Felted
Felted is a term variously applied to hairy or otherwise filamentous material, densely packed or tangled, forming felt or felt-like structures. Apart from fibres in felted fabric manufactured by humans, the term "felted" may apply to the condition of hair such as in the pathological condition known as felted hair, or it may apply to the tangled threads of the tissue of certain fungi, to matted fibres in animal connective tissue, or to the felted outer coat of certain plants. To say that something is felted need not imply that any processes of matting and pressing fibres have been applied as in the processes for artificial production of felt fabric. Depending on the nature of the felted material, it might rely purely on the scaly or barbed texture of the matted fibres to prevent unraveling, but it will include clayey or sticky materials for its structural integrity, or for increased density. Examples of the description of animal tissues as "felted" include classes of connective tissue such as the dermis which the classic Gray's Anatomy describes as: "felted connective tissue, with a varying amount of elastic fibers and numerous bloodvessels and nerves."
In describing the external coat or tunica adventitia of an artery, Gray says: "...consists of fine and felted bundles of white connective tissue..." In such classes of connective tissue the felted structure is important. In other words, suitable types of felting can yield controllable isotropy or anisotropy in the behaviour of a structure. Other examples of felted material in animal structures include fibrous structures coating the integument of some insects; such a felted coating is not living tissue, but consists of waxy fibres and is not strong, but serves as protection from either excessive desiccation or moisture. It is common in some families of the Hemiptera. In some species it occurs only as an outer coat of the immature insect, but in others, such as many of the Coccoidea, including the "Australian bug", Icerya purchasi and cochineal, Dactylopius species, it is secreted throughout the life of the insect and serves to protect the eggs rather than the insect. In other species, such as many of the "woolly aphids", the Eriosomatinae, the most spectacular fluff is borne on the adult insect itself.
The distinction between felted and other fibrous materials is not always sharp. For example, although felted hair on healthy mammals is unusual, many animals in seasonally cold or wet climates or environments have a so-called undercoat of down hair plus awn hair that lies hidden beneath the outer coat of guard hairs, may form a mat of felted wool; such down hairs as a rule are crimped into a finely woolly texture and contain waxy, water-repellent lanolin. In many species that live in seasonally frigid zones the winter down hair is shed in clumps during springtime; this is exploited in species such as the muskox. Many species of animals employ felting behaviour in preparing shelters for themselves or their young, it is not always possible to tell when such felting is purely incidental, but many species show behaviour patterns adapted to the production of felted material suited to shelter and protection. The linings of nests of small rodents and small carnivores are common examples. Some, such as various species of rabbit, in particular Sylvilagus species, use their own fur as a major component of their nesting material.
Small predatory mammals such the least weasel collect fur from their prey, or occupy prey nests ready lined. Birds vary enormously in the materials they use. Among those that use fibres and fibrous materials such as grass for nesting, many tend to weave the nests, but nests that are purely woven, such as those of weaver birds are lined with downy materials that become felted, both with each other and with the surrounding nest material. Birds such as sparrows, that build large, twiggy nests, line them with downy material. Many kinds of birds however do little weaving in building their nests, but instead construct their nests of fibrous and downy materials such as fine wool, lichen, spiders' nests, tufts of cotton, arachnoid fluff from plants, or bark scales, supported by twigs or the walls of burrows and the like, depending on the circumstances within which they nest. James Rennie remarked: "A circumstance never neglected, is to bind the nest into the forks of the bush where it is placed, by twining bands of moss, felted with wool, round all the contiguous branches, both below and at the sides.
During the nesting season such birds become such avid seekers of suitable materials that down feathers or tufts of wool may be used as bait for trapping them. Birds that concentrate on felted nests include goldfinches and related species. Hummingbirds tend to use a lot of spiderweb together with similar material. Small warbler-like birds of many genera such as Prinia and Cisticola make their nests either lined with, or of felted material. Ground nesting birds use felted material rather than woven.
Oomycete
Oomycota or oomycetes form a distinct phylogenetic lineage of fungus-like eukaryotic microorganisms. They are filamentous, absorptive organisms that reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction of an oospore is the result of contact between hyphae of a male antheridia and female oogonia. Asexual reproduction is the formation of sporangia producing zoospores. Oomycetes occupy both saprophytic and pathogenic lifestyles, include some of the most notorious pathogens of plants, causing devastating diseases such as late blight of potato and sudden oak death. One oomycete, the mycoparasite Pythium oligandrum, is used for biocontrol, attacking plant pathogenic fungi; the oomycetes are often referred to as water molds, although the water-preferring nature which led to that name is not true of most species, which are terrestrial pathogens. The Oomycota have a sparse fossil record. A possible oomycete has been described from Cretaceous amber. "Oomycota" means "egg fungi", referring to the large round oogonia, structures containing the female gametes, that are characteristic of the oomycetes.
The name "water mold" refers to their earlier classification as fungi and their preference for conditions of high humidity and running surface water, characteristic for the basal taxa of the oomycetes. The oomycetes have septa, if they do, they are scarce, appearing at the bases of sporangia, sometimes in older parts of the filaments; some are unicellular, while others are branching. The group was arranged into six orders; the Saprolegniales are the most widespread. Many break down decaying matter; the Leptomitales have wall thickenings that give their continuous cell body the appearance of septation. They bear chitin and reproduce asexually; the Rhipidiales use rhizoids to attach their thallus to the bed of stagnant or polluted water bodies. The Albuginales are considered by some authors to be a family within the Peronosporales, although it has been shown that they are phylogenetically distinct from this order; the Peronosporales too are saprophytic or parasitic on plants, have an aseptate, branching form.
Many of the most damaging agricultural parasites belong to this order. The Lagenidiales are the most primitive; however more this has been expanded considerably. Anisolpidiales Dick 2001 Anisolpidiaceae Karling 1943 Lagenismatales Dick 2001 Lagenismataceae Dick 1995 Salilagenidiales Dick 2001 Salilagenidiaceae Dick 1995 Rozellopsidales Dick 2001 Rozellopsidaceae Dick 1995 Pseudosphaeritaceae Dick 1995 Ectrogellales Ectrogellaceae Haptoglossales Haptoglossaceae Eurychasmales Eurychasmataceae Petersen 1905 Haliphthorales Haliphthoraceae Vishniac 1958 Olpidiopsidales Sirolpidiaceae Cejp 1959 Pontismataceae Petersen 1909 Olpidiopsidaceae Cejp 1959 Atkinsiellales Atkinisellaceae Crypticolaceae Dick 1995 Saprolegniales Achlyaceae Verrucalvaceae Dick 1984 Saprolegniaceae Warm. 1884 Leptomitales Leptomitaceae Kuetz. 1843 Leptolegniellaceae Dick 1971 Rhipidiales Rhipidiaceae Cejp 1959 Albuginales Albuginaceae Schroet. 1893 Peronosporales Salisapiliaceae Pythiaceae Schroet. 1893 Peronosporaceae Warm. 1884 This group was classified among the fungi and treated as protists, based on general morphology and lifestyle.
A cladistic analysis based on modern discoveries about the biology of these organisms supports a close relationship with some photosynthetic organisms, such as brown algae and diatoms. A common taxonomic classification based on these data, places the class Oomycota along with other classes such as Phaeophyceae within the phylum Heterokonta; this relationship is supported by a number of observed differences between the characteristics of oomycetes and fungi. For instance, the cell walls of oomycetes are composed of cellulose rather than chitin and do not have septations. In the vegetative state they have diploid nuclei, whereas fungi have haploid nuclei. Most oomycetes produce self-motile zoospores with two flagella. One flagellum has a "whiplash" morphology, the other a branched "tinsel" morphology; the "tinsel" flagellum is unique to the Kingdom Heterokonta. Spores of the few fungal groups which retain flagella have only one whiplash flagellum. Oomycota and fungi have different metabolic pathways for synthesizing lysine and have a number of enzymes that differ.
The ultrastructure is different, with oomycota having tubular mitochondrial cristae and fungi having flattened cristae. In spite of this evidence to the contrary, many species of oomycetes are still described or listed as types of fungi and may sometimes be referred to as pseudofungi, or lower fungi. Most of the oomycetes produce two distinct types of spores; the main dispersive spores are asexual, self-motile spores called zoospores, which are capable of chemotaxis in surface water. A few oomycetes produce aerial asexual spores, they produce sexual spores, called oospores, that are translucent, double-walled, spherical structures used to survive adverse environmental conditions. Many oomycetes species are economically important, aggressive plant pathogens; some sp
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula n, a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes; some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on Earth; the cellulose content of cotton fiber is 90%, that of wood is 40–50%, that of dried hemp is 57%. Cellulose is used to produce paperboard and paper. Smaller quantities are converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Conversion of cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is under development as a renewable fuel source. Cellulose for industrial use is obtained from wood pulp and cotton; some animals ruminants and termites, can digest cellulose with the help of symbiotic micro-organisms that live in their guts, such as Trichonympha. In human nutrition, cellulose is a non-digestible constituent of insoluble dietary fiber, acting as a hydrophilic bulking agent for feces and aiding in defecation.
Cellulose was discovered in 1838 by the French chemist Anselme Payen, who isolated it from plant matter and determined its chemical formula. Cellulose was used to produce the first successful thermoplastic polymer, celluloid, by Hyatt Manufacturing Company in 1870. Production of rayon from cellulose began in the 1890s and cellophane was invented in 1912. Hermann Staudinger determined the polymer structure of cellulose in 1920; the compound was first chemically synthesized by Kobayashi and Shoda. Cellulose has no taste, is odorless, is hydrophilic with the contact angle of 20–30 degrees, is insoluble in water and most organic solvents, is chiral and is biodegradable, it was shown to melt at 467 °C in 2016. It can be broken down chemically into its glucose units by treating it with concentrated mineral acids at high temperature. Cellulose is derived from D-glucose units; this linkage motif contrasts with that for α-glycosidic bonds present in glycogen. Cellulose is a straight chain polymer. Unlike starch, no coiling or branching occurs and the molecule adopts an extended and rather stiff rod-like conformation, aided by the equatorial conformation of the glucose residues.
The multiple hydroxyl groups on the glucose from one chain form hydrogen bonds with oxygen atoms on the same or on a neighbor chain, holding the chains together side-by-side and forming microfibrils with high tensile strength. This confers tensile strength in cell walls, where cellulose microfibrils are meshed into a polysaccharide matrix. Compared to starch, cellulose is much more crystalline. Whereas starch undergoes a crystalline to amorphous transition when heated beyond 60–70 °C in water, cellulose requires a temperature of 320 °C and pressure of 25 MPa to become amorphous in water. Several different crystalline structures of cellulose are known, corresponding to the location of hydrogen bonds between and within strands. Natural cellulose is cellulose I, with structures Iα and Iβ. Cellulose produced by bacteria and algae is enriched in Iα while cellulose of higher plants consists of Iβ. Cellulose in regenerated cellulose fibers is cellulose II; the conversion of cellulose I to cellulose II is irreversible, suggesting that cellulose I is metastable and cellulose II is stable.
With various chemical treatments it is possible to produce the structures cellulose III and cellulose IV. Many properties of cellulose depend on its chain length or degree of polymerization, the number of glucose units that make up one polymer molecule. Cellulose from wood pulp has typical chain lengths between 1700 units. Molecules with small chain length resulting from the breakdown of cellulose are known as cellodextrins. Cellulose contains 44.44% carbon, 6.17% hydrogen, 49.39% oxygen. The chemical formula of cellulose is n where n is the degree of polymerization and represents the number of glucose groups. Plant-derived cellulose is found in a mixture with hemicellulose, lignin and other substances, while bacterial cellulose is quite pure, has a much higher water content and higher tensile strength due to higher chain lengths. Cellulose is soluble in Schweizer's reagent, cupriethylenediamine, cadmiumethylenediamine, N-methylmorpholine N-oxide, lithium chloride / dimethylacetamide; this is used in the production of regenerated celluloses from dissolving pulp.
Cellulose is soluble in many kinds of ionic liquids. Cellulose consists of amorphous regions. By treating it with strong acid, the amorphous regions can be broken up, thereby producing nanocrystalline cellulose, a novel material with many desirable properties. Nanocrystalline cellulose was used as the filler phase in bio-based polymer matrices to produce nanocomposites with superior thermal and mechanical properties. Given a cellulose-containing material, the carbohydrate portion that does not dissolve in a 17.5% solution of sodium hydroxide at 20 °C is α cellulose, true cellulose. Acidification of the extract precipitates β cellulose; the portion that dissolves in base but does not precipitate with acid is γ cellulose. Cellulose can be assayed using a method described by Updegraff in 1969, where the fiber is dissolved in acetic and nitric acid to remov
Hyaline
A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from Greek: Greek: ὕαλος crystal, glass. In histopathological medical usage, a hyaline substance appears glassy and pink after being stained with haematoxylin and eosin—usually it is an acellular, proteinaceous material. An example is a transparent, glossy articular joint cartilage; some mistakenly refer to all hyaline as hyaline cartilage. Arterial hyaline is seen in aging, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and in association with some drugs, it is bright pink with PAS staining. In ichthyology and entomology, hyaline denotes a colorless, transparent substance, such as unpigmented fins of fishes or clear insect wings. Hyaline arteriolosclerosis Hyalopilitic Hyaloserositis Infant respiratory distress syndrome known as hyaline membrane disease
Anatomical terms of location
Standard anatomical terms of location deal unambiguously with the anatomy of animals, including humans. All vertebrates have the same basic body plan – they are bilaterally symmetrical in early embryonic stages and bilaterally symmetrical in adulthood; that is, they have mirror-image left and right halves if divided down the middle. For these reasons, the basic directional terms can be considered to be those used in vertebrates. By extension, the same terms are used for many other organisms as well. While these terms are standardized within specific fields of biology, there are unavoidable, sometimes dramatic, differences between some disciplines. For example, differences in terminology remain a problem that, to some extent, still separates the terminology of human anatomy from that used in the study of various other zoological categories. Standardized anatomical and zoological terms of location have been developed based on Latin and Greek words, to enable all biological and medical scientists to delineate and communicate information about animal bodies and their component organs though the meaning of some of the terms is context-sensitive.
The vertebrates and Craniata share a substantial heritage and common structure, so many of the same terms are used for location. To avoid ambiguities this terminology is based on the anatomy of each animal in a standard way. For humans, one type of vertebrate, anatomical terms may differ from other forms of vertebrates. For one reason, this is because humans have a different neuraxis and, unlike animals that rest on four limbs, humans are considered when describing anatomy as being in the standard anatomical position, thus what is on "top" of a human is the head, whereas the "top" of a dog may be its back, the "top" of a flounder could refer to either its left or its right side. For invertebrates, standard application of locational terminology becomes difficult or debatable at best when the differences in morphology are so radical that common concepts are not homologous and do not refer to common concepts. For example, many species are not bilaterally symmetrical. In these species, terminology depends on their type of symmetry.
Because animals can change orientation with respect to their environment, because appendages like limbs and tentacles can change position with respect to the main body, positional descriptive terms need to refer to the animal as in its standard anatomical position. All descriptions are with respect to the organism in its standard anatomical position when the organism in question has appendages in another position; this helps avoid confusion in terminology. In humans, this refers to the body in a standing position with arms at the side and palms facing forward. While the universal vertebrate terminology used in veterinary medicine would work in human medicine, the human terms are thought to be too well established to be worth changing. Many anatomical terms can be combined, either to indicate a position in two axes or to indicate the direction of a movement relative to the body. For example, "anterolateral" indicates a position, both anterior and lateral to the body axis. In radiology, an X-ray image may be said to be "anteroposterior", indicating that the beam of X-rays pass from their source to patient's anterior body wall through the body to exit through posterior body wall.
There is no definite limit to the contexts in which terms may be modified to qualify each other in such combinations. The modifier term is truncated and an "o" or an "i" is added in prefixing it to the qualified term. For example, a view of an animal from an aspect at once dorsal and lateral might be called a "dorsolateral" view. Again, in describing the morphology of an organ or habitus of an animal such as many of the Platyhelminthes, one might speak of it as "dorsiventrally" flattened as opposed to bilaterally flattened animals such as ocean sunfish. Where desirable three or more terms may be agglutinated or concatenated, as in "anteriodorsolateral"; such terms sometimes used to be hyphenated. There is however little basis for any strict rule to interfere with choice of convenience in such usage. Three basic reference planes are used to describe location; the sagittal plane is a plane parallel to the sagittal suture. All other sagittal planes are parallel to it, it is known as a "longitudinal plane".
The plane is perpendicular to the ground. The median plane or midsagittal plane is in the midline of the body, divides the body into left and right portions; this passes through the head, spinal cord, and, in many animals, the tail. The term "median plane" can refer to the midsagittal plane of other structures, such as a digit; the frontal plane or coronal plane divides the body into ventral portions. For post-embryonic humans a coronal plane is vertical and a transverse plane is horizontal, but for embryos and quadrupeds a coronal plane is horizontal and a transverse plane is vertical. A longitudinal plane is any plane perpendicular to the transverse plane; the coronal plane and the sagittal plane are examples of longitudinal planes. A transverse plane known as a cross-section, divides the body into cranial and caudal portions. In human anatomy: A transverse plane is an X-Z plane, parallel to the ground, which s
Trametes versicolor
Trametes versicolor – known as Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor – is a common polypore mushroom found throughout the world. Meaning'of several colours', versicolor reliably describes this fungus that displays different colors. For example, because its shape and multiple colors are similar to those of a wild turkey, T. versicolor is called turkey tail. The top surface of the cap shows typical concentric zones of different colours; the flesh has leathery texture. Older specimens, such as the one pictured, can have zones with green algae growing on them, thus appearing green, it grows in tiled layers. The cap is rust-brown or darker brown, sometimes with blackish zones; the cap is flat, up to 8 x 5 x 0.5–1 cm in area. It is triangular or round, with zones of fine hairs; the pore surface is whitish to light pores round and with age twisted and labyrinthine. 3-8 pores per millimeter. It may be eaten by caterpillars of the fungus moth Nemaxera betulinella and by maggots of the Platypezid fly Polyporivora picta. and the fungus gnat Mycetophila luctuosa T. versicolor contains polysaccharides under basic research, including the protein-bound PSP and B-1,3 and B-1,4 glucans.
The lipid fraction contains the lanostane-type tetracyclic triterpenoid sterol ergosta-7,22,dien-3B-ol as well as fungisterol and B-sitosterol. Clinical trials in people with breast cancer and liver cancer remain inconclusive as of 2016. Forest pathology List of Trametes species Mushroom-Collecting.com – Trametes versicolor
Ectomycorrhiza
An ectomycorrhiza is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont and the roots of various plant species. The mycobiont tends to be predominantly from the phyla Basidiomycota and Ascomycota, although a few are represented in the phylum Zygomycota. Ectomycorrhizas form between the roots of around 2 % of plant species; these tend to be composed of woody plants, including species from the birch, myrtle, willow and rose families. Unlike other mycorrhizal relationships, such as arbuscular mycorrhiza and ericoid mycorrhiza, ectomycorrhizal fungi do not penetrate their host’s cell walls. Instead, they form an intercellular interface, consisting of branched hyphae forming a latticework between epidermal and cortical root cells, known as the Hartig net. Ectomycorrhizas are further differentiated from other mycorrhizas by the formation of a dense hyphal sheath, known as the mantle, surrounding the root surface; this sheathing mantle can be up to 40 µm thick, with hyphae extending up to several centimeters into the surrounding soil.
This hyphal network aids in water and nutrient uptake helping the host plant to survive adverse conditions, in exchange, the fungal symbiont is provided with access to carbohydrates. Many EcM fungal fruiting bodies are well known; these include the economically important and edible truffle and the deadly death caps and destroying angels. They form on many common temperate forest trees, such as pines, willows, Douglas firs, eucalypts and birches. There have been tremendous advances in research concerning ectomycorrhizal identification and ecological importance over the past few years; this has led to a more complete understanding of the intricate and varied roles ectomycorrhizas play in the ecosystem. These advances in knowledge have led to increased applicability in areas such as ecosystem management and restoration and agriculture. Mycorrhizal symbioses, in general, are ubiquitous in terrestrial ecosystems, it is possible that these associations helped to facilitate land colonization by plants.
Paleobiological and molecular evidence suggest that arbuscular mycorrhizas, in particular, originated at least 460 million years ago. EcM plants and fungi exhibit a wide taxonomic distribution and are present across all continents, suggesting the EcM symbiosis has ancient evolutionary roots, as well. Pinaceae represents the oldest extant plant family in which symbiosis with EcM fungi occurs, fossils from this family date back to 156 million years ago. A popular theory proposed by Read postulates that habitat type and the distinct functions of different mycorrhizas help determine the particular symbiosis that will become predominant. In this theory, EcM symbioses evolved in productive ecosystems, such as boreal forests, but in which nutrient cycling could still be limiting. In this scenario, ectomycorrhizas are a somewhat intermediate form, having greater mineralization capacities than arbuscular mycorrhizas and less so than types such as ericoid mycorrhizas; this is supported by several studies, some of which purport arbuscular mycorrhizas to be the ancestral trait.
According to this data, many non-mycorrhizal and other mycorrhizal forms represent evolutionary specializations. Fungi tend to be composed of soft tissues, making fossilization difficult and the discovery of fungal fossils rare; this is compounded by the microscopic size and ephemeral nature of ectomycorrhizas and their structure. However, some exquisitely preserved specimens have been discovered in the middle Eocene Princeton Chert of British Columbia; these ectomycorrhizal fossils show clear evidence of a Hartig net and hyphae, demonstrating well-established EcM associations at least 50 million years ago. It is known from the fossil record that the more common arbuscular mycorrhizas formed long before more derived associations, thus represent an ancestral condition. Ectomycorrhizas, forming with an array of conifers and angiosperms, may have evolved along with the diversification of plants. Thus, it is possible that arbuscular mycorrhizas were a driving force in the plant colonization of land as an expansive new niche, while ectomycorrhizas acted to spur further speciation due to the change of earth’s climate to more seasonal and arid, or simply in response to nutritionally deficient habitats.
According to molecular and phylogenetic analyses of fungal lineages, it appears that EcM fungi have evolved multiple times from humus and wood saprotrophic ancestors, with little reversion. It is suggested that the EcM condition has evolved and persisted numerous times independently from non-EcM ancestors; these claims range from more conservative estimates of 7-16 to 66 origins of EcM associations. Some studies suggest that reversals back to the ancestral free-living condition have occurred, but this evidence has been extensively challenged because: 1) the data exhibits taxa sampling bias and model dependency, 2) most non-mycorrhizal taxa lie within AM clades, rather than EcM ones, 3) the derived EcM condition is specialized, would have given an ecological advantage that reversion to saprotrophy would not have. Furthermore and Matheny performed Bayesian relaxed molecular clock analyses yielding results that indicate that an ancestral EcM condition, subsequently lost multiple times is not parsimonious.
These reversals to a saprotrophic mode are impractical given that the host plants involved in the EcM symbioses (Pinaceae and rosids
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