| 1. |
- Jacquet, S., et al.
(författare)
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Colonization of the Mediterranean basin by the vector biting midge species Culicoides imicola : an old story
- 2015
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 24:22, s. 5707-5725
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the demographic history and genetic make-up of colonizing species is critical for inferring population sources and colonization routes. This is of main interest for designing accurate control measures in areas newly colonized by vector species of economically important pathogens. The biting midge Culicoides imicola is a major vector of orbiviruses to livestock. Historically, the distribution of this species was limited to the Afrotropical region. Entomological surveys first revealed the presence of C. imicola in the south of the Mediterranean basin by the 1970s. Following recurrent reports of massive bluetongue outbreaks since the 1990s, the presence of the species was confirmed in northern areas. In this study, we addressed the chronology and processes of C. imicola colonization in the Mediterranean basin. We characterized the genetic structure of its populations across Mediterranean and African regions using both mitochondrial and nuclear markers, and combined phylogeographical analyses with population genetics and approximate Bayesian computation. We found a west/east genetic differentiation between populations, occurring both within Africa and within the Mediterranean basin. We demonstrated that three of these groups had experienced demographic expansions in the Pleistocene, probably because of climate changes during this period. Finally, we showed that C. imicola could have colonized the Mediterranean basin in the Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene through a single event of introduction; however, we cannot exclude the hypothesis involving two routes of colonization. Thus, the recent bluetongue outbreaks are not linked to C. imicola colonization event, but rather to biological changes in the vector or the virus.
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| 2. |
- Leigh, David A., et al.
(författare)
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Tying different knots in a molecular strand
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 584:7822, s. 562-568
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The properties of knots are exploited in a range of applications, from shoelaces to the knots used for climbing, fishing and sailing1. Although knots are found in DNA and proteins2, and form randomly in other long polymer chains3,4, methods for tying5different sorts of knots in a synthetic nanoscale strand are lacking. Molecular knots of high symmetry have previously been synthesized by using non-covalent interactions to assemble and entangle molecular chains6–15, but in such instances the template and/or strand structure intrinsically determines topology, which means that only one type of knot is usually possible. Here we show that interspersing coordination sites for different metal ions within an artificial molecular strand enables it to be tied into multiple knots. Three topoisomers—an unknot (01) macrocycle, a trefoil (31) knot6–15, and a three-twist (52) knot—were each selectively prepared from the same molecular strand by using transition-metal and lanthanide ions to guide chain folding in a manner reminiscent of the action of protein chaperones16. We find that the metal-ion-induced folding can proceed with stereoinduction: in the case of one knot, a lanthanide(iii)-coordinated crossing pattern formed only with a copper(i)-coordinated crossing of particular handedness. In an unanticipated finding, metal-ion coordination was also found to translocate an entanglement from one region of a knotted molecular structure to another, resulting in an increase in writhe (topological strain) in the new knotted conformation. The knot topology affects the chemical properties of the strand: whereas the tighter 52knot can bind two different metal ions simultaneously, the looser 31 isomer can bind only either one copper(i) ion or one lutetium(iii) ion. The ability to tie nanoscale chains into different knots offers opportunities to explore the modification of the structure and properties of synthetic oligomers, polymers and supramolecules.
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