Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 occur frequently in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas and share hypermethylation targets with glioblastomas.

Mutations in the genes encoding isocitrate dehydrogenase, IDH1 and IDH2, have been reported in gliomas, myeloid leukemias, chondrosarcomas and thyroid cancer. We discovered IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in 34 of 326 (10%) intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas. Tumor with mutations in IDH1 or IDH2 had lower 5-hydroxymethylcytosine and higher 5-methylcytosine levels, as well as increased dimethylation of histone H3 lysine 79 (H3K79). Mutations in IDH1 or IDH2 were associated with longer overall survival (P=0.028) and were independently associated with a longer time to tumor recurrence after intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma resection in multivariate analysis (P=0.021). IDH1 and IDH2 mutations were significantly associated with increased levels of p53 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, but no mutations in the p53 gene were found, suggesting that mutations in IDH1 and IDH2 may cause a stress that leads to p53 activation. We identified 2309 genes that were significantly hypermethylated in 19 cholangiocarcinomas with mutations in IDH1 or IDH2, compared with cholangiocarcinomas without these mutations. Hypermethylated CpG sites were significantly enriched in CpG shores and upstream of transcription start sites, suggesting a global regulation of transcriptional potential. Half of the hypermethylated genes overlapped with DNA hypermethylation in IDH1-mutant gliobastomas, suggesting the existence of a common set of genes whose expression may be affected by mutations in IDH1 or IDH2 in different types of tumors.

CorrSieve: software for summarizing and evaluating Structure output.

The clustering software Structure has been used extensively to infer population structure in natural populations from multilocus genotype data. Determining meaningful values of K, the assumed number of subpopulations is one of the primary challenges of making biological inferences from Structure data. The package CorrSieve summarizes Structure output and performs a number of tests, including both previously reported methods and novel ones, to help determine meaningful values of K.

Genetic diversity and phylogeography in two diploid ferns, Asplenium fontanum subsp. fontanum and A. petrarchae subsp. bivalens, in the western Mediterranean.

Asplenium fontanum subsp. fontanum and A. petrarchae subsp. bivalens are diploid rock ferns of limestone outcrops of the western Mediterranean region. Asplenium fontanum subsp. fontanum occurs from Valencia through northeastern Spain to the Alpes-Maritimes and Swiss Jura. Asplenium petrarchae subsp. bivalens occurs only on Majorca, in Valencia and possibly in southern Spain. We analysed allozyme and chloroplast genetic marker diversity in 75 populations of A. fontanum subsp. fontanum and 12 populations of A. petrarchae subsp. bivalens sampled from across their respective ranges. The two species show similar levels of species and population genetic diversity to one another and to other diploid European Asplenium taxa. Both are predominantly outbreeding, as indicated by F(IS) = 0.108 and 0.167 respectively. Substantial between-population differentiation results largely from differentiation between regions. Isolation by distance operates over limited geographic ranges, up to 50 km. In A. fontanum subsp. fontanum, the major geographical differentiation between Valencia and the rest of the taxon range probably represents an ancient range fragmentation. A less pronounced differentiation divides populations in the SW from those in the NE of the range, with evidence for a biogeographic link between the eastern Pyrenees and southeastern France. High diversity in the Pyrenees may either represent ancient population differentiation, or a suture zone. In A. petrarchae subsp. bivalens, populations on Majorca exhibit a subset of the genetic diversity present in Valencia, although the two regions are strongly differentiated by differing allele frequencies. Dispersal from the mainland may have founded Majorcan populations, although a role for in situ island survival cannot be excluded.