Phylogenetic and molecular analysis of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit gene family in banana

Despite being the number one fruit crop in the world, very little is known about the phylogeny and molecular biology of banana (Musa spp.). Six banana rbcS gene families encoding the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase from six different Musa spp. are presented. For a comprehensive phylogenetic study using Musa rbcS genes, a total of 57 distinct rbcS sequences was isolated from six accessions that contained different combinations of the A and B ancestral/parental genomes. As a result, five of the six members of the rbcS gene family could be affiliated with the A and/or B Musa genomes and at least three of the six gene families most likely existed before Musa A and B genomes separated. By combining sequence data with quantitative real-time PCR it was determined that the different Musa rbcS gene family members are also often multiply represented in each genome, with the highest copy numbers in the B genome. Expression of some of the rbcS genes varied in intensity and in different tissues indicating differences in regulation. To analyse and compare regulatory sequences of Musa rbcS genes, promoter and terminator regions were cloned for three Musa rbcS genes. Transient transformation assays using promoter–reporter–terminator constructs in maize, wheat, and sugarcane demonstrated that the rbcS-Ma1, rbcS-Ma3, and rbcS-Ma5 promoters could be useful for transgene expression in heterologous expression systems. Furthermore, the rbcS-Ma1 terminator resulted in a 2-fold increase of transgene expression when directly compared with the widely used Nos terminator

Very many clones above the unary clone

Let c:= 2א0. We give a family of pairwise incomparable clones on ℕ with 2c members, all with the same unary fragment, namely the set of all unary operations. We also give, for each n, a family of 2c clones all with the same n-ary fragment, and all containing the set of all unary operations. © 2013 Springer Basel

Genetic Alterations That Do or Do Not Occur Naturally; Consequences for Genome Edited Organisms in the Context of Regulatory Oversight

The ability to successfully exploit genome edited organisms for the benefit of food security and the environment will essentially be determined by the extent to which these organisms fall under specific regulatory provisions. In many jurisdictions the answer to this question is considered to depend on the genetic characteristics of the edited organism, and whether the changes introduced in its genome do (or do not) occur naturally. We provide here a number of key considerations to assist with this evaluation as well as a guide of concrete examples of genetic alterations with an assessment of their natural occurrence. These examples support the conclusion that for many of the common types of alterations introduced by means of genome editing, the resulting organisms would not be subject to specific biosafety regulatory provisions whenever novelty of the genetic combination is a crucial determinant

Olivine major and trace element compositions coupled with spinel chemistry to unravel the magmatic systems feeding monogenetic basaltic volcanoes

Monogenetic basaltic volcanic systems, despite their considerable smaller size and shorter lifetime compared to polygenetic volcanoes, can have complex pre-eruptive histories and composite volcanic facies architectures. Their source-to-surface investigation is essential for our better understanding of monogenetic volcanism and requires high-resolution mineral-scale analyses. In this study, we focus on diversely zoned olivine crystals and their spinel inclusions from alkaline basaltic volcanics that are the result of mixing of numerous magmas, crystals and fragments of various origins. The Fekete-hegy volcanic complex is one of the largest and most composite eruptive centers in the intracontinental monogenetic Bakony–Balaton Highland Volcanic Field (western Pannonian Basin, Eastern Central Europe). It is a compound multi-vent system built up by multiple eruption episodes: initial maar-forming phreatomagmatic eruptions were followed by massive lava flows and magmatic explosive activity. We performed stratigraphically controlled sampling in order to reveal the history of the successively erupted magma batches represented by the distinct eruptive units, as well as to discover the petrogenetic processes that controlled the evolution of the magmatic system. The juvenile pyroclasts of the phreatomagmatic eruption products (unit 1) contain a remarkably diverse mineral assemblage including five different olivine types and three distinct spinel groups. In addition, they comprise various xenoliths. Based on detailed textural investigations combined with in situ electron microprobe analyses, high-resolution laser ablation ICP-MS trace element mapping and single spot measurements on the variably zoned olivines of unit 1 samples, eight distinct environments are inferred to have been involved in their formation. Four of these environments account for the significant compositional variation of the olivine-hosted spinel inclusions. A complex set of open- and closed-system petrogenetic processes operated during the evolution of the magmatic system: magma stalling, accumulation, storage, fractionation, mixing, replenishments, cumulate remobilization, incorporation of foreign fragments and crystals from the wall rocks. All these diverse environments and processes resulted in the mixed character of the erupted magmas during the initial phreatomagmatic eruptive phase. In contrast, the uniform petrological features and the small variations shown by the olivines and spinels from unit 2‐–3 indicate that the later magmatic explosive – effusive phase was preceded by a considerable change in the magmatic system; it experienced a simple evolution through olivine + spinel fractional crystallization without any of the complexities seen during the initial phase. The present study emphasizes the importance of high-resolution mineral-scale textural and chemical investigations to unravel the complexity of the sub-volcanic magmatic systems feeding monogenetic basaltic volcanoes. Compared to the application of whole-rock geochemistry alone, this approach enables a direct and more detailed insight into the architecture and evolution of these systems

Complexity of equational theory of relational algebras with standard projection elements

The class $\mathsf{TPA}$ of t rue p airing a lgebras is defined to be the class of relation algebras expanded with concrete set theoretical projection functions. The main results of the present paper is that neither the equational theory of $\mathsf{TPA}$ nor the first order theory of $\mathsf{TPA}$ are decidable. Moreover, we show that the set of all equations valid in $\mathsf{TPA}$ is exactly on the $\Pi ^1_1$ level. We consider the class $\mathsf{TPA}^-$ of the relation algebra reducts of $\mathsf{TPA}$’s, as well. We prove that the equational theory of $\mathsf{TPA}^-$ is much simpler, namely, it is recursively enumerable. We also give motivation for our results and some connections to related work

Subgroups of Paediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia Might Differ Significantly in Genetic Predisposition to Asparaginase Hypersensitivity.

L-asparaginase (ASP) is a key element in the treatment of paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). However, hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) to ASP are major challenges in paediatric patients. Our aim was to investigate genetic variants that may influence the risk to Escherichia coli-derived ASP hypersensitivity. Sample and clinical data collection was carried out from 576 paediatric ALL patients who were treated according to protocols from the Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster Study Group. A total of 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GRIA1 and GALNT10 genes were genotyped. Patients with GRIA1 rs4958351 AA/AG genotype showed significantly reduced risk to ASP hypersensitivity compared to patients with GG genotype in the T-cell ALL subgroup (OR = 0.05 (0.01-0.26); p = 4.70E-04), while no such association was found in pre-B-cell ALL. In the medium risk group two SNPs of GRIA1 (rs2055083 and rs707176) were associated significantly with the occurrence of ASP hypersensitivity (OR = 0.21 (0.09-0.53); p = 8.48E-04 and OR = 3.02 (1.36-6.73); p = 6.76E-03, respectively). Evaluating the genders separately, however, the association of rs707176 with ASP HSRs was confined only to females. Our results suggest that genetic variants of GRIA1 might influence the risk to ASP hypersensitivity, but subgroups of patients can differ significantly in this respect