The aim of the present study was to screen cardioactive herbs from Western Ghats of India. The heart beat rate (HBR) and blood flow during systole and diastole were tested in zebrafish embryos. We found that Cynodon dactylon (C. dactylon) induced increases in the HBR in zebrafish embryos with a HBR of (3.968±0.344) beats/s, which was significantly higher than that caused by betamethosone [(3.77...

The name Carex poeppigii (sect. Echinochlaenae) is validated and a new combination in South American Carex, C. vixdentata (sect. Spirostachyae), is made here. Also, the taxonomic status of C. aueri is discussed, and this name is placed in the synonymy of C. reichei (sect. Arenariae).

The particular flood recessional ecosystem in Poyang Lake provides young and high quality grasses in late autumn and wintertime, and attracts millions of migratory birds to over winter. Grasslands along the lakes within Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve (NNR) have a remarkable phenology. So far, little attention has been paid to this dynamics of phenology. This thesis aimed to describe and in...

Euparyphium albuferensis and Echinostoma friedi cercarial infectivity to four species of sympatric snails was examined under single- or multiple-choice laboratory conditions to show the level of parasite-snail host compatibility. Radix peregra, Lymnaeafuscus, Physella acuta and Gyraulus chinensis act as second intermediate hosts of both parasite species although different cercarial transmission...

This study was undertaken to optimize the conditions for the extraction of antibacterial activity of Perilla frutescens var. acuta leaf against Pseudomonas aeruginosa KCTC 2004 using the evolutionary operation-factorial (EVOP) design technique. Increased antibacterial activity was achieved at higher extraction temperatures and with a longer extraction time. Antibacterial activity was not affect...

Some phagotrophic organisms can retain chloroplasts of their photosynthetic prey as so-called kleptochloroplasts and maintain their function for shorter or longer periods of time. Here we show for the first time that the dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuta takes control over "third-hand" chloroplasts obtained from its ciliate prey Mesodinium spp. that originally ingested the cryptophyte chloroplast...

The cosmopolitan genus Carex L. represented about 1,800-2,000 species mainly in temperate and cold regions of the world. 49 species of Carex found in North-eastern India and 33 species in the rest part of India. Systematics of different taxa (subgenera, sections species pairs etc.) of the genus is quite complicated. In Carex, utricle morphology and fruit epidermal silicabodies have been used to...

This study evaluated the effect of the burrowing crab Chasmagnathus granulata on the benthic community in mudflats of the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (Argentina, 378 459 S, 578 269 W). A significantly higher abundance of the polychaete Laeonereis acuta was found inside the C. granulata crab bed than outside. However, L. acuta abundance decreased in summer probably due to the greater activity of...

Carex aquatilis is a highly diverse and geographically widespread member of one of the largest genera of flowering plants, Carex, and is ideally suited for the study of the role of hybridization and niche partitioning in ecological speciation. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ITS and ETS 1f and chloroplast psbA-trnH DNA sequences support the monophyly of a broadly defined Carex aquatilis-Carex ...

We measured CH4 fluxes from three major plant communities characteristic of alpine tundra in the Colorado Front Range. Plant communities in this ecosystem are determined by soil moisture regimes induced by winter snowpack distribution. Spatial patterns of CH4 flux during the snow-free season corresponded roughly with these plant communities. In Carex-dominated meadows, which receive the most mo...