Phylogenetic relationships among basal-most arthrodontous mosses with special emphasis on the evolutionary significance of the Funariineae

The classification of the Bryopsida (mosses) has been based primarily on the variation of sporophytic characters i.e., architectural features of the peristome teeth that line the capsule mouth. Five arthrodontous peristome types have been recognized. Whether peristome types define natural groups and how they are evolutionary related has, however, remained unclear. Nucleotide sequence data from one nuclear and two chloroplast loci are generated and compiled to test two contrasting hypotheses regarding the ancestral peristome type in the Arthrodonteae. The genomic data partitions are incongruent with regard to the phylogenetic signal they carry. All phylogenetic analyses converge toward the polyphyly of the Funariineae and the Funariaceae. The Funariaceae are defined by the loss of a codon in the rps4 gene. Goniomitrium acuminatum, the type of the genus, lacks this deletion, and is always resolved within the Haplolepideae

Global patterns of moss diversity: taxonomic and molecular inferences

Taxonomic and molecular data were utilized to test the hypothesis that moss diversity is greatest near the equator. Species richness estimates from 86 taxonomic checklists representing global moss diversity do not support the hypothesis that, in general, mosses are more species-rich in the tropics than at higher latitudes

Phylogeny, character evolution, and biogeography of the gondwanic moss family Hypopterygiaceae (Bryophyta)

Phylogenetic relationships among the seven genera of the Hypopterygiaceae, represented by 14 of the 21 species recognized in the family, were reconstructed based on variation in nucleotide sequences of six nuclear, mitochondrial, and plastid loci

Powdery mildew of Vitis: Papillae (wall appositions) as a host response to infection

Powdery mildew, caused by Uncinula necator (ScHW.) BURR., of grapevines, as exemplified by cv. Rosette, induces papillae (wall appositions) inside periclinal cell walls. Papillae occur in epidermal and subepidermal cells of leaves, petioles, cluster rachises and green shoots. Aniline blue fluorescence tests showed the papillae to be composed of callose (polysaccharides). Ultrastructurally, they are characterized by vesicles in the electron-dense material.L'oïdium de la vigne: Papillae (appositions du paroi) comme un répons de l'hôte au infection L'oïdium, provoqué par Uncinula necator (ScHW.) BURR., de la vigne, par l'exemple du cultivar Rosette, produit papillae (appositions du paroi) en dedans des parois periclinales des cellules. On a vu les papillae dans des cellules épidermiques et subépidermiques des feuilles, des pétioles, des rafles et des rameaux verts. La fluorescence avec bleu d'aniline a démontré que les papillae consistent en callose (polysaccharides). Au microscope élect ronique à transmission, elles sont sombreuses aux électrons et elles se composent de vésicules

Deep sequencing of Ptilidium (Ptilidiaceae) suggests evolutionary stasis in liverwort plastid genome structure

Background and aims – Organellar genome sampling is patchy for non-vascular groups, with the earliest land plants poorly represented; currently only two liverworts, two mosses and one hornwort have sequenced, annotated plastid genomes. This is in part due to methodological difficulties that have hampered attempts to generate plastid genome data from liverworts. In this paper we present a method that overcomes some of the inherent difficulties by circumventing the need for plastid enrichment, but that also provides other valuable information from nuclear and mitochondrial regions including sequences from loci that may be phylogenetically useful, and potential population-level markers such as single nucleotide polymorphisms and microsatellites. Methods – A shotgun library developed from total genomic liverwort DNA was subjected to high-throughput pyrosequencing using the Roche 454 platform. Plastid reads were bioinformatically identified, assembled and annotated. To maximize usage of the vast number of reads generated using 454 sequencing technology, combined nuclear, mitochondrial and plastid contigs were also screened for microsatellite markers, and presumed nuclear contigs were scanned for protein domains. Key Results – This is the first plastid genome to be assembled for a leafy liverwort (i.e. Ptilidium) and also the first such genome to be sequenced using next generation technology for any bryophyte. The 119,007 base long plastid genome of Ptilidium pulcherrimum contains 88 protein-coding genes, four rRNAs and thirty tRNAs. The Inverted Repeat occurs between trn V-GAC and trn N-GUU. Functional copies of the two plastid-encoded sulphate import protein-coding genes (cysA and cysT) are absent, although pseudogenes are present in the same position that the functional genes occupy in Marchantia. Microsatellites: 197 novel potential primer pairs for P. pulcherrimum were found. Presumed nuclear Ptilidium contigs gave multiple hits to Class I transposable elements. Conclusions – The arrangement of genes is identical to the plastid of the complex thalloid liverwort Marchantia, suggesting that structural rearrangements are rare in hepatics. This dataset represents a valuable resource for novel phylogenetic and population level marker design in hepatics

Phylogenetic significance of the rpoA loss in the chloroplast genome of mosses

A recent survey of arthrodontous mosses revealed that their chloroplast genome lacks the gene encoding the alpha subunit of the RNA polymerase (i.e., rpoA), and that at least in Physcomitrella patens the gene has been transferred to the nuclear genome. Subsequently the gene was recorded from the cytoplasmic genome in Takakia and Sphagnum. Here we extend the survey to representatives of all major lineages of mosses to determine when in the evolutionary history of the Bryophyta the loss took place. Amplifications using primers annealing to the flanking regions of the rpoA gene yield a product that contains the gene in Takakia, Sphagnum, Andreaea, Oedipodium, Polytrichaceae, and Buxbaumia. The gene is lacking in all arthrodontous mosses, including Diphyscium but also in both species of Tetraphis. Reconstruction of the transfer on the phylogeny of mosses suggests (a) that the rpoA gene was lost twice and (b) that the gene was lost after the divergence of Buxbaumiidae and prior to the divergence of Diphyscium from the remaining Bryopsida

Maximum-likelihood models for mapping genetic markers showing segregation distortion : 1. Backcross populations

Une approche du maximum de vraisemblance est utilisée pour estimer les fréquences de recombinaison entre des marqueurs présentant des distorsions de ségrégation dans des populations backcross. L'hypothèse faite ici est que les distorsions sont induites par des différences de viabilité entre gamètes ou zygotes dues à la présence d'un ou plusieurs allèles contre-sélectionnés. Nous montrons que l'estimateur de Bailey (1949) reste convergent donc efficace sous des conditions plus générales que celles définies par son auteur. Cet estimateur devrait donc être utilisé à la place de l'estimateur classique du maximum de vraisemblance. La question de la détection d'une liaison peut être affectée par les distorsions de ségrégation. (Résumé d'auteur

Second-trimester amniotic fluid proteins changes in subsequent spontaneous preterm birth

IntroductionThe global sequence of the pathogenesis of preterm labor remains unclear. This study aimed to compare amniotic fluid concentrations of extracellular matrix-related proteins (procollagen, osteopontin and IL-33), and of cytokines (IL-19, IL-6, IL-20, TNF alpha, TGF beta, and IL-1 beta) in asymptomatic women with and without subsequent spontaneous preterm delivery. Material and methodsWe used amniotic fluid samples of singleton pregnancy, collected by amniocentesis between 16 and 20 weeks' gestation, without stigmata of infection (i.e., all amniotic fluid samples were tested with broad-range 16 S rDNA PCR to distinguish samples with evidence of past bacterial infection from sterile ones), during a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to perform a nested case-control laboratory study. Cases were women with a spontaneous delivery before 37 weeks of gestation (preterm group). Controls were women who gave birth at or after 39 weeks (full term group). Amniotic fluid concentrations of the extracellular matrix-related proteins and cytokines measured by immunoassays were compared for two study groups. : NCT00718705. ResultsBetween July 2008 and July 2011, in 12 maternal-fetal medicine centers in France, 166 women with available PCR-negative amniotic fluid samples were retained for the analysis. Concentrations of procollagen, osteopontin, IL-19, IL-6, IL-20, IL-33, TNF alpha, TGF beta, and IL-1 beta were compared between the 37 who gave birth preterm and the 129 women with full-term delivery. Amniotic fluid levels of procollagen, osteopontin, IL-19, IL-33, and TNF alpha were significantly higher in the preterm than the full-term group. IL-6, IL-20, TGF beta, and IL-1 beta levels did not differ between the groups. ConclusionsIn amniotic fluid 16 S rDNA PCR negative samples obtained during second-trimester amniocentesis, extracellular matrix-related protein concentrations (procollagen, osteopontin and IL-33), together with IL-19 and TNF alpha, were observed higher at this time in cases of later spontaneous preterm birth

Evolution of the major moss lineages: phylogenetic analyses based on multiple gene sequences and morphology

Evolutionary relationships of mosses are still poorly understood, with family, order, and subclass circumscription and relationships remaining especially obscure