Jardins per a la salut

Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona. Ensenyament: Grau de Farmàcia. Assignatura: Botànica farmacèutica. Curs: 2014-2015. Coordinadors: Joan Simon, Cèsar Blanché i Maria Bosch.Els materials que aquí es presenten són el recull de les fitxes botàniques de 128 espècies presents en el Jardí Ferran Soldevila de l’Edifici Històric de la UB. Els treballs han estat realitzats manera individual per part dels estudiants dels grups M-3 i T-1 de l’assignatura Botànica Farmacèutica durant els mesos de febrer a maig del curs 2014-15 com a resultat final del Projecte d’Innovació Docent «Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge servei a Botànica farmacèutica» (codi 2014PID-UB/054). Tots els treballs s’han dut a terme a través de la plataforma de GoogleDocs i han estat tutoritzats pels professors de l’assignatura. L’objectiu principal de l’activitat ha estat fomentar l’aprenentatge autònom i col·laboratiu en Botànica farmacèutica. També s’ha pretès motivar els estudiants a través del retorn de part del seu esforç a la societat a través d’una experiència d’Aprenentatge-Servei, deixant disponible finalment el treball dels estudiants per a poder ser consultable a través d’una Web pública amb la possibilitat de poder-ho fer in-situ en el propi jardí mitjançant codis QR amb un smartphone

Parallel faster-X evolution of gene expression and protein sequences in Drosophila: beyond differences in expression properties and protein interactions.

Population genetics models predict that the X (or Z) chromosome will evolve at faster rates than the autosomes in XY (or ZW) systems. Studies of molecular evolution using large datasets in multiple species have provided evidence supporting this faster-X effect in protein-coding sequences and, more recently, in transcriptomes. However, X-linked and autosomal genes differ significantly in important properties besides hemizygosity in males, including gene expression levels, tissue specificity in gene expression, and the number of interactions in which they are involved (i.e., protein-protein or DNA-protein interactions). Most important, these properties are known to correlate with rates of evolution, which raises the question of whether differences between the X chromosome and autosomes in gene properties, rather than hemizygosity, are sufficient to explain faster-X evolution. Here I investigate this possibility using whole genome sequences and transcriptomes of Drosophila yakuba and D. santomea and show that this is not the case. Additional factors are needed to account for faster-X evolution of both gene expression and protein-coding sequences beyond differences in gene properties, likely a higher incidence of positive selection in combination with the accumulation of weakly deleterious mutations

Parameters of multiple-regression models and partial correlations for rates of protein-coding sequence evolution.

<p><i>Note</i>: <i>R</i>, correlation coefficient; <i>P</i>, Probability; Lev, average gene expression levels; Spe, tissue specificity in gene expression estimated following Yanai <i>et al</i>. (2005) [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116829#pone.0116829.ref076" target="_blank">76</a>]; Int, protein interactions identified from Hansen and Kulathinal (2012) [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116829#pone.0116829.ref058" target="_blank">58</a>]; MBG, male-biased genes; NBGs, nonsex-biased genes; All, all genes; ns, <i>P</i> > 0.05.</p><p>Parameters of multiple-regression models and partial correlations for rates of protein-coding sequence evolution.</p

Data from: Sequential adaptive introgression of the mitochondrial genome in Drosophila yakuba and D. santomea

Interspecific hybridization provides the unique opportunity for species to tap into genetic variation present in a closely related species and potentially take advantage of beneficial alleles. It has become increasingly clear that when hybridization occurs, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) often crosses species boundaries, raising the possibility that it could serve as a recurrent target of natural selection and source of species’ adaptations. Here we report the sequences of 46 complete mitochondrial genomes of Drosophila yakuba and D. santomea, two sister species known to produce hybrids in nature (~3%). At least two independent events of mtDNA introgression were uncovered in this study, including an early invasion of the D. yakuba mitochondrial genome that fully replaced the D. santomea mtDNA native haplotypes and a more recent, ongoing event centered in the hybrid zone. Interestingly, this recent introgression event bears the signature of Darwinian natural selection and the selective haplotype can be found at low frequency in Africa mainland populations of D. yakuba. We put forward the possibility that, because the effective population size of D. santomea is smaller than that of D. yakuba, the faster accumulation of mildly deleterious mutations associated with Muller’s ratchet in the former species may have facilitated the replacement of the mutationally loaded mitochondrial genome of D. santomea by that of D. yakuba