First Microsatellite Markers Developed From Cupuassu Ests: Application In Diversity Analysis And Cross-species Transferability To Cacao

The cupuassu tree (Theobroma grandiflorum) (Willd. ex Spreng.) Schum. is a fruitful species from the Amazon with great economical potential, due to the multiple uses of its fruit's pulp and seeds in the food and cosmetic industries, including the production of cupulate, an alternative to chocolate. In order to support the cupuassu breeding program and to select plants presenting both pulp/seed quality and fungal disease resistance, SSRs from Next Generation Sequencing ESTs were obtained and used in diversity analysis. From 8,330 ESTs, 1,517 contained one or more SSRs (1,899 SSRs identified). The most abundant motifs identified in the EST-SSRs were hepta-And trinucleotides, and they were found with a minimum and maximum of 2 and 19 repeats, respectively. From the 1,517 ESTs containing SSRs, 70 ESTs were selected based on their functional annotation, focusing on pulp and seed quality, as well as resistance to pathogens. The 70 ESTs selected contained 77 SSRs, and among which, 11 were polymorphic in cupuassu genotypes. These EST-SSRs were able to discriminate the cupuassu genotype in relation to resistance/susceptibility to witches' broom disease, as well as to pulp quality (SST/ATT values). Finally, we showed that these markers were transferable to cacao genotypes, and that genome availability might be used as a predictive tool for polymorphism detection and primer design useful for both Theobroma species. To our knowledge, this is the first report involving EST-SSRs from cupuassu and is also a pioneer in the analysis of marker transferability from cupuassu to cacao. Moreover, these markers might contribute to develop or saturate the cupuassu and cacao genetic maps, respectively. The cupuassu tree (Theobroma grandiflorum) (Willd. ex Spreng.) Schum. is a fruitful species from the Amazon with great economical potential, due to the multiple uses of its fruit's pulp and seeds in the food and cosmetic industries, including the production of cupulate, an alternative to chocolate. In order to support the cupuassu breeding program and to select plants presenting both pulp/seed quality and fungal disease resistance, SSRs from Next Generation Sequencing ESTs were obtained and used in diversity analysis. From 8,330 ESTs, 1,517 contained one or more SSRs (1,899 SSRs identified). The most abundant motifs identified in the EST-SSRs were hepta-And trinucleotides, and they were found with a minimum and maximum of 2 and 19 repeats, respectively. From the 1,517 ESTs containing SSRs, 70 ESTs were selected based on their functional annotation, focusing on pulp and seed quality, as well as resistance to pathogens. The 70 ESTs selected contained 77 SSRs, and among which, 11 were polymorphic in cupuassu genotypes. These EST-SSRs were able to discriminate the cupuassu genotype in relation to resistance/susceptibility to witches' broom disease, as well as to pulp quality (SST/ATT values). Finally, we showed that these markers were transferable to cacao genotypes, and that genome availability might be used as a predictive tool for polymorphism detection and primer design useful for both Theobroma species. To our knowledge, this is the first report involving EST-SSRs from cupuassu and is also a pioneer in the analysis of marker transferability from cupuassu to cacao. Moreover, these markers might contribute to develop or saturate the cupuassu and cacao genetic maps, respectively. © 2016 Ferraz dos Santos 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.11

A tale of two species: the importance of native ecosystems for long-term conservation on Príncipe Island, Gulf of Guinea

Since it was first described in 1901, the Príncipe thrush Turdus xanthorhynchus has been rare and restricted to the native forest in the south of Príncipe Island. The Obô giant land snail Archachatina bicarinata, however, was widespread across the island and at least locally abundant until the 1990s. Since then its population has collapsed, and now, like the thrush, it is also restricted to the native forest in the south of the island. Using species distribution modelling, we show that both species are currently strongly associated with rugged and remote areas of native forest at high altitudes. We argue that their current distribution might be negatively affected by anthropogenic pressures, as both are harvested, and also because invasive alien species are expected to have deleterious effects on these species, although further studies are needed to clarify interactions between these native and introduced species. The diachronic stories of these species highlight an overlooked value of native ecosystems: their role in the conservation of widespread species that might be unable to use anthropogenic landscapes in the future. They also reinforce the need for protected areas that strive to exclude most human activities in the context of particularly sensitive biodiversity, as is often the case on oceanic islands.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Light Controlled Spin Polarization In Asymmetric N -type Resonant Tunneling Diode

The authors have observed a strong dependence of the circular polarization degree from the quantum well emission in an asymmetric n -type GaAsAlAsAlGaAs resonant tunneling diode on both the laser excitation intensity and the applied bias voltage. The sign of the circular polarization can be reversed by increasing the light excitation intensity when the structure is biased with voltages slightly larger than the first electron resonance. The variation of polarization is associated with a large density of photogenerated holes accumulated in the quantum well, which is enhanced due to the asymmetry of the structure. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.917Hanbicki, A., Van Erve, O.M.J., Magno, R., Kioseoglou, G., Li, C.H., Jonker, B.T., Itskos, G., Petrou, A., (2003) Appl. Phys. Lett., 82, p. 4092Jiang, X., Wang, R., Shelby, R.M., MacFarlane, R.M., Bank, S.R., Harris, J.S., Parkin, S.S.P., (2005) Phys. Rev. Lett., 94, p. 056601Motsnyi, V.F., Van Dorpe, P., Van Roy, W., Goovaerts, E., Safarov, V.I., Borghs, G., De Boeck, J., (2003) Phys. Rev. B, 68, p. 245319Fiederling, R., Keim, M., Reuscher, G., Ossau, W., Schmidt, G., Waag, A., Molenkamp, L.W., (1999) Nature (London), 402, p. 787Ohno, Y., Young, D.K., Beschoten, B., Matsukura, F., Ohno, H., Awschalom, D., (1999) Nature (London), 402, p. 790Oestreich, M.J., Hübner, M.J., Hägele, D., Klar, P.J., Heimbrodt, W., Rühle, W.W., Ashenford, D.E., Lunn, B., (1999) Appl. Phys. Lett., 74, p. 1251Jonker, B.T., Park, Y.D., Bennett, B.R., Cheong, H.D., Kioseoglou, G., Petrou, A., (2000) Phys. Rev. B, 62, p. 8180Braden, J.G., Parker, J.S., Xiong, P., Chun, S.H., Samarth, N., (2003) Phys. Rev. Lett., 91, p. 056602Mattana, R., George, J.-M., Jaffr̀s, H., Nguyen Van Dau, F., Fert, A., Ĺpine, B., Guivarc'H, A., J́źquel, G., (2003) Phys. Rev. Lett., 90, p. 166601Gruber, Th., Keim, M., Fiederling, R., Reuscher, G., Ossau, W., Schmidt, G., Molenkamp, M., Waag, A., (2001) Appl. Phys. Lett., 78, p. 1101Slobodskyy, A., Gould, C., Slobodskyy, T., Becker, C.R., Schmidt, G., Molenkamp, L.W., (2003) Phys. Rev. Lett., 90, p. 246601De Carvalho, H.B., Galvão Gobato, Y., Brasil, M.J.S.P., Lopez-Richard, V., Marques, G.E., Camps, I., Henini, M., Hill, G., (2006) Phys. Rev. B, 73, p. 155317De Carvalho, H.B., Brasil, M.J.S.P., Galvão Gobato, Y., Marques, G.E., Galeti, H.V.A., Henini, M., Hill, G., (2007) Appl. Phys. Lett., 90, p. 62120Buhmann, H., Mansouri, L., Wang, J., Beton, P.H., Mori, N., Eaves, L., Henini, M., Potemski, M., (1995) Phys. Rev. B, 51, p. 7969Teran, F.J., Eaves, L., Mansouri, L., Buhmann, H., Maude, D.K., Potemski, M., Henini, M., Hill, G., (2005) Phys. Rev. B, 71, p. 161309Glasberg, S., Finkelstein, G., Shtrikman, H., Bar-Joseph, I., (1999) Phys. Rev. B, 59, p. 10425Vanhoucke, T., Hayne, M., Henini, M., Moshchalkov, V.V., (2002) Phys. Rev. B, 65, p. 041307Marie, X., Amand, T., Le Jeune, P., Paillard, M., Renucci, P., Golub, L.E., Dymnikov, V.D., Ivchenko, E.L., (1999) Phys. Rev. B, 60, p. 5811Van Kesteren, H.W., Cosman, E.C., Van Der Poel, W.A.J.A., Foxon, C.T., (1990) Phys. Rev. B, 41, p. 528

An emerging class of air pollutants: potential effects of microplastics to respiratory human health?

It is increasingly recognized that the ubiquity of convenient single-use plastic has resulted in a global plastic pollution challenge, with substantial environmental and health consequences. Physical, chemical, and biological processes result in plastic weathering, with eventual formation of debris in the micro to nano size range. There is an increasing awareness that plastic fragments are dispersed in the air and can be inhaled by humans, which may cause adverse effects on the respiratory system and on other systems. Urban environments are often characterized by high concentrations of fine airborne dust from various sources. To date, however, there is limited information on the distribution, shape, and size of microplastics in the air in urban and other environments. In this article, we review and discuss our current understanding of the exposure characteristics of airborne plastic debris in urbanized areas, focusing on concentration, size, morphology, presence of additives and distributions of different polymers. The natural and extend data are compiled and compared to laboratory-based analyses to further our understanding of the potential adverse effects of inhaled plastic particles on human health.Environmental Biolog

Polarization Resolved Luminescence In Asymmetric N -type Gaasalgaas Resonant Tunneling Diodes

We have investigated the polarized emission from a n -type GaAsAlGaAs resonant tunneling diode under magnetic field. The GaAs contact layer emission shows a large constant negative circular polarization. A similar result is observed for the quantum well, but only when electrons are injected from the substrate, while for inverted biases, the polarization tends to become positive for small voltages and large laser excitation intensities. We believe that the quantum well polarization may be associated to the partial thermalization of minority carriers on the well subbands and is thus critically dependent on the bias-controlled density of carriers accumulated in the well. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.9214Hanbicki, A., Van Erve, O.M.J., Magno, R., Kioseoglou, G., Li, C.H., Jonker, B.T., Itskos, G., Petrou, A., (2003) Appl. Phys. Lett., 82, p. 4092Jiang, X., Wang, R., Shelby, R.M., MacFarlane, R.M., Bank, S.R., Harris, J.S., Parkin, S.S.P., (2005) Phys. Rev. Lett., 94, p. 056601Motsnyi, V.F., Van Dorpe, P., Van Roy, W., Goovaerts, E., Safarov, V.I., Borghs, G., De Boeck, J., (2003) Phys. Rev. B, 68, p. 245319Fiederling, R., Keim, M., Reuscher, G., Ossau, W., Schmidt, G., Waag, A., Molenkamp, L.W., (1999) Nature (London), 402, p. 787Ohno, Y., Young, D.K., Beschoten, B., Matsukura, F., Ohno, H., Awschalom, D., (1999) Nature (London), 402, p. 790Oestreich, M.J., Hübner, M.J., Hägele, D., Klar, P.J., Heimbrodt, W., Rühle, W.W., Ashenford, D.E., Lunn, B., (1999) Appl. Phys. Lett., 74, p. 1251Jonker, B.T., Park, Y.D., Bennett, B.R., Cheong, H.D., Kioseoglou, G., Petrou, A., (2000) Phys. Rev. B, 62, p. 8180Braden, J.G., Parker, J.S., Xiong, P., Chun, S.H., Samarth, N., (2003) Phys. Rev. Lett., 91, p. 056602Mattana, R., George, J.-M., Jaffr̀s, H., Nguyen Van Dau, F., Fert, A., Ĺpine, B., Guivarc'H, A., J́źquel, G., (2003) Phys. Rev. Lett., 90, p. 166601Gruber, T., Keim, M., Fiederling, R., Reuscher, G., Ossau, W., Schmidt, G., Molenkamp, M., Waag, A., (2001) Appl. Phys. Lett., 78, p. 1101Slobodskyy, A., Gould, C., Slobodskyy, T., Becker, C.R., Schmidt, G., Molenkamp, L.W., (2003) Phys. Rev. Lett., 90, p. 246601De Carvalho, H.B., Galvão Gobato, Y., Brasil, M.J.S.P., Lopez-Richard, V., Marques, G.E., Camps, I., Henini, M., Hill, G., (2006) Phys. Rev. B, 73, p. 155317De Carvalho, H.B., Brasil, M.J.S.P., Galvão Gobato, Y., Marques, G.E., Galeti, H.V.A., Henini, M., Hill, G., (2007) Appl. Phys. Lett., 90, p. 062120Dos Santos, L.F., Galvão Gobato, Y., Marques, G.E., Brasil, M.J.S.P., Henini, M., Airey, R., (2007) Appl. Phys. Lett., 91, p. 073520Snelling, M.J., Blackwood, E., MacDonagh, C.J., Harley, R.T., Foxon, C.T.B., (1992) Phys. Rev. B, 45, p. 392

Abrupt weaning type combined to stress during late pregnancy in sheep present economic losses on carcass and low testicular development in lambs

This study investigates the combined effect of the progressive or abrupt weaning after the stress during middle and late pregnancy on performance and development of lambs. Twenty-four male lambs were used, born from 18 Santa Ines ewes that were divided into three experimental groups. Pregnant ewes were submitted to the application of Lipolysaccharides E. coli (LPS) during the 70 th day of pregnancy (Ig; n=12) or at the 120 th day (Fg; n=8). Animals were kept as control (Cg; n=14). Lambs born in a 6 day interval were subjected to two types of weaning (Pw: progressive weaning; Aw: abrupt weaning at 45 days of age). Lamb data, including testicular development, yield carcass and economic cost were analyzed. Means were compared by F test and Student's t test (P0.05). The highest yields in gross margin was observed for the Cg group and the lowest for Fg (P0.05). On lambs’ testicular weight, Cg average value was higher than Fg (P0.05). The combined effect of LPS challenge as a simulated disease process during late pregnancy and abrupt weaning change the testicular weight and the yield carcass, resulting in economic losses

Interesting magnetic properties of Fe1−x_{1-x}Cox_xSi alloys

Solid solution between nonmagnetic narrow gap semiconductor FeSi and diamagnetic semi-metal CoSi gives rise to interesting metallic alloys with long-range helical magnetic ordering, for a wide range of intermediate concentration. We report various interesting magnetic properties of these alloys, including low temperature re-entrant spin-glass like behaviour and a novel inverted magnetic hysteresis loop. Role of Dzyaloshinski-Moriya interaction in the magnetic response of these non-centrosymmetric alloys is discussed.Comment: 11 pages and 3 figure

Cholesterol-functionalized carvedilol-loaded PLGA nanoparticles: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor effects

The inflammation has been identified as factor of tumor progression, which has increased the interest and use of molecules with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities in the cancer treatment. In this study, the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor potentials of carvedilol was explored in a different approach. The cholesterol (CHO) was investigated as facilitated agent in the action of carvedilol-loaded nanoparticles. Different formulations exhibited spherical and stable nanoparticle with mean diameter size < 250 nm. The cholesterol changed the copolymer-drug interactions and the encapsulation efficiency. The in vitro cancer study was performed using murine colorectal cancer cell line (CT-26) to observe the cell viability and apoptosis on MTS assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The experiments have demonstrated that cholesterol improved the performance of drug-loaded nanoparticles, which was much better than free drug. The in vivo inflammation peritonitis model revealed that carvedilol-loaded nanoparticles increased the level of glutathione and leukocyte migration mainly when the functionalized drug-loaded nanoparticles were tested, in a lower dose than the free drug. As hypothesized, the experimental data suggest that cholesterol-functionalized carvedilol-loaded PLGA nanoparticles can be a novel and promising approach in the inflammation-induced cancer therapy since showed anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor effects.Graphical abstractRadiolog