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Eisenia Andrei
''Eisenia andrei'' is a close relative of the 'brandling' or 'tiger' worm ''Eisenia fetida''. Like its sibling species, it is epigeic, i.e. it prefers to live in compost or leaf litter rather than mineral soils. It can be distinguished from ''E. fetida'' as it is darker in colour, and the characteristic stripes are less pronounced. Although its status as a separate species was fully confirmed in the mid-1980s by molecular analyses (based on electrophoresis of protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ... isoforms), ''E. andrei'' is still often misidentified and confused with '' E. fetida''. The muscles of the ''Eisenia andrei'' embryos appear in groups of at least two distinct muscles that cross the ventral midline and initially reach towards the lateral side of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eisenia Fetida
''Eisenia fetida'', known under various common names such as manure worm, redworm, brandling worm, panfish worm, trout worm, tiger worm, red wiggler worm, etc., is a species of earthworm adapted to decaying organic material. These worms thrive in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure. They are epigean, rarely found in soil. In this trait, they resemble '' Lumbricus rubellus''. Red wigglers are reddish-brown in color, have small rings around their body and have a yellowish tail. They have groups of bristles (called setae) on each segment that move in and out to grip nearby surfaces as the worms stretch and contract their muscles to push themselves forward or backward. ''Eisenia fetida'' worms are native to Europe, but have been introduced (both intentionally and unintentionally) to every other continent except Antarctica. ''Eisenia fetida'' also possess a unique natural defense system in their coelomic fluid: cells called coelomocytes secrete a protein called lysenin, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epigeal
Epigeal, epigean, epigeic and epigeous are biological terms describing an organism's activity above the soil surface. In botany, a seed is described as showing epigeal germination when the cotyledons of the germinating seed expand, throw off the seed shell and become photosynthetic above the ground. The opposite kind, where the cotyledons remain non-photosynthetic, inside the seed shell, and below ground, is hypogeal germination. The terms epigean, epigeic or epigeous are used for organisms that crawl (epigean), creep like a vine (epigeal), or grow (epigeous) on the soil surface: they are also used more generally for animals that neither burrow nor swim nor fly. The opposite terms are hypogean, hypogeic and hypogeous. An epigeal nest is a term used for a termite mound, the above ground nest of a colony of termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compost
Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting mixture is rich in plant nutrients and beneficial organisms, such as bacteria, protozoa, nematodes and fungi. Compost improves soil fertility in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, urban agriculture, and organic farming, reducing dependency on commercial chemical fertilizers. The benefits of compost include providing nutrients to crops as fertilizer, acting as a soil conditioner, increasing the humus or humic acid contents of the soil, and introducing beneficial microbes that help to suppress pathogens in the soil and reduce soil-borne diseases. At the simplest level, composting requires gathering a mix of 'greens' (green waste) and 'browns' (brown waste). Greens are materials rich in nitrogen such as leaves, grass, and food scraps. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electrophoresis
Electrophoresis, from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, "amber") and φόρησις (phórēsis, "the act of bearing"), is the motion of dispersed particles relative to a fluid under the influence of a spatially uniform electric field. Electrophoresis of positively charged particles ( cations) is sometimes called cataphoresis, while electrophoresis of negatively charged particles (anions) is sometimes called anaphoresis. The electrokinetic phenomenon of electrophoresis was observed for the first time in 1807 by Russian professors Peter Ivanovich Strakhov and Ferdinand Frederic Reuss at Moscow University, who noticed that the application of a constant electric field caused clay particles dispersed in water to migrate. It is ultimately caused by the presence of a charged interface between the particle surface and the surrounding fluid. It is the basis for analytical techniques used in chemistry for separating molecules by size, charge, or binding affinity. Electrop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, responding to stimuli, providing structure to cells and organisms, and transporting molecules from one location to another. Proteins differ from one another primarily in their sequence of amino acids, which is dictated by the nucleotide sequence of their genes, and which usually results in protein folding into a specific 3D structure that determines its activity. A linear chain of amino acid residues is called a polypeptide. A protein contains at least one long polypeptide. Short polypeptides, containing less than 20–30 residues, are rarely considered to be proteins and are commonly called peptides. The individual amino acid residues are bonded together by peptide bonds and adjacent amino acid residues. The sequence of amino acid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lumbricidae
The Lumbricidae are a family of earthworms. About 33 lumbricid species have become naturalized around the world, but the bulk of the species are in the Holarctic region: from Canada (e.g. ''Bimastos lawrenceae'' on Vancouver Island) and the United States (e.g. ''Eisenoides carolinensis'', ''Eisenoides lonnbergi'' and most ''Bimastos'' spp.) and throughout Eurasia to Japan (e.g. ''Eisenia japonica'', ''E. koreana'' and ''Helodrilus hachiojii''). An enigmatic species in Tasmania is ''Eophila eti''. Currently, 670 valid species and subspecies in about 42 genera are recognized. This family includes the majority of earthworm species well known to Europeans. Genera The family consists of the following genera: * ''Allolobophora'' Eisen, 1874 * '' Alpodinaridella'' Mršić, 1987 * ''Aporrectodea'' Orley, 1885 * ''Bimastos'' Moore, 1893 * '' Castellodrilus'' Qiu & Bouché, 1998 stat. nov. * '' Cataladrilus'' Qiu & Bouché, 1998 * '' Cernosvitovia'' Omodeo, 1956 * '' Creinella'' Mrši ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
