A highly conserved gene island of three genes on chromosome 3B of hexaploid wheat: diverse gene function and genomic structure maintained in a tightly linked block

The complexity of the wheat genome has resulted from waves of retrotransposable element insertions. Gene deletions and disruptions generated by the fast replacement of repetitive elements in wheat have resulted in disruption of colinearity at a micro (sub-megabase) level among the cereals. In view of genomic changes that are possible within a given time span, conservation of genes between species tends to imply an important functional or regional constraint that does not permit a change in genomic structure. The ctg1034 contig completed in this paper was initially studied because it was assigned to the Sr2 resistance locus region, but detailed mapping studies subsequently assigned it to the long arm of 3B and revealed its unusual features

Epistasis not needed to explain low dN/dS

An important question in molecular evolution is whether an amino acid that occurs at a given position makes an independent contribution to fitness, or whether its effect depends on the state of other loci in the organism's genome, a phenomenon known as epistasis. In a recent letter to Nature, Breen et al. (2012) argued that epistasis must be "pervasive throughout protein evolution" because the observed ratio between the per-site rates of non-synonymous and synonymous substitutions (dN/dS) is much lower than would be expected in the absence of epistasis. However, when calculating the expected dN/dS ratio in the absence of epistasis, Breen et al. assumed that all amino acids observed in a protein alignment at any particular position have equal fitness. Here, we relax this unrealistic assumption and show that any dN/dS value can in principle be achieved at a site, without epistasis. Furthermore, for all nuclear and chloroplast genes in the Breen et al. dataset, we show that the observed dN/dS values and the observed patterns of amino acid diversity at each site are jointly consistent with a non-epistatic model of protein evolution.Comment: This manuscript is in response to "Epistasis as the primary factor in molecular evolution" by Breen et al. Nature 490, 535-538 (2012

The 6-GHz multibeam maser survey III: comparison between the MMB and HOPS

We have compared the occurrence of 6.7-GHz and 12.2-GHz methanol masers with 22-GHz water masers and 6035-MHz excited-state OH masers in the 100 square degree region of the southern Galactic plane common to the Methanol Multibeam (MMB) and H2O southern Galactic Plane surveys (HOPS). We find the most populous star formation species to be 6.7-GHz methanol, followed by water, then 12.2-GHz and, finally, excited-state OH masers. We present association statistics, flux density (and luminosity where appropriate) and velocity range distributions across the largest, fully surveyed portion of the Galactic plane for four of the most common types of masers found in the vicinity of star formation regions. Comparison of the occurrence of the four maser types with far-infrared dust temperatures shows that sources exhibiting excited-state OH maser emission are warmer than sources showing any of the other three maser types. We further find that sources exhibiting both 6.7-GHz and 12.2-GHz methanol masers are warmer than sources exhibiting just 6.7-GHz methanol maser emission. These findings are consistent with previously made suggestions that both OH and 12.2-GHz methanol masers generally trace a later stage of star formation compared to other common maser types

Discovery of six new class II methanol maser transitions, including the unambiguous detection of three torsionally excited lines toward G 358.931-0.030

We present the unambiguous discovery of six new class II methanol maser transitions, three of which are torsionally excited (vt = 1). The newly discovered 6.18 GHz 17−2 → 18−3 E (vt = 1), 7.68 GHz 124 → 133 A− (vt = 0), 7.83 GHz 124 → 133 A+ (vt = 0), 20.9 GHz 101 → 112 A+ (vt = 1), 44.9 GHz 20 → 31 E (vt = 1), and 45.8 GHz 93 → 102 E (vt = 0) methanol masers were detected toward G 358.931-0.030, where the known 6.68 GHz maser has recently been reported to be undergoing a period flaring. The detection of the vt = 1 torsionally excited lines corroborates one of the missing puzzle pieces in class II maser pumping, but the intensity of the detected emission provides an additional challenge, especially in the case of the very highly excited 6.18 GHz line. Together with the newly detected vt = 0 lines, these observations provide significant new information that can be utilized to improve class II methanol maser modeling. We additionally present detections of 6.68, 19.9, 23.1, and 37.7 GHz class II masers, as well as 36.2 and 44.1 GHz class I methanol masers, and provide upper limits for the 38.3 and 38.5 GHz class II lines. Near simultaneous Australia Telescope Compact Array observations confirm that all 10 of the class II methanol maser detections are co-spatial to ∼0.2 arcsec, which is within the uncertainty of the observations. We find significant levels of linearly polarized emission in the 6.18, 6.67, 7.68, 7.83, 20.9, 37.7, 44.9, and 45.8 GHz transitions, and low levels of circular polarization in the 6.68, 37.7, and 45.8 GHz transitions

ATLASGAL - physical parameters of dust clumps associated with 6.7 GHz methanol masers

We have constructed the largest sample of dust-associated class II 6.7 GHz methanol masers yet obtained. New measurements from the Methanol Multibeam (MMB) survey were combined with the 870 μm APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) and the 850 μm JCMT Plane Survey (JPS). Together with two previous studies we have now identified the host clumps for 958 methanol masers across the Galactic Plane, covering approximately 99 per cent of the MMB catalogue and increasing the known sample of dust-associated masers by over 30 per cent. We investigate correlations between the physical properties of the clumps and masers using distances and luminosities drawn from the literature. Clumps hosting methanol masers are significantly more compact and have higher volume densities than the general population of clumps. We determine a minimum volume density threshold of n(H2) ≥ 104 cm−3 for the efficient formation of intermediate- and high-mass stars. We find 6.7 GHz methanol masers are associated with a distinct part of the evolutionary process (Lbol/Mfwhm ratios of between 100.6 and 102.2) and have well-defined turning on and termination points. We estimate the lower limit for the mass of embedded objects to be ≥6 M⊙ and the statistical lifetime of the methanol maser stage to be ∼3.3 × 104 yr. This suggests that methanol masers are indeed reliable tracers of high-mass star formation, and indicates that the evolutionary period traced by this marker is relatively rapid

Tinjauan Hukum Islam Terhadap implementasi kafa'ah nasab dalam pernikahan para Pedagang etnis Arab di Wisata Ampel Kota Surabaya

Skripsi yang berjudul Tinjauan Hukum Islam Terhadap Implementasi kafa’ah nasab dalam pernikahan para pedagang etnis Arab di Wisata Ampel Kota Surabaya merupakan hasil penelitian lapangan yang bertujuan untuk menjawab beberapa pertanyaan berikut: pertama, Bagaimana Implementasi Kafa’ah Nasab dalam Pernikahan Para Pedagang Etnis Arab di Wisata Ampel Kota Surabaya? Kedua, Bagaimana Tinjauan Hukum Islam Terhadap Implementasi Kafa’ah Nasab dalam Pernikahan Para Pedagang Etnis Arab di Wisata Ampel Kota Surabaya? Data penelitian dihimpun melalui wawancara dan dokumentasi kemudian dianalisis dengan menggunakan teknik deskriptif analisis dengan pola pikir deduktif. Hasil penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa para pedagang etnis Arab di Wisata Ampel Kota Surabaya yang terbagi menjadi dua golongan atau fame : pertama golongan Alawiyin dan kedua golongan Qabili, kedua golongan tersebut sangat menekankan kafa’ah nasab dalam pernikahan, golongan Alawiyin mempertahankan kafa’ah nasab dalam pernikahan karena meyakini hal tersebut sebagai doktrin sehingga percaya bahwa menjaga garis keturunan Rasulullah merupakan sebuah keniscayaan, adapun golongan Qabili mempertahankan kafa’ah nasab memiliki alasan yang sama dengan golongan atau fame Alawiyin yaitu mempertahankan garis keturunan yang membedakan adalah fame / golongan Qabili tidak meyakini hal tersebut sebagai sebuah doktrin namun hanya sebatas menjaga budaya Patrilineal yaitu suatu adat masyarakat yang mengatur alur keturunan berasal dari pihak ayah. Dalam hukum Islam Implementasi kafa’ah nasab dalam pernikahan telah dijelaskan secara lugas oleh para ulama meskipun diantara mereka terjadi perbedaan pendapat karena secara eksplisit tidak disebutkan dalam al-Quran dan as-Sunnah. Pada dasarnya Islam mengajarkan bahwa manusia itu sama, antara yang kaya dan yang miskin, orang Arab dan orang ajam, memilih pasangan dalam Islam menganjurkan untuk memilih dan mengutamakan ketakwaan dan akhlak bagi calon pasangannya karena orang yang paling mulia disisi Allah adalah orang yang paling bertakwa Akan tetapi, dalam rangka membentuk keluarga yang sakinah, mawwadah, dan rahmah ketentuan kafa’ah nasab juga diperlukan dan dihukumi sebagai sesuatu yang mubah/ diperbolehkan dalam agama. Disarankan bagi para orangtua dan para pemuda-pemudi yang akan melaksanakan pernikahan, hendaknya mempertimbangkan agama sebagai tolak ukur utama adapun menjadikan nasab sebagai tolak ukur maka hal tersebut merupakan tidak tercela dalam agama karena dihukumi sebagai sesuatu yang mubah/ diperbolehkan dalam agama kemudian untuk golongan atau fame Alawiyin semoga lebih bijak lagi dalam menyikapi kafa’ah nasab sehingga ada keterbukaan dan tidak ada lagi sekat pemisah antara manusia satu dengan manusia yang lain