Selective and Contrast Staining of Granules in the Juxtaglomerular Complex

A review of four methods for staining juxtaglomerular cells revealed that one method may be highly selective for juxtaglomerular granules (JGG) whereas another may stain general cytological features in addition to the granules. The kind of research undertaken would determine the particular method to be used. Harada's (1952) method, which uses a 1:400,000 solution of gentian violet is recommended as the highly selective stain, and the Masson-Goldner stain after a Ciaccio type fixation is best for cytological detail combined with clear tinctorial contrast of the JGG.     

Mortality risks in patients with constitutional autosomal chromosome deletions in Britain: a cohort study

Constitutional chromosome deletions result in wide ranging morbidity and often fatality. Information about risks and causes of death in these patients is important for counselling, and may illuminate the functions of the part of the chromosome deleted. There have been no cohort studies analysing mortality risks in persons with specific deletions compared with general population rates. We therefore conducted a cohort study following cause-specific mortality in 2,561 patients with autosomal chromosome deletions diagnosed by light microscopy or fluorescence in situ hybridisation at cytogenetic laboratories across Britain, 1965–2002. The commonest deletions were of 22q (544 patients), 15q (460) and 7q (210) and the least common 19q (0) and 20q (2). The prevalence of visible deletions of different chromosome arms was significantly inversely correlated with gene density of the arm (p < 0.001). Mortality was 11-fold raised in the cohort compared with the general population (standardised mortality ratio = 11.4 (95% confidence interval 10.0–12.8)), was significantly raised for each deletion with ≥25 subjects in the study, and had a lower confidence limit >10 for deletions of 1p, 1q, 3p, 4p, 5q and 22q. Overall, 29% of deaths were due to congenital anomalies; significantly raised mortality occurred also from many other causes, varying by chromosome and arm of deletion. The data imply that viability of foetuses with visible chromosome deletions may be inversely related to gene density, and that all visible and fluorescence in situ hybridisation-detectable deletions lead to much raised mortality, but the extent and causes of mortality vary according to the specific deletion. The UK Clinical Cytogenetics Group comprises: The above, plus Paul J Batstone (Inverness Genetics Laboratory), Thomas Spencer (NE London Regional Cytogenetics Laboratory, Great Ormond Street Hospital), Teresa Davies (Bristol Genetics Laboratory), Valerie Davison (Birmingham Genetics Laboratory), Zoe Docherty (SE Thames, Guy’s Hospital Genetics Laboratory), David P. Duckett (Leicestershire Genetics Centre), Margaret Fitchett (Oxford Genetics Laboratory), Alison Fordyce (MRC Human Genetics Unit, Edinburgh); Lorraine Gaunt (Manchester Genetics Laboratory), Elizabeth Grace (Edinburgh Genetics Laboratory), Peter Howard (Liverpool Genetics Laboratory), Gordon W. Lowther (Glasgow Genetics Laboratory), Christine Maliszewska (Dundee Genetics Laboratory), Edna L. Maltby (Sheffield Genetics Laboratory), Kevin P. Ocraft (Nottingham Genetics Laboratory); Selwyn Roberts (Wales Genetics Laboratory), Kim K. Smith (Cambridge Genetics Laboratory), Gordon S. Stephen (Aberdeen Genetics Laboratory), John W. Taylor (SW Thames, St George’s Hospital Genetics Laboratory), Catherine S. Waters (NW Thames, Northwick Park Hospital Genetics Laboratory), Jeffery Williams (Leeds Genetics Laboratory), John Wolstenholme (Newcastle Genetics Laboratory), Sheila Youings (Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory).     

A genome-wide perspective on the diversity and selection signatures in indigenous goats using 53 K single nucleotide polymorphism array

Tibetan goats, Taihang goats, Jining grey goats, and Meigu goats are the representative indigenous goats in China, found in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Western pastoral area, Northern and Southern agricultural regions. Very few studies have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the genomic diversity and selection of these breeds. We genotyped 96 unrelated individuals, using goat 53 K Illumina BeadChip array, of the following goat breeds: Tibetan (TG), Taihang (THG), Jining grey (JGG), and Meigu (MGG). A total of 45 951 single nucleotide polymorphisms were filtered to estimate the genetic diversity and selection signatures. All breeds had a high proportion (over 95%) of polymorphic loci. The observed and excepted heterozygosity ranged from 0.338 (MGG) to 0.402 (JGG) and 0.339 (MGG) to 0.395 (JGG), respectively. Clustering analysis displayed a genetically distinct lineage for each breed, and their Fst were greater than 0.25, indicating that they had a higher genetic differentiation between groups. Furthermore, effective population size reduced in all four populations, indicating a loss of genetic diversity. In addition, runs of homozygosity were mainly distributed in 5–10 Mb. Lastly, we identified signature genes, which were closely related to high-altitude adaptation (ADIRF) and prolificity (CNTROB, SMC3, and PTEN). This study provides a valuable resource for future studies on genome-wide perspectives on the diversity and selection signatures of Chinese indigenous goats.     

The molecular genetics of early human life

Molecular Genetics of Early Human Development(Human Molecular Genetics series), edited by T. Strachan, S. Lindsay and D.I. Wilson, Bios Scientific Publishers, 1997. £65 (xiv+265 pages) ISBN 1 859960 31 6     

《遗传学》课程的建设与优化

《遗传学》是本科教学的主干课程之一。文章从《遗传学》课程的特点出发,分析了《遗传学》课程教学中存在的一些问题。讨论了《遗传学》精品课程建设中教学内容的更新、教学方法的改进、计算机辅助课件的创建、电子版教材的编写、教学质量的评估、实验项目的创新以及教学效果的提高等方面的一些思路和方法。     

案例在遗传与优生教学中的应用

“遗传与优生”课程是遗传学与优生学相结合的一门交叉性学科, 是国内许多高校在教育教学改革中开设的一门通识课程。通过案例进行教学可以有效提升学生学习的积极性, 收到较好的教学效果。文章针对“遗传与优生”课程教学中应用案例进行教学所应注意的问题进行了讨论。     

Human genetics in full resolution

A report on the 12th International Congress of Human Genetics, joint with the 61st annual American Society of Human Genetics conference, Montreal, Quebec, 11-15 October 2011.     

Human genetics in full resolution

A report on the 12th International Congress of Human Genetics, joint with the 61st annual American Society of Human Genetics conference, Montreal, Quebec, 11-15 October 2011.     

案例在遗传与优生教学中的应用

"遗传与优生"课程是遗传学与优生学相结合的一门交叉性学科,是国内许多高校在教育教学改革中开设的一门通识课程。通过案例进行教学可以有效提升学生学习的积极性,收到较好的教学效果。文章针对"遗传与优生"课程教学中应用案例进行教学所应注意的问题进行了讨论。     

Human Molecular Genetics: Research in Medical Genomics and Ethnogenomics

The review covers selected research topics in the fields of medical and ethnic genomics conducted at the Department of Molecular Bases of Human Genetics, the Institute of Molecular Genetics. Primary concern is given to genetic causes of monogenic neurological disorders, among them hepatolenticular degeneration (Wilson disease), torsion dystonia, and myotonic dystrophy. Results of polymorphic DNA marker surveys in Russia and neighboring countries are also presented.     

Besprechungen

Barley Genetics I . Proceedings of the First International Barley Genetics Symposium, Wageningen 26.
Kohler, E ., Allgemeine Viruspathologie der Pflanzen. Ein Oberblick. 186 Sei-ten mit 86 Abbildungen. Verlag Paul Parey.     

Human molecular genetics: study in the area of medical and ethnic genomics

The review covers selected research topics in fields of medical and ethnic genomics tackled at the Department of Molecular Basis of Human Genetics, the Institute of Molecular Genetics. Primary concern is given to genetic causes of monogenic neurological disorders, among them hepatolenticular degeneration (Wilson's disease), torsion dystonia, and myotonic dystrophy. Results of polymorphic DNA marker surveys in Russia and neighboring countries are also presented.     

REVIEWS

Laboratory Methods for Work with Plant and Sod Nematodes. Technical Bulletin no. 2, by Dr T. GOODEY.
The Establishment of Vegetation on Industrial Waste Land. By R. 0. WHYTE and J. W. B. SISAM.
La Vatiation. By É. GUYENOT.
Genetics, Palaeontology and Evolution. Edited by GLENN L. JEPSON, GEORGE GAYLORD SIMPSON and ERNST MAYR.
Principles of Human Genetics. By CURT STERN.     

Mathematical analysis of a model describing evolution of an asexual population in a changing environment

We investigate a mathematical model for an asexual population with non-overlapping (discrete) generations, that exists in a changing environment. Sexual populations are also briefly discussed at the end of the paper. It is assumed that selection occurs on the value of a single polygenic trait, which is controlled by a finite number of loci with discrete-effect alleles. The environmental change results in a moving fitness optimum, causing the trait to be subject to a combination of stabilising and directional selection.This model is different from that investigated by Waxman and Peck [Genetics 153 (1999) 1041] where overlapping generations and continuous effect alleles were considered. In this paper, we consider non-overlapping generations and discrete effect alleles. However in [Genetics 153 (1999) 1041] and the present work, there is the same pattern of environmental change, namely a constant rate of change of the optimum.From [Genetics 153 (1999) 1041], no rigorous theoretical conclusion can be drawn about the form of the solutions as t grows large. Numerical work carried out in [Genetics 153 (1999) 1041] suggests that the solution is a lagged travelling wave solution, but no mathematical proof exists for the continuous model. Only partial results, regarding existence of travelling wave solutions and perturbed solutions, have been established (see [Nonlin. Anal. 53 (2003) 683; An integral equation describing an asexual population in a changing environment, Preprint]). For the discrete case of this paper, under the assumption that the ratio between the unit of genotypic value and the speed of environment change is a rational number, we are able to give rigorous proof of the following conclusion: the population follows the environmental change with a small lag behind, moreover, the lag is represented using a calculable quantity.     

Essay: early American genetics journals

Before the Second World War, there were only two North-American journals exclusively devoted to genetics - the Journal of Heredity and Genetics. In the late 1940s, Genetics spawned two progeny - the American Journal of Human Genetics and Evolution. This article recounts the early days of these journals, their influential and often colourful founding editors, and their contents. It emphasizes the contrast between those years, when a reader had a realistic chance of keeping up with the whole field, and the current plethora of journals that makes it impossible to keep up with even the tables of contents.     

Reviews of publications

Book reviewed in this article:
Benchmark Papers in Ecology, No 6, Phytosociology, compiled by R. P. Mcintosh
Benchmark Papers in Genetics, No. 9. Genetics ofSpeciation, edited by D. L. Jameson
Molluscs (5th Edition), byj. E. Morton
Seal Cull. The Grey Seal Controversy, by J. Lister-Kaye
Seal Song, by Brian Davies; photographs by Eliot Porter; introduction by Roger Caras; preface by Ray Bradbury
Advances in Bryozoology, edited by G. P. Larwood 8c M. B. Abbott     

A meta-analysis of molecular marker genetic datasets for eastern Africa trees supports the utility of potential natural vegetation maps for planning climate-smart restoration initiatives

Tree Genetics & Genomes - Forest and woodland landscape restoration is a key undertaking of renewed interest for forestry and conservation practitioners, but is hampered by the lack of...     

红皮云杉群体遗传多样的研究

在红皮云杉(Picea korainesis)分布区内,选取了有代表性的长白山及其支脉张广才岭、老爷岭、完达山,小兴安岭,大兴安岭,大兴安岭向内蒙古高原过渡地带以及锡霍特山脉的12个群体,运用群体遗传学、生理遗传学、森林遗传学以及林木育种的理论和方法,利用主成分和分层聚类分析等多种统计分析方法,从表型和分子水平等多层次较为系统地研究了红皮云杉群体内、群体间的变异,同时探讨了各种亲代、后代特征以及等位酶与生态环境因子之间的关系。,首次从亲代生物系统学特征,后代苗木形态、生长、生物量和矿物质元素等对红皮云杉群体遗传变异进行了研究,结果表明,红皮云杉具有丰富的遗传变异,群体内变异大于群体间变异;红皮云杉12个群体11个酶系统21个位点中约有27.2%的基因位点是多态的,群体间的变异量只占总变异量的15.2%,84.8%的变异存在于群体内。红皮云杉群体等位酶多态位点的比率在云杉属中处于较低的水平,群体间的分化与云杉其它树种相比处于较高的水平。等位酶与形态等具有相似的变异趋势。根据红皮云杉气候、亲代及后代特征群体区划结果,我们认为红皮云杉种子区划为:长白山种子区(Ⅰ);老爷岭、张广才岭、完达山种子区(Ⅱ);小兴安岭种子区(Ⅲ);大兴安岭北部种子区(Ⅳ);大兴安岭西南部种子区(Ⅴ);锡霍特山脉种子区(Ⅵ)。     

Epigenetic Mosaicism in Genomic Imprinting Disorders

Russian Journal of Genetics - Differential gene expression during development is maintained by complex regulatory epigenetic mechanisms that provide the formation of different specialized cell...