0000000000074450
AUTHOR
L. Pascual
Heat shock proteins in three relatedDrosophila species belonging to theobscura group
The effect of heat shock on protein synthesis in three related Drosophila species belonging to the obscura group was analyzed on SDS-acrylamide gels. Four major heat shock proteins (hsps) were found in these species, in which synthesis reaches a maximum at 34 degrees C. Although the higher molecular weight proteins are conserved, differences in size were found for the small hsps in these species. By means of in situ hybridization using D. melanogaster probes for the small hsp genes, it was inferred that the small hsp genes of the obscura group species are clustered at the 27A locus in all three species.
Patterns of puffing activity and chromosomal polymorphism in Drosophila subobscura : 3. Puffing activity depression by inbreeding.
The effect of inbreeding on the puffing patterns of polytene chromosomes of Drosophila subobscura was analysed. Puffing activity was studied in two strains of D. subobscura: one which had been subject to inbreeding for 288 generations, and in the hybrids from a cross between them. A strong overall decrease in puffing activity was found in the inbred line. In general, hybrids behaved in a similar way to the inbred line or showed activity intermediate between the two lines. The fertility and viability of the two homozygous lines and of the hybrids were also determined. These parameters of fitness are very low in the inbred line. Hybrids displayed intermediate behaviour.
Sequences homologous to the hobo transposable element in E strains of Drosophila melanogaster.
Hobo is one of the three Drosophila melanogaster transposable elements, together with the P and I elements, that seem to have recently invaded the genome of this species. Surveys of the presence of hobo in strains from different geographical and temporal origins have shown that recently collected strains contain complete and deleted elements with high sequence similarity (H strains), but old strains lack hobo elements (E strains). Besides the canonical hobo sequences, both H and E strains show other poorly known hobo-related sequences. In the present work, we analyze the presence, cytogenetic location, and structure of some of these sequences in E strains of D. melanogaster. By in situ hybr…
Epibiotic barnacles of sea turtles as indicators of habitat use and fishery interactions: An analysis of juvenile loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, in the western Mediterranean
Abstract Sea turtles exploit a variety of habitats during their lifetime and are thus exposed to a number of anthropogenic threats, including interaction with fisheries. Mitigating this impact requires determining patterns of habitat use by turtles, which largely relies on data from marked individuals. We investigated the use of epibiotic barnacles as a cost-effective method to ascertain habitat use by sea turtles, choosing the juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the western Mediterranean as a model. A total of 200 turtles collected in the central Spanish Mediterranean between 1990 and 2017 were examined for epibionts: 25% were accidentally captured by pelagic longliners, 1…
The Revised Asthma Problem Behavior Checklist: Adaptation for Use in Spanish Asthmatic Patients
Behavioral problems associated with asthma management were examined in a group of 100 adult Spanish outpatients with asthma (57 women, 43 men; 17-69 years of age). All of them completed a Spanish version of the Revised Asthma Problem Behavior Checklist (RAPBC). Data about duration, severity, and self-management of asthma (self-efficacy expectancies and health care utilization), as well as dyspnea and FEV1, were also recorded. The highest-reliability Cronbach alpha indices were for the criteria related to emotions and behaviors that could precipitate asthma attacks. Concurrent criterion validity was examined first by Pearson correlations between the RAPBC scores and clinical data about asthm…
Subjective symptomatology of asthma: validation of the asthma symptom checklist in an outpatient Spanish population.
The objective of this study was to validate the Asthma Symptom Checklist (ASC) so that it could be reliably used to assess the subjective symptomatology of asthma attacks in our context. Subjective symptomatology of asthma was examined in a group of 100 adult Spanish outpatients (57 women, 43 men; 17-69 years of age) with asthma. All of them completed the modified version of the ASC as well as questionnaires of depression, anxiety, and self-management of asthma (self-efficacy expectancies and health care utilization). Data about duration and severity of asthma, as well as dyspnea and %FEV1, were also recorded. The highest reliability Cronbach alpha indexes were for the panic-fear and fatigu…
Assessment of the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of a Spanish Asthma Quality of Life questionnaire.
A Spanish-language questionnaire designed for measuring the impact of asthma on quality of life in adults was developed. It was derived, by the application of a rigorous translation protocol, from a previously validated, English-language Asthma Quality of Life (AQL) questionnaire which had been developed in Australia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish AQL questionnaire using a cross-sectional and longitudinal design. Two hundred ninety-four clinically stable subjects with asthma (168 women, mean baseline forced expiratory volume in 1 sec [FEV1] = 85% predicted), aged 17-70, attended for the initial baseline assessment. All subjects completed th…
Invasion of thehobo transposable element studied byin situ hybridization on polytene chromosomes ofDrosophila melanogaster
The invasion kinetics of hobo transposable element in the Drosophila melanogaster genome was studied by in situ hybridization on the polytene chromosomes. Six independent lines of Drosophila melanogaster flies that had been previously transformed by microinjection of the pHFL1 plasmid containing a complete hobo element were followed over 50 generations. We observed that hobo elements were scattered on each of the chromosome arms, with more insertion sites on the 3R arm. The total number of insertion sites remains quite small, between four and six, at generation 52. On the 2R arm, a short inversion appeared once at generation 52. Most of the integration sites reported here were already descr…
Transmission pattern of hobo transposable element in transgenic lines of Drosophila melanogaster
This study is an attempt to trace the fate of hobo elements in the genomes of E strains of Drosophila melanogaster that have been transfected with pHFL1, a plasmid containing an autonomous hobo. Such long-term population studies (over 105 generations) could be very useful for better understanding the population and genomic dynamics of transposable elements and their pattern of insertions. Molecular analyses of hobo elements in the transfected lines were performed using Southern blots of XhoI-digested genomic DNAs. The complete element was observed in all six injected lines. In two lines we observed, at generation 100, two deleted elements, which did not correspond to Th1 and Th2. The result…
Puff activity after heat shock in two species of theDrosophila obscura group
When individuals of Drosophila guanche are submitted to heat shock, five new puffs are induced. These puffs usually do not appear during normal development. Comparing these results with those obtained in Drosophila subobscura, also belonging to the obscura group, differences between the induced puffing pattern of both species have been found.
Patterns of puffing activity and chromosomal polymorphism in Drosophila subobscura II. Puffing patterns at the prepupa stage
Puffing activity patterns of the five large polytene chromosomes of Drosophila subobscura were studied during the late third-larval instar and through the prepupal period. A total of 166 loci active in some of the eleven stages studied were described. The distribution of these active loci per chromosome is the following: 25 on chromosome A, 33 on chromosome J, 31 on chromosome U, 34 on chromosome E and 43 on chromosome O. Seven principal patterns of puffing activity were defined taking into account the different curves of the puffing histograms. Gene activities per chromosome as well as total were analysed. Three peaks of gene activity at the beginning, middle and ending of prepupation can …
Mapping candidate genes for Drosophila melanogaster resistance to the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi.
Drosophila melanogaster resistance against the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi is under the control of a single gene (Rlb), with two alleles, the resistant one being dominant. Using strains bearing deletions, we previously demonstrated that the 55E2–E6; 55F3 region on chromosome 2R is involved in the resistance phenomenon. In this paper, we first restricted the Rlb containing region by mapping at the molecular level the breakpoints of the Df(2R)Pc66, Df(2R)P34 and Df(2R)Pc4 deficiencies, using both chromosomal in situ hybridization and Southern analyses. The resistance gene was localized in a 100 kb fragment, predicted to contain about 10 different genes. Male recombination genetic exp…
The evolutionary genetics of the hobo transposable element in the Drosophila melanogaster complex.
Hobo elements are a family of transposable elements found in Drosophila melanogaster and its three sibling species: D. simulans, D. mauritiana and D. sechellia. Studies in D. melanogaster have shown that hobo may be mobilized, and that the genetic effects of such mobilizations included the general features of hybrid dysgenesis: mutations, chromosomal rearrangements and gonadal dysgenis in F1 individuals. At the evolutionary level some hobo-hybridizing sequences have also been found in the other members of the melanogaster subgroup and in many members of the related montium subgroup. Surveys of older collected strains of D. melanogaster suggest that complete hobo elements were absent prior t…
Stress response in Drosophila subobscura
The pattern of puffing and protein synthesis was determined in individuals of Drosophila subobscura subjected to heat shock. Depending on the extent of the heat treatment, the response at the puffing level varied. Some puffs were expressed at 31°–34°C, and others at 37° C. Considering the response as a whole the depression of gene activity after shock at 31°–34° C in individuals raised at 19° C was greater than with the other treatments. Six major heat shock proteins (Hsps) were found in this species. The properties of the high molecular weight proteins are conserved their electrophoretic characteristics and the range of temperatures over which they are synthesized are close to those in oth…
Calidad de vida en el asma: validación del cuestionario AQLQ para su utilización en población española
The study of morbidity in asthma requires consideration not only of standard physiopathologic and function parameters, but also of the impact the disease has on the patient's life-style as he or she perceives it and evaluates it. The quantification of this factor, known as health-related quality of life (HRQL), is achieved by administering questionnaires specially designed for the purpose. We analyzed the reliability, content validity and construct validity (convergence and divergence) of one instrument, the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) designed by Marks and colleagues. This questionnaire covers 4 dimensions (breathlessness, mood, social limitation and worrying) and gives a t…
Spread of the autonomous transposable element hobo in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster.
The transposable element hobo has been introduced into the previously empty Drosophila melanogaster strain Hikone so that its dynamics can be followed and it can be compared with the P element. Five transformed lines were followed over 58 generations. The results were highly dependent on the culture temperature, the spread of hobo element being more efficient at 25 degrees C. The multiplication of hobo sequences resulted in a change in the features of these lines in the hobo system of hybrid dysgenesis. The number of hobo elements remained low (two to seven copies) and the insertions always corresponded to complete sequences. Our findings suggest that, despite their genetic similarities, P …
Comparative evolution of P–M system and infection by the sigma virus in French and Spanish populations ofDrosophila melanogaster
SummaryIn 1983, an extensive survey of populations ofD. melanogasterwas started in a southern French region (Languedoc) in two non-Mendelian systems: the P–M system of transposable elements and the hereditary Rhabdovirus sigma. Unexpectedly fast-evolving phenomena were observed and interesting correlations were noted, giving similar geographical pattern to the region in both systems. For these reasons, the analysis was continued and extended towards the north (Rhône Valley) and the south (Spain). In the P–M system, all the Languedoc populations evolved from 1983 to 1991 towards the Q type which is characteristic of the Rhône Valley populations. In contrast, M′ strains are currently observed…