Insect System for Toxicology Studies - Current and Future Perspectives.

cell culture practices are valuable techniques to understand the mechanisms behind vital biological processes. cells have helped us to attain a deeper understanding of functions and mechanisms conserved in the course of evolution. Toxicology studies are inevitable in drug discovery, pesticide development, and many other fields that directly interact with human beings.

An insight into the skin glands, dermal scales and secretions of the caecilian amphibian .

The caecilian amphibians are richly endowed with cutaneous glands, which produce secretory materials that facilitate survival in the hostile subterranean environment. Although India has a fairly abundant distribution of caecilians, there are only very few studies on their skin and secretion. In this background, the skin of from the Western Ghats of Kerala, India, was subjected to light and electron microscopic analyses.

Influence of environmental factors on macrofoulant assemblages on moored buoys in the eastern Arabian Sea.

Factors governing the distribution of organisms in the pelagic ocean are understudied. In this paper we describe environmental parameters and macrofouling assemblages on 11 buoys deployed in the Arabian Sea for an average duration of 322 days. Macrofoulants on all the mooring components extending from the sea-surface to a depth of 1800-4300 m were documented.

Light and transmission electron microscopic structure of skin glands and dermal scales of a caecilian amphibian Gegeneophis ramaswamii, with a note on antimicrobial property of skin gland secretion.

Amphibian skin secretions contain a variety of bioactive compounds that are involved in diverse roles such as communication, homeostasis, defence against predators, pathogens, and so on. Especially, the caecilian amphibians possess numerous cutaneous glands that produce the secretory material, which facilitate survival in their harsh subterranean environment. Inspite of the fact that India has a fairly abundant distribution of caecilian amphibians, there has hardly been any study on their skin and its secretion.

Caste-Specific Expression of Na/K-ATPase in the Asian Weaver Ant, Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius, 1775).

Social insect colonies adopt different levels of survival strategies and exhibit well-defined reproductive division of labour. Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius, 1775) has physiological and behavioral adaptations that enable them to forage at extreme environmental conditions and are lethal to most other insects. Ion homeostasis is the key process in an organism's survival mechanism.