ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0817-4553
Current Organisation
University of Zurich
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Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 12-11-2021
DOI: 10.3389/FCOSC.2021.781085
Abstract: The snow leopard ( Panthera uncia ) is one of the world's most elusive felids. In Bhutan, which is one of the 12 countries where the species still persists, reliable information on its distribution and habitat suitability is lacking, thus impeding effective conservation planning for the species. To fill this knowledge gap, we created a country-wide species distribution model using “presence-only” data from 420 snow leopard occurrences (345 from a sign survey and 77 from a camera-trapping survey) and 12 environmental covariates consisting of biophysical and anthropogenic factors. We analyzed the data in an ensemble model framework which combines the outputs from several species distribution models. To assess the adequacy of Bhutan's network of protected areas and their potential contribution toward the conservation of the species, we overlaid the output of the ensemble model on the spatial layers of protected areas and biological corridors. The ensemble model identified 7,206 km 2 of Bhutan as suitable for the snow leopard: 3,647 km 2 as highly suitable, 2,681 km 2 as moderately suitable, and 878 km 2 as marginally suitable. Forty percent of the total suitable habitat consisted of protected areas and a further 8% of biological corridors. These suitable habitats were characterized by a mean livestock density of 1.3 in iduals per hectare, and a mean slope of 25° they closely match the distribution of the snow leopard's main wild prey, the bharal ( Pseudois nayaur ). Our study shows that Bhutan's northern protected areas are a centre for snow leopard conservation both at the national and regional scale.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2001
DOI: 10.1016/S0001-706X(01)00137-1
Abstract: Toxocara canis is an ascarid nematode parasite of canids. Larvae infect a wide range of accidental hosts including humans, in whom they are the aetiologic agent of visceral and ocular Larva migrans. The labile surface coat of T. canis larvae consists of a family of mucin glycoproteins termed TES-120, for which the cDNAs have recently been cloned. In this paper, we describe the identification of a novel cDNA (Tc-muc-5) encoding an apomucin by expression screening of a cDNA library with antiserum raised to T. canis excretory/secretory products, and compare the predicted Tc-MUC-5 protein with those of other T. canis mucins (Tc-MUC-1-Tc-MUC-4) that include the TES-120 surface coat glycoproteins. Tc-MUC-5 has both a larger open reading frame and a more ergent sequence than the other T. canis mucins. It contains a putative signal peptide followed by two six-cysteine (SXC) domains, an extended threonine-rich central mucin core domain and two C-terminal SXC domains. Amino acid composition analysis of secreted TES-120 glycoproteins revealed a distinct lack of lysine residues while this finding is in agreement with the primary sequences of Tc-MUC-1-Tc-MUC-4, Tc-MUC-5 is conspicuous by its relative abundance of lysines (6.7%), suggesting that this protein is not part of the TES-120 family of surface coat proteins.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 11-2000
DOI: 10.1017/S0031182099006721
Abstract: Infective larvae of the dog roundworm Toxocara canis survive in the tissues of their hosts for extended periods in a state of developmental arrest, successfully evading immune destruction. This survival strategy is thought to be mediated by T. canis excretory/secretory (TES) products which downregulate or ert the immune response. We purified one of the major TES products, TES-70 and gained amino acid sequence from 4 tryptic peptides. These peptides were matched to a predicted protein from a cDNA that was isolated by expression screening a T. canis cDNA library with mouse anti-TES serum. The predicted protein ( Tc -CTL-4) is similar to, but larger than, Tc -CTL-1, a 32-kDa C-type lectin secreted by T. canis larvae. Tc -CTL-4 has a signal peptide, 2 Cys-rich domains and a C-terminal calcium-dependent C-type lectin domain that shares sequence similarity with host immune cell receptors such as macrophage mannose receptor and CD23. The lectin domain was expressed in bacteria and antiserum to the purified recombinant protein was used to confirm that Tc-ctl-4 did encode the native TES-70 glycoprotein. TES-70 selectively bound to ligands on the surface of Madin–Darby Canine Kidney cells in vitro in a calcium-dependent manner, inhibitable by mammalian serum, indicating that a host glycan is the native ligand for this new parasite lectin.
Location: United States of America
No related grants have been discovered for Dechen Lham.