Isolation and cross‐familial amplification of 41 microsatellites for the brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis)

The brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis; Osteichthyes: Salmonidae) is a phenotypically diverse fish species inhabiting much of North America. But relatively few genetic diagnostic resources are available for this fish species. We isolated 41 microsatellites from S. fontinalis polymorphic in one or more species of salmonid fish. Thirty‐seven were polymorphic in brook charr, 15 in the congener Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and 14 in the lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush). Polymorphism was also relatively high in Oncorhynchus, where 21 loci were polymorphic in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and 16 in cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) but only seven and four microsatellite loci were polymorphic in the more distantly related lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), respectively. One duplicated locus (Sfo228Lav) was polymorphic at both duplicates in S. fontinalis.     

Assessing the reliability of eBURST using simulated populations with known ancestry

Background  

The program eBURST uses multilocus sequence typing data to divide bacterial populations into groups of closely related strains (clonal complexes), predicts the founding genotype of each group, and displays the patterns of recent evolutionary descent of all other strains in the group from the founder. The reliability of eBURST was evaluated using populations simulated with different levels of recombination in which the ancestry of all strains was known.     

Two new species of Agatea (Violaceae) endemic to New Caledonia, with some taxonomic notes and a key to New Caledonian species

While working on a treatment of Violaceae for the Flore de Nouvelle-Caledonie et dependences , two new species were recognized, Agatea veillonii Munzinger and A. lecointei Munzinger. These species are here described and illustrated. Some taxonomic notes and a regional identification key are provided.     

中国木薯乙醇的资源潜力及其空间分布

利用气候、土壤、地形和土壤等数据,运用ArcGIS的空间叠加分析功能,分析了中国木薯乙醇的分布生产潜力及空间分布.结果表明:中国适宜木薯分布的区域主要在广西、广东、福建、云南、江西和海南等广大南部地区,这些地区的木薯乙醇生产潜力也最高;适宜木薯种植的未利用地面积较少,仅有1.53×104hm2,其乙醇生产潜力仅能满足目前中国E10汽油约1.0%的乙醇需求量;要满足中国目前E10汽油的全部乙醇需求,需要扩大目前木薯总种植耕地面积的4.4～5.7倍,而中国的粮食安全需求则限制了该目标的实现;中国木薯乙醇满足未来生物乙醇的需求前景不容乐观,中国木薯乙醇企业的发展规划要充分考虑原料的可获性,切不可盲目扩大生产.     

Molecular systematics of the caracaras and allies (Falconidae: Polyborinae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data

The Polyborinae is the most diverse subfamily of the Falconidae in terms of both morphology and behaviour, and includes falconet‐shaped birds (Spiziapteryx), arboreal omnivores (Daptrius, Ibycter), as well as terrestrial generalists and scavengers (Caracara, Milvago and Phalcoboenus). The Polyborinae are endemic to the New World, with all but one species (Caracara cheriway) being restricted to Central and South America. Using over 7300 bp of mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data, we aim to clarify the taxonomy and biogeography of the Polyborinae. The genus Milvago was unexpectedly found to be polyphyletic, with Chimango Caracara Milvago chimango being related to the genus Phalcoboenus and Yellow‐headed Caracara Milvago chimachima being sister to Daptrius. Furthermore, very low genetic divergence was found among the four species of the genus Phalcoboenus, with the lowest divergence being between White‐throated Caracara Phalcoboenus albogularis and Mountain Caracara Phalcoboenus megalopterus. Our divergence time analyses revealed that the Polyborinae started to diversify in the Miocene, at about 14 Ma, and that the generalist/scavenger behaviour in the Falconidae appeared between 14 and 6.6 Ma. All speciation events within the caracaras occurred during the Pleistocene. This situation differs from the general pattern described for forest birds, in which most diversification events are older, occurring primarily in the Pliocene and Miocene.