Search

The growth and development of maize (Zea mays L.) largely depends on its nutrient uptake through the root. Hence, studying its growth, response, and associated metabolic reprogramming to stress conditions is becoming an important research direction. A genome-scale metabolic model (GSM) for the maize root was developed to study its metabolic reprogramming under nitrogen stress conditions. The model was reconstructed based on the available information from KEGG, UniProt, and MaizeCyc. Transcriptomics data derived from the roots of hydroponically grown maize plants were used to incorporate regulatory constraints in the model and simulate nitrogen-non-limiting (N+) and nitrogen-deficient (N−) condition. Model-predicted flux-sum variability analysis achieved 70% accuracy compared with the experimental change of metabolite levels. In addition to predicting important metabolic reprogramming in central carbon, fatty acid, amino acid, and other secondary metabolism, maize root GSM predicted several metabolites (l-methionine, l-asparagine, l-lysine, cholesterol, and l-pipecolate) playing a regulatory role in the root biomass growth. Furthermore, this study revealed eight phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol metabolites which, even though not coupled with biomass production, played a key role in the increased biomass production under N-deficient conditions. Overall, the omics-integrated GSM provides a promising tool to facilitate stress condition analysis for maize root and engineer better stress-tolerant maize genotypes.

Kinetic models of metabolism are predictors of temporal metabolic behavior of living organisms that integrate multi-omics data sets with reaction network models to interpret reaction rates, kinetic parameters, and enzyme levels. Modern kinetic modeling and parametrization frameworks are powerful tools for describing prokaryotic and eukaryotic metabolic behavior and promises successful application in human health, agriculture, and biotechnology. While the scarcity of in vivo data, computational expense, and scalability issues provide significant challenges, these can be circumvented by leveraging novel in silico data generation, training modules, and concerted effort from various fields of expertise.

In this work we introduce the generalized Optimization- and explicit Runge-Kutta-based Approach (ORKA) to perform dynamic Flux Balance Analysis (dFBA), which is numerically more accurate and computationally tractable than existing approaches. ORKA is applied to a four-tissue (leaf, root, seed, and stem) model of Arabidopsis thaliana, p-ath773, uniquely capturing the core-metabolism of several stages of growth from seedling to senescence at hourly intervals. Model p-ath773 has been designed to show broad agreement with published plant-scale properties such as mass, maintenance, and senescence, yet leaving reaction-level behavior unconstrainted. Hence, it serves as a framework to study the reaction-level behavior necessary for observed plant-scale behavior. Two such case studies of reaction-level behavior include the lifecycle progression of sulfur metabolism and the diurnal flow of water throughout the plant. Specifically, p-ath773 shows how transpiration drives water flow through the plant and how water produced by leaf tissue metabolism may contribute significantly to transpired water. Investigation of sulfur metabolism elucidates frequent cross-compartment exchange of a standing pool of amino acids which is used to regulate the proton flow. Overall, p-ath773 and ORKA serve as scaffolds for dFBA-based lifecycle modeling of plants and other systems to further broaden the scope of in silico metabolic investigation.

Summary Synthetic biology has the potential to revolutionize the biotech industry and our everyday lives and is already making an impact. Developing synthetic biology applications requires several steps including design and modeling efforts which may be performed by in silico tools. In this work, we have developed two such tools, Eukaryotic Genetic Circuit Design (EuGeneCiD) and Modeling (EuGeneCiM), which use optimization concepts and bioparts including promotors, transcripts, and terminators in designing and modeling genetic circuits. EuGeneCiD and EuGeneCiM preclude problematic designs leading to future synthetic biology application development pipelines. EuGeneCiD and EuGeneCiM are applied to developing 30 basic logic gates as genetic circuit conceptualizations which respond to heavy metal ions pairs as input signals for Arabidopsis thaliana. For each conceptualization, hundreds of potential solutions were designed and modeled. Demonstrating its time-dependence and the importance of including enzyme and transcript degradation in modeling, EuGeneCiM is used to model a repressilator circuit., Graphical abstract, Highlights • An in silico Eukaryotic Genetic Circuit Design (EuGeneCiD) tool is introduced • A complimentary Eukaryotic Genetic Circuit Modeling (EuGeneCiM) tool is developed • In a unified workflow, these tools generated thousands of designs and modeled them • The EuGeneCiM tool is also used to model a dynamic repressilator circuit, Biotechnology; Systems biology; Synthetic biology

The growth and development of maize (Zea mays L.) largely depends on its nutrient uptake through root. Hence, studying its growth, response, and associated metabolic reprogramming to stress conditions is becoming an important research direction. A genome-scale metabolic model (GSM) for the maize root was developed to study its metabolic reprogramming under nitrogen-stress condition. The model was reconstructed based on the available information from KEGG, UniProt, and MaizeCyc. Transcriptomics data derived from the roots of hydroponically grown maize plants was used to incorporate regulatory constraints in the model and simulate nitrogen-non-limiting (N−) and nitrogen-deficient (N−) conditions. Model-predicted result achieved 70% accuracy comparing to the experimental direction change of metabolite levels. In addition to predicting important metabolic reprogramming in central carbon, fatty acid, amino acid, and other secondary metabolism, maize root GSM predicted several metabolites (e.g., L-methionine, L-asparagine, L-lysine, cholesterol, and L-pipecolate) playing critical regulatory role in the root biomass growth. Furthermore, this study revealed eight phosphatidyl-choline and phosphatidyl-glycerol metabolites which even though not coupled with biomass production played a key role in the increased biomass production under N-. Overall, the omics-integrated-GSM provides a promising tool to facilitate stress-condition analysis for maize root and ultimately engineer better stress-tolerant maize genotypes.SummaryThe growth and development of maize (Zea mays L.) largely depends on its nutrient uptake through root. Hence, studying its growth, response, and associated metabolic reprogramming to stress conditions is becoming an important research direction.A genome-scale metabolic model (GSM) for the maize root was developed to study its metabolic reprogramming under nitrogen-stress condition. The model was reconstructed based on the available information from KEGG, UniProt, and MaizeCyc.Transcriptomics data derived from the roots of hydroponically grown maize plants was used to incorporate regulatory constraints in the model and simulate nitrogen-non-limiting (N+) and nitrogen-deficient (N−) conditions. Model-predicted result achieved 70% accuracy comparing to the experimental direction change of metabolite levels. In addition to predicting important metabolic reprogramming in central carbon, fatty acid, amino acid, and other secondary metabolism, maize root GSM predicted several metabolites (e.g., L-methionine, L-asparagine, L-lysine, cholesterol, and L-pipecolate) playing critical regulatory role in the root biomass growth. Furthermore, this study revealed eight phosphatidyl-choline and phosphatidyl-glycerol metabolites which even though not coupled with biomass production played a key role in the increased biomass production under N−.Overall, the omics-integrated-GSM provides a promising tool to facilitate stress-condition analysis for maize root and ultimately engineer better stress-tolerant maize genotypes.

Summary The polyextremotolerant black yeast Exophiala dermatitidis is a tractable model system for investigation of adaptations that support growth under extreme conditions. Foremost among these adaptations are melanogenesis and carotenogenesis. A particularly important question is their metabolic production cost. However, investigation of this issue has been hindered by a relatively poor systems-level understanding of E. dermatitidis metabolism. To address this challenge, a genome-scale model (iEde2091) was developed. Using iEde2091, carotenoids were found to be more expensive to produce than melanins. Given their overlapping protective functions, this suggests that carotenoids have an underexplored yet important role in photo-protection. Furthermore, multiple defensive pigments with overlapping functions might allow E. dermatitidis to minimize cost. Because iEde2091 revealed that E. dermatitidis synthesizes the same melanins as humans and the active sites of the key tyrosinase enzyme are highly conserved this model may enable a broader understanding of melanin production across kingdoms., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Exophiala dermatitidis can be a model polyextremotolerant and melaninized organism • Its genome-scale model is reconstructed to study melanin and carotenoid metabolism • The shadow price analysis indicates a potential underexplored role of carotenoids • Comparisons between human and E. dermatitidis melanin synthesis are made, Microbiology; Bioinformatics; Metabolic Engineering

The polyextremotolerant black yeast Exophiala dermatitidis is a tractable model system for investigation of adaptations under extreme conditions. Foremost amongst these adaptations is production of the defensive pigments melanins and carotenoids. A particularly important question is their metabolic production cost. However, this investigation has been hindered by a relatively poor systems-level understanding of E. dermatitidis metabolism. To address this challenge, a genome-scale model (iEde2091) was developed. Using iEde2091, carotenoids were found to be more expensive to produce than melanins. Given their overlapping protective functions, this suggests that carotenoids have an underexplored yet important role of photo-protection under high-energy visible light. Furthermore, multiple defensive pigments with overlapping functions might allow E. dermatitidis to minimize cost. Because iEde2091 revealed that E. dermatitidis synthesizes the same melanins as humans and the active sites of the key tyrosinase enzyme are highly conserved, this model may enable a broader understanding of melanin production across kingdoms.

Summary Synthetic biology often relies on the design of genetic circuits, utilizing “bioparts” (modular DNA pieces) to accomplish desired responses to external stimuli. While such designs are usually intuited, detailed here is a computational approach to synthetic biology design and modeling using optimization-based tools named Eukaryotic Genetic Circuit Design and Modeling. These allow for designing and subsequent screening of genetic circuits to increase the chances of in vivo success and contribute to the development of an application development pipeline. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Schroeder, Baber, and Saha (2021)., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Protocol for Eukaryotic Circuit Design (EuGeneCiD) and Modeling (EuGeneCiM) tools • Details modification of these tools for new applications and parallelization • Details reading, formatting, and curation of results for easier understanding • Instructions for combined and separate workflows for EuGeneCiD and EuGeneCiM, Synthetic biology often relies on the design of genetic circuits, utilizing “bioparts” (modular DNA pieces) to accomplish desired responses to external stimuli. While such designs are usually intuited, detailed here is a computational approach to synthetic biology design and modeling using optimization-based tools named Eukaryotic Genetic Circuit Design and Modeling. These allow for designing and subsequent screening of genetic circuits to increase the chances of in vivo success and contribute to the development of an application development pipeline.

SUMMARYStoichiometric metabolic modeling, particularly Genome-Scale Models (GSMs), is now an indispensable tool for systems biology. The model reconstruction process typically involves collecting information from public databases; however, incomplete systems knowledge leaves gaps in any reconstruction. Current tools for addressing gaps use databases of biochemical functionalities to address gaps on a per-metabolite basis and can provide multiple solutions, but cannot avoid Thermodynamically Infeasible Cycles (TICs), invariably requiring lengthy manual curation. To address these limitations, this work introduces an optimization-based multi-step method named OptFill which performs TIC-avoiding whole-model gapfilling. We applied OptFill to three fictional prokaryotic models of increasing sizes and to a published GSM of Escherichia coli, iJR904. This application resulted in holistic and infeasible cycle free gapfilling solutions. Part of OptFill can, in addition, be adapted to automate inherent TICs identification in any GSM, such as iJR904. Overall, OptFill can address critical issues in automated development of high-quality GSMs.In BriefStoichiometric models of metabolism are useful in studying metabolic interactions in biological systems, but are labor-intensive to create, particularly when addressing gaps or cycles in metabolic reconstruction process. Introduced here is a novel tool, OptFill, which can be used to address both gaps and cycles in model reconstruction, increasing automation.HighlightsThis work presents an alternative to state-of-the-art methods for gapfilling.Unlike current methods, this method is holistic and infeasible cycle free.This method is applied to three test and one published model.This method might also be used to address infeasible cycling.

Stoichiometric Models of metabolism have proven valuable tools for increased understanding of metabolism and accuracy of synthetic biology interventions to achieve desirable phenotypes. Such models have been used in conjunction with optimization-based and have provided “snapshot” views of organism metabolism at specific stages of growth, generally at exponential growth. This approach has limitations in that metabolic history of the modeled system cannot be studied. The inability to study the complete metabolic history has limited stoichiometric metabolic modeling only to the static investigations of an inherently dynamic process. In this work, we have sought to address this limitation by introducing an optimization-based computational framework and applying to a stoichiometric model of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana of four linked sub-models of leaf, root, seed, and stem tissues which models the core carbon metabolism through the lifecycle of arabidopsis (named as p-ath780). Uniquely, this framework and model considers diurnal metabolism, changes in tissue mass, carbohydrate storage, and loss of plant mass to senescence and seed dispersal. p-ath780 provide “snapshots” of core-carbon metabolism at one hour intervals of growth, in order to show the evolution of metabolism and whole-plant growth across the lifecycle of a single representative plant. Further, it can simulate important growth stages including seed germination, leaf development, flower production, and silique ripening. The computational framework has shown broad agreement with published experimental data in tissue mass yield, maintenance cost, senescence cost, and whole-plant growth checkpoints. Having focused on core-carbon metabolism, it serves as a scaffold for lifecycle models of other plant systems, to further increase the sophistication of in silico metabolic modeling, and to increase the range of hypotheses which can be investigated in silico. As an example, we have investigated the effect of alternate growth objectives on this plant over the lifecycle.Author SummaryIn an attempt to study the evolution of metabolism across the lifecycle of plants, in this work we have created an optimization-based framework for the in silico modeling of plant metabolism across the lifecycle of a model plant. We then applied this framework to four core-carbon tissue-level (namely, leaf, root, seed, and stem) stoichiometric models of the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, and further informed this framework with a wide array of published in vivo data to increase model and framework accuracy. Unique to the p-ath780 model, comparted to other models of plant metabolism, is the simultaneous considerations of diurnal metabolism, carbohydrate storage, changes in tissue mass (including losses), and changes in metabolism with respect to plant growth stage. This provides a more complete picture of plant metabolism and allows for a wider array of future studies of plant metabolism, particularly since we have only modeled the core carbon metabolism of A. thaliana, allowing this work to serve as a framework for studies of other plant systems.

The perception of tool-object pairs involves understanding their action-relationships (affordances). Here, we sought to evaluate how an observer visually encodes tool-object affordances. Eye-movements were recorded as right-handed participants freely viewed static, right-handed, egocentric tool-object images across three contexts: correct (e.g. hammer-nail), incorrect (e.g. hammer-paper), spatial/ambiguous (e.g. hammer-wood), and three grasp-types: no hand, functional grasp-posture (grasp hammer-handle), non-functional/manipulative grasp-posture (grasp hammer-head). There were three areas of interests (AOI): the object (nail), the operant tool-end (hammer-head), the graspable tool-end (hammer-handle). Participants passively evaluated whether tool-object pairs were functionally correct/incorrect. Clustering of gaze scanpaths and AOI weightings grouped conditions into three distinct grasp-specific clusters, especially across correct and spatial tool-object contexts and to a lesser extent within the incorrect tool-object context. The grasp-specific gaze scanpath clusters were reasonably robust to the temporal order of gaze scanpaths. Gaze was therefore automatically primed to grasp-affordances though the task required evaluating tool-object context. Participants also primarily focused on the object and the operant tool-end and sparsely attended to the graspable tool-end, even in images with functional grasp-postures. In fact, in the absence of a grasp, the object was foveally weighted the most, indicative of a possible object-oriented action priming effect wherein the observer may be evaluating how the tool engages on the object. Unlike the functional grasp-posture, the manipulative grasp-posture caused the greatest disruption in the object-oriented priming effect, ostensibly as it does not afford tool-object action due to its non-functional interaction with the operant tool-end that actually engages with the object (e.g., hammer-head to nail). The enhanced attention towards the manipulative grasp-posture may serve to encode grasp-intent. Results here shed new light on how an observer gathers action-information when evaluating static tool-object scenes and reveal how contextual and grasp-specific affordances directly modulate visuospatial attention.

Carlia quinquecarinata (Macleay) Fig. 12, Tables 3 & 4 1877 Heteropus quinquecarinatus Macleay Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 2: 67. Darnley Island, north-eastern Queensland. Lectotype AMS R 31873. Material examined: Lectotype: AMS R 31873. Darnley Island, north-eastern Queensland (9°35'S, 143°46'E). Paralectotypes: AMS R31871-2, AMS R31874-5, as for lectotype. AMS R 31872 excluded from measurements (see discussion below). Other material: QM J68354, J68359, Darnley Island (9°35'S, 143°46'E). QMJ52427, a specimen from Murray Island exhibits pattern characteristics similar to those of the Darnley Island specimens. Distribution: Darnley Island [= Erub Island] (9°35'S, 143°46'E) Torres Strait and probably also Murray Island (9°56'S, 144°04'E). This taxon may also occur in New Guinea (see comments below). Diagnosis: A large, heavy-bodied member of the C. fusca group usually possessing large, longitudinally aligned, dark- edged, pale dashes on the dorsum and a midlateral line (where present) broken into a series of dashes anterior to the forelimb - a pattern not seen in C. longipes or C. sexdentata. Description: SVL (mm) 56.96–65.68, n = 4. Proportions as %SVL (mean ± standard deviation): not available; AG 42.80–50.54 (48.32 ± 3.71, n = 4); L1 32.13–36.73 (34.88 ± 1.95, n = 4); L2 49.43–50.05 (49.66 ± 0.27, n = 4); HL 21.09–22.26 (21.79 ± 0.50, n = 4); Eye – ear 7.23–7.89 (7.57 ± 0.27, n = 4); Snout 7.80– 8.71 (8.40 ± 0.42, n = 4). Body robust. Head barely distinct from neck. HW 65.92–70.65% HL (68.34 ± 1.97, n = 4). Limbs moderate. L1 64.19–74.29% L2 (70.26 ± 4.29, n = 4). Raw measurements and scale counts of lectotype: AMS R31873. SVL 60.91 mm; AG 30.19 mm; L1 22.37 mm; L2 30.11 mm; HL 13.56 mm; HW 9.58 mm; Eye – ear 4.60; Snout 5.14: midbody scale rows 38; paravertebral scale rows 47; supraciliaries 8 left, 7 right; supralabials 7; fifth supralabial below eye; infralabials 6; subdigital lamellae beneath 3 rd finger 23; subdigital lamellae beneath 4 th toe 32; enlarged nuchals 2; preoculars 2; presuboculars 1; postsupralabial divided; temporals – 1 primary, 2 secondary; ear vertical with sharp lobules on all edges—those along posterior margin small and deeply recessed (Fig. 12b); palpebral disc larger than ear opening. The scales of the dorsal and lateral surfaces are weakly carinated and some have an indication of a smaller point at the lateral edges, producing five carinations. The scale characters of AMS R31871, AMS R31874 -5 are less well preserved but suggest the same general effect. The scales of AMS R31872 are largely smooth. Pattern: AMS R31871-5 are badly faded but still show traces of a dark upper lateral zone extending beyond the forelimb and bordered above by a narrow, pale dorsolateral stripe. AMS R 31874 shows traces of dark-edged dorsal dashes the full extent of this pattern is clearly seen in QM J86354, a fresh specimen from Darnley Island, collected in November 2007 (Fig. 12c). Comments: C. quinquecarinata is a large, heavy-bodied Carlia that is readily separated from the sympatric, slender-bodied H. variegatus by both pattern and scalation differences. Specimen AMS R31872 is not considered as conspecific with the other specimens in the type series. Its colour pattern and scalation characters fit more closely with H. variegatus. (Pale dorsolateral and mid lateral stripes present, midbody scale count = 33, lamellae under 3 rd finger = 19, lamellae under 4 th toe = 25). The scale characteristics of the other H. quinquecarinatus types appear to be consistent with recently collected, genetically typed, specimens from Darnley Island (QM J68354, J68359) that possess prominent longitudinally aligned, dark- edged, pale flecks on the dorsum and broken midlateral stripes. A similar pattern was observed in a specimen from Murray Island (QM J52427). The mitochondrial DNA phylogeny (Fig. 2) places the Darnley Island specimens with AMS R122702, a specimen from Waro, Southern Highlands Province, PNG (6°32'S, 143°11'E) that Zug (2004) was not able to assign to any named taxon with confidence. AMS R122702 does not have the pattern of Darnley Island C. quinquecarinata and for the present we do not include it in C. quinquecarinata until the extent of morphological variation in C. quinquecarinata is assessed across the region., Published as part of Donnellan, S. C., Couper, P. J., Saint, K. M. & Wheaton, L., 2009, Systematics of the Carlia ' fusca' complex (Reptilia: Scincidae) from northern Australia, pp. 1-31 in Zootaxa 2227 (1) on pages 24-26, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2227.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5322567, {"references":["Macleay, W. (1877) The lizards of the Chevert Expedition. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of N. S. W., 2, 60 - 69.","Zug, G. R. (2004) Systematics of the Carlia \" fusca \" lizards (Squamata: Scincidae) of New Guinea and nearby islands. Bishop Museum Bulletin in Zoology, 5, i - viii + 1 - 83."]}

Heteropus variegatus Macleay, 1877 Fig. 11c, d; Tables 3 & 4 Lectotype: AMS R 31868. Darnley Island, northeastern Torres Strait (9°35’S, 143°46’E). Paralectotypes: AMS R31869-70: as for lectotype. Description: SVL (mm) 45.92 – 47.86, n = 3. Proportions as %SVL (mean ± standard deviation): TL not available; AG 46.74-48.41 (47.63 ± 0.84, n = 3); L1 33.99-35.04 (34.47 ± 0.53, n = 3); L2 47.36-50.61 (48.87 ± 1.63, n = 3); HL 21.94-22.89 (22.47 ± 0.48, n = 3); Eye – ear 7.75-8.14 (7.98 ± 0.22, n = 3); Snout 9.45-9.88 (9.65± 0.22, n = 3). Body robust. Head barely distinct from neck. HW 58.05-63.52% HL (61.19 ± 2.82, n = 3). Limbs moderate. L1 69.24-71.76% L2 (70.56 ± 1.27, n = 3). Raw measurements and scale counts of lectotype: AMS R31868. SVL 46.66 mm; AG 22.59 mm; L1 15.86 mm; L2 22.10 mm; HL 10.68 mm; HW 6.62 mm; Eye – ear 3.75; Snout 4.49: midbody scale rows 32; paravertebral scale rows 46; supraciliaries 7; supralabials 7; fifth supralabial below eye; infralabials 6; subdigital lamellae beneath 3 rd finger 19; subdigital lamellae beneath 4 th toe 27; enlarged nuchals 2; preoculars 2; presuboculars 1; postsupralabial divided; temporals – 1 primary, 2 secondary; ear vertical with sharp lobules at front and top – those along dorsal margin small and deeply recessed (Fig. 11d); palpebral disc subequal to ear opening. The scales of the dorsal and lateral surfaces are faintly tricarinate. Pattern: AMS R31868 is badly faded but a slight darkening of the upper lateral zone is evident between the ear aperture and the forelimb. This is bordered above by a pale, fine dorsolateral stripe and below by a moderate, wavy midlateral stripe that extends along the anterior third of the flanks. Comments: Ingram and Covacevich (1989) designated AMS R 31869 as the lectotype of Heteropus variegatus, however, this is preceded by the prior designation of AMS R 31868 by Wells and Wellington (1985)., Published as part of Donnellan, S. C., Couper, P. J., Saint, K. M. & Wheaton, L., 2009, Systematics of the Carlia ' fusca' complex (Reptilia: Scincidae) from northern Australia, pp. 1-31 in Zootaxa 2227 (1) on page 31, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2227.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5322567

Heteropus cheverti Macleay, 1877 Fig. 8c, d; Tables 3 & 4 Lectotype: AMS R 31877: Barrow Island, 25km SSE Cape Melville (14°21’S, 144°39’E) Paralectotype: AMS R 31876: as for lectotype Description: SVL (mm) 46.47-55.04, n = 2. Proportions as %SVL (mean ± standard deviation): TL 187.67 (n = 1); AG 45.68-51.13 (48.40 ± 3.86, n = 2); L1 33.12-37.12 (35.12 ± 2.83, n = 2); L2 47.84-54.62 (51.23 ± 4.79, n = 2); HL 22.10-22.35 (22.22 ± 0.17, n = 2); Eye – ear 7.64-7.69 (7.66 ± 0.03, n = 2); Snout 9.27-9.30 (9.29± 0.02, n = 2). Body robust. Head barely distinct from neck. HW 66.21-70.73% HL (68.47 ± 3.20, n = 2). Limbs moderate. L1 67.96-69.24% L2 (68.60 ± 0.90, n = 2). Raw measurements and scale counts of lectotype: AMS R31877. SVL 55.04 mm; AG 25.14 mm; L1 18.23 mm; L2 26.33 mm; HL 12.30 mm; HW 8.70 mm; Eye – ear 4.23; Snout 5.12: midbody scale rows 36; paravertebral scale rows 49; supraciliaries 7; supralabials 7; fifth supralabial below eye; infralabials 6; subdigital lamellae beneath 3 rd finger 22; subdigital lamellae beneath 4 th toe 29; enlarged nuchals 2; preoculars 2; presuboculars 1; postsupralabial divided; temporals – 1 primary, 2 secondary; ear vertical with sharp lobules at front and top (Fig. 8d); palpebral disc smaller than ear opening. The scales of the dorsal and lateral surfaces are smooth. Pattern: AMS R 31877 is badly faded and has lost all traces of patterning. Paralectotype AMS R 31876 still shows a hint of a dark upper lateral zone anterior to the forelimb, which is bordered above by a narrow, pale dorsolateral stripe., Published as part of Donnellan, S. C., Couper, P. J., Saint, K. M. & Wheaton, L., 2009, Systematics of the Carlia ' fusca' complex (Reptilia: Scincidae) from northern Australia, pp. 1-31 in Zootaxa 2227 (1) on page 31, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2227.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5322567