Author Correction: Gene-associated markers provide tools for tackling illegal fishing and false eco-certification.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Antibiotic Resistance Plasmids Cointegrated into a Megaplasmid Harboring the Carbapenemase Gene.

OXA-427 is a new class D carbapenemase encountered in different species of in a Belgian hospital. To study the dispersal of this gene, we performed a comparative analysis of two plasmids containing the gene, isolated from a strain and an complex strain. The two IncA/C2 plasmids containing share the same backbone; in the strain, however, this plasmid is cointegrated into an IncFIb plasmid, forming a 321-kb megaplasmid with multiple multiresistance regions.

GBSX: a toolkit for experimental design and demultiplexing genotyping by sequencing experiments.

Background: Massive parallel sequencing is a powerful tool for variant discovery and genotyping. To reduce costs, sequencing of restriction enzyme based reduced representation libraries can be utilized. This technology is generally referred to as Genotyping By Sequencing (GBS).

Microsatellite primers for the gynodioecious grassland perennial Saxifraga granulata (Saxifragaceae).

Premise Of The Study: Nine polymorphic and 12 monomorphic microsatellite loci (simple sequence repeats [SSRs]) were isolated and characterized for the gynodioecious grassland perennial Saxifraga granulata. •

Methods And Results: Based on genomic screening of leaf material of four individuals from four populations, a total of 21 microsatellite primer pairs were designed for S. granulata.

Comparative phylogeography of three trematomid fishes reveals contrasting genetic structure patterns in benthic and pelagic species.

Population genetics patterns of marine fish in general and of Southern Ocean fish in particular range from virtual panmixia over ocean-wide scale to deeply fragmented populations. However the causes underlying these different patterns are not properly understood. In this paper, we tested the hypotheses that population connectivity is positively related to a combination of life history traits, namely duration of pelagic larval period and the tendency towards pelagic life style in the adulthood.

Gene-associated markers provide tools for tackling illegal fishing and false eco-certification.

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing has had a major role in the overexploitation of global fish populations. In response, international regulations have been imposed and many fisheries have been 'eco-certified' by consumer organizations, but methods for independent control of catch certificates and eco-labels are urgently needed. Here we show that, by using gene-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms, individual marine fish can be assigned back to population of origin with unprecedented high levels of precision.

Heritability of cortisol response to confinement stress in European sea bass dicentrarchus labrax.

Background: In fish, the most studied production traits in terms of heritability are body weight or growth, stress or disease resistance, while heritability of cortisol levels, widely used as a measure of response to stress, is less studied. In this study, we have estimated heritabilities of two growth traits (body weight and length) and of cortisol response to confinement stress in the European sea bass.

Findings: The F1 progeny analysed (n = 922) belonged to a small effective breeding population with contributions from an unbalanced family structure of just 10 males and 2 females.

Heterozygous missense mutations in SMARCA2 cause Nicolaides-Baraitser syndrome.

Nicolaides-Baraitser syndrome (NBS) is characterized by sparse hair, distinctive facial morphology, distal-limb anomalies and intellectual disability. We sequenced the exomes of ten individuals with NBS and identified heterozygous variants in SMARCA2 in eight of them. Extended molecular screening identified nonsynonymous SMARCA2 mutations in 36 of 44 individuals with NBS; these mutations were confirmed to be de novo when parental samples were available.

Differential modes of selection on the rhodopsin gene in coastal Baltic and North Sea populations of the sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus.

An excellent model to elucidate the mechanisms and importance of evolution in the marine environment is the spectral tuning mechanism of the visual pigment in vertebrates. In the sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus (Teleostei; Gobiidae), a distribution-wide study showed that spatial variation at the rhodopsin gene (RH1) matches the characteristics of specific light environments. This match suggests that populations are locally adapted to selective light regimes targeting the RH1 gene.

High molecular diversity in the rhodopsin gene in closely related goby fishes: A role for visual pigments in adaptive speciation?

The spectral tuning mechanism of visual pigments is an excellent model to elucidate the mechanisms of adaptive evolution and the importance of selection as an evolutionary force. Therefore, we use a phylogenetic approach to determine whether there is evidence for differential adaptive molecular evolution on the rhodopsin (RH1) gene among closely related 'sand goby' species (Teleostei, Gobiidae). Fragments of the RH1 gene (868 bp) were sequenced and analyzed for nine 'sand goby' species that inhabit different photic environments.

To see in different seas: spatial variation in the rhodopsin gene of the sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus).

Aquatic organisms living in a range of photic environments require specific mechanisms to tune their visual pigments. Maximum absorbance (lambda(max)) of retinal rods in populations of the marine demersal sand goby, (Pomatoschistus minutus; Gobiidae, Teleostei) correlates with the local optic environment. It has been shown that this is not regulated through a physiological response by exchanging the rhodopsin chromophore.

Divergent selection as revealed by P(ST) and QTL-based F(ST) in three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations along a coastal-inland gradient.

Three measures of divergence, estimated at nine putatively neutral microsatellite markers, 14 quantitative traits, and seven quantitative trait loci (QTL) were compared in eight populations of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) living in the Scheldt river basin (Belgium). Lowland estuarine and polder populations were polymorphic for the number of lateral plates, whereas upland freshwater populations were low-plated.