Mapping of animal genomes has generated huge databases and several new concepts and strategies, which are useful to elucidate origin, evolution and phylogeny. Genetic and physical maps of genomes further provide precise details on chromosomal location, function, expression and regulation of academically and economically important genes. The series Genome Mapping and Genomics in Animals provides comprehensive and up-to-date reviews on genomic research on a large variety of selected animal systems, contributed by leading scientists from around the world. Laboratory animals are those species that by accident of evolution, domestication and selective breeding are amenable to maintenance and study in a laboratory environment. Many of these species are studied as 'models' for the biology and pathology of humans. Laboratory animals included in this volume are sea-urchin, nematode worm, fruit fly, sea squirts, puffer fishes, medaka fish, African clawed frog, mouse and rat.

This volume provides a comprehensive collection of protocols on new technology across various model organisms. Chapters describe species-specific methods to generate new mutants the content is completed by chapters on natural TAL effectors, TAL element DNA binding principles, TALEN target site prediction, and methods for the efficient construction of TALEN coding regions. While addition chapter focus on the application of TALEN as sequence-specific nucleases and TAL based gene activators or inhibitors and the visualization of chromatin dynamics in live cells. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, TALENs: Methods and Protocols aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

This laboratory manual, published in cooperation with the International Society for Transgenic Technology (ISTT), provides almost all current methods that can be applied to the creation and analysis of genetically modified animals. The chapters have been contributed by leading scientists who are actively using the technology in their laboratories. Based on their first-hand experience the authors also provide helpful notes and troubleshooting sections. Topics range from standard techniques, such as pronuclear microinjection of DNA, to more sophisticated and modern methods, such as the derivation and establishment of embryonic stem (ES) cell lines, with defined inhibitors in cell culture medium. In addition, related topics with relevance to the field are addressed, including global web-based resources, legal issues, colony management, shipment of mice and embryos, and the three R's: refinement, reduction and replacement.

Mouse Genetics: Methods and Protocols provide selected mouse genetic techniques and their application in modeling varieties of human diseases. The chapters are mainly focused on the generation of different transgenic mice to accomplish the manipulation of genes of interest, tracing cell lineages and modeling human diseases. Composed in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, each chapter contains a brief introduction, a list of necessary materials, systematic, readily reproducible methods and a notes section, which shares tips on troubleshooting in order to avoid known pitfalls. Comprehensive and authoritative, Mouse Genetics: Methods and Protocols promises to deliver fundamental techniques and protocols to geneticists, molecular biologists, cell and developmental biologists, students and postdoctoral fellows working in the various disciplines of mouse biology and modeling human disease.

Howler monkeys (genus Alouatta) comprise 12 species of leaf-eating New World monkeys that range from southern Mexico through northern Argentina. This genus is the most widespread of any New World primate and can be found to inhabit a range of forest types from undisturbed rainforest to severely anthropogenically-impacted forest fragments. Although there have been many studies on individual species of howler monkeys, this book is the first comprehensive volume that places information on howler behavior and biology within a theoretical framework of ecological and social adaptability. This is the first of two companion volumes devoted to the genus Alouatta. This volume: * Provides new and original empirical and theoretical research on howler monkeys * Presents evolutionary and adaptive explanations for the ecological success of howler monkeys * Examines howler behavior and ecology within a comparative framework These goals are achieved in a collection of chapters written by a distinguished group of scientists on the evolutionary history, paleontology, taxonomy, genetics, morphology, physiology, and anatomy of howlers. The volume also contains chapters on howlers as vectors of infectious diseases, ethnoprimatology, and conservation.

This volume provides a comprehensive selection of recent studies addressing insect hearing and acoustic communication. The variety of signalling behaviours and hearing organs makes insects highly suitable animals for exploring and analysing signal generation and hearing in the context of neural processing, ecology, evolution and genetics. Across a variety of hearing species like moths, crickets, bush-crickets, grasshoppers, cicadas and flies, the leading researchers in the field cover recent scientific progress and address key points in current research, such as: - How can we approach the evolution of hearing in insects and what is the developmental and neural origin of the auditory organs? - How are hearing and sound production embedded in the natural lifestyle of the animals, allowing intraspecific communication but also predator avoidance and even predation? - What are the functional properties of hearing organs and how are they achieved at the molecular, biophysical and neural levels? - What are the neural mechanisms of central auditory processing and signal generation? The book is intended for students and researchers both inside and outside of the fascinating field of bioacoustics and aims to foster understanding of hearing and acoustic communication in insects.

The aim of this volume is to provide a step-by-step guide for implementing a selection of novel techniques in the lab. Each protocol in this volume is presented as a standalone chapter, specifically geared towards addressing practical needs without presuming prior knowledge of the technique at hand. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, C. elegans: Methods and Applications, Second Edition aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this dynamic field.

Recent advances in genetics over the last quarter of a century, especially in molecular techniques, have dramatically reduced the cost of determining genetic markers and hence opened up a field of research that is increasingly helping to detect, prevent and/or cure many diseases that afflict humans. In Statistical Human Genetics: Methods and Protocols expert researchers in the field describe statistical methods and computer programs in the detail necessary to make them more easily accessible to the beginner analyzing data. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, with examples of running the programs and interpreting the program outputs, the chapters include the kind of detailed description and implementation advice that is crucial for getting optimal results from human genetic data collected in the laboratory. Thorough and as much as possible intuitive, Statistical Human Genetics: Methods and Protocols aids scientists in understanding the computer programs and analytical procedures they need to use.

After having read this book you will never see birds in the same way again. The unexpected patterns displayed by a bird's body have been seen as bizarre events that demanded little attention or were described as 'amazing curiosities'. None of these surprising features seem to be fortuitous. They appear to be an integral part of a rigid order and a coherent geometry, which is directed by simple gene interactions and molecular cascades occurring at various cellular levels, and at different times, during the organism's development. A novel geometry unfolds in front of your eyes, giving the body configurations another meaning. Lima-de-Faria is Professor Emeritus of Molecular Cytogenetics at Lund University, Lund, Sweden. This is his sixth book dealing with the molecular organization of the chromosome and its implications for the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for biological evolution.

Not so long ago, karyology was considered a vanguard biological discipline, which could solve nearly all problems of systematics and phylogenetics. We liked to believe in the bright future, in a magician who will appear like a Jack-in-the-box and reveal the truth to us. However, excessive hopes related to the chromosomal study came true only in part. In the meantime, new candidates claimed the place of the magician, i. e. phenetics succeeded by cladistics and now by molecular methods in systematics and phylogeny. Nevertheless, it becomes progressively more ob- ous nowadays that cladistics is just a bright envelope for the fairly primitive and theoretically vulnerable approach that deprives living organisms and their groups of the traces of integrity and reduces them to the plain sum of characters. Modern molecular techniques look more perceptive and may yield more reliable results, although the details are sometimes embarrassing, and comparison with the fossil record does not necessarily reveal their superiority over cladistics. These methods are accessible by research teams with massive funding and good equipment and this strongly decreases the range and diversity of the material studied. However, classi?cations are often created by individual systematists with the restricted access to molecular methods. In this context, karyological techniques are in the preferable position, although they certainly do not provide direct and immaculate markers of taxonomic and p- logenetic relationships: chromosomal study is a morphological method with all its advantages and drawbacks.

Today, progress in rAAV-mediated gene transfer is so robust that long-term, efficient, and regulatable transgene expression is reproducibly achieved in large animal models. The complexity of gene transfer agents in the context of their clinical use requires investigators from a wide variety of backgrounds to have an understanding - or at least an appreciation of - the regulatory environment and constraints that affect vector design, manufacturing, pre-clinical testing, and clinical use, with an emphasis on patient protection. In Adeno-Associated Virus: Methods and Protocols, experts from the United States and Europe have contributed current knowledge of this multi-dimensional field relating to the biology of AAV, rAAV vector design, vector manufacturing and product testing, performance of rAAV vectors in major organs, rAAV-related immunological issues, design of animal and clinical studies, and clinical experience. Written in the successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and accessible, Adeno-Associated Virus: Methods and Protocols provides a complete and comprehensive understanding of this multi-disciplinary and rapidly progressing field.

This book includes the most essential contributions presented at the 17th Evolutionary Biology Meeting in Marseille, which took place in September 2013. It consists of 18 chapters organized according to the following categories: ·       Molecular and Genome Evolution ·       Phylogeography of Speciation and Coevolution ·       Exobiology and Origin of Life The aims of the annual meetings in Marseille, which bring together leading evolutionary biologists and other scientists using evolutionary biology concepts, e.g. for medical research, are to promote the exchange of ideas and to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations. Offering an overview of the latest findings in the field of evolutionary biology, this book represents an invaluable source of information for scientists, teachers and advanced students.

About 95 per cent of all known animal species are invertebrates. A knowledge of their sexual, reproductive, and developmental biology is essential for the effective management of species that are economically useful to man or are harmful to him, his crops, and livestock. This treatise is the first to cover all aspects of reproduction and development of the entire spectrum of invertebrates -- terrestrial, marine, freshwater, brackish-water, free-living, and parasitic. The chapters, by leading world experts in their fields, are up-to-date and informative, and suggest a number of problems for future research. Asexual Propagation and Reproductive Strategies, issued in two parts, is the sixth volume in the series. Part A: Porifera through Mollusca Contents Series Preface; Preface to Volume VI; Systematic Resume of the Invertebrates; Porifera, Paul E. Fell; Cnidaria, Stanley Shostak; Platyhelminthes-Turbellaria, Mario Benazzi and Giuseppina Benazzi Lentati; Platyhelminthes-Trematoda, Roy M. Anderson; Platyhelminthes-Eucestoda, Larry S. Roberts and C. R. Kennedy; Mesozoa, Bayard H. McConnaughey; Rotifera, John J. Gilbert; Gastrotricha, M. R. Hummon and W. D. Hummon; Acanthocephala, C. R. Kennedy; Sipuncula, Mary E. Rice and John F. Pilger, Mollusca, N. W. Runham; Species Index; Subject Index. Part B: Annelida-Clitellata through Cephalochordata Contents Series Preface; Preface to Volume VI; Systematic Resume of the Invertebrates; Annelida-Clitellata, B. Christensen; Tardigrada, Roberto Bertolani; Arthropoda-Crustacea, T. J. Pandian; Arthropoda-lnsecta, J. Muthukrishnan; Pentastomida, J. Riley; Bryozoa Entoprocta, C. Nielsen; Brachiopoda, S. H. Chuang; Chaetognatha, A. Alvarino; Echinodermata: Asexual Propagation, Philip V. Mladenov and R. D. Burke; Hemichordata, J. A. Petersen; Cephalochordata, Jaypaul Azariah; Species Index; Subject Index.

This monograph presents complex data on Fascioloides magna from all aspects of its research (general information, distribution, spectrum of hosts) and summarizes the latest information on molecular structure of informative genes which were recently applied in resolving taxonomy and biogeography of this veterinary important parasite. The giant liver fluke, Fascioloides magna, is important liver parasite of free-living and domestic ruminants. Due to its biology, distribution, medical impact, and invasive character, this liver fluke attracts attention of wide spectrum of specialists - veterinary doctors, hunters and farmers, as well as scientists. The parasite utilizes wide range of free living and domestic ruminants as definitive hosts, with various pathological impacts ranging from moderate infections towards lethal effects. Fascioloides magna is of North American origin where it occurs in five enzootic regions. It was introduced to Europe along with its deer hosts in 19th century and it has established three permanent natural foci. The giant liver fluke represents an outstanding model for studying the origin, spatial distribution, migratory routs, and invasion processes of introduced species.

Cooperative breeding refers to a social system in which individuals other than the parents provide care for the offspring. In addition to alloparental care, two further characteristics are common among species exhibiting cooperative breeding: delayed dispersal and delayed reproduction. Among vertebrates, cooperative breeding is expressed most prominently in birds and mammals. The book explores the phenomenon in a wide variety of mammals, including rodents, primates, viverrids, and carnivores. Comparative studies of cooperative breeding provide important tests for the origin and maintenance of sociality in complex groups. Understanding the behavioral and physiological mechanisms underlying cooperative breeding yields insights into the fundamental building blocks of social behavior in animal societies. Although several recent volumes have summarized the state of our knowledge of the ecology and evolution of cooperative breeding in birds, Cooperative Breeding in Mammals is the first book devoted to these issues in mammals, and it will appeal to zoologists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and those interested in animal behavior.

The immune systems of human and non-human primates have diverged over time, such that some species differ considerably in their susceptibility, symptoms, and survival of particular infectious diseases. Variation in primate immunity is such that major human pathogens - such as immunodeficiency viruses, herpesviruses and malaria-inducing species of Plasmodium - elicit striking differences in immune response between closely related species and within primate populations. These differences in immunity are the outcome of complex evolutionary processes that include interactions between the host, its pathogens and symbiont/commensal organisms. The success of some pathogens in establishing persistent infections in humans and other primates has been determined not just by the molecular evolution of the pathogen and its interactions with the host, but also by the evolution of primate behavior and ecology, microflora, immune factors and the evolution of other biological systems. To explore how interactions between primates and their pathogens have shaped their mutual molecular evolution, Primates, Pathogens and Evolution brings together research that explores comparative primate immune function, the emergence of major and neglected primate diseases, primate-microorganism molecular interactions, and related topics. This book will be of interest to anyone curious as to why infectious diseases manifest differently in humans and their closest relatives. It will be of particular interest to scholars specializing in human and non-human primate evolution, epidemiology and immunology, and disease ecology. Primates, Pathogens and Evolution offers an overview and discussion of current findings on differences in the molecular mechanics of primate immune response, as well as on pathogen-mediated primate evolution and human and non-human primate health.

This book presents 19 selected contributions to the 16th Evolutionary Biology Meeting, which took place in September 2012 in Marseilles. The aims of these annual meetings, which gather together leading evolutionary biologists and other scientists, are to promote the exchange of ideas and to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations. The first chapter deals with the history of a great discovery: The first experiments on ascidian and sea urchin egg fertilization. The remaining contributions are grouped under the following categories: * Evolutionary biology concepts * Exobiology and the origin of life * Evolutionary mechanisms Offering an up-to-date overview of recent findings in the field of evolutionary biology, this book is an invaluable source of information for scientists, teachers and advanced students.

Latent knowledge in the field of pig reproduction is vast but scattered, making it difficult to take in all information at a glance. Moreover, nascent branches in biotechnology cannot grow if deprived of roots. The book Boar Reproduction: Fundamentals and New Biotechnological Trends links the past, the present and the emerging scientific research fields on reproductive biotechnology, offering a rigorous but easy to follow compilation of topics, from "old favorites" to the latest advances. The book is organized in three parts. The chapters of the first and second part cover various biological aspects of boar spermatozoa within the male, and within the female environments, respectively. The most common laboratory and artificial insemination techniques are discussed in the third part. As an additional feature, some chapters focus on the basis of a technology transfer to bring research expertise from basic science to the market, making the information provided in this book suitable for academic, research and other professional applications.

Building on the successful structure of the first edition, the second edition of Reproductive Technologies in Farm Animals has been totally updated and revised to provide an up to date account of the key techniques employed in manipulating reproduction in farm animals, including beef and dairy cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, buffaloes, camelids, horses and poultry. A classic introductory text to the subject, the book is based on a comprehensive review of the current literature. It: - outlines different agricultural systems and explores the ethical implications of modern farming methods; - details the many new developments, including the commercial application of sexed semen and large-scale application of in vitro produced cattle embryos; - provides a valuable synopsis of current and future reproductive technologies, such as cloning and the production of transgenic animals. This text remains key reading for students in animal science, agriculture, veterinary medicine and biology, and veterinary practitioners and farmers who wish to keep updated on developments in techniques that may be useful in their daily practice.

Prenatal life is the period of maximal development in animals, and it is well recognised that factors that alter development can have profound effects on the embryonic, fetal and postnatal animal. Scientists involved in research on livestock productivity have for decades studied postnatal consequences of fetal development on productivity. Recently, however, there has been a surge in interest in how to manage prenatal development to enhance livestock health and productivity. This has occurred largely due to the studies that show human health in later life can be influenced by events during prenatal life, and establishment of the Fetal Origins and the Thrifty Phenotype Hypotheses. This book, Managing the Prenatal Environment to Enhance Livestock Productivity reviews phenotypic consequences of prenatal development, and provides details of mechanisms that underpin these effects in ruminants, pigs and poultry. The chapters have been divided into three parts: Quantification of prenatal effects on postnatal productivity, mechanistic bases of postnatal consequences of prenatal development and regulators of fetal and neonatal nutrient supply. Managing the Prenatal Environment to Enhance Livestock Productivity is a reference from which future research to improve the level of understanding and capacity to enhance productivity, health and efficiency of livestock in developing and developed countries will evolve. It is particularly timely given the development of molecular technologies that are providing new insight into regulation and consequences of growth and development of the embryo, fetus and neonate.

For nearly 50 years, pest control was mostly based on broad-spectrum conv- tional insecticides such as organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates and pyrethroids. However, the severe adverse effects of pesticides on the environment, problems of resistance reaching crisis proportions and public protests led to stricter regulations and legislation aimed at reducing their use. Ways to reduce the use of synthetic pesticides in plant protection and to use more alternative and novel me- ods for pest control or biorational control are the challenges of pest control for the twenty-first century. The term biorational (biological + rational) pesticides can be defined as the use of specific and selective chemicals, often with a unique modes of action, that are compatible with natural enemies and the environment, with minimal effect on n- target organisms. Biorational control is based on a diversity of chemical, biological and physical approaches for controlling insect pests which results in minimum risk to man and the environment.

The second edition of this book constitutes a comprehensive manual of new techniques for setting up mammalian cell lines for production of biopharmaceuticals, and for optimizing critical parameters for cell culture considering the whole cascade from lab to final production. The chapters are written by world-renowned experts and the volume's five parts reflect the processes required for different stages of production. This book is a compendium of techniques for scientists in both industrial and research laboratories that use mammalian cells for biotechnology purposes.

In this book internationally recognized investigators describe cutting-edge laboratory techniques for the study of Production and In Vivo Applications of Gene Transfer Vectors and Design and Characterization of Gene Transfer Vectors. Readers will find a comprehensive resource of current and emerging methods for the production of viral and non-viral gene transfer vectors, as well as detailed protocols for applications in stem cell biology, cancer research and infectious disease.

Written by an international panel of recognized leaders in the field, Neural Crest Induction and Differentiation discusses all aspects of modern neural crest biology from its evolutionary significance to its specification, migration, plasticity and contribution to multiple lineages of the vertebrate body, to the pathologies associated with abnormal neural crest development and function. Abundant color figures enhance the text providing clear and attractive illustrations of central issues and concepts.

Cell culture based research is important for our understanding of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level. Using this approach, the previous decades have produced a wealth of mechanistic information in all areas of biomedical research. Such in vitro research, however, lacks the complexity of in vivo investigations, where many different cell types interact with each other in a normal, three-dimensional environment, with normal levels of cytokines and growth factors. Furthermore, complex human diseases, such as cancer, diabetes or chronic inflammation, can only be modeled in vivo. Due to its small size, its short reproduction time, and the possibility to introduce specific gene mutations, the mouse has become the favourite mammalian model organism to study in vivo function of genes during development and in disease. This book combines review articles on selected subjects presented at the symposium "Mouse as a Model Organism - From Animals to Cells", held in Rovaniemi, Finland, 2009. Among other topics, high-throughput phenotyping of mouse mutants, mouse phenotypes dependent on nature and nuture, and a spectrum of in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro methods to study cancer in mice are described. This book will give an excellent introduction to scientists interested in the use of mice as a model to understand complex biological questions in the post-genomic era. It will highlight the possibilities, but also discuss the current problems and shortcomings, to give a realistic view of the current state-of-art in this fascinating field of biomedical research.