Increased mercury and body size and changes in trophic structure of Gambusia puncticulata (poeciliidae) along the Almendares River, Cuba

The Almendares River is the largest river draining the area around Havana City, Cuba. The watershed is heavily populated and industrialized, which has had a significant impact on the flow and water quality of the river. The main goal of this study was to analyze the spatial variability in dietary habits, nutrient flow (using stable isotope ratios δ15N and δ13C), and mercury (Hg) levels along the Almendares River upstream and downstream of point-source discharges using localized fish Gambusia puncticulata. Stomach contents of G. puncticulata were similar among these sites. However, mean δ15N values ranged from 6 to 18 % across sites and were lower in fish from downstream than upstream sites, suggesting localized influences of nutrient inputs along the river. δ13C values were between -22 and -25 %, except at a mid-basin site (- 26 to -27%), indicating that fish relied on similar carbon sources at most sites. Total mercury concentrations ranged from 0.04 to 0.49 lg/g wet weight whole body and were unrelated to the among-site differences in δ15N, but Hg exceeded the threshold considered to be protective of fish health (0.2 lg/g ww whole body) in the majority of fish from all sites but one. Results of this study indicate that although the dietary habits of this species do not vary across sites, tissue differences in δ15N, δ13C and Hg show little movement of this species among sites. Localized effects of human activities on nutrients and metals may be affecting the health of this species and posing a risk to other consumers in the ecosystem. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

A global perspective on genetic variation in the ADH genes reveals unusual patterns of linkage disequilibrium and diversity

Variants of different Class I alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genes have been shown to be associated with an effect that is protective against alcoholism. Previous work from our laboratory has shown that the two sites showing the association are in linkage disequilibrium and has identified the ADH1B Arg47His site as causative, with the ADH1C Ile349Val site showing association only because of the disequilibrium. Here, we describe an initial study of the nature of linkage disequilibrium and genetic variation, in population samples from different regions of the world, in a larger segment of the ADH cluster (including the three Class I ADH genes and ADH7). Linkage disequilibrium across ∼40 kb of the Class I ADH cluster is moderate to strong in all population samples that we studied. We observed nominally significant pairwise linkage disequilibrium, in some populations, between the ADH7 site and some Class I ADH sites, at moderate values and at a molecular distance as great as 100 kb. Our data indicate (1) that most ADH-alcoholism association studies have failed to consider many sites in the ADH cluster that may harbor etiologically significant alleles and (2) that the relevance of the various ADH sites will be population dependent. Some individual sites in the Class I ADH cluster show F(st) values that are among the highest seen among several dozen unlinked sites that were studied in the same subset of populations. The high F(st) values can be attributed to the discrepant frequencies of specific alleles in eastern Asia relative to those in other regions of the world. These alleles are part of a single haplotype that exists at high (>65%) frequency only in the eastern-Asian samples. It seems unlikely that this haplotype, which is rare or unobserved in other populations, reached such high frequency because of random genetic drift alone

Exigências em treonina para frangos de corte de 22 a 42 dias de idade Threonine requirements of 22 to 42-day-old broilers

Um experimento foi realizado com o objetivo de estabelecer critérios de avaliação das exigências de treonina digestível para frangos de corte de 22 a 42 dias de idade utilizando-se diferentes modelos de regressão (quadrático, exponencial e de retas segmentadas ou Linear Response Plateau). Foram utilizados 1.920 frangos de corte machos com 22 dias de idade, distribuídos em delineamento inteiramente ao acaso, com seis tratamentos (seis níveis de treonina digestível: 0,5904; 0,6441; 0,6977; 0,7514; 0,8051 e 0,8588%) e oito repetições de 40 aves. Utilizou-se como padrão o nível de 0,6977% de treonina digestível. Foram avaliados dados de desempenho e características de carcaça. Com base nos dados, o nível de 0,7642% de treonina digestível, correspondente às relação treonina:lisina digestível de 71,19%, promoveu o melhor resultado de conversão alimentar de acordo com o modelo Linear Response Plateau.<br>The objective of this experiment was to establish different criteria for evaluation of the requirements of digestible threonine for broilers from 22 to 42 d of age, using different regression models (quadratic, exponential, and Linear Response Plateau). A total of 1,920 22-day-old male Cobb broilers were distributed in randomized experimental design, with six treatments (six threonine levels: 0.5904, 0.6441, 0.6977, 0.7514, 0.8051, and 0.8588%) and 8 replications containing 40 broilers each one. The level of 0.6977% digestible threonine was used as standard. Data on performance and carcass characteristics were evaluated. Based on the data, the threonine level of 0.7642%, corresponding to the threonine:digestible lysine ratio of 71.19% had the best result for feed conversion, according to the Linear Response Plateau model