Comparison of vertebrate skin structure at class level: A review.

The skin is a barrier between the internal and external environment of an organism. Depending on the species, it participates in multiple functions. The skin is the organ that holds the body together, covers and protects it, and provides communication with its environment.

Changes in marine turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) epidermis and skin mucus composition during development from bilateral larvae to juvenile flat fish.

Alike other flat fish, marine turbot has the particularity that changes from larvae with bilateral symmetry to adult with asymmetry, in terms of the position of the eyes. As expected, the skin configuration of this species is also affected by the development and transformation suffered by fish during metamorphosis. In this context, changes in the epidermis of marine turbot were studied using conventional staining and histochemical techniques using six lectins (UEA-I, PNA, RCA-I, WGA, Con A and SBA).

Mucus characterisation in the Octopus vulgaris skin throughout its life cycle.

The development of the epidermis of octopus, Octopus vulgaris, throughout its life cycle was studied by conventional staining and histochemical techniques using lectins. The mantle, the arm and the two parts of the suckers: the infundibulum and the acetabulum were analysed independently. With the exception of the suckers, the general morphology of the epidermis does not vary from the first days post-hatching to adulthood.

The histo structure of galls induced by aphids as a useful taxonomic character: the case of Rectinasus (Hemiptera, Aphididae, Eriosomatinae).

Morphological differentiation of gall tissues induced on plants may play a role to characterize the real taxonomic position of the gall inducer. We verified this hypothesis with galls induced by Rectinasus buxtoni on Pistacia palaestina. There is controversy about the taxonomic localization of genus Rectinasus: in one classification it is situated with the genera Forda and Paracletus while in another it is linked to the genera Geoica and Baizongia.

Development of the serotoninergic system in the central nervous system of a shark, the lesser spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula.

Chondrychthyans (cartilaginous fishes) are key to understanding the ancestral gnathostome condition since they provide an outgroup to sarcopterygians and actinopterygians. To gain comparative knowledge about the development of the vertebrate serotoninergic systems, we studied by immunohistochemistry the origin, spatiotemporal organization, and migration patterns of serotonin-containing neurons and the growth of axonal pathways in the central nervous system of a shark, the lesser spotted dogfish. Hindbrain serotonin-immunoreactive cells arose close to the floor plate and most populations migrated ventrally and mediolaterally to form the various raphe and reticular groups.

New insights on Saccus vasculosus evolution: a developmental and immunohistochemical study in elasmobranchs.

The saccus vasculosus (SV) is a circumventricular organ of the hypothalamus of many jawed fishes whose functions have not yet been clarified. It is a vascularized neuroepithelium that consists of coronet cells, cerebrospinal fluid-contacting (CSF-c) neurons and supporting cells. To assess the organization, development and evolution of the SV, the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and the neuronal markers gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD; the GABA synthesizing enzyme), neuropeptide Y (NPY), neurophysin II (NPH), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH; the rate-limiting catecholamine-synthesizing enzyme) and serotonin (5-HT), were investigated by immunohistochemistry in developing and adult sharks.

GABAergic system of the pineal organ of an elasmobranch (Scyliorhinus canicula): a developmental immunocytochemical study.

The present immunocytochemical study provides evidence of a previously unrecognized, rich, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic innervation of the pineal organ in the dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula). In this elasmobranch, the pineal primordium is initially detected at embryonic stage 24 and grows to form a long pineal tube by stage 28. Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)-immunoreactive (-ir) fibers were first observed at stage 26, and by stage 28, thin GAD-ir fibers were detectable at the base of the pineal neuroepithelium.

Temporal and spatial organization of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive cell groups in the embryonic brain of an elasmobranch, the lesser-spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula.

We have studied the development of catecholaminergic (CA) neuronal groups in the brain of the dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula using immunohistochemistry to tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). The earliest TH-immunoreactive (THir) cells were detected in the primordia of the posterior tubercle and suprachiasmatic nuclei (PTN and SCN, respectively) of stage 26 embryos. At stage 28, THir cells were also seen extending between the SCN and the PTN at ventral thalamic levels.

Distribution and development of glutamic acid decarboxylase immunoreactivity in the spinal cord of the dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula (elasmobranchs).

The adult distribution and development of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-synthesizing cells and fibers in the spinal cord of the lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula L.) was studied by means of immunohistochemistry using antibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD). Complementary immunostaining with antibodies against GABA, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), and HuC/HuD (members of the Hu/Elav family of RNA-associated proteins) and staining with a reduced silver procedure ("en bloc" Bielschowski method), Nissl, and hematoxylin were also used.

Development of catecholaminergic systems in the spinal cord of the dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula (Elasmobranchs).

The development of catecholamine-synthesizing cells and fibers in the spinal cord of dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula L.) was studied by means of immunohistochemistry using antibodies against tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). The only TH-immunoreactive (TH-ir) cells already present in the spinal cord of stage 26 embryos were of cerebrospinal fluid-contacting (CSF-c) type.

Organization of cholinergic systems in the brain of different fish groups: a comparative analysis.

Using choline acetyltransferase immunocytochemistry, we compared the cholinergic systems of the brains of four groups of fishes (lampreys, elasmobranchs, chondrosteans, and teleosts). Cholinergic nuclei were classified in four groups according to their distribution in vertebrates. The cranial motor nuclei and the habenulo-interpeduncular system were cholinergic in all vertebrates.