%0 Journal Article
%~ PubMed
%A McAllan, B M
%A Feay, N
%A Bradley, A J
%A Geiser, F
%T The influence of reproductive hormones on the torpor patterns of the marsupial Sminthopsis macroura: Bet-hedging in an unpredictable environment.
%B General and Comparative Endocrinology
%D 2012
%C United States
%I Academic Press
%V 179
%N 2
%P 265-276
%@ 1095-6840
%X 
%Z FOR Codes: 60604 60806 110306


%0 Journal Article
%~ PubMed
%A King, Jessica S
%A McAllan, Bronwyn
%A Spielman, Derek S
%A Lindsay, Scott A
%A H?rková-Hofmannová, Lada
%A Hartigan, Ashlie
%A Al-Qassab, Sarwat E
%A Ellis, John T
%A Slapeta, Jan
%T Extensive production of Neospora caninum tissue cysts in a carnivorous marsupial succumbing to experimental neosporosis.
%B Veterinary Research
%D 2011
%C United Kingdom
%I BioMed Central Ltd.
%V 42
%N 1
%P 75
%@ 0928-4249
%X ABSTRACT: Experimental infections of Sminthopsis crassicaudata, the fat-tailed dunnart, a carnivorous marsupial widely distributed throughout the arid and semi-arid zones of Australia, show that this species can act as an intermediate host for Neospora caninum. In contrast to existing models that develop relatively few N. caninum tissue cysts, dunnarts offer a new animal model in which active neosporosis is dominated by tissue cyst production. The results provide evidence for a sylvatic life cycle of N. caninum in Australia between marsupials and wild dogs. It establishes the foundation for an investigation of the impact and costs of neosporosis to wildlife.
%Z FOR Codes: 60604 110799 60502


%0 Book Section
%A McAllan, Bronwyn
%T Reproductive Endocrinology of Prototherians and Metatherians
%B Hormones and Reproduction of Vertebrates: Mammals
%D 2011
%C United Kingdom, Unit
%I Elsevier Inc.
%V 
%N 
%P 195-214
%@ 9780123749284
%E Norris, David O
%E Lopez, Kristin H
%X 
%Z FOR Codes: 110306 111404


%0 Journal Article
%~ PubMed
%A Wang, Lei
%A McAllan, B M
%A He, Guimei
%T Telomerase activity in the bats Hipposideros armiger and Rousettus leschenaultia.
%B Biochemistry
%D 2011
%C Russian Federation
%I MA I K Nauka - Interperiodica
%V 76
%N 9
%P 1017-1021
%@ 1608-3040
%X Telomerase activity was examined in two species of bat, Hipposideros armiger and Rousettus leschenaultia, which have similar body mass and lifespan but differ in use of hibernation. We found that telomerase activity was present in all tissues sampled, but it was greater in metabolically active tissues such as liver, spleen, and kidney. Of special interest is the raised activity found in the heterothermic bat H. armiger, and the hibernating bats having raised values for spleen, heart, and kidney. These findings show that maintenance of high levels of telomerase is an essential part of the regulation of cellular activities during hibernation.
%Z FOR Codes: 60604 60199 60802


%0 Book Section
%A Ashwell, Ken WS
%A McAllan, Bronwyn
%A Mai, Jurgen K
%T Atlas of the brain of the stripe-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura)
%B The Neurobiology of Australian Marsupials: Brain evolution in other mammalian radiation
%D 2010
%C United Kingdom
%I Cambridge University Press
%V 
%N 
%P 241-242
%@ 9780521519458
%E Ashwell, Ken WS
%X 
%Z FOR Codes: 60805


%0 Journal Article
%~ PubMed
%A Munn, Adam J
%A Kern, Pippa
%A McAllan, Bronwyn M
%T Coping with chaos: unpredictable food supplies intensify torpor use in an arid-zone marsupial, the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata).
%B Die Naturwissenschaften
%D 2010
%C Germany
%I Springer
%V 97
%N 6
%P 601-5
%@ 1432-1904
%X The severity, duration and amplitude of extreme weather events are forecast to intensify with current climate trends, over both long (e.g. seasonal) and short (e.g. daily) time-scales. As such, the predictability of food supplies for many small endotherms is likely to become increasingly important. Numerous small mammals and birds combat food shortages using torpor, a controlled reduction in metabolic rate and body temperature that helps lower their daily energy requirements. As such, torpor often has been cited as a key feature allowing some small endotherms to survive highly unpredictable climates, such as tropics or dry deserts, but mensurative demonstrations of this are lacking. We have shown here that when a small desert marsupial, the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata), is offered unpredictable levels of daily food, they increase frequency of daily torpor and length of bouts compared with animals offered ad libitum food, but this was not found for animals offered a 75% [corrected] food-restricted diet. Our data suggest that simple food restriction may not be sufficient for evaluating the efficacy of torpor as a strategy for managing unpredictable climates.
%Z FOR Codes: 60604 60801 60806


%0 Book Section
%A McAllan, Bronwyn
%A Richardson, Samatha J
%T Marsupials as models for development, ageing and disease: a neurobiological and comparative context
%B The Neurobiology of Australian Marsupials: Brain evolution in other mammalian radiation
%D 2010
%C United Kingdom
%I Cambridge University Press
%V 
%N 
%P 225-237
%@ 9780521519458
%E Ashwell, Ken WS
%X 
%Z FOR Codes: 60805 110904


%0 Journal Article
%A McAllan, Bronwyn
%T Reproductive parameters of surviving ‘die-off’ male Antechinus flavipes and Antechinus stuartii (Dasyuridae : Marsupialia) in their second year of life
%B Australian Mammalogy
%D 2009
%C Australia
%I CSIRO Publishing
%V 31
%N 1
%P 17-23
%@ 1836-7402
%X 
%Z FOR Codes: 60803


%0 Journal Article
%A Naylor, R
%A Richardson, S J
%A McAllan, Bronwyn
%T Boom and bust: A review of the physiological life history pattern in the marsupial genus Antechinus
%B Journal of Comparative Physiology B
%D 2008
%C Germany
%I Springer
%V 178
%N 
%P 545-562
%@ 0174-1578
%X 
%Z FOR Codes: 111699


%0 Journal Article
%~ PubMed
%A Ashwell, K W S
%A McAllan, B M
%A Mai, J K
%A Paxinos, G
%T Cortical Cyto- and Chemoarchitecture in Three Small Australian Marsupial Carnivores: Sminthopsis macroura, Antechinus stuartii and Phascogale calura.
%B Brain, behavior and evolution
%D 2008
%C Switzerland
%I S. Karger AG
%V 72
%N 3
%P 215-32
%@ 1421-9743
%X The cyto- and chemoarchitecture of the cerebral cortex has been examined in three small (mouse-sized) polyprotodont marsupial carnivores from Australia (the stripe-faced dunnart, Sminthopsis macroura; the brown antechinus, Antechinus stuartii; and the red-tailed phascogale, Phascogale calura) in order to compare the cortical topography of these marsupials with that of diprotodontids, didelphids and eutherians. All three species studied had similar cortical cytoarchitecture. The isocortical surface was dominated by primary somatosensory (S1) and visual (V1) areas. Putative secondary sensory areas (S2, V2M, V2L) were also identified. The primary somatosensory cortex demonstrated clumps of granule cells in the presumptive mystacial field, whereas the primary visual area showed a distinctive chemical signature of intense calbindin immunoreactivity in layer IV. On the other hand, the primary auditory area was small and indistinct, but flanked by a temporal association area (TeA). A cytoarchitecturally distinct primary motor cortex (M1) with prominent pyramidal neurons in layer V and poor layer IV was identified medially to S1, and at rostral levels a putative secondary motor area was identified medial to M1. Transitional areas between isocortex and allocortical regions showed many cyto- and chemoarchitectural similarities to those reported for eutherian (and in particular rodent) cortex. Medially, two cingulate regions were found at rostral levels, with dysgranular and granular ''retrosplenial'' areas identified caudally. Laterally, granular and agranular areas surrounded the rostral rhinal fissure, to be replaced by ectorhinal and perirhinal areas caudally. The findings indicate that the cyto- and chemoarchitectural features which characterize the iso- and allocortex in these small marsupial carnivores are similar to those reported in didelphids and eutherians and our findings suggest the existence of putative dedicated motor areas medial to the S1 field.
%Z FOR Codes: 110903


%0 Journal Article
%~ PubMed
%A Jastroch, M
%A Withers, K W
%A Taudien, S
%A Frappell, P B
%A Helwig, M
%A Fromme, T
%A Hirschberg, V
%A Heldmaier, G
%A McAllan, B M
%A Firth, B T
%A Burmester, T
%A Platzer, M
%A Klingenspor, M
%T Marsupial uncoupling protein 1 sheds light on the evolution of mammalian nonshivering thermogenesis.
%B Physiological Genomics
%D 2008
%C United States
%I American Physiological Society
%V 32
%N 2
%P 161-169
%@ 1531-2267
%X Brown adipose tissue expressing uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) is responsible for adaptive nonshivering thermogenesis giving eutherian mammals crucial advantage to survive the cold. The emergence of this thermogenic organ during mammalian evolution remained unknown as the identification of UCP1 in marsupials failed so far. Here, we unequivocally identify the marsupial UCP1 ortholog in a genomic library of Monodelphis domestica. In South American and Australian marsupials, UCP1 is exclusively expressed in distinct adipose tissue sites and appears to be recruited by cold exposure in the smallest species under investigation (Sminthopsis crassicaudata). Our data suggest that an archetypal brown adipose tissue was present at least 150 million yr ago allowing early mammals to produce endogenous heat in the cold, without dependence on shivering and locomotor activity.
%Z FOR Codes: 111699


%0 Journal Article
%A McAllan, Bronwyn
%A Westman, Wendy
%A Crowther, Mathew S
%A Dickman, Christopher R
%T Morphology, growth, and reproduction in the Australian house mouse: differential effects of moderate temperatures
%B Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
%D 2008
%C United Kingdom
%I Wiley-Blackwell
%V 94
%N 
%P 21-30
%@ 0024-4066
%X 
%Z FOR Codes: 111699


%0 Journal Article
%~ Isi
%A McAllan, B. M.
%T Dasyurid marsupials as models for the physiology of ageing in humans.
%B Australian Journal of Zoology
%D 2006
%C australia
%I CSIRO
%V 54
%N 3
%P 159-172
%@ 
%X 
%Z FOR Codes:


%0 Journal Article
%~ PubMed
%A Geiser, Fritz
%A McAllan, B
%A Kenagy, G
%A Hiebert, Sara
%T Photoperiod affects daily torpor and tissue fatty acid composition in deer mice.
%B Die Naturwissenschaften
%D 2006
%C Germany
%I Springer-Verlag
%V 94
%N 
%P 319-25
%@ 0028-1042
%X Photoperiod and dietary lipids both influence thermal physiology and the pattern of torpor of heterothermic mammals. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that photoperiod-induced physiological changes are linked to differences in tissue fatty acid composition of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus ( approximately 18-g body mass). Deer mice were acclimated for >8 weeks to one of three photoperiods (LD, light/dark): LD 8:16 (short photoperiod), LD 12:12 (equinox photoperiod), and LD 16:8 (long photoperiod). Deer mice under short and equinox photoperiods showed a greater occurrence of torpor than those under long photoperiods (71, 70, and 14%, respectively). The duration of torpor bouts was longest in deer mice under short photoperiod (9.3 +/- 2.6 h), intermediate under equinox photoperiod (5.1 +/- 0.3 h), and shortest under long photoperiod (3.7 +/- 0.6 h). Physiological differences in torpor use were associated with significant alterations of fatty acid composition in approximately 50% of the major fatty acids from leg muscle total lipids, whereas white adipose tissue fatty acid composition showed fewer changes. Our results provide the first evidence that physiological changes due to photoperiod exposure do result in changes in lipid composition in the muscle tissue of deer mice and suggest that these may play a role in survival of low body temperature and metabolic rate during torpor, thus, enhancing favourable energy balance over the course of the winter.
%Z FOR Codes: 110104


%0 Journal Article
%~ Isi
%A McAllan, B. M.
%A Dickman, C. R.
%A Crowther, M. S.
%T Photoperiod as a reproductive cue in the marsupial genus Antechinus: ecological and evolutionary consequences.
%B Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
%D 2006
%C UK
%I Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
%V 87
%N 3
%P 365-379
%@ 
%X 
%Z FOR Codes: