First documented record of a living solemyid bivalve in a pockmark of the Nile Deep-sea Fan (eastern Mediterranean Sea)

A living specimen of a solemyid bivalve was collected at bathyal depths near a pockmark in the Nile Deep-sea Fan (eastern Mediterranean) and is here presented. Both taxonomic and molecular results suggest a Solemya species but due to the small size of the animal and the lack of molecular data for other solemyid species the species cannot be determined. This is the first record of a living solemyid from deep-sea cold seeps in the Mediterranean Basin.FCT - SFRH/ BPD/64154/2009ANR DEEP-OASES - ANRO6BDV005CHEMECO ESF EURODEEPMPG-CNRS-GDRE - DIWOO

DNA extraction from formalin-fixed tissue: new light from the Deep-Sea

DNA samples were extracted from ethanol and formalin-fixed decapod crustacean tissue using a new method based on Tetramethylsilane (TMS)-Chelex. It is shown that neither an indigestible matrix of cross-linked protein nor soluble PCR inhibitors impede PCR success when dealing with formalin-fixed material. Instead, amplification success from formalin-fixed tissue appears to depend on the presence of unmodified DNA in the extracted sample. A staining method that facilitates the targeting of samples with a high content of unmodified DNA is provided

A molecular tool to identify <i>Anastatus</i> parasitoids of the brown marmorated stink bug

Globally, Anastatus species (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) are associated with the invasive agricultural pest Halyomorpha halys (Stal) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). In Europe, the polyphagous Anastatus bifasciatus (Geoffroy) is the most prevalent native egg parasitoid on H. halys eggs and is currently being tested as a candidate for augmentative biological control. Anastatus bifasciatus frequently displays behavior without oviposition, and induces additional host mortality through oviposition damage and host feeding that is not measured with offspring emergence. This exacerbates accurate assessment of parasitism and host impact, which is crucial for efficacy evaluation as well as for pre- and post-release risk assessment. To address this, a general Anastatus primer set amplifying a 318-bp fragment within the barcoding region of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene was developed. When challenged with DNA of three Anastatus species -A. bifasciatus, Anastatus japonicus Ashmead, and Anastatus sp.-, five scelionid parasitoid species that might be encountered in the same host environments and 11 pentatomid host species, only Anastatus DNA was successfully amplified. When applied to eggs of the target host, H. halys, and an exemplary non-target host, Dendrolimus pini L. (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), subjected to host feeding, no Anastatus amplicons were produced. Eggs of the two host species containing A. bifasciatus parasitoid stages, from 1-h-old eggs to pupae, and emerged eggs yielded Anastatus fragments. Confirmation of parasitoid presence with dissections and subsequent PCRs with the developed primer pair resulted in 95% success for 1-h-old parasitoid eggs. For both host species, field-exposed sentinel emerged eggs stored dry for 6 months, 100% of the specimens produced Anastatus amplicons. This DNA-based screening method can be used in combination with conventional methods to better interpret host-parasitoid and parasitoid-parasitoid interactions. It will help address ecological questions related to an environmentally friendly approach for the control of H. halys in invaded areas

Vulnerability in acquisition, language impairments in Dutch: Creating a VALID data archive

The VALID Data Archive is an open multimedia data archive (under construction) with data from speakers suffering from language impairments. We report on a pilot project in the CLARIN-NL framework in which five data resources were curated. For all data sets concerned, written informed consent from the participants or their caretakers has been obtained. All materials were anonymized. The audio files were converted into wav (linear PCM) files and the transcriptions into CHAT or ELAN format. Research data that consisted of test, SPSS and Excel files were documented and converted into CSV files. All data sets obtained appropriate CMDI metadata files. A new CMDI metadata profile for this type of data resources was established and care was taken that ISOcat metadata categories were used to optimize interoperability. After curation all data are deposited at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics Nijmegen where persistent identifiers are linked to all resources. The content of the transcriptions in CHAT and plain text format can be searched with the TROVA search engin

Effect of vessel wettability on the foamability of "ideal" surfactants and "real-world" beer heads

The ability to tailor the foaming properties of a solution by controlling its chemical composition is highly desirable and has been the subject of extensive research driven by a range of applications. However, the control of foams by varying the wettability of the foaming vessel has been less widely reported. This work investigates the effect of the wettability of the side walls of vessels used for the in situ generation of foam by shaking aqueous solutions of three different types of model surfactant systems (non-ionic, anionic and cationic surfactants) along with four different beers (Guinness Original, Banks’s Bitter, Bass No 1 and Harvest Pale). We found that hydrophilic vials increased the foamability only for the three model systems but increased foam stability for all foams except the model cationic system. We then compared stability of beer foams produced by shaking and pouring and demonstrated weak qualitative agreement between both foam methods. We also showed how wettability of the glass controls bubble nucleation for beers and champagne and used this effect to control exactly where bubbles form using simple wettability patterns

DNA barcoding reveals the coral “laboratory-rat”, Stylophora pistillata encompasses multiple identities

Stylophora pistillata is a widely used coral “lab-rat” species with highly variable morphology and a broad biogeographic range (Red Sea to western central Pacific). Here we show, by analysing Cytochorme Oxidase I sequences, from 241 samples across this range, that this taxon in fact comprises four deeply divergent clades corresponding to the Pacific-Western Australia, Chagos-Madagascar-South Africa, Gulf of Aden-Zanzibar-Madagascar, and Red Sea-Persian/Arabian Gulf-Kenya. On the basis of the fossil record of Stylophora, these four clades diverged from one another 51.5-29.6 Mya, i.e., long before the closure of the Tethyan connection between the tropical Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic in the early Miocene (16–24 Mya) and should be recognised as four distinct species. These findings have implications for comparative ecological and/or physiological studies carried out using Stylophora pistillata as a model species, and highlight the fact that phenotypic plasticity, thought to be common in scleractinian corals, can mask significant genetic variation

Cryptic diversity of the jewel beetles Agrilus viridis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) hosted on hazelnut

The genus Agrilus (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) represents a taxonomic puzzle, since the boundaries between species, subspecies and morphotypes tied to different host plants are sometimes difficult to establish on morphological characteristics alone. Some Agrilus species can cause severe agricultural damage; this makes correct distinctions of the taxon and knowing whether the insects switch from one host plant to another important. This study of mtDNA examined the genetic characteristics of lineages of A. viridis, a jewel beetle recently found causing damage to the hazelnut Corylus avellana in NW Italy. Three mitochondrial markers (a portion of the 12S rDNA and a DNA-fragment including partial NADH dehydrogenase subunit I gene, the tRNA Leucine gene and partial 16S rDNA, and partial  Cytochrome c oxidase) were compared between individuals collected on birch Betula sp., beech Fagus sp., willow Salix sp., alder Alnus sp. and hazelnut. We found a high genetic distance between A. viridis sampled on different host plants, while individuals sampled on the same host plant were similar despite a considerable geographic gap between sampled areas. Our study supports the general pattern for strong ecological separation between populations living on different host plants

Do semantic standards lack quality? : a survey among 34 semantic standards

The adoption of standards to improve interoperability in the automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding and other sectors could save billions. While interoperability standards have been created for a number of industries, problems persist, suggesting a lack of quality of the standards themselves. The issue of semantic standard quality is not often addressed. In this research we take a closer look at the quality of semantics standards, development processes, and survey the current state of the quality of semantic standards by means of a questionnaire that was sent to standards developers. This survey looked at 34 semantic standards, and it shows that the quality of semantic standards for inter-organizational interoperability can be improved. Improved standards may advance interoperability in networked business. Improvement of semantic standards requires transparency of their quality. Although many semantic standard development organisations already have quality assurance in place, this research shows that they could benefit from a quality measuring instrument

Comparisons of host mitochondrial, nuclear and endosymbiont bacterial genes reveal cryptic fig wasp species and the effects of Wolbachia on host mtDNA evolution and diversity

Background Figs and fig-pollinating wasp species usually display a highly specific one-to-one association. However, more and more studies have revealed that the "one-to-one" rule has been broken. Co-pollinators have been reported, but we do not yet know how they evolve. They may evolve from insect speciation induced or facilitated by Wolbachia which can manipulate host reproduction and induce reproductive isolation. In addition, Wolbachia can affect host mitochondrial DNA evolution, because of the linkage between Wolbachia and associated mitochondrial haplotypes, and thus confound host phylogeny based on mtDNA. Previous research has shown that fig wasps have the highest incidence of Wolbachia infection in all insect taxa, and Wolbachia may have great influence on fig wasp biology. Therefore, we look forward to understanding the influence of Wolbachia on mitochondrial DNA evolution and speciation in fig wasps. Results We surveyed 76 pollinator wasp specimens from nine Ficus microcarpa trees each growing at a different location in Hainan and Fujian Provinces, China. We found that all wasps were morphologically identified as Eupristina verticillata, but diverged into three clades with 4.22-5.28% mtDNA divergence and 2.29-20.72% nuclear gene divergence. We also found very strong concordance between E. verticillata clades and Wolbachia infection status, and the predicted effects of Wolbachia on both mtDNA diversity and evolution by decreasing mitochondrial haplotypes. Conclusions Our study reveals that the pollinating wasp E. verticillata on F. microcarpa has diverged into three cryptic species, and Wolbachia may have a role in this divergence. The results also indicate that Wolbachia strains infecting E. verticillata have likely resulted in selective sweeps on host mitochondrial DNA