Growth temperature and genetic variability of wing 
dimensions in Drosophila: opposite trends in two sibling 
species

Thirteen linear wing dimensions were measured in 10 isofemale lines of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans grown at seven constant temperatures from 12 to 31 °C. Within-line (environmental) variability, estimated by the within-line coefficient of variation (CVw), exhibited similar variation patterns in the two species, that is higher values at extreme (low or high) temperatures. The magnitude of variation was, however, greater in D. simulans, which appears to be more responsive to thermal change. A clear hyperbolic relationship between trait mean value and CVw was also observed in both species, arising from measurement errors which are relatively more pronounced on shorter traits. Genetic variability was analysed by considering both the genetic CV (CVg, evolvability) and isofemale line heritability (intraclass correlation). Both parameters provided independent information, as shown by a lack of correlation between them. Moreover, CVg was negatively correlated with trait mean value, while heritability showed a positive correlation. With respect to thermal environment, both parameters exhibited similar reaction patterns which contrasted the two species. Genetic variability in D. melanogaster followed a convex reaction norm, with higher values at extreme (high or low) temperatures, and this observation agrees with previous independent investigations. Surprisingly, D. simulans revealed an opposite pattern, with a maximum genetic variability in the middle of the range. Such data point to the danger of drawing general conclusions from the analysis of a single species.

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Intestinal Microbial Ecology and Fillet Metal Chemistry of Wild Grey Mullets Reflect the Variability of the Aquatic Environment in a Western Mediterranean Coastal Lagoon (Santa Giusta, Sardinia, Italy)

Water ◽

10.3390/w13060879 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 879

Author(s):

Rosanna Floris ◽

Gabriele Sanna ◽

Cecilia Teodora Satta ◽

Carlo Piga ◽

Francesco Sanna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intestinal Microbiota ◽

Environmental Variability ◽

Heterotrophic Bacteria ◽

Active Role ◽

Fish Muscle ◽

Mean Value ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Mean Values ◽

Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽

Grey Mullets

Fish populations play an active role in the maintenance of aquatic ecosystems biodiversity. Their intestinal microbiota and fillet chemistry depend on abiotic and biotic factors of the water environments that they inhabit. The present study investigated the grey mullets’ gut microbiota from a transitional aquatic ecosystem (Santa Giusta Lagoon, Sardinia, Italy) by a multidisciplinary approach which refers the results of (1) gut cultivable microbiota analyses (MA), (2) the trace metal assessment of fish muscle (TM), (3) the physico-chemical water monitoring (PC). MA detected the greatest number of total aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and coliforms in Autumn (mean values 1.3 × 105, 2.4 × 104, 1.1 × 104 cfu g−1, respectively) when the accumulated rain and mean values of nutrients (reactive phosphorous and silica) were the highest. Marine bacteria were more numerous in Summer (mean value 7.4 × 105 cfu g−1) when the highest mean values of water temperature and salinity were registered. The gut bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas spp. (64%), Aeromonas spp. (17%), Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense (10%), Providencia spp. (5%), Enterobacter ludwigii (2%) and Kocuria tytonicola (2%). TM showed that Ca, Na, B and Ni increased their concentrations in Winter while maxima of P, Zn, Cu and Fe were found in muscles of fish sampled in Summer. This study highlighted that the fish intestinal microbiota and metal composition of the fillet reflected the seasonal aquatic environmental variability.

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Test–Retest Reliability of the Mini-BESTest in People With Mild to Moderate Multiple Sclerosis

Physical Therapy ◽

10.1093/ptj/pzab045 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

A Wallin ◽

M Kierkegaard ◽

E Franzén ◽

S Johansson

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Measurement Errors ◽

Balance Control ◽

Intraclass Correlation ◽

Repeated Measurements ◽

Minimal Detectable Change ◽

Detectable Change ◽

Limits Of Agreement ◽

Retest Reliability ◽

Test Retest Reliability

Abstract Objective The mini-BESTest is a balance measure for assessment of the underlying physiological systems for balance control in adults. Evaluations of test–retest reliability of the mini-BESTest in larger samples of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are lacking. The purpose of this study was to investigate test–retest reliability of the mini-BESTest total and section sum scores and individual items in people with mild to moderate overall MS disability. Methods This study used a test–retest design in a movement laboratory setting. Fifty-four people with mild to moderate overall MS disability according to the Expanded Disability Status scale (EDSS) were included, with 28 in the mild subgroup (EDSS 2.0–3.5) and 26 in the moderate subgroup (EDSS 4.0–5.5). Test–retest reliability of the mini-BESTest was evaluated by repeated measurements taken 1 week apart. Reliability and measurement error were analyzed. Results Test–retest reliability for the total scores were considered good to excellent, with intraclass correlation coefficients of .88 for the whole sample, .83 for the mild MS subgroup, and .80 for the moderate MS subgroup. Measurement errors were small, with standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change of 1.3 and 3.5, respectively, in mild MS, and 1.7 and 4.7, respectively, in moderate MS. The limits of agreement were − 3.4 and 4.6. Test–retest reliability for the section scores were fair to good or excellent; weighted kappa values ranged from .62 to .83. All items but 1 showed fair to good or excellent test–retest reliability, and percentage agreement ranged from 61% to 100%. Conclusions The mini-BESTest demonstrated good to excellent test–retest reliability and small measurement errors and is recommended for use in people with mild to moderate MS. Impact Knowledge of limits of agreement and minimal detectable change contribute to interpretability of the mini-BESTest total score. The findings of this study enhance the clinical usefulness of the test for evaluation of balance control and for designing individually customized balance training with high precision and accuracy in people with MS.

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Evaluation and genetic analysis of common bean genotypes (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) at Dibatie and Mandura, Northwestern Ethiopia

Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Technology ◽

10.36630/jasft_21004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (5) ◽

pp. 82-90

Author(s):

Gezahegn Tefera ◽

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variability ◽

Common Bean ◽

Coefficient Of Variation ◽

Environmental Variability ◽

Genetic Constitution ◽

Genetic Advance ◽

Breeding Programs ◽

Days To Flowering ◽

Lattice Design ◽

Component Traits

Assessing and understanding the variations existing in crops due to genetic composition and environmental variability is very important in order to exploit the genetic constitution of crop plants. To this aim, variability measures such as phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) are commonly used. Heritability and genetic advance are major concerns for common bean to identify important traits for common bean genetic improvement. The field experiment was conducted at Mandura and Dibatie research substations working with sixteen genotypes of the common bean during 2017/2018 in lattice design with three replications to evaluate the performance of common bean genotypes and estimate the genetic variability. Heritability and genetic advance were estimated in relation to yield and its component traits for future breeding programs. Combined analysis of variance across locations revealed highly significant variations among genotypes for all traits under study. The PCV ranged from 3.36% for days to flowering to 15.91% for a number of pods per plant while the GCV value ranged from 0.75% for days to flowering to 13.74% for the number of pods per plant. Broad sense heritability values ranged from 5.00% for days to flowering to 84.61% for a hundred seed weight. Generally, the result of the study showed that significant genetic variability among tested genotypes and a simple selection for effective improvement of these traits. Keywords: common bean, genetic variability, genetic advance, heritability

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Analysis of Genetic Diversity in three Kazakh Sheep using 12 Microsatellites

International Journal of Engineering & Technology ◽

10.14419/ijet.v7i4.38.24336 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (4.38) ◽

pp. 122

Author(s):

Kairat Dossybayev ◽

Aizhan Mussayeva ◽

Bakytzhan Bekmanov ◽

Beibit Kulataev

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Genetic Variability ◽

Mean Value ◽

Fixation Index ◽

Merino Sheep ◽

Str Markers ◽

Sheep Breeds ◽

Str Loci ◽

High Level ◽

Two Populations

The genetic structure of three Kazakh sheep breeds was examined by using 12 microsatellite loci. A total of 144 alleles were detected from the 12 STR loci, with a mean value of 12.0. The highest allele diversity was found at the locus CSRD247 (16 alleles). PIC value showed that all studied STR markers are more informative and appropriate for genetic analysis of three Kazakh sheep populations. Beside of INRA006, all markers had high level of genetic variability. As Fixation index shows, the excess of the heterozygosity was observed only in loci MAF065. Obtained number of private alleles in Edilbai, Kazakh Arkhar Merino and Kazakh Fine-wool sheep were 25, 17 and 15 respectively. Genetic diversity was higher in Edilbai population than in other two populations. The genetic variability was lower in Kazakh Arkhar Merino sheep than in the Edilbai and Kazakh Fine-wool sheep breeds. The genetic distance was the largest between Edilbai and Kazakh Arkhar Merinos. Also, the moderate differentiation was observed between Edilbai and Kazakh Arkhar Merinos.

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A51 Genetic variability of small ruminant lentiviruses in sheep and goats from single-species flocks from Poland

Virus Evolution ◽

10.1093/ve/vez002.050 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Monika Olech ◽

Jacek Kuźmak

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Analysis ◽

Genetic Variability ◽

Phylogenetic Trees ◽

Small Ruminant ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Single Species ◽

Genetic Distances ◽

Sheep And Goats ◽

Viral Recombination ◽

Species Flocks

Abstract Previous phylogenetic analyses of small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) sequences found in Poland revealed the circulation of subtype A1 in both sheep and goats, subtypes B1 in goats, and subtypes B2, A12, and A13 in sheep only. This study aimed to analyze the genetic nature of SRLV circulating in sheep and goats from single-species flocks. In order to analyze the degree of genetic variability, the fragments of gag and env genes of 24 SRLV strains were amplified by PCR, cloned into plasmid vectors, sequenced, and consensus sequences were aligned to each other and to reference sequences available from GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using the Geneious tree-builder tool, and phylogenetic trees were constructed using Mr Bayes (using the general time reversible substitution model) within Geneious Pro 5.3. Pairwise genetic distances were calculated in MEGA 6. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strains were highly heterogeneous and represented ovine strains belonging to subtypes A12 and B2 and caprine strains grouped in subtypes B1, B2, A1, and A12. In addition, two novel subtypes, A16 and A17, were found in goats. The mean pairwise genetic distances of gag and env sequences of both clusters were above 15 per cent nucleotide divergence when compared to all other subtypes within group A, which is a criterion required to distinguish a new subtype. Additionally, the existence of two separated clusters was confirmed by high bootstrap values. Co-infections with strains belonging to different subtypes within A and B groups were detected in one sheep and four goats originating from four flocks. Since the co-infection with more than one lentivirus genotype offers an opportunity for viral recombination, the possible recombination events were tested based on RDP analysis. For all co-infected animals, no evidence of recombination was found within the gag gene; however, env sequences showed some recombination patterns in three samples. In conclusion, we have demonstrated extended genetic variability of SRLV in sheep and goats from Poland with the existence of co-infection and recombination events.

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Middle Subtalar Joint Facet Subluxation as a Marker of Collapsing Flatfoot Deformity: A Case-Control Study

Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics ◽

10.1177/2473011419s00158 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 2473011419S0015

Author(s):

Cesar de Cesar Netto ◽

Alexandre Leme Godoy-Santos ◽

Lauren Roberts ◽

Guilherme Honda Saito ◽

Francois Lintz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Subtalar Joint ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Progressive Collapse ◽

Interobserver Reliability ◽

Intraclass Correlation ◽

Case Control ◽

Mean Value ◽

Longitudinal Length ◽

Joint Incongruence ◽

Control Study

Category: Hindfoot Introduction/Purpose: Peritalar subluxation comprises part of the three-dimensional and complex distortion that occurs in patients with adult-acquired flatfoot deformity (AAFD) and is characterized by subluxation of the hindfoot through the triple joint complex. It is traditionally graded on weightbearing computed tomography (WBCT) coronal plane images, depending upon the degree of angulation and subluxation of the posterior facet of the subtalar joint. In this case-control study, we describe a new marker of peritalar subluxation represented by the amount of subluxation and joint incongruence of the middle facet of the subtalar joint. We hypothesized that the amount of joint subluxation and incongruence at the middle facet would be significantly increased in patients with AAFD when compared to controls. Methods: Case-control study, we included 30 patients with stage II AAFD (19 females/11 males), mean age 52.2 (range, 29 to 81) years, and 30 controls (18 females/12 males), mean age 49.3 (range, 28 to 83) years, that underwent WBCT as part of the evaluation of their foot condition. Age and gender were statistically similar in both groups. The amount of subluxation of the subtalar joint at the middle facet (% of uncoverage) and angle of joint incongruence, both measured at the midpoint of its longitudinal length, was measured in coronal WB CBCT images by two independent and blinded fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeons. A second set of measurements was performed after one month (wash-out period). Intra- and interobserver reliability were assessed by Pearson/Spearman’s and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), respectively. Comparison was performed using Paired Student T-Test or each pair Wilcoxon rank sum test. P-values lower than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: We found overall good to excellent intra- (range, 0.90-0.95) and interobserver reliability (range, 0.75-0.93) for the measurements. We found significantly increased subluxation of the subtalar joint at the middle facet in patients with AAFD, with a mean value for middle facet uncoverage of 45.3% (95% CI, 40.5% to 50.1%), when compared to 4.8% (95% CI, 0% to 9.6%) in controls (p<0.0001). Significant differences were also found for middle facet subtalar joint incongruence angle, with a mean value of 17.3 degrees (95% CI, 15.5 to 19.1) in AAFD patients and 0.3 degrees (95% CI, -1.5 to 2.1) in controls (p<0.0001). Conclusion: We described the use of the subtalar joint middle facet as a marker for peritalar subluxation in patients with AAFD. We found significant and marked differences in the percentage of joint uncoverage and incongruence when compared to controls. Hopefully, the use of the middle facet as an indicator for peritalar subluxation can potentially help in the early detection of high- risk AAFD patients for progressive collapse and development of sinus tarsi and subfibular impingement, as well as arthritic degeneration of the subtalar joint. Future longitudinal and prospective studies are needed.

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Habitat use, interspecific competition and phylogenetic history shape the evolution of claw and toepad morphology in Lesser Antillean anoles

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society ◽

10.1093/biolinnean/blz203 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 129 (3) ◽

pp. 630-643 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Michael L Yuan ◽

Catherine Jung ◽

Marvalee H Wake ◽

Ian J Wang

Keyword(s):

Interspecific Competition ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Functional Morphology ◽

Biotic Interactions ◽

Single Species ◽

Morphometric Data ◽

Opposite Pattern ◽

Geometric Morphometric ◽

Vegetation Use ◽

Selective Forces

Abstract Ecologically functional traits are the product of several, at times opposing, selective forces. Thus, ecomorphological patterns can be disrupted locally by biotic interactions, such as competition, and may not be consistent across lineages. Here, we studied the evolution of claws and toepads in relationship to macrohabitat (vegetation), use of structural microhabitat (perch height) and congeneric competition for two distantly related Lesser Antillean anole clades: the Anolis bimaculatus and Anolis roquet series. We collected univariate and geometric morphometric data from 254 individuals across 22 species to test the hypotheses that functional morphology should covary with both vegetation and perch height and that the presence of a competitor may disrupt such covariation. Our data showed predictable associations between morphology and macrohabitat on single-species islands but not when a congeneric competitor was present. The outcomes of competition differed between series, however. In the A. bimaculatus series, species with a sympatric congener diverged in claw and toepad traits consistent with functional predictions, whereas A. roquet series anoles showed either no association between habitat and morphology or the opposite pattern. Our results demonstrated that ecomorphological patterns across macrohabitats can be disrupted by competition-driven microhabitat partitioning and that specific morphological responses to similar ecological pressures can vary between lineages.

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Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cerebral Central Sulci: a Study of Monozygotic Twins

Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae twin research ◽

10.1017/s000156600000026x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 89-100 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

I. Bonan ◽

A.M. Argenti ◽

M. Duyme ◽

D. Hasboun ◽

A. Dorion ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intraclass Correlation ◽

Monozygotic Twins ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Mean Value ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Mr Images ◽

Central Sulcus ◽

Intraclass Correlation Coefficients ◽

Left Right Asymmetry ◽

The Brain

AbstractThe cerebral central sulci, seat of the sensorimotor cortex, vary anatomically in form, length and depth among individuals and present a left/right asymmetry. The purpose of this work was to measure central sulcus's lengths, at the surface and in-depth, in each hemisphere of monozygotic twins in order to evaluate the influence of environmental factors on the morphometry and asymmetry of this structure. A measurement technique on MR images of the brains using 3 D software was developed. Two operators applied this technique to measure central sulcus lengths at the surface of the brain and in-depth in each hemisphere. Besides the fact that the technique developed gave high Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) for the surface lengths (mean value 0.94), and slightly less high for the in-depth length (mean value 0.87), we found a weak (from 0.57 to 0.73 for raw data) but significant ICC between homologous sulci in pairs of twins. In addition, the ICC for asymmetry indices were not significant. Hence, if central sulcus morphometry is in part genetically influenced, these results show that nongenetic factors are nonetheless important in their development.

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Chromosomal Q-Heterochromatin and Atherosclerosis

Journal of Molecular Biology Research ◽

10.5539/jmbr.v7n1p143 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 143

Author(s):

A. I. Ibraimov

Keyword(s):

Homo Sapiens ◽

Single Species ◽

Causative Factor ◽

Mean Value ◽

Biological Species ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Cold Climate ◽

High Mountain ◽

Mountain Areas ◽

Blood Temperature

We suppose that at study of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, it is possible that some evolutionary aspects of the problem are missed. This aspect is related to the peculiarity of human adaptation to climatic geographic conditions of Eurasia, which differ significantly from the climate of East Africa, where Homo sapiens was formed as a tropical biological species and so it has remained to this day. A hypothesis has been put forward that the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is associated with some previously unknown features of the genome and the physical properties of the human body that arose in the process of its adaptation to a mild and cold climate. These adaptive genetic changes that have contributed to the development (settling) by Homo sapiens of non-tropical, including cold and high mountain areas of the Earth, resulted to the fact that a man became the single species vulnerable (predisposed) to atherosclerosis.Atherosclerosis is apparently a purely human disease that appeared after adaptation of man to climatic conditions of temperate and northern latitudes of the northern hemisphere. The type of vessels (arteries or veins) and the site of their lumen have no role in the development of atherosclerotic changes. The primary and main causative factor in the development of atherosclerosis is blood temperature. The degree of blood cooling in the lungs depends on geographical latitudes and altitude above sea-level of the site of permanent residence of man. The preclinical stage of atherosclerosis may develop into a pathological form predominantly in individuals in the genome of which the amount of chromosomal Q-heterochromatin material is higher than its mean value per individual in the population.

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Pre-Analytical and Within-Person Reproducibility of Nutritional Metabolomics over 2 Years in Elders at Risk for Dementia (P18-121-19)

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzz039.p18-121-19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Gene Bowman ◽

Natalia Gouskova ◽

Hiroko Dodge ◽

Juliana Donohue ◽

Aline Bichsel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Measurement Errors ◽

Brain Aging ◽

Intraclass Correlation ◽

Aging Research ◽

Blood Samples ◽

Time Points ◽

Nutritional Metabolomics ◽

Over Time

Abstract Objectives Nutritional metabolomics to objectively assess dietary intake in aging permit the opportunity to circumvent measurement errors that accompany subjective means of dietary assessment. At the same time, they may offer insights into mechanisms of action and metabolic disturbances that are actionable targets for modulation through diet in hopes of disease prevention and treatment. However, prior to more broad deployment the pre-analytical and temporal variation over time should be documented in order to design and interpret epidemiological studies properly. We quantified and examined 155 nutrient biomarkers and metabolites selected for their potential relevance to dementia. Methods Blood samples from three time points, spanning a 2-year period, were obtained from older adults participating in the NIA-Layton Oregon Alzheimer's Disease Center's Nutrition and Brain Aging Study (NBAS). Blood samples were batched randomly across three time points for quantification of blood amino acids, minerals, water and fat-soluble micronutrients, lipids, one carbon, and kynurenine pathway metabolites using a variety of methods including, tandem mass spectrometry. Pre-analytical coefficients of variation (CV) were calculated for all the biomarkers and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to evaluate the within-person reproducibility in a subset of 137 participants. Results The mean baseline age of the analytic sample (n = 137) was 85.6 (± 8.3, 57 - 101 years), 70% are female, 21% carry the ApoEe4 allele and MMSE was 28.3 (± 1.78). The pre-analytical CVs ranged from 0.9% to 55.0% and the ICC ranged from 0 to 0.87 (25%-tile/median/75%-tile 0.41/0.54/0.66). Twenty four % had ICC < 0.40, 66% had ICC 0.40 −0.75 and 10% had ICC > 0.75. Conclusions The pre-analytical and within-person reproducibility of nutritional metabolomics in aging ranges widely. The majority can reliably estimate average concentrations over a 2 year period from a single time point and the biomarkers with ICC's above 0.40 can be used for correction of measurement error and those below 0.40 should consider multiple samples per subject and exploring the methodological and biological explanation for the variation over time. Funding Sources Nestle Institute of Health Sciences, Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, NIA-Layton Aging & Alzheimer's Disease Center (P30AGO8017).

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