Association analyses of single nucleotide polymorphisms in bovine stearoyl-CoA desaturase and fatty acid synthase genes with fatty acid composition in commercial cross-bred beef steers

Two previously reported non‐synonymous coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of bovine stearoyl‐CoA desaturase (delta‐9‐desaturase) (SCD) (c.878C>T) and fatty acid synthase (FASN) (g:17924A>G) were assessed for their associations with 72 individual and 12 groups of fatty acids in brisket adipose tissue of 223 Canadian commercial cross‐bred beef steers. It was found that the ‘CC’ genotype of the SCD SNP was significantly associated with lower concentrations of saturated fatty acids (SFA) including 10:0, 14:0 and 20:0, higher concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids including 9c‐14:1, 12c‐16:1 and 13c‐18:1, higher concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) including 9c,15c‐18:2, 10c,12c‐18:2, 11c,13t‐18:2 and 12c,14t‐18:2, but lower concentrations of other PUFA of 9c,13t/8t,12c and 20:2n‐6 (P < 0.05). The ‘AA’ genotype of the FASN SNP was significantly associated with higher concentrations of SFAs of 10:0, 12:0, 13:0, 14:0 and 15:0, lower concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids of 9c‐18:1 and 20:3n‐6, and higher concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids of 9c‐14:1 and 12c‐16:1 (P < 0.05). Significant epistatic effects between the SCD and FASN SNP genotypes were also found for several fatty acids including 10:0, 23:0, 6t/7t/8t‐18:1, 12t‐18:1, 13t/14t‐18:1, 16t‐18:1, total trans18:1 and 9c,13t/8t,12c‐18:2 (P < 0.05). These results further suggest that SCD and FASN are strong candidate genes influencing fatty acid composition in beef cattle.     

Art in the Making

Abstract

There's Pigs and Pigs: Erik Blegvad, The Three Little Pigs, Atheneum: New York, 1980, 32 pages, $8.95.

There's Pigs and Pigs: Joseph Jacobs, The Story of the Three Little Pigs (illust. by Lorinda B. Cauley), Putnam: New York, 1980, unpaged, $8.95.

There's Pigs and Pigs: Margaret Wise Brown (illust. by Ann Strugnell), Once Upon a Time in a Pigpen, Addison-Wesley: Reading, Mass., 1980, 64 pages, $10.95.

There's Pigs and Pigs: Miska Miles (illust. by Leslie Morrill), This Little Pig, Dutton: New York, 1980, unpaged, $6.95.

Picture Books: William Steig, Gorky Rising, Farrar, Strauss &; Giroux: New York, 1980, unpaged, $10.95.

Picture Books: Charles Keeping, Willie's Fire-Engine, Oxford University: New York, 1980, unpaged, $10.95 (boards).

Picture Books: Lydia Pender (illust. by Judith Cowell), The Useless Donkeys, Warne: New York, 1979, unpaged, $9.95.

Picture Books: Lillie D. Chaffin (illust. by Lloyd Bloom), We Be Warm Till Springtime Comes, Macmillan: New York, 1980, unpaged, $9.95.

Picture Books: Kate Canning, A Painted Tale, Barrons: Woodbury, N.Y.: 1979, unpaged, $6.95 (boards).

Historical Explorations: Maurice Boutet de Monvel, Joan of Arc, Viking: New York, 1980, 55 pages, $12.95.

Historical Explorations: Mitsumasa, Anno, Anno's Medieval World, Philomel Books: New York, 1980, 48 pages, $9.99.

Historical Explorations: Peter Spier, People, Doubleday: New York, 1980, unpaged, $10.00.

Historical Explorations: John S. Goodall, An Edwardian Season, Atheneum: New York, 1980, unpaged, $7.95.

Historical Explorations: Miriam Schlein (illust. by Erik Hilgert), I, Tut, Four Winds Press: New York, 1979, unpaged, $7.95.     

Heterologous expression of Anabaena sp. PCC7120 cyanophycin metabolism genes cphA1 and cphB1 in Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) meliloti 1021

Sinorhizobium meliloti infects leguminous plants resulting in a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. Free living cells accumulate poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) as carbon and energy source under imbalanced growth conditions. The cphA1 ₇₁₂₀ gene encoding a cyanophycin (CGP) synthetase of Anabaena sp. PCC7120 in plasmids pVLT31::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀ and pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀ was expressed in the wild-type S. meliloti 1021 and in a phbC-negative mutant generated in this study. Expression of cphA1 ₇₁₂₀ and accumulation of CGP in cells were studied in various media. Yeast mannitol broth (YMB) and pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀ yielded the highest CGP contents in both S. meliloti 1021 strains. Supplying the YMB medium with isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside, aspartic acid, and arginine enhanced CGP contents about 2.5- and 2.8-fold in S. meliloti 1021 (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀) and S. meliloti 1021 phbCΩKm (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀), respectively. Varying the nitrogen-to-carbon ratio in the medium enhanced the CGP content further to 43.8% (w/w) of cell dry weight (CDW) in recombinant cells of S. meliloti 1021 phbCΩKm (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀). Cells of S. meliloti 1021 (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀) accumulated CGP up to 39.6% in addition to 12.1% PHB (w/w, of CDW). CGP from the S. meliloti strains consisted of equimolar amounts of aspartic acid and arginine and contained no other amino acids even if the medium was supplemented with glutamic acid, citrulline, ornithine, or lysine. CGP isolated from cells of S. meliloti 1021 (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀) and S. meliloti 1021 phbCΩKm (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀) exhibited average molecular weights between 20 and 25 kDa, whereas CGP isolated from Escherichia coli S17-1 (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀) exhibited average molecular weight between 22 and 30 kDa. Co-expression of cyanophycinase from Anabaena sp. PCC7120 encoded by cphB1 ₇₁₂₀ in cphA1 ₇₁₂₀-positive E. coli S17-1, S. meliloti 1021, and its phbC-negative mutant gave cyanophycinase activities in crude extracts, and no CGP granules occurred. A higher PHB content in S. meliloti 1021 (pBBR1MCS-3::cphB1 ₇₁₂₀::cphA1 ₇₁₂₀) in comparison to the control indicated that the cells used CGP degradation product (β-aspartate-arginine dipeptide) to fuel PHB biosynthesis.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Jeremy Beckett (ed.). Wherever I Go: Myles Lalor's ‘Oral History’. Victor Buchli . An Archaeology of Socialism. Stephanie Hemelryk Donald . Public Secrets, Public Spaces: Cinema and Civility in China. James F. Eder , A Generation Later: Household Strategies and Economic Change in the Rural Philippines. Colin Filer (ed.) . Dilemmas of Development: The Social and Economic Impact of the Porgera Gold Mine 1989–1994. Jill Forshee with Christina Fink and Sandra Cate (eds). Converging Interests: Traders, Travelers, and Tourists in Southeast Asia. Elizabeth Furniss . The Burden of History: Colonialism and the Frontier Myth in a Rural Community. Alfred Gell . The Art of Anthropology: Essays and Diagrams. Edited by E. Hirsch Ernest Gellner . Language and Solitude: Wittgenstein, Malinowski and the Hapsburg Dilemma. Kenneth Henshall . Dimensions of Japanese Society: Gender, Margins and Mainstream. Lane Ryo Hirabayashi . The Politics of Fieldwork: Research in an American Concentration Camp. Mark J. Hudson . Ruins of Identity: Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands. Laura Lee Junker . Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political Economy of Philippine Chiefdoms. Robert C. Kiste and M. Marshall (eds) . American Anthropology in Micronesia: An Assessment. Bruce M. Knauft . From Primitive to Postcolonial in Melanesia and Anthropology. David MacDougall . Transcultural Cinema. Zoila S. Mendoza . Shaping Society Through Dance: Mestizo Ritual Performance in the Peruvian Andes. Kirstin Pauka . Theater and Martial Arts in West Sumatra: Randai and Silek of the Minangkabau. Phillip B. Zarilli . When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Discourses, and Practices of Power in Kalaripayattu, a South Indian Martial Art. Michael Pinches (ed.) . Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia. Alan Rumsey and James F. Weiner (eds) . Emplaced Myth: Space, Narrative and Knowledge in Aboriginal Australia and Papua New Guinea. Jane Schneider (ed) . Italy's ‘Southern Question’: Orientalism in One Country. Christopher C. Taylor . Sacrifice as Terror: The Rwandan Genocide of 1994. Sandy Toussaint . Phyllis Kaberry and Me: Anthropology, History and Aboriginal Australia.     

New species of Epitoniidae (Gastropoda: Epitonioidea) from the Red Sea

Based on material stored in the Zoological Museum of the University of Bologna (MZB), four new species of epitoniids from the shallow waters of the Red Sea are described: Epitonium (Laeviscala) yemenita n. sp., Epitonium (Laeviscala) morassii n. sp., Epitonium (Labeoscala) zabargadense n. sp. and Epitonium (Labeoscala) aranea n. sp. Scanning electron microscope illustrations of type specimens of Scalaria gracilis Sowerby, 1844, Scalaria fucata Pease, 1861, Graciliscala histricosa Jousseaume, 1912, Graciliscala rostrata Jousseaume, 1912, Scala rissoinaeformis Melvill, 1903 and Scala thelcteria Melvill & Standen, 1903 are given. Systematic remarks on some species belonging to the subgenus Laeviscala are treated in additional notes. A lectotype of Graciliscala histricosa is designated.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8304A24D-5985-43D5-AEBF-1A7ED39A1F1C     

Direct demonstration of NCAM cis-dimerization and inhibitory effect of palmitoylation using the BRET technique

Biological activity of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) depends on both adhesion and activation of intra-cellular signaling. Based on in vitro experiments with truncated extra-cellular domains, several models describing homophilic NCAM trans- and cis-interactions have been proposed. However, cis-dimerization in living cells has not been shown directly and the role of the cytoplasmic part in NCAM dimerization is poorly understood. Here, we used the bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET²) technique to directly demonstrate that full-length NCAM cis-homodimerizes in living cells. Based on BRET²50 values we suggest that the intra-cellular part of NCAM inhibits cis-dimerization, an effect mainly dependent on the palmitoylation sites.

Structured summary

MINT-8071463: NCAM140 (uniprotkb:P13591-1) physically interacts (MI:0915) with NCAM140 (uniprotkb:P13591-1) by bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (MI:0012)MINT-8071506: NCAM180 (genbank_protein_gi:119587605) physically interacts (MI:0915) with NCAM-180 (genbank_protein_gi:119587605) by bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (MI:0012)MINT-8071483: NCAM140 (uniprotkb:P13591-1) physically interacts (MI:0915) with NCAM140 (uniprotkb:P13591-1) by competition binding (MI:0405)     

Eight newSalmonella types

Summary Eight newSalmonella types are described.S. houten, 43; Z₄, Z₂₃ :−, was isolated from a frog,S.tuindorp, 43: Z₄, Z₃₂: −,S. vleuten, 44: fg: −,S.zeist, 18: Z₁₀: Z₆, andS.soesterberg. 21: Z₄, Z₂₃: −, were isolated from lizards. S. kralingen (8), 20: y: Z₆, was isolated from peanuts andS. assen, 21: a: −, was isolated from a swine. All these strains were isolated in the Netherlands. S.mim, 13, 22: a: 1,6, was isolated from a rat in Ghana.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Bain Attwood. Rights for Aborigines. Sarah Colley. Uncovering Australia: Archaeology, Indigenous People and the Public. Kirk Dombrowski. Against Culture: Development, Politics, and Religion in Indian Alaska. Anita Jowitt and Tess Newton Cain (eds). Passage of Change: Law, Society and Governance in the Pacific. Sinclair Dinnen with Anita Jowitt and Tess Newton Cain (eds). A Kind of Mending: Restorative Justice in the Pacific Islands. Bruce M. Knauft (ed.). Critically Modern: Alternatives, Alterities, Anthropologies. Helen Gremillion. Feeding Anorexia: Gender and Power at a Treatment Center. Jean Guiart. Et le masque sortit de la mer: Les pays anciens de Hienghène à Témala, Gomèn et Koumac. Robin Hide. Pig Husbandry in New Guinea: A Literature Review and Bibliography. William Mazzarella. Shoveling Smoke: Advertising and Globalization in Contemporary India. Louise Meintjes. Sound of Africa: Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio. Sally Merry and Donald Brenneis (eds). Law and Empire in the Pacific: Fiji and Hawaii. Peter J. M. Nas, Gerard A. Persoon and Rivke Jaffe (eds). Framing Indonesian Realities: Essays in Symbolic Anthropology in Honour of Reimer Schefold. Annemarie Mol. The Body Multiple: Ontology In Medical Practice. Sherry B. Ortner. New Jersey Dreaming: Capital, Culture and the Class of 58. Thomas C. Patterson. Marx's Ghost: Conversations with Archaeologists. Melissa Perry and Stephen Lloyd. Australian Native Title Law. Christopher Pinney and Nicolas Peterson (eds). Photography's Other Histories. Nigel Rapport. I am Dynamite: An Alternative Anthropology of Power. Renato Rosaldo (ed.). Cultural Citizenship in Island Southeast Asia: Nation and Belonging in the Hinterlands. Regina Scheyvens and Donovan Storey. Development Fieldwork: A Practical Guide. David Trigger and Gareth Griffiths (eds). Disputed Territories: Land, Culture and Identity in Settler Societies. Cecilia Van Hollen. Birth on the Threshold: Childbirth and Modernity in South India.     

The fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora requires the rpoN gene for pathogenicity in apple

RpoN is a σ⁵⁴ factor regulating essential virulence gene expression in several plant pathogenic bacteria, including Pseudomonas syringae and Pectobacterium carotovorum. In this study, we found that mutation of rpoN in the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora caused a nonpathogenic phenotype. The E. amylovora rpoN Tn5 transposon mutant rpoN1250::Tn5 did not cause fire blight disease symptoms on shoots of mature apple trees. In detached immature apple fruits, the rpoN1250::Tn5 mutant failed to cause fire blight disease symptoms and grew to population levels 12 orders of magnitude lower than the wild‐type. In addition, the rpoN1250::Tn5 mutant failed to elicit a hypersensitive response when infiltrated into nonhost tobacco plant leaves, and rpoN1250::Tn5 cells failed to express HrpN protein when grown in hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity)‐inducing liquid medium. A plasmid‐borne copy of the wild‐type rpoN gene complemented all the rpoN1250::Tn5 mutant phenotypes tested. The rpoN1250::Tn5 mutant was prototrophic on minimal solid and liquid media, indicating that the rpoN1250::Tn5 nonpathogenic phenotype was not caused by a defect in basic metabolism or growth. This study provides clear genetic evidence that rpoN is an essential virulence gene of E. amylovora, suggesting that rpoN has the same function in E. amylovora as in P. syringae and Pe. carotovorum.     

P1 transduction map spanning the replication terminus of Escherichia coli K12

Summary The region of the E. coli chromosome that contains the replication terminus has not previously been spanned by P1 cotransduction. We have used Tn5, Tn9 and Tn10 transposons inserted in this region as genetic markers, and have constructed a genetic map that extends from fnr (min 29.3) to manA (min 35.7). The relevant transposons that have been mapped in this region and which are described in this report are trgl::Tn5 (min 31.1), zdc-235::Tn10 (min 32.3), zdd-230::Tn9 (min 33.3), and zde-234::Tn10 (min 34.2). The size of this region as determined by P1 cotransduction is very similar to previous estimates obtained by bacterial conjugation.     

Mutational Analysis of the Multicopy hao Gene Coding for Hydroxylamine Oxidoreductase in Nitrosomonas sp. Strain ENI-11

The ammonia-oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas sp. strain ENI-11 contains three copies of the hao gene (hao ₁, hao ₂, and hao ₃) coding for hydroxylamine oxidoreductase (HAO). Three single mutants (hao ₁::kan, hao ₂::kan, or hao ₃::kan) had 68 to 75% of the wild-type growth rate and 58 to 89% of the wild-type HAO activity when grown under the same conditions. A double mutant (hao ₁::kan and hao ₃::amp) also had 68% of the wild-type growth and 37% of the wild-type HAO activity.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: J.M. Arthur . Aboriginal English: A Cultural Study. Diane J. Austin-Broos. Jamaica Genesis: Religion and the Politics of Moral Orders. Mick Broderick (ed.) Hibakusha Cinema: Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Nuclear Image in Japanese Film. Linda Connor, Patsy Asch and Timothy Asch. Jero Tapakan: Balinese Healer. An Ethnographic Film Monograph. Steven Feld and Keith H. Basso (eds). Senses of Place. T. Fujitani. Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. David N. Gellner, Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka and John Whelpton (eds). Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: The Politics of Culture in Contemporary Nepal. Akhil Gupta and James Ferguson (eds). Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a Field Science. Helen Hardacre. Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan. Marilyn Ivy. Discourses of the Vanishing: Modernity, Phantasm, Japan. Margaret Jolly. Women of the Place: Kaslom, Colonialism and Gender in Vanuatu. M.P. Levine, P.M. Nardi and J.H. Gagnon (eds). In Changing Times: Gay Men and Lesbians Encounter HIV/AIDS. Nancy C. Lutkehaus and Paul B. Roscoe (eds.) Gender Ritual: Female Initiation in Melanesia. Helen Morton. Becoming Tongan: An Ethnography of Childhood. Herbert Donald Graham Maschner. Darwinian Archaeologies Michael Southon. The Navel of the Perahu: Meaning and Values in the Maritime Trading Economy of a Butonese Village. J. M. Mageo and A. Howard (eds). Spirits in Culture, History and Mind. Virginia Watson. Anyan's Story. A New Guinea Woman in Two Worlds.     

New Nemonychidae,Brentidae and Curculionidae (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) from the Turonian of Kzyl-Dzhar (Kazakhstan)

Five new genera, Turononemonyxn. gen. (type species: Turononemonyxsamsonovin. sp.) (Nemonychidae: ? Cretonemonychinae: ? Cretonemonychini), Falsotanaosn. gen. (type species: Falsotanaos convexusn. sp.), Pretanaosn. gen. (type species: Pretanaosocularisn. sp.), Longotanaosn. gen. (type species: Longotanaosrasnitsynin. sp.) from Brentidae: Apioninae: Tanaini) and Turonerirhinusn. gen. (type species: Turonerirhinuskaratavensisn. sp.) from Curculionidae (Erirhininae: Erirhinini), and seven new species, Falsotanaosconvexusn. sp., Paratanaos samsonovin. sp., Pretanaos ocularisn. sp., Longotanaos rasnitsynin. sp., Turonerirhinus karatavensisn. sp., Turonerirhinuspunctatusn. sp. and Turonerirhinus poinarin. sp., are described from Kzyl-Dzhar locality (Kazakhstan, Upper Cretaceous, Turonian).http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:13E0316E-C229-471A-90AA-2D71253B12F9     

The switching gene swi6 affects recombination and gene expression in the mating-type region of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Summary The products of 11 switching (swi) genes are required for efficient mating-type (MT) switching in homothallic (h ⁹⁰) strains of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The MT region of h ⁹⁰ comprises three cassette genes: the expression site mat1: 1 and two silent loci, mat2: 2 and mat3: 3. Besides reducing MT switching, the swi6 mutation leads to deletions in the MT region caused by intrachromosomal cross-overs between two paired cassettes. These deletions only arise if DNA double-strand breaks are present at mat1: 1, which initiate MT switching. Furthermore, swi6 allows meiotic recombination in the K region, a region of 16 kb between mat2: 2 and mat3: 3; in wild-type strains no recombination occurs in K. swi6 also allows the simultaneous expression of two different cassettes in the same haploid cell. Thus swi6 may have an influence on the general chromatin structure in the MT region.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: A. Haroon Akram‐Lodhi (ed.) . Confronting Fiji Futures. Dwight B. Heath . Drinking Occasions: Comparative Perspectives on Alcohol and Culture. Alphonso Lingis , Dangerous Emotions. Chris Lyttleton . Endangered Relations: Negotiating Sex and AIDS in Thailand. Jeannette Marie Mageo (ed.) . Cultural Memory: Reconfiguring History and Identity in the Postcolonial Pacific. Serena Nanda . Gender Diversity: A Crosscultural Perspective. Douglas Raybeck . Looking Down the Road: A Systems Approach to Future Studies. Tim Rowse . Obliged to be Difficult: Nugget Coombs' Legacy in Indigenous Affairs.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Lissant Bolton. Unfolding the Moon: Enacting Women's Kastom in Vanuatu. Rebecca Cassidy. The Sport of Kings: Kinship, Class and Thoroughbred Breeding in Newcastle. Kate Fox. The Racing Tribe: Watching the Horse Watchers. Robert J. Foster. Materializing the Nation: Commodities, Consumption and Media in Papua New Guinea. Faye D. Ginsburg, Lila Abu‐Lughod and Brian Larkin (eds). Media Worlds: Anthropology on New Terrain. Leo Howe. Hinduism and Hierarchy in Bali. Bruce M. Knauft. Exchanging the Past: A Rainforest World of Before and After. Linda Sue Lewis. Laying Claim to the Memory of May: A Look Back at the 1980 Kwangju Uprising. Vicki Lukere and Margaret Jolly (eds). Birthing in the Pacific: Beyond Tradition and Modernity? Julie Marcus. The Indomitable Miss Pink: A Life in Anthropology. David McKnight. From Hunting to Drinking: The Devastating Effects of Alcohol on an Australian Aboriginal Community. Annemarie Mol. The Body Multiple: Ontology In Medical Practice. Raul Pertierra, Eduardo F. Ugarte, Alicia Pingol, Joel Hernandez and Nikos Lexis Dacanay. Txt‐ing Selves: Cellphones and Philippine Modernity. Urs Ramseyer. The Art and Culture of Bali. Urs Ramseyer and I. Gusti Panji Tisna (eds). Photographs by Rama Surya. Bali: Living in Two Worlds: A Critical Self‐portrait. Anthony Siaguru. In‐House in Papua New Guinea. Peggy Reeves Sanday. Women at the Center: Life in a Modern Matriarchy. Neil L. Whitehead. Dark Shamans: Kanaima and the Poetics of Violent Death.     

The exceptionally diversified Neotropical genus Veturius Kaup: more new data on its phylogeny,taxonomy and distribution (Coleoptera: Passalidae)

New data are provided on 24 known and five new species in three subgenera of Veturius Kaup (Proculini), from Central and South America. Veturius s. str.: V. hincksi Boucher, 2006 (wing polymorphism, Colombia: Nariño), V. perecasi Boucher, 2006 (Colombia: Boyacá, Santander, perhaps Risaralda), V. montivagus Boucher, 2006 (first precise location, Colombia: Tolima), V. schusteri Boucher, 2006 (Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Cartago, Alajuela), V. platyrhinus (Hope & Westwood, 1845) (Colombia: Tolima), V. aspina Kuwert, 1898 (polymorphism, Colombia: Sucre, Cesar, Córdoba, Antioquia), V. yahua Boucher, 2006 (Colombia: Amazonas, Meta), V. ecuadoris Kuwert, 1898 (Colombia: Caquetá), V. muisca n. sp. (Colombia: Cundinamarca), V. nonuya Boucher & Salazar, n. sp. (Colombia: Amazonas), V. standfussi Kuwert, 1891 (polymorphism, Colombia: Caquetá; Peru: Piura), V. arawak Boucher, 2006 (Peru: Cuzco, Puno), V. fabieni Boucher & Salazar, n. sp. (Peru: Junín), V. dreuxi Boucher, 2006 (Bolivia). Publius Kaup: V. crassus (Smith, 1852) (Colombia: Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Meta, perhaps Tolima), V. rugifrons Boucher, 2006 (Colombia: Cundinamarca, Boyacá), V. concretus (Kaup, 1868) (Colombia: Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Meta), V. tectus Boucher, 2006 (second record, Colombia: Santander), V. dupuisi Boucher, 2006 (second record, Colombia: Cundinamarca), V. centralis Boucher, 2006 (second record, Colombia: Antioquia), V. taurus Boucher, 2006 (second record, Colombia: Norte de Santander), V. spinipes Zang, 1905 (topotype, Bolivia). Ouayana Boucher: V. paraensis Luederwaldt, 1927 (Brazil, Pará), V. negroensis Boucher, 2006 (Colombia: Vaupés; Brazil: Amazonas), V. amazonicus Boucher, 2006 (Colombia: Guainía), V. quaesitor Boucher & Salazar, n. sp. (Peru: Piura), V. uncinatus n. sp. (Colombia: no other indication), V. casalei Boucher, 2006 (Colombia: first precise location, Caldas, Antioquia), V. fanestus Boucher, 2006 (Colombia: Nariño). Veturius contains now 86 species, and is by far the most diversified recognized monophyletic genus in the Passalidae.     

Undergraduate teaching in gerodontology in Austria, Switzerland and Germany

Objective: To survey the present state of undergraduate teaching in the domain of gerodontology in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Study participants: All universities of Austria (A), Germany (D) and Switzerland (CH). Protocol: A questionnaire on undergraduate teaching in gerodontology was mailed to all Deans (A: n = 3; CH: n = 4; D: n = 31) and all independent departments except paediatric dentistry and orthodontics (A: n = 11; CH: n = 15; D: n = 111). Results: The questionnaires were completed and returned by 29 Deans (A: n = 2; CH: n = 4; D: n = 23) and 102 departments (A: n = 7; CH: n = 8; D: n = 87). In Austria, gerodontology is a very small component of the dental curriculum and the Deans did not want this to be increased. Most German universities claimed to teach some aspects of gerodontology to undergraduate students and 87.4% of the Deans voted for separate lectures in gerodontology. In Switzerland, gerodontology seems well established. The results of questionnaires from the independent departments revealed that in all three countries lectures were more prevalent (A: n = 0; CH: n = 4; D: n = 6) than practical training in nursing homes (A: n = 0; CH: n = 3; D: n = 6). Conclusion: Considering the demographical shift which is leading to an increasing proportion of elderly in the population, the weighting of gerodontology in the undergraduate dental curriculum should be considered for revision in Austria and Germany.     

Cross‐species amplification of microsatellite loci in aphids: assessment and application

Despite the relative ease of isolating microsatellites, their development still requires substantial inputs of time, money and expertise. For this reason there is considerable interest in using existing microsatellites on species from which markers were not cloned. We tested cross‐species amplification of 48 existing aphid loci in species of the following genera: Aphidinae: Aphidini: Aphis and Rhopalosiphum; Aphidinae: Macrosiphini: Acyrthosiphum, Brevicoryne, Diuraphis, Illinoia, Macrosiphoniella, Macrosiphum, Metopeurum, Metapolophium, Myzus, Phorodon, Sitobion and Uroleucon and Neuquenaphidinae: Neuquenaphis. Our results show cross‐species application of known microsatellite loci is a highly promising source of codominant markers for population genetic and evolutionary studies in aphids.     

Modification of senescence in ryegrass transformed with IPT under the control of a monocot senescence-enhanced promoter

We report here the genetic modification of ryegrass senescence. Embryogenic cell suspensions of Lolium multiflorum were transformed by microprojectile bombardment with plasmid constructs containing 1.98 kb of the 5 flanking sequence of SEE1 (a maize cysteine protease gene showing enhanced expression during senescence) fused either to the Agrobacterium tumefaciens cytokinin biosynthesis gene IPT (designated P_SEE1::IPT) or to the -glucuronidase reporter gene UIDA (P_SEE1::UIDA). Plants were regenerated under selection for the HPH hygromycin resistance gene in the vector. P_SEE1::UIDA transformants confirmed that the SEE1 flanking sequence functioned as a senescence-enhanced promoter in ryegrass. The IPT transgene was detected in 28 regenerants (P_SEE1::IPT) from five independent transformation events. P_SEE1::IPT leaves displayed a stay-green phenotype. Some P_SEE1::IPT lines developed spontaneous lesions.Abbreviations Chl: Chlorophyll - GUS: -Glucuronidase - RChl: Relative Chl content - WT: Wild-typeCommunicated by M.R. Davey