Search results for "TBR"
showing 10 items of 909 documents
Inbreeding depression in an insect with maternal care: influences of family interactions, life stage and offspring sex.
2013
Although inbreeding is commonly known to depress individual fitness, the severity of inbreeding depression varies considerably across species. Among the factors contributing to this variation, family interactions, life stage and sex of offspring have been proposed, but their joint influence on inbreeding depression remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that these three factors jointly shape inbreeding depression in the European earwig, Forficula auricularia. Using a series of cross-breeding, split-clutch and brood size manipulation experiments conducted over two generations, we first showed that sib mating (leading to inbred offspring) did not influence the reproductive success of…
Similar Performance of Diploid and Haploid Males in an Ant Species without Inbreeding Avoidance
2013
AbstractUnder haplodiploidy, a characteristic trait of all Hymenoptera, femalesdevelop from fertilised eggs, and males from unfertilised ones. Males aretherefore typically haploid. Yet, inbreeding can lead to the production ofdiploid males that often fail in development, are sterile or are of lowerfertility. In most Hymenoptera, inbreeding is avoided by dispersal flightsof one or both sexes, leading to low diploid male loads. We investigatedcauses for the production of diploid males and their performance in ahighly inbred social Hymenopteran species. In the ant Hypoponera opacior,inbreeding occurs between wingless sexuals, which mate within themother nest, whereas winged sexuals outbreed dur…
Prion protein gene frequencies in three Sicilian dairy sheep populations
2008
The objective of this paper was to investigate the prion protein (PrP) genotype and haplotype frequencies in three Sicilian dairy sheep populations. The three populations were: (1) 1096 Valle del Belice animals, (2) 1143 Comisana animals, and (3) 1771 individuals from 5 flocks with scrapie outbreaks, in which the animals were crossbreds derived from indigenous Sicilian dairy breeds. PrP genotypes are described for the three codons 136 (Alanine or Valine; A, V), 154 (Histidine or Arginine; H, R), and 171 (Glutamine, Arginine or Histidine; Q, R, H) which represent polymorphisms known to be linked with scrapie susceptibility. The Valle del Belice haplotype frequencies were 32.3% ARR, 6.5% AHQ,…
Genetic variability in environmental isolates of Legionella pneumophila from Comunidad Valenciana (Spain).
2006
Summary Legionella pneumophila is associated to recurrent outbreaks in several Comunidad Valenciana (Spain) localities, especially in Alcoi, where social and climatic conditions seem to provide an excellent environment for bacterial growth. We have analysed the nucleotide sequences of three loci from 25 environmental isolates from Alcoi and nearby locations sampled over 3 years. The analysis of these isolates has revealed a substan- tial level of genetic variation, with consistent patterns of variability across loci, and comparable to that found in a large, European-wide sampling of clinical isolates. Among the tree loci studied, fliC showed the highest level of nucleotide diversity. The an…
Exploring diversity among Spanish strains of Erwinia amylovora and possible infection sources
2007
Aims: We have examined the intraspecific diversity of a collection of 63 Spanish strains of Erwinia amylovora, isolated from 1995 to 2001, to determine whether or not they could be grouped based on phenotypic or genotypic criteria and to investigate the sources of inoculum for fire blight dissemination in Spain. Methods and Results: Several biochemical and molecular techniques, such as miniaturized API 20E, API 50CH, ATB G-5 and API-ZYM tests, BIOLOG metabolic fingerprinting, PCR ribotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), minisatellite-primed PCR (MSP-PCR), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analyses and AFLP were used. We report the first identification in Spain of the PFG…
Evolutionary analysis of Citrus tristeza virus outbreaks in Calabria, Italy: two rapidly spreading and independent introductions of mild and severe i…
2014
The evolution of citrus tristeza virus (CTV) from outbreaks occurred in Calabria, Italy, was compared with that of CTV outbreaks reported previously in another two proximal Italian regions, Sicily and Apulia. Examination of four genomic regions (genes p20, p25 and p23, and one fragment of open reading frame 1) showed two recombination events, and phylogenetic analysis disclosed two divergent CTV groups in Calabria: one formed by severe and the other by mild isolates. This analysis, together with others involving population genetic parameters, revealed a low migration rate of CTV between the three Italian regions, as well as significant differences in selective pressures, epidemiology and de…
The rise and the fall of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa epidemic lineage in a hospital
2020
AbstractThe biological features that allow a pathogen to survive in the hospital environment are mostly unknown. The extinction of bacterial epidemics in hospitals is mostly attributed to changes in medical practice, including infection control, but the role of bacterial adaptation has never been documented. We analyzed a collection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates belonging to the Besançon Epidemic Strain (BES), responsible for a 12-year nosocomial outbreak, using a genotype-to-phenotype approach. Bayesian analysis estimated the emergence of the clone in the hospital five years before its opening, during the creation of its water distribution network made of copper. BES survived better t…
Recombination drives genome evolution in outbreak-related Legionella pneumophila isolates.
2014
Legionella pneumophila is a strictly environmental pathogen and the etiological agent of legionellosis. It is known that non-vertical processes have a major role in the short-term evolution of pathogens, but little is known about the relevance of these and other processes in environmental bacteria. We report the whole-genome sequencing of 69 L. pneumophila strains linked to recurrent outbreaks in a single location (Alcoy, Spain) over 11 years. We found some examples where the genome sequences of isolates of the same sequence type and outbreak did not cluster together and were more closely related to sequences from different outbreaks. Our analyses identify 16 recombination events responsibl…
Legionella pneumophila pangenome reveals strain-specific virulence factors
2010
Abstract Background Legionella pneumophila subsp. pneumophila is a gram-negative γ-Proteobacterium and the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, a form of epidemic pneumonia. It has a water-related life cycle. In industrialized cities L. pneumophila is commonly encountered in refrigeration towers and water pipes. Infection is always via infected aerosols to humans. Although many efforts have been made to eradicate Legionella from buildings, it still contaminates the water systems. The town of Alcoy (Valencian Region, Spain) has had recurrent outbreaks since 1999. The strain "Alcoy 2300/99" is a particularly persistent and recurrent strain that was isolated during one of the most signifi…
Identification of sapovirus infection among Japanese infants in a day care center.
2005
A total of 921 fecal specimens collected from 44 infants in a day care center in Tokyo, Japan during June 1999 to July 2000 were tested for the presence of sapovirus by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Of 88 fecal specimens from infants with acute gastroenteritis, 2.3% (2) were found to be positive for sapovirus. Twenty-two of 833 (2.6%) fecal specimens collected from asymptomatic infants were also infected with this virus. Another interesting feature was the demonstration of high incidence of sapovirus infection (95.5%, 21 of 22) identified in a single day care center, which was not due to viral shedding after the latest acute gastroenteritis. Sapovirus was subject…