The three living species of manatees, West Indian (Trichechus manatus), Amazonian (Trichechus inunguis) and West African (Trichechus senegalensis), are distributed across the shallow tropical and subtropical waters of America and the western coast of Africa. We have sequenced the mitochondrial DNA control region in 330 Trichechus to compare their phylogeographic patterns. In T. manatus we observed a marked population structure with the identification of three haplotype clusters showing a distinct spatial distribution. A geographic barrier represented by the continuity of the Lesser Antilles to Trinidad Island, near the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela, appears to have restricted the gene flow historically in T. manatus. However, for T. inunguis we observed a single expanding population cluster, with a high diversity of very closely related haplotypes. A marked geographic population structure is likely present in T. senegalensis with at least two distinct clusters. Phylogenetic analyses with the mtDNA cytochrome b gene suggest a clade of the marine Trichechus species, with T. inunguis as the most basal trichechid. This is in agreement with previous morphological analyses. Mitochondrial DNA, autosomal microsatellites and cytogenetic analyses revealed the presence of hybrids between the T. manatus and T. inunguis species at the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil, extending to the Guyanas and probably as far as the mouth of the Orinoco River. Future conservation strategies should consider the distinct population structure of manatee species, as well as the historical barriers to gene flow and the likely occurrence of interspecific hybridization.

Florida manatees ( Trichechus manatus latirostris ) are marine mammals that inhabit the coastal waters and rivers of the southeastern USA, primarily Florida. Previous studies have shown that Florida manatees have low mitochondrial DNA variability, suggesting that nuclear DNA loci are necessary for discriminatory analyses. Here we report 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci with an average of 4.2 alleles per locus, and average heterozygosity of 50.1%. These loci have been developed for use in population studies, parentage assignment, and individual identification.

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Understanding how novel antifungal compounds work in target cells is useful not only in facilitating the discovery of new drugs but also new tools that can be used for further exploration of the targeted biological pathways and their regulation. Various genomic and genetic technologies have been developed in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and have been successfully used to identify drug target pathways. This review discusses the methods developed for some of these technologies, and how they have been used to evaluate the cellular pathways affected by a variety of therapeutic drugs and inhibitors. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are considered, and new advances are highlighted where applicable. The investigation of the mechanism of action of new antifungal compounds will undoubtedly lead to the development of new antifungal therapies targeting new fungal pathways that are more specific and less toxic than currently available antifungal drugs.