The genome sequence of taurine cattle: a window to ruminant biology and evolution.

To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.

Parâmetros metabólicos de pacus alimentados com diferentes fontes de óleo

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar parâmetros metabólicos de pacus (Piaractus mesopotamicus) alimentados com dietas com diferentes óleos. O experimento foi conduzido em laboratório, em maio de 2009, durante 28 dias. Foram utilizados 64 pacus com peso inicial de 61 g, mantidos em tanques de 250 L. Os tratamentos foram: dieta controle mais óleo de oliva; dieta controle mais óleo de milho; dieta controle mais óleo de peixe; e dieta controle mais óleo de milho e de peixe. Utilizou-se o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições, em arranjo fatorial 4x4 (quatro dietas e quatro tempos de coleta: 7, 14, 21 e 28 dias). Foram avaliados: níveis sanguíneos de colesterol e lipoproteínas, composição química muscular, e atividade de glicose-6-fosfato desidrogenase (G6PD) e enzima málica (EM). Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância, à comparação das médias pelo teste de Tukey, e à análise de regressão. Não houve diferença nos teores musculares de umidade e cinzas, mas foram observadas alterações na deposição lipídica e proteica, conforme os tempos de coleta, em todos os tratamentos. As dietas interferiram nos parâmetros sanguíneos avaliados. A atividade de G6PD é superior à da EM, sendo maior nos animais alimentados com óleo de oliva e milho, o que sugere maior deposição lipídica muscular nestes peixes. Portanto, o metabolismo lipídico do pacu é influenciado pela composição do lipídio da dieta.

Inheritance of late flowering in natural variants of soybean cultivars under short-day conditions

The objective of this work was to determine the inheritance of the long juvenile period trait in natural variants of the Doko, BR 9 (Savana), Davis, Embrapa 1 (IAS 5RC), and BR 16 soybean cultivars. Complete diallel crosses were made between the Doko and BR 16 cultivars and their variants. A 3:1 segregation ratio was observed in the F2 populations of the 'Doko' x Doko-18T, 'Doko' x Doko-Milionária, 'Davis' x São Carlos, and 'BR 9 (Savana)' x MABR92-836 (Savanão) crosses, indicating that the long juvenile period trait is controlled by a pair of recessive genes. The difference in late flowering between the Doko cultivar and both of its variants was caused by a recessive spontaneous mutation at the same genetic locus. However, the variants Doko-18T and Doko-Milionária are identical mutants that share a pair of genes that control the long juvenile period under short-day conditions. These mutants can be used in breeding programs to develop cultivars adapted to low-latitude tropical regions.

The Arabidopsis PHYTOCHROME KINASE SUBSTRATE2 protein is a phototropin signaling element that regulates leaf flattening and leaf positioning.

In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the blue light photoreceptor phototropins (phot1 and phot2) fine-tune the photosynthetic status of the plant by controlling several important adaptive processes in response to environmental light variations. These processes include stem and petiole phototropism (leaf positioning), leaf flattening, stomatal opening, and chloroplast movements. The PHYTOCHROME KINASE SUBSTRATE (PKS) protein family comprises four members in Arabidopsis (PKS1-PKS4). PKS1 is a novel phot1 signaling element during phototropism, as it interacts with phot1 and the important signaling element NONPHOTOTROPIC HYPOCOTYL3 (NPH3) and is required for normal phot1-mediated phototropism. In this study, we have analyzed more globally the role of three PKS members (PKS1, PKS2, and PKS4). Systematic analysis of mutants reveals that PKS2 (and to a lesser extent PKS1) act in the same subset of phototropin-controlled responses as NPH3, namely leaf flattening and positioning. PKS1, PKS2, and NPH3 coimmunoprecipitate with both phot1-green fluorescent protein and phot2-green fluorescent protein in leaf extracts. Genetic experiments position PKS2 within phot1 and phot2 pathways controlling leaf positioning and leaf flattening, respectively. NPH3 can act in both phot1 and phot2 pathways, and synergistic interactions observed between pks2 and nph3 mutants suggest complementary roles of PKS2 and NPH3 during phototropin signaling. Finally, several observations further suggest that PKS2 may regulate leaf flattening and positioning by controlling auxin homeostasis. Together with previous findings, our results indicate that the PKS proteins represent an important family of phototropin signaling proteins.

Comparative analysis of the transcriptome across distant species.

The transcriptome is the readout of the genome. Identifying common features in it across distant species can reveal fundamental principles. To this end, the ENCODE and modENCODE consortia have generated large amounts of matched RNA-sequencing data for human, worm and fly. Uniform processing and comprehensive annotation of these data allow comparison across metazoan phyla, extending beyond earlier within-phylum transcriptome comparisons and revealing ancient, conserved features. Specifically, we discover co-expression modules shared across animals, many of which are enriched in developmental genes. Moreover, we use expression patterns to align the stages in worm and fly development and find a novel pairing between worm embryo and fly pupae, in addition to the embryo-to-embryo and larvae-to-larvae pairings. Furthermore, we find that the extent of non-canonical, non-coding transcription is similar in each organism, per base pair. Finally, we find in all three organisms that the gene-expression levels, both coding and non-coding, can be quantitatively predicted from chromatin features at the promoter using a 'universal model' based on a single set of organism-independent parameters.

Enxertia em citros por substituição de ápice caulinar

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi o de verificar o pegamento de pequenos ápices caulinares (enxertos) da cultivar de laranjeira-'Valência', enxertados sobre plântulas de cinco porta-enxertos: Limão-'Cravo'; Citrange-'Troyer'; Tangerina-'Cleópatra'; Trifoliata-'Davis A' e Citrumelo-'Swingle'. Os enxertos consistiram de porções apicais do caule, com 2-3 mm de espessura. Os porta-enxertos, aos 70 dias após a semeadura, foram seccionados transversalmente abaixo do ponto de inserção do primeiro eófilo, com altura variando de 13,4 a 17,6 mm acima do nível do substrato. Os ápices meristemáticos isolados foram colocados sobre a superfície cortada dos caules e aderidos entre si por meio de parafilme (Parafilmâ ®). Aos 45 dias após a enxertia, verificou-se o "pegamento" médio de 79%; 67%; 66%; 61% e 34% nos porta-enxertos 'Cravo', 'Troyer', 'Cleópatra', Trifoliata 'Davis A' e Citrumelo-'Swingle', respectivamente. Aos 45 dias após a enxertia, o número médio de folhas emitidas pelos ápices caulinares enxertados foi de 3,9 e 2,2 sobre 'Cravo' e 'Cleópatra', respectivamente. Foram descritos e documentados aspectos morfológicos e anatômicos da região de contato entre enxerto e porta-enxerto.

Reação de híbridos somáticos de citros à infecção por Phytophthora nicotianae

Este trabalho avaliou a resistência à infecção de tronco e de raízes por Phytophthora nicotianae em híbridos somáticos de citros com potencial para serem utilizados como porta-enxertos. Os híbridos somáticos avaliados foram laranja 'Hamlin' (Citrus sinensis) + toranja 'Indian Red' (Citrus grandis) (plantas 1 e 2) e laranja 'Hamlin' (C. sinensis) + toranja 'Singapura' (C. grandis). Plantas de limão 'Cravo' (Citrus limonia), laranja 'Caipira' (C. sinensis), laranja-azeda (C. aurantium) e Poncirus trifoliata 'Davis A' (Poncirus trifoliata) foram utilizadas como plantas-controle devido à reação conhecida à infecção pelo patógeno. Avaliações realizadas entre 30 e 60 dias após as inoculações com o patógeno incluíram o comprimento das lesões no tronco e a massa seca do sistema radicular nas plantas avaliadas. O híbrido somático laranja 'Hamlin' + toranja 'Indian Red' (planta 1) mostrou-se tolerante a P. nicotianae, indicando potencial para continuidade nas suas avaliações como porta-enxerto para citros.

The effect of dose on the antimalarial efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine: a systematic review and pooled analysis of individual patient data.

BACKGROUND: Artemether-lumefantrine is the most widely used artemisinin-based combination therapy for malaria, although treatment failures occur in some regions. We investigated the effect of dosing strategy on efficacy in a pooled analysis from trials done in a wide range of malaria-endemic settings. METHODS: We searched PubMed for clinical trials that enrolled and treated patients with artemether-lumefantrine and were published from 1960 to December, 2012. We merged individual patient data from these trials by use of standardised methods. The primary endpoint was the PCR-adjusted risk of Plasmodium falciparum recrudescence by day 28. Secondary endpoints consisted of the PCR-adjusted risk of P falciparum recurrence by day 42, PCR-unadjusted risk of P falciparum recurrence by day 42, early parasite clearance, and gametocyte carriage. Risk factors for PCR-adjusted recrudescence were identified using Cox's regression model with frailty shared across the study sites. FINDINGS: We included 61 studies done between January, 1998, and December, 2012, and included 14 327 patients in our analyses. The PCR-adjusted therapeutic efficacy was 97·6% (95% CI 97·4-97·9) at day 28 and 96·0% (95·6-96·5) at day 42. After controlling for age and parasitaemia, patients prescribed a higher dose of artemether had a lower risk of having parasitaemia on day 1 (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0·92, 95% CI 0·86-0·99 for every 1 mg/kg increase in daily artemether dose; p=0·024), but not on day 2 (p=0·69) or day 3 (0·087). In Asia, children weighing 10-15 kg who received a total lumefantrine dose less than 60 mg/kg had the lowest PCR-adjusted efficacy (91·7%, 95% CI 86·5-96·9). In Africa, the risk of treatment failure was greatest in malnourished children aged 1-3 years (PCR-adjusted efficacy 94·3%, 95% CI 92·3-96·3). A higher artemether dose was associated with a lower gametocyte presence within 14 days of treatment (adjusted OR 0·92, 95% CI 0·85-0·99; p=0·037 for every 1 mg/kg increase in total artemether dose). INTERPRETATION: The recommended dose of artemether-lumefantrine provides reliable efficacy in most patients with uncomplicated malaria. However, therapeutic efficacy was lowest in young children from Asia and young underweight children from Africa; a higher dose regimen should be assessed in these groups. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ras-association domain of sorting nexin 27 is critical for regulating expression of GIRK potassium channels

G protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channels play an important role in regulating neuronal excitability. Sorting nexin 27b (SNX27b), which reduces surface expression of GIRK channels through a PDZ domain interaction, contains a putative Ras-association (RA) domain with unknown function. Deleting the RA domain in SNX27b (SNX27b-DRA) prevents the down-regulation of GIRK2c/GIRK3 channels. Similarly, a point mutation (K305A) in the RA domain disrupts regulation of GIRK2c/GIRK3 channels and reduces H-Ras binding in vitro. Finally, the dominant-negative H-Ras (S17N) occludes the SNX27b-dependent decrease in surface expression of GIRK2c/GIRK3 channels. Thus, the presence of a functional RA domain and the interaction with Ras-like G proteins comprise a novel mechanism for modulating SNX27b control of GIRK channel surface expression and cellular excitability.

Desempenho da tangerineira 'Span Americana' em diferentes porta-enxertos

Este trabalho objetivou avaliar o crescimento vegetativo, a produção e a qualidade de frutos da tangerina 'Span Americana' em diferentes porta-enxertos, nas condições edafoclimáticas de Bebedouro-SP. O plantio foi realizado em junho de 2003, em espaçamento de 6,0 m x 3,0 m, sendo utilizada irrigação por gotejamento a partir de 2006. Os porta-enxertos avaliados foram: citranges [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck × Poncirus trifoliata L. Raf] 'Carrizo' e 'Troyer', tetraploides; trifoliatas (P. trifoliata) 'Davis A' e 'Flying Dragon'; limão Volkameriano Catania 2 (C. volkameriana Tenn. et Pasq.), HRS 849 [(C. aurantium L. cv. 'Smooth Flat Seville' x P. trifoliata cv. 'Argentina')], tangelo 'Orlando' (C. reticulata Blanco × C. paradisi Macf.) e limão 'Cravo' (C. limonia Osbeck). Foram avaliadas a produção acumulada, a eficiência produtiva e a precocidade de entrada em produção, no período de 2007 a 2009. Avaliaram-se, também, as dimensões das plantas e a taxa média de crescimento das plantas no período de 2005 a 2008, além da qualidade dos frutos em 2006 e 2007. Em pomares irrigados de tangerineira 'Span Americana', os porta-enxertos trifoliata 'Davis A' e HRS 849 apresentam desempenho horticultural satisfatório. Para plantio em alta densidade, a melhor performance da tangerineira 'Span Americana' é obtida com a utilização dos porta-enxertos trifoliata 'Flying Dragon' e citranges 'Troyer' e 'Carrizo'.

The proportional distribution in a cooperative model with external opportunities

[cat] En aquest article es considera un problema de cooperació entre agents on cada agent realitza una contribució (diners, capital, treball, esforç) per tal d'obtenir un benefici comú a repartir. El repartiment proporcional respecte a les contribucions és una distribució que pertany al nucli del joc cooperatiu associat. A partir d'aquest model bàsic s'introdueix un agent extern que pot realitzar una determinada aportació que serveix per avaluar el potencial benefici de cada subcoalició d'agents si aquest nou agent finalment entrés. Aquesta anàlisi pot produir que el poder relatiu dels agents hagi variat. en concret s'avalua si la distribució proporcional és encara robusta des del punt de vista de la seva pertinença al conjunt de negociació. Amb aquest objectiu, analitzem el problema utilitzant el model de joc cooperatius amb estructura de coalició. Donat que, en general, la distribució proporcional, no pertany al conjunt de negociació, s'estudia una condició suficient per a que així sigui. També enunciem una condició necessària, i finalment es proposa una condició suficient que garanteix que el repartiment proporcional és la única distribució existent dins del conjunt de negociació.

The proportional distribution in a cooperative model with external opportunities

[cat] En aquest article es considera un problema de cooperació entre agents on cada agent realitza una contribució (diners, capital, treball, esforç) per tal d'obtenir un benefici comú a repartir. El repartiment proporcional respecte a les contribucions és una distribució que pertany al nucli del joc cooperatiu associat. A partir d'aquest model bàsic s'introdueix un agent extern que pot realitzar una determinada aportació que serveix per avaluar el potencial benefici de cada subcoalició d'agents si aquest nou agent finalment entrés. Aquesta anàlisi pot produir que el poder relatiu dels agents hagi variat. en concret s'avalua si la distribució proporcional és encara robusta des del punt de vista de la seva pertinença al conjunt de negociació. Amb aquest objectiu, analitzem el problema utilitzant el model de joc cooperatius amb estructura de coalició. Donat que, en general, la distribució proporcional, no pertany al conjunt de negociació, s'estudia una condició suficient per a que així sigui. També enunciem una condició necessària, i finalment es proposa una condició suficient que garanteix que el repartiment proporcional és la única distribució existent dins del conjunt de negociació.

Pego do Diabo (Loures, Portugal): Dating the Emergence of Anatomical Modernity in Westernmost Eurasia

Neandertals and the Middle Paleolithic persisted in the Iberian Peninsula south of the Ebro drainage system for several millennia beyond their assimilation/replacement elsewhere in Europe. As only modern humans are associated with the later stages of the Aurignacian, the duration of this persistence pattern can be assessed via the dating of diagnostic occurrences of such stages.

Use of the EpiNet database for observational study of status epilepticus in Auckland, New Zealand.

The EpiNet project has been established to facilitate investigator-initiated clinical research in epilepsy, to undertake epidemiological studies, and to simultaneously improve the care of patients who have records created within the EpiNet database. The EpiNet database has recently been adapted to collect detailed information regarding status epilepticus. An incidence study is now underway in Auckland, New Zealand in which the incidence of status epilepticus in the greater Auckland area (population: 1.5 million) will be calculated. The form that has been developed for this study can be used in the future to collect information for randomized controlled trials in status epilepticus. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Status Epilepticus".