No abstract

Wild populations of many species are declining as a result of habitat destruction and climate change but also through the over-collection for wild meat and the pet trade. With a long history of trade around the Mediterranean, populations of the spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca graeca) have become highly disturbed. In this study we utilise a molecular approach to investigate the diversity, population admixture and structure of T. g. graeca populations in northern Africa and southern Spain, as well as to obtain an insight into the origin of newly established populations in the south of Europe. We infer this from the sequencing of two partial regions of the mitochondria (12s rRNA ? cyt b) and genotyping at 16 microsatellite markers in 448 tortoises. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that Spanish populations were founded from North Africa, the consequence of multiple introductions or exchanges in genetic material as a result of trans-oceanic dispersal. Despite the trade of individuals between both sides of the Gibraltar Strait, our analysis of population structure showed clear differences between both the African and European populations, suggesting an incipient evolutionary lineage in southeast of Spain. As such, these populations possess unique genetic identities and should be treated as different management units. Surprisingly, the genetic data identified a great deal of diversity contained within pet (captive) stock and also allowed us to infer hybrids among individuals with another species of terrestrial tortoise from northern Spain (T. hermanni hermanni). Additionally, our results provide insight into the local movement and trade of individuals that has occurred around the Mediterranean basin (between northern Africa and southern Spain) and as such provides guidance for the effective management of T. g. graeca captive stock and the illegal trafficking.

Several peptidomimetic macrocycles containing a pyridine spacer and ring sizes ranging from 15 to 17 have been efficiently synthesized starting from valine and phenylalanine. The complexes formed have been investigated by potentiometry and NMR. Log K values show that phenylalanine derivatives are consistently more stable than valine derivatives , whilst macrocycles with ring sizes of 16 members are the most appropriate for the complexation. The NMR data, in combination with molecular modeling, allow rationalization of the structure of the complexes formed and the participation of the aromatic rings from the side chain of phenylalanine in pi-Ag+ interactions to be discarded.

The spontaneous level of sister chromatid exchange (SCEs) in the goat, estimated by exposing peripheral blood lymphocytes to 0.1 microgram/ml of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), was 3.28 +/- 1.71 SCE/cell, 1.64 SCE/cell generation and 0.027 SCE/chromosome. The dose-response curve of SCE/cell, observed by exposing the cells to 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0 micrograms/ml of BrdU, rose rapidly from 0.1 to 0.5 microgram/ml, remained fairly stable from 0.5 to 1.0 microgram/ml and rose less rapidly from 1.0 to 5.0 micrograms/ml of BrdU. The frequency distribution of sister chromatid exchanges/cell and that of chromosomes showing various number of exchanges followed the Poisson probability at all BrdU levels; only at 5.0 micrograms/ml of BrdU was the fit found on the border of the 5% probability level. The usefulness of determining the spontaneous level of SCE/cell in domestic animals is discussed in relation to its possible application for a more precise evaluation of the genotoxic effects of environmental pollutants.

High resolution RBA-banded early prometaphase chromosomes of cattle (Bos taurus L.) and goat (Capra hircus L.), from thymidine synchronized lymphocyte cultures, are compared at a level of 700 bands per haploid genome, with the purpose of detecting the extent of banding homologies between the two species and improving the resolution level of the ISCNDA (1989) standardized RBA-banded karyotypes. The results demonstrate that, at this level of resolution, at least 10 autosomes can be fully homologized between the two species, namely chromosomes 11, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 26, whereas the remaining autosomes show variations in some regions which require further investigations on more elongated chromosomes. Such investigations should also involve the use of GTG, GBG and RBG-banding techniques. These variations concern basically the relative distance of the bands from the centromeres or telomeres, appearance of subbands, and clustering of some positive bands.