Untangling intra- and interspecific effects on body size clines reveals divergent processes structuring convergent patterns in Anolis lizards

Bergmann’s rule—the tendency for body size to increase in colder environments—remains controversial today, despite 150 years of research. Considerable debate has revolved around whether the rule applies within or among species. However, this debate has generally not considered that clade-level relationships are caused by both intra- and interspecific effects. In this article, we implement a novel approach that allows for the separation of intra- and interspecific components of trait-environment relationships.We apply this approach to body size clines in two Caribbean clades of Anolis lizards and discover that their similar body size gradients are constructed in very different ways. We find inverse Bergmann’s clines—high elevation lizards are smaller bodied—for both the cybotes clade on Hispaniola and the sagrei clade on Cuba. However, on Hispaniola, the inverse cline is driven by interspecific differences, whereas intraspecific variation is responsible for the inverse cline on Cuba. Our results suggest that similar body size clines can be constructed through differing evolutionary and ecological processes, namely, through local adaptation or phenotypic plasticity (intraspecific clines) and/or size-ordered spatial sorting (interspecific clines). We propose that our approach can help integrate a divided research program by focusing on how the combined effects of intra- and interspecific processes can enhance or erode clade-level relationships at large biogeographic scales

Acute heroin intoxication in a baby chronically exposed to cocaine and heroin: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Acute intoxication with drugs of abuse in children is often only the tip of the iceberg, actually hiding chronic exposure. Analysis using non-conventional matrices such as hair can provide long-term information about exposure to recreational drugs.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a one-month-old Caucasian boy admitted to our pediatric emergency unit with respiratory distress and neurological abnormalities. A routine urine test was positive for opiates, suggesting an acute opiate ingestion. No other drugs of misuse, such as cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines or derivatives, were detected in the baby's urine. Subsequently, hair samples from the baby and the parents were collected to evaluate the possibility of chronic exposure to drug misuse by segmental analysis. Opiates and cocaine metabolites were detected in hair samples from the baby boy and his parents.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In light of these and previous results, we recommend hair analysis in babies and children from risky environments to detect exposure to heroin and other drug misuse, which could provide the basis for specific social and health interventions.</p

EU local capacity building:ownership, complexity, and agency

[No abstract

Optimizing Two-Color Semiconductor Nanocrystal Immunoassays in Single Well Microtiter Plate Formats

The simultaneous detection of two analytes, chicken IgY (IgG) and Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), in the single well of a 96-well plate is demonstrated using luminescent semiconductor quantum dot nanocrystal (NC) tracers. The NC-labeled antibodies were prepared via sulfhydryl-reactive chemistry using a facile protocol that took <3 h. Dose response curves for each target were evaluated in a single immunoassay format and compared to Cy5, a fluorophore commonly used in fluorescent immunoassays, and found to be equivalent. Immunoassays were then performed in a duplex format, demonstrating multiplex detection in a single well with limits of detection equivalent to the single assay format: 9.8 ng/mL chicken IgG and 7.8 ng/mL SEB

Effect of environmental factors on wild strawberry primary metabolic profile

Climate factors such as temperature and precipitation vary significantly over continental scales, strongly structuring biomes along latitudinal gradients, and resulting in species differently adapted either genetically or plastically to cope with their local climate. However, climate change will likely alter these biomes. Thus, it is expected that Nordic regions, historically colder and rainier, will tend to have higher temperatures and less rainfall, which might lead to changes in the distribution of plants leading to novel patterns of local adaptation and maladaptation. In this study we aim to study how plant traits vary with latitude and in response to different temperature and drought conditions in order to find genetic determinants of climate adaptation. Our group is focused in determining the role of the metabolic profiling to that adaptation. For that purpose, we use the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) as the model organism. In particular, we have analyzed 16 different genotypes that have been grown in five common gardens located in Belgium, Sweden, Finland, and Spain, in which drought treatments were also performed. Here, we present the chemical analysis (primary metabolism) in leaves of these genotypes in order to better understand how environmental factors can alter the primary metabolic profiles of F. vesca accessions grown in different locations.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. BiodivERsA project PlantCline -(PCI2020-120719-2) from “Programación Conjunta Internacional” program, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

Metabolite profiling of postharvest senescence in different strawberry cultivars

The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) is the berry most consumed worldwide, being well appreciated for its flavour and nutritional characteristics. However, strawberries possess a very short postharvest shelf-life due to their high respiration rate and their susceptibility to water loss, mechanical damage and fungi deterioration (Feliziani and Romanazzi, 2016). Extension of fruit shelf-life is a major economic goal, and measures are commercially taken to delay senescence, including the use of low temperature storage alone or in combination with controlled atmosphere (Pedreschi and Lurie, 2015). To improve our understanding of the molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying the deterioration of fruit quality attributes during senescence, we realized a metabolite profiling of five commercial strawberry cultivars under different postharvest treatments. Ripe fruits were harvested and kept at 4ºC during three, six and ten days in ambient, CO2-enriched and O3-enriched atmospheres. We used a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS), ultra-performance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap mass/mass spectrometry (UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS) and headspace solid phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) coupled with GC-MS to identify and semi-quantify 49 primary metabolites (sugars, amino and organic acids), 132 polar secondary metabolites (mainly polyphenols) and 70 volatile compounds. Multivariate statistical approaches were used to characterize the variation in metabolite content during the strawberry fruit postharvest life and to identify the biochemical pathways which are most affected in the senescence processes. Preliminary analysis pointed out that changes in primary metabolism were possibly related to responses to abiotic stress.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Hair analysis following chronic smoked-drugs-of-abuse exposure in adults and their toddler: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Over the past two decades, the study of chronic cocaine and crack cocaine exposure in the pediatric population has been focused on the potential adverse effects, especially in the prenatal period and early childhood. Non-invasive biological matrices have become an essential tool for the assessment of a long-term history of drug of abuse exposure.</p> <p>Case report</p> <p>We analyze the significance of different biomarker values in hair after chronic crack exposure in a two-year-old Caucasian girl and her parents, who are self-reported crack smokers. The level of benzoylecgonine, the principal metabolite of cocaine, was determined in segmented hair samples (0 cm to 3 cm from the scalp, and > 3 cm from the scalp) following washing to exclude external contamination. Benzoylecgonine was detectable in high concentrations in the child's hair, at 1.9 ng/mg and 7.04 ng/mg, respectively. Benzoylecgonine was also present in the maternal and paternal hair samples at 7.88 ng/mg and 6.39 ng/mg, and 13.06 ng/mg and 12.97 ng/mg, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on the data from this case and from previously published poisoning cases, as well as on the experience of our research group, we conclude that, using similar matrices for the study of chronic drug exposure, children present with a higher cocaine concentration in hair and they experience more serious deleterious acute effects, probably due to a different and slower cocaine metabolism. Consequently, children must be not exposed to secondhand crack smoke under any circumstance.</p

An 11p15 Imprinting Centre Region 2 Deletion in a Family with Beckwith Wiedemann Syndrome Provides Insights into Imprinting Control at CDKN1C

We report a three generation family with Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) in whom we have identified a 330 kb deletion within the KCNQ1 locus, encompassing the 11p15.5 Imprinting Centre II (IC2). The deletion arose on the paternal chromosome in the first generation and was only associated with BWS when transmitted maternally to subsequent generations. The deletion on the maternal chromosome was associated with a lower median level of CDKN1C expression in the peripheral blood of affected individuals when compared to a cohort of unaffected controls (p<0.05), however was not significantly different to the expression levels in BWS cases with loss of methylation (LOM) within IC2 (p<0.78). Moreover the individual with a deletion on the paternal chromosome did not show evidence of elevated CDKN1C expression or features of Russell Silver syndrome. These observations support a model invoking the deletion of enhancer elements required for CDKN1C expression lying within or close to the imprinting centre and importantly extend and validate a single observation from an earlier study. Analysis of 94 cases with IC2 loss of methylation revealed that KCNQ1 deletion is a rare cause of loss of maternal methylation, occurring in only 3% of cases, or in 1.5% of BWS overall