Search

Copyright of Journal of Zoology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We investigated the visible migration of raptors when approaching a water surface in relation to local wind conditions, time of the day and topography. Observations were made during autumn migration in 2011 and 2012 at a watchsite located in the southernmost part of the Calabrian Apennines (southern continental Italy). In this area, the Apennines show differential topographical features with a plateau west of the mountain ridge. West–southwest of the plateau lies the Straits of Messina, the narrowest water surface between southern continental Italy and eastern Sicily. The passage of migrants was recorded along the ridge of the mountain chain and over the plateau. As expected for a soaring raptor, European Honey Buzzards were detected mostly during midday and early afternoon, while significant numbers were seen toward sunset probably when flying at lower altitude to roost. In addition, they were detected during strong winds when exploiting deflection updrafts, avoiding wind drift and limiting the negative effect of head winds. Western Marsh Harriers were detected mostly during crosswinds blowing from W–NW, perhaps because of a partial drift effect on birds passing along the Tyrrhenian coast. Black Kites were seen concentrating the passage over the plateau, confirming the hypothesis that these raptors tend to move along the western slope of the Italian peninsula perhaps because of foraging behaviour. Finally, European Kestrels/Lesser Kestrels were seen toward the sunset. This result seems to confirm that these small falcons migrate at considerable altitudes resulting in them being hardly detectable by direct visual observation but becoming more visible toward sunset, when they were probably moving to roost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa, Linnaeus 1758, Phasianidae) is a common game bird in Europe and it is classified as SPEC 2 (Species of European Conservation Concern), that is, a species with unfavorable conservation status due to a marked population decline. Loss of suitable habitat and hunting management are considered among the major causes of its decline. Such a decline can be also related to agriculture intensification, changes in agricultural practices and the abandonment of less productive lands. Habitat suitability models are an important management tool to define the potential distribution range of a given species, design a protected area network, and plan appropriate management actions and evaluate their effects. This study was conducted on Elba Island (Tuscany) in spring 2011 to define the habitat factors that affect theA. rufadistribution in a typical Mediterranean landscape. On this island the species is declining, as it is in other areas of Europe. We carried out point counts in a survey stratified according to vegetation. We formulated Resource Probability Selection Functions following a presence vs. availability design by Binary Logistic Regression Analysis to obtain a map of potential distribution of the species. We observed that the red-legged partridge distribution was mainly linked to the natural habitat with garrigue and perennial meadows, whereas woody landscape had a negative effect. To stop the species decline on the island habitat improvement actions are needed, such as the cutting of dense vegetation to create open areas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Grapevine is one of the most important crop plants in the world. Recently there was great expansion of genomics resources about grapevine genome, thus providing increasing efforts for molecular breeding. Current cultivars display a great level of inter-specific differentiation that needs to be investigated to reach a comprehensive understanding of the genetic basis of phenotypic differences, and to find responsible genes selected by cross breeding programs. While there have been significant advances in resolving the pattern and nature of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on plant genomes, few data are available on copy number variation (CNV). Furthermore association between structural variations and phenotypes has been described in only a few cases. We combined high throughput biotechnologies and bioinformatics tools, to reveal the first inter-varietal atlas of structural variation (SV) for the grapevine genome. We sequenced and compared four table grape cultivars with the Pinot noir inbred line PN40024 genome as the reference. We detected roughly 8% of the grapevine genome affected by genomic variations. Taken into account phenotypic differences existing among the studied varieties we performed comparison of SVs among them and the reference and next we performed an in-depth analysis of gene content of polymorphic regions. This allowed us to identify genes showing differences in copy number as putative functional candidates for important traits in grapevine cultivation.

The centromere/kinetochore interaction is responsible for the pairing and segregation of replicated chromosomes in eukaryotes. Centromere DNA is portrayed as scarcely conserved, repetitive in nature, quickly evolving and protein-binding competent. Among primates, the major class of centromeric DNA is the pancentromeric α-satellite, made of arrays of 171 bp monomers, repeated in a head-to-tail pattern. α-satellite sequences can either form tandem heterogeneous monomeric arrays or assemble in higher-order repeats (HORs). Gorilla centromere DNA has barely been characterized, and data are mainly based on hybridizations of human alphoid sequences. We isolated and finely characterized gorilla α-satellite sequences and revealed relevant structure and chromosomal distribution similarities with other great apes as well as gorilla-specific features, such as the uniquely octameric structure of the suprachromosomal family-2 (SF2). We demonstrated for the first time the orthologous localization of alphoid suprachromosomal families-1 and −2 (SF1 and SF2) between human and gorilla in contrast to chimpanzee centromeres. Finally, the discovery of a new 189 bp monomer type in gorilla centromeres unravels clues to the role of the centromere protein B, paving the way to solve the significance of the centromere DNA's essential repetitive nature in association with its function and the peculiar evolution of the α-satellite sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]