Morphology and Genetics of the Ciscoes (Actinopterygii: Salmoniformes: Salmonidae: Coregoninae: Coregonus) from the Solovetsky Archipelago (White Sea) as a Key to Determination of the Taxonomic Position of Ciscoes in Northeastern Europe

Background: The characteristic feature of the genus <i>Coregonus</i> is the multitude of nominal species of obscure identity. The northeastern Europe is inhabited by, inter alia—the vendace, <i>Coregonus albula</i> (Linnaeus, 1758)—considered the European cisco—and the least cisco, <i>C. sardinella</i> Valenciennes, 1848—often referred to as the Siberian species. There is a large area in where the ranges of both species overlap. Using morphological- as well as genetic tools we attempted to test the working hypothesis that the <i>Coregonus</i> fish (ciscoes) inhabiting the above-mentioned transitional zone represent a single species. Materials and methods: Within 1995–2009 we collected 344 ciscoes from five lakes in Bolshoy Solovetsky Island and determined diagnostic morphological traits for the two species. For some samples, the polymorphism of the creatine kinase isoloci (<i>CK-A1,2</i>*) and the fragment of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encoding the subunit 1 of NADH-dehydrogenize complex (<i>ND-1</i> fragment) was also studied. Results: According to one of the main taxonomical characteristics—the number of vertebrae—the cisco of Solovetsky Island occupies an intermediate position between <i>C. albula</i> and <i>C. sardinella</i>. The molecular markers,however, did not reveal any differences between the ciscoes of Bolshoy Solovetsky Island and the vendace found elsewhere. All specimens had the type allele of creatine kinase <i>(CK-A*100)</i> which was considered to be typical for C. albula at other locations as well as the haplotype E of mtDNA widespread in vendace populations. Conclusion: The cisco from Solovetsky Island is more similar to typical vendace. Differences in some morphological traits between Solovetsky Island populations and the vendace from elsewhere are likely to reflect adaptation to environmental conditions. Thus it appears that morphological criteria do not allow reliable differentiation between two forms of ciscoes as well as between least cisco and vendace because they are influenced by environmental conditions. We believe that the presence of populations with intermediate features is a strong argument for combining <i>C. albula</i> and <i>C. sardinella</i> into a single species (<i>C. albula</i>)

Молекулярное типирование CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP1A2 и MDR1 в персонализации психофармакотерапии

Accurate and reproducible techniques for determining key polymorphism of drug metabolizing CYP450 and MDR1 genes have been designed. Based on those techniques, pharmacogenetic test as well as genetic data interpretation algorithm has been developed, which allows to personalize and improve the effectiveness of psychopharmacotherapy.Разработаны точные воспроизводимые методики определения полиморфизма генов CYP 450, участвующих в биотрансформации лекарственных средств, и транспортера лекарственных средств MDR1. На основе данных методик разработан фармакогенетический тест, а также алгоритм интерпретации данных молекулярного типирования пациентов по исследуемым полиморфизмам, позволяющий персонализировать психофармакотерапию и повысить ее эффективность

Predicting global invasion risks: a management tool to prevent future introductions

Predicting regions at risk from introductions of non-native species and the subsequent invasions is a fundamental aspect of horizon scanning activities that enable the development of more effective preventative actions and planning of management measures. The Asian cyprinid fish topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva has proved highly invasive across Europe since its introduction in the 1960s. In addition to direct negative impacts on native fish populations, P. parva has potential for further damage through transmission of an emergent infectious disease, known to cause mortality in other species. To quantify its invasion risk, in regions where it has yet to be introduced, we trained 900 ecological niche models and constructed an Ensemble Model predicting suitability, then integrated a proxy for introduction likelihood. This revealed high potential for P. parva to invade regions well beyond its current invasive range. These included areas in all modelled continents, with several hotspots of climatic suitability and risk of introduction. We believe that these methods are easily adapted for a variety of other invasive species and that such risk maps could be used by policy-makers and managers in hotspots to formulate increased surveillance and early-warning systems that aim to prevent introductions and subsequent invasions

Biology and conservation of freshwater bivalves : past, present and future perspectives

Freshwater bivalves have been highly threatened by human activities, and recently their global decline has been causing conservational and social concern. In this paper, we review the most important research events in freshwater bivalve biology calling attention to the main scientific achievements. A great bias exists in the research effort, with much more information available for bivalve species belonging to the Unionida in comparison to other groups. The same is true for the origin of these studies, since the publishing pattern does not always correspond to the hotspots of biodiversity but is concentrated in the northern hemisphere mainly in North America, Europe and Russia, with regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia being quite understudied. We also summarize information about past, present and future perspectives concerning the most important research topics that include taxonomy, systematics, anatomy, physiology, ecology and conservation of freshwater bivalves. Finally, we introduce the articles published in this Hydrobiologia special issue related with the International Meeting on Biology and Conservation of Freshwater Bivalves held in 2012 in Braganc¸a, Portugal.We would like to express our gratitude to our sponsors and institutions, especially to the Polytechnic Institute of Braganca for all the logistic support. We acknowledge all keynote speakers, authors, session chairpersons and especially to all attendees whose contributions were fundamental for the success of this meeting. We would also like to thank all referees of this special issue and to Koen Martens, Editor-in-Chief of Hydrobiologia, for all the valuable comments and suggestions. The chronogram was built with the help of the expert opinion of fellow colleagues Rafael Araujo, Arthur Bogan, Kevin Cummings, Dan Graf, Wendell Haag, Karl-Otto Nagel and David Strayer to whom we are very grateful. The authors acknowledge the support provided by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and COMPETE funds-projects CONBI (Contract: PTDC/AAC-AMB/117688/2010) and ECO-IAS (Contract: PTDC/AAC-AMB/116685/2010), and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE, under the project "PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2011"

A Narrowing of the Phenotypic Diversity Range after Large Rearrangements of the Karyotype in Salmonidae: The Relationship between Saltational Genome Rearrangements and Gradual Adaptive Evolution

The problem of how a gradual development of ecological and morphological adaptations combines with large genome rearrangements, which have been found to occur in the phylogeny of many groups of organisms, is a matter of discussion in the literature. The objective of this work was to study the problem with the example of salmonids, whose evolution included at least six events of multiple chromosome fusions. Large karyotype rearrangements are associated with a decrease in ecological and morphological diversity in salmonids. In the above example, genome rearrangements seem to distort the function of the genetic systems that are responsible for the occurrence of certain ecological forms in salmonids

Homologous Series by Chromosome Number and the Genome Rearrangements in the Phylogeny of Salmonoidei

Abstract -Published data on chromosome numbers of Salmonoidei are summarized. The existence of homologous variation of chromosome number in different phyletic lines of this suborder is substantiated. It is suggested that the origin of homologous series is related to major genome rearrangements (simultaneous fusion of several chromosomes)