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PubMed2004

[Evolutionary predecessors of oncogenesis and old age involution].

A hypothesis is stated explaining emergence of mechanisms of oncogenesis and old age involution. According to the hypothesis the destructive and proliverative phenomena, observed in the course of these pathological processes, emerged on the basis of the destructive and proliverative phenomena, assotiated with asexual reproduction in the Precambrian Metazoa. The evolutionary predecessor of the oncogenesis was semelparous asexual reproduction, and the evolutionary predecessor of the old age involution was desintegration of tissues associated with iteroparous asexual reproduction. The oncogenesis and old age involution in different lines of the Metazoa originated independently. Processes of the normal ontogenesis in the contempory primitive Invertebrates are pointed out. These are the evolutionary predecessors of regression of tumors and haemoblastosis. The importance of regressive development is discussed.

Aging↗
PubMed2000

Regeneration in the metazoans: why does it happen?

Why does regeneration occur? And why, when it manifests itself, does it do so in some but not all metazoan species? Hence, what are the permissive or inhibitory factors operating behind this phenomenon? When it comes to regeneration, many questions, such as these, remain unanswered. In fact, the problem of animal regeneration has withstood the probing of scientific inquiry for over 250 years and still awaits a satisfactory mechanistic explanation. In this essay, I will review the distribution and the modes of regeneration that are found in the different metazoan phyla. Also, I will re-examine ideas on its evolutionary origins, and discuss its possible relationship to both asexual reproduction and embryogenesis. This endeavor has two objectives. First, to bring forward an interpretation of regeneration which integrates evolutionary and developmental considerations into its discussion. And second, to suggest a comparative experimental approach to this problem that may bring us closer to understanding the molecular basis of this long-standing biological problem. BioEssays 22:578-590, 2000.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Germ cell specification in Volvox carteri.

Volvox carteri illustrates with diagrammatic clarity Weismann's concept of an immortal germline that produces a mortal soma that will carry it for a time, but then perish. Each V. carteri adult consists of about 16 asexual reproductive cells (gonidia) in the interior of a sphere that consists at its surface of about 2000 biflagellate somatic cells. When mature, each gonidium divides to form a juvenile with this same cellular composition. Half-way through their maturation, juveniles hatch out of the parenteral spheroid, whereupon parental somatic cells undergo programmed death while juvenile gonidia prepare for a new round of reproduction. The first visible step in V. carteri germ-soma differentiation is asymmetric cleavage, which sets apart large gonidial initials from small somatic initials. Experimental analysis indicates that it is a difference in size, not any difference in cytoplasmic quality, that determines whether a cell will become germinal or somatic. Mutational and molecular studies lead to the following model for the genetic control of the germ-soma dichotomy: first, the gls locus acts to cause asymmetric division; then large cells activate a set of lag loci that suppress expression of somatic genes, while small cells activate the regA locus that suppresses gonidial genes.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Interactions between the foot and bud patterning systems in Hydra vulgaris.

In the freshwater coelenterate, hydra, asexual reproduction via budding occurs at the base of the gastric region about two-thirds of the distance from the head to the foot. Developmental gradients of head and foot activation and inhibition originating from these organizing centers have long been assumed to control budding in hydra. Much has been learned over the years about these developmental gradients and axial pattern formation, and in particular, the inhibitory influence of the head on budding is well documented. However, understanding of the role of the foot and potential interactions between the foot, bud, and head patterning systems is lacking. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the foot in the initiation of new axis formation during budding by manipulating the foot and monitoring effects on the onset of first bud evagination and the time necessary to reach the 50% budding point. Several experimental situations were examined: the lower peduncle and foot (PF) were injured or removed, a second PF was laterally grafted onto animals either basally (below the budding zone) or apically (above the budding zone), or both the head and PF were removed simultaneously. When the PF was injured or removed, the onset of first bud evagination was delayed and/or the time until the 50% budding point was reached was longer. The effects were more pronounced when the manipulation was performed closer to the anticipated onset of budding. When PF tissue was doubled, precocious bud evagination was induced, regardless of graft location. Removal of the PF at the same time as decapitation reduced the inductive effect of decapitation on bud evagination. These results are discussed in light of potential signals from the foot or interactions between the foot and head patterning systems that might influence bud axis initiation.

Animal Structures↗
PubMed1984

Study of the conidial development and cleistothecium-like structure of some strains of Fonsecaea pedrosoi. Comparison with other close Dematiaeae.

The production of twenty-seven strains of Fonsecaea pedrosoi was studied. The denticulate type (asexual reproduction) showed three morphological variations: medium-size, long and sessile forms. These forms can be used to characterize the different strains isolated especially for epidemiological purposes. Only one strain (MR 1335) isolated from a chromomycosis case in Martinique showed a cleistothecium-like structure. This formation was compared to that observed in Phialophora verrucosa, another agent of chromomycosis, and to the cleistothecium of Dictyotrichiella mansonii, the perfect state of Wangiella mansonii which is a saprophyte fungus.

Chromoblastomycosis↗
PubMed2006

Involvement of vasa homolog in germline recruitment from coelomic stem cells in budding tunicates.

We investigated the mechanism by which germline cells are recruited in every asexual reproductive cycle of the budding tunicate Polyandrocarpa misakiensis using a vasa homolog (PmVas) as the germline-specific probe. A presumptive gonad of Polyandrocarpa arose as a loose cell aggregate in the ventral hemocoel of a 1-week-old developing zooid. It developed into a compact clump of cells and then separated into two lobes, each differentiating into the ovary and the testis. The ovarian tube that was formed at the bottom of the ovary embedded the oogonia and juvenile oocytes, forming the germinal epithelium. PmVas was expressed strongly by loose cell aggregates, compact clumps, and peripheral germ cells in the testis and germinal epithelium. No signals were detected in growing buds and less than 1-week-old zooids, indicating that germ cells arise de novo in developing zooids of P. misakiensis. Cells of the loose cell aggregates were 5-6 mum in diameter. They looked like undifferentiated hemoblasts in the hemocoel. To examine the involvement of PmVas in the germline recruitment at postembryonic stages, both growing buds and 1-week-old developing zooids were soaked with double-stranded PmVas RNA. The growing buds developed into fertile zooids expressing PmVas, whereas the 1-week-old zooids developed into sterile zooids that did not express PmVas. In controls (1-week-old zooids) soaked with double-stranded lacZ RNA, the gonad developed normally. These results strongly suggest that in P. misakiensis, PmVas plays a decisive role in switching from coelomic stem cells to germ cells.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Molecular characterization of the genomic region linked with apomixis in Pennisetum/Cenchrus.

Apomixis is defined as asexual reproduction through seeds, although this outcome can be achieved by multiple pathways. Since little is known about the molecular control of these pathways, how they might intersect is also a mystery. Two of these pathways in the grass family, diplospory and apospory, are receiving attention from molecular biologists. Apospory in Pennisetum/Cenchrus, two genera of panicoid grasses, results in the formation of four-nucleate embryo sacs that lack antipodals. Sexual reproduction frequently aborts so that the resulting seed is composed of (1) a parthenogenetically derived embryo that is genetically identical to the mother and (2) endosperm formed through pseudogamy. The transmission of apomixis is associated with the transfer of a linkage block on a single chromosome. This linkage block contains repetitive sequences as well as hemizygous, low-copy DNA sequences. Fluorescence in situ hybridization has demonstrated that these DNA regions occur on only a single chromosome, but not its homologs, in the polyploid apomicts studied. Features of the apomixis-associated region resemble those of other chromosomal segments isolated from recombination and replete with "selfish" DNAs.

Cenchrus↗
PubMed1994

Enantiospecific synthesis of bioactive hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs) in Hydra magnipapillata.

Recent reports have shown the occurrence of regiospecific and enantioselective lipoxygenase-mediated metabolism of arachidonic acid (AA) in cytosolic extracts of marine and freshwater hydroids. Here we report that cytosolic extracts of Hydra magnipapillata are unique among hydrozoans for their capability of converting AA into two major metabolites which showed chromatographic, mass spectrometric and nuclear magnetic resonance properties identical to those of 11-R- and 12-S-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (11-R-HETE and 12-S-HETE). The production of neither compound was affected by co-incubation of H. magnipapillata extracts with the cytochrome P-450 inhibitor proadifen. The 5- and 12-lipoxygenase inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), while inhibiting 12-S-HETE formation at high concentrations, did not influence 11-R-HETE production, thus suggesting the co-localisation, unprecedented in hydroids, of two separate enantioselective lipoxygenase-like activities. The possible role of the two metabolites in the control of hydroid body pattern was investigated. At low micromolar concentrations, both enantiomers of 11-HETE inhibited diacylglycerol-induced ectopic head formation (EHF), while 12-S-HETE, and its likely precursor 12-S-hydroperoxy-eicosatetraenoic acid (12-S-HPETE), enhanced bud formation, thus providing the first example of endogenous metabolites controlling, respectively, hydroid 'head activation potential' and asexual reproduction.

12-Hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic Acid↗
PubMed1989

Interactions of three sequentially expressed genes control temporal and spatial specificity in Aspergillus development.

Aspergillus nidulans brlA, abaA, and wetA form a dependent pathway that regulates asexual reproductive development. The order in which these genes are expressed determines the outcome of development. Expression of brlA in vegetative cells leads to activation of abaA and wetA, cessation of vegetative growth, cellular vacuolization, and spore formation. By contrast, expression of abaA in vegetative cells does not result in conidial differentiation but does lead to activation of brlA and wetA, cessation of vegetative growth, and accentuated cellular vacuolization. brlA, abaA, and wetA act individually and together to regulate their own expression and that of numerous other sporulation-specific genes. We propose that the central pathway controlling development is largely autoregulatory. The timing and extent of expression of the regulatory genes and their targets are determined as development proceeds by intrinsically controlled changes in the relative concentrations of regulatory gene products in the various conidiophore cell types.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2005

Malaria: endless fascination with merozoite release.

The erythrocytic asexual reproduction cycle of Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal malaria parasite in humans, starts with the invasion of a red blood cell by a merozoite and ends with the release of up to 32 new copies of itself in about 48 hours. A new study reveals that merozoite release is an explosive event ensuring the dispersal of these non-motile parasites for optimal re-invasion of new red cells.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Germline regeneration: the worms' turn.

Asexual reproduction in the annelid Enchytraeus japonensis entails the regeneration of primordial germ cells from body parts that lack gonads. New primordial germ cells arise from piwi-expressing germline stem cells that are distinct from somatic stem cells.

Animals↗