The evolution of adult height in Europe: A brief note

This paper presents new evidence on the evolution of adult height in 10 European countries for cohorts born between 1950 and 1980 using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), which collects height data from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Our findings show a gradual increase in adult height across all countries. However, countries from Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) experienced greater gains in stature than those located in Northern Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and Sweden).     

BRCA2 protein deficiency exaggerates doxorubicin-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac failure

The tumor suppressor breast cancer susceptibility gene 2 (BRCA2) plays an important role in the repair of DNA damage, and loss of BRCA2 predisposes carriers to breast and ovarian cancers. Doxorubicin (DOX) remains the cornerstone of chemotherapy in such individuals. However, it is often associated with cardiac failure, which once manifests carries a poor prognosis. Because BRCA2 regulates genome-wide stability and facilitates DNA damage repair, we hypothesized that loss of BRCA2 may increase susceptibility to DOX-induced cardiac failure. To this aim, we generated cardiomyocyte-specific BRCA2 knock-out (CM-BRCA2(-/-)) mice using the Cre-loxP technology and evaluated their basal and post-DOX treatment phenotypes. Although CM-BRCA2(-/-) mice exhibited no basal cardiac phenotype, DOX treatment resulted in markedly greater cardiac dysfunction and mortality in CM-BRCA2(-/-) mice compared with control mice. Apoptosis in left ventricular (LV) sections from CM-BRCA2(-/-) mice compared with that in corresponding sections from wild-type (WT) littermate controls was also significantly enhanced after DOX treatment. Microscopic examination of LV sections from DOX-treated CM-BRCA2(-/-) mice revealed a greater number of DNA double-stranded breaks and the absence of RAD51 focus formation, an essential marker of double-stranded break repair. The levels of p53 and the p53-related proapoptotic proteins p53-up-regulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) and Bax were significantly increased in samples from CM-BRCA2(-/-) mice. This corresponded with increased Bax to Bcl-2 ratios and elevated cytochrome c release in the LV sections of DOX-treated CM-BRCA2(-/-) mice. Taken together, these data suggest a critical and previously unrecognized role of BRCA2 as a gatekeeper of DOX-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and susceptibility to overt cardiac failure. Pharmacogenomic studies evaluating cardiac function in BRCA2 mutation carriers treated with doxorubicin are encouraged.     

Population divergence for heteroblasty in the Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis, Pinaceae)

A heteroblastic (or vegetative phase) change is an abrupt manifestation in the general heteroblastic development during the ontogeny of plants. The Canary Island pine undergoes an especially marked and delayed heteroblastic change, including both the formation of secondary needles on dwarf shoots and the onset of preformed growth. To assess genetic and environmental effects on the heteroblastic change in this species, we followed plants from 19 populations at a dry site and a wetter site. Comparing juvenile and adult needles from the same individuals, the adult had a significantly lower rate of water loss and higher leaf mass per area. Pooling data from all seed sources, the heteroblastic change took place when plants reached a critical height, on average, at 4 years of age at the dry site and 1 year earlier at the wet site. Within a subsample of individuals of equal size, mortality was significantly higher in juvenile plants than in mature plants. However, the juvenile phase was longer in plants from dry regions when compared to plants from highly productive, wet regions. This apparent contradiction might be explained through differential resource allocation and the cost of sclerophylly and resprouting ability. Considering the life strategy of the Canary Island pine, we interpret the prolonged juvenile phase as an unavoidable trade-off for the high tolerance of adults to harsh environments.     

Connectedness among herds of beef cattle bred under natural service

Background

A procedure to measure connectedness among herds was applied to a beef cattle population bred by natural service. It consists of two steps: (a) computing coefficients of determination (CDs) of comparisons among herds; and (b) building sets of connected herds.

Methods

The CDs of comparisons among herds were calculated using a sampling-based method that estimates empirical variances of true and predicted breeding values from a simulated n-sample. Once the CD matrix was estimated, a clustering method that can handle a large number of comparisons was applied to build compact clusters of connected herds of the Bruna dels Pirineus beef cattle. Since in this breed, natural service is predominant and there are almost no links with reference sires, to estimate CDs, an animal model was used taking into consideration all pedigree information and, especially, the connections with dams. A sensitivity analysis was performed to contrast single-trait sire and animal model evaluations with different heritabilities, multiple-trait animal model evaluations with different degrees of genetic correlations and models with maternal effects.

Results

Using a sire model, the percentage of connected herds was very low even for highly heritable traits whereas with an animal model, most of the herds of the breed were well connected and high CD values were obtained among them, especially for highly heritable traits (the mean of average CD per herd was 0.535 for a simulated heritability of 0.40). For the lowly heritable traits, the average CD increased from 0.310 in the single-trait evaluation to 0.319 and 0.354 in the multi-trait evaluation with moderate and high genetic correlations, respectively. In models with maternal effects, the average CD per herd for the direct effects was similar to that from single-trait evaluations. For the maternal effects, the average CD per herd increased if the maternal effects had a high genetic correlation with the direct effects, but the percentage of connected herds for maternal effects was very low, less than 12%.

Conclusions

The degree of connectedness in a bovine population bred by natural service mating, such as Bruna del Pirineus beef cattle, measured as the CD of comparisons among herds, is high. It is possible to define a pool of animals for which estimated breeding values can be compared after an across-herds genetic evaluation, especially for highly heritable traits.     

Genetic analysis of the Serratia marcescens N28b O4 antigen gene cluster

The Serratia marcescens N28b wbbL gene has been shown to complement the rfb-50 mutation of Escherichia coli K-12 derivatives, and a wbbL mutant has been shown to be impaired in O4-antigen biosynthesis (X. Rubirés, F. Saigí, N. Piqué, N. Climent, S. Merino, S. Albertí, J. M. Tomás, and M. Regué, J. Bacteriol. 179:7581-7586, 1997). We analyzed a recombinant cosmid containing the wbbL gene by subcloning and determination of O-antigen production phenotype in E. coli DH5alpha by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis and Western blot experiments with S. marcescens O4 antiserum. The results obtained showed that a recombinant plasmid (pSUB6) containing about 10 kb of DNA insert was enough to induce O4-antigen biosynthesis. The same results were obtained when an E. coli K-12 strain with a deletion of the wb cluster was used, suggesting that the O4 wb cluster is located in pSUB6. No O4 antigen was produced when plasmid pSUB6 was introduced in a wecA mutant E. coli strain, suggesting that O4-antigen production is wecA dependent. Nucleotide sequence determination of the whole insert in plasmid pSUB6 showed seven open reading frames (ORFs). On the basis of protein similarity analysis of the ORF-encoded proteins and analysis of the S. marcescens N28b wbbA insertion mutant and wzm-wzt deletion mutant, we suggest that the O4 wb cluster codes for two dTDP-rhamnose biosynthetic enzymes (RmlDC), a rhamnosyltransferase (WbbL), a two-component ATP-binding-cassette-type export system (Wzm Wzt), and a putative glycosyltransferase (WbbA). A sequence showing DNA homology to insertion element IS4 was found downstream from the last gene in the cluster (wbbA), suggesting that an IS4-like element could have been involved in the acquisition of the O4 wb cluster.     

Effects of hypoxia and thyroid hormone on mRNA levels and activity of phosphoglycerate mutase in rabbit tissues

AIM: In the present work, we studied the effects of hypoxia and triiodothyronine (T(3)) on phosphoglycerate mutase (PGAM) activity and expression in rabbit liver, brain, and skeletal muscle under in vivo conditions. METHODS: Hypoxia was induced in a methacrylate cage with a mixture of 90% nitrogen and 10% oxygen. Hyperthyroidism was induced daily by T(3) injection (250 microg/kg). RESULTS: Hypoxia increases the PGAM activity in liver and brain, tissues which possess type PGAM-BB isozyme, but does not affect the PGAM activity in muscle which possesses type PGAM-MM isozyme. T(3) administration increases the PGAM activity in muscle and liver, but does not affect the enzyme activity in the brain. In all cases, the activity changes in parallel with those of PGAM mRNA levels. CONCLUSION: The tissue-specific effects of hypoxia and T(3) could be explained by the tissue-specific distribution of both PGAM isozyme and T(3) receptors.     

Complex population genetic structure in the endemic Canary Island pine revealed using chloroplast microsatellite markers

The Canary archipelago, located on the northwestern Atlantic coast of Africa, is comprised of seven islands aligned from east to west, plus seven minor islets. All the islands were formed by volcanic eruptions and their geological history is well documented providing a historical framework to study colonization events. The Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis C. Sm.), nowadays restricted to the westernmost Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro), is considered an old (Lower Cretaceous) relic from an ancient Mediterranean evolutionary centre. Twenty seven chloroplast haplotypes were found in Canary Island pine but only one of them was common to all populations. The distribution of haplotypic variation in P. canariensis suggested the colonization of western Canary Islands from a single continental source located close to the Mediterranean Basin. Present-day populations of Canary Island pine retain levels of genetic diversity equivalent to those found in Mediterranean continental pine species, Pinus pinaster and Pinus halepensis. A hierarchical analysis of variance (AMOVA) showed high differentiation among populations within islands (approximately 19%) but no differentiation among islands. Simple differentiation models such as isolation by distance or stepping-stone colonization from older to younger islands were rejected based on product-moment correlations between pairwise genetic distances and both geographic distances and population-age divergences. However, the distribution of cpSSR diversity within the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria pointed towards the importance of the role played by regional Pliocene and Quaternary volcanic activity and long-distance gene flow in shaping the population genetic structure of the Canary Island pine. Therefore, conservation strategies at the population level are strongly recommended for this species.Communicated by D.B. NealeA. Gómez and S.C. González-Martínez as joint authors     

Non-Thermal Plasmas Affect Plant Growth and DNA Methylation Patterns in Glycine max

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Non-thermal plasmas (NTP) are partially ionized gases that represent a promising technology for seed treatment to enhance seed health while promoting...     

Biennial acorn maturation and its relationship with flowering phenology in Iberian populations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Quercus suber</Emphasis>

Since the XIX century, there is a controversy about the existence of biennial maturation of the acorns in Quercus suber L. While some authors recognised biennial cycles as an adaptation to habitats with short vegetative periods, other authors discarded the biennial pattern. Successive flowering events from spring to autumn and annual acorn ripening are proposed as an explanation of the multiple acorn crops typical of Iberian forests. To clarify this discussion, the presence of annual and biennial acorns was assessed in seven cork oak stands, covering a wide range of environmental conditions. In each stand, 100 individuals were sampled once in spring and once in autumn. Biennial acorns were observed with variable frequencies in all populations. There was a significant and positive relationship between latitude and the percentage of trees with biennial acorns within northern and central populations. On the contrary, this trend was not significant among southern populations. The hypothesis that the presence of biennial acorns in Quercus suber is related to individual female flowering phenology was confirmed in four populations located in the southwestern Iberian Peninsula. Unregarding local differences in the distribution of phenological stages anticipated trees bore significantly less biennial acorns than delayed individuals of the same stand. This result is coherent with the idea that the length of the vegetative period plays a crucial role in the frequency of annual and biennial acorn ripening patterns. The relationship between annual and biennial ripening cycles and the multiple acorn crops is discussed.     

Molecular profile of androgen-independent prostate cancer xenograft LuCaP 23.1

After castration or therapeutic hormone deprivation, most cancer of the prostate (CaP) cells develop androgen-independent (AI) growth. In this work, we studied the effect of androgen depletion (castration) on the growth of experimental model LuCaP 23.1 xenograft. A total of 101 nude mice were implanted and analysed for their growth profile before experimental period 1 (11 weeks) and after castration experimental period 2 (15 weeks). For specific periods, tumors were harvested and assessed for molecular marker expression specific for CaP. Taking into account tumor dynamic growth, prior to castration we found 37 fast growing (FG) tumors (948.9 ± 76.9 mm³) and 63 slow growing (SG) tumors (229.6 ± 18.4 mm³). Real-time quantitative RT-PCR showed that in comparison to SGs, FGs contained elevated expression of epidermal growth factor receptor type 1 (HER1), urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), thymidine phosphorylase (TP) and thymidilate synthase (TS) mRNAs expression and low levels of 5-reductase 2 (5-R2) mRNA. After castration all FG tumors progressed rapidly (by 5 weeks) to AI growth (FG-P). In SG castrated tumors, 66% of tumors showed retarded progression (by 12 weeks) to AI (SG-P), whereas 34% responded to castration (SG-R). Molecular analysis demonstrated distinct molecular profiles integrating different pathways associated with AI progression. The progressive tumors FG-P, and some tumors of SG-P subgroup, presented significantly high levels of HER1, epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2), TS, uPA, TP, tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 6 (FAS) and peptidylglycine -amidating mono-oxygenase (PAM) mRNA all of which correlated with androgen receptor (AR) mRNA. The second subgroup of SG-P tumors showed a high expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2. A third subgroup of SG-P tumors showed significant expression of hypoxia-related genes such as adrenomedullin (AM) after castration. LuCaP 23.1 xenograft represent a useful dynamic model to study pre-clinically new therapeutic molecules and evaluate non-randomized therapeutics protocols combining different target inhibition specific to each AI pathways.