The distribution and mitochondrial genotype of the hydroid Aglaophenia latecarinata is correlated with its pelagic Sargassum substrate type in the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic Ocean

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Govindarajan, A. F., Cooney, L., Whittaker, K., Bloch, D., Burdorf, R. M., Canning, S., Carter, C., Cellan, S. M., Eriksson, F. A. A., Freyer, H., Huston, G., Hutchinson, S., McKeegan, K., Malpani, M., Merkle-Raymond, A., Ouellette, K., Petersen-Rockney, R., Schultz, M., & Siuda, A. N. S. The distribution and mitochondrial genotype of the hydroid Aglaophenia latecarinata is correlated with its pelagic Sargassum substrate type in the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic Ocean. Peerj, 7, (2019): e7814, doi:10.7717/peerj.7814.The pelagic brown macroalga Sargassum supports rich biological communities in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic region, including a variety of epiphytic invertebrates that grow on the Sargassum itself. The thecate hydroid Aglaophenia latecarinata is commonly found growing on some, but not all, Sargassum forms. In this study, we examined the relationship between A. latecarinata and its pelagic Sargassum substrate across a broad geographic area over the course of 4 years (2015–2018). The distribution of the most common Sargassum forms that we observed (Sargassum fluitans III and S. natans VIII) was consistent with the existence of distinct source regions for each. We found that A. latecarinata hydroids were abundant on both S. natans VIII and S. fluitans III, and also noted a rare observation of A. latecarinata on S. natans I. For the hydroids on S. natans VIII and S. fluitans III, hydroid mitochondrial genotype was strongly correlated with the Sargassum substrate form. We found significant population genetic structure in the hydroids, which was also consistent with the distributional patterns of the Sargassum forms. These results suggest that hydroid settlement on the Sargassum occurs in type-specific Sargassum source regions. Hydroid species identification is challenging and cryptic speciation is common in the Aglaopheniidae. Therefore, to confirm our identification of A. latecarinata, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis that showed that while the genus Aglaophenia was not monophyletic, all A. latecarinata haplotypes associated with pelagic Sargassum belonged to the same clade and were likely the same species as previously published sequences from Florida, Central America, and one location in Brazil (São Sebastião). A nominal A. latecarinata sequence from a second Brazilian location (Alagoas) likely belongs to a different species.This research was funded by Sea Education Association, Eckerd College, the New England Aquarium Conservation Action Fund and the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Neptune to the Common-wealth of England (1652): the republican Britannia and the continuity of interests

In the seventeenth century, John Kerrigan reminds us, “models of empire did not always turn on monarchy”. In this essay, I trace a vision of “Neptune’s empire” shared by royalists and republicans, binding English national interest to British overseas expansion. I take as my text a poem entitled “Neptune to the Common-wealth of England”, prefixed to Marchamont Nedham’s 1652 English translation of Mare Clausum (1635), John Selden’s response to Mare Liberum (1609) by Hugo Grotius. This minor work is read alongside some equally obscure and more familiar texts in order to point up the ways in which it speaks to persistent cultural and political interests. I trace the afterlife of this verse, its critical reception and its unique status as a fragment that exemplifies the crossover between colonial republic and imperial monarchy at a crucial moment in British history, a moment that, with Brexit, remains resonant

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Christ's self-identification with 'the least of mine' (Matthew 25:40,45) according to Augustine of Hippo: Is this the humility of God?

One of the foremost Augustinian scholars today provides insight into Augustines understanding of Christs self-identification with the least of mine in Matthew 25, an understanding that has universal as distinct from specific Christian designation. He further demonstrates how Matthew 25 can be used as a hermeneutical key for interpreting Augustine more broadly. The final question focuses on the divine self-emptying of Christ in the Incarnation and its link to Augustines emphasis on the unity between Christ and the poor

Culture or faith? Origins of conflict in our society: A Catholic perspective

This is a revised text presented at the Fifth International Inter-Religious Abraham Conference, Sydney, August 2006, which took as its theme Interfaith Relations in Confronting Cultural Conflict

Introduction to Christianity

This chapter will provide background to the development of the Christian churches as together constituting the world’s largest faith. The major source for this brief sketch will be the Christian scriptures and early church traditions. The approach will be predominantly theological rather than historical or sociological. It is recognised that, while many diverse forms of Christian belief and practice preceded the acceptance from the second to the fourth centuries of the authoritative body of Christian literature known as the ‘canon’, a decision was clearly made with the establishment of this scriptural canon for a unified form of Christianity that would become progressively stronger. The criteria by which works were admitted to the canon were: 1) the proclamation of the one God as Creator of the whole world, spiritual and material; 2) the affirmation of the reality of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and 3) the acceptance of the scriptures of the Jewish people, which, when incorporated into the Christian Bible, generally came to be known as the Old Testament