Genetic divergence in Eucalyptus spp. clones by molecular RAPD markers

The genetic divergence in 20 Eucalyptus spp. clones was evaluated by multivariate techniques based on 167 RAPD markers, of which 155 were polymorphic and 12 monomorphic. The measures of genetic distances were obtained by the arithmetic complement of the coefficients of Jaccard and of Sorenso-Nei and Li and evaluated by the hierarchical methods of Single Linkage clustering and Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA). Independent of the dissimilarity coefficient, the greatest divergence was found between clones 7 and 17 and the smallest between the clones 11 and 14. Clone clustering was little influenced by the applied procedure so that, adopting the same percentage of divergence, the UPGMA identified two groups less for the coefficient of Sorenso-Nei and Li. The clones evidenced considerable genetic divergence, which is partly associated to the origin of the study material. The clusters formed by the UPGMA clustering algorithm associated to the arithmetic complement of Jaccard were most consistent.

Energy efficiency in freight transport by road

This issue of the FAL Bulletin addresses energy efficiency and its challenges in terms of freight transport by road. To this end, different national plans for energy efficiency in transport were reviewed, for both developed countries and for Latin America.

Primary endemic Cryptococcosis gattii by molecular type VGII in the state of Pará, Brazil

In order to study the infectious agents causing human disseminated cryptococcosis in the state of Pará, North Brazil, 56 isolates of Cryptococcusspp. (54 isolated from cerebral spinal fluid and two from blood cultures) from 43 cases diagnosed between 2003-2007 were analysed. The species were determined through morphological and physiological tests and genotypes were determined by URA5-RFLP and PCR-fingerprinting (wild-type phage M13). The following species and genotypes were identified: Cryptococcus neoformans VNI (28/56, 50%), Cryptococcus gattii VGII (25/56, 44.64%) and C. gattii VGI (3/56, 5.26%). The genotype VNI occurred in 12 out of 14 HIV-positive adults, whereas the genotype VGII occurred in 11 out of 21 HIV-negative adults (p < 0.02, OR = 6.6 IC95% 0.98-56.0). All patients less than 12 years old were HIV negative and six cases were caused by the VGII genotype, one by the VGI and one by VNI. Therefore, endemic primary mycosis in HIV-negative individuals, including an unexpectedly high number of children, caused by the VGII genotype deserves further study and suggests the need for surveillance on cryptococcal infection in the state of Pará, Eastern Amazon.

Sex chromosome composition revealed in Characidium fishes (Characiformes: Crenuchidae) by molecular cytogenetic methods

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Anti-inflammatory drug design by molecular hybridization approach

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Monitoring of Transmission of Tuberculosis between Wild Boars and Cattle: Genotypical Analysis of Strains by Molecular Epidemiology Techniques

An epidemiological survey for the monitoring of bovine tuberculosis transmission was carried out in western Liguria, a region in northern Italy. Fifteen Mycobacterium bovis strains were isolated from 63 wild boar samples (62 from mandibular lymph nodes and 1 from a liver specimen). Sixteen mediastinal lymph nodes of 16 head of cattle were collected, and 15 Mycobacterium bovis strains were subsequently cultured. All M. bovisstrains isolated from cattle and wild boars were genotyped by spoligotyping and by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with the IS6110 and IS1081 probes. All M. bovis strains showed the typical spoligotype characterized by the absence of the 39 to 43 spacers in comparison with the number in M. tuberculosis. A total of nine different clusters were identified by spoligotyping. The largest cluster included 9 strains isolated from wild boars and 11 strains isolated from cattle, thus confirming the possibility of transmission between the two animal species. Fingerprinting by RFLP analysis with the IS6110 probe showed an identical single-band pattern for 29 of 30 strains analyzed, and only 1 strain presented a five-band pattern. The use of IS1081 as a second probe was useful for differentiation of M. bovis from M. bovis BCG but not for differentiation among M. bovis strains, which presented the same undifferentiated genomic profile. In relation to the epidemiological investigation, we hypothesized that the feeding in pastures contaminated by cattle discharges could represent the most probable route of transmission of M. bovis between the two animal species. In conclusion, our results confirmed the higher discriminatory power of spoligotyping in relation to that of RFLP analysis for the differentiation of M. bovis genomic profiles. Our data showed the presence of a common M. bovis genotype in both cattle and wild boars, confirming the possible interspecies transmission of M. bovis.

Distribution of sewage input in marine sediments around a maritime Antarctic research station indicated by molecular geochemical indicators

Sediments from Admiralty Bay, Antarctica were collected during the austral summers of 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 in order to assess the distribution and concentration of sewage indicators originating from Comandante Ferraz Brazilian Antarctic Station. Fecal sterols (coprostanol + epicoprostanol) and linear alkylbenzenes (LABs) ranged from <0.01 to 0.95 mu g g(-1) and <1.0 to 23 ng g(-1) dry weight, respectively. In general, the higher concentrations were found only locally in the vicinity of Ferraz station at Martel Inlet. Baseline values for fecal sterols and coprostanone were calculated as 0.19 and 0.40 mu g g(-1), respectively. According to fecal sterols concentrations, sewage contribution to Martel Inlet has increased more than twice since 1997, as result of the increase in the number of researchers at the station especially during the last decade. A low correlation was found between total LABs and fecal steroids, which could be attributed to the contribution of the natural sources of steroids. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The first modern solitary Agariciidae (Anthozoa, Scleractinia) revealed by molecular and microstructural analysis

Dactylotrochus cervicornis (= Tridacophyllia cervicornis Moseley, 1881), which occurs in Indo-Pacific waters between 73 and 852 m, was originally described as an astraeid but was later transferred to the Caryophylliidae. Assumed to be solitary, this species has no stolons and only one elongated fossa, and is unique among azooxanthellate scleractinians in often displaying extremely long thecal extensions that are septate and digitiform. Based on both molecular phylogenetic analyses (partial mitochondrial CO1 and 16S rDNA, and partial nuclear 28S rDNA) and morphological characteristics, we propose the transfer of D. cervicornis from the Caryophylliidae to the Agariciidae, making it the first extant representative of the latter family that is solitary and from deep water (azooxanthellate). The basal position of D. cervicornis within the agariciids implied by our analyses strengthens the case for inclusion of fossil species that were solitary, such as Trochoseris, in this family and suggests that the ancestor of this scleractinian family, extant members of which are predominantly colonial and zooxanthellate, may have been solitary and azooxanthellate.

Structural, morphological, and magnetic characterization of In1-xMnxAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy

In this paper, we present a method to order low temperature (LT) self-assembled ferromagnetic In1-xMnxAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The ordered In1-xMnxAs QDs were grown on top of a non-magnetic In0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs(100) QDs multi-layered structure. The modulation of the chemical potential, due to the stacking, provides a nucleation center for the LT In1-xMnxAs QDs. For particular conditions, such as surface morphology and growth conditions, the In1-xMnxAs QDs align along lines like chains. This work also reports the characterization of QDs grown on plain GaAs(100) substrates, as well as of the ordered structures, as function of Mn content and growth temperature. The substitutional Mn incorporation in the InAs lattice and the conditions for obtaining coherent and incoherent structures are discussed from comparison between Raman spectroscopy and x-ray analysis. Ferromagnetic behavior was observed for all structures at 2K. We found that the magnetic moment axis changes from [110] in In1-xMnxAs over GaAs to [1-10] for the ordered In1-xMnxAs grown over GaAs template. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4745904]

Magnetic flux transport by turbulent reconnection in astrophysical flows

The role of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) turbulence in astrophysical environments is still highly debated. An important question that permeates this debate is the transport of magnetic flux. This is particularly important, for instance, in the context of star formation. When clouds collapse gravitationally to form stars, there must be some magnetic flux transport. Otherwise, the newborn stars would have magnetic fields several orders of magnitude larger than the observed ones. Also, the magnetic flux that is dragged in the late stages of the formation of a star can remove all the rotational support from the accretion disc that grows around the protostar. The efficiency of the mechanism that is often invoked to allow transport of magnetic fields at different stages of star formation, namely ambipolar diffusion, has recently been put in check. We discuss here an alternative mechanism for magnetic flux transport which is based on turbulent fast magnetic reconnection. We review recent results from three-dimensional MHD numerical simulations that indicate that this mechanism is very efficient in decoupling and transporting magnetic flux from the inner denser regions to the outskirts of collapsing clouds at different stages of star formation. We discuss this mechanism also in the context of dynamo processes and speculate that it can play a role both in solar dynamo and in accretion disc dynamo processes.

Supramolecular Organization of Heptapyrenotide Oligomers—An in Depth Investigation by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

We present a molecular modeling study based on ab initio and classical molecular dynamics calculations, for the investigation of the tridimensional structure and supramolecular assembly formation of heptapyrenotide oligomers in water solution. Our calculations show that free oligomers self-assemble in helical structures characterized by an inner core formed by π- stacked pyrene units, and external grooves formed by the linker moieties. The coiling of the linkers has high ordering, dominated by hydrogen-bond interactions among the phosphate and amide groups. Our models support a mechanism of longitudinal supramolecular oligomerization based on interstrand pyrene intercalation. Only a minimal number of pyrene units intercalate at one end, favoring formation of very extended longitudinal chains, as also detected by AFM experiment. Our results provide a structural explanation of the mechanism of chirality amplification in 1:1 mixtures of standard heptapyrenotides and modified oligomers with covalently linked deoxycytidine, based on selective molecular recognition and binding of the nucleotide to the groove of the left-wound helix.

Intracellular signalling by the insulin receptor

The insulin receptor transduces insulin's biological signal through the tyrosine kinase present in the receptor's B subunit. The activated insulin receptor kinase then phosphorylates a series of intracellular substrate including insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), which has been shown to be the pivotal substrate for insulin receptor signal transduction. The phosphorylated tyrosine residues in IRS-1 can bind and activate the downstream effectors, many of which are SH2 domain containing proteins such as phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase, growth factor binding protein 2, and SH2 phosphotyrosine phosphatase 2. Phosphorylated synthetic IRS-1 peptides with the corresponding sequences of the IRS-1 have been shown to associate and activate their respective SH2 domain containing proteins. Another important event happening during insulin binding with the insulin receptor is that the insulin receptor rapidly undergoes internalization. However, the insulin receptor signalling and the receptor endocytosis have been studied as two independent processes. The hypothesis of the present thesis is that the insulin receptor endocytosis is involved in insulin receptor signalling and signal termination. The results of the present investigation demonstrate that insulin receptors in the earliest stage of endocytosis contain significantly greater kinase activity towards IRS-1 peptides than the receptors localized at the plasma membrane, indicating that they are potentially more capable of transducing signals. On the other hand, insulin receptors in the middle and late stage of endocytosis lose their kinase activity, suggesting that insulin receptor kinase activity inactivation and signal termination might take place in the late phase of the insulin receptor internalization. In addition, this study also found that the increased insulin receptor kinase activity in the endosomes is related to the tyrosyl phosphorylation of the specific domains of the receptor's $\beta$ subunit. ^