Correction to: Body size and genetic variation in the White-tipped Plantcutter (Phytotoma rutila: Cotingidae) suggest ecological divergence across the Chaco-Andes dry forest belt

In the original publication of the article, there is a typo at the base text of Table 3 which is mentioned as “** robust result when critical c/h2 < 2 [following Brommer (2011)]”. However, the correct text should be “** robust result when critical c/h2 < 0.2 [following Brommer (2011)]”. The original article has been corrected.Fil: Rodríguez Cajarville, María José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Calderón, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Tubaro, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Cabanne, Gustavo Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Effects of Pleistocene climate changes on species ranges and evolutionary processes in the Neotropical Atlantic Forest

The effects of global glaciations on the distribution of organisms is an essential element of many diversification models. However, the empirical evidence supporting this idea is mixed, in particular with respect to explaining tropical forest evolution. In the present study, we evaluated the impacts of range shifts associated with Pleistocene global glacial cycles on the evolution of tropical forests. In particular, we tested the predictions: (1) that population genetic structure increases with fragmentation variation between the present and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and also (2) with geographical range instability; and (3) that genetic diversity increases with range stability and (4) decreases with fragmentation variation between periods. To address our predictions, we studied population genetic structures and modelled present and past distributions of 15 Atlantic Forest (AF) endemic birds. Afterwards, we evaluated the relationship of population genetic parameters with metrics of species range shifts between the present and the LGM. We found that geographical ranges of AF birds changed in concert with Pleistocene glacial cycles but, unexpectedly, our findings suggest the novel idea that ranges during glacial maxima were slightly larger on average, as well as equally fragmented and displaced from the interglacial ranges. Our findings suggest that range shifts over the late Pleistocene impacted on the diversification of forest organisms, although they did not show that those range shifts had a strong effect. We found that a combination of fragmentation variation across time, small current range size, and range stability increased population genetic structure. However, neither fragmentation, nor range stability affected genetic diversity. Our study showed that evolutionary responses to range shifts across AF birds have a high variance, which could explain the mixed support given by single-species studies to the action of Pleistocene range shifts on population evolution.Fil: Cabanne, Gustavo Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Calderón, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Trujillo Arias, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Flores, Pamela. Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento; ArgentinaFil: Pessoa, Rodrigo. Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros; BrasilFil: d'Horta, Fernando M.. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Miyaki, Cristina Y.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasi

Genomic variation and clone genotyping in Vitis vinifera L. Malbec

Somatic mutations are a major force introducing novel genetic variation; this role becomes enhanced in systems lacking of sexual reproduction. The later is the case of grapevines used in the wine industry. Even though clonal propagation is a normal practice in this industry, a remarkable phenotypic variation has been reported at the intra-cultivar level. However, less is known about the genetic variability among clones. Malbec is the main cultivar for the Argentinean viticulture, showing a notorious phenotypic variation on many traits of technological interest, for example the biochemical composition of berries. Therefore, it turns relevant to develop a formal protocol to discriminate among clones exhibiting different properties. Here we performed a genomic analysis in order to test if the genetic variability is in agreement with the phenotypic variability, and also to develop a genetic-based protocol for clones? discrimination. For this aim we obtained Illumina reads at a 35x depth for four different Malbec clones (MB53, MB59, Cot143 and Cot225). Bioinformatic tools were employed to align these reads to the Pinot noir reference genome (PN40024) and to perform variant calling analysis for single nucleotide variants (SNVs) discovery. Afterwards, strict quality and frequency filters were applied to obtain a set of reliable SNVs. We discovered 2 million of shared SNVs (i.e. all clones shared the same allele); these variants allow distinguishing Malbec from the reference genome. On the other hand, we identified 458 non-shared SNVs (i.e. at least one of the clones has the same allele than the reference); these were of particular interest to us because they allow for clone discrimination. From the latter set we picked 48 SNVs to validate them through Sanger sequencing. After validation these same 48 SNVs were employ to build a chip for the high throughput genotyping platform FLUIDIGM. We genotyped 221 plants, including clones of known origin as well as plants belonging to five different mass selections. We were able to classify all genotyped plants in 10 different haplo-groups; showing that with a small but informative number of SNVs it is possible to discriminate among clones of the same cultivar in an efficient manner.Fil: Calderón, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Mauri Panadero, Nuria. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y el Vino; EspañaFil: Muñoz, Claudio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Bree, Laura. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y el Vino; EspañaFil: Carbonell Bejerano, Pablo. No especifíca;Fil: Royo, Carolina. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y el Vino; EspañaFil: Sola, Cristobal. No especifíca;Fil: Martínez Zapater, José M.. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y el Vino; EspañaFil: Lijavetzky, Diego Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina63rd Italian Society of Agricultural Genetics Annual CongressNapoliItaliaItalian Society of Agricultural Genetic

Clonal propagation history shapes the intra-cultivar genetic diversity in Malbec grapevines

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars are clonally propagated to preserve their varietal 26 attributes. However, novel genetic variation still accumulates due to somatic mutations. Aiming 27 to study the potential impact of clonal propagation history on grapevines intra-cultivar genetic 28 diversity, we have focused on ‘Malbec’. This cultivar is appreciated for red wines elaboration, 29 it was originated in Southwestern France and introduced into Argentina during the 1850s. Here, 30 we generated whole-genome resequencing data for four ‘Malbec’ clones with different 31 historical backgrounds. A stringent variant calling procedure was established to identify reliable 32 clonal polymorphisms, additionally corroborated by Sanger sequencing. This analysis retrieved 33 941 single nucleotide variants (SNVs), occurring among the analyzed clones. Based on a set of 34 validated SNVs, a genotyping experiment was custom-designed to survey ‘Malbec’ genetic 35 diversity. We successfully genotyped 214 samples and identified 14 different clonal genotypes, 36 that clustered into two genetically divergent groups. Group-Ar was driven by clones with a long 37 history of clonal propagation in Argentina, while Group-Fr was driven by clones that have 38 longer remained in Europe. Findings show the ability of such approaches for clonal genotypes 39 identification in grapevines. In particular, we provide evidence on how human actions may have 40 shaped ‘Malbec’ extant genetic diversity pattern.Fil: Calderón, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Mauri, Nuria. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Muñoz, Claudio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Carbonell Bejerano, Pablo. Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing; AlemaniaFil: Bree, Laura. No especifíca;Fil: Sola, Cristobal. No especifíca;Fil: Gómez Talquenca, Sebastián. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Royo, Carolina. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Ibañez, Javier. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Martinez-Zapater, José Miguel. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Lijavetzky, Diego Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentin

Whole genome resequencing and custom genotyping unveil clonal lineages in ‘Malbec’ grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.)

Grapevine cultivars are clonally propagated to preserve their varietal attributes. However, genetic variations accumulate due to the occurrence of somatic mutations. This process is anthropically influenced through plant transportation, clonal propagation and selection. Malbec is a cultivar that is well-appreciated for the elaboration of red wine. It originated in Southwestern France and was introduced in Argentina during the 1850s. In order to study the clonal genetic diversity of Malbec grapevines, we generated whole-genome resequencing data for four accessions with different clonal propagation records. A stringent variant calling procedure was established to identify reliable polymorphisms among the analyzed accessions. The latter procedure retrieved 941 single nucleotide variants (SNVs). A reduced set of the detected SNVs was corroborated through Sanger sequencing, and employed to custom-design a genotyping experiment. We successfully genotyped 214 Malbec accessions using 41 SNVs, and identified 14 genotypes that clustered in two genetically divergent clonal lineages. These lineages were associated with the time span of clonal propagation of the analyzed accessions in Argentina and Europe. Our results show the usefulness of this approach for the study of the scarce intra-cultivar genetic diversity in grapevines. We also provide evidence on how human actions might have driven the accumulation of different somatic mutations, ultimately shaping the Malbec genetic diversity pattern.Fil: Calderón, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Mauri Panadero, Nuria. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Muñoz, Claudio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Carbonell Bejerano, Pablo. Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology; AlemaniaFil: Bree, Laura. No especifíca;Fil: Bergamin, Daniel. No especifíca;Fil: Sola, Cristobal. No especifíca;Fil: Gómez Talquenca, Sebastián. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Royo, Carolina. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Ibáñez, Javier. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Martínez Zapater, José Miguel. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Lijavetzky, Diego Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentin

A completely phased diploid genome assembly for "Malbec" cultivar (Vitis vinifera L.)

Most grapevine cultivars originated from the outcrossing of two genetically diverse parents, and are clonally propagated to preserve phenotypes of productive interest. Hence, cultivars are first filial generations (F1) with highly heterozygous diploid genomes, that turn challenging to assemble. "Malbec" is the main cultivar for the Argentine wine industry and it originated in France, from the outcrossing of Magdeleine Noir des Charentes and Prunelard cultivars. Based on that mother-father-offspring relationship, here we followed the algorithm implemented in the software CanuTrio to produce a phased assembly of Malbec genome. For this aim, parental cultivars? Illumina short-reads were used to sort ?Malbec? PacBio long-reads into its haploid complements, to be assembled separately. Post- assembly, bioinformatic procedures were employed to reduce the number of duplicated regions and perform sequence error corrections (using Malbec Illumina short-reads). We obtained two highly complete and contiguous haploid assemblies for Malbec, Haplotype- Prunelard (482.4 Mb size; contig N50=7.7 Mb) and Haplotype-Magdeleine (479.4 Mb size; contig N50=6.6 Mb), with 96.1 and 95.8% of BUSCO genes, respectively. We tested for the composition of both haplophases with the tool Merqury, and observed 15% of both assemblies affected by structural variations, along with 3.2 million SNPs and 0.6 million InDels. Our results indicate that this is a valid approach to assemble highly heterozygous and complex diploid genomes in a completely-phased way.Fil: Calderón, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Carbonell Bejerano, P.. Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology; AlemaniaFil: Mauri, N. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino; EspañaFil: Muñoz, Claudio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Bree, Laura. No especifíca;Fil: Sola, C. No especifíca;Fil: Bergamin, D. No especifíca;Fil: Gómez Talquenca, Sebastián. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, J. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino; EspañaFil: Martinez-Zapater, JM. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino; EspañaFil: Lijavetzky, Diego Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaXVIII Congreso Latinoamericano de Genética; LIV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad de Genética de Chile; XLIX Congreso Argentino de Genética; VIII Congreso de la Sociedad Uruguaya de Genética; I Congreso Paraguayo de Genética y V Congreso Latinoamericano de Genética HumanaChileSociedad Argentina de Genétic

Untangling the Hypogeococcus pungens species complex (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) for Argentina, Australia, and Puerto Rico based on host plant associations and genetic evidence

Hypogeococcus pungens, a mealybug native of southern South America, is devastating native cacti in Puerto Rico and threatening cactus diversity in the Caribbean, and potentially in Central and North America. The taxonomic status of H. pungens is controversial since it has been reported feeding not only on Cactaceae but also on other plant families throughout its distribution range. However, in Australia, where the species had been exported from Argentina to control weedy American cacti, it was never found on host plants other than Cactaceae. These conflicting pieces of evidence not only cast doubt on the species identity that invaded Puerto Rico, but also have a negative impact on the search for natural enemies to be used in biological control programs against this pest. Here we present reproductive incompatibility and phylogenetic evidences that give support to the hypothesis that H. pungens is a species complex in which divergence appears to be driven by the host plants. The nuclear EF1a and 18S and the mitochondrial COI genes were used as markers to evaluate the phylogenetic relationships among H. pungens populations collected in Argentina, Australia and Puerto Rico feeding on Cactaceae and/or Amaranthaceae. Additionally, we conducted reciprocal crosses between mealybugs from both hosts. Species delimitation analysis revealed two well-supported putative species within H. pungens, one including mealybugs feeding on Amaranthaceae (H. pungens sensu stricto), and a new undescribed species using Cactaceae as hosts. Additionally, we found asymmetric reproductive incompatibility between these putative species suggesting recent reproductive isolation. The Bayesian species delimitation also suggested that the Australian mealybug population may PLOS ONE derive from another undescribed species. Overall, the patterns of genetic differentiation may be interpreted as the result of recent speciation events prompted by host plant shifts. Finally, the finding of a single haplotype in the Puerto Rico population suggests only one invasive event. We still need to identify the geographical origin of the pest in order to enable the use of biological control to reduce the threat to cacti diversity in the Caribbean.Fil: Poveda Martínez, Daniel Alexander. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad del Quindío; Colombia. Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas; ArgentinaFil: Aguirre, María Belén. Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Logarzo, Guillermo Alejandro. Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas; ArgentinaFil: Calderón, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: de la Colina, María Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Hight, Stephen. United States Department of Agriculture; Estados UnidosFil: Triapitsyn, Serguei V.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Diaz Soltero, Hilda. United States Department of Agriculture; Estados UnidosFil: Hasson, Esteban Ruben. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

MLH1-focus mapping in birds shows equal recombination between sexes and diversity of crossover patterns

Using immunolocalization of the mismatch-repair protein MLH1 in oocytes and spermatocytes of the Japanese quail and the zebra finch, we estimated the average amount of recombination in each sex of both species. In each case the number of MLH1 foci is statistically equivalent in males and females and the resulting sex-averaged map lengths are 2800 cM in the Japanese quail and 2275 cM in the zebra finch. In the Japanese quail the MLH1 foci are regularly distributed along the macrobivalents and recombination rates per Mb pair are somewhat lower compared to the chicken. In the zebra finch the MLH1 foci on the macrobivalents are substantially reduced in number relative to the Japanese quail and they show remarkable localization in both sexes. It is proposed that the lack of sex-dependent differences in recombination might be an extended feature among birds and that the different recombination patterns observed here reflect different controls of crossing over in spite of similarities regarding karyotypic asymmetry and DNA content. We discussed possible causes of the differences between birds and mammals, which show sex-dependent recombination differences.Fil: Calderón, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología. Instituto de Investigaciones en Reproducción; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pigozzi, Maria Ines. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología. Instituto de Investigaciones en Reproducción; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin