Early experience and quality of life in SBRT prostate cancer boost of 9 Gy in a phase II trial

Purpose or ObjectiveExtracranial stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) allows delivering high doses per fraction with high accuracy to the prostatic gland in a low number of fractions.Dose escalation in normofractionaded radiation prostate cancer trials showed an increased toxicity.In order to evaluate the feasibility and toxicity of a regimen of a single dose hypofractionated prostate stereotactic boost a phase II study was undertaken. Self-reported quality of life (QOL) measures were also obtained in order to better define the possible deleterious effect of treatment

White Paper 2: Origins, (Co)Evolution, Diversity & Synthesis Of Life

Publicado en Madrid, 185 p. ; 17 cm.How life appeared on Earth and how then it diversified into the different and currently existing forms of life are the unanswered questions that will be discussed this volume. These questions delve into the deep past of our planet, where biology intermingles with geology and chemistry, to explore the origin of life and understand its evolution, since “nothing makes sense in biology except in the light of evolution” (Dobzhansky, 1964). The eight challenges that compose this volume summarize our current knowledge and future research directions touching different aspects of the study of evolution, which can be considered a fundamental discipline of Life Science. The volume discusses recent theories on how the first molecules arouse, became organized and acquired their structure, enabling the first forms of life. It also attempts to explain how this life has changed over time, giving rise, from very similar molecular bases, to an immense biological diversity, and to understand what is the hylogenetic relationship among all the different life forms. The volume further analyzes human evolution, its relationship with the environment and its implications on human health and society. Closing the circle, the volume discusses the possibility of designing new biological machines, thus creating a cell prototype from its components and whether this knowledge can be applied to improve our ecosystem. With an effective coordination among its three main areas of knowledge, the CSIC can become an international benchmark for research in this field

Signature of an early genetic bottleneck in a population of Moroccan sardines (Sardina pilchardus)

Fishery assessment models meant to determine sustainability of commercial marine Wsh failed to predict recent stock collapses due to overexploitation. One Xaw of assessment models is that they strongly rely on catch and age-composition statistics, but largely ignore the genetic background of the studied populations. We examined population genetic structure of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) in the centraleastern and northeastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea to aid Wshery management of this heavily Wshed small pelagic species. We found that sardine has a striking mitochondrial control region, and sequenced a fragment of 387 bp of its 5 -end in 261 individuals collected oV the coasts of Morocco (Dakhla, Tantan, SaW, Larache, and Nador), Portugal (Quarteira), Spain (Pasajes, Barcelona), and Greece (Kavala). High levels of haplotypic diversity rendered a rather unresolved NJ phylogeny. The recovered tree had no phylogeographic structuring except for the clustering of 13 individuals of SaW. In contrast, individuals grouped together according to the presence or absence of a 13-bp insertion in the sequence. ST pairwise comparisons and molecular variance analyses supported genetic diVerentiation between the population of Pasajes (Bay of Biscay), and those of the Mediterranean Sea and Moroccan coast, with a contact zone around the Strait of Gibraltar. This result conWrms the existence of two subspecies, S. pilchardus pilchardus and S. pilchardus sardina that were previously identiWed based on meristics and morphometry. Mismatch distribution analysis showed that sardine populations are expanding since the Pleistocene. Surprisingly, the population of SaW showed strong and statistically signiWcant levels of genetic diVerentiation that could be related with isolation and genetic drift. Comparative analysis of the SaW population versus the rest including mismatch distributions, and a Bayesian skyline plot suggest that the SaW population likely underwent an early genetic bottleneck. The genetic singularity of the SaW population could have been responsible for the historical collapse of this sardine stock in the 1970s.This work received partial Wnancial support from AECI-MAE (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional-Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores) Project No 168/03/P to T.A. and R.Z. L.R. was supported by a Swiss Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (823A-061218) and E.G.G. by a MEC (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia) predoctoral grant.Peer reviewe

Effect of Taxon Sampling on Recovering the Phylogeny of Squamate Reptiles based on Complete Mitochondrial Genome and Nuclear Gene Sequence Data

11 páginas, 5 fiuras, 1 table et al..The complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial (mt) genomes of three species of squamate lizards: Blanus cinereus (Amphisbaenidae), Anguis fragilis (Anguidae), and Tarentola mauritanica (Geckkonidae) were determined anew. The deduced amino acid sequences of all 13 mt protein-coding genes were combined into a single data set and phylogenetic relationships among main squamate lineages were analyzed under maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI). Within Squamata, the monophyly of Iguanidae, Anguimorpha, Amphisbaenia, Gekkota, Serpentes, and Acrodonta received high statistical support with both methods. It is particularly striking that this is the first molecular analysis that recovers the monophyly of Scincomorpha (including Scincidae, Xantusiidae, Cordylidae, and Lacertidae), although it is only supported in the Bayesian analysis, and it is sensitive to changes in the outgroup (see below). Phylogenetic relationships among the main squamate lineages could not be resolved with ML but received strong support with BI (above 95%). The newly reconstructed phylogeny of squamates does not support the Iguania–Scleroglossa split. Acrodonta and Serpentes form a clade, which is the sister group of the remaining squamate lineages. Within these, Gekkota were the first branching out, followed by Amphisbaenia, and a clade including Anguimorpha as sister group of Scincomorpha + Iguanidae. The recovered topology differed substantially from previously reported hypotheses on squamate relationships, and the relative effect of using different outgroups, genes, and taxon samplings were explored. The sister group relationship of Serpentes + Acrodonta, and their relative basal position within Squamata could be due to a long-branch attraction artifact. Phylogenetic relationships among Scincomorpha, Amphisbaenia, and Anguimorpha were found to be rather unresolved. Future improving of squamate phylogenetic relationships would rely on finding snake and acrodont species with slower mt evolutionary rates, ensuring thorough taxon coverage of squamate diversity, and incorporating more nuclear genes with appropriate evolutionary rates.EMAwas funded by a CSIC-I3P postgrado fellowship. DSM was sponsored by a postdoctoral fellowship (MEC/Fulbright 2007-0448) of the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) of Spain. The study was partially funded by MEC under the projects CGL2004-04680-C10- 10/BOS to MGP and CGL2004-00401 to RZ and by Comunidad de Madrid under project GR/ AMB/0750/2004.Peer reviewe

Sistemática molecular de Metazoos III

Comunicación presentada en el XV Seminario de Genética de Poblaciones y Evolución, celebrado en Sigüenza del 9 al 12 de noviembre de 2004.Los avances en biología molecular permiten en la actualidad utilizar información genómica para el estudio de las relaciones filogenéticas. En particular nuestro grupo está interesado en la sistemática molecular de los grandes grupos de vertebrados utilizando genomas mitocondriales completos. Los proyectos actuales del grupo relacionados con este tema son: 1) filogenia de los peces del suborden Labroidei, 2) filogenia de los anfibios, 3) filogenia de Squamata y 4) posición filogenética del desmán. Además tenemos en marcha varios proyectos genómicos en moluscos.Peer reviewe

Origins, (Co)Evolution and Diversity of Life

Some of the mayor known unknowns of modern science deal with how lifeappeared on Earth and how from there it diversified into the different life forms present today. These questions delve into the deep past of our planet, where biology intermingles with geology and chemistry, to explore the origin of life. In addition, by learning how biological systems change over time, we can design novel biological machines based on this knowledge to fulfil unmet tasks.The main overarching theme addressed in this topic is evolution. Not because of much repeated is Theodosius Dobzhansky 1964’s statement less true: Nothing makes sense in biology except in the light of evolution. Understanding evolution will provide us with clues about the origin of life, and on the precise molecular mechanisms that operate in living beings and how they change in time. We will then be ready to attempt putting together these mechanisms in novel ways, paving the way for synthetic biology. Evolution is the single most overarching and one of the few, if not only, general principles in Biology.In this topic, we explore and discuss several aspects related to the study of evolution, as a fundamental and core discipline in Life Sciences, which must permeate different research areas in the coming years.Peer reviewe