This work constitutes the first genome-wide transcriptome analysis of keratoconus patient corneas that include all currently known genes and exons. Differential expression suggests that mechanisms of cell loss resulting from antiproliferative and hyperapoptotic phenotypes may be responsible for the pathogenesis of keratoconus. Array information, experimental design, raw intensities, and processed log(2) ratios were deposited at the European Bioinformatic Institute's ArrayExpress database (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/). The accession number is E-MEXP-2777.

The patterns of genetic differentiation and levels of genetic diversity among striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) populations from the North Atlantic Ocean (N=45 individuals) and the central and western Mediterranean Sea (N=78) were investigated using five polymorphic microsatellite loci. A North Pacific sample (N=14) was added as an out-group. Two of the markers were tetranucleotide repeats tested for the first time in this species. The Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific samples displayed a mean number of alleles per locus of 11.2, 13.4, and 9.6 respectively, suggesting a high but variable polymorphism across loci. The Mediterranean sample displayed particular characteristics: (i) the lowest allelic richness and expected heterozygosity (He Mediterranean =0.76, while He Atlantic =0.83 and He Pacific =0.85); (ii) a significant departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P<0.001; F IS =0.050); and (iii) a significant linkage disequilibrium between two pairs of loci. These last two features, present neither in the Atlantic sample nor in the Pacific one, suggest that the western Mediterranean population might possibly be further subdivided.