Fertility differences between two wild-type Drosophila melanogaster lines correlate with differences in the expression of the Jheh1 gene, which codes for an enzyme degrading juvenile hormone.

Juvenile hormone plays a "status quo" role in Drosophila melanogaster larvae, preventing the untimely metamorphosis, and performs a gonadotropic function in imagoes, ensuring the ovaries' preparedness for vitellogenesis. The decreased level of juvenile hormone results in reproductive disorders in D. melanogaster females including a delay in the oviposition onset and a fertility decrease. Another factor that can affect the insect reproduction is an infection with the maternally inherited symbiotic α-proteobacterium Wolbachia. The present study is devoted to the analysis of the expression of two juvenile hormone metabolism genes encoding enzymes of its synthesis and degradation, juvenile hormone acid O-methyltransferase ( jhamt) and juvenile hormone epoxide hydrase (Jheh1), respectively, in four wild-type D. melanogaster lines, two of them being infected with Wolbachia. Lines w153 and Bi90 were both derived from an individual wild-caught females infected with Wolbachia, while lines w153T and Bi90T were derived from them by tetracycline treatment and are free of infection. Line Bi90 is known to be infected with the Wolbachia strain wMel, and line w153, with the Wolbachia strain wMelPlus belonging to the wMelCS genotype. It was found that infection with either Wolbachia strain does not affect the expression of the studied genes. At the same time, it was shown that the w153 and w153T lines differ from the Bi90 and Bi90T lines by an increased level of the Jheh1 gene expression and do not differ in the jhamt gene expression level. Analysis of the fertility of these four lines showed that it does not depend on Wolbachia infection either, but differs between lines with different nuclear genotypes: in w153 and w153T, it is significantly lower than in lines Bi90 and Bi90T. The data obtained allow us to reasonably propose that the inter-line D. melanogaster polymorphism in the metabolism of the juvenile hormone is determined by its degradation (not by its synthesis) and correlates with the fertility level.

[Geometric Approach to Phylogeographic Analysis Molecular Genetic Sequences: Principal Components and Dendrograms].

Currently, the search for manifestations of selection under the influence of the environment in molecular sequences is usually carried out within closely related species or at the intraspecific level. It is believed that at high taxonomic levels this is unpromising due to phylogenetic relationship. Cytochrome b amino acid sequences of 67 rodent and lagomorph species with known geographic coordinates were digitized using the AAindex database. Based on more than 200 thousand characters, the principal components were obtained. A well-known statistical method, which has not been previously used for such problems, was used, which makes it possible to orthogonally decompose multidimensional variability into intra- and intertaxon variability and analyze them separately. The subfamily level was selected. For the second principal component (17.05% of intertaxon variability), a correlation with latitude was found (r = 0.561; n = 67; p < E-5). The clear division into two groups, revealed by the first principal component (39.48% of intertaxon variability), which does not coincide with the taxonomic one, indicates a possible physicochemical underlying cause for the differences between them. This requires further research.

[Correspondence analysis and combination of molecular genetic and morphological data in zoological systematics].

A new algorithmic approach is proposed for correspondence analysis of different types of data in zoological systematics. The algorithm is tested on actual data. A high degree of correspondence is shown for morphometric and genetic distances in the tested set of species. Two directions of variation in both character spaces have clearly appeared. The first direction discriminates families; the second discriminates orders. The characters responsible for these differences have been revealed. After uniting both distance matrixes, the morphological one and the molecular genetic one, into a single matrix, and displaying the summarized distances between species on a plane, the configuration of species remained principally unchanged. The principal directions of variations were preserved and marked the differences between orders, families, and genera.

[Patterns of transposable elements distribution on the Drosophila melanogaster polytene chromosomes before and after selection for a quantitative trait].

The effect of selection for radius vein length on the distribution of hybridization sites of the P and hobo transposons and the mdgl and mdg2 retrotransposons on polytene chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster salivary glands was studied. The patterns of these transposable elements (TEs) distribution were polymorphic in both the parental strain and selected strains. The similarity in mdg1 and mdg2 patterns between strains selected in one direction was closer than between strains selected in opposite directions, but the selected strains were closer to each other than to the parental strain regardless of selection direction. No mdg2 hybridization sites that would be absent in the control were found in the selected strains. There were more mdg2 and hobo hybridization sites in the strains selected in the (+) direction than in the (-) direction. The mobility of hobo copies in the strains studied correlated with the presence of its full-sized copy in the genome. The polymorphism of all TEs studied except for mdgl was greater for strains selected in the (+) direction that in the (-) direction. These facts suggest that some TEs migrate over the genome independently of selection, and others are markers of evolutionary events rather than their causes.

Rats with inherited stress-induced arterial hypertension (ISIAH strain) display specific quantitative trait loci for blood pressure and for body and kidney weight on chromosome 1.

1. The aim of the present study was to scan chromosome 1 in the hypertensive 'inherited stress-induced arterial hypertension' (ISIAH) rat strain for the quantitative trait loci (QTL) that control basal and stress-induced arterial blood pressure (ABP) levels and weight traits. 2. Two F(2) populations of 3-4- and 6-month-old male rats derived from a cross between the normotensive Wistar albino Glaxo (WAG) and hypertensive ISIAH rats were used in the search for the QTL. To identify the QTL for blood pressure (basal and under stress) and weight traits (bodyweight, as well as the weight of the adrenals, kidney and heart), 12 polymorphic markers covering a span of 234.6 Mb on chromosome 1 were analysed. 3. In 3-4-month-old rats, QTL were found for bodyweight in the vicinity of the D1Rat76 marker (230.6 Mb; P = 0.0019; logarithm of odds (LOD) score 3.23) and for relative kidney weight in the vicinity of the D1Rat117 marker (219.3 Mb; P = 0.000992; LOD score 3.41). No QTL for blood pressure were detected on chromosome 1 in the 3-4-month-old population. 4. In 6-month-old rats, a QTL for basal ABP in the region spanning 168.0-250.4 Mb, with two peaks around the markers D1Rat168 (204.8 Mb; P = 0.00087; LOD score 3.42) and D1Rat76 (P = 0.0006; LOD score 3.34), was described. A novel QTL was found in the D1Rat54-D1Rat168 region for stress-induced blood pressure (P = 0.0014; LOD score 3.08). 5. The results provide support for the existence of age-dependent differences in the genetic control of ABP and weight traits. Chromosome 1 was characterized by four QTL: for bodyweight and relative kidney weight in 3-4-month-old F(2) (ISIAH yen WAG) rats and basal ABP and ABP under emotional (restraint) stress conditions in 6-month-old F(2) rats. The QTL for stress-induced ABP seems to be novel and specific to the ISIAH rat strain.

A new approach to the study of genetic variability of complex characters.

A new approach to multivariate genetic analysis of complex organismal traits is developed. It is based on examination of the distribution of parental strains and the F1 and F2 hybrids in a multidimensional space, and the determination of the directions corresponding to heterozygosity, epistatic and additive gene effects. The effect of heterozygosity includes variability produced by interaction between and within heterozygous loci. The additive gene effects and the remaining epistatic interactions between the homozygous loci can be visualized separately from the effects of heterozygosity by an appropriate projection of the points in multidimensional space. In all, 20 morphological, physiological and behavioural characters and 21 craniometric measures were studied in crosses between two laboratory rat strains. Linear combinations of craniometric and of morphophysiological characters with a high narrow-sense heritability could be identified. These combinations characterized the organismal stress response, which had been selected for in one of the strains. The prospects for the practical application of the new approach and also for the evaluation of the contribution of the genetic diversity to phenotypic variability in animals in natural populations are discussed.

[Use of the major components methods in epidemiological studies]. / Primenenie metoda glavnykh komponent v épidemiologicheskikh issledovaniiakh.

When multifactorial processes are analyzed, it is most rational to use the methods of multidimensional statistical analysis, including the major components methods. This method is rather new in epidemiological surveys. Its advantage is that it may be used to get information that is difficult derived by other ways. Noteworthy is the versatility of the method, which lies in that the problems of analysis, prediction, and classification (stratification) of temporal series are solved by using actually the same techniques. How to apply the major components method are considered by using an example of investigating the general trends in the development of an epidemic tuberculous process in a specific area. Statistical data on tuberculosis morbidity in the areas of the Novosibirsk Region were employed as the initial material.

[Informative value of the major component technique in the assessment of the epidemic tuberculosis situation]. / Informativnost' metoda glavnykh komponent v otsenke épidemicheskoi situatsii po tuberkulezu.

The paper describes a method for comprehensive analysis of the epidemic situation which is based on the major component technique. The algorithm proposed for comprehensive assessment is highly effective in the retrospective analysis and in the analysis of the current material which includes a great deal of various characteristics that are at first sight occasionally unrelated. The use of the algorithm is shown by the example of analyzing 19 statistical variables that characterize the epidemic situation and different aspects of the work of a tuberculosis-controlling facility in 30 districts of the Novosibirsk Region in a period of 15 years (1985-1999). During processing, the variables fall into two groups: a group of variables that characterize the quality of antituberculosis work and a group of those reflecting the epidemic situation, which were used to divide the districts of the region into several groups.

[Localization of genes, determining quantitative traits in wheat: amendment to the "catalog of chromosomal mapping of genes in domestic cultivars of wheat"]. / Lokalizatsiia genov, determiniruiushchikh kolichestvennye priznaki u pshenitsy: dopolnenie k "katalogu khromosomnoi lokalizatsii genov u otechestvennykh sortov pshenitsy".

An amendment to the catalog of chromosome location of genes in Russian wheat cultivars was constructed with the published data of the recent decade. The results of chromosomal localization were summarized and analyzed by methods of multivariate statistics. Chromosomes critical for 40 quantitative traits under study proved to cluster according to their homeology, i.e., by homeological groups. The hypotheses providing an explanation for this finding are considered. It is suggested that quantitative traits are similarly controlled by genes located on homeological chromosomes in common wheat, making it possible to isolate a limited number of major genes for each particular quantitative trait.

[Dynamics of major constituents of tuberculosis morbidity in the population of Novosibirsk region]. / Dinamika osnovnykh sostavliaiushchikh zabolevaemosti tuberkulezom naselenia Novosibirskoi oblasti.

After processing the dynamic series of tuberculosis morbidity in the population of the Novosibirsk region by the smooth component methods, two major constituents were defined in morbidity dynamics. In total, they make up about half the total variability of tuberculosis morbidity. The first constituent is due to socioeconomic causes that are common for the whole region. The second one shows rather evident 10-year fluctuations. The same 10-year fluctuations are observed in the dynamics of tuberculosis morbidity among the cattle of the Novosibirsk region by out-stripping that in the population in the northern and eastern areas by 1-3 years.

[An analysis of the space-time changes in tick-borne encephalitis morbidity in Novosibirsk Province]. / Analiz prostranstvenno-vremennykh izmenenii zabolevaemosti kleshchevym éntsefalitom v Novosibirskoi oblasti.

The authors analyzed data on space and time changes in tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) morbidity in Novosibirsk Province from 1955 to 1995 by using the method of principal components (PCs). The first PC (26.0% of total variance) was linearly represented. Judging the the loading scores, this component can be interpreted as redistribution of TBE morbidity rates between southeastern taiga foci in Salair foothills and northern forest-steppe foci in vicinity of the Ob' River valley. The second PC (22.6% of total variance) can be read as regional differences with long-term cyclic changes. The first PC correlated with the annual average temperature (r = 0.45; P < 0.05) and this correlation can be determined by global climate warming-up.

[Helminthiases among the population of northwestern Siberia. 1. Opisthorchiasis and mixed invasion in the native inhabitants of the Ob River basin and their clinical course]. / Gel'mintozy u naseleniia severa Zapadnoi Sibiri. Soobshchenie 1. Opistorkhoz i mikstinvazii u korennykh zhitelei Priob'ia i ikh klinicheskoe techenie.

The use of multifactor statistic analysis for screening population of the northern part of the Ob river basin for helminthiasis allowed the authors to reveal a significant feedback between manifested opisthorchiasis and other types of this disease course in both sexes. The main component analysis indicates that the tentatively control group of males is presented by adolescents (14-17 years old) who are likely to be infected with Opisthorchis without evidence of its clinical manifestations. The correlation analysis demonstrated also a direct relationship between the age and manifest opisthorchiasis, as well as double mixed invasion of males (r-0.15 and 0.26, p less than 0.05 and 0.01, respectively). The first three main components explain about 55% variance in the correlation matrix of initial parameters and allow to reveal the variance source, taking into account, along with differentiation of 4 groups of opisthorchiasis patients, also the age- and sex-dependent combination of opisthorchiasis with other helminthic invasions.

[Multifaceted analysis of the interactions of morphophysiologic signs and ischemic ECG changes (a population study)]. / Mnogomernyi analiz vzaimosviazei morfofiziologicheskikh priznakov i ishemicheskikh izmenenii EKG (populiatsionnoe issledovanie).

Relationships between serum lipid and lipoprotein levels, arterial blood pressure, body weight and age, on the one hand, and coronary heart disease (CHD), on the other, were investigated by means of the main constituents analysis in a Northern Khant population. The pattern of relationship between the parameters in question was similar, by the first main constituent, in males and females, and suggested their age-dependence, unrelated to CHD. The second constituent, as a sum total of the effects of another factor, showed an unbalance between body weight and blood lipids, which was correlated with CHD in males and remained indifferent with respect to CHD in females.

[Factor analysis of rat behavior in the open-field test]. / Faktornyi analiz povedeniia krys v teste otkrytogo polia.

Method of major components, a variety of factor analysis, was used for evaluation of rats behaviour motivational structure in the open field test. 40 outbred rats of Wistar line (20 males and females) were examined in which 22 behaviour characteristics were studied. It was shown that a greater part (60%) of rats individual behaviour variability in the open field test was determined by the action of three major components (factors), which were defined as "investigation", "fear" and "shifted activity". Factor structure was studied of main characteristics of behaviour, recorded in the open field test. The use of factor analysis allowed to carry out animals classification on the basis of their disposition in coordinates of the obtained major components.