To allow for a broader biochemical survey, specimens of additional hyperoliid species were collected in Cameroon (genera Afrixalus and Hyperolius) and Madagascar (Heterixalus) in the framework of other research projects, and fixed using the same protocols as in Kibale Forest.
10 A fluorescence resonance energy transfer/melt curve analysis (FRET/MCA) 10 was used for quality control of the AS-PCR on a sample of the longitudinal survey specimens (N = 290).
It may thus be that when kept at ambient temperatures, as expected in a countrywide anti-tuberculosis drug resistance survey, specimens change in such a way that cross-reacting substances are generated.
In the surveyed specimens, the minimum number of repeats was 3.2 in CRs of A. modesta, and the maximum number was 10 in CR of B. stellaris although heteroplasmy was present in this case (Additional file 3).
However, we speculate that our results do not represent true endosymbiont losses, but instead, may be due to methodological difficulties associated either with quality/quantity of endosymbiont DNA present in the surveyed specimens (these were small specimens, and had been preserved in ethanol for approximately one year before endosymbiont DNA extraction was conducted), or with PCR amplification.
Thus, starting in the summer 2009 we have undertaken a large survey of specimens labeled as A. dumetorum in the ornithological collections of several museums located on the territories of the former USSR.
A recent survey of specimens collected over the past two centuries, together with the application of molecular techniques to recent collections, shows surprisingly high diversity, given the history of glaciation, large areas of unsuitable habitat, and otherwise harsh environmental conditions [284].
In an initial survey of specimens, we found that claw size distributions vary conspicuously and consistently among families of raptors (Figure 1), an observation which has gone largely unnoticed in previous studies (although see Einoder and Richardson, 2007 [20].
Classification of species into each category was based on (1) floras and botanical monographs [e.g. 47], [48] [50], including several issues of Flora Neotropica; (2) web searches including only published and referenced data; (3) field observations and a survey of specimens from the UFP and IPA Herbaria; and (4) personal knowledge and previously published observations [see 51 for a review].
Following individual informed consent, learners willing to participate in the survey provided specimens for HIV testing.
Of all the bats sampled in significant numbers in this survey, only specimens of Rousettus aegyptiacus were found to harbor both MARV- and ZEBOV-specific IgG, suggesting that this species may be a natural host of both viruses.
