Loading...
3 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
- Asynchrony in settlement time between the closely related oysters Crassostrea angulata and C. gigas in Ria Formosa lagoon (Portugal)Publication . Batista, Frederico; G Fonseca, Vera; Ruano, Francisco; Boudry, PierreThe Portuguese oyster Crassostrea angulata and the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas are very closely related species originating from Asia that were introduced in Europe. The objectives of the present study were to determine if there is asynchrony in settlement time of C. angulata and C. gigas larvae in an area where both taxa coexist and if hybridization between the two species occurs throughout the breeding season. Oyster collectors were deployed every two weeks during one year in two different sites in Ria Formosa lagoon (Portugal) and the oysters that settled were genotyped with nuclear and mitochondrial markers. Settlement of Crassostrea sp. was observed from April to November 2004 (n = 694), with two distinct periods. In the first period (April), when 19% of the oysters settled, the haplotypes and alleles characteristic of C. gigas were mainly observed. In the following settlement period (July to November), the frequency of haplotypes and alleles of C. gigas decreased over time while those characteristics of C. angulata reached high frequencies by the end of the settlement period. Our results suggest that C. gigas was able to reproduce at lower temperatures than C. angulata in spring. However, the non-significant allelic disequilibrium observed during almost all settlement periods suggests that hybridization is widespread in time. The results obtained in the present study show that there are differences in the reproductive behavior between C. angulata and C. gigas that may limit gene flow between the two species.
- PACAP system evolution and its role in melanophore function in teleost fish skinPublication . CR Cardoso, Joao; C. Félix, Rute; Martins, Rute; M., Trindade; G Fonseca, Vera; Fuentes, Xoan; Power, DeborahPituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) administered to tilapia melanophores ex-vivo causes significant pigment aggregation and this is a newly identified function for this peptide in fish. The G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), adcyap1r1a (encoding Pac1a) and vipr2a (encoding Vpac2a), are the only receptors in melanophores with appreciable levels of expression and are significantly (p < 0.05) down-regulated in the absence of light. Vpac2a is activated exclusively by peptide histidine isoleucine (PHI), which suggests that Pac1a mediates the melanin aggregating effect of PACAP on melanophores. Paradoxically activation of Pac1a with PACAP caused a rise in cAMP, which in fish melanophores is associated with melanin dispersion. We hypothesise that the duplicate adcyap1ra and vipr2a genes in teleosts have acquired a specific role in skin and that the melanin aggregating effect of PACAP results from the interaction of Pac1a with Ramp that attenuates cAMP-dependent PKA activity and favours the Ca(2+)/Calmodulin dependent pathway.
- Metagenetic analysis of patterns of distribution and diversity of marine meiobenthic eukaryotesPublication . Fonseca, Vera G.; Carvalho, Gary R.; Nichols, Ben; Quince, Christopher; Johnson, Harriet F.; Neill, Simon P.; Lambshead, John D.; Thomas, W. Kelley; Power, Deborah M.; Creer, SimonAimMeiofaunal communities that inhabit the marine benthos offer unique opportunities to simultaneously study the macroecology of numerous phyla that exhibit different life-history strategies. Here, we ask: (1) if the macroecology of meiobenthic communities is explained mainly by dispersal constraints or by environmental conditions; and (2) if levels of meiofaunal diversity surpass existing estimates based on morphological taxonomy. LocationUK and mainland European coast. MethodsNext-generation sequencing techniques (NGS; Roche 454 FLX platform) using 18S nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene. Pyrosequences were analysed using AmpliconNoise followed by chimera removal using Perseus. ResultsRarefaction curves revealed that sampling saturation was only reached at 15% of sites, highlighting that the bulk of meiofaunal diversity is yet to be discovered. Overall, 1353 OTUs were recovered and assigned to 23 different phyla. The majority of sampled sites had c. 60-70 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) per site, indicating high levels of beta diversity. The environmental parameters that best explained community structure were seawater temperature, geographical distance and sediment size, but most of the variability (R-2=70%-80%) remains unexplained. Main conclusionsHigh percentages of endemic OTUs suggest that meiobenthic community composition is partly niche-driven, as observed in larger organisms, but also shares macroecological features of microorganisms by showing high levels of cosmopolitanism (albeit on a much smaller scale). Meiobenthic communities exhibited patterns of isolation by distance as well as associations between niche, latitude and temperature, indicating that meiobenthic communities result from a combination of niche assembly and dispersal processes. Conversely, isolation-by-distance patterns were not identified in the featured protists, suggesting that animals and protists adhere to radically different macroecological processes, linked to life-history strategies.