Mercury and arsenic mobility in resuspended contaminated estuarine sediments (Asturias, Spain): A laboratory-based study.

Estuarine sediments must be dredged to allow for navigation, and where these sediments are placed after dredging depends upon guidelines based only on the total concentration of contaminants. However, resuspension events could seriously affect the mobility and speciation of contaminants, including potentially toxic trace elements stored in sediments. The effects of resuspension on the cycling of mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) between the sediment and water column was investigated in a mesocosm study.

RNA-FISH to analyze allele-specific expression.

One of the difficulties associated with the analysis of imprinted gene expression is the need to distinguish RNA synthesis occurring at the maternal vs the paternally inherited copy of the gene. Most of the techniques used to examine allele-specific expression exploit naturally occurring polymorphisms and measure steady-state levels of RNA isolated from a pool of cells. Hence, a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) an be exploited in a heterozygote, by a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)- based procedure, to analyze maternal vs paternal gene expression.

Identification of a male meiosis-specific gene, Tcte2, which is differentially spliced in species that form sterile hybrids with laboratory mice and deleted in t chromosomes showing meiotic drive.

Tcte2 (t complex testes expressed 2) is a male meiosis-specific gene that maps to band 3.3 of mouse chromosome 17. Two distinct male fertility defects, hybrid sterility and transmission ratio distortion, have previously been mapped to this region.