Human adenovirus type 8 (HAdV-8) is a common agent of severe epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC). Twenty-six strains were isolated from sporadic cases of EKC in the southern part of Japan between 1998 and 1999 and were identified as HAdV-8 by the neutralization method using type-specific antiserum against HAdV-8. A comparative analysis of different HAdV-8 genome types was performed using va...

The taxonomic position of two antarctic dorylaimid species Amblydorylaimusisokaryon (Loof, 1975) Andrássy, 1998 and Pararhyssocolpusparadoxus (Loof, 1975), gen. n., comb. n. are discussed on the basis of morphological, including SEM study, morphometric, postembryonic and sequence data of 18S rDNA and the D2-D3 expansion fragments of large subunit rDNA. The evolutionary trees inferred from 18S s...

Conventional phenotypic methods sometimes lead to misidentification of some heterofermentative wine lactobacilli such as Lactobacillus hilgardii, Lactobacillus buchneri, and Lactobacillus brevis. We establish the specificity of 16S rDNA sequencing in the differentiation of these species and in the rejection of the Lactobacillus vermiforme species name. Moreover, we succeeded in differentiating ...

Spiders are well known for their silk and its varying use across taxa. Very few studies have examined the silk spigot ontogeny of the entire spinning field of a spider. Historically the spider phylogeny was based on morphological data and behavioral data associated with silk. Recent phylogenomics studies have shifted major paradigms in our understanding of silk use evolution, reordering phyloge...

The present study was performed to reveal the morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic position of Platynosomum fastosum Kossack, 1910. A total 167 specimens of P. fastosum were collected in 8 (4.9%) out of 163 sets of gall-bladders and bile ducts of cats. The number of worms was 1-105 per infected cat. This species was characterized by having a long and slender body, slightly l...

Endemic species on islands are considered at risk of extinction for several reasons, including limited dispersal abilities, small population sizes, and low genetic diversity. We used mitochondrial DNA (D-Loop) and 17 microsatellite loci to explore the evolutionary relationship between an endemic anemonefish, Amphiprion mccullochi (restricted to isolated locations in subtropical eastern Australi...

We genetically characterized Encarsia diapsidicola Silvestri and Encarsia berlesei Howard (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) by two molecular methods: phylogenetic analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) and intersimple sequence repeat-polymerase chain reaction (ISSR-PCR) DNA fingerprinting. These two closely related endoparasitoids are candidate biological control agents for the white ...

The Quaternary cold periods in Europe are thought to have heavily influenced the amount and distribution of intraspecific genetic variation in both animals and plants. The phylogeographies of 10 taxa, including mammals (Ursus arctos, Sorex spp., Crocidura suaveolens, Arvicola spp.), amphibians (Triturus spp.), arthropods (Chorthippus parallelus), and plants (Abies alba, Picea abies, Fagus sylva...