Discrimination of cellulose fabrics using infrared spectroscopy and newly developed discriminant analysis.

Identifying cellulose fibers in fabric products is necessary for quality control and appropriate distribution but can be difficult because of their similarities. A novel technique to identify cellulose fabrics has been developed that uses infrared spectroscopy with the attenuated total reflection (ATR) method, evaluated with an improved Fisher's discriminant analysis including regularization coefficients and orthogonal decompositions. Sequential discrimination of six different types of cellulose fibers -cotton, ramie, and linen, which are natural fibers, and rayon, cupra, and lyocell, which are regenerated fibers- was achieved using the new technique.

Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence and phylogenetic analysis of Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri (Bivalvia: Pectinidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri is 21,695 bp in length and contains 12 protein-coding genes (the atp8 gene is absent, as in most bivalves), 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes. The heavy strand has an overall A+T content of 58.7%. GC and AT skews for the mt genome of C. farreri are 0.337 and -0.184, respectively, indicating the nucleotide bias against C and A. The mitochondrial gene order of C. farreri differs drastically from the scallops Argopecten irradians, Mimachlamys nobilis and Placopecten magellanicus, which belong to the same family Pectinidae. 6623 bp non-coding nucleotides exist intergenically in the mitogenome of C. farreri, with a large continuous sequence (4763 bp) between tRNA ( Val ) and tRNA ( Asn ). Two repeat families are found in the large continuous sequence, which seems to be a common feature of scallops. Phylogenetic analysis based on 12 concatenated amino acid sequences of protein-coding genes supports the monophyly of Pectinidae and paraphyletic Pteriomorphia with respect to Heteroconchia.

Permanent Genetic Resources added to Molecular Ecology Resources Database 1 June 2010 - 31 July 2010.

This article documents the addition of 205 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Bagassa guianensis, Bulweria bulwerii, Camelus bactrianus, Chaenogobius annularis, Creontiades dilutus, Diachasmimorpha tryoni, Dioscorea alata, Euhrychiopsis lecontei, Gmelina arborea, Haliotis discus hannai, Hirtella physophora, Melanaphis sacchari, Munida isos, Thaumastocoris peregrinus and Tuberolachnus salignus. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Halobaena caerulea, Procellaria aequinoctialis, Oceanodroma monteiroi, Camelus ferus, Creontiades pacificus, Dioscorea rotundata, Dioscorea praehensilis, Dioscorea abyssinica, Dioscorea nummularia, Dioscorea transversa, Dioscorea esculenta, Dioscorea pentaphylla, Dioscorea trifida, Hirtella bicornis, Hirtella glandulosa, Licania alba, Licania canescens, Licania membranaceae, Couepia guianensis and 7 undescribed Thaumastocoris species.

Microsatellite analysis of Japanese sea cucumber, Stichopus (Apostichopus) japonicus, supports reproductive isolation in color variants.

The genetic relationship among the three color variants (Red, Green, and Black) of the Japanese sea cucumber, S. japonicus, was investigated using 11 microsatellite markers. Genetic differentiation testing among the three sympatric color types showed the strong heterogeneity of Red (p<0.001), while no significant difference was observed between Green and Black (p=0.301 to 0.961). UPGMA trees constructed from 10 sample lots from 5 localities showed two distinct clusters, one from the Red types and the other from the Green and Black types. In addition, the sympatric Green and Black formed one subcluster with strong bootstrap support at each locality. These results indicate the separate species status of Red and the other color types, and also support the population identity of sympatric Green and Black.

Isolation and characterization of twenty microsatellite loci in Japanese sea cucumber (Stichopus japonicus).

Twenty microsatellite markers were first developed from the Japanese sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus using an enrichment protocol. Of the 20 microsatellite loci, 19 loci were polymorphic in the population examined. At these polymorphic loci, the number of alleles per locus varied from 2 to 15, and the observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.03 to 0.97, which is considerably higher than those previously found for allozymes. The high variability of the microsatellite markers identified in this study will make them excellent tools for genetic analyses of S. japonicus.