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Genlisea margaretae, subgenus Genlisea, section Recurvatae (184 Mbp/1C), belongs to a plant genus with a 25-fold genome size difference and an extreme genome plasticity. Its 19 chromosome pairs could be distinguished individually by an approach combining optimized probe pooling and consecutive rounds of multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (mcFISH) with bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) selected for repeat-free inserts. Fifty-one BACs were assigned to 18 chromosome pairs. They provide a tool for future assignment of genomic sequence contigs to distinct chromosomes as well as for identification of homeologous chromosome regions in other species of the carnivorous Lentibulariaceae family, and potentially of chromosome rearrangements, in cases where more than one BAC per chromosome pair was identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial chromosomes (ACs) are highly promising vectors for use in gene therapy applications. They are able to maintain expression of genomic-sized exogenous transgenes within target cells, without integrating into the host genome. Although these vectors have huge potential and benefits when compared against normal expression constructs, they are highly complex, technically challenging to construct and diffcult to deliver to target cells. This review focuses on the current progress in the field of ACs and discusses the recent advances in purification, construction, delivery and potential new molecular therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To provide normative values for the Italian population for the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), a recent brief neuropsychological instrument for the assessment of cognition in patients with schizophrenia. Data were collected from 204 healthy adult Italian subjects, stratified by gender, education and age. Tests included in the BACS are the following: list learning, digit sequencing, verbal fluency, token motor task, symbol-coding and Tower of London. Normative values were established using the Equivalent Scores method in order to enable comparison with other neuropsychological tasks commonly used in the assessment of the Italian population. Performance on the BACS was influenced by the commonest demographic variables such as age and education. The availability of normative data for the Italian population will increase the usefulness of this test for both clinical and experimental purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ab initio approach based on effective core potentials (ECPs), core polarization potentials (CPPs) with three valence electrons and multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) level of calculation is used to determine the adiabatic potential energy curves, the spectroscopic constants and the permanent and transition electric dipole moments of the lowest doublet and quartet electronic states of BaCs. These sates are dissociating into the first six asymptotic limits of the alkali–alkaline earth molecule, BaCs. Only the ground state has been studied in the literature, and the comparison with the available results has shown a very good agreement. The spin–orbit interaction has been included in the next step of our calculation, and its effect on the potential energy curves and spectroscopic parameters on the Ω representation states has been thoroughly studied. Both relativistic and nonrelativistic calculations of permanent and transition dipole moments are also presented, which allows us to determine the influence of relativistic effects on the dipole moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breeding for resistance against the destructive fire blight disease of apples is the most sustainable strategy to control the menace of this disease, and has become increasingly important in European apple breeding programs. Since most cultivars are susceptible, wild accessions have been explored for resistance with quantitative trait loci detected in a few wild species. Fire blight resistance of Malus fusca was described following phenotypic evaluations with a C-type strain of Erwinia amylovora, Ea222_JKI, and the detection of a major QTL on chromosome 10 (Mfu10) of this crabapple. The stability of the resistance of M. fusca and Mfu10 has been evaluated using two other strains, the highly aggressive Canadian S-type strain—Ea3049, and the avrRpt2EA mutant—ZYRKD3-1, both of which overcome the resistance of Malus ×robusta 5, a wild species accession with an already described fire blight resistance gene. To pave the way for positional cloning of the underlying fire blight resistance gene of M. fusca, we have fine mapped the QTL region on linkage group 10 using 1888 individuals and 23 newly developed molecular markers, thus delimiting the interval of interest to 0.33 cM between markers FR39G5T7xT7y/FR24N24RP and FRMf7358424/FR46H22. Tightly linked SSR markers are suitable for marker-assisted selection in breeding programs. Furthermore, a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone spanning FB_Mfu10 region was isolated and sequenced. One putative fire blight resistance candidate gene of M. fusca was predicted on the sequence of BAC 46H22 within the resistance region that encodes B-lectin and serine/threonine kinase domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]