Identification and characterization of grapevine Genetic Resources maintained in Eastern European collections

Maul, E. et al.The Near East and the Caucasus regions are considered as gene and domestication centre for grapevine. In an earlier project >Conservation and Sustainable Use of Grapevine Genetic Resources in the Caucasus and Northern Black Sea Region> (2003-2007) it turned out that 2,654 accessions from autochthonous cultivars maintained by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine in ten grapevine collections may belong to 1,283 cultivars. But trueness to type assessment by morphology and genetic fingerprinting still needed to be done. In COST Action FA1003 a first step in that direction was initiated. The following countries participated: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Mainly Vitis vinifera accessions (1098 samples) and 76 Vitis sylvestris individuals were analyzed by nine SSR-markers (VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD25, VVMD27, VVMD28, VVMD32, VrZag62, VrZag79). Cultivar identity confirmation/rejection was attempted for 306 genotypes/cultivars by comparison of the generated genetic profiles with international SSR-marker databases and ampelographic studies. The outcome proved unambiguously the necessity of morphologic description and photos (a) for comparison with bibliography, (b) for a clear and explicit definition of the cultivar and (c) the detection of sampling errors and misnomers. From the 1,098 analyzed accessions, 997 turned out to be indigenous to the participating countries. The remaining 101 accessions were Western European cultivars. The 997 fingerprints of indigenous accessions resulted in 658 unique profiles/cultivars. From these 353 (54 %) are only maintained in the countries of origin and 300 (46 %) unique genotypes exist only once in the Eastern European collections. For these 300 genotypes duplicate preservation needs to be initiated. In addition, the high ratio of non redundant genetic material of Eastern European origin suggests an immense unexplored diversity. Documentation of the entire information in the European Vitis Database will assist both germplasm maintenance and documentation of cultivar specific data.Joint publication of the COST Action FA1003 “East-West Collaboration for Grapevine Diversity Exploration and Mobilization of Adaptive Traits for Breeding”.Peer Reviewe

First results of the European grapevine collections' collaborative network: Validation of a standard eno-carpological phenotyping method

Rustioni, L. et al.A standard protocol for phenotyping structural and compositional aspects of the grape berry has been adopted by 18 East and West European germplasm collections during one season by testing a total of 469 accessions, including reference cultivars as well as local and minor germplasm accessions of specific interest. The protocol consists in the collection of triplicates for 26 phenotypic traits, from biological samples, each formed by 10 berries collected from 9 representative bunches from every analyzed accessions. The protocol concatenates the data from measurements and acquisitions, with the objective to generate new derived variables, which are expressed with different units (%; content per kg of grapes, per berry, per g of tissue). For each variable, the Least Significant Differences (LSD), to contrast a pair of single accession mean values, and the Confidence Intervals (CI), to estimate each single accession mean value, were computed. The application of the protocol revealed satisfactory results with high accuracy and efficiency in estimation of phenotypic traits of each accession. The whole data set will be useful for researchers, breeders and viticulturists in yield evaluation of grapevine cultivars, as well as in comparative analyses of environment-variety interaction.Joint publication of the COST Action FA1003 “East-West Collaboration for Grapevine Diversity Exploration and Mobilization of Adaptive Traits for Breeding”.Peer Reviewe

Heterogeneity and Diversity of Striatal GABAergic Interneurons

The canonical view of striatal GABAergic interneurons has evolved over several decades of neuroanatomical/neurochemical and electrophysiological studies. From the anatomical studies, three distinct GABAergic interneuronal subtypes are generally recognized. The best-studied subtype expresses the calcium-binding protein, parvalbumin. The second best known interneuron type expresses a number of neuropeptides and enzymes, including neuropeptide Y, somatostatin, and nitric oxide synthase. The last GABAergic interneuron subtype expresses the calcium binding protein, calretinin. There is no overlap or co-localization of these three different sets of markers. The parvalbumin-immunoreactive GABAergic interneurons have been recorded in vitro and shown to exhibit a fast-spiking phenotype characterized by short duration action potentials with large and rapid spike AHPs. They often fire in a stuttering pattern of high frequency firing interrupted by periods of silence. They are capable of sustained firing rates of over 200 Hz. The NPY/SOM/NOS interneurons have been identified as PLTS cells, exhibiting very high input resistances, low threshold spike and prolonged plateau potentials in response to intracellular depolarization or excitatory synaptic stimulation. Thus far, no recordings from identified CR interneurons have been obtained. Recent advances in technological approaches, most notably the generation of several BAC transgenic mouse strains which express a fluorescent marker, enhanced green fluorescent protein, specifically and selectively only in neurons of a certain genetic makeup (e.g., parvalbumin-, neuropeptide Y-, or tyrosine hydroxylase-expressing neurons etc.) have led to the ability of electrophysiologists to visualize and patch specific neuron types in brain slices with epifluorescence illumination. This has led to a rapid expansion of the number of neurochemically and/or electrophysiologically identified interneuronal cell types in the striatum and elsewhere. This article will review the anatomy, neurochemistry, electrophysiology, synaptic connections, and function of the three “classic” striatal GABAergic interneurons as well as more recent data derived from in vitro recordings from BAC transgenic mice as well as recent in vivo data

Parasitism by Botflies Philornis Sp. on European Starlings Sturnus vulgaris, an Exotic Bird in Argentina

Fil: Ibáñez, Lucía Mariel. División Zoología Invertebrados. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Fiorini, Vanina Dafne. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Instituto IEGEBA (CONICET-UBA). Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Montalti, Diego. División Zoología Vertebrados. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Di Iorio, Osvaldo. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Instituto IBBEA (CONICET-UBA). Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Turienzo, Paola. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Instituto IBBEA (CONICET-UBA). Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Distribution of Tyrosine Hydroxylase-Expressing Interneurons with Respect to Anatomical Organization of the Neostriatum

We have recently shown in vitro that striatal tyrosine hydroxylase-expressing interneurons identified in transgenic mice by expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (TH-eGFP) display electrophysiological profiles that are distinct from those of other striatal interneurons. Furthermore, striatal TH-eGFP interneurons show marked diversity in their electrophysiological properties and have been divided into four distinct subtypes. One question that arises from these observations is whether striatal TH-eGFP interneurons are distributed randomly, or obey some sort of organizational plan as has been shown to be the case with other striatal interneurons. An understanding of the striatal TH-eGFP interneuronal patterning is a vital step in understanding the role of these neurons in striatal functioning. Therefore, in the present set of studies the location of electrophysiologically identified striatal TH-eGFP interneurons was mapped. In addition, the distribution of TH-eGFP interneurons with respect to the striatal striosome–matrix compartmental organization was determined using μ-opioid receptor (MOR) immunofluorescence or intrinsic TH-eGFP fluorescence to delineate striosome and matrix compartments. Overall, the distribution of the different TH-eGFP interneuronal subtypes did not differ in dorsal versus ventral striatum. However, striatal TH-eGFP interneurons were found to be mostly in the matrix in the dorsal striatum whereas a significantly higher proportion of these neurons was located in MOR-enriched domains of the ventral striatum. Further, the majority of striatal TH-eGFP interneurons was found to be located within 100 μm of a striosome–matrix boundary. Taken together, the current results suggest that TH-eGFP interneurons obey different organizational principles in dorsal versus ventral striatum, and may play a role in communication between striatal striosome and matrix compartments

Parasitismo de estorninos pintos Sturnus vulgaris, un ave exótica en Argentina, por moscardones Philornis sp.

We studied the parasitism of the exotic European starling Sturnus vulgaris by native botflies Philornis spp. in Argentina. We installed thirty nest boxes in the northeastern Buenos Aires province in the 2010–2011 breeding season. In the first brood, subcutaneous larvae of Philornis (Muscidae) parasitised 34 nestlings (89.4%) of 11 clutches (91.6%) and only three nestlings fledged. In the second brood, Philornis parasitised 15 (48.3%) nestlings of seven clutches (70%) and all the nestlings died. Compared to the mortality of other Neotropical birds parasitised by Philornis, the mortality in European starling nests is the highest found in the region. Our results show that the studied population of European starling suffers a high level of parasitism by Philornis, although this factor was not directly associated with the high mortality of starling nestlings. The fact that most non-parasitised nestlings also died indicates that other factors are also affecting nestling survival. Experiments that allow us to isolate the effect of Philornis from other variables would be needed to evaluate the impact of botfly larvae on starling nestlings.Estudiamos el parasitismo de una especie de mosca nativa del género Philornis sobre el estornino pinto Sturnus vulgaris en Argentina, que es un ave introducida recientemente en este país. Utilizamos 30 cajas-nido en el noreste de la provincia de Buenos Aires en el período de reproducción 2010-2011. En la primera nidada fueron parasitados 34 pollos (89,4%) de 11 nidos (91,6%) por larvas subcutáneas de Philornis (Muscidae) y sólo tres pollos sobrevivieron. En la segunda nidada fueron parasitados por Philornis 15 pollos (48,3%) de 7 nidos (70%) y todos murieron. Si comparamos la mortalidad de otras aves neotropicales parasitadas por Philornis, la mortalidad de los pollos de estornino pinto es la mayor encontrada en la región. Nuestros resultados muestran que la población de estornino pinto estudiada sufre un alto nivel de parasitismo por Philornis pero este factor no estuvo directamente asociado a la alta mortalidad de pollos de estornino. El hecho de que la mayoría de los pollos parasitados y no parasitados murieran indica que otros factores están afectando la supervivencia de los pollos. Serían necesarios experimentos que permitan aislar el efecto de Philornis del resto de las variables para poder evaluar el impacto de las larvas sobre los pollos de estornino.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

100 years of surface weather observations at Orcadas Antartic Station: a look at variability and change in the Antartic Peninsula

100 years of surface temperature, pressure and precipitation at Argentine Antartic Station Orcadas (60\ub045'S / 44\ub043'W) on Laurie Island (Orcadas del Sur Archipelago) located off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula are studied in order to determine variability and change in the region.spanning the period 1905-2003, i.e. the longest Antartic climatic timeseries available. The timeseries were deseasonalized, using an additive timeseries model. The annual mean cycle was thus obtained and subtracted from the data tus obtaining the anomaly series. Then using wavelet filters the variability and trends of the anomaly time series were calculated. Orthogonal and iorthogonal wavelets, which compose a filter bank with minimal phase change, were used. The trend results thus obtained are iindependent of the wavelet base considered. Furthermore this approach does not make any hypothesis on the stationality of the timeseries . The overall trends obtained agree well with other trend estimates made by NOAA and IPCC/WMO. A temperature increase of the order of 2°C is found for the overall simple. It is interesting to note the seasonality of trends and as well as the onset of a significant warming at Orcadas since the 1970s. Variability in the temperature timeseries shows interannual and interdecadic changes. Precipitation analysis yields a positive trend of about 2.1%. These results will be discussed under the light of the possible influences of GHG and ozone depletion.Pages: 195-19