Social dimensions of sea turtle protection in Orissa, India: Case study of Gahirmatha (marine) Wildlife Sanctuary and the nesting beaches of Rushikulya and Debi

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Marine protected areas in India

This study on marine protected areas (MPAs) in India analyzes the legal and institutional framework for their establishment, and uses two case studies – the Gulf of Mannar National Park and Biosphere Reserve, and the Malvan (Marine) Wildlife Sanctuary – to document and understand the experiences and views of local communities, particularly fishing communities, with respect to the various aspects of design and implementation of protected areas. Stressing the need for fishing communities to be equal partners in all aspects of MPA design, implementation and monitoring, the study concludes with specific recommendations. (68 pp.

Fishing community issues in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve: a case study

The study focuses on fishing community issues in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR). It provides an overview of the legal framework, and design and implementation of fishing regulations, and documents and analyzes the experiences of local fishing communities. It explores ways in which livelihood concerns can be appropriately balanced with conservation. The report builds upon a study titled ‘Traditional Fishers in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve’ (DISHA 2008) and draws upon secondary review of literature and field visits conducted in September 2008. The report is structured in six parts. The first part provides the legal background and the second sketches the status of fisheries and fishing communities. The third part focuses on livelihood issues within the STR, and community concerns regarding implementation of tiger protection measures. Part four explores the initiatives undertaken in the domain of alternative livelihoods. Part five offers a conclusion. The final sixth part, recognizing the initiatives that have been taken to address alternative livelihood options, lists the study's recommendations. (PDF contains 32 pages

Genomics and regulatory functions of microRNAs and small silencing RNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2007.After leaf 151, two journal articles with separate numberings (leaves [69]-79, 565-577).Includes bibliographical references.Small RNA-mediated gene silencing is a mechanism widely employed by eukaryotes to repress many loci including some involved in critical developmental transitions. In plants, endogenous small RNAs consist of two broad classes, the ~21-nucleotide (nt) microRNAs (miRNAs) and the diverse ~22-24-nt trans-acting and heterochromatic short interfering RNAs (siRNAs). In order to more extensively characterize the small RNA landscape in plants and to identify undiscovered miRNAs and siRNAs, we performed high-throughput sequencing of small RNAs. We generated a large dataset consisting of >340,000 unique sequences expressed in several representative plant organs and developmental stages including wild-type seedlings, flowers, leaves and siliques. Application of enhanced miRNA annotation criteria gleaned from the data revealed the existence of at least 38 apparently recently-evolved miRNAs that were much less abundant in plant tissues than the 26 conserved miRNA families, and had a greater diversity of predicted target genes. We characterized several of these miRNAs more closely. Our results supported a homeostatic auto-regulatory loop for DCL1 via the intron-embedded miR838, and elaborated on the prevailing model of DCLl-mediated miRNA biogenesis with the finding that at least two miRNAs (miR839 and miR822) are processed exclusively by DCL4. Several microRNA target sites were experimentally validated, including the miR823-directed cleavage of the DNA cytosine methylation factor CHROMOMETHYLASE3. We also identified a trans-acting siRNA-generating locus which we called TAS4, and confirmed that miR828 triggers phased siRNA production by specifying targeted cleavage of TAS4 transcripts.(cont.) The evolving miRNAs described in this work may have lineage-specific roles, and their discovery potentiates future functional investigation of recently-emerged miRNAs and their evolution in Arabidopsis. Finally, we discovered thousands of endogenous candidate heterochromatic siRNAs of unknown function, the majority of which mapped to unannotated regions of the genome especially prone to generating siRNAs ("hotspots") or to repetitive or transposable elements. Our small RNA study suggests that a significant proportion of the genome is primed for the emergence of new miRNA families or for siRNA production, and expands the roles of these small RNAs in shaping regulatory circuits and transcriptome output.Ramya Rajagopalan.Ph.D

Marine Protected Areas: Country Case Studies on Policy, Governance and Institutional Issues

This document presents case studies of the policy, governance and institutional issues of marine protected areas (MPAs) in South America (Northeastern)-Brazil; India, Palau and Senegal. It is the first of four in a global series of case studies on MPAs. An initial volume provides a synthesis and analysis of all the studies. The set of global MPA case studies was designed to close a deficit in information on the governance of MPAs and spatial management tools, within both fisheries management and biodiversity conservation contexts. The studies examine governance opportunities in and constraints on the use of spatial management measures at the national level. They were also designed to inform implementation of the FAO Technical Guidelines on marine protected areas (MPAs) and fisheries, which were developed to provide information and guidance on the use of MPAs in the context of fisheries

A Two-Hit Trigger for siRNA Biogenesis in Plants

SummaryIn Arabidopsis, microRNA-directed cleavage can define one end of RNAs that then generate phased siRNAs. However, most miRNA-targeted RNAs do not spawn siRNAs, suggesting the existence of additional determinants within those that do. We find that in moss, phased siRNAs arise from regions flanked by dual miR390 cleavage sites. AtTAS3, an siRNA locus important for development and conserved among higher plants, also has dual miR390 complementary sites. Both sites bind miR390 in vitro and are functionally required in Arabidopsis, but cleavage is undetectable at the 5′ site—demonstrating that noncleavable sites can be functional in plants. Phased siRNAs also emanate from the bounded regions of every Arabidopsis gene with two known microRNA/siRNA complementary sites, but only rarely from genes with single sites. Therefore, two “hits,”—often, but not always, two cleavage events—constitute a conserved trigger for siRNA biogenesis, a finding with implications for recognition and silencing of aberrant RNA

Temporal and Spatial Regulation of the Four Transcription Start Sites of hetR from Anabaena sp. Strain PCC 7120

The filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 forms nitrogen-fixing heterocysts in a periodic pattern in response to combined-nitrogen limitation in the environment. The master regulator of heterocyst differentiation, HetR, is necessary for both pattern formation and commitment of approximately every 10th cell of a filament to differentiation into a heterocyst. In this study, the individual contributions of four transcriptional start points (tsps) in regulation of transcription of hetR were assessed, and the effects of the regulatory genes patS, hetN, and patA on transcription from the tsps were determined. The tsp located at nucleotide -271 relative to the translational start site (-271 tsp) was the most tightly regulated tsp, and fluorescence from a -271 tsp-green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter fusion was observed initially in groups of two cells and later in single cells arranged in a spatial pattern that mimicked the pattern of heterocysts that emerged. Conversely, the fluorescence from the -184 and -728/-696 tsp-GFP reporter fusions was uniform throughout filaments. Transcription from the -271 tsp was severely downregulated in a strain in which the patA gene, which encodes a positive regulator of differentiation, was deleted, and it was not detectable in strains overexpressing the genes encoding the negative regulators of differentiation, patS and hetN. In strains lacking the -271 tsp of hetR, pattern formation, the timing of commitment to differentiation, and the number of cells that differentiated into heterocysts were affected. Taken together, these results demonstrate the role of regulation of the -271 tsp of hetR in the genetic network that governs heterocyst pattern formation and differentiation