A Brief Review of Meiotic Chromosomes in Early Spermatogenesis and Oogenesis and Mitotic Chromosomes in the Viviparous Lizard (Squamata: Lacertidae) with Multiple Sex Chromosomes.

This brief review is focused on the viviparous lizard (Lichtenstein, 1823), of the family Lacertidae, which possesses female heterogamety and multiple sex chromosomes (male 2 = 36, ZZZZ/ZZW, female 2 = 35, with variable W sex chromosome). Multiple sex chromosomes and their changes may influence meiosis and the female meiotic drive, and they may play a role in reproductive isolation. In two cryptic taxa of with different W sex chromosomes, meiosis during early spermatogenesis and oogenesis proceeds normally, without any disturbances, with the formation of haploid spermatocytes, and in female meiosis with the formation of synaptonemal complexes (SCs) and the lampbrush chromosomes.

Antioxidant and Antiradical Properties of Probiotic Strains Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ssp. plantarum.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro antioxidant potential of the cell-free extracts (CFE) of two probiotic bacteria Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ssp. plantarum IMV B-7142 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ssp. plantarum IMV B-7143 and their hepatoprotective effects.

[Metaphase and meiotic chromosomes, synaptonemal complexes (SC) of the lizard Zootoca vivipara].

Somatic mitotic and meiotic chromosomes at the pachytene and at the metaphase I of the males of the viviparous lizard, Zootoca vivipara (Lichtenstein, 1823), from northwestern Russia, belonging to the Russian form of Z. v. vivipara, are examined.

[Synaptonemal Complex of Two Fish Species of the genus Nothobranchius (Cyprinodontidae)].

The karyotype of males of two species of the genus Nothobranchius with the lowest diploid numbers was investigated: Nothobranchius rachovi (2N = 16) and Nothobranchius krysanov (2N = 18). For the first time, whole mounts of spread synaptonemal complexes (SC) of these species were obtained and investigated. When the SC was painted with silver nitrate and immunostained with rabbit antibodies against the SCP3 protein, eight and nine homomorphic SCs were detected in the nuclei of class I spermatocytes of N.

The Ecology and Evolutionary Dynamics of Meiotic Drive.

Meiotic drivers are genetic variants that selfishly manipulate the production of gametes to increase their own rate of transmission, often to the detriment of the rest of the genome and the individual that carries them. This genomic conflict potentially occurs whenever a diploid organism produces a haploid stage, and can have profound evolutionary impacts on gametogenesis, fertility, individual behaviour, mating system, population survival, and reproductive isolation. Multiple research teams are developing artificial drive systems for pest control, utilising the transmission advantage of drive to alter or exterminate target species.