The Genomics of Cannabis and Its Close Relatives.

Cannabis sativa L. is an important yet controversial plant with a long history of recreational, medicinal, industrial, and agricultural use, and together with its sister genus Humulus, it represents a group of plants with a myriad of academic, agricultural, pharmaceutical, industrial, and social interests. We have performed a meta-analysis of pooled published genomics data, andwe present a comprehensive literature review on the evolutionary history of Cannabis and Humulus, including medicinal and industrial applications. We demonstrate that current Cannabis genome assemblies are incomplete, with ∼10% missing, 10-25% unmapped, and 45S and 5S ribosomal DNA clusters as well as centromeres/satellite sequences not represented. These assemblies are also ordered at a low resolution, and their consensus quality clouds the accurate annotation of complete, partial, and pseudogenized gene copies. Considering the importance of genomics in the development of any crop, this analysis underlines the need for a coordinated effort to quantify the genetic and biochemical diversity of this species.

Acute myelocytic leukaemia associated with Kaposi's sarcoma in a patient without serum antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

We report a 35-year-old man with acute myelocytic leukaemia and Kaposi's sarcoma, whose serum was non-reactive for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus type-1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Western blot and immunofluorescence. Complete remission of both the acute leukaemia and the Kaposi's sarcoma followed treatment with mitoxantrone and cytosine arabinoside. We speculate that the rapid regression of the lesions of Kaposi's sarcoma might be related to mitoxantrone and to the return to normal of his peripheral helper and suppressor T-cell counts.