Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| reorganization of monoaminergic systems in the earthworm, eisenia fetida, following brain extirpation. | the present study describes the major aspects of how monoaminergic (serotonin, dopamine) systems change in the course of regeneration of the brain in the earthworm (eisenia fetida), investigated by immunocytochemistry, hplc assay, and ligand binding. following brain extirpation, the total regeneration time is about 80 days at 10 degrees c. on the 3rd postoperative day serotonin, and on the 11th postoperative day tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons can be observed in the wound tissue. the ... | 2003 | 12589687 |
| comparative efficacy of three epigeic earthworms under different deciduous forest litters decomposition. | an experiment was conducted during 1998-1999, in a deciduous forest located in the semi-arid tropics of central india, to evaluate the suitability of different forest litters as food material for the tropical epigeic earthworms i.e. eisenia fetida (savigny), perionyx excavatus (perrier) and dicogaster bolaui (michaelsen). the aim was to examine the influence of these earthworms on the decomposition processes of three types of forest litters i.e. tectona grandis (teak), madhuca indica (mahua) and ... | 2003 | 12618041 |
| isolation and some characterizations of a glycosylated fibrinolytic enzyme of earthworm, eisenia fetida. | resin coupled with m-aminophenylbornic acid was used to isolate a glycosylated component from homogenate of earthworm (eisenia fetida). the fraction showed a single band on sds-page with a molecular weight of 34, 193 da determined by mass spectroscopy. the n-terminal region is aqvccpdi, different from those of earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes reported previously (nakajima et al. 1993). this glycosylated component showed an activity on digesting both chromozym-th and fibrin, suggesting that it is a ... | 2003 | 12678816 |
| mass spectrometric analyses of cl(39), cl(41) and h(1), h(2), h(3) confirm identity with fetidin and lysenin produced by earthworm leukocytes. | antibacterial proteins realize effective immunological mechanisms against invading pathogens. some of them exert hemolytic and agglutinating properties. here, we analyzed two hemolysins isolated from cell lysate (cl(39) and cl(41)) and three hemolytic proteins isolated from coelomic fluid (h(1), h(2) and h(3)) of the annelid eisenia fetida using mass spectrometry and bioinformatics. we demonstrated the identity of cl(39,41) with fetidin and lysenin; these have been described earlier. h(1-3) shar ... | 2007 | 12697308 |
| the influence of exposure history to lead on the lysosomal response in eisenia fetida (oligochaeta). | in this study groups of the epigeic earthworm species eisenia fetida were exposed experimentally for different periods to sublethal concentrations of pb(no3)2. the lysosomal membrane fragility response of coelomocytes was used as a biomarker to explore the cytotoxity of pb by determining the neutral red retention times (nrrts) and correlating them with different body loads of pb. previously unexposed worms exposed to different low concentrations of pb(no3)2 for 4 weeks demonstrated a clear dose- ... | 2003 | 12706391 |
| comparative toxicity of tetra ethyl lead and lead oxide to earthworms, eisenia fetida (savigny). | leaded gasoline contains tetra ethyl lead (tel) as an antiknocking agent, which produces major amounts of lead oxide in automobile exhaust along with traces of tel. to minimize the lead contamination, methyl tertiary butyl ether (mtbe) is used as a substitute for producing unleaded gasoline. it has become increasingly apparent that young children are highly susceptible to the harmful effects of lead. hence, a study was carried out to monitor lead toxicity in soil, using adult earthworms (eisenia ... | 2003 | 12804524 |
| purification, characterization and crystallization of a group of earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes from eisenia fetida. | seven fibrinolytic enzymes were purified from the earthworm eisenia fetida. the molecular weights of the enzymes were 24663, 29516, 29690, 24201, 24170, 23028 and 29595, and the respective isoelectric points were 3.46, 3.5, 3.5, 3.68, 3.62, 3.94 and 3.46. all the proteases showed different fibrinolytic activity on fibrin plates. studies on substrate specificity and inhibition indicated that they belonged to different types of serine proteases. n-terminal sequencing indicated their high homology ... | 2003 | 12889822 |
| municipal solid waste management through vermicomposting employing exotic and local species of earthworms. | a comparative study was conducted between exotic and local (epigeic--eisenia fetida and anaecic--lempito mauritii, respectively) species of earthworms for the evaluation of their efficacy in vermicomposting of municipal solid waste (msw). vermicomposting of msw for 42 days resulted in significant difference between the two species in their performance measured as loss in total organic carbon, carbon-nitrogen ratio (c:n) and increase in total kjeldahl nitrogen, electrical conductivity and total p ... | 2003 | 12895560 |
| is there a relationship between soil and groundwater toxicity? | part iia of the environmental protection act 1990 requires environmental regulators to assess the risk of contaminants leaching from soils into groundwater (detr, 1999). this newly introduced legislation assumes a link between soil and groundwater chemistry, in which rainwater leaches contaminants from soil into the saturated zone. as the toxicity of both groundwater and overlying soils is dependent upon the chemicals present, their partitioning and their bioavailability, similar patterns of soi ... | 2003 | 12901073 |
| vermicomposting of industrially produced woodchips and sewage sludge utilizing eisenia fetida. | adult eisenia fetida were used to vermicompost woodchips (wc) and sewage sludge (ss) that are produced as waste product by platinum mines. the aims of the study were to examine the growth and reproductive success of the worms over 84 days to determine long-term feasibility of large-scale implementation and monitor the bioconcentration of heavy metals and the effects of microorganisms inoculation to quantify possible environmental implications. results revealed that there were no effects on growt ... | 2003 | 12927558 |
| hydrolysis of fibrinogen and plasminogen by immobilized earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme ii from eisenia fetida. | earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme ii (efe-ii) from eisenia fetida has a broad hydrolytic specificity for peptide bonds. our experiments show that efe-ii can hydrolyze the specific chromogenic substrates of thrombin (chromozym th), trypsin (chromozym try) and elastase (chromozym ela). the michaelis-menten constant (k(m)) for chromozym ela (approximately 245 microm) is much higher than those for the thrombin (approximately 90 microm) and trypsin (approximately 60 microm) substrates. on the other hand, ... | 2003 | 12957313 |
| influence of ageing on zinc bioavailability in soils. | currently, soil quality criteria or soil risk assessments of metals are based on laboratory toxicity tests which are carried out in soils freshly spiked with metal salts. with these data, species sensitivity distributions are fitted, from which hazardous concentrations and predicted no effect concentrations are derived. however, due to long-term processes, called ageing, soil metal availability decreases with time. here we show that ph is the most important parameter determining the effect of ag ... | 2003 | 12963299 |
| influence of organic wastes and seasonal environmental factors on growth and reproduction of eisenia fetida. | epigeic earthworms (e. fetida) were cultured on variety of organic wastes amended with cattle manure to determine the influence of diets and the seasonal environmental factors on growth and reproduction. the results showed that growth and reproductive strategies of e. fetida varied with different diets and seasons. growth and reproduction of worms in all wastes were significantly more in winter and monsoon than in summer season. hence winter and monsoon seasons could be considered congenial for ... | 2003 | 12974416 |
| seasonal variations in compostability and production of vermiprotein by eisenia fetida. | the potential of e. fetida to degrade wastes into vermicompost and to produce vermiprotein in the form of worm-biomass during different seasons was evaluated. results revealed that the environmental factors prevailing during different seasons did influence directly the life activities of the worm and indirectly the compostability of the wastes. feeding activities of e. fetida reduced the time of production of an efficient organic pool with energy reserves as vermicompost. further, the amount of ... | 2003 | 12974458 |
| comparative toxicity of a zinc salt, zinc powder and zinc oxide to eisenia fetida, enchytraeus albidus and folsomia candida. | the pore water zinc concentration and the calcium chloride extracted zinc fraction are higher in the soils spiked with a zinc salt (zncl2) compared to soils spiked with zinc oxide or zinc powder. based on total zinc concentrations in the soil, the acute toxicity of zinc salt to the compost worm eisenia fetida, the potworm enchytraeus albidus and the springtail folsomia candida was lower compared to zinc oxide and zinc powder. however, when expressed on the basis of pore water concentrations or c ... | 2003 | 14505706 |
| the effect of lead-contaminated soil from canadian prairie skeet ranges on the neutral red retention assay and fecundity in the earthworm eisenia fetida. | the sublethal effects of lead (pb) on the earthworm eisenia fetida were evaluated in the laboratory using freshly spiked soil and soil collected from canadian prairie skeet ranges. after a four-week exposure to soil spiked with lead acetate, earthworm neutral red retention time (nrrt). soil pb concentrations, and earthworm pb body burdens were measured. lysosomal nrrt was reduced in a concentration-dependent manner (p < 0.0001), and nrrt was negatively correlated with earthworm pb body burdens ( ... | 2003 | 14552010 |
| effect of nonaqueous-phase liquids on the availability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil for worm uptake and bacterial genotoxicity. | a study was conducted to determine the effect of nonaqueous-phase liquids (napls) on the bioavailability of benzo[a]pyrene (bap) in soil. sentry 19 oil and pristane reduced the availability of bap for assimilation by the earthworm eisenia fetida and for mutagenicity in a rifampicin-sensitive strain of pseudomonas putida. as much as 80% of the compound could be rendered unavailable to the worms or for genotoxicity. tests with five alkanes and an oil showed that the extent of reduction in genotoxi ... | 2003 | 14587898 |
| measurement of annetocin gene expression: a new reproductive biomarker in earthworm ecotoxicology. | the emergence of new technologies from the genomics revolution will transform the potential application of biomarkers to assess how pollutants impact people, animals, and ecosystems. genetic databases provide a huge resource from which candidate molecular biomarkers can be identified and, subsequently, exploited to address these issues. however, a major challenge is to link these novel molecular indices to ecologically relevant whole-organism life-cycle traits (such as reproduction and growth). ... | 2004 | 14659361 |
| manganese toxicity in soil for eisenia fetida, enchytraeus crypticus (oligochaeta), and folsomia candida (collembola). | the u.s. environmental protection agency is developing ecological soil screening level (eco-ssl) benchmarks for ecological risk assessment (era) of contaminants at superfund sites. eco-ssls are developed from published values whenever sufficient quantity and quality of data exist. because insufficient information was available to generate an eco-ssl for mn, standardized toxicity testing was undertaken to fill the data gaps. tests included the earthworm (eisenia fetida) cocoon production test, th ... | 2004 | 14659366 |
| reconfirmation of antimicrobial activity in the coelomic fluid of the earthworm eisenia fetida andrei by colorimetric assay. | a novel tetrazolium salt, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulphophenyl)-2h-tetrazolium (mts) was used in the assessment of antimicrobial activity in earthworm in the presence of phenazine methosulphate (pms) as an electron coupling reagent. this activity was purified from the coelomic fluid of the earthworm (ecf), eisenia fetida andrei (oligochaeta, lumbricidae, annelids) using a series of column chromatography techniques and was tested against three gram-negative st ... | 2003 | 14660872 |
| assessing the impact of triazine herbicides on organophosphate insecticide toxicity to the earthworm eisenia fetida. | a standard organization for economic cooperation and development (oecd) filter paper test was used to assess the acute toxicity of chlorpyrifos, atrazine, cyanazine, and simazine to the earthworm eisenia fetida. acute toxicity of chlorpyrifos was also determined in combination with the three-triazine herbicides. surprisingly, atrazine and cyanazine caused mortality at concentrations lower than chlorpyrifos. atrazine and cyanazine also increased the toxicity of chlorpyrifos 7.9- and 2.2-fold, res ... | 2003 | 14674587 |
| decomposition of kitchen waste amended with cow manure using an epigeic species (eisenia fetida) and an anecic species (lampito mauritii). | an epigeic (surface dweller) earthworm species eisenia fetida and an anecic (deep burrower) earthworm species lampito mauritii have been tested for decomposition of kitchen waste plus cow dung. chemical analyses of worm-worked substrates by both species showed g/kg increases in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and decreases in c/n and c/p ratios after 150 days of vermicomposting. however, organic carbon matter showed reduction in their amounts for 3-4 months and afterwards slightly increased u ... | 2004 | 14693456 |
| fluorescence fingerprints of eisenia fetida and eisenia andrei. | we describe a fluorescent method that allows to differentiate the worms eisenia fetida and eisenia andrei. in fact, the coelomic fluid of e. andrei displays specific fluorescence absent in that of e. fetida. the two species do not metabolize the same types of molecules and thus can be differentiated at the molecular level. each species has specific fluorescence fingerprints. | 2003 | 14743869 |
| comparative studies on biomass production, life cycles and composting efficiency of eisenia fetida (savigny) and lampito mauritii (kinberg). | comparative studies were performed to evaluate composting potential, biomass growth and biology of a non-native (eisenia fetida) and an endemic (lampito mauritii) species of earthworm in the semiarid environment of jodhpur district of rajasthan in india. earthworms were reared in a mixed bedding material comprised of biogas slurry, cowdung, wheat straw, leaflitter, sawdust and kitchen waste. the percentage of organic carbon of the culture bedding material declined upto 105 days with e. fetida an ... | 2004 | 14766161 |
| modulation of motor patterns by sensory feedback during earthworm locomotion. | role of sensory feedback to motor pattern activity concerning locomotion in the earthworm, eisenia fetida, was investigated. we have previously reported that bath application of octopamine induces fictive locomotion in the earthworm. in this study, we have examined the role of sensory feedback during fictive locomotion by analyzing electrical activities from the cut end and intact first lateral nerves of the ventral nerve cord (vnc). from the cut end recordings, motor activity associated with fi ... | 2004 | 15041199 |
| expression and characterization of arsp1 from eisenia fetida. | to study the characterization of a protease arsp1 (apoptosis-related serine protease) of eisenia fetida, a recombinant arsp1 was constructed. arsp1 was produced in e. coli bl21-codonplus (de3)-ril after iptg induction and exited in inclusion body. after refolding in vitro, the protein was purified by deae-sepharose f.f. and sephacryl s-100 chromatography in sequence. arsp1 showed high sequence identity to other chymotrypsin-like serine proteases and the catalytic triad was his41-asp90-ser188. ar ... | 2004 | 15050923 |
| effects of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc on growth, reproduction and survival of the earthworm eisenia fetida (savigny): assessing the environmental impact of point-source metal contamination in terrestrial ecosystems. | the earthworm eisenia fetida (annelida: oligochaeta) was exposed to a geometric series of concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc in artificial soil using the oecd recommended protocol. mortality, growth and cocoon production were measured over 56 days to determine lc50 and ec50 values. no observed effect concentrations (noecs) were also estimated. furthermore, the percentage of viable cocoons and number of juveniles emerging per cocoon was recorded. cocoon production was more sensitive ... | 1994 | 15091707 |
| the development of genetically inherited resistance to zinc in laboratory-selected generations of the earthworm eisenia fetida. | the capacity of species to adapt both physiologically and genetically to contaminants may allow populations to persist in polluted environments. such 'adaptation' can have important implications for risk assessment, since it may mean that prediction based on extrapolation of toxicity studies with naïve populations may prove invalid for long-term contaminated sites. to investigate the evolution of zinc resistance in eisenia fetida, worms from a previously unexposed population (parent) were select ... | 2000 | 15092890 |
| genotoxicity of two novel pesticides for the earthworm, eisenia fetida. | in this paper, several studies were conducted to evaluate the genotoxicity of two pesticides, imidacloprid and rh-5849, for earthworm (eisenia fetida). earthworms were exposed in different exposure systems to evaluate their acute toxicity and the genotoxicity of the two pesticides was evaluated by using the method of sperm deformity assessment, micronucleus test of root tip cells in vicia faba, a mouse bone-marrow micronucleus test, and comet assay. lc(50) (interpolated concentration at which 50 ... | 2000 | 15092957 |
| crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme component b from eisenia fetida. | earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme component b (efe-b) is one of three high-fibrinolytic components found in eisenia fetida. several crystal forms were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique. diffraction data were collected from two well diffracting crystal forms. crystal form i diffracted to a resolution of 2.25 a but was merohedrally twinned, with space group p2(1)3, unit-cell parameters a = b = c = 122.9 a and two molecules per asymmetric unit. crystal form ii diffracted to beyond ... | 2004 | 15103143 |
| the comet assay as biomarker of heavy metal genotoxicity in earthworms. | the ubiquitous occurring earthworm species, eisenia fetida, were exposed to nickel chloride to determine whether the heavy metal ni caused dna damage, as measured by the comet (single cell gel electrophoresis) assay. primary cell cultures of earthworm coelomocytes were exposed in vitro and whole animals either in spiked artificial soil water or in spiked cattle manure substrates. comets formed were scored using mean tail lengths as well as comparing percentages of damage in five different damage ... | 2004 | 15106672 |
| as the worm turns: eisenia fetida avoids soil contaminated by a glyphosate-based herbicide. | 2004 | 15106754 | |
| profiles of enzymatic activity in earthworms from zinc, lead and cadmium polluted areas near olkusz (poland). | the aim of the study was to determine whether there are signs of adaptation of soil fauna to a gradient of heavy metal contamination. earthworms aporrectodea caliginosa, lumbricus terrestris and eisenia fetida were collected during the spring and summer of 2000 and 2001 from meadow sites situated between 2 and 32 km from the bukowno-olkusz complex of zinc-lead ore mines and smelters. the heavy metal content in the soil near smelters reaches 10,500 mg/kg (d.w.) for zn, 2600 mg/kg for pb and 81.9 ... | 2004 | 15196838 |
| a new ultrasound protocol for extrusion of coelomocyte cells from the earthworm eisenia fetida. | there is mounting evidence that earthworms could be used as a sentinel species for soil ecotoxicity evaluation. in this aspect, phagocytosis by coelomocytes was shown to be a sensitive biomarker of exposure to xenobiotics. in this paper, we introduce a simple method for ultrasound extrusion of earthworm coelomocytes that generates a high cell yield, does not interfere with phagocytic competence, and requires a minimum of manipulations. coelomocytes were extruded from the earthworm eisenia fetida ... | 2004 | 15261718 |
| the relationship between lysosomal biomarker and organismal responses in an acute toxicity test with eisenia fetida (oligochaeta) exposed to the fungicide copper oxychloride. | the lc50 of copper oxychloride for eisenia fetida was determined, and its effects on biomass change and lysosomal damage using neutral red retention times (nrrt) of coelomocytes were measured. the aim was to establish whether a lysosomal subcellular response, measured as nrrt, could be linked to the lc50 and biomass changes. further, we attempted to establish the ecological relevance of the lc50 by comparing it to studies previously carried out on the effects of copper oxychloride on field earth ... | 2004 | 15261789 |
| influence of copper fungicide residues on occurrence of earthworms in avocado orchard soils. | the compost worm eisenia fetida was used to demonstrate the avoidance by worms of cu contaminated soil. soils were collected from two avocado orchards in north eastern new south wales, australia. in avoidance trials, worms preferred non-contaminated control soils, sourced from adjacent to the orchard or an oecd control soil, when cu residues in the orchard soils reached 4-34 mg cu kg(-1). at levels of 553 mg cu kg(-1), 90% avoidance of orchard soil was observed. the worms showed preference for t ... | 2004 | 15262156 |
| embryogenesis of gabaergic elements in the nervous system of eisenia fetida (annelida, oligochaeta). | the appearance and development of the gaba-immunoreactive nervous elements in the central nervous system of eisenia fetida were studied by immunocytochemistry. the nervous system originates from the neuroectoderm situated on the ventral side of the embryo. the organization of the circumpharyngeal ring starts earlier than that of the ventral cord. in the elementary ring the first gaba-immunopositive neurons can be observed (e1 stage) around the mouth. later the cell number gradually increases and ... | 2004 | 15270249 |
| suitability of aquaculture effluent solids mixed with cardboard as a feedstock for vermicomposting. | recirculating aquaculture systems are highly intensive culture systems that actively filter and reuse water, thus minimizing water requirements and creating relatively small volumes of concentrated waste (compared to flow-through aquaculture systems). vermicomposting, which uses earthworms to stabilize and transform organic wastes into valuable end-products, has been proposed as an alternative treatment technology for high-moisture-content organic wastes from agricultural, industrial and municip ... | 2005 | 15491821 |
| tracking and predation on earthworms by the invasive terrestrial planarian bipalium adventitium (tricladida, platyhelminthes). | the potential ecological impact of exotic terrestrial planarians will be determined in part by their sensory abilities and predatory behavior. it has been suggested that these flatworms may only encounter their earthworm prey by chance, hence restricting the breadth of species they will feed upon and the number of microhabitats in which predator-prey interactions occur. we hypothesized that those flatworms that have already successfully invaded north america (genus bipalium) actually detect and ... | 2004 | 15518983 |
| transformation of nitrogen during vermicomposting of fly ash. | in view of environmental problems generated by large-scale production of fly ash, increasing attention is now being paid to the recycling fly ash as a source of plant nutrients in agriculture. however, the low amount of nitrogen in such materials forms a major constraint for such application. in the present study, the possibility of improving the n status in mixtures of fly ash and organic matter was investigated by adopting vermicomposting technology. different combinations of fly ash and cow ( ... | 2004 | 15666451 |
| single versus multiple occupancy--effects on toxicity parameters measured on eisenia fetida in lead nitrate-treated soil. | the mortality (7 and 14 d), weight change (7 and 14 d), and metal uptake of eisenia fetida (savigny, 1826) kept in pb(no3)2-treated kettering loam soil in single- and multiple-occupancy (10 earthworms) test containers were determined. the number of earthworms to dry mass (g) ratio of soil was 1:50 in both sets of test containers. lead concentrations were in the nominal range of 0 to 10,000 mg pb/kg soil (mg/kg hereafter). levels of mortality at a given concentration were statistically identical ... | 2005 | 15683173 |
| effect of volatile hydrocarbon fractions on mobility and earthworm uptake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soils and soil/lampblack mixtures. | studies were conducted to examine the mobility and bioavailability to earthworms (eisenia fetida) of priority pollutant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pah) in a suite of 11 soils and soil/lampblack mixtures obtained from former manufactured-gas plant sites. contaminant mobility was assessed using xad4 resins encapsulated in dialysis tubing, which were exposed to slurried soils for 15 d. these experiments showed that mobility of pah in the different soils strongly correlated to the levels of v ... | 2005 | 15683182 |
| early-phase immunodetection of metallothionein and heat shock proteins in extruded earthworm coelomocytes after dermal exposure to metal ions. | this paper provides direct evidence that earthworm immune cells, coelomocytes, are exposed to bio-reactive quantities of metals within 3 days after dermal exposure, and that they respond by upregulating metallothionein (mt) and heat shock protein (hsp70, hsp72) expression. indirect support for the hypothesis that coelomocytes are capable of trafficking metals was also obtained. coelomocytes were expelled from adult individuals of eisenia fetida after 3-day exposure either to metal ions (zn, cu, ... | 2005 | 15734587 |
| bioaccumulation of metals in eisenia fetida after exposure to a metal-loaded bauxsol reagent. | the present study investigated the acute toxic effects of a metal-loaded bauxsol reagent (mlbr), containing more than 6,450 mg kg(-1) of bound metal, on the earthworm eisenia fetida. bauxsol is manufactured by virotec global solutions of gold coast, queensland, australia. the e. fetida were exposed to 0, 10, 20, 40, 60, and 80% treatments of mlbr plus cow manure for 28 d. good motility and no mortality of e. fetida were found in all treatments after 28 d of exposure. the greatest bioaccumulation ... | 2005 | 15779754 |
| monoclonal antibodies identify four distinct annelid leukocyte markers. | this paper describes for the first time the production and characterization of a library of monoclonal antibodies (anti-efcc clones) raised against coelomocyte (leukocyte) markers of eisenia fetida earthworm. leukocyte subgroups are components of earthworm innate immunity that require a more precise characterization using immunological markers. flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, and immunoprecipitation analyzed and confirmed the specificity of anti-efcc clones. anti-efcc mabs revealed differen ... | 2004 | 15784291 |
| crystal structure of earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme component b: a novel, glycosylated two-chained trypsin. | the earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme (efe), belonging to a group of serine proteases with strong fibrinolytic activity, has been used in a mixture as an oral drug for prevention and treatment of thrombosis in east asia. the efe component b (efe-b) is one of seven efe components from eisenia fetida, and among them it has nearly the highest fibrinolytic activity. here, we report its crystal structure at a resolution of 2.06a. the structural analysis shows that efe-b should be classified as a trypsin ... | 2005 | 15826663 |
| lead and zinc bioavailability to eisenia fetida after phosphorus amendment to repository soils. | four phosphorus forms were investigated as potential soil amendments to decrease the bioavailability of pb and zn in two repository soils to the earthworm, eisenia fetida. treatments were evaluated by examining differences in bioaccumulation factors between amended and non-amended soils. triple super phosphate at 5000 mg p/kg decreased both pb and zn bioavailability in both soils. rock phosphate at 5000 mg p/kg decreased zn bioavailability, but not pb bioavailability in both repository soils. mo ... | 2005 | 15840539 |
| bioaccumulation and elimination of avermectin b1a in the earthworms (eisenia fetida). | the acute toxicity, bioaccumulation, and elimination of avermectin b1a (avm b1a) in earthworm (eisenia fetida) were investigated in different exposure systems. the lc50 of avm b1a on earthworms were 24.1 mg/kg and 17.1 mg/kg, respectively, for 7 and 14 days in artificial soil. the lc50 tested by the filter paper for 2 days was 4.63 microg/cm2. the earthworms were cultivated in artificial soil containing 0.6 mg/kg and 3.0 mg/kg avm b1a, respectively for bioaccumulation experiments. the avm b1a re ... | 2005 | 15963808 |
| bioavailability of phthalate congeners to earthworms (eisenia fetida) in artificially contaminated soils. | bioavailability of phthalate congeners, dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, di-n-butyl phthalate (dbp), di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (dehp), and dioctyl phthalate, to earthworms (eisenia fetida) were studied when earthworms were exposed to two artificially contaminated agricultural and forest soils. only dbp and dehp were detected in earthworms. the uptake kinetics of dbp and dehp in earthworms was fast within the initial 10 days followed by a nearly steady state for the subsequent 20 days. an ... | 2005 | 15978288 |
| toxicity of chromium(iii) and chromium(vi) to the earthworm eisenia fetida. | the effects of cr(iii) and cr(vi) on the survival, behavior, and morphology of the earthworm, eisenia fetida, in water at ph 6, 7, and 8 and their toxicity in 10 different soils and an organic substrate have been assessed. a decrease in the ph of water resulted in increased toxicity of cr to the earthworm. in water, both cr species produced behavioral changes and morphological symptoms. the 48-h lc(50) values of cr(iii) at ph 6, 7, and 8 were 1.93, 2.55, and 2.78 mg/l, and those of cr(vi) were 0 ... | 2005 | 15978294 |
| effects of earthworm activity on fertility and heavy metal bioavailability in sewage sludge. | the potential for using earthworms (eisenia fetida) to improve fertility and reduce copper and cadmium availability in sewage sludge was tested by laboratory incubation experiments. results comparing sewage sludge with and without earthworm treatment showed that earthworm activity decreased the contents of organic matter, total nitrogen, but increased the contents of available nitrogen and phosphorus and had no significant effect on the contents of total phosphorus, total potassium and available ... | 2005 | 15979143 |
| effects of perchlorate on earthworm (eisenia fetida) survival and reproductive success. | the effects of perchlorate on earthworm, eisenia fetida, survival and reproductive success were evaluated using three types of tests: dermal contact (filter paper), sand, and artificial soil. all studies utilized a range of perchlorate concentrations in order to simulate levels that are likely to occur in the environment under different scenarios (typical soil levels vs. spill levels). the oecd filter paper contact test involved exposing earthworms to the test compound on moist filter paper for ... | 2006 | 16005494 |
| effects, transfer, and fate of rdx from aged soil in plants and worms. | the objectives of this study were to provide data that can be used to predict exposure-based effects of rdx in aged soil on multiple endpoint organisms representing two trophic levels. these data can be used for defining criteria or reference values for environmental management and conducting specific risk assessment. dose-response experiments formed the basis for the evaluation of toxic effects and transfer of contaminants from soil into two trophic levels. long-term exposure tests were conduct ... | 2006 | 16045966 |
| relationship between hemolytic molecules in eisenia fetida earthworms. | the coelomic fluid of the earthworm eisenia fetida has been reported to contain a variety of proteins causing the lysis of red blood cells-efaf (eisenia fetida andrei factor), fetidin, lysenin, eiseniapore, and hemolysins isolated either from coelomic fluid (h1, h2, h3) or from cell lysate (cl(39) and cl(41)). we document the presence of two distinct genes with a high level of homology. these genes encode fetidin and lysenin but their level of expression differs in individual e. fetida andrei an ... | 2006 | 16051356 |
| monitoring of the process of composting of kitchen waste in an institutional scale worm farm. | vermicomposting provides an alternative method of managing waste that is ecofriendly and cost-effective. the environmental technology centre (etc) at murdoch university and st. john of god hospital (sjog) signed a memorandum of understanding (mou) to install a vermiculture system in sjog to treat some of the organic waste generated by the on site kitchen facility. this is an effort made by sjog to reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfill each year and to treat the waste on site as par ... | 2005 | 16104419 |
| impact of heavy metals on enzymatic activity of substrate and on composting worms eisenia fetida. | the effect of heavy metals cu and zn on dehydrogenase and protease activity of the substrate during vermicomposting was investigated. three dosages of cu and zn were tested in mesocosm experiments to investigate their bioaccumulation and impact on the reproduction of eisenia fetida. cu accumulated within the worm tissues in dosage concentrations up to a maximum level of 213 mg cu kg(-1). the number of juveniles decreased from the lowest to highest dosages of cu and zn after 10 weeks of the exper ... | 2006 | 16107315 |
| ecotoxicity of sodium fluoroacetate (compound 1080) to soil organisms. | sodium fluoroacetate (compound 1080) is applied as a vertebrate pesticide in new zealand for control of introduced mammalian pests. despite its widespread use, little is known about the soil ecotoxicity of 1080. therefore, the hazard of 1080 to soil invertebrates, plants, and soil microorganisms was evaluated in a series of controlled laboratory tests. no earthworm (eisenia fetida) mortality was reported with 1080 exposures up to 865 mg/kg soil. the lowest-observable-effect concentration and the ... | 2005 | 16111002 |
| reduction in acute toxicity of soils to terrestrial oligochaetes following the removal of bioavailable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with mild supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. | three soil samples contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs) that caused 100% mortality to terrestrial oligochaetes were extracted with supercritical carbon dioxide to remove the bioavailable fraction of pahs. although the remaining pah concentrations were high after supercritical fluid extraction (sfe), 650 to 8,000 mg/kg, acute toxicity to eisenia fetida and enchytraeus albidus essentially was eliminated. these results demonstrate that mild sfe with pure carbon dioxide preferen ... | 2005 | 16152958 |
| earthworm toxicity during chemical oxidation of diesel-contaminated sand. | an ecotoxicity test with eisenia fetida was performed to monitor the removal of diesel and toxicity variation during the ozonation process. the three-dimensional (3-d) cell test was introduced for the monitoring of the ozonation process, and the removal rate based on total petroleum hydrocarbons (tphs) mass was about 95% near the ozone inlet ports. this high removal rate might be caused by the low soil organic matter (som) content and low water content of sand. the use of a fiber-optic transflec ... | 2005 | 16152963 |
| the fate of herbicide acetochlor and its toxicity to eisenia fetida under laboratory conditions. | to assess the toxic effects of the herbicide acetochlor on earthworms, we exposed eisenia fetida (savigny) to artificial soils (oecd soil) supplemented with different concentrations (5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg kg-1 soil) of acetochlor. the residues of acetochlor in soil and the effect of the herbicide on growth, reproduction, glutathione-s-transferases (gst) activity and cellulase activity of earthworms were determined. the degradation half-life of acetochlor in soil of acetochlor was between 9.3 a ... | 2006 | 16169041 |
| bioavailability of pentachlorophenol to earthworms (eisenia fetida) in artificially contaminated soils. | the bioaccumulation of pentachlorophenol in earthworms (eisenia fetida) was studied for two artificially contaminated soils (s1 and s2). the uptake kinetics of pentachlorophenol (pcp) in earthworms increased quickly within the initial 10 days. this was followed by a nearly steady state for the next 20 days that fit with the equilibrium partitioning model. the correlation coefficients were 0.812 and 0.715 for s1 and s2, respectively. the average biota-to-soil accumulation factor of pcp in s1 was ... | 2005 | 16194911 |
| valosine-containing proteins (vcp) in an annelid: identification of a novel spermatogenesis related factor. | two cdnas similar to mammalian valosine-containing proteins (vcps) were isolated from the common lumbricid earthworm eisenia fetida (savigny, 1826). the primary sequences, referred to as evcp-1 and evcp-2, display a similarity of 74%. despite of the variable c-termini, both evcps have a conserved intron/exon organization spanning 14 kb, which is also conserved to their mammalian counterparts. although this finding strongly suggests vcps have a common ancestral origin, phylogenetic analysis predi ... | 2005 | 16216447 |
| [effects of bt toxin cry1ac on biochemical responses of eisenia fetida in an artificial soil]. | bt toxin cry1ac could be introduced into soil by pollen, root exudates, and plant residues. to investigate its toxic effects, the bt toxin was added into an earthworm-cultured artificial soil, and the survival, growth rate, sperm count, protein content, and activities of acetylcholinesterase (ache), catalase (cat), glutathione s-transferase (gst) and cellulase in eisenia fetida were determined. the results suggested that bt toxin cry1ac had little effects on the biomass and physiological charact ... | 2005 | 16262071 |
| eisenia fetida increased removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soil. | the removal of phenanthrene, anthracene and benzo(a)pyrene added at three different concentrations was investigated with or without earthworms (eisenia fetida) within 11 weeks. average anthracene removal by the autochthonous micro-organisms was 23%, 77% for phenanthrene and 13% for benzo(a)pyrene, while it was 51% for anthracene, 47% for benzo(a)pyrene and 100% for phenanthrene in soil with earthworms. at 50 and 100mg phenanthrene kg(-1)e. fetida survival was 91% and 83%, but at 150 mg kg(-1) al ... | 2006 | 16263200 |
| effect of earthworms (eisenia fetida) on the fractionation and bioavailability of rare earth elements in nine chinese soils. | the effect of earthworm (eisenia fetida) activity on soil ph, dissolved organic carbon (doc), fraction distribution pattern and bioavailability of rare earth elements (rees) y, la, ce, pr and nd in nine chinese soils were investigated using pot experiments. a three-step extraction procedure recommended by the european community (standards, measurements and testing programme) was used to fractionate rees in soils into water soluble, exchangeable and carbonate bound (b1), fe- and mn-oxides bound ( ... | 2006 | 16289225 |
| presence of culturable bacteria in cocoons of the earthworm eisenia fetida. | viable bacteria were found to coexist with developing embryos in egg capsules (cocoons) of the earthworm eisenia fetida. earthworms were reared under standardized conditions, and bacterial densities were measured in distinct batches of cocoons collected weekly for 10 weeks. cocoons weighing 12 mg contained a mean viable bacterial population of approximately 10 cfu/g of cocoons. no difference was found in viable counts obtained from cocoons incubated at 15 degrees c and cocoons incubated at 24 de ... | 1993 | 16348968 |
| evidence for perforin-like activity associated with earthworm leukocytes. | earthworm (eisenia fetida) coelomic fluid contains several leukocytes (coelomocytes): basophils, acidophils and neutrophils as well as chloragocytes. small coelomocytes and coelomocyte lysate are cytotoxic for the tumor cell target k562. the expression of a lytic factor was investigated by immunocytochemistry using light and transmission electron microscopy. a rat-anti-mouse-perforin-mab labeled mainly small coelomocytes (nearly 20%) as visualized by light microscopy. tem analysis using immunogo ... | 2001 | 16351814 |
| mitochondrial dna mutation frequencies in experimentally irradiated compost worms, eisenia fetida. | the compost worm eisenia fetida is routinely used in ecotoxicological studies. a standard assay to assess genetic damage in this species would be extremely valuable. since mitochondrial dna (mtdna) is known to exhibit an increased mutation rate following exposure to ionising radiation we assessed the validity of a mtdna-based assay for measuring increases in mutation rate in laboratory-irradiated compost worms. to this end the mutation frequency in the mtdna of the compost worm e. fetida was qua ... | 2006 | 16378751 |
| inhibitory effect of a herbicide formulation on toxicity of malathion to the worm eisenia fetida. | 2005 | 16385945 | |
| comparative study of the ccf-like pattern recognition protein in different lumbricid species. | coelomic fluid of the lumbricid eisenia fetida contains a 42-kda pattern recognition protein named coelomic cytolytic factor (ccf) that binds microbial cell wall components and triggers the activation of the prophenoloxidase cascade, an important invertebrate defense pathway. here we report on the sequence characterization of ccf-like molecules of other lumbricids: aporrectodea caliginosa, aporrectodea icterica, aporrectodea longa, aporrectodea rosea, dendrobaena veneta, lumbricus rubellus and l ... | 2006 | 16386303 |
| dissection of the mechanisms of cytolytic and antibacterial activity of lysenin, a defence protein of the annelid eisenia fetida. | the body fluid of earthworms is known to contain a variety of cytolytic and antibacterial activities to combat potential pathogens that may migrate from the environment into the body cavity. in the annelid eisenia fetida, a multi-gene family exists that give rise to several isoforms, which display hemolytic and antibacterial activity. the hemolytic activity of lysenin, a major isoform, is known to be strictly dependent on sphingomyelin. as bacteria are devoid of sphingomyelin, the nature of the ... | 2006 | 16386304 |
| determination of n-nitroso derivatives of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (rdx) in soils by pressurized liquid extraction and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. | to aid in the evaluation of the potential toxicity of n-nitroso derivatives of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (rdx), we describe a pressurized liquid extraction (ple) followed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (lc-esi-ms) method for determination of rdx and its n-nitroso derivatives: hexahydro-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazine (mnx), hexahydro-1,3-dinitroso-5-nitro-1,3,5-triazine (dnx), and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitroso-1,3,5-triazine (tnx) in soils. san ... | 2006 | 16387311 |
| transmission of nephridial bacteria of the earthworm eisenia fetida. | the lumbricid earthworms (annelid family lumbricidae) harbor gram-negative bacteria in their excretory organs, the nephridia. comparative 16s rrna gene sequencing of bacteria associated with the nephridia of several earthworm species has shown that each species of worm harbors a distinct bacterial species and that the bacteria from different species form a monophyletic cluster within the genus acidovorax, suggesting that there is a specific association resulting from radiation from a common bact ... | 2006 | 16391117 |
| riboflavin as a source of autofluorescence in eisenia fetida coelomocytes. | immunocompetent cells of earthworms (coelomocytes) contain adherent amoebocytes and large eleocytes (chloragocytes); the latter are filled with numerous granules. we have previously shown that eleocytes of several (but not all) earthworm species exhibit strong autofluorescence detectable by fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry. in the present article, the molecular origin of eleocytes autofluorescence was elucidated in coelomocytes expelled via dorsal pores in the integument of eisenia feti ... | 2013 | 16396606 |
| toxicity of the explosive metabolites hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitroso-1,3,5-triazine (tnx) and hexahydro-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazine (mnx) to the earthworm eisenia fetida. | toxicity of hexahydro-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazine (mnx) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitroso-1,3,5-triazine (tnx) to earthworm was evaluated. both mnx and tnx had lethal and sublethal effects on earthworms. exposure to mnx- or tnx-contaminated soil caused a significant concentration-dependent decrease in earthworm survival and growth. the lowest observed lethal concentration (lolc) for both mnx and tnx was 100 and 200 mgkg(-1) soil dry weight in the sandy loam soil and in the silt loam soil, ... | 2006 | 16403555 |
| enzyme activities and chemical changes in wet olive cake after treatment with pleurotus ostreatus or eisenia fetida. | a laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the enzyme activities and chemical changes recorded in a recalcitrant phenolic-rich waste after treatment with pleurotus ostreatus or eisenia fetida. the waste used was wet olive cake (alperujo in spanish), a waste produced in huge amounts by the olive oil industry. both p. ostreatus and e. fetida were very effective in removing phenolic compounds, the initial concentration in the wet olive cake being reduced in both cases by around 90%. laccase ... | 2006 | 16453175 |
| evidence for the presence of thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroglobulin and their receptors in eisenia fetida: a multilevel hormonal interface between the nervous system and the peripheral tissues. | the present study describes the localization and distribution of thyroid-stimulating hormone (tsh), thyroglobulin (tgb) and their receptors in eisenia fetida (annelida, oligochaeta) as revealed by immunohistological methods. immunopositive neuronal and non-neuronal cells are present in both the central nervous system and some peripheral organs (e.g. foregut and coelomocytes). tsh- and tgb-immunopositive neurons in the various ganglia of the central nervous system are differentially distributed. ... | 2006 | 16468053 |
| [effects of avermectin b1a on soil microorganism and earthworm (eisenia fetida)]. | avermectins are the pesticides widely applied in agriculture. this paper studied the effects of different concentration avermectin b1a (avm b1a) on soil bacteria and fungi, soil respiration, and soil earthworm (eisenia fetida). the results showed that in 4 test soils, bacteria were significantly inhibited when the avm b1a concentration was higher than 83.3 mg x kg(-1), while fungi were less impaired. soil respiration was also inhibited by high concentration avm b1a, which differed with soil type ... | 2005 | 16471355 |
| influence of soil properties and aging on the toxicity of copper on compost worm and barley. | influence of soil properties and aging on cu partitioning and toxicity was assessed on 10 artificial soils constituted using a statistical design considering ph (5.5 and 7.5), organic matter (1-30% [w/w]), and clay content (5-35% [w/w]). total cu as well as water-, cacl2-, and diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (dtpa)-extracted cu fractions were determined for each soil mixture. ecotoxic effect was assessed by determining growth inhibition of barley (hordeum vulgare l.) and compost worm (eisen ... | 2013 | 16510700 |
| phoresy of the entomopathogenic nematode steinernema feltiae by the earthworm eisenia fetida. | the free-living stage of entomopathogenic nematodes occurs in soil, and is an environmental-friendly alternative for biological control. however, their dispersal capability is limited. earthworms improve soil characteristics, changing soil structure and influencing many edaphic organisms. thus, earthworms could be used as vectors to introduce/disperse beneficial organisms. nevertheless this interaction has not been studied in detail. this study presents the infectivity results of steinernema fel ... | 2006 | 16542677 |
| selecting a battery of bioassays for ecotoxicological characterization of wastes. | this study was conducted in france within the context of waste classification (hazardous waste council directive 91/689/eec), and focused on "ecotoxic" property (h14). in 1998, an experimental test strategy was developed to assess ecotoxicological properties of wastes using a battery of six standardized bioassays. this combined direct and indirect approaches integrating two solid-phase tests: emergence and growth inhibition of lactuca sativa (14 days), mortality of eisenia fetida (14 days) and f ... | 2006 | 16545863 |
| toxicity benchmarks for antimony, barium, and beryllium determined using reproduction endpoints for folsomia candida, eisenia fetida, and enchytraeus crypticus. | the u.s. environmental protection agency is developing ecological soil screening levels (eco-ssls) for the ecological risk assessment of contaminants at superfund sites. the eco-ssls for several soil contaminants have been developed from toxicity benchmarks for soil invertebrates in the existing literature. insufficient information to generate eco-ssls for sb, ba, and be necessitated toxicity testing to fill the data gaps. we used standardized toxicity tests with the earthworm eiseniafetida, enc ... | 2006 | 16566160 |
| tungsten effects on survival, growth, and reproduction in the earthworm, eisenia fetida. | to provide basic toxicity data for formulating risk characterization benchmarks, the effects of tungsten on survival, growth, and reproduction were investigated in the earthworm eisenia fetida. parallel studies with lead as a reference toxicant also were conducted. although sodium tungstate (na2wo4) was less acutely toxic than lead nitrate (pb(no3)2) in 14-d spiked field soil acute toxicity assays (lethal concentrations for 50% of organisms: w, 6,250 mg/kg; pb, 2,490 mg/kg), tungstate completely ... | 2006 | 16566161 |
| autofluorescence in eleocytes of some earthworm species. | immunocompetent cells of earthworms, coelomocytes, comprise adherent amoebocytes and granular eleocytes (chloragocytes). both cell populations can be expelled via dorsal pores of adult earthworms by exposure to an electric current (4.5 v) for 1 min. analysis by phase contrast/fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry demonstrated that eleocyte population of several species exhibits a strong autofluorescence. a high percentage (11-35%) of autofluorescent eleocytes was recorded in allolobophora c ... | 2006 | 16584095 |
| evidence for proteins involved in prophenoloxidase cascade eisenia fetida earthworms. | the prophenoloxidase cascade represents one of the most important defense mechanisms in many invertebrates. following the recognition of microbial saccharides by pattern recognition molecules, proteinases cleave inactive prophenoloxidase to its active form, phenoloxidase. phenoloxidase is a key enzyme responsible for the catalysis of the melanization reaction. final product melanin is involved in wound healing and immune responses. prophenoloxidase cascade has been widely described in arthropods ... | 2006 | 16636833 |
| ecological risk assessment of contaminated soil. | this review has described three cases of ecological risk assessment. the cases include two heavy metals (cu and zn) and an anthropogenic organic chemical (ddt). it concludes that there are at least two major constraints hampering the use of laboratory tests to predict effects under natural field conditions. one key issue is bioavailability, and another is suboptimal conditions or multiple stresses in the field such as climatic stress (drought, frost), predators, competition, or food shortage. on ... | 2006 | 16676902 |
| biomarkers responses of the earthworm eisenia fetida to acetochlor exposure in oecd soil. | to examine the potential of a suite of biomarkers as early warning indicators of environmental pollution, sperm count, neutral red retention time (nrrt) and dna damage were measured in earthworm eisenia fetida exposed to increasing concentrations of acetochlor in oecd soil. the neutral red retention time of earthworms coelomocytes was sensitive to acetochlor pollution, and decreased significantly when the concentration was more than 10mgkg(-1) after 30 and 60 days of exposure (p<0.05). the reduc ... | 2006 | 16682071 |
| cloning and real-time pcr testing of 14 potential biomarkers in eisenia fetida following cadmium exposure. | important biological activities could be affected in metal exposed species, and amongthe main physiological functions, immunity may provide one (or more) effector(s) which expression can be directly affected by a metal exposure in various macroinvertebrates. as many proteinic effectors showed a high degree of homology between species, we have developed a pcr approach to characterize partial mrna sequences of selected effectors in the laboratory model, eisenia fetida. after cloning, levels of exp ... | 2006 | 16683633 |
| comparison of techniques for estimating pah bioavailability: uptake in eisenia fetida, passive samplers and leaching using various solvents and additives. | the aim of this study was to evaluate different techniques for assessing the availability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs) in soil. this was done by comparing the amounts (total and relative) taken up by the earthworm eisenia fetida with the amounts extracted by solid-phase microextraction (spme), semi-permeable membrane devices (spmds), leaching with various solvent mixtures, leaching using additives, and sequential leaching. bioconcentration factors of pahs in the earthworms based on ... | 2007 | 16713049 |
| [lysosome of eisenia fetida as biomarker of soil pollution]. | the lysosome of eisenia fetida can accumulate neutral red dye rapidly. when exposed to environment pollution, the membrane of the lysosome is easily to be cracked, and the dye shall leak to the cytoplasm gradually, making the cell red. therefore, neutral red retention time (nrrt) can reflect the damaged degree of lysosome. in this paper, the nrrt of the lysosome in coelomocytes of e. fetida was determined after exposed to different concentrations of acetochlor and selenium. the results showed th ... | 2006 | 16724754 |
| embryogenesis of the serotonergic system in the earthworm eisenia fetida (annelida, oligochaeta): immunohistochemical and biochemical studies. | organization of the serotonergic system and changes of the serotonin (5-ht) content were studied during the embryogenesis of the earthworm eisenia fetida, using immunocytochemistry and hplc. a gradual emergence of 5-ht immunoreactive (ir) cells and their axon projections in the several ganglia of the central (cns) and peripheral nervous system are described in the context of a staged time-scale of development. the first 5-ht-ir neurons appear in the subesophageal ganglion at an early embryonic s ... | 2006 | 16736470 |
| functional and community-level soil microbial responses to zinc addition may depend on test system biocomplexity. | the effect of zinc on soil nitrification and composition of the microbial community in soil was investigated using a full factorial experiment with five zinc concentrations and four levels of biological complexity (microbes only, microbes and earthworms (eisenia fetida), microbes and italian ryegrass (lolium multiflorum var. macho), and microbes, ryegrass and earthworms). after 6 weeks of exposure, the activity of soil nitrifying bacteria was measured and the microbial community structure was ch ... | 2006 | 16774777 |
| metallothionein response following cadmium exposure in the oligochaete eisenia fetida. | we studied the metallothionein (mt) response in cadmium-exposed worms (eisenia fetida) both at the protein level by dot immunobinding assay (dia) with a polyclonal antibody raised against the most immunogenic part of this protein and at the expression level by northern blotting using a specific probe. mt appeared as two close isoforms. dia results clearly demonstrated significant differences in mt level of whole worm heat-treated supernatants between e. fetida exposed to cd concentrations as low ... | 2006 | 16814611 |
| in situ localization and substrate specificity of earthworm protease-ii and protease-iii-1 from eisenia fetida. | recently, the function in fibrinolysis of earthworm proteases has been studied. in our experiments, earthworm protease-ii (efp-ii) and earthworm protease-iii-1 (efp-iii-1) were isolated and purified from eisenia fetida. as shown by the assay of sections of the earthworm on fibrin plates, the enzymic activity was mainly detected around the clitellum. in the presence of anti-efp-ii or anti-efp-iii-1 serum, the immunological signals of the two isozymes were clearly found in the anterior alimentary ... | 2007 | 16814856 |
| a review of studies performed to assess metal uptake by earthworms. | earthworms perform a number of essential functions in soil; the impacts of metals on earthworms are often investigated. in this review we consider the range of earthworm species, types of soil and forms of metal for which metal uptake and accumulation have been studied, the design of these experiments and the quantitative relationships that have been derived to predict earthworm metal body burden. we conclude that there is a need for more studies on earthworm species other than eisenia fetida in ... | 2007 | 16815606 |
| comparative anatomy of pacap-immunoreactive structures in the ventral nerve cord ganglia of lumbricid oligochaetes. | by means of a whole mount immunocytochemical approach, the distribution patterns of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (pacap)-27 and pacap-38 were identified in the ventral nerve cord (vnc) ganglia of the earthworms eisenia fetida and lumbricus terrestris. each pacap form appears to occur in a distinct neuron population. positions of these populations, as well as numbers and sizes of the constituting neurons do not essentially differ between the two species. the data suggest tha ... | 2006 | 16888204 |
| eisenia fetida (oligochaeta, lumbricidae) activates fungal growth, triggering cellulose decomposition during vermicomposting. | cellulose is the most abundant polymer in nature and constitutes a large pool of carbon for microorganisms, the main agents responsible for soil organic matter decomposition. cellulolysis occurs as the result of the combined action of fungi and bacteria with different requirements. earthworms influence decomposition indirectly by affecting microbial population structure and dynamics and also directly because the guts of some species possess cellulolytic activity. here we assess whether the earth ... | 2006 | 16944346 |
| earthworm cytochrome p450 determination and application as a biomarker for diagnosing pah exposure. | we developed a new microsome purification method and used the omura and sato method to measure the total content of cytochrome (cyt) p450 in earthworm (eisenia fetida) microsomes. in method development, two different pretreatments, i.e. solubilization or manual separation were used to purify worm microsomes. solubilization was more effective than manual separation and difference spectra showed a peak at 450 +/- 1 nm in microsomes received solubilization pretreatment. we conducted a 48 h contact ... | 2006 | 16951757 |
| effects of pesticides on soil invertebrates in laboratory studies: a review and analysis using species sensitivity distributions. | species sensitivity distributions (ssd) and 5% hazardous concentrations (hc5) are distribution-based approaches for assessing environmental risks of pollutants. these methods have potential for application in pesticide risk assessments, but their applicability for assessing pesticide risks to soil invertebrate communities has not been evaluated. using data obtained in a systematic review, the present study investigates the relevance of ssd and hc5 for predicting pesticide risks to soil invertebr ... | 2006 | 16986804 |
| [cloning and expression of lumbrokinase gene in pichia pastoris]. | lumbrokinase gene f238 was amplified by rt-pcr from the total rna of earthworm (eisenia fetida). the gene including signal peptide sequence was inserted into pucm-t vector to construct pucm-t-f238. the product was sequenced. the genbank accession number was dq202401. lumbrokinase f238 comprised 738bp and included an open reading frame that encoded a polypeptide of 245 amino acid residues, containing a signal peptide of 7 amino acid residues and a mature peptide of 238 amino acid residues. both n ... | 2006 | 17037059 |