Cyathea Sm. (Cyatheaceae) on Trindade Island (Brazil): An integrative approach

Trindade is a Brazilian oceanic island approximately 1,100 km from the American mainland. The Cyathea Sm. plants from Trindade were originally considered an endemic species, Cyathea copelandii Kuhn & Luerssen, but later included in Cyathea delgadii Sternb. Based on molecular data (trnL-trnF, trnG-trnR and rbcL-accD), morphometric analysis of leaf characters, scanning electron microscopy of indusia and spores, and habitat suitability modeling, the present study confirms the status of C. copelandii as a synonym of C. delgadii. Intraspecific molecular variation suggests phylogeographic structuring in C. delgadii and differentiation between the coastal Atlantic Forest domain and the Cerrado domain (savanna) in the interior of Brazil. The Trindade populations are more closely related to the Atlantic Forest populations, indicating a colonization of the island from the latter area.

The GA4GH Variation Representation Specification (VRS): a Computational Framework for the Precise Representation and Federated Identification of Molecular Variation

Maximizing the personal, public, research, and clinical value of genomic information will require that clinicians, researchers, and testing laboratories exchange genetic variation data reliably. Developed by a partnership among national information resource providers, public initiatives, and diagnostic testing laboratories under the auspices of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH), the Variation Representation Specification (VRS, pronounced “verse”) is an extensible framework for the semantically precise and computable representation of variation that complements contemporary human-readable and flat file standards for variation representation. VRS objects are designed to be semantically precise representations of variation, and leverage this design to enable unique, federated identification of molecular variation. We describe the components of this framework, including the terminology and information model, schema, data sharing conventions, and a reference implementation, each of which is intended to be broadly useful and freely available for community use. The specification, documentation, examples, and community links are available at https://vrs.ga4gh.org/.

MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR VARIATION OF FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM F.SP LYCOPERSICI ISOLATES CAUSING FUSARIUM WILT IN TOMATO

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important, commercial and widely grown vegetable crop in the world. Tomato plays a critical role in nutritional food requirements, income and employment opportunities for the people. However, its production is threatened by the Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici and productionlossesbetween30%to40%. In the present investigation an attempt has been made to study the morphological and molecular variation of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp lycopersici isolates. Usual identification of Fusarium species based on their micro and macroscopic features and morphological characters alone may lead to incorrect designation. In order to identify the correct species, we amplified the 18S rRNA gene region by PCR, sequenced and analyzed for sequence similarity among the NCBI data through BLAST. Further, PCR amplification of ITS regions was performed using ITS primers. The amplified product of 18S rRNA gene was sequenced and deposited to Gen Bank with the accession numbers.