Strategies of adaptation to local UV radiation conditions.

Expected global changes in environmental conditions underline the need for a better understanding of genetic variation in ecological traits and their strategies of adaptation to the stresses. In this study, evolutionary mechanisms and processes of UV adaptation in plant pathogens were investigated by combining statistical genetics, physiological assays, and common garden experiment approaches in an assessment of the potato late blight pathogen, sampled from various geographic locations in China. We found spatial divergence caused by diversifying selection in UV tolerance among populations.

Tumor progression of culture-adapted human embryonic stem cells during long-term culture.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) during long-term culture acquire chromosomal changes similar to those occurring in tumorigenesis. This was raised concerns about the progression from hESCs to malignant cells. This study aimed to investigate the changes in chromosomes, cell phenotype, and genes in culture-adapted hESCs to ascertain whether tumorigenic transformation occurred.