High-throughput screening of zebrafish embryos using automated heart detection and imaging.

Over the past decade, the zebrafish has become a key model organism in genetic screenings and drug discovery. A number of genes have been identified to affect the development of the shape and functioning of the heart, leading to zebrafish mutants with heart defects. The development of semiautomated microscopy systems has allowed for the investigation of drugs that reverse a disease phenotype on a larger scale.

High-throughput screening for antimicrobial peptides using the SPOT technique.

The SPOT technique provides a fast, cost-efficient, and highly parallel method to synthesize peptide arrays on cellulose. Peptides synthesized on cellulose can be easily cleaved from the support and used directly in a screening assay for antimicrobial activity. Depending on the equipment, the synthesis and the screening can be performed in a medium- or high-throughput manner.

The avian acanthocephalan Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus (Palaeacanthocephala) parasitizing the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Europe and New Zealand.

The palaeacanthocephalan Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus is a common intestinal parasite of passerine birds, which can also occur parenterally or in the intestinal tract of mammals, often as an invading species in many countries worldwide. In this survey, introduced hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus, n = 183) killed in New Zealand during a biocontrol campaign and conspecifics (n = 174) that had died in hedgehog rehabilitation centers in Germany and Britain were examined for this parasite. In New Zealand, P.