background: dna immunization with plasmid dna encoding bacterial, viral, parasitic, and tumor antigens has been reported to trigger protective immunity. the use of plasmid dna vaccinations against many diseases has produced promising results in animal and human clinical trials; however, safety concerns about the use of dna vaccines exist, such as the possibility of integration into the host gen...

background:  matricaria chamomilla is an ancient herbal drug widely consumed to sexual system improvement. the aim of this research was to study the effect of matricaria chamomilla hydroalcholic extract on the pituitary-testis axis and testes tissues of male rats. methods:  mature male rats were randomly assigned to two groups: the matricaria group (100 mg/kg of matricaria chamomilla extract vi...

STUDY QUESTION Is there evidence at the population level of associations between different male genital disorders, outside Scandinavian countries? SUMMARY ANSWER At an international scale, there is evidence for a number of correlations between rates of four male reproductive disorders (hypospadias, cryptorchidism, testicular cancer and low sperm concentration). WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Some as...

Evolutionary transitions between hermaphroditic and dioecious reproductive states are found in many groups of animals. To understand such transitions, it is important to characterize diverse modes of sex determination utilized by metazoans. Currently, little is known about how simultaneous hermaphrodites specify and maintain male and female organs in a single individual. Here we show that a sex...

Deep sequencing of small RNAs (sRNAs) in developing male strobili of second-generation offspring originating from a nuclear genic male sterile tree of Cryptomeria japonica were performed to characterize sRNA populations in the male strobili at early pollen developmental stages. Comparing to sequences of microRNA (miRNA) families of plant species and sRNAs expressed in the reproductive organs of...