Los ludi en la Roma arcaica

Resumen: En este artículo se analizan los juegos públicos celebrados en Roma durante el período monárquico. Su creación obedece a motivos religiosos, en relación a la fecundidad (Consualia, ludi Taurei) o a la guerra (Equirria, equus October). La culminación religiosa y política de los juegos se materializa en los ludi Romani, institutidos por el rey Tarquinio Prisco. Finalmente es considerado también el llamado lusus Troiae, juego ecuestre exclusivo de los jóvenes y asimismo de origen arcaico.

线粒体基因组的变异与哺乳动物高原适应性

青藏高原是世界上最大、最年轻的高原。大气氧分压低、太阳辐射强烈和 气候寒冷等自然特点使得生活在青藏高原上的动物在形态、生态、行为以及生 理机能上都受到深刻的影响，并在进化过程中对高原环境产生了特殊的适应性。 生活在高原上的动物分为世居动物和移居动物，它们处于高原适应过程中的不 同阶段，并且有着不同的高原适应性的特点。为了研究高原哺乳动物所拥有的 特殊高原适应性的遗传基础和进化历史，以及探讨处于不同高原适应阶段的哺 乳动物对高原的适应性在遗传基础上的异同，本研究首次测定和分析了高原世 居动物中的藏羚羊（Pantholops hodgsonii）和高原鼠兔（Ochotona curzoniae） 以及高原移居动物中的藏马（Equns caballus）这三种具有代表性的高原动物的 线粒体全基因组。 1. 藏羚羊线粒体DNA 中的变异及其进化史 在对线粒体上13 个基因进行了进化分析后，我们发现细胞色素氧化酶1 （COX1）基因在藏羚羊和牦牛中都有高的非同义突变的现象。COX1 基因编码 的蛋白是线粒体氧化呼吸链上复合物Ⅳ的一部分，它将电子传递给氧，进行有 氧呼吸并产生能量。考虑到藏羚羊与牦牛都是生活在相同的气候环境中，我们 猜想线粒体基因组编码的COX1 基因的进化可能对青藏高原世居动物适应高原 环境起到作用。藏羚羊的线粒体DNA 数据表明，藏羚羊与绵羊、山羊的亲缘 关系较近，而与羚羊属家族的动物则相对较远，同时我们估算了藏羚羊与绵羊 山羊的分化时间大约为220 万年左右。这一时间与一些学者所估计的青藏高原 隆起时间大致吻合。 2. 高原鼠兔线粒体DNA 中的变异及其进化史 对高原鼠兔线粒体基因组上的基因进行进化分析后发现，对于高原鼠兔这一 分枝上，COX1 基因也有高的非同义突变速率。这表明COX1 基因在高原鼠兔 适应青藏高原高寒缺氧的环境过程中也可能受到选择压力的作用，结合我们在 藏羚羊和牦牛中的分析结果，我们推测高原世居动物在COX1 基因的进化过程 中很多都表现出类似的受选择现象。3. 藏马线粒体DNA 中的变异及其进化史 我们测定了西藏那曲(4500m)、云南中甸(3300m)、云南德钦(3300m)地区共 三匹藏马线粒体全基因组序列。通过对线粒体蛋白编码区的分析发现，与藏羚 羊、高原鼠兔等高原世居动物表现出的COX1 基因受选择不同，在三匹藏马中 NADH6 基因均表现高的非同义突变现象。NDAH6 基因编码的蛋白是线粒体氧 化呼吸链上复合物Ⅰ的一部分，它催化电子从NADH 传递给辅酶Q。不同地区 藏马中NADH6 基因类似的进化方式表明NADH6 基因的进化可能与藏马对高 原极端环境的适应有关。藏马在线粒体基因进化上所表现出的与其它高原世居 动物的不同究竟是由于动物在适应高原的不同阶段其遗传基础和策略的不同所 造成的，还是由于物种间的差异所造成的我们尚不能确定。还需要进一步对高 原动物线粒体基因进行研究。此外，我们对藏马进化史的研究表明藏马可能为 多地区起源

碳、氧稳定同位素分析在古环境研究中的应用

A number of proxy records of paleoenvironment using stable isotopes could show the history of past environmental changes. These archives include peat and lake sediments, loess-paleosot sequence, fossil mammals and stalagmite, and so on. The stable isotopic composition of carbonate and organic matter and frequency magnetic susceptibility from Tianshuigou and Yuanlei loess-palesol sequence can be used to give estimates of the paleoenvironmental history of Dali, and even of the whole Chinese Loess Plateau during the last 250ka. Features of the High Temperature and Large Precipitation Event in the Tibet Plateau and its adjacent area during 40~30kaBP had been studied by Professor Shi Y. In this dissertation, its impact on Chinese Loess Plateau has been discussed again. Carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios, magnetic susceptibility and frequency magnetic susceptibility in Tianshuigou and Yuanlei profiles show that the Event in this area is not so stronger as the Tibet Plateau. The carbon isotopic composition of organic matter in Tianshuigou, Yuanlei, dingcun and Jingcun loess-palesol sequences are indicative of major changes in the paleovagetation between terrace and plain of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Water is one of the most important factors adjusting the relative biomass of C4 plant in terrestrial ecosystems. Stable carbon isotope ratio of vertebrate tooth enamel is used increasingly to reconstruct environmental and ecological information modern and ancient ecosystems. The SI3C value of tooth enamel bioapatites can distinguish between browsers and grazers. Data from typical grassland of Inter Mongolia, the Alpine meadow of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yaluzangbu Great Canyon indicate that diets of mammals could record the relative biomass of C4 plant only in the C4 dominated ecosystem. In a C3 dominated ecosystem, diet of mammals would include more C3 plants than vegetation. According to Professor Cerling, proxy records from North and South America, Africa and Pakistan show that at the end of the Miocene (between 8Ma to 6 Ma) there was a global expansion of CA biomass, probably when atmospheric CO2 levels declined. Thus, "C4 world" and "CO2 starvation" are put forward. In this dissertation, carbon isotopes of fossil tooth such as Equus sanmeniensis and Hipparion chiai from Linxia, China reveal that there is a C3 dominated ecosystem in the late Miocene. Diets of ancient mammals in Linxia are not evidence of global expansion of C4 biomass.

Step by step: reconstruction of terrestrial animal movement paths by dead-reckoning

BACKGROUND: Research on wild animal ecology is increasingly employing GPS telemetry in order to determine animal movement. However, GPS systems record position intermittently, providing no information on latent position or track tortuosity. High frequency GPS have high power requirements, which necessitates large batteries (often effectively precluding their use on small animals) or reduced deployment duration. Dead-reckoning is an alternative approach which has the potential to 'fill in the gaps' between less resolute forms of telemetry without incurring the power costs. However, although this method has been used in aquatic environments, no explicit demonstration of terrestrial dead-reckoning has been presented.

RESULTS: We perform a simple validation experiment to assess the rate of error accumulation in terrestrial dead-reckoning. In addition, examples of successful implementation of dead-reckoning are given using data from the domestic dog Canus lupus, horse Equus ferus, cow Bos taurus and wild badger Meles meles.

CONCLUSIONS: This study documents how terrestrial dead-reckoning can be undertaken, describing derivation of heading from tri-axial accelerometer and tri-axial magnetometer data, correction for hard and soft iron distortions on the magnetometer output, and presenting a novel correction procedure to marry dead-reckoned paths to ground-truthed positions. This study is the first explicit demonstration of terrestrial dead-reckoning, which provides a workable method of deriving the paths of animals on a step-by-step scale. The wider implications of this method for the understanding of animal movement ecology are discussed.

Faunal exploitation at the middle paleolithic site Kabazi II(Western Crimea)

Kabazi II est un site de plein air, situé sur la deuxième rangée des Monts de Crimée. Après sa découverte en 1986, les investigations archéologiques effectuées entre 1987 et le milieu des années 90 ont établi que Kabazi II avait auparavant servi de lieu de chasse et d’abattage pour les groupes néanderthaliens de la région. Les études archéozoologiques antérieures (Patou-Mathis 2003, 1999, 2005, 2006a, 2006b) ont déterminé que les stratégies de subsistance des Néanderthaliens du Kabazi II étaient très spécialisées et principalement axées sur la chasse des petits groupes de Equus hydruntinus mais aussi, à l’occasion, sur la chasse d’autres espèces. Ces comportements ont persisté malgré les changements climatiques et technologiques à travers l’histoire d’occupation du site. Cette étude présente l’analyse des assemblages fauniques encore inédits des niveaux II/1,II/2-1, II/2, II/3, II/4, II/5, II/7, II/8, II/9, II/13, II/13A de Kabazi II. Nos résultats sont en accord avec ceux obtenus parles d’études antérieures ; cependant, des différences par rapport à la fonction du site ont été constatées et un lien possible avec Kabazi V, un abri sur roche tout près de Kabazi II, a été établi. On croit que la persistance des activités de subsistance des Néanderthaliens de Kabazi II pendant presque 100 000 ans de présence est due à la polyvalence des ânes asiatiques tels que Equus hydruntinus, au contexte géographique et géologique de la région ainsi qu’aux caractéristiques du site elles-mêmes.

Citogenética de jumentos da raça Marchadora Brasileira

Jumentos da raça Marchadora Brasileira foram cariotipados e bandeados com C, G e NOR, sendo 2n = 62 e NF = 107. O trabalho visou a contribuir com a cariotipagem da espécie e verificar polimorfismos presentes nos animais. O cariótipo foi organizado em seis grupos, possuindo o primeiro sete pares submetacêntricos a metacêntricos, o segundo, seis subtelocêntricos, o terceiro, cinco acrocêntricos e o quarto, dois subgrupos de três cada um, subtelocêntricos e submetacêntricos. O quinto grupo continha os menores metacêntricos e os sexuais, X submetacêntrico e Y acrocêntrico, ao lado do terceiro grupo. No bandeamento C, o cromossomo 7 foi fortemente marcado, o G permitiu pareamento dos homólogos e o NOR marcou sete pares.

Perfil lipídico da membrana citoplasmática de espermatozoides in natura e criopreservados de jumentos e cavalos

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Structural and functional analysis of centromeric chromatin

Animal neocentromeres are defined as ectopic centromeres that have formed in non-centromeric locations and avoid some of the features, like the DNA satellite sequence, that normally characterize canonical centromeres. Despite this, they are stable functional centromeres inherited through generations. The only existence of neocentromeres provide convincing evidence that centromere specification is determined by epigenetic rather than sequence-specific mechanisms. For all this reasons, we used them as simplified models to investigate the molecular mechanisms that underlay the formation and the maintenance of functional centromeres. We collected human cell lines carrying neocentromeres in different positions. To investigate the region involved in the process at the DNA sequence level we applied a recent technology that integrates Chromatin Immuno-Precipitation and DNA microarrays (ChIP-on-chip) using rabbit polyclonal antibodies directed against CENP-A or CENP-C human centromeric proteins. These DNA binding-proteins are required for kinetochore function and are exclusively targeted to functional centromeres. Thus, the immunoprecipitation of DNA bound by these proteins allows the isolation of centromeric sequences, including those of the neocentromeres. Neocentromeres arise even in protein-coding genes region. We further analyzed if the increased scaffold attachment sites and the corresponding tighter chromatin of the region involved in the neocentromerization process still were permissive or not to transcription of within encoded genes. Centromere repositioning is a phenomenon in which a neocentromere arisen without altering the gene order, followed by the inactivation of the canonical centromere, becomes fixed in population. It is a process of chromosome rearrangement fundamental in evolution, at the bases of speciation. The repeat-free region where the neocentromere initially forms, progressively acquires extended arrays of satellite tandem repeats that may contribute to its functional stability. In this view our attention focalized to the repositioned horse ECA11 centromere. ChIP-on-chip analysis was used to define the region involved and SNPs studies, mapping within the region involved into neocentromerization, were carried on. We have been able to describe the structural polymorphism of the chromosome 11 centromeric domain of Caballus population. That polymorphism was seen even between homologues chromosome of the same cells. That discovery was the first described ever. Genomic plasticity had a fundamental role in evolution. Centromeres are not static packaged region of genomes. The key question that fascinates biologists is to understand how that centromere plasticity could be combined to the stability and maintenance of centromeric function. Starting from the epigenetic point of view that underlies centromere formation, we decided to analyze the RNA content of centromeric chromatin. RNA, as well as secondary chemically modifications that involve both histones and DNA, represents a good candidate to guide somehow the centromere formation and maintenance. Many observations suggest that transcription of centromeric DNA or of other non-coding RNAs could affect centromere formation. To date has been no thorough investigation addressing the identity of the chromatin-associated RNAs (CARs) on a global scale. This prompted us to develop techniques to identify CARs in a genome-wide approach using high-throughput genomic platforms. The future goal of this study will be to focalize the attention on what strictly happens specifically inside centromere chromatin.