A molecular marker set combining a retrotransposon insertion and SSR polymorphisms is useful for assessing diversity in Vitis

Molecular markers, based on DNA polymorphisms, are useful tools for identifying individuals, establishing phylogenetic relationships, managing collections of genetic material or assisting breeding. In the present study, we developed a marker set to differentiate Vitis species, grapevine varieties or clones belonging to the same variety. This novel marker set combines, in four PCR amplifications, the presence/absence of a remarkable retrotransposon, Tvv1-Δ3460, inserted at its single locus and the SSR polymorphism present within its two LTRs. By studying a collection of Vitaceaeaccessions, we showed the prevalence of two allelic forms of Tvv1-Δ3460 - one of which was partially truncated - in Vitis species. Out of the twenty-five studied Vitis species, the insertion of a Tvv1-Δ3460 element was detected in twenty, including Vitis vinifera. The homozygous vs heterozygous state of the element insertion was determined by amplifying the empty site. Additionally, each Tvv1-Δ3460 LTRs included a microsatellite sequence useful for designing markers based on LTR length. The LTR-SSR markers distinguished most of the fifty-two cultivars and revealed polymorphism within five of the seven varieties studied.

There was once an empty site

This article unveils and discusses a series of unknown photographs of the empty site in which Mies and Lilly Reich's 1929 German Pavilion in Barcelona had been built and dismantled, and shot by Ludwig Glaeser, curator of the Mies van der Rohe Archive at MoMA in 1979. It suggests that more than the manifestation of a desire to rematerialise the building through the agency of photography, Glaeser's photographs are, photographs of dust, but more importantly, a manifestation of the possibility of re-enacting the widely known 1929 Berliner Bild-Bericht photographs.

Human DNA Telomeres in Presence of Oxidative Lesions: The Crucial Role of Electrostatic Interactions on the Stability of Guanine Quadruplexes

By using all atom molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the behavior of human DNA telomere sequences in guanine quadruplex (G4) conformation and in the presence of oxidative lesions, namely abasic sites. In particular, we evidenced that while removing one guanine base induces a significant alteration and destabilization of the involved leaflet, human telomere oligomers tend, in most cases, to maintain at least a partial quadruplex structure, eventually by replacing the empty site with undamaged guanines of different leaflets. This study shows that (i) the disruption of the quadruplex leaflets induces the release of at least one of the potassium cations embedded in the quadruplex channel and that (ii) the electrostatic interactions of the DNA sequence with the aforementioned cations are fundamental to the maintenance of the global quadruplex structure.

Des-montaje de la maqueta de la propuesta para el Palacio de los Soviets de Le Corbusier

Resumen: Desde las páginas de L'Esprit Nouveau y al calor del cine, Elie Faure bautizará como "cineplástica" la consecución de imágenes al ritmo de la música, en un discurso paralelo al del método Dalcroze en la danza. Le Corbusier, Albert Jeanneret y Pierre Chenal propondrán dos experiencias fílmicas relacionadas con dicha denominación: "Batir" y "L'Architecture d'aujourd´hui", para las que se realizarán varias maquetas ex-profeso cuyas cualidades estaban pensadas para su visión en la pantalla. Esta especificidad se hará más compleja en el filme del modelo de la propuesta para el Palacio de los Soviets. Le Corbusier mostrará un proceso cinético consistente en el des-montaje del objeto, un recorrido inverso al de la construcción real, lo que permite al espectador poder familiarizarse desde el comienzo con el conjunto terminado. A partir de ahí, como si de un "ecorché" se tratara, se mostrarán sus entrañas: una lección de anatomía arquitectónica que finaliza con el vacío del solar del Salvador dominado por los brillos del gran arco de acero soviético-"stal" en ruso- reflejado en el Moskva. Este recurso cinético emparenta con las teorías del "montaje como conflicto" de Sergei Eisenstein, a través de una maqueta que se presenta, además, como comprobación de la efectividad de la forma ante las ondas acústicas, en la línea de las realizadas por ingenieros como Gustave Lyon. Se consigue así conjugar, a través de la maqueta, espacio, movimiento y sonido. El germen de una arquitectura acústica. Abstract: From the pages of L'Esprit Nouveau and inspired by films, Elie Faure coined the term "cineplástique" to refer to the combination betweenimages and music, similarly to theMethode Dalcroze in dancing. Le Corbusier, Albert Jeanneret and Pierre Chenal proposed two filmic experiences related to this new concept- "Batir" and "L'Architecture d'aujourd´hui". Several models were made specifically for these films and designed to be viewed on screen. This feature became more complex in the film of the proposal model for Palace of Soviets. Le Corbusier displayed a process consisting onthede-montageof the object, reversing thus the path to the actual building, which allows the viewer to become familiar from the start with the finished piece. Thereafter ,as if it was an "écorché", their insides are displayed, featuring an architectural anatomy lesson which ends with the empty site of Salvador, where the brightness of the large steel arch ("Stal" in Russian)is reflected in the Moskva River. This filming resource is related to Sergei Eisenstein's theories of " montage as conflict", illustrated by a scale model that also verifies the effectiveness of form with respect to acoustic waves, in line with those made by engineers such as Gustave Lyon. Therefore, the combination of movement, space and sound is achieved through the architectural model. That is the seed of acoustic architecture. Palabras clave: maqueta; Chenal; filme; cineplástica; Palacio de los Soviets; acústica. Keywords: architectural model; Chenal; film; cineplastique; Palace of Soviets; acoustic DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/LC2015.2015.725

Helicobacter pylori cag pathogenicity island genotype diversity within the gastric niche of a single host

cag pathogenicity island (PAI) integrity was investigated in isolates from multiple biopsies recovered from 40 patients in an attempt to determine the co-existence of a varying cagPAI-positive to cagPAI-negative ratio in a single host. Six biopsies were obtained from each patient during the same endoscopic session. cagPAI analysis included amplification of seven loci (cagA, cagE, cagG, cagM, cagT, HP0527 and HP0524) and the left end of cagII (LEC). Absence of the island was confirmed by empty-site PCR. lspA-glmM RFLP and random amplified polymorphic DNA PCR were used for strain delineation. The number of biopsies with Helicobacter pylori-positive culture ranged from three to six per patient and a total of 218 isolates were recovered. Mixed infection was only found in two patients. Nearly one-third of the 40 patients harboured isolates with an intact cagPAI in all niches, another third of the isolates were empty-site-positive in all niches, whilst the remaining third of the isolates had a disrupted cagPAI in all or at least one of the niches. Co-existence of variants of the same strain with different cagPAI genotypes was observed in one-quarter of patients. The variations in cagPAI genotype included co-existence of: diverse cagPAI deletions in different niches, variants with intact and with partially deleted islands, variants with empty-site-positive and with partially deleted cagPAIs, and variants with an intact cagPAI and with empty-site-positive. Half of the patients with different cagPAI genotypes harboured an intact cagPAI in at least one niche. Co-existence of diverse genotypes of putative virulence factors in a single host must be considered when drawing a correlation with clinical presentation.

Tacitus's Dangerous Word

The fact that vocabulum appears with far more frequency in Tacitus' texts than in any other author except for the encyclopaedists argues for his idiosyncratic usage of the term. This article argues that imperial discourse, nearly identical in structure and expression to that of the Republic but divorced from Republican connotations, provided an empty site where Roman fantasies of self-definition took strong hold, and that Tacitus uses vocabulum to indicate words and concepts that illustrate this process, particularly with reference to representations of the foreign and the past. Such a discourse was congenial for the concentration of power in the hands of one person, as it no longer expressed the conflicting desires of a community engaged in public affairs, but collectivized the public desire for an image of Roman superiority. Thus Germany and the old Republican past were easily mythologized as what Rome desired to be, but feared it was not. Tacitus' use of vocabulum highlights the words in imperial discourse that betray the gap in the political unconscious between Romans' idea of themselves as masters of the Empire and as slaves to one ruler. Nor does he position himself as an outside observer of this process, but creates an experience of it for the reader through gaps and inconsistencies within his narrative.

Extensive, Nonrandom Diversity of Excision Footprints Generated by Ds-Like Transposon Ascot-1Suggests New Parallels with V(D)J Recombination

ABSTRACT Upon insertion, transposable elements can disrupt or alter gene function in various ways. Transposons moving through a cut-and-paste mechanism are in addition often mutagenic when excising because repair of the empty site seldom restores the original sequence. The characterization of numerous excision events in many eukaryotes indicates that transposon excision from a given site can generate a high degree of DNA sequence and phenotypic variation. Whether such variation is generated randomly remains largely to be determined. To this end, we have exploited a well-characterized system of genetic instability in the fungus Ascobolus immersus to perform an extensive study of excision events. We show that this system, which produces many phenotypically and genetically distinct derivatives, results from the excision of a novel Ds-like transposon,Ascot-1, from the spore color gene b2. A unique set of 48 molecularly distinct excision products were readily identified from a representative sample of excision derivatives. Products varied in their frequency of occurrence over 4 orders of magnitude, yet most showed small palindromic nucleotide additions. Based on these and other observations, compelling evidence was obtained for intermediate hairpin formation during the excision reaction and for strong biases in the subsequent processing steps at the empty site. Factors likely to be involved in these biases suggest new parallels between the excision reaction performed by transposons of thehAT family and V(D)J recombination. An evaluation of the contribution of small palindromic nucleotide additions produced by transposon excision to the spectrum of spontaneous mutations is also presented.