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Biochemical Genetics (v.42, #7-8)

The Genetic Structure of Oreochromis spp. (Tilapia) Populations in Malaysia as Revealed by Microsatellite DNA Analysis by S. Bhassu; K. Yusoff; J. M. Panandam; W. K. Embong; S. Oyyan; S. G. Tan (pp. 217-229).

The genetic make-up of five populations of Oreochromis spp. was examined by microsatellite analysis. Eleven polymorphic microsatellite loci showed significant departures from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The mean heterozygosity ranged from 0.6280 to 0.7040 for each population. The genetic distance values showed a clear separation between O. niloticus and O. mossambicus. The differentiation of the O. niloticus populations was then tested with various genetic measures, which are based on both the Infinite Allele and the Stepwise Mutation models. All these measures grouped the populations similarly.

Keywords: microsatellites; Oreochromis spp.; tilapia

Gene Frequency Distribution of the BoLA-DRB3 Locus in Saavedreño Creole Dairy Cattle by M. V. Ripoli; J. P. Lirón; J. C. De Luca; F. Rojas; F. N. Dulout; G. Giovambattista (pp. 231-240).

The objective of this study is to describe the gene frequency distribution of the bovine lymphocyte antigen (BoLA)-DRB3 locus in Saavedreño Creole dairy cattle and to compare it with previously reported patterns in other cattle breeds. One hundred and twenty-five Saavedreño Creole dairy cattle were genotyped for the BoLA-DRB3.2 allele by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. Twenty-two out of 53 previously identified BoLA-DRB3.2 alleles were detected, with gene frequencies ranging from 0.4 to 16.8%. Seventy percent of the variation corresponded to the seven most frequent alleles (BoLA-DRB3.2*7, *8, *11, *16, *27, *36, and *37). The studied population exhibits a high degree of expected heterozygosity (h e = 0.919). The F IS index did not show significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. However, the neutrality test showed an even gene frequency distribution. This result could be better explained assuming balancing selection instead of neutral or positive selection for one or a few alleles. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated that BoLA-DRB3.2 is a highly polymorphic locus in Saavedreño Creole dairy cattle, with significant variation in allele frequency among cattle breeds.

Keywords: BoLA-DRB3.2 ; Creole cattle; PCR-RFLP; genetic diversity

Inheritance of Lysosomal Acid β-Galactosidase Activity and Gangliosides in Crosses of DBA/2J and Knockout Mice by Eric C. Hauser; Julie L. Kasperzyk; Alessandra d'Azzo; Thomas N. Seyfried (pp. 241-257).

GM1 gangliosidosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by deficiencies in lysosomal acid β-galactosidase (β-gal) and involves accumulation and storage of ganglioside GM1 and its asialo form (GA1) in brain and visceral tissues. Similar to the infantile/juvenile human disease forms, B6/129Sv β-gal knockout (ko) mice express residual tissue β-gal activity and significant elevations of brain GM1, GA1, and total gangliosides. Previous studies suggested that inbred DBA/2J (D2) mice may model a mild form of the human disease since total brain ganglioside and GM1 concentration is higher while β-gal specific activity is lower (by 70–80%) in D2 mice than in inbred C57BL/6J (B6) mice and other mouse strains. A developmental genetic analysis was conducted to determine if the genes encoding β-gal (Bgl) in the D2 and the ko mice were functionally allelic and if the reduced brain β-gal activity in D2 mice could account for elevations in total brain gangliosides and GM1. Crosses were made between D2 mice homozygous for the Bgl d allele (d/d), and either B6/129Sv mice heterozygous for the Bgl ⁺ allele (+/−) or homozygous for the ko Bgl ⁻ allele (−/−) to generate d−/+ and d−/− mice. Specific β-gal activity (nmol/mg protein/h) showed additive inheritance in brain, liver, and kidney at juvenile (21 days) and adult (255 days) ages with the d−/− mice having only about 16% of the β-gal activity as that in the +/+ mice. These results indicate that the Bgl genes in the D2 and the ko mice are noncomplementing functional alleles. However, the d−/− mice did not express GA1 and had total brain ganglioside and GM1 concentrations similar to those in the d−/+ and +/+ mice. These results suggest that the reduced brain β-gal activity alone cannot account for the elevation of total brain gangliosides and GM1 in the D2 mice.

Keywords: GM1; brain maturation; mice; myelin; gangliosidoses

Molecular Genetic Variation in Chinese Populations of Three Subspecies of Hippophae rhamnoides by Chunjie Tian; Peng Nan; Suhua Shi; Jiakuan Chen; Yang Zhong (pp. 259-267).

To provide a population-level genetic profile for investigation and conservation of genetic diversity of the sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), 300 individuals of fifteen natural populations of sea buckthorn in China were analyzed by using ISSR (inter-simple sequence repeats) markers. On the basis of Shannon^'s index and Nei's genetic diversity, the mean genetic diversity detected in the natural populations of Hippophae rhamnoidesssp. yunnanensis, ssp. sinensis, and ssp. gyantsensis was 0.1944, 0.2169, and 0.1372, respectively. The coefficient of gene differentiation (Gst) of seven ssp. yunnanensis populations is 0.2790, and that of seven ssp. sinensis populations is 0.4184. This means that 28% of the total molecular variance of seven ssp. yunnanensis populations existed among populations, and 42% for seven ssp. sinensis populations, suggesting that the subspecies have different genetic structures. No significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances of the populations was found using ISSR markers.

Keywords: genetic variation; population; subspecies; Hippophae rhamnoides ; China

Assessing Genetic Diversity of Ginkgo biloba L. (Ginkgoaceae) Populations from China by RAPD Markers by Xiao-Xia Fan; Lang Shen; Xin Zhang; Xiao-Yong Chen; Cheng-Xin Fu (pp. 269-278).

Genetic diversity and differentiation of nine populations of Ginkgo biloba L. (Ginkgoaceae) from China were evaluated using RAPD. Of 47 clear and repeatable RAPD bands, 46 were polymorphic (overall polymorphism = 97.9%). A ranged from 1.57 to 1.83 with a mean of 1.75. Mean H e was 0.3159 (0.2429–0.3603). The Shannon index ranged from 0.3432 to 0.5119 with a mean of 0.4489. The G ST was 0.1609 and AMOVA analysis indicated 89% of the variation within populations. UPGMA clustered the 9 populations into two groups: one containing only population JF and the other including 8 populations. Genetic diversity and differentiation of Chinese populations were higher than those of Korean and North American populations, which are ultimately descended from China, as reported previously.

Keywords: Ginkgo biloba ; RAPD markers; genetic diversity; differentiation

Note: Isolation and Characterization of a Jerky and JRK/JH8 Like Gene, Tigger Transposable Element Derived 7, TIGD7 by Tonghai Dou; Shaohua Gu; Zongxiang Zhou; Chaoneng Ji; Li Zeng; Xin Ye; Jian Xu; Kang Ying; Yi Xie; Yumin Mao (pp. 279-285).

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