1,721,107 research outputs found
Protozoan ciliates as valuable, alternative (non-animal) model for (eco)toxicological screening: the Tetrahymena biosensors assay
No full textCiliated protozoa are single-celled, eukaryotic organisms, which constitutes an essential component
of every aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Ciliates show many desirable characteristics as
test organisms for the design of convenient and cost effective assays, from the biomarker to the
population-community level, to be used for (eco)toxicological screening. Thus, this report aim to
provide a brief overview of the advantages offered by the use of protozoan ciliates, especially those
belonging to the genus Tetrahymena in toxicological experimentation, as well as present the author’
experience in the development of “prognostic” assays (i.e. able to detect sub-lethal toxicant
effects), based on the exploitation of stress gene activation responses (Tetrahymena biosensor
assay)
Integrating the 3 Dimensions of Biodiversity: New Standards for Documenting Biodiversity of Ciliates and Strategies for Accessing and Sharing Data
Full text linkTitle: Ciliate biodiversity studies in Italy - DIVERSITY AND BIOINDICATIVE VALUE OF SOIL CILIATE COMMUNITIES
• Soil ciliate studies in Italy......from past to present!
• An overview of the ongoing soil (ciliates) bioindication projects and initiatives in Italy
• Two study cases: “BioPrint project” (Marche Region) and the “Soil Mapping project” (Lombardia Region) and the amazing P2R site!
•A glimpse to new species/genera from soils of Italy
•Exploring Soil Ciliate Diversity in Italy: A Synthetic Evaluation
•What’s next
"Scienza e Coscienza, viaggio all'interno delle 3R"
No full textIPAM, Piattaforma Italiana per i Metodi Alternativi è lieta di presentare la mostra scientifico-didattica a carattere divulgativo sul tema delle alternative nella sperimentazione animale in accordo con il principio delle 3R: "Scienza e Coscienza, viaggio all'interno delle 3R". Le 3R rappresentano un vero e proprio codice etico di autoregolamentazione, ma anche un punto di partenza per una riflessione-discussione etica sulla sperimentazione animale, in quanto attribuiscono un valore morale indiscutibile alla sofferenza e al benessere degli animali coinvolti nella ricerca scientifica. La mostra si terrà allUniversità La Sapienza di ROMA nello spazio museale del MLAC (Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, edificio del Rettorato) dal 25 settembre al 2 ottobre 2015, si prefigge di sensibilizzare e informare sull'argomento il pubblico (soprattutto studenti e ricercatori) in maniera equilibrata ed obiettiva, attraverso un percorso guidato che riassume una serie di tecniche metodologiche aventi lo scopo di migliorare il valore etico della ricerca con gli animali, nel rispetto del rigore scientifico. "Scienza e coscienza: viaggio allinterno delle 3R" si articolerà lungo un percorso di circa 35 pannelli espositivi, che copriranno tre sezioni tematiche: le 3R tra passato, presente e futuro. Sono previsti anche filmati video, attività interattive e incontri con esperti
Diversity and bioindicative value of soil ciliate communities: Opportunities, challenges, and case studies in Italy.
Full text linkThis report aims to provide an overview of the outcomes and the challenges encountered in using ciliated protozoa as indicator of soil health in the framework of several projects conducted in Italy since 2009. Ciliates (and, in general, protistan microorganisms) in spite of the key roles they play in the soil microbial loop, constitute a neglected component of the soil biodiversity, which is rarely included in soil biomonitoring plans. Ciliates are important bacterial feeders and thus, they significantly contribute to channel nutrients up to the soil food web. In this scenario, soil biomonitoring projects including ciliates offer precious opportunities to better assess their potential as bioindicators of soil health. The specific aims of our surveys were i) to investigate for the first time in Italy, ciliates diversity and the spatial and temporal distribution of their communities in different soil ecosystems; ii) to evaluate the capacity of ciliates to discriminate between different types of land uses and farming management practices; and iii) to assess relationships among ciliates and abiotic parameters. Ciliate communities were studied by means of classical qualitative and quantitative methods. More than 250 sites were sampled (mostly twice or more) in northern and central Italy. Sampling sites were representative of natural sites (forests, marshes, prairies), agroecosystems (arable fields, meadows, vineyards, truffle cultivations, olive and fruit orchards), as well as, industrial sites. Overall, the results of our surveys confirmed the bioindicative potential of soil ciliate communities in discriminating between different natural sites and agroecosystems, and, at least preliminarily, between different management systems. Furthermore, these studies have contributed to disclose soil ciliate diversity studies in Italy, to update Italian checklist, to identify more than 25 novel genus/species and in final to highlight that ciliates should be effectively included in soil biomonitoring plans
Cover Photos: Photomicrograph of the ciliate Gonostomum paronense from Italian soil after protargol impregnation (from the article: Daizy Bharti, Santosh Kumar & Antonietta La Terza" Two Gonostomatid Ciliates from the Soil of Lombardia, Italy; including Note on the Soil Mapping Project" Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, Volume 62, Issue 6, November/December 2015, Pages 762-772, doi:10.1111/jeu.12234
No full textCover Photos: Photomicrograph of the ciliate Gonostomum paronense from Italian soil after protargol impregnation (from the article: Daizy Bharti, Santosh Kumar & Antonietta La Terza" Two Gonostomatid Ciliates from the Soil of Lombardia, Italy; including Note on the Soil Mapping Project" Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, Volume 62, Issue 6, November/December 2015, Pages 762-772, doi:10.1111/jeu.1223
The gene for the heat-shock protein 70 of Euplotes focardii, an Antarctic psychrophilic ciliate
No full textIn the Antarctic ciliate, Euplotes focardii, the heat-shock protein 70 (Hsp70) gene does not show any appreciable activation by a thermal stress. Yet, it is activated to appreciable transcriptional levels by oxidative and chemical stresses, thus implying that it evolved a mechanism of selective, stress-specific response. A basic step in investigating this mechanism is the determination of the complete nucleotide sequence of the E. focardii Hsp70 gene. This gene contains a coding region specific for an Hsp70 protein that carries unique amino acid substitutions of potential significance for cold adaptation, and a 5′ regulatory region that includes sequence motifs denoting two distinct types of stress-inducible promoters, known as "Heat Shock Elements" (HSE) and "Stress Response Elements" (StRE). From the study of the interactions of these regulatory elements with their specific transactivator factors we expect to shed light on the adaptive modifications that prevent the Hsp70 gene of E. focardii from responding to thermal stress while being responsive to other stresses
Two Gonostomatid Ciliates from the Soil of Lombardia, Italy; including Note on the Soil Mapping Project
No full textTwo gonostomatid ciliates, Gonostomum paronense n. sp. and G. strenuum, isolated from the soil sample of paddy field, Lombardia, Italy, were investigated using live observation and protargol impregnation. Gonostomum paronense n. sp. is mainly characterized by a tailed body, frontoventral cirri arranged in pairs, and presence of pretransverse and transverse cirri. Morphologically and morphometrically, the new species is similar to Gonostomum namibiense in having a tailed body and frontoventral cirral pairs; however, it differs mainly in the number of frontoventral cirral pairs (seven vs. three). Phylogenetic analyses based on the SSU rDNA sequences show that the new species is more closely related to G. namibiense than to G. strenuum, supporting the morphological classification based on the cirral pattern and the tailed body. However, due to the poor nodal support and absence of gene sequence of the type species Gonostomum, a more robust phylogeny of this group still remains unresolved.
The biometric data of the Italian population of Gonostomum strenuum overlap with those from other known populations. Both species were collected
from the industrial area of Parona, in the framework of the “Soil Mapping, Lombardia” project in which, for the first time in Italy, soil ciliates were used
as bioindicators of soil quality
PROTOZOAN CILIATES FROM THE SULPHIDIC SEDIMENTS OF POZZO DEI CRISTALLI (FRASSASI CAVES, ITALY)
No full textThe sulfide-rich Frasassi cave complex (Genga, AN, Italy) host a still largely uncharacterised
microbiota whom study might offers an intriguing view on the solutions adopted by the different
species to survive and interact with each others in a such harsh environment. Beside the absence
of light and low temperatures (12-13°C), another environmental shaping factors is represented by
highly variable sulphide concentrations (from 0 up to 415 μM H2S). Moreover, up to now, very few
study attempted to describe ciliate communities from caves as well as, their fluctuation with respect
to environmental factors. In this analysis of the ciliate fauna of Frasassi caves, we focused our
attention on a sampling site known as “Pozzo dei Cristalli” which is highly diversified since it
include several microhabitats represented by small sulfidic (H2S-rich) ponds, streams and spring
as well as, deep and shallow muddy, stagnant lakes. Periodic sampling was realised from 2009 to
2011 in the form of water-sediments, picked up by scraping the surface. A total of 31 species were
identified; belonging to 9 classes, 15 orders and 23 genera. It was observed that some species e.g.
Urocentrum turbo, Coleps hirtus, Euplotes sp, showed adaptation for the cave environment (high
sulphur tolerance, Photo-sensitivity, feeding behaviour). Our future goal will be to study spatiotemporal
variations in the ciliate communities employing cultivation-independent, molecular
profiling assay (T-RFLP). Finally, integrating taxonomy and molecular data to obtain a more
rigorous and detailed picture of the ciliate diversity in cave sediments
Morphology, morphogenesis and molecular phylogeny of a novel soil ciliate, Pseudouroleptus plestiensis n. sp. (Ciliophora, Oxytrichidae), from the uplands of Colfiorito, Italy
No full textThe terrestrial oxytrichid ciliate Pseudouroleptus plestiensis n. sp., isolated from soil samples collected from the uplands of Colfiorito (Umbria region, Italy), was investigated using live observation and protargol impregnation. The morphology, morphogenesis and molecular phylogeny inferred from small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences were studied. The novel species is mainly characterized by the following: a cell size of about 145×35 μm in vivo; two ellipsoidal macronuclear nodules and two to four micronuclei; adoral zone about 26% of body length with a mean of 30 membranelles; about 40 cirri in the right marginal row and 38 in the left marginal row; left fronto-ventral row consisting of about 27-40 cirri, right fronto-ventral row of about three to seven cirri forming a short row to the right of the rear portion of the left fronto-ventral row; one parabuccal cirrus ( = III/2), one buccal and one post-peristomial cirrus; and four dorsal kineties with caudal cirri at the end of kineties 1 and 2. The morphogenesis of the novel species is similar to that of Pseudouroleptus caudatus. Phylogenetic analyses based on SSU rRNA gene sequences consistently placed the novel species within the family Oxytrichidae Ehrenberg, 1838, clustering with P. caudatus and the genus Strongylidium. The results from the present study contribute to the expanding knowledge of the diversity of ciliates in Italian soil
Rigidosticha italiensis n. gen., n. sp. (Ciliophora, Spirotricha), a novel large hypotrich ciliate from the soil of Lombardia, Italy
No full textThe morphology of Rigidosticha italiensis n. gen., n. sp., which was found in a soil sample collected from an uncultivated field in Lombardia, Italy, was investigated using live observation and protargol staining. Rigidosticha n. gen. is characterised by a rigid body, undulating membranes resembling a Steinia pattern, oxytrichid frontal ciliature, distinct mid-ventral cirral pairs, transverse cirri, one right and one left row of marginal cirri, absence of dorsal kinety 3 fragmentation, more than two dorsomarginal rows, and caudal cirri. The new species shows the following features: size in vivo 230–330 × 100–170 μm, on average 230 × 115 μm in protargol preparations; two ellipsoidal macronuclear nodules; 51 adoral membranelles; one buccal cirrus; one parabuccal cirrus; two frontoterminal cirri; 16 mid-ventral cirral pairs; and three transverse cirri. Rigidosticha mainly differs from Rigidothrix, Afrophrya, Uroleptus, and Territricha, in having the undulating membranes in Rigidosticha (vs. oxytrichid and cyrtohymenid) pattern. The oxytrichid frontal ciliature and midventral pattern in the present species further support the CEUU (Convergent Evolution of Urostylids and Uroleptids) hypothesis
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