Molecular diversity and genetic relationships in Secale

The objective of this study was to quantify the molecular diversity and to determine the genetic relationships among Secale spp. and among cultivars of Secale cereale using RAPDs, ISSRs and sequence analysis of six exons of ScMATE1 gene. Thirteen ryes (cultivated and wild) were genotyped using 21 RAPD and 16 ISSR primers. A total of 435 markers (242 RAPDs and 193 ISSRs) were obtained, with 293 being polymorphic (146 RAPDs and 147 ISSRs). Two RAPD and nine ISSR primers generated more than 80% of polymorphism. The ISSR markers were more polymorphic and informative than RAPDs. Further, 69% of the ISSR primers selected achieved at least 70% of DNA polymorphism. The study of six exons of the ScMATE1 gene also demonstrated a high genetic variability that subsists in Secale genus. One difference observed in exon 1 sequences from S. vavilovii seems to be correlated with Al sensitivity in this species. The genetic relationships obtained using RAPDs, ISSRs and exons of ScMATE1 gene were similar. S. ancestrale, S. kuprijanovii and S. cereale were grouped in the same cluster and S. segetale was in another cluster. S. vavilovii showed evidences of not being clearly an isolate species and having great intraspecific differences

Neutral molecular markers support common origin of aluminium tolerance in three congeneric grass species growing in acidic soils

Aluminium (Al) toxicity is the main abiotic stress limiting plant productivity in acidic soils that are widely distributed among arable lands. Plant species differ in the level of Al resistance showing intraspecific and interspecific variation in many crop species. However, the origin of Al-tolerance is not well known. Three annual species, difficult to distinguish phenotypically and that were until recently misinterpreted as a single complex species under Brachypodium distachyon, have been recently separated into three distinct species: the diploids B. distachyon (2n = 10) and B. stacei (2n = 20), and B. hybridum (2n = 30), the allotetraploid derived from the two diploid species. The aims of this work were to know the origin of Al-tolerance in acidic soil conditions within these three Brachypodium species and to develop new DNA markers for species discrimination. Two multiplex SSR-PCRs allowed to genotype a group of 94 accessions for 17 pentanucleotide microsatellite (SSRs) loci. The variability for 139 inter-microsatellite (ISSRs) markers was also examined. The genetic relationships obtained using those neutral molecular markers (SSRs and ISSRs) support that all Al-tolerant allotetraploid accessions of B. hybridum have a common origin that is related with both geographic location and acidic soils. The possibility that the adaptation to acidic soils caused the isolation of the tolerant B. hybridum populations from the others is discussed. We finally describe a new, easy, DNA barcoding method based in the upstream-intron 1 region of the ALMT1 gene, a tool that is 100 % effective to distinguish among these three Brachypodium species

Flexor Digitorum Brevis Muscle Dry Needling Changes Surface and Plantar Pressures: A Pre-Post Study

[Abstract] Background: The effects of the dry needling technique and pain reduction have been demonstrated in numerous quality studies. However, the mechanical effects of dry needling are largely unknown. Methods: A total of 18 subjects with flexor digitorum brevis muscle myofascial trigger point were evaluated pre- and post-deep dry needling. We measured static footprint variables in a pre–post study. Main findings: We found differences in rearfoot maximum pressure (119.22–111.63 KPa; p = 0.025), midfoot maximum pressure (13.68–17.26 KPa; p = 0.077), midfoot medium pressure (4.75–6.24 KPa; p = 0.035) and forefoot surface (86.58–81.75 cm2; p = 0.020). All variables with significant differences decrease, with the exception of forefoot surface which showed an increase. Conclusions: After flexor digitorum brevis muscle dry needling, midfoot plantar pressures (maximum and medium) and forefoot surface were increased, and rearfoot maximum pressure was decreased

Repression of Mitochondrial Citrate Synthase Genes by Aluminum Stress in Roots of Secale cereale and Brachypodium distachyon

Aluminum (Al) toxicity in acid soils influences plant development and yield. Almost 50% of arable land is acidic. Plants have evolved a variety of tolerance mechanisms for Al. In response to the presence of Al, various species exudate citrate from their roots. Rye (Secale cereale L.) secretes both citrate and malate, making it one of the most Al-tolerant cereal crops. However, no research has been done on the role of the mitochondrial citrate synthase (mCS) gene in Al-induced stress in the rye. We have isolated an mCS gene, encoding a mitochondrial CS isozyme, in two S. cereale cultivars (Al-tolerant cv. Ailés and Al-sensitive inbred rye line Riodeva; ScCS4 gene) and in two Brachypodium distachyon lines (Al-tolerant ABR8 line and Al-sensitive ABR1 line; BdCS4 gene). Both mCS4 genes have 19 exons and 18 introns. The ScCS4 gene was located on the 6RL rye chromosome arm. Phylogenetic studies using cDNA and protein sequences have shown that the ScCS4 gene and their ScCS protein are orthologous to mCS genes and CS proteins of different Poaceae plants. Expression studies of the ScCS4 and BdSC4 genes show that the amount of their corresponding mRNAs in the roots is higher than that in the leaves and that the amounts of mRNAs in plants treated and not treated with Al were higher in the Al-tolerant lines than that in the Al-sensitive lines of both species. In addition, the levels of ScCS4 and BdCS4 mRNAs were reduced in response to Al (repressive behavior) in the roots of the tolerant and sensitive lines of S. cereale and B. distachyon

Age, Origin and Functional Study of the Prevalent LDLR Mutation Causing Familial Hypercholesterolaemia in Gran Canaria

The p.(Tyr400_Phe402del) mutation in the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene is the most frequent cause of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) in Gran Canaria. The aim of this study was to determine the age and origin of this prevalent founder mutation and to explore its functional consequences. For this purpose, we obtained the haplotypic information of 14 microsatellite loci surrounding the mutation in one homozygous individual and 11 unrelated heterozygous family trios. Eight different mutation carrier haplotypes were identified, which were estimated to originate from a common ancestral haplotype 387 (110–1572) years ago. This estimation suggests that this mutation happened after the Spanish colonisation of the Canary Islands, which took place during the fifteenth century. Comprehensive functional studies of this mutation showed that the expressed LDL receptor was retained in the endoplasmic reticulum, preventing its migration to the cell surface, thus allowing us to classify this LDLR mutation as a class 2a, defective, pathogenic variant.This work was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII): PI20/00846, INT21/00032 (RMS), CM19/00116 (AMGL) with the participation of the European Union through European Regional Development Funds (“A way to make Europe”), the Fundación Canaria del Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias de Canarias (FCIISC): PIFIISC20/16 and the Fundación Mapfre Guanarteme (Beca Investigación 2020). NMS was supported by a María Zambrano Fellowship funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities within the “Next Generation EU” scheme

Estudio estabilométrico en niños deportistas con antecedente de enfermedad de Sever

Estudio sobre niños deportistas con antecedentes de enfermedad de Sever

Diferencias entre sexos en población mayor con Fragilidad y Dolor de Pie

Estudio de sexos y edad avanzada, y dolor de pie

Vegetation and fire dynamics during the last 4000 years in the Cabañeros National Park (central Spain)

The Holocene vegetation dynamics of low- and mid-altitude areas of inland Iberia remain largely unknown, masking possible legacy effects of past land-use on current and future ecosystem trajectories. Here we present a 4000-year long palaeoecological record (pollen, spores, microscopic charcoal) from a mire located in the Cabañeros National Park (Toledo Mountains, central Spain), a region with key conservation challenges due to ongoing land-use changes. We reconstruct late Holocene vegetation history and assess the extent to which climate, land-use and disturbances played a role in the observed changes. Our results show that oak (Quercus) woodlands have been the main forested community of the Toledo Mountains over millennia, with deciduous Quercus pyrenaica and Quercus faginea more abundant than evergreen Quercus ilex and Quercus suber, particularly on the humid soils of the valley bottoms. Deciduous oak woodlands spread during drier periods replacing hygrophilous communities (Betula, Salix, hygrophilous Ericaceae) on the edges of the mire, and could cope with fire disturbance variability under dry conditions (e.g. ca. 3800–3000–1850–1050 BC- and 1300–100 cal BP–AD 650–1850-) as suggested by regional palaeoclimatic reconstructions. Pollen and coprophilous fungi data suggest that enhanced fire occurrence at ca. 1300–100 cal BP (AD 650–1850) was due to deliberate burning by local people to promote pastoral and arable farming at the expense of woodlands/shrublands under dry conditions. While historical archives date the onset of strong human impact on the vegetation of Cabañeros to the period at and after the Ecclesiastical Confiscation (ca. 150–100 cal BP, AD 1800–1850), our palaeoecological data reveal that land-use was already intense during the Arab period (ca. 1250–900 cal BP, AD 700–1050) and particularly marked during the subsequent City of Toledo's rule (ca. 700–150 cal BP, AD 1250–1800). Finally, we hypothesize that persistent groundwater discharge allowed the mires of the Toledo Mountains to act as interglacial hydrologic microrefugia for some hygrophilous woody plants (Betula, Myrica gale, Erica tetralix) during pronounced dry spells over the past millennia