Herdbook analyses of the Asturiana beef cattle breeds

International audienc

SPH-DEM Coupling for Debris Flows

Debris flows are natural events with a high potential of damage due to the materials, volume, and velocity they can reach once the flows were triggered. Mathematical models and numerical schemes constitute a transcendental way to get a deeper comprehension of these natural phenomena. Thus, the coupling of numerical methods is becoming more relevant to describe the behaviour of debris flows. The coupling of Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Discrete Element Method (DEM) is presented in this work to show the capability to represent the interaction of several materials simultaneously. SPH is employed to represent the fluid and soil by using different constitutive models, from a continuum approach. On the other hand, DEM describes immersed objects to represent large boulders and unmoveable boundary conditions. Thus, it is possible to couple the behaviour occurring at very different scales, fines and water through the continuum approach, and boulders with the discrete one. A hypothetical case here presented shows the potential of our coupling method for simulating debris flows

Differential gene expression in tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (L., 1758) under feeding stress

Feeding stress or suboptimal feeding in fish can have a direct impact on their energy metabolism and feed use efficiency, and thus on productivity. That impact can be quantified objectively by comparing the expression of genes between fish fed ad libitum and fish fed suboptimally. Moreover, some of the genes expressed in animals fed suboptimally can also be used as candidate genes to identify feeding stress in general. To identify some of those genes, a group of 60 tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (L., 1758) was divided into two batches (fed ad libitum or suboptimally for 22 days) with two replicates. For this purpose, we carried out differential display analysis in brain tissue samples using 36 combinations of 3 polyT anchoring primers and 12 random primers. An average of 25 bands was produced per primer pair, with 31 bands expressed differentially which were excised from the gels, sequenced, and annotated with information available on public databases. Some sequences matched genes with different binding activities, regulation of transcription, and those playing a role in synapses. One of the most interesting findings was the ALOX5 gene, which plays a role in the production of lukotrienes, important mediators in inflammatory processes. The identification of genes corresponding to those bands will provide more information about mechanisms that play a role in stressful situations produced by suboptimal feeding, as well as other causes.El estrés alimentario o subalimentación de los peces afecta directamente al metabolismo energético, a la eficacia de utilización del alimento y, por tanto, a su productividad. Este efecto se puede cuantificar de forma objetiva mediante comparaciones de expresión génica con respecto a aquellos peces que han sido alimentados a saciedad. Además, algunos de los genes expresados por los peces subalimentados pueden usarse como genes candidatos para identificar estrés alimentario en general. Para identificar estos genes se dividió un grupo de 60 tilapias Oreochromis niloticus (L., 1758) en dos tratamientos (alimentado ad líbitum o con alimentación subóptima, durante 22 días) con dos réplicas. Se utilizó la técnica de differential display en muestras de cerebro con 36 combinaciones resultado de tres cebadores polyT de anclaje y 12 cebadores aleatorios. Se expresaron una media de 25 bandas por pareja de cebadores y un total de 31 bandas expresadas diferencialmente, se extrajeron, secuenciaron y anotaron con la ayuda de la información disponible en bases de datos públicas. Algunas secuencias coinciden con genes cuya función es de unión a diferentes proteínas y de regulación de la transcripción, y juegan un papel importante en la sinapsis. Es destacable el gen ALOX5, que interviene en la producción de leucotrienos, importantes mediadores de procesos inflamatorios. La identificación de los genes que corresponden a estas bandas aportará conocimiento sobre los mecanismos que intervienen en situaciones de estrés, tanto producidas por una alimentación subóptima como por otras causas.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación aplicadas a procesos de investigación en Ciencias a nivel escolar

Una de las concepciones pedagógicas actuales para afianzar procesos de investigación en ciencias naturales a nivel escolar es la aplicación de tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (Internet, videoconferencias, mallas computacionales-grid, intranet, objetos virtuales de aprendizaje, foros aferentes online, laboratorios virtuales, redes computacionales, animaciones, recursos multimediales etc.), que permiten acercarse al mundo tecnológico actual y al tratamiento de información científica de frontera

Decrypting magnetic fabrics (AMS, AARM, AIRM) through the analysis of mineral shape fabrics and distribution anisotropy

The fieldwork was supported by the DIPS project (grant no. 240467) and the MIMES project (grant no. 244155) funded by the Norwegian Research Council awarded to O.G. O.P.'s position was funded from Y-TEC.Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of magnetic remanence (AARM and AIRM) are efficient and versatile techniques to indirectly determine rock fabrics. Yet, deciphering the source of a magnetic fabric remains a crucial and challenging step, notably in the presence of ferrimagnetic phases. Here we use X-ray micro-computed tomography to directly compare mineral shape-preferred orientation and spatial distribution fabrics to AMS, AARM and AIRM fabrics from five hypabyssal trachyandesite samples. Magnetite grains in the trachyandesite are euhedral with a mean aspect ratio of 1.44 (0.24 s.d., long/short axis), and > 50% of the magnetite grains occur in clusters, and they are therefore prone to interact magnetically. Amphibole grains are prolate with magnetite in breakdown rims. We identified three components of the petrofabric that influence the AMS of the analyzed samples: the magnetite and the amphibole shape fabrics and the magnetite spatial distribution. Depending on their relative strength, orientation and shape, these three components interfere either constructively or destructively to produce the AMS fabric. If the three components are coaxial, the result is a relatively strongly anisotropic AMS fabric (P’ = 1.079). If shape fabrics and/or magnetite distribution are non-coaxial, the resulting AMS is weakly anisotropic (P’ = 1.012). This study thus reports quantitative petrofabric data that show the effect of magnetite distribution anisotropy on magnetic fabrics in igneous rocks, which has so far only been predicted by experimental and theoretical models. Our results have first-order implications for the interpretation of petrofabrics using magnetic methods.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Metastatic risk and resistance to BRAF inhibitors in melanoma defined by selective allelic loss of ATG5

Melanoma is a paradigm of aggressive tumors with a complex and heterogeneous genetic background. Still, melanoma cells frequently retain developmental traits that trace back to lineage specification programs. In particular, lysosome-associated vesicular trafficking is emerging as a melanoma-enriched lineage dependency. However, the contribution of other lysosomal functions such as autophagy to melanoma progression is unclear, particularly in the context of metastasis and resistance to targeted therapy. Here we mined a broad spectrum of cancers for a meta-analysis of mRNA expression, copy number variation and prognostic value of 13 core autophagy genes. This strategy identified heterozygous loss of ATG5 at chromosome band 6q21 as a distinctive feature of advanced melanomas. Importantly, partial ATG5 loss predicted poor overall patient survival in a manner not shared by other autophagy factors and not recapitulated in other tumor types. This prognostic relevance of ATG5 copy number was not evident for other 6q21 neighboring genes. Melanocyte-specific mouse models confirmed that heterozygous (but not homozygous) deletion of Atg5 enhanced melanoma metastasis and compromised the response to targeted therapy (exemplified by dabrafenib, a BRAF inhibitor in clinical use). Collectively, our results support ATG5 as a therapeutically relevant dose-dependent rheostat of melanoma progression. Moreover, these data have important translational implications in drug design, as partial blockade of autophagy genes may worsen (instead of counteracting) the malignant behavior of metastatic melanomas.M.S.S. is funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (projects SAF2011-28317, SAF2014-56868-R and RTC-2014-2442-1), as well as a Team Science Award by the Melanoma Research Alliance, and grants from the Worldwide Cancer Research and the Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer (AECC). M.G-F was funded by a Juan de la ~ Cierva postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education and P.K and M.C. by predoctoral fellowships from Fundación La Caixa

On the origins of American Criollo pigs: A common genetic background with a lasting Iberian signature

American Criollo pigs are thought to descend mainly from those imported from the Iberian Peninsula starting in the late 15th century. Criollo pigs subsequently expanded throughout the Americas, adapting to very diverse environments, and possibly receiving influences from other origins. With the intensification of agriculture in the mid-20th century, cosmopolitan breeds largely replaced Criollo pigs, and the few remaining are mostly maintained by rural communities in marginal areas where they still play an important socio-economic and cultural role. In this study, we used 24 microsatellite markers in samples from 1715 pigs representing 46 breeds with worldwide distribution, including 17 American Criollo breeds, with the major focus of investigating their genetic diversity, structure and breed relationships. We also included representatives of the Iberian, Local British, Hungarian, Chinese and Commercial breeds, as well as Wild Boar, in order to investigate their possible influence in the genetic composition of Criollos. Our results show that, when compared with the other breeds, Criollo pigs present higher levels of genetic diversity, both in terms of allelic diversity and expected heterozygosity. The various analyses indicate that breed differentiation overall explains nearly 21% of the total genetic diversity. Criollo breeds showed their own identity and shared a common genetic background, tending to cluster together in various analyses, even though they differ from each other. A close relationship of Criollos with Iberian breeds was revealed by all the different analyses, and the contribution of Iberian breeds, particularly of the Celtic breeds, is still present in various Criollo breeds. No influence of Chinese breeds was detected on Criollos, but a few were influenced by Commercial breeds or by wild pigs. Our results confirm the uniqueness of American Criollo pigs and the role that Iberian breeds have played in their development. © 2021 Revidatti et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Microsatellite based genetic diversity and population structure of the endangered Spanish Guadarrama goat breed

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Assessing genetic biodiversity and population structure of minor breeds through the information provided by neutral molecular markers, allows determination of their extinction risk and to design strategies for their management and conservation. Analysis of microsatellite loci is known to be highly informative in the reconstruction of the historical processes underlying the evolution and differentiation of animal populations. Guadarrama goat is a threatened Spanish breed which actual census (2008) consists of 3057 females and 203 males distributed in 22 populations more or less isolated. The aim of this work is to study the genetic status of this breed through the analysis of molecular data from 10 microsatellites typed in historic and actual live animals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean expected heterozygosity across loci within populations ranged from 0.62 to 0.77. Genetic differentiation measures were moderate, with a mean F_STof 0.074, G_STof 0.081 and R_STof 0.085. Percentages of variation among and within populations were 7.5 and 92.5, respectively. Bayesian clustering analyses pointed out a population subdivision in 16 clusters, however, no correlation between geographical distances and genetic differences was found. Management factors such as the limited exchange of animals between farmers (estimated gene flow Nm = 3.08) mostly due to sanitary and social constraints could be the major causes affecting Guadarrama goat population subdivision.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Genetic diversity measures revealed a good status of biodiversity in the Guadarrama goat breed. Since diseases are the first cause affecting the census in this breed, population subdivision would be an advantage for its conservation. However, to maintain private alleles present at low frequencies in such small populations minimizing the inbreeding rate, it would necessitate some mating designs of animals carrying such alleles among populations. The systematic use of molecular markers will facilitate the comprehensive management of these populations, which in combination with the actual breeding program to increase milk yield, will constitute a good strategy to preserve the breed.</p