Publications

expression of vitellogenin receptor in the ovarian follicles during the reproductive cycle of the spotted ray torpedo marmorata risso 1880.	the aim of this investigation was to identify the encoding sequence of vitellogenin receptor gene (vtgr), and its expression during the oogenesis in the spotted ray, torpedo marmorata, in different phases of reproductive cycle. from an ovarian cdna of vitellogenic female, we obtained a fragment of 581 bp, which corresponds to a partial sequence encoding the vitellogenin receptor (vtgr) in torpedo (accession number: gi/193244760). this sequence shows a high identity with the vtgr of other vertebr ...	2011	22021242
A natural deletion of the HoxC cluster in elasmobranch fishes.	Hox proteins are a metazoan-specific family of transcription factors that are required for developmental patterning. The genomic arrangement of Hox genes into four paralogous clusters is a primitive feature of jawed vertebrates. By using high-throughput sequencing, we demonstrate the absence of all HoxC transcripts from embryos of the shark Scyliorhinus canicula and the skate Leucoraja erinacea and the absence of all HoxC genes and two HoxC-associated microRNAs from the genome of L. erinacea. Th ...	2011	22174244
cardiovascular and vasoconstrictive actions of skate bradykinin in the little skate, leucoraja erinacea (elasmobranchii).	the vasoconstrictive and cardiovascular actions of a recently identified bradykinin (bk)-related peptide (gly-ile-thr-ser-trp-leu-pro-phe) from the little skate, leucoraja erinacea were examined in the unanesthetised little skate. intra-arterial administration of a skate bk (0.1-1 nmolkg(-1)) produced a hypertensive response with a rise in blood pressure reaching a maximum elevation of 28.7±4.8% over baseline (p<0.05, n=8) that was sustained for at least 12 min following administration of a 1 an ...	2011	21893060
immunoglobulin from antarctic fish species of rajidae family.	immunoglobulins (ig) of chondroichthyes have been extensively studied in sharks; in contrast, in skates investigations on ig remain scarce and fragmentary despite the high occurrence of skates in all of the major oceans of the world. to focus on rajidae igμ, the most abundant heavy chain isotype, we have chosen the antarctic species bathyraja eatonii, bathyraja albomaculata, bathyraja brachyurops, and amblyraja georgiana which live at high latitudes in the southern ocean, and at very low tempera ...	2011	22325720
body fluid osmolytes and urea and ammonia flux in the colon of two chondrichthyan fishes, the ratfish, hydrolagus colliei, and spiny dogfish, squalus acanthias.	the present study has examined the role of the colon in regulating ammonia and urea nitrogen balance in two species of chondrichthyans, the ratfish, hydrolagus colliei (a holocephalan) and the spiny dogfish, squalus acanthias (an elasmobranch). stripped colonic tissue from both the dogfish and ratfish was mounted in an ussing chamber and in both species bi-directional urea flux was found to be negligible. urea uptake by the mucosa and serosa of the isolated colonic epithelium through accumulatio ...	2012	21911071
rapid diversification of foxp2 in teleosts through gene duplication in the teleost-specific whole genome duplication event.	as one of the most conserved genes in vertebrates, foxp2 is widely involved in a number of important physiological and developmental processes. we systematically studied the evolutionary history and functional adaptations of foxp2 in teleosts. the duplicated foxp2 genes (foxp2a and foxp2b), which were identified in teleosts using synteny and paralogon analysis on genome databases of eight organisms, were probably generated in the teleost-specific whole genome duplication event. a credible classi ...	2013	24349554
widespread natural occurrence of hydroxyurea in animals.	here we report the widespread natural occurrence of a known antibiotic and antineoplastic compound, hydroxyurea in animals from many taxonomic groups. hydroxyurea occurs in all the organisms we have examined including invertebrates (molluscs and crustaceans), fishes from several major groups, amphibians and mammals. the species with highest concentrations was an elasmobranch (sharks, skates and rays), the little skate leucoraja erinacea with levels up to 250 μm, high enough to have antiviral, an ...	2015	26600157
calcium activated k⁺ channels in the electroreceptor of the skate confirmed by cloning. details of subunits and splicing.	elasmobranchs detect small potentials using excitable cells of the ampulla of lorenzini which have calcium-activated k(+) channels, first described in 1974. a distinctive feature of the outward current in voltage clamped ampullae is its apparent insensitivity to voltage. the sequence of a bk channel α isoform expressed in the ampulla of the skate was characterized. a signal peptide is present at the beginning of the gene. when compared to human isoform 1 (the canonical sequence), the largest dif ...	2016	26687710