TREATMENT OF AN INDIAN WOMAN WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION BY A LATINA THERAPTIS: CULTURAL FORMULATION

Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry -     

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) Provides Molecular Markers for the Identification of Caladium bicolor Cultivars

Caladiums are popular ornamental plants that have not been wellstudied at the molecular level. Identification of species withinthe genus Caladium (Araceae) has been based primarily on morphology.However, the lack of comprehensive references makes identificationof Caladium cultivars extremely difficult. Amplified fragmentlength polymorphism (AFLP) analysis using 17 primer combinationswas carried out on two species of Caladium (C. bicolor and C.schomburgkii), including six cultivars of C. bicolor. Resultsshowed that AFLP can be used to distinguish these two speciesby their unique and different banding patterns. Unweighted PairGroup Method using Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA) permitted clusteranalysis of data from 17 selected primer combinations on sixcultivars of C. bicolor and one cultivar ofC. schomburgkii .It showed that closely related species can clearly be differentiatedand that genetic difference between cultivars can also be established.Unique AFLP molecular markers were detected for all the C. bicolorcultivars used. The use of AFLP has potential for preciselycharacterizing and identifying particular caladium cultivarsas well as for the registration of new cultivars. It will alsobe useful in future breeding programmes and systematics studies.Copyright 1999 Annals of Botany Company Araceae, Caladium species and cultivars, AFLP DNA fingerprinting, diversity, AFLP markers.     

Genetic variation of Saxifraga paniculata Mill. (Saxifragaceae): molecular evidence for glacial relict endemism in central Europe

Saxifraga paniculata Mill. is an amphi-atlantic species that is widely distributed in the Alps but also occurs with disjunct populations in central Europe. These isolated populations are considered to be glacial relicts. In the study presented here, we analysed the genetic variation within and between populations of Saxifraga paniculata in central Europe to test whether the molecular data give evidence for the supposed relict endemism. We used RAPD analysis and the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) technique to investigate 30 populations of Saxifraga paniculata from different locations in central Europe and adjacent geographical areas. In the RAPD analysis, 319 fragments could be amplified of which 91.2% were polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphic bands within populations correlated significantly with population size, indicating a higher level of inbreeding in small populations. AMOVA revealed 43.60% of the variation within populations, only 15.45% between populations within locations, and 40.95% between locations. Genetic distance between locations (Φ_ST) correlated significantly with the geographical distance between locations, giving evidence for geographical isolation. In an UPGMA cluster analysis, based on RAPD data, the populations were grouped together according to their location. The results exhibit a strong genetic differentiation which is obviously due to genetic drift in the isolated populations. Our study therefore gives evidence for glacial relict endemism of Saxifraga paniculata in central Europe.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 80, 11–21.     

Parmelina quercina (Parmeliaceae, Lecanorales) includes four phylogenetically supported morphospecies

Morphological and phylogenetic relationships of the worldwide Mediterranean lichen forming fungus, Parmelina quercina , have been studied. Specimens from western Europe, western North America and southern Australia were analysed using molecular data (nuITS rDNA, nuLSU rDNA and mtSSU rDNA) and selected morphological features (upper cortex maculae, scanning electron microscopy examination of the epicortex, ascospores and conidia shape and size, and amphithecial retrorse rhizines). The results conclusively reveal that: (1) there is not one single species but four separate species in the Mediterranean or sub Mediterranean areas of the world. Parmelina quercina and Parmelina carporrhizans (Euroasiatic species), Parmelina coleae sp. nov. (North America) and Parmelina elixia sp. nov. (Australia); (2) largely debated P. carporrhizans is not a synonym of P. quercina but supported as a valid species circumscribed to Macaronesic relict sites; (3) the geographical isolation of the Australian population is correlated with a large genetic distance; (4) morphological characters (ascospores and conidial variability and thallus epicortex) correlate with the phylogenetic hypothesis; (5) the new or revalidated species within Parmelina quercina are not cryptic species but morphologically recognizable taxa.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 91 , 455–467.     

Transient over-expression of barley BAX Inhibitor-1 weakens oxidative defence and MLA12-mediated resistance to Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei

BAX Inhibitor-1 (BI-1) is a conserved cell death suppressor protein. In barley, BI-1 ( HvBI-1 ) expression is induced upon powdery mildew infection and when over-expressed in epidermal cells of barley, HvBI-1 induces susceptibility to the biotrophic fungal pathogen Blumeria graminis . We co-expressed mammalian pro-apoptotic BAX together with HvBI-1, and the mammalian BAX antagonist BCL-X_L in barley epidermal cells. BAX expression led to cessation of cytoplasmic streaming and collapse of the cytoplasm while co-expression of HvBI-1 and BCL-X_L partially or completely, respectively, rescued cells from BAX lethality. When B. graminis was attacking epidermal cells, a green fluorescent protein fusion of HvBI-1 accumulated at the site of attempted penetration and was also present around haustoria. Over-expression of HvBI-1 in epidermal cells weakened a cell-wall-associated local hydrogen peroxide burst in a resistant mlo -mutant genotype and supported haustoria accommodation in race-specifically resistant MLA12 -barley. HvBI-1 is a cell death regulator protein of barley with the potential to suppress host defence reactions.