Fibronectin Contributes To Notochord Intercalation In The Invertebrate Chordate, Ciona Intestinalis

Background: Genomic analysis has upended chordate phylogeny, placing the tunicates as the sister group to the vertebrates. This taxonomic rearrangement raises questions about the emergence of a tunicate/vertebrate ancestor. Results: Characterization of developmental genes uniquely shared by tunicates and vertebrates is one promising approach for deciphering developmental shifts underlying acquisition of novel, ancestral traits. The matrix glycoprotein Fibronectin (FN) has long been considered a vertebrate-specific gene, playing a major instructive role in vertebrate embryonic development. However, the recent computational prediction of an orthologous “vertebrate-like” Fn gene in the genome of a tunicate, Ciona savignyi, challenges this viewpoint suggesting that Fn may have arisen in the shared tunicate/vertebrate ancestor. Here we verify the presence of a tunicate Fn ortholog. Transgenic reporter analysis was used to characterize a Ciona Fn enhancer driving expression in the notochord. Targeted knockdown in the notochord lineage indicates that FN is required for proper convergent extension. Conclusions: These findings suggest that acquisition of Fn was associated with altered notochord morphogenesis in the vertebrate/tunicate ancestor

Design, manufacturing and set-up tests of a wave energy converter prototype in the context of the European Project LIFE-Demowave

LifeDemoWave Project is a real case of development of a R&D project, from the initial idea to the final construction and installation of a prototype for testing in operational environment. This project was born from an idea of the main researcher of the CIMA Group that finally led to two patents of two wave generation systems. Based on these patents, CIMA sought different ways for funding with the aim of developing prototypes with a high TRL and being able to test the operating principle of the patented systems. Finally, funding was obtained through the Life Program of the European Union and in collaboration with five other partners. The main objective of the LifeDemoWave project (http://www. life-demowave.eu/en/) is the demonstration of the feasibility of the use of wave power for electric generation in order to reduce greenhouse gases' emissions. For demonstration purposes, prototypes of wave power generation, reproducible and scalable at high level, are installed in the Galician coast. LifeDemoWave project considers, as well as its design and implementation, the environmental impact in the installation areas and its effect on biodiversity.Peer Reviewe

Role of the circulation on the anthropogenic CO 2 inventory in the North-East Atlantic: A climatological analysis

Climatology-based storage rate of anthropogenic CO2 (Cant, referred to year 2000) in the North-East Atlantic (53 ± 9 kmol s−1, 0.020 ± 0.003 Pg-C yr−1) is described on annual mean terms. Cant advection (32 ± 14 kmol s−1) occurs mostly in the upper 1800 m and contributes to 60% of the Cant storage rate. The Azores and Portugal Currents act as ‘Cant streams’ importing 389 ± 90 kmol s−1, most of which recirculates southwards with the Canary Current (−214 ± 34 kmol s−1). The Azores Counter Current (−79 ± 36 kmol s−1) and the northward-flowing Mediterranean Water advective branch (−31 ± 12 kmol s−1) comprise secondary Cant export routes. By means of Cant transport decomposition, we find horizontal circulation to represent 11% of the Cant storage rate, while overturning circulation is the main driver (48% of the Cant storage rate). Within the domain of this study, overturning circulation is a key mechanism by which Cant in the upper layer (0–500 dbar) is drawdown (74 ± 14 kmol s−1) to intermediate levels (500–2000 dbar), and entrained (37 ± 7 kmol s−1) into the Mediterranean Outflow Water to form Mediterranean Water. This newly formed water mass partly exports Cant to the North Atlantic at a rate of −39 ± 9 kmol s−1 and partly contributes to the Cant storage in the North-East Atlantic (with up to 0.015 ± 0.006 Pg-C yr−1). Closing the Cant budget, 40% of the Cant storage in the North-East Atlantic is attributable to anthropogenic CO2 uptake from the atmosphere (21 ± 10 kmol s−1)

Physico-Chemical Characterization of Methanolic Mixtures of Cholinium Dihydrogen Phosphate-Based DES

[Abstract] The biocompatibility of three deep eutectic solvents based on cholinium dihydrogen phosphate for their use in lipase-catalyzed reactions was recently demonstrated, so the possible application as cosolvents with methanol in transesterification processes demands an exhaustive characterization of the physical properties. Thus, in this work binary and ternary deep eutectic solvents composed of the abovementioned salt as hydrogen bond acceptor and ethyleneglycol and/or glycerol as hydrogen bond donors were synthesized and mixed with methanol. The density, refractive index, electrical conductivity and dynamic viscosity were determined between 293.15 K and 323.15 K. The experimental data were correlated with different well-known equations and derived magnitudes like excess molar volumes, changes of refractive index on mixing and viscosity deviations were inferred in order to get an in-depth characterization of the studied mixtures with cholinium dihydrogen phosphate-based DES. The most intriguing data observed is the great peak measured for ionic conductivity at very high methanol concentration, which is difficult to explain even with the most recent theoretical models.The authors are grateful to Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for the financial support through the project RTI2018-094702-B-I00. The authors thank Xunta de Galicia and ERDF for funding through a postdoctoral grant (ED481D-2019/017) and Universidade de Vigo/CISUG for funding open access chargeXunta de Galicia; ED481D-2019/01

Corrigendum

Twenty microsatellites (SSRs) reveal two main origins ofvariability in grapevine cultivars from Northwestern SpainVitis 49 (2), 55-62 (2010

Twenty microsatellites (SSRs) reveal two main origins of variability in grapevine cultivars from Northwestern Spain

The grapevine germplasm bank in the “Estación de Viticultura y Enología de Galicia, Xunta de Galicia”, holds fifteen grapevine cultivars with a total of 98 accessions: ‘Brancellao’, ‘Albarello’, ‘Caíño Astureses’, ‘Caíño Bravo’, ‘Caíño Blanco’, ‘Caíño Gordo’, ‘Albarín Negro’, ‘Caíño Longo’, ‘Caíño Redondo’, ‘Castañal’, ‘Mencía’, ‘Merenzao’, ‘Mouratón’, ‘Sousón’, and ‘Verdello’. Cultivars ‘Syrah’ and ‘Pinot Noir’ were included as references. Two different lineages were detected, one originating in ‘Caíño Astureses’ and the other in ‘Merenzao’, synonymy of the French cultivar ‘Trousseau’. Cultivars from Northwestern Spain derived from both of these cultivars by hybridization and selected genotypes that had adapted to local climatic conditions and became fixed by cuttings, explaining the domestication process of these grapevine cultivars. Both lineages differed in allelic frequencies and were distributed differently in Northwestern Spain, the first lineage in the west and the second, related with the French cultivar ‘Trousseau’, in the east. ‘Caíño Astureses’ was the most frequent genotype related by hybridization, indicating the importance that this cultivar had in the origin of grapevines in Galicia. In addition a total of 13 different genotypes were identified. The identity of ‘Brancellao’ and ‘Albarello’ was confirmed by SSR-markers. Other two synonyms were ‘Caíño Astureses’ and ‘Caíño Bravo’, and ‘Caíño Gordo’ and ‘Albarín Negro’. ‘Caíño Redondo’ showed two different genotypes, one related to ‘Caíño Astureses’ and the other to ‘Merenzao’. Two cultivars included in the collection from EVEGA were not reported previously, ‘Verdello’ and ‘Caíño Longo’.

Corrigendum

Twenty microsatellites (SSRs) reveal two main origins ofvariability in grapevine cultivars from Northwestern SpainVitis 49 (2), 55-62 (2010