Meristem micropropagation of cassava (Manihot esculenta) evokes genome-wide changes in DNA methylation

There is great interest in the phenotypic, genetic and epigenetic changes associated with plant in vitro culture known as somaclonal variation. In vitro propagation systems that are based on the use of microcuttings or meristem cultures are considered analogous to clonal cuttings and so widely viewed to be largely free from such somaclonal effects. In this study, we surveyed for epigenetic changes during propagation by meristem culture and by field cuttings in five cassava (Manihot esculenta) cultivars. Principal Co-ordinate Analysis of profiles generated by Methylation Sensitive Amplified Polymorphism (MSAP) revealed clear divergence between samples taken from field-grown cuttings and those recovered from meristem culture. There was also good separation between the tissues of field samples but this effect was less distinct among the meristem culture materials. Application of methylation-sensitive Genotype By Sequencing (msGBS) identified 105 candidate epimarks that distinguish between field cutting and meristem culture samples. Cross referencing the sequences of these epimarks to the draft cassava genome revealed 102 sites associated with genes whose homologues have been implicated in a range of fundamental biological processes including cell differentiation, development, sugar metabolism, DNA methylation, stress response, photosynthesis, and transposon activation. We explore the relevance of these findings for the selection of micropropagation systems for use on this and other crops

Lambros Couloubaritsis, Mythe et philosophie chez Parménide

DNA Barcoding to combat Wildlife Crime Workshop May, 2016Poaching for both meat and trophy has always been a major challenge in conservation history. Illegal trade in wildlife and its products affect the survival of magnitude number of species. The population of rhinos and elephants for instance has declined in recent years as a result of escalation in organized trade in their products. This has necessitated many states to take active measures to protect their biodiversity in recent years.However, wildlife criminals (poachers and traffickers) continue to develop new ways to circumvent detection and prosecution. Crime investigators on the other hand fail to hold these criminals responsible with confidence due to lack of reliable forensic tools admissible in courts of law. The prosecutors try to prove that the suspects have committed crimes on wildlife but fail because criminals tried to remove overtindicative morphological features specific to poached animals. Over the recent years, this illegal wildlife poaching has turned into being a highly profitable business worldwide with remarkably low risks as trials of illegal wildlife traffickers are rare, largely because law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judicial systems typically consider such crime a low priority. Large volumes of wildlife including those already at risk are being illegally poached and traded and if this trend is unabated it threatens future survival of some key species in East Africa region and beyond. To overt these challenges scientists are racing in arms to develop highly sensitive, accurate and high throughput DNA based techniques to mitigate these challenges. One of the leading examples of this development is the institution of a standardized global DNA- based barcode identification system which provides a simple, universal tool for the identification of wildlife species and their products.DNA barcoding has now become an accepted and commonly used method for species identification practiced by taxonomists, ecologists, forensic scientists and other researchers. A Google-supported Barcode of Wildlife Project (BWP) hosted by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,successively initiated these initiatives in Kenya since 2012. Recently, BWP as expanded these training and technical assistance to new participants in Tanzania through the recently funded USAID-PEER project since 2015. The new participating institutions are Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Tanzania Wildlife Institute (TAWIRI

Global DNA methylation patterns can play a role in defining terroir in grapevine (Vitis vinifera cv. Shiraz)

Understanding how grapevines perceive and adapt to different environments will provide us with an insight into how to better manage crop quality. Mounting evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms are a key interface between the environment and the genotype that ultimately affect the plant's phenotype. Moreover, it is now widely accepted that epigenetic mechanisms are a source of useful variability during crop varietal selection that could affect crop performance. While the contribution of DNA methylation to plant performance has been extensively studied in other major crops, very little work has been done in grapevine. To study the genetic and epigenetic diversity across 22 vineyards planted with the cultivar Shiraz in six wine sub-regions of the Barossa, South Australia. Methylation sensitive amplified polymorphisms (MSAPs) were used to obtain global patterns of DNA methylation. The observed epigenetic profiles showed a high level of differentiation that grouped vineyards by their area of provenance despite the low genetic differentiation between vineyards and sub-regions. Pairwise epigenetic distances between vineyards indicate that the main contributor (23-24%) to the detected variability is associated to the distribution of the vineyards on the N-S axis. Analysis of the methylation profiles of vineyards pruned with the same system increased the positive correlation observed between geographic distance and epigenetic distance suggesting that pruning system affects inter-vineyard epigenetic differentiation. Finally, methylation sensitive genotyping by sequencing identified 3,598 differentially methylated genes in grapevine leaves that were assigned to 1,144 unique gene ontology terms of which 8.6% were associated with response to environmental stimulus. Our results suggest that DNA methylation differences between vineyards and sub-regions within The Barossa are influenced both by the geographic location and, to a lesser extent, by pruning system. Finally, we discuss how epigenetic variability can be used as a tool to understand and potentially modulate terroir in grapevine.Huahan Xie, Moumouni Konate, Na Sai, Kiflu G. Tesfamicael, Timothy Cavagnaro, Matthew Gilliham, James Breen, Andrew Metcalfe, John R. Stephen, Roberta De Bei, Cassandra Collins, and Carlos M. R. Lope

Proceedings of the dna barcording to combat wildlife crime workshop held at Arusha Institute of Accountancy, Arusha 19 th May 2016.

DNA Barcoding to combat Wildlife Crime Workshop May, 2016Poaching for both meat and trophy has always been a major challenge in conservation history. Illegal trade in wildlife and its products affect the survival of magnitude number of species. The population of rhinos and elephants for instance has declined in recent years as a result of escalation in organized trade in their products. This has necessitated many states to take active measures to protect their biodiversity in recent years.However, wildlife criminals (poachers and traffickers) continue to develop new ways to circumvent detection and prosecution. Crime investigators on the other hand fail to hold these criminals responsible with confidence due to lack of reliable forensic tools admissible in courts of law. The prosecutors try to prove that the suspects have committed crimes on wildlife but fail because criminals tried to remove overtindicative morphological features specific to poached animals. Over the recent years, this illegal wildlife poaching has turned into being a highly profitable business worldwide with remarkably low risks as trials of illegal wildlife traffickers are rare, largely because law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judicial systems typically consider such crime a low priority. Large volumes of wildlife including those already at risk are being illegally poached and traded and if this trend is unabated it threatens future survival of some key species in East Africa region and beyond. To overt these challenges scientists are racing in arms to develop highly sensitive, accurate and high throughput DNA based techniques to mitigate these challenges. One of the leading examples of this development is the institution of a standardized global DNA- based barcode identification system which provides a simple, universal tool for the identification of wildlife species and their products.DNA barcoding has now become an accepted and commonly used method for species identification practiced by taxonomists, ecologists, forensic scientists and other researchers. A Google-supported Barcode of Wildlife Project (BWP) hosted by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,successively initiated these initiatives in Kenya since 2012. Recently, BWP as expanded these training and technical assistance to new participants in Tanzania through the recently funded USAID-PEER project since 2015. The new participating institutions are Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Tanzania Wildlife Institute (TAWIRI

Proceedings of the dna barcording to combat wildlife crime workshop held at Arusha Institute of Accountancy, Arusha 19 th May 2016.

DNA Barcoding to combat Wildlife Crime Workshop May, 2016Poaching for both meat and trophy has always been a major challenge in conservation history. Illegal trade in wildlife and its products affect the survival of magnitude number of species. The population of rhinos and elephants for instance has declined in recent years as a result of escalation in organized trade in their products. This has necessitated many states to take active measures to protect their biodiversity in recent years.However, wildlife criminals (poachers and traffickers) continue to develop new ways to circumvent detection and prosecution. Crime investigators on the other hand fail to hold these criminals responsible with confidence due to lack of reliable forensic tools admissible in courts of law. The prosecutors try to prove that the suspects have committed crimes on wildlife but fail because criminals tried to remove overtindicative morphological features specific to poached animals. Over the recent years, this illegal wildlife poaching has turned into being a highly profitable business worldwide with remarkably low risks as trials of illegal wildlife traffickers are rare, largely because law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judicial systems typically consider such crime a low priority. Large volumes of wildlife including those already at risk are being illegally poached and traded and if this trend is unabated it threatens future survival of some key species in East Africa region and beyond. To overt these challenges scientists are racing in arms to develop highly sensitive, accurate and high throughput DNA based techniques to mitigate these challenges. One of the leading examples of this development is the institution of a standardized global DNA- based barcode identification system which provides a simple, universal tool for the identification of wildlife species and their products.DNA barcoding has now become an accepted and commonly used method for species identification practiced by taxonomists, ecologists, forensic scientists and other researchers. A Google-supported Barcode of Wildlife Project (BWP) hosted by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,successively initiated these initiatives in Kenya since 2012. Recently, BWP as expanded these training and technical assistance to new participants in Tanzania through the recently funded USAID-PEER project since 2015. The new participating institutions are Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Tanzania Wildlife Institute (TAWIRI

Proceedings of the dna barcording to combat wildlife crime workshop held at Arusha Institute of Accountancy, Arusha 19 th May 2016.

DNA Barcoding to combat Wildlife Crime Workshop May, 2016Poaching for both meat and trophy has always been a major challenge in conservation history. Illegal trade in wildlife and its products affect the survival of magnitude number of species. The population of rhinos and elephants for instance has declined in recent years as a result of escalation in organized trade in their products. This has necessitated many states to take active measures to protect their biodiversity in recent years.However, wildlife criminals (poachers and traffickers) continue to develop new ways to circumvent detection and prosecution. Crime investigators on the other hand fail to hold these criminals responsible with confidence due to lack of reliable forensic tools admissible in courts of law. The prosecutors try to prove that the suspects have committed crimes on wildlife but fail because criminals tried to remove overtindicative morphological features specific to poached animals. Over the recent years, this illegal wildlife poaching has turned into being a highly profitable business worldwide with remarkably low risks as trials of illegal wildlife traffickers are rare, largely because law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judicial systems typically consider such crime a low priority. Large volumes of wildlife including those already at risk are being illegally poached and traded and if this trend is unabated it threatens future survival of some key species in East Africa region and beyond. To overt these challenges scientists are racing in arms to develop highly sensitive, accurate and high throughput DNA based techniques to mitigate these challenges. One of the leading examples of this development is the institution of a standardized global DNA- based barcode identification system which provides a simple, universal tool for the identification of wildlife species and their products.DNA barcoding has now become an accepted and commonly used method for species identification practiced by taxonomists, ecologists, forensic scientists and other researchers. A Google-supported Barcode of Wildlife Project (BWP) hosted by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,successively initiated these initiatives in Kenya since 2012. Recently, BWP as expanded these training and technical assistance to new participants in Tanzania through the recently funded USAID-PEER project since 2015. The new participating institutions are Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Tanzania Wildlife Institute (TAWIRI

Effects of sweet potato leaves, roselle calyces and beetroot on body weight, selected hematological and biochemical parameters in broiler chicken

Journal of Biology and Life Science, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp.133-146The study was conducted to assess the effects of sweet potato leaves, roselle calyces and beetroot tubers on body weight, selected hematological and biochemical parameters in broiler chickens. Eighty four (84) broiler chickens aged four weeks were randomly assigned into six groups of 14 chickens each. The first group (G0) remained as untreated control while the other groups were the treated groups which received 25% of ground sweet potato leaves (G1), rosella calyces (G2), beetroot tubers (G3) and their mixtures (G4 and G5) for 28 days. Following inclusion of these different vegetables, blood samples were collected and analyzed for selected hematological and biochemical parameters on day 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28. Results showed that consumption of the three vegetables caused significant decreases (p < 0.05) in body weight, serum glucose and cholesterol. On the other hand, hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume (PCV) and total white blood cell (WBC) counts were shown to increase significantly (p < 0.05) compared to the control group. It is concluded that the hypoglycemic and hypocholesteremic effects in chickens following consumption of the three vegetables together with their positive effects on PCV and WBC counts are important qualities which can be utilized in the management of conditions such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases (atherosclerosis and coronary disease) in humans. Further studies in other animals are recommended

Effects of sweet potato leaves, roselle calyces and beetroot on body weight, selected hematological and biochemical parameters in broiler chicken

Journal of Biology and Life Science, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp.133-146The study was conducted to assess the effects of sweet potato leaves, roselle calyces and beetroot tubers on body weight, selected hematological and biochemical parameters in broiler chickens. Eighty four (84) broiler chickens aged four weeks were randomly assigned into six groups of 14 chickens each. The first group (G0) remained as untreated control while the other groups were the treated groups which received 25% of ground sweet potato leaves (G1), rosella calyces (G2), beetroot tubers (G3) and their mixtures (G4 and G5) for 28 days. Following inclusion of these different vegetables, blood samples were collected and analyzed for selected hematological and biochemical parameters on day 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28. Results showed that consumption of the three vegetables caused significant decreases (p < 0.05) in body weight, serum glucose and cholesterol. On the other hand, hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume (PCV) and total white blood cell (WBC) counts were shown to increase significantly (p < 0.05) compared to the control group. It is concluded that the hypoglycemic and hypocholesteremic effects in chickens following consumption of the three vegetables together with their positive effects on PCV and WBC counts are important qualities which can be utilized in the management of conditions such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases (atherosclerosis and coronary disease) in humans. Further studies in other animals are recommended

Effects of Sweet Potato Leaves, Roselle Calyces and Beetroot on Body Weight, Selected Hematological and Biochemical Parameters in Broiler Chicken

The study was conducted to assess the effects of sweet potato leaves, roselle calyces and beetroot tubers on body weight, selected hematological and biochemical parameters in broiler chickens. Eighty four (84) broiler chickens aged four weeks were randomly assigned into six groups of 14 chickens each. The first group (G0) remained as untreated control while the other groups were the treated groups which received 25% of ground sweet potato leaves (G1), rosella calyces (G2), beetroot tubers (G3) and their mixtures (G4 and G5) for 28 days. Following inclusion of these different vegetables, blood samples were collected and analyzed for selected hematological and biochemical parameters on day 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28. Results showed that consumption of the three vegetables caused significant decreases (p &lt; 0.05) in body weight, serum glucose and cholesterol. On the other hand, hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume (PCV) and total white blood cell (WBC) counts were shown to increase significantly (p &lt; 0.05) compared to the control group. It is concluded that the hypoglycemic and hypocholesteremic effects in chickens following consumption of the three vegetables together with their positive effects on PCV and WBC counts are important qualities which can be utilized in the management of conditions such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases (atherosclerosis and coronary disease) in humans. Further studies in other animals are recommended.</jats:p