The masked palm civet is distributed through south-east Asia, China and the Himalayas. Because of its potential role in the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, it has become important to gather information on this species, and notably to provide a tool to determine the origin of farm and market animals. For this purpose, we studied the genetic variability and the phylogeographic pattern of the masked palm civet Paguma larvata. First, two portions of mitochondrial genes, cytochrome b and the control region, were sequenced for a total of 76 individuals sampled from China, the Indochinese region and the Sundaic region. Results indicated a low genetic variability and suggested a lack of a phylogeographic structure in this species, which do not allow inferring the geographic origin of samples of unknown origin, although it is possible to distinguish individuals from China and the Sundaic region. This low variation is in contrast to the well-marked morphological differentiation between the populations in the Sundaic and Chinese-Indochinese regions. We also used five microsatellite loci to genotype 149 samples from two wild and four farmed populations in China, where the masked palm civet is farmed and where the SARS coronavirus was isolated. These analyses also showed a reduced variability in Chinese civets and showed that farmed populations did not exhibit a lower genetic diversity than wild populations, suggesting frequent introductions of wild individuals into farms.

The binturong Arctictis binturong is a threatened carnivore (Mammalia) that ranges throughout the forests of South-east Asia. This study evaluates the genetic diversity of captive binturong populations in European zoos and attempts to assess their geographic origin. We sequenced the hypervariable region 1 of the mitochondrial control region of 56 binturongs, among which 20 had a known geographic origin. We showed that at least two distinct geographic clades exist and were able to assess the geographic clade to which captive individuals belong. Moreover, a low genetic diversity was observed among the captive population of European zoos. Although our results are preliminary, zoo managers should consider the evolutionary significant units identified by this study, and which correspond to recognized sub-species, when planning binturong reproduction programs.

Le chanvre à fibres (ou chanvre textile) est l'objet de nombreux travaux de sélection tant au niveau de la qualité de la fibre que sur le contenu en cannabinoïdes des plantes. Notre étude est réalisée afin de pouvoir conserver les plantes durant une période suffisamment longue nécessaire à l'analyse d'un échantillon correspondant. Dans ce but nous avons entrepris, en conditions phytotroniques, l'étude du bouturage horticole, couplé ou non à la micropropagation in vitro. Le bouturage horticole a été réalisé sur plusieurs variétés dans différentes conditions thermiques et photopériodiques. L'alternance 22 °C le jour et 17 °C la nuit sous 24 h d'éclairement continu favorise le développement des boutures sur le plan morphologique et chimique. Elle permet de contrôler la croissance qui est d'autant plus lente que la température diminue. En vue de la mise en culture in vitro, on prélève l'apex et les noeuds sous-jacents des rameaux principaux et axillaires des plantes-mères. La prolifération des méristèmes a été obtenue en 3 semaines sur le milieu de M URASHIGF & S KOOC additionné d'une cytokinine (BAP 5. 10-! M) et d'une auxine (AIB 10 -M). Les pousses axillaires ainsi développées ont servi à l'initiation de pieds-mères in vitro, producteurs de boutures, par repiquages successifs sur le milieu établi ci-dessus. Une phase d'allongement réalisée en présence de charbon actif (2 g/1) et de AIB (10-5 M) est nécessaire pour permettre l'enracinement des microboutures. Celui-ci est obtenu plus facilement par repiquage direct sur vermiculite, après 3 à 4 semaines, que dans les différentes conditions de culture in vitro réalisées. Les jeunes plantes se développent ensuite à 22 °C/17 °C de façon identique aux plantes issues du bouturage horticole. Leurs teneurs en cannabinoïdes sont conformes à celles des plantes-mères. Le rendement de la méthode (180 boutures enracinables/plantesmères) peut encore être amélioré. SUMMARYIn vitro propagation of hemp : application to selected clones of Cannabis sativa L. for preservation of plants.Much work has been done on the breeding of hemp for agronomic and chemical criteria. In order to keep plants available for the long period required for chemical analysis, we have propagated clones as horticultural cuttings, under controlled conditions, with or without micro-propagation. Different temperature and photoperiod conditions were used to obtain cuttings of several clones. Under these conditions, growth could be controlled : morphological and chemical development decreased at low temperature and were promoted by a regime of 22 °C (daily temperature) and 17 °C (night temperature) under 24 h illumination and 70 0 7 0 relative humidity. In the in vitro experiment, shoot proliferation was obtained three weeks later on the M URASHIGE and S KOOG medium with added cytokinin and auxin (AIB 10-7 M/1). The axillary shoots which developed were used as mother-plants in vitro ; they provided numerous cuttings after repeated sub-culturing on the same medium. A long thinning stage was necessary for rooting th...

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