Production of Mannitol by Fungi from Cotton Dust

Cotton dust associated with high pulmonary function decrements contains relatively high levels of mannitol. In this study, cotton leaf and bract tissue and dust isolated from cotton leaf tissue were examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and capillary gas chromatography. Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium herbarum, Epicoccum purpurascens, and Fusarium pallidoroseum were isolated from cotton leaf dust. The fungal samples, cotton dust, and cotton leaf contained mannitol. This study demonstrates that fungi from a late-fall harvest of cotton leaf material produce mannitol and are a probable source of the mannitol found in cotton dust.     

Origin,Differentiation, and Geographic Distribution of the Chenopodiaceae

Numbers of species and genera,endemic genera,extant primitive genera,relationship and distribution patterns of presently living Chenopodiaceae(two subfamilies,12 tribes,and 118 genera)are analyzed and compared for eight distributional areas,namely central Asia,Europe,the Mediterranean region,Africa,North America,South America, Australia and East Asia． The Central Asia,where the number of genera and diversity of taxa are greater than in other areas,appears to be the center of distribution of extant Chenopodiaceae．North America and Australia are two secondary centers of distribution． Eurasia has 11 tribes out of the 12,a total of 70 genera of extant chenopodiaceous plants,and it contains the most primitive genera of every tribe． Archiatriplex of Atripliceae,Hablitzia of Hablitzeae,Corispermum of Corispermeae,Camphorosma of Camphorosmaea,Kalidium of Salicornieae,Polecnemum of Polycnemeae,Alexandra of Suaedeae,and Nanophyton of Salsoleae,are all found in Eurasia,The Beteae is an Eurasian endemic tribe,demonstrating the antiquity of the Chenopodiaceae flora of Eurasia．Hence,Eurasia is likely the place of origin of chenopodiaceous plants． The presence of chenopodiaceous plants is correlated with an arid climate．During the Cretaceous Period,most places of the continent of Eurasia were occupied by the ancient precursor to the Mediterranean,the Tethys Sea．At that time the area of the Tethys Sea had a dry and warm climate．Therefore,primitive Chenopodiaceae were likely present on the beaches of this ancient land．This arid climatic condition resulted in differentiation of the tribes Chenopodieae,Atripliceae,Comphorosmeae,Salicornieae,etc．,the main primitive tribes of the subfamily Cyclolobeae. Then following continental drift and the Laurasian and Gondwanan disintegration, the Chenopodiaceae were brought to every continent to propagate and develop, and experience the vicissitudes of climates, forming the main characteristics and distribution patterns of recent continental floras. The tribes Atripliceae, Chenopodieae, Camphorosmeae, and Salicornieae of recent Chenopodiaceae in Eurasia, North America, South America, southern Africa, and Australia all became strongly differentiated. However, Australia and South America, have no genera of Spirolobeae except for a few maritime Suaeda species. The Salsoleae and Suaedeae have not arrived in Australia and South America, which indicates that the subfamily Spirolobeae developed in Eurasia after Australia separated from the ancient South America-Africa continent, and South America had left Africa. The endemic tribe of North America, the tribe Sarcobateae, has a origin different from the tribes Salsoleae and Suaedeae of the subfamily Spirolobeae. Sarcobateae flowers diverged into unisexuality and absence of bractlets. Clearly they originated in North America after North America had left the Eurasian continent. North America and southern Africa have a few species of Salsola, but none of them have become very much differentiated or developed, so they must have arrived through overland migration across ancient continental connections. India has no southern African Chenopodiaceae floristic components except for a few maritime taxa, which shows that when the Indian subcontinent left Africa in the Triassic period, the Chenopodiaceae had not yet developed in Africa. Therefore, the early Cretaceous Period about 120 million years ago, when the ancient Gondwanan and Laurasian continents disintegrated, could have been the time of origin of Chenopodiaceae plants.The Chinese flora of Chenopodiaceae is a part of Chenopodiaceae flora of central Asia. Cornulaca alaschnica was discovered from Gansu, China, showing that the Chinese Chenopodiaceae flora certainly has contact with the Mediterranean Chenopodiaceae flora. The contact of southeastern China with the Australia Chenopodiaceae flora, however, is very weak.     

Genomic Patterns of Positive Selection at the Origin of Rust Fungi

Understanding the origin and evolution of pathogenicity and biotrophic life-style of rust fungi has remained a conundrum for decades. Research on the molecular mechanisms responsible for rust fungi evolution has been hampered by their biotrophic life-style until the sequencing of some rust fungi genomes. With the availability of multiple whole genomes and EST data for this group, it is now possible to employ genome-wide surveys and investigate how natural selection shaped their evolution. In this work, we employed a phylogenomics approach to search for positive selection and genes undergoing accelerated evolution at the origin of rust fungi on an assembly of single copy genes conserved across a broad range of basidiomycetes. Up to 985 genes were screened for positive selection on the phylogenetic branch leading to rusts, revealing a pervasive signal of positive selection throughout the data set with the proportion of positively selected genes ranging between 19.6–33.3%. Additionally, 30 genes were found to be under accelerated evolution at the origin of rust fungi, probably due to a mixture of positive selection and relaxation of purifying selection. Functional annotation of the positively selected genes revealed an enrichment in genes involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and several metabolism and transporter classes.     

Hamamelidaceae: Geographic Distribution,Fossil History and Origin

The family Hamamelidaceae is one of the core (or key) groups for studying the phylogeny of Hamamelids. It is an important taxon for the palaeobotanists and the botanists in discussing the origin and early evolution of the angiosperms owing to its strong differentiation of gross and pollen morphological characters. In this paper, the systematic position, modern distribution pattern and fossil history of the genera are analyzed, and the place and time of origin of the family are discussed according to the principle of the unity between the phylogeny and distribution of plants. The paper consists four parts.     

Rare Arthroconidial Fungi in Clinical Samples: Scytalidium cuboideum and Arthropsis hispanica

We report the presence of the two arthroconidial anamorphic fungi, Scytalidium cuboideum and Arthropsis hispanica, in clinical samples from the USA. Both fungi were morphologically and molecularly identified. The antifungal susceptibility of four isolates of A. hispanica and five of S. cuboideum to eight antifungal drugs is provided.     

Studies on the Geographic Distribution,Origin and Dispersal of the Family Pinaceae Lindl.

Pinaceae Lindl., containing 10 genera and about 235 species, is the largest family in the extant conifers. It widely spreads in the Northern Hemisphere and plays a very important role in coniferous forests occurring in temperate to subtropical mountains. Numerous studies on this family have been carried out and the data dealing with many aspects of biosystematics of the Pinaceae have been accumulated. Based on the principle of unity of phylogeny and distribution of plants, and on the data from the studies of biosystematics of the Pinaceae, the present paper discusses the problems related to geographic distribution and phylogeny of the family in three respects as follows: (1) Floristic division of the Pinaceae is made based on Farjon's work (1990). Six regions and four subregions are outlined (Fig. 1). These are: I. the Mediterranean Region; II. the Eastern European and Siberian Region;III. the Eastern Asiatic Region, which can be further divided into two subregions, i. e. III a. the Northern Eastern Asiatic Subregion and III b. the Himalayas and Southern Eastern Asiatic Subregion; IV. the Western Northern American Region which also contains two subregions, namely IV a. the Northwestern North American Subregion and IV b. the Southwestern North American Subregion V. the Northern North American Region; VI. the Southeastern North American Region. The numbers of species occurring in all these floristic regions are shown in Table 1. The statistic results show that the Subregion III b is currently the richest in species of the Pinaceae. All the living genera are represented in this subregion, including three endemic genera: Keteleeria, Cathaya and Pseudolarix. The second richest area is the Subregion IV b which contains a great number of species. In fact, the two subregions are considered as counterparts. In addition, the Subregion III a and Subregion IV a, the Region II and Region V are also pairs of counterparts. The former pair has fewer but widely spread species, most of which are comparatively young probably developed from the extended refuges after the glacier period of the Quaternary. (2) The geographic distribution of all the genera are described and compared. The maps of their present ranges and their fossil localities are drawn. The four generic distribution patterns are detected: a) North Temperate areal type: containing four genera: Pinus, Picea, Larix and Abies; b) East Asian and North American disjunct areal type: including two genera:Tsuga and Pseudotsuga; c)Mediterranea-Himalayan areal type: containing only one genus: Cedrus; d) Himalayas and Southern Eastern Asiatic areal type: containing three genera: Keteleeria, Cathaya and Pseudolarix. The latter two are endemic to China. (3) The origin, differentiation and early migration of the Pinaceae are studied through the analyses of the data mainly on fossils ( including both extinct and extant genera ), paleogeography, paleoclimate and paleoflora. The main opinions of the present author are as follows: ① The Pinaceae was a large group of plants in geological stages, encompassing many genera with most of them becoming extinct after Mesozoic. The morden Pinaceae may be the offsprings of a few temperate-adapted members, However, they surpassed their ancestors and developed into the main components of current coniferous forests in north temperate zone to north subtropical mountainous regions. The modern Pinaceae is probably a derived group and its prosperity could be related to the emergence of temperate flora. ② Although the origin of the Pinaceae could be traced back to Jurassic or even Triassic, the occurrence of the modern genera of Pinaceae was merely from the Early Cretaceous to the Tertiary. ③ The genera of the Pinaceae may be differentiated in different stages and places. Pinus is possibly the earliest differentiated one among the extant genera. It might have its origin in Euramerican Paleocontinent during the period from Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. The other genera might have not been diverged from their ancestral complex until the Late Cretaceous to the Tertiary, with one or two of them even until the Middle Tertiary. The place of the differentiation of these genera are supposed to be also restricted in Laurasia, but I intend to conside that it shifted to the North Pacific floristic region, where is currently the greatest diversity of the Pinaceae taxa. ④ Three main migration routes of early evolution of the Pinaceae are proposed here: a) European-American route: According to the information of paleogeology, eastern North America was once contiguous to western Europe as Euramerican Paleocontinent before the Cretaceous, but the two continents split gradually with the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. At the end of the Late Cretaceous, the two parts were still connected through Greenland and an Atlantic floristic region existed. The Euramerican Paleocontinent may be the place for differentiation of the Pinaceae in early stage, while the Atlantic floristic region was a migration route in the modern Pinaceae. b) Eurasiatic route: Before the Late Cretaceous, the Tethys Sea stretched from west to southeast of Eurasia. In the area north of the Tethys Sea, plants could disperse freely. By the Late Cretaceous, however, the existence of the West Siberian Sea and Turgai Straits restricted the exchanging of the Pinaceae plants between Europe and southeast Asia mainly to the coast of the Tethys Sea. Although the Tethys Sea disappeared later and the Himalayas arose, the area along the original coast of the Tethys Sea also remained as a route which played an important role in the dispersal and distribution of the modern Pinaceae. c) Paleoberingian route: At the beginning of the Late Cretaceous, eastern Asia was contiguous to the west of North America through Paleoberingia and formed “Asia-America” landmass. This situation did not cease till Pliocene. The paleoberingian route existed on the basis of this situation, playing a main role in dispersal of the morden Pinaceae between eastern Asia and western North America. There are many taxa ( generic or infrageneric ) in the modern Pinaceae with the patterns which belong to “East Asian and North American disjunct areal type” . The formation of the pattern ismostly related to the existence of the Paleoberingian route. ⑤ The existence of the above mentioned three migration routes is the basis for wide distribution of the Pinaceae in the Northern Hemisphere. In addition, the distribution patterns of the extant genera have formed as the results of the tectonic movements and the changes in paleoclimate and paleoflora since the Tertiary. 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Using an Isolated Rat Kidney Model to Identify Kidney Origin Proteins in Urine

The use of targeted proteomics to identify urinary biomarkers of kidney disease in urine can avoid the interference of serum proteins. It may provide better sample throughput, higher sensitivity, and specificity. Knowing which urinary proteins to target is essential. By analyzing the urine from perfused isolated rat kidneys, 990 kidney origin proteins with human analogs were identified in urine. Of these proteins, 128 were not found in normal human urine and may become biomarkers with zero background. A total of 297 proteins were not found in normal human plasma. These proteins will not be influenced by other normal organs and will be kidney specific. The levels of 33 proteins increased during perfusion with an oxygen-deficient solution compared to those perfused with oxygen. The 75 proteins in the perfusion-driven urine have a significantly increased abundance ranking compared to their ranking in normal human urine. When compared with existing candidate biomarkers, over ninety percent of the kidney origin proteins in urine identified in this study have not been examined as candidate biomarkers of kidney diseases.     

Developing a Workflow to Identify Inconsistencies in Volunteered Geographic Information: A Phenological Case Study

Recent improvements in online information communication and mobile location-aware technologies have led to the production of large volumes of volunteered geographic information. Widespread, large-scale efforts by volunteers to collect data can inform and drive scientific advances in diverse fields, including ecology and climatology. Traditional workflows to check the quality of such volunteered information can be costly and time consuming as they heavily rely on human interventions. However, identifying factors that can influence data quality, such as inconsistency, is crucial when these data are used in modeling and decision-making frameworks. Recently developed workflows use simple statistical approaches that assume that the majority of the information is consistent. However, this assumption is not generalizable, and ignores underlying geographic and environmental contextual variability that may explain apparent inconsistencies. Here we describe an automated workflow to check inconsistency based on the availability of contextual environmental information for sampling locations. The workflow consists of three steps: (1) dimensionality reduction to facilitate further analysis and interpretation of results, (2) model-based clustering to group observations according to their contextual conditions, and (3) identification of inconsistent observations within each cluster. The workflow was applied to volunteered observations of flowering in common and cloned lilac plants (Syringa vulgaris and Syringa x chinensis) in the United States for the period 1980 to 2013. About 97% of the observations for both common and cloned lilacs were flagged as consistent, indicating that volunteers provided reliable information for this case study. Relative to the original dataset, the exclusion of inconsistent observations changed the apparent rate of change in lilac bloom dates by two days per decade, indicating the importance of inconsistency checking as a key step in data quality assessment for volunteered geographic information. Initiatives that leverage volunteered geographic information can adapt this workflow to improve the quality of their datasets and the robustness of their scientific analyses.     

Characterization of Aerosolized Bacteria and Fungi From Desert Dust Events in Mali, West Africa

Millions of metric tons of African desert dust blow across the Atlantic Ocean each year, blanketing the Caribbean and southeastern United States. Previous work in the Caribbean has shown that atmospheric samples collected during dust events contain living microbes, including plant and opportunistic human pathogens. To better understand the potential downwind public health and ecosystem effects of the dust microbes, it is important to characterize the source population. We describe 19 genera of bacteria and 3 genera of fungi isolated from air samples collected in Mali, a known source region for dust storms, and over which large dust storms travel.     

The Epidemiology and Geographic Distribution of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Clinical Isolates from Sputum Samples in the Eastern Region of China

BackgroundNontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have been reported to be increasing worldwide and its geographic distribution differs by region. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology and distribution of NTM in the eastern part of China.MethodsSputum samples were collected from 30 surveillance sites for tuberculosis drug resistance test from May 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. Identification was performed using a biochemical test, multiplex PCR and GenoType Mycobacterium CM/AS assay.ResultsA total of 1779 smear positive clinical isolates were obtained, of which 60 (3.37%) were NTM. Five species/complex of NTM were identified; M. intracellulare was the predominated species (68.33%), followed by M. abscessus-M. immunogenum (13.33%), Mycobacterium spec. (10.00%), M. Kansasii (6.67%) and M. peregrinum-M. alvei-M. septicum (1.67%).Conclusion M. intracellulare was the main species of NTM in the eastern part of China and clinical physicians should pay more attention to NTM induced pulmonary disease.     

Origin of Reproductive Isolation in the Absence of Apparent Genic Differentiation in a Geographic Isolate of DROSOPHILA PSEUDOOBSCURA

F(1) males obtained from the cross of D. pseudoobscura females from Bogotá (Colombia) x males of this species from mainland, i.e. populations from various locations in the United States and from Guatemala, are sterile. This sterility is due to genes located on the X chromosome and the autosomes; the Y chromosome is not involved. The percentage of sterile males in backcrosses can be explained by assuming an interaction between two loci on the Bogotá X chromosome and probably two loci, one each on two of the mainland autosomes. The role of founder events, inbreeding and geographic isolation in the development of reproductive isolation and the magnitude of gene differences responsible for the origin of reproductive isolation is discussed. It is concluded that founder events, inbreeding and geographic isolation play a major role in the development of reproductive isolation and that major adaptive incorporation of new alleles at a large number of structural loci is not necessary for the origin of reproductive isolation.     

Diverse Genetic Markers Concordantly Identify Bovine Origin Escherichia coli O157 Genotypes Underrepresented in Human Disease

Genetic markers previously reported to occur at significantly different frequencies in isolates of Escherichia coli O157:H7 obtained from cattle and from clinically affected humans concordantly delineate at least five genetic groups. Isolates in three of these groups consistently carry one or more markers rarely found among clinical isolates.Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 is an important zoonotic pathogen that may cause diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (3, 10, 14). E. coli O157 is transmitted to humans by direct contact with the animal reservoir (which includes cattle and other ruminant animals) or indirectly by ingestion of contaminated food or water (3, 10). Genetic analyses of bovine isolates of E. coli O157 from diverse geographic origins have provided evidence for the global dissemination of genotypes and also for significant regional differences in the relative prevalence of some genotypes (5, 8, 18, 19).Several research groups have identified genetic markers that occur at different relative frequencies among E. coli O157 isolates from human clinical cases and from cattle. One group initially used octamer-based genomic scanning to identify two lineages of U.S. origin E. coli O157 (7), of which lineage I was composed mostly (36/44) of clinical isolates and lineage II was composed mostly (25/32) of cattle isolates. Subsequently, a simpler multiplex PCR-based assay (Table ​(Table1),1), the lineage-specific polymorphism assay (LSPA), was developed to indentify these lineages (19). Six LSPA loci with alleles characteristic of lineage I, lineage II, or neither lineage I nor lineage II are, respectively, classified with the digit 1, 2, or 3, and these digits are concatenated to an LSPA code: 111111 indicates lineage I, and 211111 indicates a genetically intermediate group termed lineage I/II (20), whereas all other genotype variations are considered to belong to lineage II. More recently, a typing assay based on Shiga toxin-encoding bacteriophage insertion (SBI) sites grouped 91 of 92 clinical E. coli O157 isolates from the northwestern United States into three clusters, of which clusters 1 and 3 predominated (>90%) (16). SBI consists of six PCRs (Table ​(Table1)1) that amplify the Stx toxin genes and the insertion site junctions of the Stx1- and Stx2-encoding bacteriophages of E. coli O157. In a subsequent study, the predominance (92.6%) of clusters 1 and 3 was confirmed in 190 additional human (clinical) isolates (1). In contrast, many (48.8%) E. coli O157 isolates from cattle in the northwestern United States and western Canada demonstrated SBI patterns rarely found among human (clinical) isolates (1).

TABLE 1.

Oligonucleotides used in this study

A Coding Region in Diaporthe Helianthi Reveals Genetic Variability Among Isolates of Different Geographic Origin

A set of Diaporthe helianthi isolates collected in different geographic areas was studied in order to examine whether different genetic biotypes could be responsible for epidemiological differences shown by sunflower stem canker. D. helianthi causes serious losses in France and in former Yugoslavia, while the pathogen is only sporadically recorded in Italy in spite of conducive pedoclimatic conditions. Variability of a D. helianthi coding genomic region, evaluated by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Southern blot hybridisation and restriction fragments length polymorphism (RFLP), showed a conserved homogeneous pattern shared by French and Yugoslavian isolates compared with the heterogeneous pattern of Italian isolates. These results are consistent with other investigations (IGS and ITS region variability) performed on the same set of isolates, allowing a correlation between D. helianthi biotypes, their geographic origin and sunflower stem canker epidemiology.     

Comparison of DNA and RNA, and Cultivation Approaches for the Recovery of Terrestrial and Aquatic Fungi from Environmental Samples

Estimates of fungal biodiversity from environmental samples are all subject to bias. Major issues are that the commonly adopted cultivation-based approaches are suitable for taxa which grow readily under laboratory conditions, while the DNA-based approaches provide more reliable estimates, but do not indicate whether taxa are metabolically active. In this study, we have evaluated these approaches to estimate the fungal diversity in soil and freshwater samples from a subtropical forest, and compared these to RNA-based culture-independent approach intended to indicate the metabolically active fungal assemblage. In both soil and freshwater samples, the dominant taxon recovered by all three approaches was the same (Anguillospora furtiva). This taxon was cultivable from all samples and comprised 85–86 % DNA libraries and 90–91 % RNA libraries. The remaining taxa were phylogenetically diverse and spanned the Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Fungi incertae sedis. Their recovery was not consistent among the three approaches used and suggests that less abundant members of the assemblage may be subjected to greater bias when diversity estimates employ a single approach.     

Microbial Degradation of Forensic Samples of Biological Origin: Potential Threat to Human DNA Typing

Forensic biology is a sub-discipline of biological science with an amalgam of other branches of science used in the criminal justice system. Any nucleated cell/tissue harbouring DNA, either live or dead, can be used as forensic exhibits, a source of investigation through DNA typing. These biological materials of human origin are rich source of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, trace elements as well as water and, thus, provide a virtuous milieu for the growth of microbes. The obstinate microbial growth augments the degradation process and is amplified with the passage of time and improper storage of the biological materials. Degradation of these biological materials carriages a huge challenge in the downstream processes of forensic DNA typing technique, such as short tandem repeats (STR) DNA typing. Microbial degradation yields improper or no PCR amplification, heterozygous peak imbalance, DNA contamination from non-human sources, degradation of DNA by microbial by-products, etc. Consequently, the most precise STR DNA typing technique is nullified and definite opinion can be hardly given with degraded forensic exhibits. Thus, suitable precautionary measures should be taken for proper storage and processing of the biological exhibits to minimize their decaying process by micro-organisms.     

Oxygen and Hydrogen Stable Isotope Ratios of Bulk Needles Reveal the Geographic Origin of Norway Spruce in the European Alps

Background

Tracking timber is necessary in order to prevent illegal logging and protect local timber production, but there is as yet no suitable analytical traceability method. Stable isotope ratios in plants are known to reflect geographical variations. In this study we analysed four stable isotope ratios in order to develop a model able to identify the geographic origin of Norway spruce in the European Alps.

Methodology and Principal Findings

δ¹⁸O, δ²H, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N were measured in bulk needles of Picea abies sampled in 20 sites in and around the European Alps. Environmental and spatial variables were found to be related to the measured isotope ratios. An ordinary least squares regression was used to identify the most important factor in stable isotope variability in bulk needles. Spatial autocorrelation was tested for all isotope ratios by means of Moran’s I. δ¹⁸O, δ²H and δ¹⁵N values differed significantly between sites. Distance from the coast had the greatest influence on δ²H, while latitude and longitude were strongly related to δ¹⁸O. δ¹³C values did not appear to have any relationship with geographical position, while δ¹⁵N values were influenced by distance from the motorway. The regression model improved the explanatory power of the spatial and environmental variables. Positive spatial autocorrelations were found for δ¹⁸O and δ²H values.

Conclusions

The δ ¹⁸O, δ²H and δ¹⁵N values in P. abies bulk needles are a suitable proxy to identify geographic origin as they vary according to geographical position. Although the regression model showed the explanatory variables to have significant power and stability, we conclude that our model might be improved by multivariate spatial interpolation of the δ ¹⁸O and δ²H values.     

Rapid Assessment of Genetic Ancestry in Populations of Unknown Origin by Genome-Wide Genotyping of Pooled Samples

As we move forward from the current generation of genome-wide association (GWA) studies, additional cohorts of different ancestries will be studied to increase power, fine map association signals, and generalize association results to additional populations. Knowledge of genetic ancestry as well as population substructure will become increasingly important for GWA studies in populations of unknown ancestry. Here we propose genotyping pooled DNA samples using genome-wide SNP arrays as a viable option to efficiently and inexpensively estimate admixture proportion and identify ancestry informative markers (AIMs) in populations of unknown origin. We constructed DNA pools from African American, Native Hawaiian, Latina, and Jamaican samples and genotyped them using the Affymetrix 6.0 array. Aided by individual genotype data from the African American cohort, we established quality control filters to remove poorly performing SNPs and estimated allele frequencies for the remaining SNPs in each panel. We then applied a regression-based method to estimate the proportion of admixture in each cohort using the allele frequencies estimated from pooling and populations from the International HapMap Consortium as reference panels, and identified AIMs unique to each population. In this study, we demonstrated that genotyping pooled DNA samples yields estimates of admixture proportion that are both consistent with our knowledge of population history and similar to those obtained by genotyping known AIMs. Furthermore, through validation by individual genotyping, we demonstrated that pooling is quite effective for identifying SNPs with large allele frequency differences (i.e., AIMs) and that these AIMs are able to differentiate two closely related populations (HapMap JPT and CHB).     

Geographic and Habitat Origin Influence Biomass Production and Storage Translocation in the Clonal Plant Aegopodium podagraria

Through physiological integration, clonal plants can support ramets in unfavourable patches, exploit heterogeneously distributed resources and distribute resources that are taken up over large areas. Physiological integration generally increases in adverse conditions, but it is not well known which factors determine the evolution of physiological integration. The aim of this study was to investigate if clonal plants from Southern and Northern populations of the clonal herb Aegopodium podagraria differed in physiological integration in terms of translocation of carbon to the rhizomes, and in biomass production using a reciprocal transplant experiment. Aegopodium podagraria from shaded conditions have been suggested to share more resources than clones from open conditions and therefore, plants from forest and open populations within the Southern and Northern regions were included. The regional growing conditions greatly affected biomass production. Plants grown in North Sweden produced more biomass and allocated more biomass to shoots, while plants grown in South Sweden allocated more biomass to rhizomes. There was a regional origin effect as plants originating from North Sweden produced more biomass in both regions. Within the Northern region, plants from shaded habitats translocated more ¹⁴C to the rhizomes, suggesting more storage there than in plants from open habitats. In addition to genetic differentiation in biomass production between Northern and Southern populations, probably as a response to a shorter growing season in the North, there appeared to be genetic differentiation in physiological integration within the Northern region. This shows that both regional and local conditions need to be taken into account in future studies of genetic differentiation of physiological integration in clonal plants.     

尘螨变应原Der p1浓度与哮喘患者血清螨特异性抗体的季节消长

目的:探讨哮喘患者血清抗体及患者室内尘螨抗原浓度的季节变化规律。方法:2005年9月、2005年12月、2006年3月、2006年6月用ELISA法检测哮喘患者卧室尘样中Der P 1浓度,同步检测患者外周血总IgE、s-IgE、s-IgG1、s-IgG2和s-IgG4。结果:哮喘患者血清总IgE、s-IgE、s-IgG1、s-IgG2和s-IgG4均高于正常对照组,差异均具显著性(P<0.01);比较患者血清总IgE、s-IgE及s-IgG1、s-IgG2、s-IgG4四次检测值,差异均具显著性(P<0.01),患者血清总IgE、s-IgE在12月份检测值最高、6月份检测值最低,s-IgG1以6月份最高、3月份最低,s-IgG4在3月份最高、6月份最低。统计表明,患者卧室Der P1浓度四次检测值差异具有显著性(P<0.01),以2006年3月和2005年12月为高。结论:哮喘患者血清总IgE、s-IgE、s-IgC1、s-IgG2和s-IgG4和卧室尘螨抗原浓度呈季节变化,IgG1的变化与尘螨抗原浓度的变化趋势相反,IgG4的变化与尘螨抗原浓度的变化趋势一致。