Self-fertilization occurs in a broad range of hermaphroditic plants and animals, and is often thought to evolve as a reproductive assurance strategy under ecological conditions that disfavour or prevent outcrossing. Nevertheless,selfing ability is far from ubiquitous among hermaphrodites, and may be constrained in taxa where the male and female gametes of the same individual cannot easily meet....

Ichthyosis hystrix of Curth-Macklin ( IHCM) is an extremely rare keratinization disorder, with verrucous to hystrixlike hyperkeratotic plaques of varying extent. The diagnosis is based on a distinctive pattern of epidermolytic hyperkeratosis and the presence of binucleate cells under light microscopy, as well as unique electron microscopic findings of continuous perinuclear tonofibril shells in...

In this study SEM and light microscopy were used to investigate the structure of the foliate papillae in the porcupine. The foliate papillae consisted of about 10 or 11 clefts. The length of the foliate papillae averaged 2.79 mm and its width averaged 863 μm. Taste buds were located intraepithelial in the basal half of the papilla grooves (sulcus papillae). Every wall on each fold harboured fro...

Quackgrass, Elymus repens (L.) Gould, is a perennial grass spreading by vigorous underground rhizomes. Because of its capacity for rapid spread and persistence, it is considered as a common weed in many settings worldwide. The cereal rust mite, Abacarus hystrix (Nalepa), is a polyphagous, phytophagous mite attacking quackgrass and many other grasses including wheat. Its feeding causes leaf disc...

BACKGROUND Understanding of the magnitude and direction of the exchange of individuals among geographically separated subpopulations that comprise a metapopulation (connectivity) can lead to an improved ability to forecast how fast coral reef organisms are likely to recover from disturbance events that cause extensive mortality. Reef corals that brood their larvae internally and release mature ...