French Jura flor yeasts: genotype and technological diversity

Fifty-four Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were isolated from Jura “Vin Jaune” velum and characterized by conventional physiological and molecular tests including ITS RFLP and sequence analysis, karyotyping and inter delta typing. ITS RFLP and sequence revealed a specific group of related strains different from the specific profile of Sherry flor yeast caused by a 24 bp deletion in the ITS1 region described by Esteve-Zarzoso et al. (Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 85:151–158, 2004). Interdelta typing, the most discriminative method, revealed a high diversity of Jura flor yeast strains and gathered strains in clusters unequally shared between the northern and southern part of the Jura vineyard. The assessment of phenotypic diversity among the isolated strains was investigated for three wine metabolites (ethanal, acetic acid, and sotolon) from micro scale velum tests. Except at an early stage of ageing, the production of these metabolites was not correlated to the five genetic groups obtained by interdelta typing, but correlated to the cellar where strains had been isolated. The different strains isolated in a cellar produced mostly one type of velum (thin or thick, grey or white); but thin and grey velums, recognized as responsible for high quality wines, were obtained more frequently for one of the five groups of delta genotypes.     

Integrating social science and genetics: news from the political front

There has been growing interest in the use of genetic models to expand the understanding of political preferences, attitudes, and behaviors. Researchers in the social sciences have begun incorporating these models and have revealed that genetic differences account for individual differences in political beliefs, behaviors, and responses to the political environment. The first Integrating Genetics and the Social Sciences Conference, held at Boulder, Colorado in May of 2010, brought together these researchers. As a result, we jointly review the last 5 years of research in this area. In doing so, we explicate the methods, findings, and limitations of behavior genetic approaches, including twin designs, association studies, and genome-wide analyses, in their application toward exploring political preferences.     

The consequences of political dictatorship for Russian science

The Soviet communist regime had devastating consequences on the state of Russian twentieth century science. Country Communist leaders promoted Trofim Lysenko--an agronomist and keen supporter of the inheritance of acquired characters--and the Soviet government imposed a complete ban on the practice and teaching of genetics, which it condemned as a "bourgeois perversion". Russian science, which had previously flourished, rapidly declined, and many valuable scientific discoveries made by leading Russian geneticists were forgotten.     

A trace of silence: memory and microRNA at the synapse

Identifying the neural circuits that mediate particular behaviors and uncovering their plasticity is an endeavor at the heart of neuroscience. This effort is allied with the elucidation of plasticity mechanisms, because the molecular determinants of plasticity can be markers for the neurons and synapses that are modified by experience. Of particular interest is protein synthesis localized to the synapse, which might establish and maintain the stable modification of neuronal properties, including the pattern and strength of synaptic connections. Recent studies reveal that microRNAs and the RISC pathway regulate synaptic protein synthesis. Is synaptic activity of the RISC pathway a molecular signature of memory?     

Native crop diversity in Aridoamerica: Conservation of regional gene pools

Scholars have seldom considered the native crop diversity in northwest Mexico and the U.S. Southwest as resources of the same cohesive ecological and cultural region. The term Aridoamerica is introduced to describe this overlooked center of plant domestication and diversification, which is distinct from centers of Mesoamerica and the Mississippi Valley. To understand why certain of its landraces are unique, the systematic relationships and gene-pool relations of crops found prehistorically and protohistorically in Aridoamerica are reviewed. Signifcant crop/ weed introgression continues where indigenous agriculture persists, but native fields are being rapidly abandoned or converted. In planning in situ and ex situ conservation efforts to maintain this diversity, both cultural factors and plant population genetics must be considered.     

The integrase family of site-specific recombinases: regional similarities and global diversity.

A combination of two methods for detecting distant relationships in protein primary sequences was used to compare the site-specific recombination proteins encoded by bacteriophage lambda, phi 80, P22, P2, 186, P4 and P1. This group of proteins exhibits an unexpectedly large diversity of sequences. Despite this diversity, all of the recombinases can be aligned in their C-terminal halves. A 40-residue region near the C terminus is particularly well conserved in all the proteins and is homologous to a region near the C terminus of the yeast 2 mu plasmid Flp protein. This family of recombinases does not appear to be related to any other site-specific recombinases. Three positions are perfectly conserved within this family: histidine, arginine and tyrosine are found at respective alignment positions 396, 399 and 433 within the well-conserved C-terminal region. We speculate that these residues contribute to the active site of this family of recombinases, and suggest that tyrosine-433 forms a transient covalent linkage to DNA during strand cleavage and rejoining.     

Plant phylogenetic diversity of tropical mountaintop rocky grasslands: local and regional constraints

Plant Ecology - Mountains are interesting systems for studying patterns of diversity distribution and the role of environmental filters and competition on community assembly. According to the...     

Prevalence and diversity of avian hematozoan parasites in Asia: a regional survey

Tissue samples from 699 birds from three regions of Asia (Myanmar, India, and South Korea) were screened for evidence of infection by avian parasites in the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus. Samples were collected from November 1994 to October 2004. We identified 241 infected birds (34.0%). Base-on-sequence data for the cytochrome b gene from 221 positive samples, 34 distinct lineages of Plasmodium, and 41 of Haemoproteus were detected. Parasite diversity was highest in Myanmar followed by India and South Korea. Parasite prevalence differed among regions but not among host families. There were four lineages of Plasmodium and one of Haemoproteus shared between Myanmar and India and only one lineage of Plasmodium shared between Myanmar and South Korea. No lineages were shared between India and South Korea, although an equal number of distinct lineages were recovered from each region. Migratory birds in South Korea and India originate from two different migratory flyways; therefore cross-transmission of parasite lineages may be less likely. India and Myanmar shared more host species and habitat types compared to South Korea. Comparison between low-elevation habitat in India and Myanmar showed a difference in prevalence of haematozoans.     

Genetic diversity and population structure in French populations of Mycosphaerella graminicola

Mycosphaerella graminicola populations were examined in France with microsatellite markers and PCR-SSCP analysis of partial actin and β-tubulin encoding sequences. A total of 363 isolates was sampled in 2005 from 17 provinces, and genotypes from corresponding strains were characterized. Unique haplotypes comprised 84% of the population, and gene diversity was high nationwide (0.70) and locally. A moderate genetic differentiation (G(ST) = 0.18) was found and indicated that in France the M. graminicola population was more structured than in other previously studied European countries. Bayesian structure analysis identified three genetic clusters distributed among the 17 provinces. Our results highlighted the potential for the adaptation of the fungus to local conditions, leading to genetic clusters among the French population of the fungus as well as genotype flow between regional clusters.     

Soil microbial diversity: Methodological strategy, spatial overview and functional interest

Since the development of industrialization, urbanization and agriculture, soils have been subjected to numerous variations in environmental conditions, which have resulted in modifications of the taxonomic diversity and functioning of the indigenous microbial communities. As a consequence, the functional significance of these losses/modifications of biodiversity, in terms of the capacity of ecosystems to maintain the functions and services on which humanity depends, is now of pivotal importance. In this context, one of the main challenges in soil microbial ecology is to better understand and predict the processes that drive soil microbial diversity and the link between diversity and ecosystem process. This review describes past, present and ongoing conceptual and methodological strategies employed to better assess and understand the distribution and evolution of soil microbial diversity with the aim of increasing our capacity to translate such diversity into soil biological functioning and, more widely, into ecosystem services.