Previously published, and some unpublished, tetrad data from budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) are analyzed for disparity in gene conversion, in which one allele is more often favored than the other (conversion disparity). One such disparity, characteristic of a bias in the frequencies of meiotic double-strand DNA breaks at the hotspot near the His4 locus, is found in diploids that undergo meiosis soon after their formation, but not in diploids that have been cloned and frozen. Altered meiotic DNA breakability associated with altered metabolism-related chromatin states has been previously reported. However, the above observations imply that such differing parental chromatin states can persist through at least one chromosome replication, and probably more, in a common environment. This conclusion may have implications for interpreting changes in allele frequencies in populations.

Immunoglobulin D multiple myeloma (IgD MM) is a rare isotype of multiple myeloma (MM), comprising less than 2% of all cases. It is often associated with advanced disease at the time of diagnosis, an aggressive clinical course, and shorter overall survival (OS) than other subtypes of MM. There is an increased frequency of undetectable or small monoclonal (M-) protein levels on electrophoresis, hypercalcemia, anemia, lytic bony lesions, and renal failure. However, given the rarity of the disease, there are few cases of IgD MM described in the literature. Given the very small amount of IgD immunoglobulins, they may form very small or undetectable M spike on electrophoresis, making the diagnostic error in diagnosing this specific subgroup very easy. Treatment for MM has seen significant advancement, especially over the last decade, with the advent of medications such as proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents, and monoclonal antibodies. It is important to understand how IgD MM responds to these newer agents and why this disease continues to be associated with poor outcomes despite advancements in treatment. Small clinical studies on patients with IgD MM show better outcomes following a combination of high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) compared to standard chemotherapy. Given the rarity of the disease, there are no large studies done to see the effectiveness of these treatments, and most of the data are derived from small case series. We report a case of IgD kappa MM that was incidentally discovered following a traumatic bicycle accident. The patient started treatment with bortezomib and dexamethasone (Vd) as an inpatient while he was in the rehabilitation unit and was later switched to bortezomib, dexamethasone, and lenalidomide (VRd) as an outpatient. He has now completed seven cycles and successfully underwent autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Species identification of sea cucumbers that have undergone body deformation due to extensive food processing e.g. beche-de-mer is difficult especially with the copresence of cases of unlabelled or mislabelled sea cucumber-based products in the markets.  Therefore, a study was done to determine the species identities of processed sea cucumbers from selected Malaysian markets using concatenated gene sequences of non-protein-coding 12S mitochondrial rRNA gene and non-protein-coding 16S mitochondrial rRNA gene. Phylogenetic analyses based on the distance-based Neighbour Joining method, and the character-based methods i.e. the Maximum Parsimony method, Maximum Likelihood method, and the Bayesian Analysis method of 47 ingroup sequences representing 37 processed sea cucumber specimens, six reference samples, and four additional specimens suggested the presence of three main clusters i.e. gamat family consisting of genus Stichopus and genus Thelenota; and timun laut family comprising family Holothuriidae. A number of three gamat species i.e. Stichopus horrens, Stichopus vastus, and Thelenota anax were recorded. Meanwhile, the specimens of Holothuria (Halodeima) atra, Holothuria (Halodeima) edulis, Holothuria (Metriatyla) lessoni, Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota, and Holothuria (Metriatyla) scabra were the five timun laut species that grouped under the family Holothuriidae. The outcomes of this study can be utilised by the enforcement agencies to monitor and overcome the issues of species substitution and product mislabelling of processed sea cucumber products in Malaysian markets.

The efficiency of DNA extraction from whole blood using appropriate method is very important for molecular analysis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the purity and concentration of DNA extraction method from bovine (Bos taurus), chicken (Gallus gallus), and porcine (Sus scrofa) blood. The DNA of blood samples was extracted using three types of kit, namely InnuPREP Blood DNA Mini Kit, Wizard Genomic DNA Purification Kit, and QIAamp DNA Blood Mini Kit. The results showed that blood DNA extracted using QIAamp DNA Blood Mini Kit was found to be the most effective and consistently produced high concentrated and pure DNA for three animal samples. The purity of DNA ranged from 1.73 ± 0.05 Å to 1.94 ± 0.21 Å and the range of blood DNA concentration extracted using the QIAamp DNA were between 13.73 ± 2.11 and 25.01 ± 2.08 ng/?l. However, the blood DNA of porcine was not successfully extracted using InnuPREP Blood DNA Mini Kit and Wizard® Genomic DNA Purification Kit. These results were very crucial for the subsequent use of amplification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and to facilitate accurate detection in further analysis.

DNA identification method is indispensable for the detection of a plant pathogen. However, established techniques, though reliable, requires advanced equipment, and their application outside specialized laboratories is limited. Along with the advancement of molecular techniques, several isothermal amplification methods, including Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA), has been developed in this study. In fact, RPA is a rapid and sensitive amplification method, operating optimally at 37-42 degree celcius for 15 to 30 minutes with minimal sample preparation, and can amplify as low as 1-10 target copies. Furthermore, RPA has been a favourable method for the detection of plant pathogens due to its advantageous parameters. This review presents the current knowledge of RPA and its application in plant pathogen detection.