Foliar architecture and anatomy of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bernardia</Emphasis> and other genera of Acalyphoideae (Euphorbiaceae)

A comparative study of leaf architecture and anatomy of 42 species of Bernardia and other genera related of Acalyphoideae was undertaken to identify characters that support infrageneric and specific delimitation. Thirty variable foliar architectural and anatomical characters were studied. Some characters are consistent (e.g., venation pattern, secondary and tertiary vein arrangement, presence or absence of agrophic veins, type of areoles, bundle sheath cell type, presence or absence of fibers in the mesophyll, trichome type, stomata location, and type of crystals), and characterize genera. In addition, foliar character distribution within Bernardia supports the most recent infrageneric classification.     

Clinical delineation of a patient with trisomy 1q32.qter and monosomy 5p resulting from a familial translocation 1;5

We describe a patient who had multiple malformations including ventriculomegaly, colpocephaly, corpus callosum, cerebellum and vermix hypoplasia, optic nerve hypoplasia, corneal opacity and congenital heart disease in whom a trisomy 1q32-qter and monosomy 5p derived from a t(1;5)mat was diagnosed by karyotype and FISH analysis. This trisomy/monosomy association has not been previously reported. The familial analysis of the translocation was carried out in four generations and its implications on the phenotype of the patient and genetic counseling are discussed.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">ex vivo</Emphasis> effect of hyaluronic acid on erythrocyte flow properties

Background  

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is present in many tissues; its presence in serum may be related to certain inflammatory conditions, tissue damage, sepsis, liver malfunction and some malignancies. In the present work, our goal was to investigate the significance of hyaluronic acid effect on erythrocyte flow properties. Therefore we performed in vitro experiments incubating red blood cells (RBCs) with several HA concentrations. Afterwards, in order to corroborate the pathophysiological significance of the results obtained, we replicated the in vitro experiment with ex vivo RBCs from diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, a serum HA-increasing pathology.     

Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis in the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) increases susceptibility to a nucleopolyhedrovirus

Cabbage loopers, Trichoplusia ni, are pests in many agricultural settings including vegetable greenhouses in British Columbia (Canada), where microbial insecticides based on Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins are commonly used. Frequent use of these insecticides has led to resistance in some populations. An alternative microbial control is the multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus of the alfalfa looper (Autographa californica), AcMNPV which occurs naturally, but at low frequencies in T. ni populations. Bioassays show that T. ni resistant to Bt were twice as susceptible to AcMNPV as were individuals from the Bt-susceptible strain and AcMNPV could be complementary in a resistance management program for T. ni.     

CBL Is Frequently Altered in Lung Cancers: Its Relationship to Mutations in MET and EGFR Tyrosine Kinases

Background

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous group of disorders with a number of genetic and proteomic alterations. c-CBL is an E3 ubiquitin ligase and adaptor molecule important in normal homeostasis and cancer. We determined the genetic variations of c-CBL, relationship to receptor tyrosine kinases (EGFR and MET), and functionality in NSCLC.

Methods and Findings

Using archival formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) extracted genomic DNA, we show that c-CBL mutations occur in somatic fashion for lung cancers. c-CBL mutations were not mutually exclusive of MET or EGFR mutations; however they were independent of p53 and KRAS mutations. In normal/tumor pairwise analysis, there was significant loss of heterozygosity (LOH) for the c-CBL locus (22%, n = 8/37) and none of these samples revealed any mutation in the remaining copy of c-CBL. The c-CBL LOH also positively correlated with EGFR and MET mutations observed in the same samples. Using select c-CBL somatic mutations such as S80N/H94Y, Q249E and W802* (obtained from Caucasian, Taiwanese and African-American samples, respectively) transfected in NSCLC cell lines, there was increased cell viability and cell motility.

Conclusions

Taking the overall mutation rate of c-CBL to be a combination as somatic missense mutation and LOH, it is clear that c-CBL is highly mutated in lung cancers and may play an essential role in lung tumorigenesis and metastasis.     

DNA barcodes effectively identify the morphologically similar Common Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) and Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) from areas of sympatry in Mexico

Two morphologically similar species of opossum from the genus Didelphis-Didelphis virginiana and Didelphis marsupialis-cooccur sympatrically in Mexico. High intraspecific variation complicates their morphological discrimination, under both field and museum conditions. This study aims to evaluate the utility and reliability of using DNA barcodes (short standardized genome fragments used for DNA-based identification) to distinguish these two species. Sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (Cox1) mitochondrial gene were obtained from 12 D. marsupialis and 29 D. virginiana individuals and were compared using the neighbor-joining (NJ) algorithm with Kimura's two-parameter (K2P) model of nucleotide substitution. Average K2P distances were 1.56% within D. virginiana and 1.65% in D. marsupialis. Interspecific distances between D. virginiana and D. marsupialis varied from 7.8 to 9.3% and their barcode sequences formed distinct non-overlapping clusters on NJ trees. All sympatric specimens of both species were effectively discriminated, confirming the utility of Cox1 barcoding as a tool for taxonomic identification of these morphologically similar taxa.