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Sample records for loxosomella atkinsae entoprocta

  1. Immunocytochemistry of the Neuromuscular Systems of Loxosomella vivipara and L. parguerensis (Entoprocta: Loxosomatidae)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fuchs, Judith; Bright, Monika; Funch, Peter

    2006-01-01

    and running in a ventral direction have not been described for Entoprocta before, and the homology of these to the ventral nerve cords of other Spiralia is considered possible. The body musculature of both Loxosomella species comprises longitudinal and diagonal muscles in the foot, the stalk, and the calyx....... We found several circular muscles in the calyx. The stalk and parts of the foot and the calyx are surrounded by a fine outer layer of ring muscles. In addition to the congruent details regarding the myo-anatomy of both species, species-specific muscle structures could be revealed. The comparison...

  2. Reconstruction of the neuromuscular system of the swimming-type larva of Loxosomella atkinsae (Entoprocta) as inferred by fluorescence labelling and confocal microscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fuchs, Judith; Wanninger, Andreas Wilhelm Georg

    2008-01-01

    Entoprocta is one of the most enigmatic phyla of the Animal Kingdom. The morphology of their larvae has been little investigated, with details on the larval musculature lacking entirely and immunocytochemical data on the larval nervous system available for only 2 species. Here, we provide the first...

  3. Fine structure of the creeping larva of Loxosomella murmanica: additional evidence for a clade of Kamptozoa (Entoprocta) and Mollusca

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haszprunar, Gerhard; Wanninger, Andreas Wilhelm Georg

    2008-01-01

    . The prototroch consists of two ciliary rings; a downstream collecting system is not present. Although there is a one-way gut with a lumen throughout, the larva obviously does not feed. A single pair of protonephridia is present. The foot sole shares distinct similarities with basic molluscs, particularly...

  4. The anatomy of the serotonergic nervous system of an entoproct creeping-type larva and its phylogenetic implications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wanninger, Andreas Wilhelm Georg; Fuchs, Judith; Haszprunar, Gerhard

    2007-01-01

    the anatomy of the serotonergic nervous system of the creeping-type larva of Loxosomella murmanica. The apical organ is very complex and comprises six to eight centrally positioned flask cells and eight bipolar peripheral cells. In addition, a prototroch nerve ring, an anterior nerve loop, a paired buccal...... molluscs and may be diagnostic for a mollusc-entoproct clade. In addition, the larva of Loxosomella expresses a mosaic of certain neural features that are also found in other larval or adult Spiralia, e.g., a prototroch nerve ring, an anterior nerve loop, and a buccal nervous system....... ones, are found along the anterior-posterior axis. The combination of a complex larval serotonergic apical organ and (adult) tetraneury, comprising one pair of ventral and one pair of more dorsally situated lateral longitudinal nerve cords without ganglia, has so far only been reported for basal...

  5. Complete mitochondrial genome of Bugula neritina (Bryozoa, Gymnolaemata, Cheilostomata: phylogenetic position of Bryozoa and phylogeny of lophophorates within the Lophotrochozoa

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    Jang Kuem

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The phylogenetic position of Bryozoa is one of the most controversial issues in metazoan phylogeny. In an attempt to address this issue, the first bryozoan mitochondrial genome from Flustrellidra hispida (Gymnolaemata, Ctenostomata was recently sequenced and characterized. Unfortunately, it has extensive gene translocation and extremely reduced size. In addition, the phylogenies obtained from the result were conflicting, so they failed to assign a reliable phylogenetic position to Bryozoa or to clarify lophophorate phylogeny. Thus, it is necessary to characterize further mitochondrial genomes from slowly-evolving bryozoans to obtain a more credible lophophorate phylogeny. Results The complete mitochondrial genome (15,433 bp of Bugula neritina (Bryozoa, Gymnolaemata, Cheilostomata, one of the most widely distributed cheliostome bryozoans, is sequenced. This second bryozoan mitochondrial genome contains the set of 37 components generally observed in other metazoans, differing from that of F. hispida (Bryozoa, Gymnolaemata, Ctenostomata, which has only 36 components with loss of tRNAser(ucn genes. The B. neritina mitochondrial genome possesses 27 multiple noncoding regions. The gene order is more similar to those of the two remaining lophophorate phyla (Brachiopoda and Phoronida and a chiton Katharina tunicate than to that of F. hispida. Phylogenetic analyses based on the nucleotide sequences or amino acid residues of 12 protein-coding genes showed consistently that, within the Lophotrochozoa, the monophyly of the bryozoan class Gymnolaemata (B. neritina and F. hispida was strongly supported and the bryozoan clade was grouped with brachiopods. Echiura appeared as a subtaxon of Annelida, and Entoprocta as a sister taxon of Phoronida. The clade of Bryozoa + Brachiopoda was clustered with either the clade of Annelida-Echiura or that of Phoronida + Entoprocta. Conclusion This study presents the complete mitochondrial genome of a

  6. Modeling and Simulation of an Unmanned Ground Vehicle Power System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-03-28

    Wilhelm, A. N., Surgenor, B. W., and Pharoah, J. G., “Design and evaluation of a micro-fuel-cell-based power system for a mobile robot,” Mechatronics ... Embedded Control Systems ], Control Engineering, 91–116, Birkhuser Boston (2005). [12] Alur, R., Courcoubetis, C., Halbwachs, N., Henzinger, T., Ho, P.-H...Modeling and Simulation of an Unmanned Ground Vehicle Power System John Brodericka∗, Jack Hartnerb, Dawn Tilburya, and Ella Atkinsa aThe University

  7. Cycliophora is a new phylum with affinities to Entoprocta and Ectoprocta

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Funch, P.; Kristensen, R.M.

    1995-01-01

    The mouthparts of the Norway lobster Nephrops are colonized by an acoelomate metazoan, Symbion pandora gen. et sp, nov. Sessile stages continually produce inner buds replacing feeding structures, They also produce one of three motile stages: (1) larvae containing new feeding stages, (2) dwarf males......, which settle on feeding stages, or (3) females, which settle onto lobster mouthparts, and eventually degenerate, giving rise to dispersive larvae, All motile stages are short-lived, and do not feed, The structure and function of the cilia suggest a phylogenetic position in Protostomia, while some...

  8. Trapped in freshwater: the internal anatomy of the entoproct Loxosomatoides sirindhornae

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    Wanninger Andreas

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Entoprocta is a small phylum of tentacle-bearing spiralian lophotrochozoans that comprises mainly marine representatives, with only two known freshwater species. One of them, Loxosomatoides sirindhornae Wood, 2005 was only recently described, and detailed information on its morphology including adaptations to life in freshwater are unknown. We analyzed the internal anatomy of L. sirindhornae using serial semi-thin sections, 3D reconstruction, as well as immunocytochemistry and confocal laserscanning microscopy. Results The nephridial system shows high complexity, strikingly similar to that of Urnatella gracilis, the only other known freshwater entoproct. It is composed of 105-120 large flame-bulb terminal organs that occur in the stalk and calyx. In the stalk they terminate in the epidermis, whereas efferent ducts in each terminal organ in the calyx lead to large, paired terminal ducts that fuse close to the central nervous system and open into the atrium by a nephridiopore. Compared to other stolonate entoprocts, L. sirindhornae shows a different stalk-calyx junction by possessing only a single, multicellular canopy instead of a stack of star cells. A sphincter muscle is situated below the diaphragm of the stalk. The remaining musculature is concentrated in the stalk, while the calyx musculature is sparsely developed. The central nervous system is dumbbell-shaped as in basal entoprocts. Conclusions The nephridial system probably has mainly osmoregulatory function. Previous studies have shown that L. sirindhornae is unable to cope with higher salinities, suggesting that its adaptation to freshwater has reached such a high degree that it is unable to 'turn off' the nephridial system in higher salinities. The current data available show that the architecture of internal organ systems such as the musculature or the calyx-stalk junction hold more promising information for taxonomic and perhaps even evolutionary inferences in

  9. Repurposed transcriptomic data facilitate discovery of innate immunity toll-like receptor (TLR) Genes across Lophotrochozoa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halanych, Kenneth M; Kocot, Kevin M

    2014-10-01

    The growing volume of genomic data from across life represents opportunities for deriving valuable biological information from data that were initially collected for another purpose. Here, we use transcriptomes collected for phylogenomic studies to search for toll-like receptor (TLR) genes in poorly sampled lophotrochozoan clades (Annelida, Mollusca, Brachiopoda, Phoronida, and Entoprocta) and one ecdysozoan clade (Priapulida). TLR genes are involved in innate immunity across animals by recognizing potential microbial infection. They have an extracellular leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain connected to a transmembrane domain and an intracellular toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain. Consequently, these genes are important in initiating a signaling pathway to trigger defense. We found at least one TLR ortholog in all but two taxa examined, suggesting that a broad array of lophotrochozoans may have innate immune systems similar to those observed in vertebrates and arthropods. Comparison to the SMART database confirmed the presence of both the LRR and the TIR protein motifs characteristic of TLR genes. Because we looked at only one transcriptome per species, discovery of TLR genes was limited for most taxa. However, several TRL-like genes that vary in the number and placement of LRR domains were found in phoronids. Additionally, several contigs contained LRR domains but lacked TIR domains, suggesting they were not TLRs. Many of these LRR-containing contigs had other domains (e.g., immunoglobin) and are likely involved in innate immunity. © 2014 Marine Biological Laboratory.

  10. Triploblastic relationships with emphasis on the acoelomates and the position of Gnathostomulida, Cycliophora, Plathelminthes, and Chaetognatha: a combined approach of 18S rDNA sequences and morphology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giribet, G; Distel, D L; Polz, M; Sterrer, W; Wheeler, W C

    2000-09-01

    Triploblastic relationships were examined in the light of molecular and morphological evidence. Representatives for all triploblastic "phyla" (except Loricifera) were represented by both sources of phylogenetic data. The 18S ribosomal (rDNA) sequence data for 145 terminal taxa and 276 morphological characters coded for 36 supraspecific taxa were combined in a total evidence regime to determine the most consistent picture of triploblastic relationships for these data. Only triploblastic taxa are used to avoid rooting with distant outgroups, which seems to happen because of the extreme distance that separates diploblastic from triploblastic taxa according to the 18S rDNA data. Multiple phylogenetic analyses performed with variable analysis parameters yield largely inconsistent results for certain groups such as Chaetognatha, Acoela, and Nemertodermatida. A normalized incongruence length metric is used to assay the relative merit of the multiple analyses. The combined analysis having the least character incongruence yields the following scheme of relationships of four main clades: (1) Deuterostomia [((Echinodermata + Enteropneusta) (Cephalochordata (Urochordata + Vertebrata)))]; (2) Ecdysozoa [(((Priapulida + Kinorhyncha) (Nematoda + Nematomorpha)) ((Onychophora + Tardigrada) Arthropoda))]; (3) Trochozoa [((Phoronida + Brachiopoda) (Entoprocta (Nemertea (Sipuncula (Mollusca (Pogonophora (Echiura + Annelida)))))))]; and (4) Platyzoa [((Gnathostomulida (Cycliophora + Syndermata)) (Gastrotricha + Plathelminthes))]. Chaetognatha, Nemertodermatida, and Bryozoa cannot be assigned to any one of these four groups. For the first time, a data analysis recognizes a clade of acoelomates, the Platyzoa (sensu Cavalier-Smith, Biol. Rev. 73:203-266, 1998). Other relationships that corroborate some morphological analyses are the existence of a clade that groups Gnathostomulida + Syndermata (= Gnathifera), which is expanded to include the enigmatic phylum Cycliophora, as sister group

  11. An introduction to loricifera, cycliophora, and micrognathozoa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kristensen, Reinhardt Møbjerg

    2002-07-01

    Loriciferans, cycliophorans and micrognathozoans are amongst the latest groups of animals to be discovered. Other than all being microscopic, they have very different body plans and are not closely related. Loriciferans were originally assigned to the Aschelminthes. However, both new molecular and ultrastructural researches have shown that Aschelminthes consist of two unrelated groups, Cycloneuralia and Gnathifera. Cycloneuralia may be included in the Ecdysozoa, including all molting invertebrates, and Gnathifera are more closely related to Platyhelminthes. The phylum Loricifera shares many apomorphic characters (e.g., scalids on the introvert) with both Priapulida and Kinorhyncha, and can be included in the taxon Scalidophora, a subgroup of Cycloneuralia. Cycliophora was originally allied to the Entoprocta and Ectoprocta (Bryozoa) based on ultrastructual research. Subsequent molecular data show they may be related to Rotifera and Acanthocephala, within the taxon Gnathifera. The phylogenetic position of Cycliophora is therefore not settled, and more ultrastructural and molecular data are needed. Micrognathozoa is the most recent major group of animals to be described. They show strong affinities with both Rotifera and Gnathostomulida (within the taxon Gnathifera), especially in the fine structure of the pharyngeal apparatus, where the jaw elements have cuticular rods with osmiophilic cores. Furthermore the micrognathozoans have two rows of multiciliated cells that form a locomotory organ, similar to that seen in some gastrotrichs and interstitial annelids. This character is never seen in Rotifera or in the monociliated Gnathostomulida. Rotifera and Acanthocephala always have a syncytial epidermis (Syndermata). Micrognathozoa lack this characteristic feature. Therefore, they are postulated to be placed basally in the Gnathifera, either as a sister-group to Gnathostomulida or as a sister-group to Rotifera + Acanthocephala.

  12. Rapid assessment survey for exotic benthic species in the São Sebastião Channel, Brazil

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    Antonio C Marques

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The study of biological invasions can be roughly divided into three parts: detection, monitoring, mitigation. Here, our objectives were to describe the marine fauna of the area of the port of São Sebastião (on the northern coast of the state of São Paulo, in the São Sebastião Channel, SSC to detect introduced species. Descriptions of the faunal community of the SSC with respect to native and allochthonous (invasive or potentially so diversity are lacking for all invertebrate groups. Sampling was carried out by specialists within each taxonomic group, in December 2009, following the protocol of the Rapid Assessment Survey (RAS in three areas with artificial structures as substrates. A total of 142 species were identified (61 native, 15 introduced, 62 cryptogenic, 4 not classified, of which 17 were Polychaeta (12, 1, 1, 3, 24 Ascidiacea (3, 6, 15, 0, 36 Bryozoa (17, 0, 18, 1, 27 Cmdana (2, 1, 24, 0, 20 Crustacea (11, 4, 5, 0, 2 Entoprocta (native, 16 Mollusca (13, 3, 0, 0. Twelve species are new occurrences for the SSC. Among the introduced taxa, two are new for coastal Brazil. Estimates of introduced taxa are conservative as the results of molecular studies suggest that some species previously considered cryptogenic are indeed introduced. We emphasize that the large number of cryptogenic species illustrates the need for a long-term monitoring program, especially in areas most susceptible to bioinvasion. We conclude that rapid assessment studies, even in relatively well-known regions, can be very useful for the detection of introduced species and we recommend that they be carried out on a larger scale in all ports with heavy ship traffic.