The affected sib method. III. Selection and recombination.

The affected sib-pair method has been used to investigate the mode of inheritance, and to estimate the "disease" allele frequency, for a number of HLA-associated diseases. One of the assumptions of the original sib-pair method is that the disease confers no selective disadvantage on affected individuals. This is obviously not the situation for most diseases. We have determined the expected HLA haplotype-sharing distribution among affected sib-pairs when selection against individuals with the disease is taken into account. We have shown that if the mode of inheritance of the selectively disadvantageous disease is recessive or additive, the original affected sib-pair analysis, ignoring selection, still estimates the true mode of inheritance, but usually yields an underestimate of the "disease" allele frequency. For intermediate and dominant models of disease predisposition, both the estimates of the degree of penetrance of the "disease" genotypes, and the "disease" allele frequency, are altered if selection is ignored in the analysis. Similarly, allowing for recombination between the "disease" locus and the HLA region does not affect the determination of the mode of inheritance of the disease if it is recessive or additive; in other cases, however, the estimate of the mode of inheritance is affected. The "disease" allele frequency is overestimated when nonzero recombination is ignored for all the modes of inheritance that have been studied.     

The mitochondrially encoded "phantom ATPase" of S. cerevisiae. II. A heterogeneous mitochondrial ATPase population in situ.

Summary The mitochondrial ATPase from a PHO 1 mutant (OLI 2, PHO 1, OLI 4 region on mit DNA of S. cerevisiae) was further examined. A new purification method using Lysolecithin instead of Triton allowed us to solubilize and separate a heterogeneous ATPase population from PHO 1-mitochondria: the major abnormal fraction had extremely low oligomycin-sensitivity (but normal specific immunological reactivity), while a minor normal fraction (representing about 20% of the initial mitochondrial ATPase activity) had high sensitivity and affinity for oligomycin.Moderate urea treatment of PHO 1-mitochondria leads to partial loss of ATPase activity and a concomitant increase of oligomycin-sensitivity, suggesting that a heterogeneous ATPase population exists in situ in the mitochondrial membrane: part of the major abnormal ATPase fraction is selectively inactivated by urea, producing a concomitant enrichment in the initially minor normal ATPase fraction.If the minor normal ATPase fraction is the only one capable of in vivo ATP synthesis, the deficient but oligomycin-sensitive cell growth and oxidative phosphorylation in vitro are readily explained.Further structural studies are under way to ascertain whether the minor normal ATPase fraction is strictly identical to the wild type, in which case PHO 1 is a regulatory gene, or not, in which case PHO 1 is a structural gene.     

The variability of critical species ofLotus L. in Iran and in the neighbouring countries I. the circle ofL. corniculatus L. andL. gebelia Vent.

The region of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries is important for some groups of the speciesLotus L., especially those of the circle ofL. corniculatus L. andL. gebelia Vent. The first group is represented by the speciesL. corniculatus L. with 4 subspecies (3 of which are important for this region), andL. tenuis Waldst. etKit. which here attains the eastern boundary of the continuous area of distribution, and by the eastern speciesL. krylovii Schischk. etSerg. andL. rechingeri Chrtková-?ertová. The second group is represented by the speciesL. gebelia Vent.,L. michauxianus Ser. in DC. andL. libanoticus Boiss. their areas of distribution covering mostly those regions. Most of the species show considerable variability within the species.     

Aspects of audit. 1. The background.

Methods of reviewing health care already exist in Britain, but the debate continues about how practical and acceptable such a review is. The many different terms used to describe review only confuse the issue. "Audit" is a useful term for describing the review of medical work by medical people. This can be divided into "internal audit," or peer review, and "external audit"--that is, review by organisations outside hospital and general practice. The concepts of internal and external audit have a great impact upon the attitudes held by the medical profession about audit. The shortcomings of audit by the professional standards review organisations in the United States are not inevitable in Britian.     

Dangeardiana eudorinae n.g. n.sp.-ein neuer Vertreter der Algenpilze

Zusammenfassung Der hier beschriebene neue Vertreter der Chytridiaceen lebt als Parasit auf der Oospore von Eudorina elegans. Der Thallus ist eukarpisch, monocentrisch und entwickelt sich intramatrikal und extracellular. Das Sporangium entwickelt ein verhältnismäßig langes Entleerungsröhrchen, was das charakteristischste Gattungsmerkmal dieses Pilzes darstellt. Die geschlechtliche Fortpflanzung verläuft in einem sehr frühen Entwicklungsstadium beider Gametangien. An dem Zoosporenrest des ganz jungen weiblichen Thallus befestigt sich eine männliche Zoospore, die sich dann mit einer Zellhülle überzieht. Nachher bildet sich zwischen den Hüllen der beiden Zoosporenreste ein echter Kopulationsschlauch, worauf die Plasmogamie und danach die Entwicklung einer Dauerspore folgt.     

Carotenoids in fish. XXIV. Sardina pilchardus Walb. (Clupeidae)

The author investigated the presence of various carotenoids in Sardina pilchardus Walb. from the coast of Southern Europe.The presence of the following carotenoids has been stated: -carotene, -carotene epoxide, -cryptoxanthin, canthaxanthin, lutein epoxide, zeaxanthin, astaxanthin (free and ester form) and mutatochrome. The dominant carotenoid in all the parts of the body was astaxanthin, especially its ester form. The total content of carotenoid ranged from 10.537 (skin and muscles) to 116.309 µg/g fresh weight (liver).     

Thermopsis thermophila n. gen. n. sp. from hot springs in Nevada, U.S.A. (Crustacea, Ostracoda)

Thermopsis thermophila n. gen. n. sp., a new freshwater ostracod species is described from hot springs in Nevada, U.S.A. The animals were collected within a temperature range of 40–55°C. The new genus belongs to the Ostracoda Podocopida Cypridoidea Cyprididae Cypridopsinae.     

The cross betweenPhaseolus aureus Roxb. andP. Mungo L.

P. aureus andP. mungo were crossed reciprocally. Viable seeds were produced only in theP. aureus xP. mungo combination. The pollen fertility in the F₁ was 30.7%. Colchicine induced fertile amphidiploid (83% pollen fertility) was of the gigas type. The isolating barriers sterility and between these two species are: hybrid inviability, weakness, sterility and breakdown. The strength of the isolating mechanisms varies depending upon the nature of the female genotype. The haplontic hybrid sterility is chromosomal in nature. The genomic notation AA has been proposed for the two species. The role of translocations and inversions in chromosome differentiation and in the establishment of a sterility barrier has been discussed.     

Ceratomyxa seriolae n. sp. and C. buri n. sp. (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) from the gall-bladder of cultured yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata

Ceratomyxa seriolae n. sp. and C. buri n. sp. (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) were found in the gall-bladder of cultured yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata Temminck & Schlegel (Carangidae) in Japan. Mature spores of C. seriolae n. sp. were elongate and 6.5 (6.0-7.5) m long and 33.7 (28.0-41.5) m thick. Disporous plasmodia of C. seriolae n. sp., 40-100 m in size, were amoeboid to spherical. C. buri n. sp. were elliptical with a flattened posterior end, 6.5 (5.5-7.5) m long and 14.3 (11.0-16.5) m thick. Spherical plasmodia of C. buri n. sp., 15-20 m in diameter, were disporous. In periodical sampling of yellowtail bile from August, 1999 to February, 2000, the two new species of Ceratomyxa, as well as Myxobolus spirosulcatus Maeno, Sorimachi, Ogawa & Kearn 1995, first appeared in October, and the prevalences were very variable (20-100%) during the study period.     

Contribution of L. Ya. Balonov and V. L. Deglin to Study of Verbal-Thinking Activity from the Viewpoint of Functional Brain Asymmetry

This paper summarized experimental data on the role of the right and left brain hemispheres in performance of the verbal and thinking activity, which were obtained by Lev Yakovlevich Balonov and Vadim L'vovich Deglin and published in numerous articles and monographs. The interpretation of these results, the concepts of Balonov and Deglin on regularities underlying division of functions between two hemispheres and on mechanisms of the hemispheric interaction are presented. The original concept is exposed, which consists in that the functional brain asymmetry is based on different relation of the right and left hemispheres to the language sign, its different vision and perception by each hemisphere. The data of study on the functional brain asymmetry also helped the authors to find answers to the questions concerning general scientific and general human problems dealing with the conscious and the unconscious, speech development in child, evolution of psychic activity. The authors understood clearly that the answers to these questions ...by no means will be exhaustive... and that ...this is merely one of possible points of view.     

Axon voltage-clamp simulations. II. Double sucrose-gap method.

This is the second in a series of four papers on the simulation of the voltage clamp of cylindrical excitable cells. In this paper we evaluate the double sucrose-gap voltage-clamp technique for the squid and lobster giant axons. Using the Crank-Nicolson method of solution of the cable equations and differential equations representing the voltage clamp circuit we studied the effect of length of the sucrose gap "node" on the voltage profile along an excitable cell during a simulated voltage clamp. The voltage gradients along the region of the cell within the node produce "notches" in the current recording as well as changes in the magnitude of the sodium and potassium current for a given voltage step. Our results show that good voltage clamp control requires node lengths less than one-half the axon diameter.     

Methanothrix soehngenii gen. nov. sp. nov., a new acetotrophic non-hydrogen-oxidizing methane bacterium

A new genus of methanogenic bacteria is described, which was isolated from a mesophilic sewage digester. It is most probably the filamentous bacterium, earlier referred to asMethanobacterium soehngenii, fat rod or acetate organism. The single non-motile, non-sporeforming cells are rod-shaped (0.8×2 m) and are normally combined end to end in long filaments, surrounded by a sheath-like structure. The filaments form characteristic bundles.Methanothrix soehngenii decarboxylates acetate, yielding methane and carbon dioxide. Other methanogenic substrates (H₂–CO₂, formate, methanol, methylamines) are not used for growth or methane formation. Formate is split into hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The temperature optimum for growth and methane formation is 37°C and the optimal pH range is 7.4–7.8. Sulfide and ammonia serve as sulfur and nitrogen source respectively. Oxygen completely inhibits growth and methane formation, but the bacteria do not loose their viability when exposed to high oxygen concentrations. 100 mg/l vancomycin showed no inhibition of growth and methanogenesis. No growth and methane formation was observed in the presence of: 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid, viologen dyes, chloroform, and KCN. The bacterium has a growth yield on acetate of 1.1–1.4 g biomass per mol acetate. The apparent K _S of the acetate conversion system to methane and carbon dioxide is 0.7 mmol/l. The DNA base composition is 51.9 mol% guanine plus cytosine. The nameMethanothrix is proposed for this new genus of filamentous methane bacterium. The type species,Methanothrix soehngenii sp. nov., is named in honor of N. L. Söhngen.     

Distinctions betweenHordeum bulbosum andH. murinum s.l. in seed and herbarium collections

It is sometimes necessary to identify eitherH. bulbosum orH. murinum on the basis of the inflorescence or seeds alone. The majority of taxonomic keys use the presence of swollen basal culms for the former against the annual habit for the latter. Confusion is due to similarities in inflorescences and spikelet morphology. Lodicules which always persist and are present beside the fruit in a mature caryopsis, and other characters such as the awns of the lemmas of the lateral spikelets enable conclusive distinction.     

Modeling Lignin Polymerization. I. Simulation Model of Dehydrogenation Polymers

Lignin is a heteropolymer that is thought to form in the cell wall by combinatorial radical coupling of monolignols. Here, we present a simulation model of in vitro lignin polymerization, based on the combinatorial coupling theory, which allows us to predict the reaction conditions controlling the primary structure of lignin polymers. Our model predicts two controlling factors for the β-O-4 content of syringyl-guaiacyl lignins: the supply rate of monolignols and the relative amount of supplied sinapyl alcohol monomers. We have analyzed the in silico degradability of the resulting lignin polymers by cutting the resulting lignin polymers at β-O-4 bonds. These are cleaved in analytical methods used to study lignin composition, namely thioacidolysis and derivatization followed by reductive cleavage, under pulping conditions, and in some lignocellulosic biomass pretreatments.Lignins are aromatic polymers that are predominantly present in secondarily thickened cell walls. These polymers make the cell wall rigid and impervious, allowing transport of water and nutrients through the vascular system and protecting plants against microbial invasion. Lignins are heterogeneous polymers derived from phenylpropanoid monomers, mainly the hydroxycinnamyl alcohols coniferyl alcohol (G-monomer) and sinapyl alcohol (S-monomer) and minor amounts of p-coumaryl alcohol (H-monomer). These monolignols differ in their degree of aromatic methoxylation (-OCH₃ group; Fig. 1). The resulting units in the lignin polymer are the guaiacyl (G), syringyl (S), and p-hydroxyphenyl (H) units. They are linked by a variety of chemical bonds (Fig. 2) that have different chemical properties (Boerjan et al., 2003; Ralph et al., 2004; Vanholme et al., 2008).Open in a separate windowFigure 1.Chemical structures of three monolignols. A, H-monomer (p-coumaryl alcohol). B, G-monomer (coniferyl alcohol). C, S-monomer (sinapyl alcohol). G- and S-monomers are considered in our simulations. The G-monomer is methoxylated (-OCH₃ group) on position 3, and the S-monomer is methoxylated on positions 3 and 5.Open in a separate windowFigure 2.Chemical structures resulting from the possible bonding between two monomers (A) or a monomer and the bindable end of an oligomer (B). X and Y in the monomers denote the absence (for a G-unit) or presence (for an S-unit) of a methoxyl group at position 5 (see Fig. 1). The red line indicates the bonds generated by couplings of the B position and B, 4, or 5 position.Lignification is the process by which monomers and/or oligomers are polymerized via radical coupling reactions and typically occurs after the polysaccharides have been laid down in the cell wall. Lignin composition varies among cell types and can even be different in individual cell wall layers (Ruel et al., 2009). Lignin composition is also influenced by environmental conditions; for example, lignin in compression wood is enriched in H-units (Timell, 1986). Hence, both developmental and environmental parameters influence the composition and thus the structure of the lignin polymer (Boerjan et al., 2003; Ralph et al., 2004).Lignin is one of the main negative factors in the conversion of lignocellulosic plant biomass into pulp and bioethanol (Lynd et al., 1991; Hill et al., 2006). In these processes, lignin needs to be degraded by chemical or mechanical processes that are expensive and often environmentally polluting. Hence, major research efforts are devoted toward understanding lignin biosynthesis and structure. It has already been shown that reducing lignin content and modifying its composition in transgenic plants can result in dramatic improvements in pulping efficiency (Pilate et al., 2002; Baucher et al., 2003; Huntley et al., 2003; Leplé et al., 2007) and in the conversion of biomass into bioethanol (Stewart et al., 2006; Chen and Dixon, 2007; Custers, 2009). These altered biomass properties are related to the alterations in lignin composition and structure in terms of the frequencies of the lignin units and the bond types connecting them and possibly also their interaction with hemicelluloses (Ralph et al., 2004; Ralph, 2006).To study the parameters that influence lignin structure, lignin polymerization has been mimicked in vitro by experiments with dehydrogenation polymers (DHPs; Terashima et al., 1995). Indeed, lignification can be mimicked by oxidizing monolignols using a peroxidase, such as horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and supplying its cofactor hydrogen peroxide, producing synthetic DHP lignins. Monolignol oxidation can also be achieved without enzymes (e.g. by using transition metal one-electron oxidants, such as copper acetate). Some of these biomimetic DHPs have been suggested to be better models for wood lignins than HRP-generated DHPs (Landucci, 2000).In DHP experiments, the monolignols are either added in bulk (Zulauf experiment) or dropwise (Zutropf experiment) to the reaction mixture, yielding lignin polymers with very different bond frequencies (Freudenberg, 1956). Zutropf experiments approach the in vivo formation of lignin, which depends on the slow introduction of monolignols into the wall matrix via diffusion to the site of incorporation (Hatfield and Vermerris, 2001). Because the exact reaction conditions are known, such in vitro experiments have provided insight into the lignification process in planta. In this way, numerous factors were shown to influence lignin structure, including the relative supply of the monolignols, the pH, the presence of polysaccharides, hydrogen peroxide concentrations, and cell wall matrix elements in general (Grabber et al., 2003; Vanholme et al., 2008).Computer simulations of lignin polymerization can help explain and predict lignin structure from low-level chemical kinetic factors, including subunit-coupling probabilities and monolignol synthesis rates. Such models are helpful in explaining the mechanism behind a range of controlling factors identified in the experimental work, including (1) the ratio of coniferyl versus sinapyl alcohol monolignols, (2) the monolignol supply rate, and (3) the abundance of alternative monomers present during lignin biosynthesis in mutants and transgenics. Thus, computer models will also help in suggesting new targets for controlled lignin biosynthesis.Here, we propose a simulation model of synthetic lignin polymerization that is based upon an emerging consensus from a variety of observations and derives from a series of previous models of lignin polymerization (Glasser and Glasser, 1974; Glasser et al., 1976; Jurasek, 1995; Roussel and Lim, 1995). Our model uses a symbolic grammar to describe a constructive dynamical system (Fontana, 1992) or a rule-based system (Feret et al., 2009) in which it is not necessary to define all possible products in advance. We assume that G- and S-monomers and newly formed oligomers couple in a well-mixed medium, depending on coupling rules and experimentally measured coupling probabilities. To develop the model, we have used information from DHP experiments rather than natural lignins, as they are formed in a well-mixed medium and their reaction conditions are well known (e.g. the influx rate of monomers). Using information from natural lignin would have further complicated our model, as the structures of natural lignin polymers are influenced by many factors, including the possible involvement of dirigent proteins (Davin and Lewis, 2005), steric hindrance by polysaccharides, spatiotemporal regulation, and modifications during isolation procedures (Boerjan et al., 2003; Ralph et al., 2004).Using our simulation models, we study how putative controlling factors of lignin primary structure, including the influx rate of monomers and the relative amount of S-monomers, affect in silico lignin synthesis, and we compare our predictions with in vitro experiments. To predict the degradability of lignins formed in our simulations, we apply an in silico thioacidolysis, which cleaves the polymers at their β-O-4 positions. This simulates the molecular action of two of the most used methods to analyze lignin composition, thioacidolysis (Lapierre, 1993; Baucher et al., 2003) and derivatization followed by reductive cleavage (Lu and Ralph, 1997). The G+S-monomer yield is often taken as a reflection of the fraction of units bound by β-O-4 bonds. Cleavage of β-O-4 bonds is also the most important reaction in kraft pulping of wood (Baucher et al., 2003). The model predicts from first principles (1) that DHP lignins formed under Zutropf conditions have a higher β-O-4 content than those formed under Zulauf conditions, (2) that DHP lignins formed with high S content have a higher β-O-4 content than those formed with high G content, and (3) that a higher β-O-4 content does not necessarily reduce the average length of lignin fragments generated during in silico thioacidolysis.     

There is a difference between scientific hypothesis and the "phylogenetic presumption" by Rasnitsyn (concerning the paper by I.Ia. Pavlinov, 2005. J. Gen. Biology. V. 66. No 5)

The arguments by Pavlinov against my critical analysis of the concept of the "phylogenetic presumptions" proposed by Rasnitsyn are briefly discussed. It is proved that these arguments are invalid because they are based on the substitution of terms. Instead of the term "phylogenetic presumption" introduced by Rasnitsyn just as an analogue of the presumption of innocence in jurisprudence, Pavlinov considers the presumption in the wider understanding, i.e. as a "preliminary statement".     

Bacillus thiaminolyticus sp. nov., nom. rev

The name "Bacillus thiaminolyticus" Kuno 1951 was not included on the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names and has lost standing in bacteriological nomenclature. The genetic homogeneity of "Bacillus thiaminolyticus" was assessed by determining guanine-plus-cytosine contents by the buoyant density method and by measuring DNA relatedness by using spectrophotometric reassociation procedures. Of the 26 strains which I studied, 24 had guanine-plus-cytosine contents in the range from 52 to 54 mol%. The consistently high DNA relatedness values of 60 to 100% of these 24 strains to the type strain indicated that the "B. thiaminolyticus" group is genetically homogeneous. Low DNA relatedness values of 20 to 31% showed that "B. thiaminolyticus" is genetically unrelated to Bacillus alvei, "Bacillus aneurinolyticus," "Bacillus apiarius," Bacillus larvae, Bacillus laterosporus, Bacillus macerans, and Bacillus stearothermophilus. In general, the "B. thiaminolyticus" group was highly homogeneous for 49 phenotypic characteristics and clearly distinguishable from B. alvei, with which it was allegedly synonymous. On the basis of these findings, revival of the name Bacillus thiaminolyticus is proposed.     

Micropropagation of Raphanus sativus L. var. longipinnatus (Japanese radish) cv. Gungjung

Shoot cultures were established from seedling shoot tips of Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus Bailey cv. Gungjung, (Japanese radish) cultured on a Murashige-Skoog medium supplemented with ca. 4.5–135 M kinetin or N⁶-benzyladenine. The latter cytokinin supported overall better growth, and 22.2 M was adopted for maintenance of established cultures. The nitrate: ammonium levels in the medium proved optimal for growth and shoot proliferation and both these parameters were significantly increased by addition of adenine sulfate or sodium phosphate. Rooting of excised shoots was achieved on auxin containing medium. Indole-3-butyric acid (ca. 5 or 10 M) also enhanced shoot growth. Plants were easily established in soil, appeared morphologically normal, and flowered.     

Reply to J.N. Perry et al

The authors of “The anglerfish deception” respond to the criticism of their article.EMBO reports (2012) advanced online publication; doi: 10.1038/embor.2012.70EMBO reports (2012) 13 2, 100–105; doi: 10.1038/embor.2011.254Our respondents, eight current or former members of the EFSA GMO panel, focus on defending the EFSA''s environmental risk assessment (ERA) procedures. In our article for EMBO reports, we actually focused on the proposed EU GMO legislative reform, especially the European Commission (EC) proposal''s false political inflation of science, which denies the normative commitments inevitable in risk assessment (RA). Unfortunately the respondents do not address this problem. Indeed, by insisting that Member States enjoy freedom over risk management (RM) decisions despite the EFSA''s central control over RA, they entirely miss the relevant point. This is the unacknowledged policy—normative commitments being made before, and during, not only after, scientific ERA. They therefore only highlight, and extend, the problem we identified.The respondents complain that we misunderstood the distinction between RA and RM. We did not. We challenged it as misconceived and fundamentally misleading—as though only objective science defined RA, with normative choices cleanly confined to RM. Our point was that (i) the processes of scientific RA are inevitably shaped by normative commitments, which (ii) as a matter of institutional, policy and scientific integrity must be acknowledged and inclusively deliberated. They seem unaware that many authorities [1,2,3,4] have recognized such normative choices as prior matters, of RA policy, which should be established in a broadly deliberative manner “in advance of risk assessment to ensure that [RA] is systematic, complete, unbiased and transparent” [1]. This was neither recognized nor permitted in the proposed EC reform—a central point that our respondents fail to recognize.In dismissing our criticism that comparative safety assessment appears as a ‘first step'' in defining ERA, according to the new EFSA ERA guidelines, which we correctly referred to in our text but incorrectly referenced in the bibliography [5], our respondents again ignore this widely accepted ‘framing'' or ‘problem formulation'' point for science. The choice of comparator has normative implications as it immediately commits to a definition of what is normal and, implicitly, acceptable. Therefore the specific form and purpose of the comparison(s) is part of the validity question. Their claim that we are against comparison as a scientific step is incorrect—of course comparison is necessary. This simply acts as a shield behind which to avoid our and others'' [6] challenge to their self-appointed discretion to define—or worse, allow applicants to define—what counts in the comparative frame. Denying these realities and their difficult but inevitable implications, our respondents instead try to justify their own particular choices as ‘science''. First, they deny the first-step status of comparative safety assessment, despite its clear appearance in their own ERA Guidance Document [5]—in both the representational figure (p.11) and the text “the outcome of the comparative safety assessment allows the determination of those ‘identified'' characteristics that need to be assessed [...] and will further structure the ERA” (p.13). Second, despite their claims to the contrary, ‘comparative safety assessment'', effectively a resurrection of substantial equivalence, is a concept taken from consumer health RA, controversially applied to the more open-ended processes of ERA, and one that has in fact been long-discredited if used as a bottleneck or endpoint for rigorous RA processes [7,8,9,10]. The key point is that normative commitments are being embodied, yet not acknowledged, in RA science. This occurs through a range of similar unaccountable RA steps introduced into the ERA Guidance, such as judgement of ‘biological relevance'', ‘ecological relevance'', or ‘familiarity''. We cannot address these here, but our basic point is that such endless ‘methodological'' elaborations of the kind that our EFSA colleagues perform, only obscure the institutional changes needed to properly address the normative questions for policy-engaged science.Our respondents deny our claim concerning the singular form of science the EC is attempting to impose on GM policy and debate, by citing formal EFSA procedures for consultations with Member States and non-governmental organizations. However, they directly refute themselves by emphasizing that all Member State GM cultivation bans, permitted only on scientific grounds, have been deemed invalid by EFSA. They cannot have it both ways. We have addressed the importance of unacknowledged normativity in quality assessments of science for policy in Europe elsewhere [11]. However, it is the ‘one door, one key'' policy framework for science, deriving from the Single Market logic, which forces such singularity. While this might be legitimate policy, it is not scientific. It is political economy.Our respondents conclude by saying that the paramount concern of the EFSA GMO panel is the quality of its science. We share this concern. However, they avoid our main point that the EC-proposed legislative reform would only exacerbate their problem. Ignoring the normative dimensions of regulatory science and siphoning-off scientific debate and its normative issues to a select expert panel—which despite claiming independence faces an EU Ombudsman challenge [12] and European Parliament refusal to discharge their 2010 budget, because of continuing questions over conflicts of interests [13,14]—will not achieve quality science. What is required are effective institutional mechanisms and cultural norms that identify, and deliberatively address, otherwise unnoticed normative choices shaping risk science and its interpretive judgements. It is not the EFSA''s sole responsibility to achieve this, but it does need to recognize and press the point, against resistance, to develop better EU science and policy.     

Investigations into the inter-relationships ofPhaseolus vulgaris L. andP. Coccineus LAM

The crossability ofP. coccineus (self-incompatible) andP. vulgaris (self-compatible) was much higher whenvulgaris was used as the female parent. Reciprocal difference in crossability was due to the retarded development of embryo and endosperm tissue during the immediate post-fertilization period in the crossP. coccineus ×P. vulgaris . Backcrossing the reciprocal F₁ hybrids to the maternal species was more successful than to the paternal species.Two varieties ofP. vulgaris differed significantly in their ability to hybridize with six genotypes ofP. coccineus; this difference was shown to be genetical.The F₁ hybrids were readily distinguishable from the parent species at the seedling stage and could be classified into two distinct morphological types; one group showed and abnormal wrinkling of the leaves. The frequency of the abnormal progeny in the F₁ generation could be satisfactorily explained on the basis of either allelic or genic interaction. The importance of this genetic system in the divergence of the two species is discussed.     

Metarhizium frigidum sp. nov.: a cryptic species of M. anisopliae and a member of the M. flavoviride complex

The anamorph genus Metarhizium is composed of arthropod pathogens, several with broad geographic and host ranges. Members of the genus, including "M. anisopliae var. frigidum" nomen nudum and Metarhizium flavoviride, have been used as biological insecticides. In a recent revision of the genus the variety "M. anisopliae var. frigidum" was suggested to be a synonym of M. flavoviride based largely on ITS sequence phylogenetic analysis. In this study we conducted morphological evaluations and multigene phylogenetic analyses with EF-1alpha, RPB1 and RPB2 for strains of M. flavoviride and "M. anisopliae var. frigidum." Included in these evaluations were the ex-type of M. flavoviride var. flavoviride and what likely would be considered the "ex-type' of the invalidly published taxon "M. anisopliae var. frigidum". Based on morphological and molecular evidence we conclude that "M. anisopliae var. frigidum" is distinct from M. flavoviride and the taxon M. frigidum sp. nov. is described.