Transcriptome Analysis of the Desert Locust Central Nervous System: Production and Annotation of a Schistocerca gregaria EST Database

) displays a fascinating type of phenotypic plasticity, designated as ‘phase polyphenism’. Depending on environmental conditions, one genome can be translated into two highly divergent phenotypes, termed the solitarious and gregarious (swarming) phase. Although many of the underlying molecular events remain elusive, the central nervous system (CNS) is expected to play a crucial role in the phase transition process. Locusts have also proven to be interesting model organisms in a physiological and neurobiological research context. However, molecular studies in locusts are hampered by the fact that genome/transcriptome sequence information available for this branch of insects is still limited. EST information is highly complementary to the existing orthopteran transcriptomic data. Since many novel transcripts encode neuronal signaling and signal transduction components, this paper includes an overview of these sequences. Furthermore, several transcripts being differentially represented in solitarious and gregarious locusts were retrieved from this EST database. The findings highlight the involvement of the CNS in the phase transition process and indicate that this novel annotated database may also add to the emerging knowledge of concomitant neuronal signaling and neuroplasticity events. EST data constitute an important new source of information that will be instrumental in further unraveling the molecular principles of phase polyphenism, in further establishing locusts as valuable research model organisms and in molecular evolutionary and comparative entomology

Trade Negotiations between the EU and South Africa: A Three-Level Game

This article develops and uses an adapted version of Putnam's two- (extended to three-) level game model to analyse the EU agenda-setting process in the negotiations between the EU and South Africa that led to the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement in 1999. The article argues that the model needs to place its domestic focus at the level of the Commission, rather than at the level of the Member States. It demonstrates that the negotiations within the Commission, as well as the location of the Commission negotiating team within DG Development, were central for understanding the EU agenda and the final outcome of the negotiations. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author(s); Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Outsiders' Perceptions of the European Union in International Trade Negotiations

The question approached in this article is whether the almost unanimous picture, drawn by both academic observers and EU representatives, of the EU as a major power and leading actor in global trade negotiations, is also shared by 'outsiders'. I describe and analyse how representatives of non-EU Member States picture and evaluate the EU's role in the WTO and the strategies it uses to achieve its goals. Special attention is given to perceived constraints on EU leadership. In brief, my results demonstrate that the EU is indeed seen as a key actor in the WTO but that it is not necessarily seen as a leader. Its leadership potential is diminished by perceived incoherence across issue areas, by a lack of perceived legitimacy and, to a lesser extent, by an excessive focus on internal co-ordination. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author(s); Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.