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Selected AbstractsPhylogeography of the world's tallest angiosperm, Eucalyptus regnans: evidence for multiple isolated Quaternary refugiaJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2010Paul G. Nevill Abstract Aim, There is a need for more Southern Hemisphere phylogeography studies, particularly in Australia, where, unlike much of Europe and North America, ice sheet cover was not extensive during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This study examines the phylogeography of the south-east Australian montane tree species Eucalyptus regnans. The work aimed to identify any major evolutionary divergences or disjunctions across the species' range and to examine genetic signatures of past range contraction and expansion events. Location, South-eastern mainland Australia and the large island of Tasmania. Methods, We determined the chloroplast DNA haplotypes of 410 E. regnans individuals (41 locations) based on five chloroplast microsatellites. Genetic structure was examined using analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), and a statistical parsimony tree was constructed showing the number of nucleotide differences between haplotypes. Geographic structure in population genetic diversity was examined with the calculation of diversity parameters for the mainland and Tasmania, and for 10 regions. Regional analysis was conducted to test hypotheses that some areas within the species' current distribution were refugia during the LGM and that other areas have been recolonized by E. regnans since the LGM. Results, Among the 410 E. regnans individuals analysed, 31 haplotypes were identified. The statistical parsimony tree shows that haplotypes divided into two distinct groups corresponding to mainland Australia and Tasmania. The distribution of haplotypes across the range of E. regnans shows strong geographic patterns, with many populations and even certain regions in which a particular haplotype is fixed. Many locations had unique haplotypes, particularly those in East Gippsland in south-eastern mainland Australia, north-eastern Tasmania and south-eastern Tasmania. Higher haplotype diversity was found in putative refugia, and lower haplotype diversity in areas likely to have been recolonized since the LGM. Main conclusions, The data are consistent with the long-term persistence of E. regnans in many regions and the recent recolonization of other regions, such as the Central Highlands of south-eastern mainland Australia. This suggests that, in spite of the narrow ecological tolerances of the species and the harsh environmental conditions during the LGM, E. regnans was able to persist locally or contracted to many near-coastal refugia, maintaining a diverse genetic structure. [source] Unusual histological variants of cutaneous malignant melanoma with some clinical and possible prognostic correlationsJOURNAL OF CUTANEOUS PATHOLOGY, Issue 9 2005Franco Rongioletti We present a review of most of the unusual histological variants of cutaneous melanoma and describe their immunohistochemical features, associate clinical findings, and possible behavior related to the histological subtype. In addition, we propose their classification into four groups corresponding to the (1) architectural patterns; (2) cytologic features; (3) stromal changes; and (4) the possible association of these findings (i.e. architectural + cytologic features). Although most of these unusual variants have the same prognosis as conventional melanomas, with Breslow thickness and ulceration, being the most important predictor of survival in clinical stage I, some of them have a peculiar biologic behavior that the clinicians and the dermatopathologists should know in order to give melanoma patients all educational information available. [source] Influence of the season on the relationships between NMR transverse relaxation data and water-holding capacity of turkey breast meatJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 12 2004Maurizio Bianchi Abstract In the last few years the poultry industry has seen a significant deterioration in meat quality properties during the summer season. The objective of this study was to evaluate the seasonal effect (summer and winter) on turkey meat quality assessed by both conventional and low-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (LR-NMR) analysis. Eighty-eight breast muscle samples (35 winter and 53 summer) from BUT-Big 6 turkeys belonging to 16 different flocks, were randomly collected from a commercial processing plant. The samples were analysed for transverse relaxation times (T2) by LR-NMR and for initial pH (15 min post mortem), ultimate pH (24 h post mortem) and pH after cooking, temperature at 15 min post mortem, water-holding capacity (WHC, drip loss, filter paper press wetness and cooking loss) at 24 h post mortem, colour of raw and cooked meat and chemical composition (moisture, lipids and proteins). The results indicate that, during the summer season, turkey breast meat undergoes a relevant WHC decrease. Cluster analysis of the raw LR-NMR data evidenced the presence of two groups corresponding to samples harvested in each different season. Correlations between the LR-NMR signal and the conventional parameters measuring WHC were obtained by a recently proposed type of principal component regression (PCR) termed relative standard deviation PCR. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry [source] A novel phenotype based on esterase electrophoretic polymorphism for the differentiation of Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis and cremorisLETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2006H. Ouzari Abstract Aims:, To evaluate the esterase phenotype in Lactococcus lactis strains isolated from traditional Tunisian dairy products. Methods and Results:, A collection of 55 L. lactis strains isolated from traditional fermented milk products and three reference strains were identified at species and subspecies level using molecular methods targeted to the 16S rRNA gene and to the histidine operon. The genotypic data obtained allowed the identification of the strains as L. lactis ssp. lactis and L. lactis ssp. cremoris with the prevalence of the ssp. lactis. The phenotypic identification based on arginine hydrolysis, the growth at 40°C and in presence of 4% NaCl showed several discrepancy with the identification data based on genotypic analysis. Additional experiments carried out evaluating the esterase electrophoretic patterns revealed four classes of esterases identified on the basis of their electrophoretic mobility and specific activity on , - and , -naphthyl ester of acetate and propionate. Esterase profiles discriminated the strains in two main groups corresponding to the subspecies cremoris and lactis according to a DNA-based identification. Conclusions:, The evaluation of esterase activity represents a novel phenotype for the taxonomic discrimination of the L. lactis ssp. lactis and cremoris. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Besides the DNA-based techniques that allow the rapid and accurate species/subspecies identification, the electrophoretic esterase profiles of L. lactis strains represents: (i) a new phenotypic tool to understand the physiology and the ecology of this species; and (ii) a new test for the potential selection of flavour producing strains. [source] Macrogeographic population structuring in the cosmopolitan agricultural pest Bactrocera cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae)MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 13 2010M. VIRGILIO Abstract The macrogeographic population structure of the agricultural pest Bactrocera cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae) was investigated in order to identify the geographic origin of the species and reconstruct its range expansion. Individuals of B. cucurbitae were collected from 25 worldwide-distributed localities (n = 570) and genotyped at 13 microsatellite loci. The Bayesian clustering reveals that B. cucurbitae can be subdivided into five main groups corresponding to populations from (i) the African continent, (ii) La Réunion, (iii) Central Asia, (iv) East Asia and (v) Hawaii. The proportions of inter-regional assignments and the higher values of genetic diversity in populations from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh suggest that B. cucurbitae originated in Central Asia and expanded its range to East Asia and Hawaii on one hand and to Africa and the islands of the Indian Ocean on the other. A number of outliers (10,19 specimens according to different clustering algorithms) show high levels of admixture (Q > 0.70) with populations from different regions and reveal complex patterns of inter-regional gene flow. Anthropogenic transport is the most plausible promoter of this large-scale dispersal. The introduction of individuals from geographically distant sources did not have a relevant role in the most recent African invasions, which originated from the expansion of local populations. These results could provide a useful background to better evaluate invasion risks and establish priorities for the management of this cosmopolitan agricultural pest. [source] Molecular characterization of swine leucocyte antigen class I genes in outbred pig populationsANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 4 2009C.-S. Ho Summary The highly polymorphic swine leucocyte antigen (SLA) genes are one of the most important determinants in swine immune responses to infectious diseases, vaccines, and in transplantation success. Study of SLA influence requires accurate and effective typing methods. We developed a simple and rapid method to type alleles at the three classical SLA class I loci (SLA-1, SLA-3 and SLA-2) using the PCR-sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) strategy. This typing system relies on 47 discriminatory PCR primer pairs designed to amplify the SLA class I alleles by groups that have similar sequence motifs. We applied this low-resolution group-specific typing method to characterize the SLA class I alleles present in three outbred pig populations (n = 202). Alleles from 24 class I allele groups corresponding to 56 class I genotypes were detected. We also identified 23 low-resolution SLA class I haplotypes in these pigs and found haplotypes Lr-1.0 (SLA-1*01XX- SLA-3*01XX- SLA-2*01XX) and Lr-4.0 (SLA-1*04XX- SLA-3*04XX- SLA-2*04XX) in all three pig populations with a high prevalence. Over 80% of the pigs examined (n = 162) were found to bear at least one of these haplotypes, resulting in a combined haplotype frequency of nearly 50%. This PCR-SSP-based typing system demonstrates a reliable and unambiguous detection of SLA class I alleles, and can be used to effectively investigate the SLA diversity in outbred pig populations. It will help to identify the role of SLA antigens in disease-resistant pigs and may facilitate the development of effective vaccines. [source] The Genetic and Environmental Origins of Language Disability and AbilityCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2004Frank M. Spinath This study investigated whether genes affect language impairment to the same extent as they affect differences in language ability following up an earlier study of 579 four-year-old twins with low language performance and their cotwins (Viding et al., in press). The present study selected low-language twins from 6,963 pairs of twins from the Twins Early Development Study assessed for vocabulary and grammar by their parents at 2, 3, and 4 years of age. For impaired groups corresponding to the lowest scoring 5% and 10% at each age, twin concordances and model-fitting analyses indicated substantial genetic influence on the mean difference between affected children and the population (h2g), generally higher than for individual differences for the entire sample (h2). [source] |