Antibiotic resistance, virulence genes, and phylogenetic groups of bacteria isolated from wild passerine birds in Iran.

Wild passerine birds may serve as environmental reservoirs and as vectors for the long-distance dispersal of microorganisms and resistance determinants. However, there is no much knowledge on pathogenic bacteria in wild birds in Iran. The present study aimed to analyze antibiotic resistance in wild passerine birds collected from the northeast region of Iran as the rich breeding bird fauna with a special focus on Escherichia coli virulence, integron, and phylogenetic groups.

Prevalence of co-infection and genetic diversity of avian haemosporidian parasites in two rehabilitation facilities in Iran: implications for the conservation of captive raptors.

Background: Various haemosporidian parasites infect raptors, especially captive hosts who may be more exposed. Diagnosis of threatening factors such as infectious diseases indirectly has a significant role in protecting endangered or threatened species that may boost the mortality or extinction resulting from declined reproduction. Few investigations have been performed in captive hosts to detect the prevalence of haemosporidian parasites and define genetic diversity in west Asia.

Phylogeny and evolutionary history of the Sombre Tit, Poecile lugubris in the western Palearctic (Aves, Paridae).

Few studies have delimited evolutionary entities within the Sombre Tit, Poecile lugubris. Here, we explored its morphological and genetic variability using 24 morphometric variables, two mitochondrial (COX1 and ND2), two nuclear (ODC and MB), and 10 microsatellite loci. Genetic and morphometric characters supported the species status of the Caspian Tit, Poecile hyrcanus with a separation from P.

New Data on Comparative Cytogenetics of the Mouse-Like Hamsters ( Thomas, 1905) from Iran and Turkmenistan.

The taxonomy of the genus remains controversial. According to the latest systematics the genus includes eight species with great karyotypic variation. Here, we studied karyotypes of 14 individuals from different regions of Iran and Turkmenistan using a new set of chromosome painting probes from a sp.

Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Avian Haemosporidian Parasites in Southern Iran.

Avian haemosporidians are widespread and diverse and are classified in the genera , , and . These species are known to cause haemosporidiosis and decreased fitness of their hosts. Despite the high diversity of habitats and animal species in Iran, only few studies have addressed avian haemosporidians in this geographic area.

Multiple species delimitation approaches applied to the avian lark genus Alaudala.

Species delimitation has advanced from a purely phenotypic exercise to a branch of science that integrates multiple sources of data to identify independently evolving lineages that can be treated as species. We here test species limits in the avian Lesser Short-toed Lark Alaudala rufesens-Sand Lark A. raytal complex, which has an intricate taxonomic history, ranging from a single to three recognised species, with different inclusiveness in different treatments.

TMTCPT: The Tree Method based on the Taxonomic Categorization and the Phylogenetic Tree for fine-grained categorization.

Fine-grained categorization is one of the most challenging problems in machine vision. Recently, the presented methods have been based on convolutional neural networks, increasing the accuracy of classification very significantly. Inspired by these methods, we offer a new framework for fine-grained categorization.

New insights to the taxonomy of Rhagodes eylandti (Walter, 1889): A remarkable sexually dimorphic species (Solifugae: Rhagodidae).

The taxonomy of the widespread camel spider, Rhagodes eylandti (Walter, 1889), is herein updated and revised by proposing three nominal taxa as its junior synonyms. These are based on data from males of two taxa, Rhagodes melanopygus nigricans Birula, 1905 and R. plumbescens (Walter, 1889), and a female of R.

Genome-wide evidence supports mitochondrial relationships and pervasive parallel phenotypic evolution in open-habitat chats.

In wheatears and related species ('open-habitat chats'), molecular phylogenetics has led to a comprehensively revised understanding of species relationships and species diversity. Phylogenetic analyses have suggested that, in many cases, phenotypic similarities do not reflect species' relationships, revealing traditionally defined genera as non-monophyletic. This led to the suggestion of pervasive parallel evolution of open-habitat chats' plumage coloration and ecological phenotypes.

Correction: Molecular detection and genetic diversity of avian haemosporidian parasites in Iran.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Parallel plumage colour evolution and introgressive hybridization in wheatears.

Genetic and phenotypic mosaics, in which various phenotypes and different genomic regions show discordant patterns of species or population divergence, offer unique opportunities to study the role of ancestral and introgressed genetic variation in phenotypic evolution. Here, we investigated the evolution of discordant phenotypic and genetic divergence in a monophyletic clade of four songbird taxa-pied wheatear (O. pleschanka), Cyprus wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca), and western and eastern subspecies of black-eared wheatear (O.

Molecular detection and genetic diversity of avian haemosporidian parasites in Iran.

Background: The mobility of birds across or between continents exposes them to numerous vectors that have the potential to transmit pathogens and spread them into new regions. A combination of rich species diversity of birds along with the small amount of molecular studies in Iran makes observing the blood parasite distribution in wild avian populations indispensable for further estimation and administration of blood parasites.

Methodology/principal Findings: In order to evaluate the infection rate and molecular context of avian blood parasites, bird samples were collected (passerine = 316 and non-passerine = 14) in eight provinces of northern Iran between June to September 2015 and 2016.

Description of a new species of the genus Agamura Blanford, 1874 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from southern Iran.

Herein, we describe a new species of spider gecko, Agamura kermanensis sp. nov., from south Kerman, Iran.

Signatures of human-commensalism in the house sparrow genome.

House sparrows () are a hugely successful anthrodependent species; occurring on nearly every continent. Yet, despite their ubiquity and familiarity to humans, surprisingly little is known about their origins. We sought to investigate the evolutionary history of the house sparrow and identify the processes involved in its transition to a human-commensal niche.

Occurrence of spp. (Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae) in New Host Records of Passerine Birds from the East of Iran.

Background: Avian haemosporidians are able to parasitize numerous bird species all over the world. The extensive range of blood parasites infection rate is between 50% and 100% or less percentage. Haemoparasites with major effects on physiology, ecology, health, population dynamics, sexual selection and production success of avian hosts may promote species extinction.

Molecular Survey of Tularemia and Plague in Small Mammals From Iran.

Plague and tularemia are zoonoses and their causative bacteria are circulating in certain regions of Iran. This study was conducted to investigate potential disease reservoirs amongst small wildlife species in different regions of Iran. Rodents, insectivores and hares from 17 different provinces of the country were collected in 2014 and 2015.

A new Pardosa species from northern Iran (Araneae, Lycosidae).

A study of Pardosa pontica (Thorell, 1875) in Iran indicates two distinct morphospecies. A detailed comparison of these morphospecies and types of P. pontica reveals that populations from Mazandaran, Golestan and North Khorasan Provinces of Iran and Balkan Welaýaty of Turkmenistan belong to a newly described species, P.

First report of bioaccumulation and bioconcentration of aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHs) and persistent organic pollutants (PAHs, PCBs and PCNs) and their effects on alcyonacea and scleractinian corals and their endosymbiotic algae from the Persian Gulf, Iran: Inter and intra-species differences.

The coral reefs of the Persian Gulf are the most diverse systems of life in the marine environment of the Middle East. Unfortunately, they are highly threatened by local and global stressors, particularly oil pollutants. This is the first quantitative and qualitative study aimed at assessing the concentration and sources of n-alkanes and POPs (PAHs, PCBs and PCNs) in coral tissues, symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae), reef sediments and seawaters in coral reefs of Lark and Kharg in the Persian Gulf, Iran.

New Host Records for Spp. (Apicomplexa: Haemosporidiasina) in Passeriformes from North-West of Iran.

Background: The intracellular protozoan parasites of the genus occur in different avian hosts all over the world. Various genus of blood sucking insects' families such as Hippoboscidae and Ceratopogonidae could transmit in avian hosts. There are very limited number of studies on wild infected birds with blood parasites in Iran, so the aim of this study was to determine the frequency of spp.

Avian gametologs as molecular tags for sex identification in birds of prey of Iran.

Global environmental change and rapid destruction of natural habitats necessitate the conservation of endangered and threatened birds of prey. Recently, molecular sex identification methods based on amplification of introns of chromodomain-helicase DNA binding protein1 (CHD1) have provided valuable tools for ecological study and conservation breeding programs of birds. These methods employ a primer pair flanking an intron which varies considerably in length between the avian gametologs CHD1Z and CHD1W.

Spatial distribution and composition of aliphatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and hopanes in superficial sediments of the coral reefs of the Persian Gulf, Iran.

This study is the first quantitative report on petroleum biomarkers from the coral reefs systems of the Persian Gulf. 120 reef surface sediment samples from ten fragile coral reef ecosystems were collected and analyzed for grain size, biogenic elements, elemental ratios, and petroleum biomarkers (n-alkanes, PAHs and Hopanes) to assess the sources and early diagenesis of sedimentary organic matter. The mean grain size of the reef sediments ranged from 13.

Erratum to 'Seasonal habitat suitability modeling and factors affecting the distribution of Asian Houbara in East Iran'.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.

Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of camel spiders (Arachnida: Solifugae) from Iran.

In the present study, the mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of five solifuge families of Iran is presented using phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase, subunit 1 (COI) sequence data. Moreover, we included available representatives from seven families from GenBank to examine the genetic distance between Old and New World taxa and test the phylogenetic relationships among more solifuge families. Phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed based on the two most probabilistic methods, Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) approaches.