Molecular cytogenetic characterisation of Salix viminalis L. using repetitive DNA sequences

Abstract Salix viminalis L. (2n=38) is a diploid dicot species belonging to the Salix genus of the Salicaceae family. This short-rotation woody crop is one of the most important renewable bioenergy resources worldwide. In breeding for high biomass productivity, limited knowledge is available on the molecular cytogenetics of willow, which could be combined with genetic linkage mapping. The present paper describes the adaptation of a fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) protocol as a new approach to analyse the genomic constitution of Salix viminalis using the heterologous DNA clones pSc119.2, pTa71, pTa794, pAs1, Afafamily, pAl1, HT100.3, ZCF1 and the GAA microsatellite marker. Three of the nine probes showed unambiguous signals on the metaphase chromosomes. FISH analysis with the pTa71 probe detected one major 18S-5.8S-26S rDNA locus on the short arm of one chromosome pair; however, the pTa794 rDNA site was not visible. One chromosome pair showed a distinct signal around the centromeric region after FISH with the telomere-specific DNA clone HT100.3. Two chromosome pairs were found to have pAs1 FISH signals, which represent a D-genome-specific insert from Aegilops tauschii. Based on the FISH study, a set of chromosomes with characteristic patterns is presented, which could be used to establish the karyotype of willow species

The regulation of corticofugal fiber targeting by retinal inputs

Corticothalamic projection systems arise from 2 main cortical layers. Layer V neurons project exclusively to higher-order thalamic nuclei, while layer VIa fibers project to both first-order and higher-order thalamic nuclei. During early postnatal development, layer VIa and VIb fibers accumulate at the borders of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) before they innervate it. After neonatal monocular enucleation or silencing of the early retinal activity, there is premature entry of layer VIa and VIb fibers into the dLGN contralateral to the manipulation. Layer V fibers do not innervate the superficial gray layer of the superior colliculus during the first postnatal week, but also demonstrate premature entry to the contralateral superficial gray layer following neonatal enucleation. Normally, layer V driver projections to the thalamus only innervate higher-order nuclei. Our results demonstrate that removal of retinal input from the dLGN induces cortical layer V projections to aberrantly enter, arborize, and synapse within the first-order dLGN. These results suggest that there is cross-hierarchical corticothalamic plasticity after monocular enucleation. Cross-hierarchical rewiring has been previously demonstrated in the thalamocortical system (Pouchelon et al. 2014), and now we provide evidence for cross-hierarchical corticothalamic rewiring after loss of the peripheral sensory input

Economic Crisis and Euroscepticism: A Comparative Study of the Hungarian and Italian Case (1990–2013)

This comparative paper examines the reasons and the features of the rising Euroscepticism in Italy and in Hungary in the light of economic, financial, and political crisis. The financial crisis became the main focus of the political debates and discourses among the Italian and the Hungarian political parties between 2008 and 2013. In Italy and Hungary, Euroscepticism is still on the rise. In the first chapter, I will shortly summarise the conceptual framework of Euroscepticism. In the second chapter, I provide an overview of the way Hungarian and Italian political discourse has envisioned Europe in the post-bipolar, or post-Maastricht, period that began in the early 1990s. The fall of the Berlin wall had a decisive impact on the domestic politics of Hungary and Italy, and subsequent international changes created the basis for different forms of transitions in both countries. Hungary left behind dictatorship and the one-party system to create a functioning democracy, whereas Italy experienced the end of the political party system of the “First Republic,” giving birth to the highly promising “Second Republic.