Vampires in the village Žrnovo on the island of Korčula: following an archival document from the 18th century

Središnja tema rada usmjerena je na raščlambu spisa pohranjenog u Državnom arhivu u Mlecima (fond: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) koji se odnosi na događaj iz 1748. godine u korčulanskom selu Žrnovo, kada su mještani – vjerujući da su se pojavili vampiri – oskvrnuli nekoliko mjesnih grobova. U radu se podrobno iznose osnovni podaci iz spisa te rečeni događaj analizira u širem društvenom kontekstu i prate se lokalna vjerovanja.The main interest of this essay is the analysis of the document from the State Archive in Venice (file: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) which is connected with the episode from 1748 when the inhabitants of the village Žrnove on the island of Korčula in Croatia opened tombs on the local cemetery in the fear of the vampires treating. This essay try to show some social circumstances connected with this event as well as a local vernacular tradition concerning superstitions

B lymphocytes differentially use the Rel and nuclear factor kappa B1 (NF-kappa B1) transcription factors to regulate cell cycle progression and apoptosis in quiescent and mitogen-activated cells

Rel and nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB1, two members of the Rel/NF-kappaB transcription factor family, are essential for mitogen-induced B cell proliferation. Using mice with inactivated Rel or NF-kappaB1 genes, we show that these transcription factors differentially regulate cell cycle progression and apoptosis in B lymphocytes. Consistent with an increased rate of mature B cell turnover in naive nfkb1-/- mice, the level of apoptosis in cultures of quiescent nfkb1-/-, but not c-rel-/-, B cells is higher. The failure of c-rel-/- or nfkb1-/- B cells to proliferate in response to particular mitogens coincides with a cell cycle block early in G1 and elevated cell death. Expression of a bcl-2 transgene prevents apoptosis in resting and activated c-rel-/- and nfkb1-/- B cells, but does not overcome the block in cell cycle progression, suggesting that the impaired proliferation is not simply a consequence of apoptosis and that Rel/NF-kappaB proteins regulate cell survival and cell cycle control through independent mechanisms. In contrast to certain B lymphoma cell lines in which mitogen-induced cell death can result from Rel/NF-kappaB-dependent downregulation of c-myc, expression of c-myc is normal in resting and stimulated c-rel-/- B cells, indicating that target gene(s) regulated by Rel that are important for preventing apoptosis may differ in normal and immortalized B cells. Collectively, these results are the first to demonstrate that in normal B cells, NF-kappaB1 regulates survival of cells in G0, whereas mitogenic activation induced by distinct stimuli requires different Rel/NF-kappaB factors to control cell cycle progression and prevent apoptosis

Origin and Functional Diversification of an Amphibian Defense Peptide Arsenal

The skin secretion of many amphibians contains an arsenal of bioactive molecules, including hormone-like peptides (HLPs) acting as defense toxins against predators, and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) providing protection against infectious microorganisms. Several amphibian taxa seem to have independently acquired the genes to produce skin-secreted peptide arsenals, but it remains unknown how these originated from a non-defensive ancestral gene and evolved diverse defense functions against predators and pathogens. We conducted transcriptome, genome, peptidome and phylogenetic analyses to chart the full gene repertoire underlying the defense peptide arsenal of the frog Silurana tropicalis and reconstruct its evolutionary history. Our study uncovers a cluster of 13 transcriptionally active genes, together encoding up to 19 peptides, including diverse HLP homologues and AMPs. This gene cluster arose from a duplicated gastrointestinal hormone gene that attained a HLP-like defense function after major remodeling of its promoter region. Instead, new defense functions, including antimicrobial activity, arose by mutation of the precursor proteins, resulting in the proteolytic processing of secondary peptides alongside the original ones.Although gene duplication did not trigger functional innovation, it may have subsequently facilitated the convergent loss of the original function in multiple gene lineages (subfunctionalization), completing their transformation from HLP gene to AMP gene. The processing of multiple peptides from a single precursor entails a mechanism through which peptide-encoding genes may establish new functions without the need for gene duplication to avoid adaptive conflicts with older ones

Adaptive responses to directional trait selection in the Miocene enabled Cape proteas to colonize the savanna grasslands

Directional selection occurs when the agent of selection changes direction or strength such that fitness of a dominant trait is relaxed or even annulled, and simultaneously the fitness of a rare opposing trait is intensified or even becomes essential. The value of this concept in evolutionary ecology was demonstrated by mapping fire- and growth-related traits and regional affinity onto a molecular-based chronogram for 91 species of Protea that is widespread in the shrubland and grassland biomes of southern Africa. The crown clade arose 22-34 million years ago (Oligocene) in the Cape shrublands that was increasingly winter wet, nutrient and water-limited, and moderately fireprone. This environment favoured nonsprouting and resprouting shrubs, on-plant seed storage (serotiny) and strong sclerophylly. Adjoining grasslands developed 7-19 million years ago (mid-late Miocene) that were summer wet, carbon-limited and highly fireprone. This favoured resprouting only, seed release at maturity, and taller plants with large leaves and weak sclerophylly. Thus, for successful migration from the shrublands to grasslands, the dominant ancestral condition of serotiny was replaced by almost universal nonserotiny in response to a change in fire type, and the dominant ancestral condition of nonsprouting by universal (lignotuberous) resprouting in response to more frequent fire. Taller plants with epicormic resprouting and larger, softer leaves were also promoted, due to the change in fire type, growing season and declining pCO2, but appeared 4-6 million years later. Thus, adaptive radiation via directional selection in the novel grassland environment required a suite of adaptive responses to various selection pressures that led to species radiation in the vast habitat available now constrained by stabilizing selection. The biology of grasses in savanna grasslands may well have changed during the Miocene/Pliocene but so did the woody plants that invaded them