Mobilization and evolutionary history of miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) in Beta vulgaris L.

We have identified three families of miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (VulMITEs) in the genome of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), evidently derived from a member of the Vulmar family of mariner transposons. While VulMITEs I are typical stowaway-like MITEs, VulMITEs II and VulMITEs III are rearranged stowaway elements of increased size. The integration of divergent moderately and highly repetitive sequences into VulMITEs II and, in particular in VulMITEs III, respectively, shows that amplification of repetitive DNA by MITEs contribute to the increase of genome size with possible implications for plant genome evolution. Fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH), for the first time visualizing stowaway MITE distribution on plant chromosomes, revealed a dispersed localization of VulMITEs along all B. vulgaris chromosomes. Analysis of the flanking sequences identified a dispersed repeat as target site for the integration of the stowaway element VulMITE I. Recent transposition of VulMITE I, which most likely occurred during the domestication of cultivated beets, was concluded from insertional polymorphisms between different B. vulgaris cultivars and species. ^†Sequence data from this article have been deposited in the EMBL/GenBank Data Library under the accession nos. AM231630-AM231653 and AM259123-AM259125.     

Molecular organization of terminal repetitive DNA in Beta species

We have isolated families of subtelomeric satellite DNA sequences from species of four sections of the genus Beta and from spinach, a related Chenopodiaceae. Twenty-five clones were sequenced and representative repeats of each family were characterized by Southern blotting and FISH. The families of ApaI restriction satellite repeats were designated pAv34, pAc34, the families of RsaI repeats pRp34, pRn34 and pRs34. The repeating units are 344–362 bp long and 45.7–98.8% homologous with a clear species-specific divergence. Each satellite monomer consists of two subrepeats SR1 and SR2 of 165–184 bp, respectively. The repeats of each subrepeat group are highly identical across species, but share only a homology of 40.8–54.8% with members of the other subrepeat group. Two evolutionary steps could be supposed in the phylogeny of the subtelomeric satellite family: the diversification of an ancestor satellite into groups representing SR1 and SR2 in the progenitor of Beta and Spinacea species, followed by the dimerization and diversification of the resulting 360 bp repeats into section-specific satellite DNA families during species radiation. The chromosomal localization of telomeric, subtelomeric and rDNA tandem repeats was investigated by multi-colour FISH. High-resolution analysis by fibre FISH revealed a unique physical organization of B. vulgaris chromosome ends with telomeric DNA and subtelomeric satellites extending over a maximum of 63 kb and 125 kb, respectively.     

Circus monkeys or change agents? Civil society advocacy for HIV/AIDS in adverse policy environments

This paper explores the factors enabling and undermining civil society efforts to advocate for policy reforms relating to HIV/AIDS and illicit drugs in three countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. It examines how political contexts and civil society actors’ strengths and weaknesses inhibit or enable advocacy for policy change – issues that are not well understood in relation to specific policy areas such as HIV/AIDS, or particular regions of the world where national policies are believed to be major drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The study is based on in-depth interviews with representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) (n = 49) and national level informants including government and development partners (n = 22). Our policy analysis identified a culture of fear derived from concerns for personal safety but also risk of losing donor largesse. Relations between CSOs and government were often acrimonious rather than synergistic, and while we found some evidence of CSO collective action, competition for external funding – in particular for HIV/AIDS grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was often divisive. Development partners and government tend to construct CSOs as service providers rather than advocates. While some advocacy was tolerated by governments, CSO participation in the policy process was, ultimately, perceived to be tokenistic. This was because there are financial interests in maintaining prohibitionist legislation: efforts to change punitive laws directed at the behaviors of minority groups such as injecting drug users have had limited impact.     

Divergence of satellite DNA and interspersion of dispersed repeats in the genome of the wild beet Beta procumbens

Several repetitive sequences of the genome of Beta procumbens Chr. Sm., a wild beet species of the section Procumbentes of the genus Beta have been isolated. According to their genomic organization, the repeats were assigned to satellite DNA and families of dispersed DNA sequences.The tandem repeats are 229–246 bp long and belong to an AluI restriction satellite designated pAp11. Monomers of this satellite DNA form subfamilies which can be distinguished by the divergence or methylation of an internal restriction site. The satellite is amplified in the section Procumbentes, but is also found in species of the section Beta including cultivated beet (Beta vulgaris). The existence of the pAp11 satellite in distantly related species suggests that the AluI sequence family is an ancient component of Beta genomes and the ancestor of the diverged satellite subfamily pEV4 in B. vulgaris. Comparative fluorescent in-situ hybridization revealed remarkable differences in the chromosomal position between B. procumbens and B. vulgaris, indicating that the pAp11 and pEV4 satellites were most likely involved in the expansion or rearrangement of the intercalary B. vulgaris heterochromatin.Furthermore, we describe the molecular structure, and genomic and chromosomal organization of two repetitive DNA families which were designated pAp4 and pAp22 and are 1354 and 582 bp long, respectively. The families consist of sequence elements which are widely dispersed along B. procumbens chromosomes with local clustering and exclusion from distal euchromatic regions. FISH on meiotic chromosomes showed that both dispersed repeats are colocalized in some chromosomal regions. The interspersion of repeats of the pAp4 and pAp22 family was studied by PCR and enabled the determination of repeat flanking sequences. Sequence analysis revealed that pAp22 is either derived from or part of a long terminal repeat (LTR) of an Athila-like retrotransposon. Southern analysis and FISH with pAp4 and pAp22 showed that both dispersed repeats are species-specific and can be used as DNA probes to discriminate parental genomes in interspecific hybrids. This was tested in the sugar beet hybrid PRO1 which contains a small B. procumbens chromosome fragment.     

The information capacity of adolescent alcohol consumption indicators along a continuum of severity: A cross-national comparison of sixteen Central and Eastern European countries

Background

Because there is high variability among European countries in prevalence levels of various alcohol consumption measures, the informational value of adolescent's alcohol consumption indicators is uncertain. The present study aimed to examine information capacity and measurement invariance of different alcohol consumption indicators in adolescents from countries of the former Soviet (Eastern) Bloc in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Methods

Data were collected in 16 CEE countries, as part of the 2013/2014 wave of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study. Data from adolescents (age 15) who reported having consumed alcohol at least once in their lifetime were analyzed. Four binary items selected for analysis measured the presence or absence of alcohol consumption in the last 30 days, lifetime drunkenness, weekly drinking frequency, and binge drinking on a typical occasion. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory analysis were used to examine the data.

Results

In most of the included countries, alcohol consumption in the last 30 days and lifetime drunkenness were indicative at lower severity levels, while binge drinking and weekly drinking frequency were informative at higher levels of alcohol use severity. A low proportion of the estimated intercepts and factor loadings were noninvariant, which indicated approximate cross-national invariance of these indicators.

Conclusions

Adolescent alcohol consumption indicators are informative for different severity levels and enable cross-nationally invariant measurement. However, different indicators suggested the presence of diverging drinking cultures in the CEE regions, with the highest discrimination capacity at the lower and higher ends of the continuum of alcohol use severity.