The Centenary Progress of Molecular Genetics. A 100th Anniversary of T. H. Morgan’s Discoveries

A century ago, Thomas Hunt Morgan, the American scientist, studied the cytogenetic changes of drosophila and came to cytogenetic explanation of Mendel’s basic laws of genetic heredity. These studies resulted in today’s Mendel-Morgan chromosomal theory of heredity. On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of this important discovery the authors have decided to give a review of the most significant achievments in the field of molecular genetics until the completion of the Human Genome Project. The most important points concerning the technology of DNA recombination and genetic engineering are also presented. The final section discusses the significance of previous achievements of molecular genetics in biomedicine and other related fields. There is also a tabular presentation of the sequence of the most important findings in the field of molecular genetics through time

Filogenetska analiza goveđeg herpesvirusa-1 izdvojenoga u Hrvatskoj.

In the present study, we report the detection, isolation, molecular characterisation and phylogenetic analysis of bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1) in nasal swabs, sera and tissue samples derived from naturally infected cattle. In the spring of 2008, clinical symptoms of the respiratory disease were observed in three Croatian dairy herds. Nasal swabs and sera were collected on the 5th and 27th days after appearance of symptoms. A tissue sample (lungs) from an eight week old calf was also collected. Specific antibodies against BoHV-1 were not found in sera samples collected after the first sampling, but all sera samples were positive after the second sampling. The cytopathic effect on the bovine embryo kidney (BEK) cells was visible after 72 hours for the nasal swab samples, and after 48 hours for the lung tissue sample. Sensitive PCR assays specific for BHV-1 glycoproteins gB and gC were also performed. All nasal swab samples and the lung sample were positive with both sets of PCR primers. The gC PCR product obtained from one sample from each farm as well as from the lung sample DNA were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis of gC gene sequence clustered our isolates with BoHV subtype 1.1.U radu je opisano dokazivanje, izdvajanje, molekularna karakterizacija i filogenetska analiza goveđega herpesvirusa-1 (GHV-1) iz nosnih briseva i organa prirodno zaraženih goveda. U proljeće 2008., u tri domaća stada mliječnih krava pojavili su se klinički simptomi dišne bolesti. Peti i 27. dan nakon pojave simptoma sakupljeni su uzorci krvi i nosnih briseva kao i uzorak pluća uginuloga teleta u dobi od od 8 tjedana. Svi uzorci seruma prikupljeni prvim uzorkovanjem dali su negativan rezultat na prisutnost specifičnih protutijela za GHV-1, a pozitivan nakon drugoga uzorkovanja. Citopatski učinak na stanicama bubrega goveđega zametka bio je vidljiv nakon 72 sata u slučaju infekcije stanica inokulumom pripravljenim od nosnoga brisa te nakon 48 sati u slučaju suspenzije organa. Napravljena je i lančana reakcija polimerazom (PCR) upotrebom specifičnih početnica za gene gB i gC GHV-1. Svi uzorci nosnih briseva kao i pluća dali su pozitivnu reakciju s oba para početnica. Nakon PCR, odsječcima gC DNA određen je nukleotidni slijed, a filogenetska analiza GHV-gC sekvencija svrstala je naš izolat u podtip 1.1