Sarbast Ihsan Mustafa, Trude Schwarzacher and John S. Heslop-Harrison The Nature and Chromosomal Landscape of Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) Integrated in the Sheep Nuclear Genome. DNA 2022, 2(1), 86-103; Free full text: https://doi.org/10.3390/dna2010007 Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) represent genomic components of retroviral origin that are found integrated in the genomes of various species of vertebrates. These genomic…
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Conservation, divergence and functions of centromeric satellite DNA families in the Bovidae
350. Escudeiro A, Adega F, Robinson TJ, Heslop-Harrison JS, Chaves R. 2019. Conservation, divergence, and functions of centromeric satellite DNA families in the Bovidae. Genome Biology and Evolution 11(4):1152–1165. doi:10.1093/gbe/evz061 https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evz061 (Open access) Repetitive satellite DNA (satDNA) sequences are abundant in eukaryote genomes, with a structural and functional role in centromeric function. We analysed the nucleotide…
ImmunoFISH – Simultaneous visualisation of proteins and DNA sequences gives insight into meiotic processes in nuclei of grasses
Sepsi A, Fábián A, Jäger K, Heslop-Harrison JS, Schwarzacher T. ImmunoFISH: simultaneous visualisation of proteins and DNA sequences gives insight into meiotic processes in nuclei of grasses. Frontiers in Plant Science. 9: 1193. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01193 ImmunoFISH is a method combining immunolabelling (IL) with fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) to simultaneously detect the nuclear distribution of proteins and specific DNA…
Identification and characterization of mobile genetic elements LINEs from Brassica genome
Nouroz F, Noreen S, Khan MF, Ahmed S, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2017. Identification and characterization of mobile genetic elements LINEs from Brassica genomes. Gene 627: 94-105. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2017.06.015.. Abstract Among transposable elements (TEs), the LTR retrotransposons are abundant followed by nonLTR retrotransposons in plant genomes, the lateral being represented by LINEs and SINEs. Computational and molecular approaches were…
Polyploidy and interspecific hybridisation: partners for adaptation, speciation and evolution in plants
337. Alix K, Gérard PR, Schwarzacher T, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2017. Polyploidy and interspecific hybridisation: partners for adaptation, speciation and evolution in plants. Annals of Botany 120: 183–194. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcx079 (freely available) Author version (free to post) to come. Figure 1 showing polyploidy or WGD whole genome duplication events in plant evolution is here AlixSchwarzacherHeslopHarrisonPlantEvolutionPolyploidyWGDAnnalsBotany (Powerpoint format) Background. Polyploidy or whole…
Molecular Diversity in some Ghanaian cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) accessions
315. Otwe EP, Agyirifo DS, Galyuon IK, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2017. Molecular Diversity in some Ghanaian Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata L.(Walp)] Accessions. Tropical Plant Biology.:1-11. DOI 10.1007/s12042-017-9184-9 BibT Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp)] is grown mainly for its protein-rich grains and is consumed in various forms in sub-Saharan Africa. Average grain yield in farmers’ fields is generally low…
Speciation in Callitriche (Plantaginaceae): the allopolyploid origin of C. platycarpa
Schwarzacher T, Scrocca V, Johnson K, Gornall RJ. 2016. Speciation in Callitriche (Plantaginaceae): the allopolyploid origin of C. platycarpa. New Journal of Botany. 2016 Sep 1;6(2-3):98-101. DOI: 10.1080/20423489.2016.1271293 Genomic in situ hybridisation (GISH) experiments involving hybridising labelled genomic DNA from the diploid species C. stagnalis, C. obtusangula and C. cophocarpa to chromosome spreads of the tetraploid C….
Characterization and diversity of novel PIF/Harbinger DNA transposons in Brassica genomes
331. Nouroz F, Noreen S, Heslop-Harrison J.S. 2016. Characterization and diversity of novel PIF/Harbinger DNA transposons in Brassica genomes. Pakistani Journal of Botany 48(1): 167-178. http://www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/48(1)/21.pdf Among DNA transposons, PIF/Harbinger is most recently identified superfamily characterized by 3 bp target site duplications (TSDs), flanked by 14-45 bp terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) and displaying DDD or…
Saffron crocus, cooking and Iran on the radio
The spice Saffron is valued worldwide for its flavor, aroma and color. I’ve just broadcast an interview with Robin Young produced by Jill Ryan for NPR’s Here and Now program which let me tell you something about my enjoyment of saffron both as a consumer and scientist. Saffron is unusual in that it is equally…
Saffron Crocus, quality and fraud in New York Times
Elaine Sciolino discusses saffron in the New York Times. Saffronomics partners Jean Thiercelin and Pat Heslop-Harrison are quoted, with the outcome of the project in developing methods to detect fraud and measure quality. In the article, the special qualities of saffron are discussed and many examples of the use in sweet and savoury foods explain the value in…
Banana research at the botanic garden
324. Heslop-Harrison, P. 2015. Banana research at the botanic garden. University of Leicester Botanic Garden Newsletter 12: 4. November 2015. Dessert bananas and the cooking bananas or plantains are among the oldest crops in the world. Most crops were domesticated through a long pathway of selection and crossing but, for banana, virtually all the two thousand varieties which are grown throughout the…
2014 in review: Molecular cytogenetics website activity
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Obviously, my New Year’s Resolution must be to put more of the things I do onto the Molcyt.com website, and not have such long gaps. Of course, half-a-dozen posts of more general interest was also put onto AoBBlog.com and I’ll be planning to…
The damaging bureaucracy of academic peer preview
309. Braben DW, Allen JF, Amos W, Ball R, Birkhead T, Cameron P, Cogdell R, Colquhoun D, Dowler R, Engle I, Fernández-Armesto F, Fitzgerald D, Hall J, Heslop-Harrison P. Herschbach D, Kimble HJ, Kroto H, Ladyman J, Lawrence P, MacIntyre A, Mattick J, Pelloni B, Randall D, Ray D, Roberts RJ, Seddon K, Self C,…
Animal Cytogenetics, Gene Mapping and Chromosome Research – The 21st Colloquium Ischia, Naples, Italy
Cytogenetics of animals is moving forward rapidly with the integration of sequencing and robust phylogenies with methods of chromosome analysis. The 21st International Colloquium on Animal Cytogenetics and Gene Mapping held June 2014 covered a range of topics in comparative, molecular, veterinary and environmental cytogenetics, as well as a session on cytogenetics of non-mammalian vertebrates and…
New lecturer (assistant professor) post in plant sciences at Leicester UK
Lecturer (Assistant Professor) Post in Plant Sciences, University of Leicester, UK We are seeking to appoint a permanent molecular/cellular biologist to undertake basic research relevant to plant sciences which also integrates closely with our cross-cutting College research themes in Molecular and Cellular Bioscience and/or Genome Science. The post-holder will be expected to develop their own independent…
Molecular cytogenetics and genome evolution 