Project description:Dendrobaena schmidti (Michaelsen, 1907) is a polymorphic earthworm species from the Caucasus and adjacent regions. Adult D. schmidti individuals have highly variable body size (from 1.5 to well over 10 cm) and color (from dark purple to total lack of pigmentation), so a lot of subspecies of D. schmidti have been described; however, the existence of most of them is currently under dispute. We studied the genetic diversity of D. schmidti from seven locations from the Western Caucasus using mitochondrial (a fragment of the cytochrome oxidase I gene) and nuclear (internal ribosomal transcribed spacer 2) DNA. For both genes studied, we found that our sample was split into two groups. The first group included somewhat bigger (3-7.5 cm) individuals that were only slightly pigmented or totally unpigmented (when fixed by ethanol). The second group contained small (1.7-3.5 cm) specimens with dark purple pigmentation. In one of the studied locations these two groups were found in sympatry. However, there were no absolute differences either in general appearance (pigmented/unpigmented, small/big) or among diagnostic characters. Although the two groups differed in size (the majority of individuals from the first group were 5-6 cm long, and of the second one, 2-3 cm), the studied samples overlapped to a certain degree. Pigmentation, despite apparent differences, was also unreliable, since it was heavily affected by fixation of the specimens. Thus, based on the obtained data we can conclude that D. schmidti consists of at least two species that have identical states of diagnostic characters, but differ in general appearance.
Project description:A new species, Dictyna palmgrenisp. n., is described from Finland and Russia on the basis of both sexes. Most of the earlier records of Dictyna schmidti Kulczy?ski, 1926 from the northern Palaearctic refer to this new species. Dictyna shilenkovi Danilov, 2000, syn. n. from Cisbaikalia is synonymised with Dictyna schmidti. The general appearances and copulatory organs of Dictyna palmgrenisp. n., Dictyna schmidti and Dictyna major Menge, 1869 are illustrated. The distribution of Dictyna palmgrenisp. n. andDictyna schmidti is clarified. An unknown sac-like structure of the spermathecae of Dictyninae is briefly discussed.
Project description:The DNA isolated from 44 either frozen or FFPE Neuroendocrine Neoplasm (NEN) was analysed by NGS, to identify genes more likely to be subject to sequence variations among 523 cancer-related ones.
