Haplotype affinities resolve a major component of goat (Capra hircus) MtDNA D-loop diversity and reveal specific features of the Sardinian stock

Goat mtDNA haplogroup A is a poorly resolved lineage absorbing most of the overall diversity and is found in locations as distant as Eastern Asia and Southern Africa. Its phylogenetic dissection would cast light on an important portion of the spread of goat breeding. The aims of this work were 1) to provide an operational definition of meaningful mtDNA units within haplogroup A, 2) to investigate the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of diversity by considering the modes of selection operated by breeders and 3) to identify the peculiarities of Sardinian mtDNA types. We sequenced the mtDNA D-loop in a large sample of animals (1,591) which represents a non-trivial quota of the entire goat population of Sardinia. We found that Sardinia mirrors a large quota of mtDNA diversity of Western Eurasia in the number of variable sites, their mutational pattern and allele frequency. By using bayesian analysis, a distance-based tree and a network analysis, we recognized demographically coherent groups of sequences identified by particular subsets of the variable positions. The results showed that this assignment system could be reproduced in other studies, capturing the greatest part of haplotype diversity.We identified haplotype groups overrepresented in Sardinian goats as a result of founder effects. We found that breeders maintain diversity of matrilines most likely through equalization of the reproductive potential. Moreover, the relevant amount of inter-farm mtDNA diversity found does not increase proportionally with distance. Our results illustrate the effects of breeding practices on the composition of maternal gene pool and identify mtDNA types that may be considered in projects aimed at retrieving the maternal component of the oldest breeds of Sardinia.     

Do male roe deer clump together during the rut?

Movement s an d habitat use of 7 male and 7 female roe deerCapreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) were studied by radioteleme try from March 1999 to February 2001. Annual and bimonthly home ranges of males were small (ca 10 ha, 95% kernel), with large overlap among individuals throughout the year. Exclusive core areas (ca 0.4 ha, 25% kernel) were concentrated in the forest, a limited and sought-after resource in the study area. The difference in overlap between male exclusive core areas and female home ranges in the pre-rut and rut periods suggested that females made excursions to search for territorial males during the rut Our results support the mating strategy hypothesis of territorial behaviour Different space use patterns occurred between the sexes, with females apparently playing an active role in mate choice by visiting males at clumps of core areas in the forest.     

Progress in spondylarthritis. Immunopathogenesis of spondyloarthritis: which cells drive disease?

Spondyloarthritides, or SpA, form a cluster of chronic inflammatory diseases with the axial skeleton as the most typical disease localisation, although extra-articular manifestations such as intestinal inflammation may frequently occur during the course of the disease. This review summarises recent progress in our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of SpA with special emphasis on the cellular constituents considered to be responsible for the initiation and/or perpetuation of inflammation. There are several arguments favouring a role for haematopoietic cells in the pathophysiology of spondyloarthritis, including HLA-B27-associated dendritic cell disturbances, HLA-B27 misfolding properties and T helper 17 cells. In addition, recent studies have pointed toward a pivotal role for stromal cells. A major challenge, however, remains to determine how recently identified genetic associations such as interleukin-23 receptor polymorphisms may influence cellular targets in spondyloarthritis.     

Report: access to land at the northern periphery of Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal

Based on research conducted in Senegal in 2004, this field report focuses on the politics of access to land at the northern periphery of the Niokolo-Koba National Park, where a group of villages evicted from the national park were resettled in the 1970s. Conflicts over the allocation of land resurfaced in the 1980s, following the application of laws authorizing rural community councils to allocate use rights in village agricultural lands. The land claims of evicted villages were challenged by the rural council and local state authorities, who sought to define such claims as illegal or ambiguous based on exclusionary discourses of productive use of land, autochthony and citizenship. The politics of access to land at the northern periphery are shaped by land and administrative reforms undertaken since the end of colonial rule in Senegal and the on-going local transformation of authority and property relations under increasing commoditization and insecurity of land use rights.

Lipid droplet changes in proliferating and quiescent 3T3 fibroblasts

Lipid droplets (LDs) are fat-storing organelles present in virtually all eukaryotic cells and involved in many aspects of cell biology related to lipid metabolism and cholesterol homeostasis. In this study, we investigated the presence of LDs in proliferating and quiescent (contact-inhibited) 3T3 fibroblasts to verify a correlation with cell growth. LDs were characterized by Nile red staining, positivity to adipophilin and negativity to perilipin. LDs were numerous in proliferating cells, but very few in quiescent cells. However, the fraction of quiescent cells, which resumed proliferation after scratch-wound assay, also resumed the formation of LDs. In proliferating cells, the number of LDs correlated with the DNA content, suggesting a continuous accumulation of LDs during cell growth. These findings were supported by biochemical data showing much higher rates of cholesterol esterification and triglyceride synthesis in proliferating cells. Both filipin staining and the fluorescent cholesterol analog dehydroergosterol revealed the presence of an intense traffic of free cholesterol, mediated by acidic vesicles, in proliferating cells. Nile red ratiometric measurements revealed a different lipid composition of LDs in proliferating and quiescent cells. Changes in the number and composition of LDs were also found in growing cells treated with inhibitors of cholesterol esterification (Sandoz 58-035), endosomal cholesterol efflux (U18666A) and V-ATPase (bafilomycin-A1).     

Turner syndrome mosaicism: an unusual case with a de novo large dicentric marker chromosome: mos 45,X/46,X, ter rea(X;X)(p22.3;p22.3)

X/X translocations are quite rare in humans. The effect of this anomaly on the phenotype is variable and depends on the amount of deleted material and whether the chromosomes are joined by their long or short arms. We report an unusual case of Turner syndrome mosaicism in a 16-year-old girl, who was referred to our Institute for primary amenorrhoea associated with short stature. Endocrine evaluation revealed hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, which required a study of the karyotype. Cytogenetic analysis, performed on peripheral blood leucocytes, showed a mos 45,X/46,X,ter rea (X;X)(p22.3;p22.3) de novo karyotype. The prevalent cell line was 45,X (90% cells). A second cell line (10% cells) showed a very large marker chromosome, similar to a large metacentric chromosome. FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridisation) and molecular analysis revealed that the marker chromosome was dicentric and totally derived from the paternal X chromosome.     

Existence of different forms of adrenocorticotropin in rat hypothalamus

Adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)-like immunoreactivity and bioactivity were extracted from rat hypothalamus and fractionated by high pressure liquid chromatography. Analysis of the fractions either by radioimmunoassay or bioassay (corticosteroid production from rat adrenal cells) revealed several peaks of immunoreactivity and bioactivity. Only 20-25% of total ACTH-like immunoreactivity and bioactivity eluted with the same retention time as authentic ACTH 1-39. The results suggest that different forms of ACTH exist in rat hypothalamus.     

Trans-membrane cationic flow and hemodialysis]

Abnormalities of intracellular ion concentrations and transmembrane fluxes were reported in uremia. In RBC from 12 chronically hemodialyzed patients (age 41 + 12, 7 men, 5 women; mean dialysis duration 31 + 24 months), we evaluated the acute effects of hemodialysis on intracellular Na and K concentrations, ouabain sensitive Na/K pump, furosemide sensitive Na/K cotransport, Na/Li countertransport, and passive permeability to Na. Six patients were normotensive and 6 were taking antihypertensive drugs which were withdrawn before the study. When compared to our normal reference group, uremic patients showed a significant increase in intracellular K concentration and a significant decrease in ouabain-sensitive Na/K pump. Intracellular sodium was not increased. No correlation was found between the activity of sodium-potassium pump and the duration of hemodialysis. The other transport systems were comparable to normal. No significant change was observed between the values measured before and after dialysis. Ouabain sensitive Na/K pump was lower in hypertensive as compared to normotensive patients, but this difference was not significant. Our data support the existence of ion transport derangements in uremia, which are not acutely affected by hemodialysis.