Notas sobre el tamaño del genoma en el híbrido Ranunculus x luizetii (Ranunculaceae) y sus progenitores mediante citometría de flujo

Notes on genome size in the hybrid Ranunculus x luizetii (Ranunculaceae) and its parents by flow cytometry.- Flow cytometry was used to estimate the nuclear DNA content in the natural hybrid Ranunculus x luizetii and its parents. Our results indicate that the genome size of the hybrid R. x luizetii is closer to R. pyrenaeus than to R. parnassiifolius, providing an evidence of genome downsizing.Notas sobre el tamaño del genoma en el híbrido Ranunculus x luizetii (Ranunculaceae) y sus progenitores mediante citometría de flujo.- Se ha empleado la citometría de flujo para estimar el contenido de ADN nuclear en el híbrido Ranunculus x luizetii y sus progenitores. Nuestros resultados indican que el tamaño del genoma del híbrido R. x luizetii se acerca más a R. pyrenaeus que a R. parnassiifolius, con una evidencia de reducción del genoma

Identification and Regulation of Interleukin-17 (IL-17) Family Ligands in the Teleost Fish European Sea Bass

Interleukin-17 (IL-17) cytokine comprises a family of six ligands in mammals with proinflammatory functions, having an important role in autoimmune disorders and against bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens. While IL-17A and IL-17F ligands are mainly produced by Th cells (Th17 cells), the rest of the ligands are expressed by other immune and non-immune cells and have different functions. The identification of IL-17 ligands in fish has revealed the presence of six members, counterparts to mammalian ones, and a teleost-specific form, the fish IL-17N. However, tissue distribution, the regulation of gene expression, and scarce bioactivity assays point to similar functions compared to mammalian ones, though this yet to be investigated and confirmed. Thus, we have identified seven IL-17 ligands in the teleost European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), for the first time, corresponding to IL-17A/F1, IL-17A/F2, IL-17A/F3, IL-17C1, IL-17C2, IL-17D, and IL-17N, according to the predicted protein sequences and phylogenetic analysis. They are constitutively and widely transcribed in sea bass tissues, with some of them being mainly expressed in the thymus, brain or intestine. Upon in vitro stimulation of head-kidney leucocytes, the mRNA levels of all sea bass IL-17 ligands were up-regulated by phytohemagglutinin treatment, a well-known T cell mitogen, suggesting a major expression in T lymphocytes. By contrast, the infection of sea bass juveniles with nodavirus (NNV), a very pathogenic virus for this fish species, resulted in the up-regulation of the transcription of IL-17C1 in the head-kidney and of IL-17C1 and IL-17D in the brain, the target tissue for NNV replication. By contrast, NNV infection led to a down-regulated transcription of IL-17A/F1, IL-17A/F2, IL-17C1, IL-17C2, and IL-17D in the head-kidney and of IL-17A/F1 and IL-17A/F3 in the brain. The data are discussed accordingly with the IL-17 ligand expression and the immune response under the different situations testedVersión del editor2,46

Ancient DNA Analysis of 8000 B.C. Near Eastern Farmers Supports an Early Neolithic Pioneer Maritime Colonization of Mainland Europe through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands

The genetic impact associated to the Neolithic spread in Europe has been widely debated over the last 20 years. Within this context, ancient DNA studies have provided a more reliable picture by directly analyzing the protagonist populations at different regions in Europe. However, the lack of available data from the original Near Eastern farmers has limited the achieved conclusions, preventing the formulation of continental models of Neolithic expansion. Here we address this issue by presenting mitochondrial DNA data of the original Near-Eastern Neolithic communities with the aim of providing the adequate background for the interpretation of Neolithic genetic data from European samples. Sixty-three skeletons from the Pre Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) sites of Tell Halula, Tell Ramad and Dja'de El Mughara dating between 8,700–6,600 cal. B.C. were analyzed, and 15 validated mitochondrial DNA profiles were recovered. In order to estimate the demographic contribution of the first farmers to both Central European and Western Mediterranean Neolithic cultures, haplotype and haplogroup diversities in the PPNB sample were compared using phylogeographic and population genetic analyses to available ancient DNA data from human remains belonging to the Linearbandkeramik-Alföldi Vonaldiszes Kerámia and Cardial/Epicardial cultures. We also searched for possible signatures of the original Neolithic expansion over the modern Near Eastern and South European genetic pools, and tried to infer possible routes of expansion by comparing the obtained results to a database of 60 modern populations from both regions. Comparisons performed among the 3 ancient datasets allowed us to identify K and N-derived mitochondrial DNA haplogroups as potential markers of the Neolithic expansion, whose genetic signature would have reached both the Iberian coasts and the Central European plain. Moreover, the observed genetic affinities between the PPNB samples and the modern populations of Cyprus and Crete seem to suggest that the Neolithic was first introduced into Europe through pioneer seafaring colonization

Severe Natural Outbreak of Cryptocaryon irritans in Gilthead Seabream Produces Leukocyte Mobilization and Innate Immunity at the Gill Tissue

The protozoan parasite Cryptocaryon irritans causes marine white spot disease in a wide range of fish hosts, including gilthead seabream, a very sensitive species with great economic importance in the Mediterranean area. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the immunity of gilthead seabream after a severe natural outbreak of C. irritans. Morphological alterations and immune cell appearance in the gills were studied by light microscopy and immunohistochemical staining. The expression of several immune-related genes in the gills and head kidney were studied by qPCR, including inflammatory and immune cell markers, antimicrobial peptides (AMP), and cell-mediated cytotoxicity (CMC) molecules. Serum humoral innate immune activities were also assayed. Fish mortality reached 100% 8 days after the appearance of the C. irritans episode. Gill filaments were engrossed and packed without any space between filaments and included parasites and large numbers of undifferentiated and immune cells, namely acidophilic granulocytes. Our data suggest leukocyte mobilization from the head kidney, while the gills show the up-regulated transcription of inflammatory, AMPs, and CMC-related molecules. Meanwhile, only serum bactericidal activity was increased upon infection. A potent local innate immune response in the gills, probably orchestrated by AMPs and CMC, is triggered by a severe natural outbreak of C. irritans.Versión del editor2,46

Procedimiento de obtención de partículas de ZnO con morfología acicular

Referencia OEPM: P200001597.-- Fecha de solicitud: 27/06/2000.-- Titular: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).Procedimiento de obtención de partículas de ZnO con morfología acicular. La presente invención utiliza el método de precipitación controlada para obtener partículas de ZnO con morfología acicular. A través del control de los parámetros de formación de precursores intermedios de compuestos de cinc y la evolución de dichos precursores intermedios mediante el lavado con agua destilada de la suspensión coloidal se obtiene hidróxido de cinc. La destilación entre 100-150°C de una suspensión acuosa del hidróxido de zinc produce la formación de partículas de óxido de cinc con morfología acicular. El tamaño de las partículas varía con las condiciones de obtención, siendo el tamaño estándar de 0.5 μm de diámetro y 5-8 μm de longitud. La eficacia del procedimiento es superior al 90%.Peer reviewe

Feeding Habits of the Invasive Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) in the Gulf of Cadiz

Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) has been present in Iberian waters since at least 2011, when it was first recorded in the Guadalquivir estuary. Little is known about the preferences and feeding strategies of weakfish outside of its native range; therefore, in this work, we carried out a comprehensive study between March 2021 and September 2021 to elucidate these matters. In total, the stomach contents of 300 fish were examined. The fish were collected in spring and summer in the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain), with individuals caught ranging from 185 to 590 mm in total length. Due to the sampling period and size range of individuals, ontogenic and seasonal (spring–summer) variations in the diet were also explored. Overall, fish and crustaceans were the dominant groups consumed by weakfish. The European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and caramote prawn (Penaeus kerathurus) were the most abundant prey in each group. While no differences were found in the percentage of occurrence of fish in the non-empty stomachs analyzed in spring and summer (83%), a small increase was found in the percentage of occurrence of crustaceans from spring (20%) to summer (29%). In addition, the analysis of the results also suggested that weakfish of smaller sizes feed more on crustaceans, while bigger individuals feed mainly on fish. Our findings indicate that weakfish is a fully carnivorous species with a preference for fish. All this is in line with the diet and strategy that weakfish exhibits in its native area and with the first assessment made with the existing population in the Sado Estuary (Portugal). In recent years, due to the appearance of non-native species, there is increasing concern among local fishermen and the local authorities about the reduction in captures of certain species such as Penaeus kerathurus; therefore, this study could help researchers to understand the role of weakfish concerning this matter. The present study contributes to the ecological knowledge about this species in the Iberian Peninsula and the Gulf of Cadiz, helping the local authorities to establish, if needed, an appropriate management program to cope with this recently introduced species

Long-term ecological research of aquatic ecosystem at Guadalquivir estuary (1997-2014): community structure and food web

A long term ecological research program (LTER) is developed monthly at the Guadalquivir estuary since 1997. Inter- and intra-specific euryhalinity differences both in prey and predators seem to determine spatial species distribution at this important nursery area: the less euryhaline species (marine recruits) tends to occur at physiologically more favourable salinities (lower osmotic stress and mortality risk); whereas most euryhaline species (estuarine species) occurred at ecologically more favourable salinities (lower inter-specific competition and predation). Likewise, inter-specific differences in spawning periods cause certain temporal segregation of those marine recruits using the estuary. High spatiotemporal coincidence of prey (mainly mysids and copepods) density peaks with that of their predators suggests food availability as a key factor in the estuarine nursery function. According to their distribution, the estuarine stretch situated seaward from the 5 isohaline position is mainly used as a nursery ground, principally during warm period (T > 15 °C). Thus, human management of the freshwater input to the estuary (from a 110 km upstream dam) modifies the nursery ground extent due to seaward/upstream displacements of the estuarine salinity gradient. During droughts, this freshwater control may also lead to a partial loss of the estuarine nursery function due to a decrease of prey availability linked to extremely high-turbidity events

Extending magny-cours cache coherence

One cost-effective way to meet the increasing demand for larger high-performance shared-memory servers is to build clusters with off-the-shelf processors connected with low-latency point-to-point interconnections like HyperTransport. Unfortunately, HyperTransport addressing limitations prevent building systems with more than eight nodes. While the recent High-Node Count HyperTransport specification overcomes this limitation, recently launched twelve-core Magny-Cours processors have already inherited it and provide only 3 bits to encode the pointers used by the directory cache which they include to increase the scalability of their coherence protocol. In this work, we propose and develop an external device to extend the coherence domain of Magny-Cours processors beyond the 8-node limit while maintaining the advantages provided by the directory cache. Evaluation results for systems with up to 32 nodes show that the performance offered by our solution scales with the number of nodes, enhancing the directory cache effectiveness by filtering additional messages. Particularly, we reduce execution time by 47 percent in a 32-die system with respect to the 8-die Magny-Cours configuration.This work was supported by the Spanish MICINN, Consolider Programme and Plan E funds, as well as European Commission FEDER funds, under Grants CSD2006-00046 and TIN2009-14475-C04-01/03. It was also partly supported by (PROMETEO from Generalitat Valenciana (GVA) under Grant PROMETEO/2008/060).Ros Bardisa, A.; Cuesta Sáez, BA.; Fernández-Pascual, R.; Gómez Requena, ME.; Acacio Sánchez, ME.; Robles Martínez, A.; García Carrasco, JM.... (2012). Extending magny-cours cache coherence. IEEE Transactions on Computers. 61(5):593-606. https://doi.org/10.1109/TC.2011.65S59360661

Potential Impacts in the Gilthead Seabream Larviculture by Nodavirus

The nervous necrosis virus (NNV) leads to viral encephalopathy and retinopathy (VER) disease in more than 170 fish species, mainly from marine habitats. It replicates in the central nervous tissues, reaching up to 100% mortalities after a few days of infection, mainly in the larvae and juvenile stages. This is continuously spreading and affecting more species, both wild and cultured, posing a risk to the development of the aquaculture industry. In the Mediterranean Sea, it mainly affects European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and some grouper species (Epinephelus spp.). Interestingly, in the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), typically resistant to common NNV strains, great mortalities in hatcheries associated with typical clinical signs of VER have been confirmed to be caused by RGNNV/SJNNV reassortants. Thus, we have evaluated the susceptibility of seabream larvae to either RGNNV/SJNNV or SJNNV/RGNNV reassortants, as well as the larval immunity. Based on our results we can conclude that: (i) gilthead seabream larvae are susceptible to infection with both NNV reassortant genotypes, but mainly to RGNNV/SJNNV; (ii) virus replicated and infective particles were isolated; (iii) larval immunity was correlated with larval survival; and (iv) larval resistance and immunity were correlated with age of the larvae. Further investigations should be carried out to ascertain the risks of these new pathogens to Mediterranean larviculture