1,721,219 research outputs found
Le biotecnologie marine nell'epoca della genomica
No full textBiotecnologie è un testo che suggerisce un percorso attraverso le biotecnologie, pensato per gli studenti del quinto anno delle scuole superiori. Si parte con un ripasso di biologia molecolare, si passa a definire che cosa sono le biotecnologie e si arriva alla loro applicazione, in una panoramica che va dal campo agroalimentare a quello industriale,passando per gli utilizzi in medicina
Preface
No full textBiodiversity is an important factor in maintaining
existing karst landscapes and nowadays provides
the important indicator of degraded karst
ecosystems.
The Biodiversity and conservation of karst
ecosytems is a synthesis of knowledge about
geological and geomorphological and biological
aspects, which clarifies the required conditions
for maintaining biodiversity on the karst and Karst
edge, a broad region located along the border of
Italy and Slovenia.
In this book we provide brief scientific summaries
of the research work conducted in BioDiNet project
– a network for biodiversity and cultural landscape
conservation. Funding was provided by the
European program of cross-border collaboration
(Slovenia-Italy 2007-2013).
Four major areas were identified as key to the
management of this landscape and require further
investigation.
ΔΔResearch related to genetic variation, species
and ecosystems needs to be integrated
and strengthened in order to provide better
conservation management of endemic
species, ecotypes and habitats.
ΔΔThere is a need to nominate and research bioindicator
species involved in habitat maintenance
to serve as the basis of landscape
scale monitoring programs.
ΔΔA more directed effort is required to estimate
the impact of different pollutants upon cave
ecosystems.
ΔΔDesign and implementation of an effective
conservation monitoring system based on
standardize surveys to aid with the prediction
of future landscape changes and biodiversity
patterns.
The book provides an annex named Guidelines for
the biodiversity conservation of karst ecosystems.
These guidelines are designed for stakeholders
and local public administration and are written in
Slovenian and Italian.
We express our sincere gratitude to the students
and volunteers who have helped researchers during
numerous field trips and with laboratory analyses.
We acknowledge and praise the dedication and
expertise of our co-authors, without their input and
insights this book would not have been possibl
“Metodo per la discriminazione tra varietà di Coffea arabica basato su polimorfismi del DNA nucleare”
No full text“Metodo per la discriminazione tra le specie Coffea arabica e Coffea canephora basato su polimorfismi del DNA nucleare e cloroplastico”
No full textMicrobial biodiversity of the liquid fraction of rumen content from lactating cows.
No full textHost and dietary interactions with the rumen microbiome can affect the efficacy of supplements, and their effect on the composition of the bacterial population is still unknown. A 16S rRNA metagenomic approach and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology were used to investigate the bacterial microbiome composition in the liquid fraction of the rumen content collected via stomach tubing. To investigate biodiversity, samples were taken from three groups of four lactating dairy cows given a supplement of either 50 g of potato protein (Ctrl group), or 50 g of lyophilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae (LY group) or 50 g of dried S. cerevisiae (DY group) in a potato protein support. Rumen samples were collected after 15 days of dietary treatments and milk production was similar between the three groups. Taxonomic distribution analysis revealed a prevalence of the Firmicutes phylum in all cows (79.76%) and a significantly (P<0.05) higher presence of the genus Bacillus in the DY group. Volatile fatty-acid concentration was not significantly different between groups, possibly because of relatively high inter-animal variability or limited effect of the treatments or both, and the correlation analysis with bacterial taxa showed significant associations, in particular between many Firmicutes genera and butyrate. Limited differences were observed between dietary treatments, but the lack of microbiome data before yeast administration does not allow to draw firm conclusions on the effect of dietary treatments
Comparative analysis of novel and common reference genes in adult tissues of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis
Full text linkBACKGROUND: Real-time quantitative PCR is a widely used method for gene expression analyses in various organisms. Its accuracy mainly relies on the correct selection of reference genes. Any experimental plan involving real-time PCR needs to evaluate the characteristics of the samples to be examined and the relative stability of reference genes. Most studies in mollusks rely on reference genes commonly used in vertebrates. RESULTS: In this study, we focused on the transcriptome of the bivalve mollusk Mytilus galloprovincialis in physiological state to identify suitable reference genes in several adult tissues. Candidate genes with highly stable expression across 51 RNA-seq datasets from multiple tissues were selected through genome-wide bioinformatics analysis. This approach led to the identification of three genes (Rpl14, Rpl32 and Rpl34), whose suitability was evaluated together with 7 other reference genes commonly reported in literature (Act, Cyp-A, Ef1α, Gapdh, 18S, 28S and Rps4). The stability analyses performed with geNorm, NormFinder and Bestkeeper identified specific either single or pairs of genes suitable as references for gene expression analyses in specific tissues and revealed the Act/Cyp-A pair as the most appropriate to analyze gene expression across different tissues. CONCLUSION: Mytilus galloprovincialis is a model system increasingly used in ecotoxicology and molecular studies. Our transcriptome-wide approach represents the first comprehensive investigation aimed at the identification of suitable reference genes for expression studies in this species. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-022-08553-1
Water mass dynamics shape Ross Sea protist communities in mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers
No full textDeep-sea environments host the largest pool of microbes and represent the last largely unexplored and poorly known ecosystems on Earth. The Ross Sea is characterized by unique oceanographic dynamics and harbors several water masses deeply involved in cooling and ventilation of deep oceans. In this study the V9 region of the 18S rDNA was targeted and sequenced with the Ion Torrent high-throughput sequencing technology to unveil differences in protist communities (>2 μm) correlated with biogeochemical properties of the water masses. The analyzed samples were significantly different in terms of environmental parameters and community composition outlining significant structuring effects of temperature and salinity. Overall, Alveolata (especially Dinophyta), Stramenopiles and Excavata groups dominated mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers, and protist communities were shaped according to the biogeochemistry of the water masses (advection effect and mixing events). Newly-formed High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW) was characterized by high relative abundance of phototrophic organisms that bloom at the surface during the austral summer. Oxygen-depleted Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) showed higher abundance of Excavata, common bacterivores in deep water masses. At the shelf-break, Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), formed by the entrainment of shelf waters in CDW, maintained the eukaryotic genetic signature typical of both parental water masses
The complex evolutionary history of sulfoxide synthase in ovothiol biosynthesis
No full textSulfoxide synthases are enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of small sulfur-containing natural products. Their enzymatic activity represents a unique sulfur transfer strategy in nature that is the insertion of a sulfur atom on the imidazole ring of histidine. To date, only two enzymes are known to carry out this function: the sulfoxide synthase EgtB, involved in the biosynthesis of ergothioneine in fungi and bacteria, and the 5-histidylcysteine sulfoxide synthase OvoA, involved in the biosynthesis of ovothiols, found in the eggs and biological fluids of marine invertebrates, some proteobacteria and protists. In particular, ovothiols, thanks to their unique redox properties, are probably the most intriguing marine sulfur-containing molecules. Although they have long been considered as cellular protective molecules, new evidence suggest that their biological activities and ecological role might be more complex than originally thought. Here, we investigate the evolutionary history of OvoA in Metazoa, reporting its monophyletic ancient origins, which could be traced back to the latest common ancestor of Choanozoa. Nevertheless, we show that OvoA is missing in several major extant taxa and we discuss this patchy distribution in the light of the massive genome reduction events documented in Metazoa. We also highlight two interesting cases of secondary acquisition through horizontal gene transfer, which occurred in hydrozoans and bdelloid rotifers. The evolutionary success of this metabolic pathway is probably ascribable to its role in the maintenance of cellular redox homeostasis, which enables organisms to survive in different environmental niches
Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) in the skeletal muscle of pig [Analisi seriale dell'espressione genica (SAGE) nel muscolo scheletrico di suino]
No full textSkeletal muscle growth represents one of the main economic traits in pig production. To gain a better understanding of expressions profile in pig muscle, serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was performed in Longissimus dorsi of two pigs at 3 and 9 months of age. A total of 53,120 long tags were obtained and sequenced from the four muscle SAGE libraries, representing 17,902 different tags, or putative transcripts, 0.64% (+0.09) of which had a relative expression level higher than 1‰. Overall, a total of 218 tags were highly expressed and 31 had a frequency higher than 3‰. Functional characterisation of the expression profiles was performed using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes metabolic maps and 139 pathways were identified for swine skeletal muscle. Focal adhesion, Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase signalling, oxidative phosphorylation, ribosomal proteins, regulation of actin cytoskeleton and insulin signalling pathways showed an abundance of genes greater than 1.5% of all the expressed transcripts. A comparison with human SAGE library indicated no statistical differences for the frequency of genes involved in these metabolic pathways
Ancestral hemoglobin switching in lampreys.
No full textA very simple hemoglobin switching was discovered in the lamprey Lampetra zanandreai. A single larval globin cDNA and two adult globin cDNAs were fully sequenced and their differential expression during lamprey development was investigated. The evolutionary positions of these new globin sequences are also discussed
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