Heterologous microsatellite primers are informative for paca (Cuniculus paca), a large rodent with economic and ecological importance

Objective: This study was designed to facilitate genetic studies that would allow information on population structure and genetic diversity of natural or captive stocks of paca (Cuniculus paca), a species of ecological and socioeconomic importance, by testing cross-amplification of 20 heterologous microsatellite primer pairs developed for guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) and capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). Results: Those primers that showed the best amplification profile in blood samples were subsequently applied to scats and saliva samples, to evaluate their efficiency. Of the 13 microsatellite pairs that amplified in blood, one-third (32%) were successfully amplified in saliva and scat samples. This initial work demonstrates successful cross-amplification in paca providing a solid and promising foundation for future genetic studies with this species. The ability to quantify genetic diversity using noninvasive samples from free-ranging paca is essential to developing applied management strategies for this large neotropical rodent that is not only a prey favored by wide-ranging carnivores [e.g., jaguar (Panthera onca), puma (Puma concolor)], but is also a species targeted by illegal hunting and wildlife trade.Fil: Roldán Gallardo, Franco Fabián. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; ArgentinaFil: Dematteo, Karen. Wildcare Institute at the Saint Louis Zoo; Estados Unidos. Washington University in St. Louis; Estados UnidosFil: Rinas, Miguel Angel. Gobierno de la Provincia de Misiones. Ministerio de Ecología y Recursos Naturales Renovables; ArgentinaFil: Argüelles, Carina Francisca. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; Argentin

Assessment of genetic variability in captive capuchin monkeys (Primates: Cebidae)

Capuchin monkeys (genera Cebus and Sapajus) show a wide range distribution, from Honduras to Argentina. The aim of this work was to evaluate the genetic and phenotypic variability of captive specimens putatively belonging to S. cay (SCY) and S. nigritus (SNI) at their southernmost distribution limit. Forty-four individuals held in five captive centers from Argentina were analyzed based on external morphology, karyology and DNA sequences of mitochondrial control region (mtDNA-CR). Three morphotypes associated with their probable geographical origin in SCY and a single morphotype in SNI were found. For SCY we could associate each morphotype with the most frequent karyotype. SNI showed a single phenotype and a homogenous karyotype. Heterochromatin showed geographical patterns within species. A 515-bp mtDNA-CR fragment was sequenced, defining fourteen haplotypes at 59 polymorphic sites. A network constructed with our 14 haplotypes and other 77 from S. apella, S. macrocephalus, S. cay and S. nigritus from bibliography revealed some phylogeographic signals. Our SCY and SNI samples rendered four groups that differed in multiple mutational steps, with SCY being more similar to S. apella than to S. macrocephalus. Also, we identified two genetic divergent SCY groups: samples from NOA and from NEA with high mitochondrial diversity. Our results highlight the relevance of using complementary genetic tools throughout the distribution ranges of SCY and SNI for a better assessment of their diversity.Fil: Nieves, Mariela. 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 de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación de Biología Evolutiva; ArgentinaFil: Remis, Maria Isabel. 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 de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Sesarini, Carla Vanina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación de Biología Evolutiva; ArgentinaFil: Hassel, Diana Lucrecia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; ArgentinaFil: Argüelles, Carina Francisca. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; ArgentinaFil: Mudry, Marta Dolores. 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 de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación de Biología Evolutiva; Argentin

Looking inside non-coding chloroplast regions of <i>Calophyllum brasiliense</i> Calophyllaceae) to understand its southernmost population distribution

In recent years the growing interest in the conservation of Paraná River’s riparian forest led to the discovery of botanical novelties for Argentina. Populations of Calophyllum brasiliense Camb. (Calophyllaceae), a typically flooded lowlands species, were identified in the remaining hygrophile forest of northeast Argentina and southeast Paraguay. Deforestation and flooding, due to the construction of dams, have caused these populations to suffer intensive fragmentation. The aim of this work was to infer phylogeographic relationships among five populations of C. brasiliense, three from Argentina and two from Paraguay, which represent the southernmost points of species’ distribution. We also compared them with samples of a C. brasiliense population from Mexico, the northernmost edge of the species distribution. The chloroplast intergenic spacers petG-trnP, psbJ-petA and the trnL-UAA chloroplast intron were amplified from leaves’ DNA. A total of 2234 bp were characterized once the three regions were analyzed. The three chloroplast regions showed nucleotide differences, represented by InDels, inversions and a few SNPs; however, only the trnL intron was selected for further phylogeographic analysis due to the amount of the information obtained for all populations. Based on trnL intron, it was possible to estimate nucleotide and haplotype diversity (π = 0.00237 and Hd = 0.29600, respectively). Three haplotypes were identified, which allowed Argentinean, Paraguayan and Mexican populations to be differentiated. Based on the three haplotypes found, we discuss and propose a model for a C. brasiliense’ geographic dispersion and historical colonization routes, including an alternative new one to the well-known of the Paraná River.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoLaboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiv

Looking inside non-coding chloroplast regions of <i>Calophyllum brasiliense</i> Calophyllaceae) to understand its southernmost population distribution

In recent years the growing interest in the conservation of Paraná River’s riparian forest led to the discovery of botanical novelties for Argentina. Populations of Calophyllum brasiliense Camb. (Calophyllaceae), a typically flooded lowlands species, were identified in the remaining hygrophile forest of northeast Argentina and southeast Paraguay. Deforestation and flooding, due to the construction of dams, have caused these populations to suffer intensive fragmentation. The aim of this work was to infer phylogeographic relationships among five populations of C. brasiliense, three from Argentina and two from Paraguay, which represent the southernmost points of species’ distribution. We also compared them with samples of a C. brasiliense population from Mexico, the northernmost edge of the species distribution. The chloroplast intergenic spacers petG-trnP, psbJ-petA and the trnL-UAA chloroplast intron were amplified from leaves’ DNA. A total of 2234 bp were characterized once the three regions were analyzed. The three chloroplast regions showed nucleotide differences, represented by InDels, inversions and a few SNPs; however, only the trnL intron was selected for further phylogeographic analysis due to the amount of the information obtained for all populations. Based on trnL intron, it was possible to estimate nucleotide and haplotype diversity (π = 0.00237 and Hd = 0.29600, respectively). Three haplotypes were identified, which allowed Argentinean, Paraguayan and Mexican populations to be differentiated. Based on the three haplotypes found, we discuss and propose a model for a C. brasiliense’ geographic dispersion and historical colonization routes, including an alternative new one to the well-known of the Paraná River.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoLaboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiv

Assessment of genetic differentiation among relict populations of Calophyllum brasiliense Camb. (Calophyllaceae) from Northeast Argentina

Calophyllum brasiliense is a tropical tree that grows exclusively in riparian forest and in almost permanently flooded areas. In Argentina two small populations located within riparian forest from Misiones and Corrientes Provinces have been recently identified. These riparian communities have been extensively fragmented and are at risk of local extinction due to flooding caused by a nearby dam and other anthropogenic changes that threaten this habitat. Genetic characterization using information from 56 RAPD loci revealed low expected heterozygosity in both populations (He = 0.273). Most genetic variability was distributed within populations, and a significant ϕST statistic value (0.283, p<0.05) showed the existence of a large genetic differentiation between them. Furthermore, the SGS analysis revealed a nonrandom distribution of genotypes in Misiones? population. Although these populations could have belonged to a large and continuous forest in the past, the process of habitat fragmentation may have favoured the divergence between them; sufficient time has passed to cause their genetic differentiation. As these populations represent the new southernmost species distribution, the genetic information obtained in this study should be analyzed in conjunction with ecological evaluations in order to develop management strategies that can ensure its conservation.Laboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiv

Assessment of genetic differentiation among relict populations of Calophyllum brasiliense Camb. (Calophyllaceae) from Northeast Argentina

Calophyllum brasiliense is a tropical tree that grows exclusively in riparian forest and in almost permanently flooded areas. In Argentina two small populations located within riparian forest from Misiones and Corrientes Provinces have been recently identified. These riparian communities have been extensively fragmented and are at risk of local extinction due to flooding caused by a nearby dam and other anthropogenic changes that threaten this habitat. Genetic characterization using information from 56 RAPD loci revealed low expected heterozygosity in both populations (He = 0.273). Most genetic variability was distributed within populations, and a significant ϕST statistic value (0.283, p<0.05) showed the existence of a large genetic differentiation between them. Furthermore, the SGS analysis revealed a nonrandom distribution of genotypes in Misiones? population. Although these populations could have belonged to a large and continuous forest in the past, the process of habitat fragmentation may have favoured the divergence between them; sufficient time has passed to cause their genetic differentiation. As these populations represent the new southernmost species distribution, the genetic information obtained in this study should be analyzed in conjunction with ecological evaluations in order to develop management strategies that can ensure its conservation.Laboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiv

Interferon-γ and IL-10 release assay for patients with ocular toxoplasmosis

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with ocular toxoplasmosis were challenged with total antigens from Toxoplasma gondii lysate (TATL) in a cytokine release assay (CRA), run during the inactive period of the disease. Increased interferon gamma (IFN-γ) levels were detected after PBMC stimulation with either ME49 reference strain (P = 0.0015) or local TgCkAr-11-9 isolate (P = 0.0012), as compared with those recorded under basal conditions. TATL from TgCkAr11-9 isolate induced a higher release of IFN-γ than ME49 strain in CRA from all tested patients (P = 0.02). The median value of IFN-γ release on TgCkAr-11-9 stimulation (26.03 pg/mL) allowed the classification of patients into high- or low-/non-IFN-γ releasers. Clinical correlations were established with both groups. The results obtained in this study suggest the need to include local strains when performing CRA with TATL.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Fine-scale genomic analyses of admixed individuals reveal unrecognized genetic ancestry components in Argentina

Similarly to other populations across the Americas, Argentinean populations trace back their genetic ancestry into African, European and Native American ancestors, reflecting a complex demographic history with multiple migration and admixture events in pre- and post-colonial times. However, little is known about the sub-continental origins of these three main ancestries. We present new high-throughput genotyping data for 87 admixed individuals across Argentina. This data was combined to previously published data for admixed individuals in the region and then compared to different reference panels specifically built to perform population structure analyses at a sub-continental level. Concerning the Native American ancestry, we could identify four Native American components segregating in modern Argentinean populations. Three of them are also found in modern South American populations and are specifically represented in Central Andes, Central Chile/Patagonia, and Subtropical and Tropical Forests geographic areas. The fourth component might be specific to the Central Western region of Argentina, and it is not well represented in any genomic data from the literature. As for the European and African ancestries, we confirmed previous results about origins from Southern Europe, Western and Central Western Africa, and we provide evidences for the presence of Northern European and Eastern African ancestries.Fil: Luisi, Pierre. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: García, Angelina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Berros, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Motti, Josefina María Brenda. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de La Salud; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Demarchi, Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Alfaro Gómez, Emma Laura. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Aquilano, Eliana Anahi. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Argüelles, Carina Francisca. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; ArgentinaFil: Avena, Sergio Alejandro. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bailliet, Graciela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Beltramo, Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Bravi, Claudio Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Cuello, Mariela Vanesa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Dejean, Cristina Beatriz. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Dipierri, Jose Edgardo. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy; ArgentinaFil: Jurado Medina, Laura Smeldy. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Lanata, Jose Luis. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Muzzio, Marina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Parolin, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Pauro, Maia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Paz Sepúlveda, Paula Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez Golpe, Daniela Carmen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Santos, María Rita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Schwab, Marisol Elisabet. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Silvero, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Zubrzycki, Jeremías Enrique. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ramallo, Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Dopazo, Hernán Javier. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Evaluation of cold response in Ilex paraguariensis

Ilex paraguariensis, also known as &lsquo;Yerba mate&rsquo;, occurs naturally in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay and is also grown in these countries with different intensities. Leaves and branches of this plant are used in the preparation of a stimulant beverage that beside social importance has notorious health impact. However, the cultivated herbs present low productivity, due to deficiencies in cultivation and harvesting techniques, as well as due to the abiotic stresses that this species is subject to. The discovery and characterization of cold response mechanisms in plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, began research in order to unravel the physiological and molecular mechanisms in response to cold in other plant species. In this work, we studied the physiological response observed in Ilex paraguariensis plants submitted to low temperatures (0&deg;C), with or without a pre-moderate acclimatization treatment period of (8&deg;C). Our results suggest the existence of an acclimation response in Ilex paraguariensis, similar to that described in other species of the same temperature

Screening chloroplast regions in Calophyllum brasiliense (Calophyllaceae) for suitability for population genetic analyses

The uniparental inheritance and conserved structure of the chloroplast genome among many angiosperms makes it suitable for constructing gene lineages and inferring population histories based on these relationships. However, the analysis of a single chloroplast region to solve population issues has not yielded the desired amount of variability due to the low mutation rate. Therefore, it is necessary to screen and carefully analyze chloroplast intergenic or intronic regions to select the most appropriate for studying the genetic variability in the chloroplast genome of a particular taxon. In this context, the aim of this work was to characterize 8 regions in Calophyllum brasiliense using 11 selected primer pairs and to evaluate their usefulness for phylogeographic analysis. Intergenic spacers petA-psbJ, petG-trnP and rpl32-trnL and the trnL intron demonstrated potentially informative sites. The combination of these 4 regions will allow the analysis of genetic population structure and the integration of historical aspects to inform strategies for conserving C. brasiliense, especially for highly impacted populations and those at risk of local extinction.Laboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiv