High impact information on Platypus

• As a first step toward this goal, homologs of the eutherian amelogenin gene have been cloned and characterized in selected species of monotremes (platypus and echidna), reptiles (caiman), and amphibians (African clawed toad) [1].
• Interestingly, internal cysteine bridges in the complementarity-determining region (CDR)3 loop, or between the CDR2 and CDR3 loops, are found in approximately 36% of the platypus V(H) sequences [2].
• In a prototherian mammal, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), none of the characteristic OR37 genes were found [3].
• Whey Acidic Protein (WAP) has been identified in the milk of only a few species, including mouse, rat, rabbit, camel, pig, tammar wallaby, brushtail possum, echidna and platypus [4].
• Comparisons of Gdf6 sequences from several placental mammals and platypus revealed many strongly conserved regions flanking Gdf6 and the adjacent Uqcrb gene [5].

Biological context of Platypus

• In the present study, we show that DLP-2 (defensin-like peptide-2), a 42-amino-acid residue polypeptide in the platypus venom, also contains a D-amino acid residue, D-methionine, at position 2, while DLP-4, which has an identical amino acid sequence, has all amino acids in the L-form [6].
• Gene mapping in marsupials and monotremes, V. Synteny between hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase and phosphoglycerate kinase in the platypus [7].

Anatomical context of Platypus

• Distribution of substance P in the enteric plexuses of the small intestine of the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus [8].
• Neuropil immunoreactivity for parvalbumin was particularly intense in the principal trigeminal, oralis and interpolaris subnuclei of the platypus, but the numerical density of parvalbumin immunoreactive neurons was not particularly high in these nuclei of the platypus [9].
• Myoglobin isolated from skeletal muscle of the platypus contains 153 amino acid residues [10].
• High-resolution immunogold analysis of loricrin distribution in immature keratinocytes of platypus parakeratotic web epidermis identifies labeled areas of round or irregular, electron-pale granules within the denser keratohyalin component and keratin network [11].

Associations of Platypus with chemical compounds

• Identification and structural analysis of four serine proteases in a monotreme, the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus [12].
• We have cloned and analyzed a large nuclear gene, the mannose 6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor II receptor (M6P/IGF2R), from representatives of all three mammalian groups, including platypus, echidna, opossum, wallaby, hedgehog, mouse, rat, rabbit, cow, pig, bat, tree shrew, colugo, ringtail lemur, and human [13].
• The distribution of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the gut of several species of birds and reptiles, and of a prototherian mammal, the platypus, was studied using a monoclonal antibody [14].
• Equilibrium dialysis and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) revealed no evidence for a transcortin-like glucocorticoid- and progesterone-binding protein in platypus plasma [15].
• The neurohypophysial hormones of the egg-laying mammals: identification of arginine vasopressin in the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) [16].

Gene context of Platypus

• SOX2 and SOX14 homologues were cloned and characterized in the platypus, a monotreme mammal distantly related to man [17].
• Several clones containing DMP1 cDNA were isolated from a caiman tooth library by screening with a platypus DMP1 probe [18].
• Except for parakeratotic tissues of platypus web, distribution of acidic and basic proteins in monotreme and marsupial epidermis as revealed by anti-keratin antibodies AE1, AE2, and AE3 resembles that of eutherian epidermis [11].
• Phylogenetic structure of Zacco platypus (Teleostei, Cyprinidae) populations on the upper and middle Chang Jiang (=Yangtze) drainage inferred from cytochrome b sequences [19].
• The purified protein modified the action of partially-purified galactosyltransferase from platypus milk to promote the synthesis of lactose, but had very little modifier effect on bovine galactosyltransferase [20].

References