Georgian cattle, sheep, goats: are they of Near-Eastern origins?

The main aim of this research was to establish the nucleotide sequence of the highly variable region of the D loop of the mitochondrial DNA of some Georgian domestic animal species (cattle, goat, sheep) as well as their phylogenetic position among the worldwide set of domestic animals. In this study, a total of 5 haplogroups (T - 5; T3 - 7; T1 - 1; T2 - 2; T5 - 2) in 17 Georgian Mountain cattle (GMC), 4 haplogroups (A - 15; A2a1 - 3; A1a - 1; A6 - 3) in 22 Georgian goats and 3 haplogroups (A - 10; B - 16; C -15) in 41 Georgian sheeps (15 Imeretian and 26 Tushetian) were detected. This study represents the first attempt of Genetic study of native Georgian livestocks.

Dates and rates in grape's plastomes: evolution in slow motion.

The family Vitaceae includes the domesticated grapevine (Vitis vinifera), one of the most economically important crops in the world. Despite the importance of Vitaceae, there is still considerable controversy surrounding their phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary timescales. Moreover, variation in rates of molecular evolution among Vitaceae remains mostly unexplored.

The C-terminal domain of the epsilon subunit of the chloroplast ATP synthase is not required for ATP synthesis.

The epsilon subunit of the ATP synthases from chloroplasts and Escherichia coli regulates the activity of the enzyme and is required for ATP synthesis. The epsilon subunit is not required for the binding of the catalytic portion of the chloroplast ATP synthase (CF1) to the membrane-embedded part (CFo). Thylakoid membranes reconstituted with CF1 lacking its epsilon subunit (CF1-epsilon) have high ATPase activity and no ATP synthesis activity, at least in part because the membranes are very leaky to protons.