Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Descending Colon: Report of a Case and Literature Review

It is very rare that squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) arises from colorectal epithelium. An 89-year-old man was treated in 2001 with chief complaints of anorexia, abdominal pain, and low grade fever. The histological diagnosis as SCC was determined by biopsy during a colonoscopy. We diagnosed primary SCC of the colon because except in the colon no malignant lesions were found by systemic CT. Surgical complete resection was performed. However, he died three months after surgical resection because of hepatic metastasis and cachexia. The prognosis of this disease seems to be worse than that of adenocarcinoma

Polymorphism at High Molecular Weight Glutenin Subunits and Morphological Diversity of Aegilops geniculata Roth Collected in Algeria

A collection of 35 accessions of the tetraploid wild wheat Aegilops geniculata Roth (MM, UU) sampled in northern Algeria was evaluated for morphological and biochemical variability. Morphological and ecological analyses based on morphological traits and bioclimatic parameters, respectively, were assessed using principal component analysis (PCA). Accessions were differentiated by width characters, namely spike’s width, and a weak relationship between morphological traits and ecological parameters was found. Polymorphism of high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin subunits was carried on by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Among accessions analyzed, 27 alleles were identified at the two loci Glu-M1 and Glu-U1: resulting in twenty-nine patterns and a nomenclature was proposed. Two alleles at the Glu-U1 locus expressed a new subunit with a slightly slower mobility than subunit 8. These results provide new information regarding the genetic variability of HMW glutenin subunits, as well as their usefulness in cultivated wheat quality improvement

Morphological and genetic variation in Aegilops geniculata from Algeria

Aegilops geniculata Roth is an annual grass relative to cultivated wheats and is widely distributed in North Africa. In order to understand the diversity of this species, 14 populations collected in different bioclimatic areas in northern Algeria were analyzed using morphological and biochemical characters. Principal component analyses (PCA) based on the inflorescence characters and ecological parameters allowed the separation of populations in two mainly bioclimatic clusters characterized by different morphological patterns. Populations originated from humid and sub-humid coastal areas were characterized by vigorous spikes. Samples collected from intermediate and high mountains with humid and semi-arid conditions had long and lanceolate spikes. Individuals with small and narrow spikes were characteristics of steppic highlands in semi-arid conditions and high mountains with humid bioclimate. Individuals were distinguished successively by spike width, spike length, rachis length and awns number. Electrophoretic analyses of high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) based on the phenotypic variability and genetic distances revealed a significant variation within and between populations associated with bioclimatic conditions, in particular winter temperature. Genetic diversity was higher in populations growing under warm bioclimates than in those from cold bioclimates. These results suggest that a part of the variation for HMW glutenin variability is adaptive

Assessment of levels and dynamics of intra-specific genetic diversity of Latin American tropical trees for conservation and sustainable management

Andrew Lowe, Eric Bandou, Peter Breyne, Henri Caron, Stephen Cavers, Nathalie Colpaert, Bernd Degen, Rogerio Gribel, Marvin Hernandez, Antoine Kremer, Patrick Labbe, Maristerra Lemes, Rogerio Margis, Marcia Margis-Pinheiro, Marc van Montagu, Carlos Navarro and Julia Wilso