Physical Fruit Traits in Moroccan Almond Seedlings: Quality Aspects and Post-Harvest Uses

The physical traits of local almond populations from Morocco were studied to characterize their genetic resources and to evaluate the possibility of their commercial valorization. Nut weight ranged between 1.15 and 7.39 g, and kernel weight between 0.54 and 1.85 g, but most accessions were characterized by small kernels, pronounced wrinkles, and double kernels. Although the physical quality of the kernels of these populations was low, they show the possibility of some specialized uses, which could improve their marketable value. The genotypes with favorable values could be incorporated into an almond breeding program as parents to increase the kernel quality.Publishe

Genetic characterization of accessory genes from human immunodeficiency virus type 1 group 0 strains

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) group O strains have been described as highly divergent, compared with the vast majority of the viruses involved in the worldwide AIDS pandemic, classified in group M. To gain new insights into the diversity and genetic characteristics of group O, we have sequenced the accessory gene region (from vif to vpu) of 14 isolates. Analyses of the deduced amino acid sequences for Vil, Vpr, the first exon of Tat, and Vpu indicate that most of the functional domains of these proteins, as described for group M viruses, are highly conserved and retained among all the group O strains we have characterized. The only difference concerns the Vif phosphorylation sites, which are absent in all of the group O isolates we have sequenced ; in contrast, they are well conserved in nearly all of the group M isolates, in which they play critical roles in the regulation of viral replication and infectivity. As already observed for group M isolates, the Vpu protein is also highly diverse among group O strains. Phylogenetic analyses of these sequences indicate that HIV-1 group O can be separated into four different clusters, containing most of the strains we have characterized (except one, which clusters outside of the analyzed viruses). Taking into account the criteria used for clades in group M, we were not able to define group O clades definitively. (Résumé d'auteur

HIV type 1 diversity and the reliability of the heteroduplex mobility assay

We investigated HIV-1 diversity by means of heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) genotyping. We studied 199 samples from patients originating from 26 countries and living in France. The HMA successfully genotyped 182 (91 %) of these samples, as follows : 77 (42 %) subtype A, 57 (31 %) subtype B, 5 (3 %) subtype C, 5 (3 %) subtype D, 8 (4 %) subtype E, 22 (12 %) subtype F, 5 (3 %) subtype G, and 3 (2 %) subtype H. We were not able to genotype 12 samples by means of the HMA. These latter strains were sequenced, and phylogenetic analyses revealed that they were highly divergent subtype A-, D-, or G-related strains. Eight (of 12) subtype D strains were indeterminate by HMA, owing to the broad intrasubtype diversity, suggesting that new reference subtype D plasmids are required, as previously proposed. Thirty-seven strains belonging to the different subtypes were sequenced, and the results showed perfect concordance with the HMA results. Interlaboratory quality controls confirmed the reliability of the HMA for HIV-1 subtyping, despite the extensive viral variability. However, plasmid selection must be continuously revised to cover viral diversification. (Résumé d'auteur