Geogenic degassing from active tectonic areas of the Balkan Peninsula

During the last decades, great interest of the scientific community has been addressed to the estimation of geogenic Carbon degassing from tectonically active areas (Tamburello et al., 2018). Due to its high solubility in water, CO2 can be dissolved, transported and released to the atmosphere by groundwater. The quantity released by such process is probably of the same order of magnitude as that directly emitted from active volcanoes. The quantification of this contribution has a substantial implication for the modelling of the global atmospheric carbon cycle. The Balkan peninsula, one of the geodynamically most active regions in Europe, is characterized by intense geogenic degassing. Until now, only scarce data exist about the chemical and isotope composition of the gas emissions of this area (Nisi et al., 2013; Kis et al., 2017; Daskalopoulou et al., 2019). Aim of this PhD research is to investigate the possible presence of deep CO2 degassing and its possible impact on regional aquifers of the Balkans. Here, we present the results of a preliminary geochemical characterization of gas manifestations from the main geothermal fields of the Republic of North Macedonia. Gas samples are dominated by either N2 (up to 989,000 μmol/mol) or CO2 (up to 998,000 μmol/mol). The highest CO2 values are found along major fault lines, suggesting a deep source of gases. Only few samples have also significant CH4 concentrations (up to 20,200 μmol/mol). Helium shows a prevailing crustal source (R/RA = 0.1-1.6), however a low but significant mantle contribution was found in most samples. Similarly, δ13CCO2 displays a wide range (-15.7 to +1.0 ‰ vs. V-PDB) and the CO2/3He ratio suggests a prevailing carbonate source together with a small mantle contribution. δ13CCH4 and δ2HCH4 values indicate a mainly thermogenic source; few samples may be related to an abiotic source or be the result of secondary oxidation processes

High-throughput-sequencing-based identification of a grapevine fanleaf virus satellite RNA in Vitis vinifera

A new satellite RNA (satRNA) of grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) was identified by high-throughput sequencing of high-definition (HD) adapter libraries from grapevine plants of the cultivar Panse precoce (PPE) affected by enation disease. The complete nucleotide sequence was obtained by automatic sequencing using primers designed based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) data. The full-length sequence, named satGFLV-PPE, consisted of 1119 nucleotides with a single open reading frame from position 15 to 1034. This satRNA showed maximum nucleotide sequence identity of 87 % to satArMV-86 and satGFLV-R6. Symptomatic grapevines were surveyed for the presence of the satRNA, and no correlation was found between detection of the satRNA and enation symptom expression

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the FADS gene cluster are associated with delta-5 and delta-6 desaturase activities estimated by serum fatty acid ratios[S]

Genetic variability in the FADS1-FADS2 gene cluster [encoding delta-5 (D5D) and delta-6 (D6D) desaturases] has been associated with plasma long-chain PUFA (LCPUFA) and lipid levels in adults. To better understand these relationships, we further characterized the association between FADS1-FADS2 genetic variability and D5D and D6D activities in adolescents. Thirteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in 1,144 European adolescents (mean ± SD age: 14.7 ± 1.4 y). Serum phospholipid fatty acid levels were analyzed using gas chromatography. D5D and D6D activities were estimated from the C20:4n-6/C20:3n-6 and C20:3n-6/C18:2n-6 ratios, respectively. Minor alleles of nine SNPs were associated with higher 18:2n-6 levels (1.9E-18 ≤ P ≤ 6.1E-5), lower C20:4n-6 levels (7.1E-69 ≤ P ≤ 1.2E-12), and lower D5D activity (7.2E-44 ≤ P ≤ 4.4E-5). All haplotypes carrying the rs174546 minor allele were associated with lower D5D activity, suggesting that this SNP is in linkage disequilibrium with a functional SNP within FADS1. In contrast, only the rs968567 minor allele was associated with higher D6D activity (P = 1.5E-6). This finding agrees with an earlier in vitro study showing that the minor allele of rs968567 is associated with a higher FADS2 promoter activity. These results suggest that rare alleles of several SNPs in the FADS gene cluster are associated with higher D6D activity and lower D5D activity in European adolescents

Single-nucleotide polymorphism of CD36 locus and obesity in European adolescents

CD36 is a membrane receptor with a wide variety of functions, including the regulation of energy metabolism, fat storage, and adipocyte differentiation. To assess the relationship between CD36 gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and obesity in adolescents, we evaluated the relationship between CD36 SNPs and the risk of obesity in a case-control study composed of 307 obese (age = 15.0 +/- 1.1 years) and 339 normal-weight adolescents (age = 14.6 +/- 1.1 years). To validate the results, we assessed the relation between the same SNPs and percentage of body fat (BF%) and BMI in 1,151 European adolescents (age = 14.8 +/- 1.4 years). SNPs with a minor allele frequency >0.10 were selected to tag CD36. Genotyping was performed on an Illumina system. Four SNPs (rs3211867, rs3211883, rs3211908, and rs1527483) were associated with increased risk of obesity in the case-control study (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval)): 1.96 (1.26-3.04], P = 0.003; 1.73 (1.16-2.59), P = 0.007; 2.42 (1.47-4.01), P = 0.0005 and 1.95 (1.25-3.05), P = 0.003, respectively). The same four SNPs were associated with higher BMI (P < 0.05) and BF% (P < 0.04) in the validation study. Further analyses identified a haplotype (frequency: 0.05) carrying the minor allele of these SNPs as being associated with obesity (OR: 2.28; P = 0.0008) in the case-control study and with excess adiposity (i.e., higher BF% (P = 0.03) and BMI (P = 0.04)) in the validation study. Our data suggest that genetic variability at the CD36 gene locus could be associated with body weight variability in European adolescents but these findings require replication