Draft Genome Sequence of the Nitrogen-Fixing and Hormogonia-Inducing Cyanobacterium Strain WK-1, Isolated from the Coralloid Roots of .

We report here the whole-genome sequence of strain WK-1, which was isolated from cyanobacterial colonies growing in the coralloid roots of the gymnosperm It can provide valuable resources to study the mutualistic relationships and the syntrophic metabolisms between the cyanobacterial symbiont and the host plant, .

Mixed Mating System Are Regulated by Fecundity in Shorea curtisii (Dipterocarpaceae) as Revealed by Comparison under Different Pollen Limited Conditions.

The maintenance of mixed mating was studied in Shorea curtisii, a dominant and widely distributed dipterocarp species in Southeast Asia. Paternity and hierarchical Bayesian analyses were used to estimate the parameters of pollen dispersal kernel, male fecundity and self-pollen affinity. We hypothesized that partial self incompatibility and/or inbreeding depression reduce the number of selfed seeds if the mother trees receive sufficient pollen, whereas reproductive assurance increases the numbers of selfed seeds under low amounts of pollen.

Physical interaction between peroxisomes and chloroplasts elucidated by in situ laser analysis.

Life on earth relies upon photosynthesis, which consumes carbon dioxide and generates oxygen and carbohydrates. Photosynthesis is sustained by a dynamic environment within the plant cell involving numerous organelles with cytoplasmic streaming. Physiological studies of chloroplasts, mitochondria and peroxisomes show that these organelles actively communicate during photorespiration, a process by which by-products produced by photosynthesis are salvaged.

Simulation-based likelihood approach for evolutionary models of phenotypic traits on phylogeny.

Phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) have been used to test evolutionary hypotheses at phenotypic levels. The evolutionary modes commonly included in PCMs are Brownian motion (genetic drift) and the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process (stabilizing selection), whose likelihood functions are mathematically tractable. More complicated models of evolutionary modes, such as branch-specific directional selection, have not been used because calculations of likelihood and parameter estimates in the maximum-likelihood framework are not straightforward.

Divergence, demography and gene loss along the human lineage.

Genomic DNA sequences are an irreplaceable source for reconstructing the vanished past of living organisms. Based on updated sequence data, this paper summarizes our studies on species divergence time, ancient population size and functional loss of genes in the primate lineage leading to modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens). The inter- and intraspecific comparisons of DNA sequences suggest that the human lineage experienced a rather severe bottleneck in the Middle Pleistocene, throughout which period the subdivided African population played a predominant role in shaping the genetic architecture of modern humans.

The origin and genetic variation of domestic chickens with special reference to junglefowls Gallus g. gallus and G. varius.

It is postulated that chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) became domesticated from wild junglefowls in Southeast Asia nearly 10,000 years ago. Based on 19 individual samples covering various chicken breeds, red junglefowl (G. g.

Flagellar motions in phototactic steering in a brown algal swarmer.

Using infrared high-speed video microscopy, we observed light-triggered transitory flagellar motions in flagellate reproductive cells (swarmers) of a brown alga, Scytosiphon lomentaria, under primary helical swimming conditions before and during negative phototactic orientation to unilateral actinic light. The posterior flagellum, which is autofluorescent and thought to be light-sensing, was passively dragged in the dark and exhibited one to several rapid lateral beats during orientation changes for phototactic steering. Notably, a brief cessation of anterior flagellar beating was occasionally observed concomitantly with rapid beats of the posterior flagellum.

Rhabdom constriction enhances filtering by the red screening pigment in the eye of the Eastern Pale Clouded yellow butterfly, Colias erate (Pieridae).

Here we report the remarkable anatomy of the eye of the Eastern Pale Clouded yellow butterfly, Colias erate. An ommatidium of C. erate bears nine photoreceptors, R1-9, which together form a tiered and fused rhabdom.

mbs: modifying Hudson's ms software to generate samples of DNA sequences with a biallelic site under selection.

Background: The pattern of single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, contains a tremendous amount of information with respect to the mechanisms of the micro-evolutionary process of a species. The inference of the roles of these mechanisms, including natural selection, relies heavily on computer simulations. A coalescent simulation is extremely powerful in generating a large number of samples of DNA sequences from a population (species) when all mutations are neutral, and Hudson's ms software is frequently used for this purpose.

Molecular systematics and evolution of the recently discovered "Parnassian" butterfly (Parnassius davydovi Churkin, 2006) and its allied species (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae).

The nucleotide sequence of 807 bp of the mtDNA-ND5 locus of Parnassius davydovi (Churkin, S. 2006. A new species of Parnassius Latreille, 1804, from Kyrgyzstan (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae).