From Africa to Europe and back: refugia and range shifts cause high genetic differentiation in the Marbled White butterfly Melanargia galathea

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The glacial-interglacial oscillations caused severe range modifications of biota. Thermophilic species became extinct in the North and survived in southern retreats, e.g. the Mediterranean Basin. These repeated extinction and (re)colonisation events led to long-term isolation and intermixing of populations and thus resulted in strong genetic imprints in many European species therefore being composed of several genetic lineages. To better understand these cycles of repeated expansion and retraction, we selected the Marbled White butterfly <it>Melanargia galathea</it>. Fourty-one populations scattered over Europe and the Maghreb and one population of the sibling taxon <it>M. lachesis </it>were analysed using allozyme electrophoresis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We obtained seven distinct lineages applying neighbour joining and STRUCTURE analyses: (i) Morocco, (ii) Tunisia, (iii) Sicily, (iv) Italy and southern France, (v) eastern Balkans extending to Central Europe, (vi) western Balkans with western Carpathian Basin as well as (vii) south-western Alps. The hierarchy of these splits is well matching the chronology of glacial and interglacial cycles since the Günz ice age starting with an initial split between the <it>galathea </it>group in North Africa and the <it>lachesis </it>group in Iberia. These genetic structures were compared with past distribution patterns during the last glacial stage calculated with distribution models.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Both methods suggest climatically suitable areas in the Maghreb and the southern European peninsulas with distinct refugia during the last glacial period and underpin strong range expansions to the North during the Postglacial. However, the allozyme patterns reveal biogeographical structures not detected by distribution modelling as two distinct refugia in the Maghreb, two or more distinct refugia at the Balkans and a close link between the eastern Maghreb and Sicily. Furthermore, the genetically highly diverse western Maghreb might have acted as source or speciation centre of this taxon, while the eastern, genetically impoverished Maghreb population might result from a relatively recent recolonisation from Europe via Sicily.</p

T4 accumulation in lysosomes of rat thyroid remnants after subtotal thyroidectomy.

In chronically stimulated rat thyroids after subtotal thyroidectomy, lysosomes increased in number and volume. They contained iodocompounds and did not appear in iodine-deficient animals. In this study, we analyzed the subcellular localization and the nature of these intracellular iodocompounds. Classical subcellular fractions were isolated from homogenates of rat thyroids and remnants 14 weeks after sham-operation or subtotal thyroidectomy. Two lysosome subpopulations of increasing density, a light fraction, lysosomes 2 (L2, density 1.065-1.08 g/ml) and a dense fraction, lysosomes 1 (L1, density > 1.08 g/ml) were separated from crude lysosomal particulate fractions (ML) by centrifugation in Percoll gradients. Results obtained with thyroids of normal rats were used as controls. In TSH-stimulated thyroid remnants, total activities of three lysosomal enzymes and iodine concentration were increased by 1.6-fold compared with thyroids of sham-operated rats. Total iodoprotein-derived T3 and T4 concentrations, measured after pronase hydrolysis, were slightly decreased. Thyroglobulin (Tg) concentration in the supernatant was reduced by 50%. Iodine, T3 and T4 contents of Tg were not modified. After differential centrifugation, the iodine excess of remnants sedimented with subcellular particulate fractions. The concentration of iodine in dense lysosomes (L1) was 6 times that in sham L1. Intact Tg did not accumulate in L1. Two thirds of the iodine in L1 was soluble in methanol, double the normal proportion, with twice as much iodine included in hydrophobic peptides eluted after T4 by reverse-phase HPLC. Although iodoprotein-derived T4 and T3 concentrations were decreased in the remnant homogenate, they were increased in particles, particularly in L1 where they were increased by 8 and 4-fold, respectively. In contrast, specific activities of lysosomal enzymes in ML and L1 remained unchanged. It is concluded that the chronic TSH stimulation of thyroid remnants in subthyroidectomized rats receiving a normal iodine supply induces the endocytosis of a normal Tg with iodine kept in dense lysosomes. The expansion of the lysosomal compartment resulted from a limitation in iodopeptides degradation as though secondary lysosomes would be overloaded with Tg. The accumulation in L1 of hydrophobic iodopeptides and of more iodoprotein-derived T4 than T3 suggests that exopeptidases involved in the liberation of T4 become rate-limiting

Estado del Se, Cu y Zn y su relación con el perfil lipídico sérico en sujetos portugueses de Lisboa y el archipiélago de las Azores

El selenio (Se), el cobre (Cu) y el cinc (Zn) son oligoelementos esenciales para los mamíferos con funciones biológicas bien demostradas en los seres humanos (Neve y Palmieri, 2000; Viegas-Crespo y cols., 2000). Aparte de otras funciones metabólicas relevantes, desempeñan papeles importantes en la regulación del equilíbrio redox celular y ex-tracelular actuando junto con las defensas antioxidantes (Yu, 1994). Varios estudios epidemiológicos han demostrado que las concentraciones de oligoelementos esenciales dependende factores como la edad, el sexo y las situaciones fisiológicas y patológicas (Versieck y Cornelis, 1989). Además, la localización geográfica también parece ser un factor importante en la determinación de las 1as concentraciones sanguineas de oligoelementos, ya que puede relacionarse con las influencias de características geoquímicas, el aporte de alimentos y agua, las condiciones sociales y ambientales, el estilo de vida y otros factores (Robberecht y Deelstra, 1994; Viegas-Crespo y cols., 2000; Pavão y cols., en prensa). Varios estudios clínicos prospectivos han indicado que existe una relación entre las concentraciones de estos elementos y el perfil lipídico sérico (Salonen y cols., 1991; Crespo y cols., 1994; Pavão y cols., en prensa). Asimismo, se cree que la deficiencia de estos oligoelementos puede relacionarse con la aparición de enfermedades degenerativas asociadas a aterogenia y lesión vascular (Neve, 1996; Mahalingam y cols., 1997). Este estudio forma parte de un proyecto dirigido a analizar el equilíbrio oxidante/antioxidante en varias poblaciones portuguesas con diferentes perfiles socioculturales y hábitos alimentarias. En el presente trabajo se describe el estado de los oligoelementos (concentraciones séricas de Se, Cu y Zn) en los habitantes de seis comunidades de zonas urbanas, rurales y pescadoras localizadas en el continente (población de Lisboa) y en el Archipiélago de las Azores - isla de S. Miguel. Se comentan las diferencias en estos estados de oligoelementos entre las poblaciones y también se analiza su relación con el sexo, la edad y el perfil lipídico. (Introducción