FusionMap includes reference indexing, read filtering, fusion alignment and reporting in one package. The software is free for noncommercial use at (http://www.omicsoft.com/fusionmap).

No abstract

The teosintes, the closest wild relatives of maize, are important resources for the study of maize genetics and evolution and for plant breeding. We genotyped 237 individual teosinte plants for 93 microsatellites. Phylogenetic relationships among species and subspecific taxa were largely consistent with prior analyses for other types of molecular markers. Plants of all species formed monophyletic clades, although relationships among species were not fully resolved. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Mexican annual teosintes divide into two clusters that largely correspond to the previously defined subspecies, Z. mays ssp. parviglumis and ssp. mexicana, although there are a few samples that represent either evolutionary intermediates or hybrids between these two subspecies. The Mexican annual teosintes show genetic substructuring along geographic lines. Hybridization or introgression between some teosintes and maize occurs at a low level and appears most common with Z. mays ssp. mexicana. Phylogeographic and phylogenetic analyses of the Mexican annual teosintes indicated that ssp. parviglumis diversified in the eastern part of its distribution and spread from east to west and that ssp. mexicana diversified in the Central Plateau of Mexico and spread along multiple paths to the north and east. We defined core sets of collections of Z. mays ssp. mexicana and ssp. parviglumis that attempt to capture the maximum number of microsatellite alleles for given sample sizes.

Male reproductive tract abnormalities associated with testicular dysgenesis in humans also occur in male rats exposed gestationally to some phthalate esters. We examined global gene expression in the fetal testis of the rat following in utero exposure to a panel of phthalate esters. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were treated by gavage daily from Gestational Days 12 through 19 with corn oil vehicle (1 ml/kg) or diethyl phthalate (DEP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), dioctyl tere-phthalate (DOTP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), dipentyl phthalate (DPP), or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) at 500 mg/kg per day. Testes were isolated on Gestational Day 19, and global changes in gene expression were determined. Of the approximately 30 000 genes queried, expression of 391 genes was significantly altered following exposure to the developmentally toxic phthalates (DBP, BBP, DPP, and DEHP) relative to the control. The developmentally toxic phthalates were indistinguishable in their effects on global gene expression. No significant changes in gene expression were detected in the nondevelopmentally toxic phthalate group (DMP, DEP, and DOTP). Gene pathways disrupted include those previously identified as targets for DBP, including cholesterol transport and steroidogenesis, as well as newly identified pathways involved in intracellular lipid and cholesterol homeostasis, insulin signaling, transcriptional regulation, and oxidative stress. Additional gene targets include alpha inhibin, which is essential for normal Sertoli cell development, and genes involved with communication between Sertoli cells and gonocytes. The common targeting of these genes by a select group of phthalates indicates a role for their associated molecular pathways in testicular development and offers new insight into the molecular mechanisms of testicular dysgenesis.

Engineering conducting polymer thin films with morphological homogeneity and long-range molecular ordering is intriguing to achieve high-performance organic electronics. Polyaniline (PANI) has attracted considerable interest due to its appealing electrical conductivity and diverse chemistry. However, the synthesis of large-area PANI thin film and the control of its crystallinity and thickness remain challenging because of the complex intermolecular interactions of aniline oligomers. Here we report a facile route combining air-water interface and surfactant monolayer as templates to synthesize crystalline quasi-two-dimensional (q2D) PANI with lateral size ~50 cm2 and tunable thickness (2.6–30 nm). The achieved q2D PANI exhibits anisotropic charge transport and a lateral conductivity up to 160 S cm−1 doped by hydrogen chloride (HCl). Moreover, the q2D PANI displays superior chemiresistive sensing toward ammonia (30 ppb), and volatile organic compounds (10 ppm). Our work highlights the q2D PANI as promising electroactive materials for thin-film organic electronics.

OSA can be downloaded from http://omicsoft.com/osa. It is free to academic users. OSA has been tested extensively on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows platforms.

Platinum-group metals (PGM) are important precious metals in many industrial fields. However, their natural resource deposits are strictly limited. Accordingly, their recycling process from wastes and/or secondary resources must be considered. In this study, the leaching of PGM from automotive catalyst residue was performed based on the formation of their chloro-complexes in various concentration of acidic solution. The recovery of platinum, palladium and rhodium from the samples after hydrogen reduction pretreatments was examined in the leaching process by using a mild solution mixture of NaClO-HCl and H 2 O 2 at 65 C for 3 h. Effect of other solution mixtures on the extraction of the precious metals was also compared with NaClO-HCl-H 2 O 2 , such as HCl-H 2 O 2 and NaClO-HCl. The optimum condition to dissolve platinum, palladium and rhodium was achieved by the mixture of 3 vol% NaClO, 5 kmolÁm À3 HCl and addition of 1 vol% H 2 O 2 . The recovery of platinum, palladium and rhodium after 3 h leaching reaches 88%, 99%, 77%, respectively.

The phthalate ester di(n-butyl) phthalate (DBP) causes feminization of male rats upon in utero exposure by repressing expression of genes required for testicular steroidogenesis. Previous work in our laboratory has shown that repression of gene expression and steroidogenesis in the fetal testis is apparent within a few hours of DBP exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine the precise timing of DBP-associated gene expression changes in the fetal testis using transcriptional profiling and to determine whether DBP exerts similar effects on steroidogenesis in the fetal adrenal. A DBP time-course experiment showed that testicular steroidogenesis was decreased within 1 h of DBP exposure and that this decrease preceded the repressed transcription of Star (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein); Scarb1 (scavenger receptor class B, member 1; also know as Sr-b1); Cyp11a1 (cytochrome P450, family 11, subfamily a, polypeptide 1; also known as P450SCC); and Cyp17a1 (cytochrome P450 family 17, subfamily a, polypeptide 1; also known as Cyp17). Gene expression profiling demonstrated rapid (within 1 to 3 h) and transient induction of immediate early genes in the fetal testis after administration of DBP to the pregnant dam. There was a statistically insignificant decrease in corticosterone production by the fetal adrenal after in utero exposure to DBP from Gestation Day 12 to Gestation Day 19. The extent of steroidogenesis diminution was much less in the adrenal than in the testis (approximately 45% decrease in the adrenal versus 87% decrease in the testis) and expression of genes required for steroidogenesis in the adrenal was unaffected by DBP. Together, these studies demonstrate that DBP initiates a rapid and dynamic change in gene expression in the fetal testis that likely plays a role in the reduction in steroidogenesis that is unique to the fetal testis relative to the steroidogenically active fetal adrenal.