences between Cx. p. pipiens (L.) and Cx. pipiens f. molestus Forskål in the SH60 fragment described previously. Single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, cloning, and sequencing of this fragment demonstrated high polymorphism with...