A survey of VKORC1 missense mutations in eleven Italian islands reveals widespread rodenticide resistance in house mice.

To protect native wildlife, more than one hundred rodent eradications have been attempted in the Mediterranean islands by using anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). Despite their high efficiency, resistance to ARs has been observed in many countries and it is mostly related to missense mutations (SNPs) in the VKORC1 gene. The presence of resistant individuals reduces the efficiency of rodent management, leading to an excessive use of ARs.

Disseminating "hidden" scientific collections: the medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals at the Museo di Anatomia Comparata "Giovanni Battista Grassi", Roma, Italy.

The dissemination of specimen data in scientific collections is a crucial step in making them available to the scientific community. However, even today, especially in some countries, little or nothing is known about the contents of the naturalistic collections of some museums. This is regrettable, especially in cases where the collections include historic specimens and endangered species.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Acute Respiratory Failure Due to COVID-19: A Multicenter Matched Cohort Study.

Mechanical ventilation for respiratory failure due to COVID-19 is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an attractive management option. This study sought to determine the effect of ECMO on hospital mortality and discharge condition in this population.

The Intriguing Biogeographic Pattern of the Italian Wall Lizard (Squamata: Lacertidae) in the Tuscan Archipelago Reveals the Existence of a New Ancient Insular Clade.

The Tuscan Archipelago is one of the most ancient and ecologically heterogeneous island systems in the Mediterranean. The biodiversity of these islands was strongly shaped by the Pliocene and Pleistocene sea regressions and transgression, resulting in different waves of colonization and isolation of species coming from the mainland. The Italian wall lizard, , is present on the following islands of the Tuscan Archipelago: Elba, Giglio, Giannutri, Capraia, Montecristo and Cerboli.

Reconnecting research and natural history museums in Italy and the need of a national collection biorepository.

In Italy, differently from other countries, a national museum of natural history is not present. This absence is due, among other reasons, to its historical political fragmentation up to 1870, which led to the establishment of medium-sized museums, mostly managed by local administrations or universities. Moreover, a change of paradigm in biological research, at the beginning of the 20 century, contributed to privilege experimental studies in universities and facilitated the dismissal of descriptive and exploratory biology, which formed the basis of the taxonomic research carried out by natural history museums.

Italian natural history museums need specimen digitization and much more: a reply to Benvenuti et al.

We reply to the comments made by Benvenuti et al. (2022) about our paper on the Italian natural history museums and scientific collections and the need of a centralized hub and repository. While agreeing that digitization is a useful tool to valorize each museum and collection, we still believe that the suggestion of a centralized hub is valid and necessary.

Unexpected lack of specialisation in the flow properties of spitting cobra venom.

Venom spitting is a defence mechanism based on airborne venom delivery used by a number of different African and Asian elapid snake species ('spitting cobras'; Naja spp. and Hemachatus spp.).

Unexpected lack of specialisation in the flow properties of spitting cobra venom.

Venom spitting is a defence mechanism based on airborne venom delivery used by a number of different African and Asian elapid snake species ('spitting cobras'; spp. and spp.).

Detection of cryptic diversity in lizards (Squamata) from two Biosphere Reserves in Mesoamerica.

A combined approach based on karyology and DNA taxonomy allowed us to characterize the taxonomic peculiarities in 10 Mesoamerican lizard species, belonging to six genera and five families, inhabiting two Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico: La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve, and Montes Azules Biosphere. The karyotypes of four species, sp. 3 ( species group) (2n = 38), (Lichtenstein et von Martens, 1856) (2n = 50), Cope, 1861 (2n = 40), and Cope, 1885 (2n = 29-30) are described for the first time, the last one showing a particular XXXX/XXY condition.

Does divergence from normal patterns of integration increase as chromosomal fusions increase in number? A test on a house mouse hybrid zone.

Chromosomal evolution is widely considered an important driver of speciation because it can promote the establishment of reproductive barriers. Karyotypic reorganization is also expected to affect the mean phenotype, as well as its development and patterns of phenotypic integration, through processes such as variation in genetic linkage between quantitative trait loci or between regulatory regions and their targets. Here we explore the relationship between chromosomal evolution and phenotypic integration by analyzing a well-known house mouse parapatric contact zone between a highly derived Robertsonian (Rb) race (2 = 22) and populations with standard karyotype (2 = 40).

Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of Chromosomal Races on Islands: A Genome-Wide Analysis of Natural House Mouse Populations.

Chromosomal evolution is widely considered to be an important driver of speciation, as karyotypic reorganization can bring about the establishment of reproductive barriers between incipient species. One textbook example for genetic mechanisms of speciation are large-scale chromosomal rearrangements such as Robertsonian (Rb) fusions, a common class of structural variants that can drastically change the recombination landscape by suppressing crossing-over and influence gene expression by altering regulatory networks. Here, we explore the population structure and demographic patterns of a well-known house mouse Rb system in the Aeolian archipelago in Southern Italy using genome-wide data.

Molecular Cytogenetic Analysis of Karyotype and Y Chromosome Conservation in Species of the Genus Talpa (Insectivora).

The Talpidae family has a highly stable karyotype. Most of the chromosome studies in this mammal group, however, employed classical cytogenetic techniques. Molecular cytogenetic analyses are still scarce and, for example, no repeated DNA sequences have been described to date.

[Variability of Fragments of Nuclear Brca1 Gene, Exon 11, and Mitochondrial Cox1 Gene in House Mice Mus musculus].

To clarify genetic differences between subspecies of the house mouse Mus musculus, their distribution, and hybridization, we first conducted a comparative analysis of variability of nucleotide sequences of fragments of the nuclear gene Brca1, exon 11 (2331 bp), and mitochondrial gene Cox1 (1260 bp) in 40 house mice from West and East Europe, Transcaucasia, Siberia, and Central and South Asia. Brca1 genotypes were divided into five main groups, which differed in a number of fixed substitutions. Genotypes of each group are characteristic for the certain geographical region and the following subspecies: M.

The Sicilian Wolf: Genetic Identity of a Recently Extinct Insular Population.

Historically, many local grey wolf () populations have undergone substantial reductions in size or become extinct. Among these, the wolf population once living in Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, was completely eradicated by human activity in the early decades of the 20th century. To gain a better understanding of the genetic identity of the Sicilian wolf, we used techniques for the study of ancient DNA to analyze the mitochondrial (mt) variability of six specimens stored in Italian museums.

Meiotic behavior of a complex hexavalent in heterozygous mice for Robertsonian translocations: insights for synapsis dynamics.

Natural populations of the house mouse Mus musculus domesticus show great diversity in chromosomal number due to the presence of chromosomal rearrangements, mainly Robertsonian translocations. Breeding between two populations with different chromosomal configurations generates subfertile or sterile hybrid individuals due to impaired meiotic development. In this study, we have analyzed prophase-I spermatocytes of hybrids formed by crossing mice from Vulcano and Lipari island populations.

Integrative taxonomy of the Amazonian red-sided opossum Monodelphis glirina (J.A. Wagner, 1842) (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae).

New records for Monodelphis glirina, a short-tailed opossum distributed throughout the Amazon region, from Humaitá, Amazonas state, and Confresa, Mato Grosso state, prompted new insights into the geographic distribution and genetic diversity of this species. One of the records extends the species range circa 350 km beyond the previous southeastern limit. Voucher specimens had their identification confirmed by morphological comparison with the holotype and corroborated by molecular data (mitochondrial gene Cytochrome b).

Spotlight on islands: on the origin and diversification of an ancient lineage of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus in the western Pontine Islands.

Groups of proximate continental islands may conceal more tangled phylogeographic patterns than oceanic archipelagos as a consequence of repeated sea level changes, which allow populations to experience gene flow during periods of low sea level stands and isolation by vicariant mechanisms during periods of high sea level stands. Here, we describe for the first time an ancient and diverging lineage of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus from the western Pontine Islands. We used nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences of 156 individuals with the aim of unraveling their phylogenetic position, while microsatellite loci were used to test several a priori insular biogeographic models of migration with empirical data.

Hexavalents in spermatocytes of Robertsonian heterozygotes between Mus m. domesticus 2n=26 from the Vulcano and Lipari Islands (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy).

The size and shape of the chromosomes, as well as the chromosomal domains that compose them, are determinants in the distribution and interaction between the bivalents within the nucleus of spermatocytes in prophase I of meiosis. Thus the nuclear architecture characteristic of the karyotype of a species can be modified by chromosomal changes such as Rb chromosomes. In this study we analysed the meiotic prophase nuclear organization of the heterozygous spermatocytes from Mus musculus domesticus 2n=26, and the synaptic configuration of the hexavalent formed by the dependent Rb chromosomes Rbs 6.

A combination of long term fragmentation and glacial persistence drove the evolutionary history of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus.

Background: The current distribution of genetic diversity is the result of a vast array of microevolutionary processes, including short-term demographic and ecological mechanisms and long-term allopatric isolation in response to Quaternary climatic fluctuations. We investigated past processes that drove the population differentiation and spatial genetic distribution of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus by means of sequences of mitochondrial cytb (n = 277 from 115 localities) and nuclear mc1r and β-fibint7genes (n = 262 and n = 91, respectively) from all its distribution range. The pattern emerging from the genetic data was compared with current and past (last glacial maximum) species distribution modeling (SDM).

R2d2 Drives Selfish Sweeps in the House Mouse.

A selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries of selective sweeps associated with genes involved in recent adaptations in many species. In contrast, much debate but little evidence addresses whether "selfish" genes are capable of fixation-thereby leaving signatures identical to classical selective sweeps-despite being neutral or deleterious to organismal fitness.

New Metacentric Populations and Phylogenetic Hypotheses Involving Whole-Arm Reciprocal Translocation in Mus musculus domesticus from Sicily, Southern Italy.

The house mouse Mus musculus domesticus is characterized by more than 100 metacentric populations, due to the occurrence of Robertsonian (Rb) fusions, together with the standard all-telocentric karyotype (2n = 40). We examined G-banded karyotypes of 18 mice from 10 localities in Sicily and describe 3 new metacentric populations: 'Ragusa Ibla' (IRAG), 2n = 33-36, Rb(2.4), Rb(5.

Cryptic speciation and chromosomal repatterning in the South African climbing mice Dendromus (Rodentia, Nesomyidae).

We evaluate the intra- and interspecific diversity in the four South African rodent species of the genus Dendromus. The molecular phylogenetic analysis on twenty-three individuals have been conducted on a combined dataset of nuclear and mitochondrial markers. Moreover, the extent and processes underlying chromosomal variation, have been investigated on three species by mean of G-, C-bands, NORs and Zoo-FISH analysis.

The first cytogenetic description of Euleptes europaea (Gené, 1839) from Northern Sardinia reveals the highest diploid chromosome number among sphaerodactylid geckos (Sphaerodactylidae, Squamata).

The karyotype of a sphaerodactylid gecko Euleptes europaea (Gené, 1839) was assembled for the first time in this species. It is made of 2n = 42 gradually decreasing in size chromosomes, the highest chromosome number so far acknowledged in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The second chromosome pair of the karyotype appears slightly heteromorphic in the male individual.

Comparative chromosome mapping of the rRNA genes and telomeric repeats in three Italian pine voles of the Microtus savii s.l. complex (Rodentia, Cricetidae).

The Microtus (Terricola) savii s. l. complex is a group of five species/subspecies of the Italian pine voles, which diverged at different times either with or without chromosomal differentiation.

Comparative cytogenetic study of two sister species of Iberian ground voles, Microtus (Terricola) duodecimcostatus and M. (T.) lusitanicus (rodentia, cricetidae).

The two Iberian species of pine voles, Microtus (Terricola) duodecimcostatus and M. (T.) lusitanicus of the subfamily Arvicolinae (Cricetidae, Rodentia), were compared after G- and C-banding and chromosomal mapping of ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA), telomeric repeats, and satellite DNA Msat-160.