Geographical, linguistic, and cultural influences on genetic diversity: Y-chromosomal distribution in Northern European populations

Peer reviewe

Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 – an antimicrobial and antioxidative probiotic

The paper lays out the short scientific history and characteristics of the new probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum strain ME-3 DSM-14241, elaborated according to the regulations of WHO/FAO (2002). L. fermentum ME-3 is a unique strain of Lactobacillus species, having at the same time the antimicrobial and physiologically effective antioxidative properties and expressing health-promoting characteristics if consumed. Tartu University has patented this strain in Estonia (priority June 2001, patent in 2006), Russia (patent in 2006) and the USA (patent in 2007). The paper describes the process of the identification and molecular typing of this probiotic strain of human origin, its deposition in an international culture collection, and its safety assessment by laboratory tests and testing on experimental animals and volunteers. It has been established that L. fermentum strain ME-3 has double functional properties: antimicrobial activity against intestinal pathogens and high total antioxidative activity (TAA) and total antioxidative status (TAS) of intact cells and lysates, and it is characterized by a complete glutathione system: synthesis, uptake and redox turnover. The functional efficacy of the antimicrobial and antioxidative probiotic has been proven by the eradication of salmonellas and the reduction of liver and spleen granulomas in Salmonella Typhimurium-infected mice treated with the combination of ofloxacin and L. fermentum strain ME-3. Using capsules or foodstuffs enriched with L. fermentum ME-3, different clinical study designs (including double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover studies) and different subjects (healthy volunteers, allergic patients and those recovering from a stroke), it has been shown that this probiotic increased the antioxidative activity of sera and improved the composition of the low-density lipid particles (LDL) and post-prandial lipids as well as oxidative stress status, thus demonstrating a remarkable anti-atherogenic effect. The elaboration of the probiotic L. fermentum strain ME-3 has drawn on wide international cooperative research and has taken more than 12 years altogether. The new ME-3 probiotic-containing products have been successfully marketed and sold in Baltic countries and Finland

Y-chromosomal diversity in Europe is clinal and influenced primarily by geography, rather than by language

Clinal patterns of autosomal genetic diversity within Europe have been interpreted in previous studies in terms of a Neolithic demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture; in contrast, studies using mtDNA have traced many founding lineages to the Paleolithic and have not shown strongly clinal variation. We have used 11 human Y-chromosomal biallelic polymorphisms, defining 10 haplogroups, to analyze a sample of 3,616 Y chromosomes belonging to 47 European and circum-European populations. Patterns of geographic differentiation are highly nonrandom, and, when they are assessed using spatial autocorrelation analysis, they show significant dines for five of six haplogroups analyzed. Clines for two haplogroups, representing 45% of the chromosomes, are continentwide and consistent with the demic diffusion hypothesis. Clines for three other haplogroups each have different foci and are more regionally restricted and are likely to reflect distinct population movements, including one from north of the Black Sea. principal-components analysis suggests that populations are related primarily on the basis of geography, rather than on the basis of linguistic affinity. This is confirmed in Mantel tests, which show a strong and highly significant partial correlation between genetics and geography but a low nonsignificant partial correlation between genetics and language. Genetic-barrier analysis also indicates the primacy of geography in the shaping of patterns of variation. These patterns retain a strong signal of expansion from the Near East but also suggest that the demographic history of Europe has been complex and influenced by other major population movements, as well as by linguistic and geographic heterogeneities and the effects of drift

Bovine sperm plasma membrane proteomics through biotinylation and subcellular enrichment

A significant proportion of mammalian fertilization is mediated through the proteomic composition of the sperm surface. These protein constituents can present as biomarkers to control and regulate breeding of agricultural animals. Previous studies have addressed the bovine sperm cell apical plasma membrane (PM) proteome with nitrogen cavitation enrichment. Alternative workflows would enable to expand the compositional data more globally around the entire sperm's surface. We used a cell surface biotin‐labeling in combination with differential centrifugation to enrich sperm surface proteins. Using nano‐LC MS/MS, 338 proteins were confidently identified in the PM‐enriched proteome. Functional categories of sperm–egg interaction, protein turnover, metabolism as well as molecular transport, spermatogenesis, and signal transduction were represented by proteins with high quantitative signal in our study. A highly significant degree of enrichment was found for transmembrane and PM‐targeted proteins. Among them, we also report proteins previously not described on bovine sperm (CPQ, CD58, CKLF, CPVL, GLB1L3, and LPCAT2B) of which CPQ and CPVL cell surface localization was further validated. A descriptive overview of the bovine sperm PM integral and peripheral proteins is provided to complement future studies on animal reproduction and its relation to sperm cell surface. All MS data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001096 (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD001096)