scholarly journals Genome-wide analysis of Corsican population reveals a close affinity with Northern and Central Italy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Tamm ◽  
Julie Di Cristofaro ◽  
Stéphane Mazières ◽  
Erwan Pennarun ◽  
Alena Kushniarevich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Genetic Isolation ◽  
Genome Wide Analysis ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Genome Analyses ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

AbstractDespite being the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean basin, the genetic variation of Corsica has not been explored as exhaustively as Sardinia, which is situated only 11 km South. However, it is likely that the populations of the two islands shared, at least in part, similar demographic histories. Moreover, the relative small size of the Corsica may have caused genetic isolation, which, in turn, might be relevant under medical and translational perspectives. Here we analysed genome wide data of 16 Corsicans, and integrated with newly (33 individuals) and previously generated samples from West Eurasia and North Africa. Allele frequency, haplotype-based, and ancient genome analyses suggest that although Sardinia and Corsica may have witnessed similar isolation and migration events, the latter is genetically closer to populations from continental Europe, such as Northern and Central Italians.

scholarly journals Genome-wide analysis of Corsican population reveals a close affinity with Northern and Central Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Tamm ◽  
Julie Di Cristofaro ◽  
Stéphane Mazières ◽  
Erwan Pennarun ◽  
Alena Kushniarevich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Genetic Isolation ◽  
Genome Wide Analysis ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Genome Analyses ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

Abstract Despite being the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean basin, the genetic variation of Corsica has not been explored as exhaustively as Sardinia, which is situated only 11 km South. However, it is likely that the populations of the two islands shared, at least in part, similar demographic histories. Moreover, the relative small size of the Corsica may have caused genetic isolation, which, in turn, might be relevant under medical and translational perspectives. Here we analysed genome wide data of 16 Corsicans, and integrated with newly (33 individuals) and previously generated samples from West Eurasia and North Africa. Allele frequency, haplotype-based, and ancient genome analyses suggest that although Sardinia and Corsica may have witnessed similar isolation and migration events, the latter is genetically closer to populations from continental Europe, such as Northern and Central Italians.

The valid nomen for the tree frog (genus Hyla) of Tunisia and Eastern Algeria

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4759 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHE DUFRESNES ◽  
PIERRE-ANDRÉ CROCHET
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Rad Sequencing ◽  
Western Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
Tree Frogs ◽  
Eastern Algeria

Mediterranean tree frogs, Hyla gr. meridionalis Boettger, 1874 (Anura: Hylidae) are widespread around the Western Mediterranean Basin, where they naturally occur across the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia). Individuals of diverse Moroccan origins have been introduced and have expanded throughout the Iberian Peninsula, southern France and northern Italy (Liguria), but also on the Canary and Balearic archipelagos (Recuero et al. 2007; Dufresnes et al. 2019). Early molecular studies uncovered several mitochondrial lineages and suggested a major cryptic diversification within this taxon, with Tunisian and eastern Algerian (Numidia) populations carrying deeply divergent haplotypes compared with the rest of the range (Recuero et al. 2007; Stöck et al. 2008; Stöck et al. 2012). While intron markers showed little differentiation (Stöck et al. 2008; Stöck et al. 2012), genome-wide data obtained from RAD-sequencing have supported the deep split suspected from mtDNA (Dufresnes et al. 2018). 

scholarly journals Genetic flow among olive populations within the Mediterranean basin

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina di Rienzo ◽  
Sara Sion ◽  
Francesca Taranto ◽  
Nunzio D’Agostino ◽  
Cinzia Montemurro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Olive Tree ◽  
Gene Pools ◽  
The North ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

Background The olive tree is a typical crop of the Mediterranean basin where it shows a wide diversity, accounting for more than 2,600 cultivars. The ability to discriminate olive cultivars and determine their genetic variability is pivotal for an optimal exploitation of olive genetic resources. Methods We investigated the genetic diversity within 128 olive accessions belonging to four countries in the Mediterranean Basin (Italy, Algeria, Syria, and Malta), with the purpose of better understanding the origin and spread of the olive genotypes across Mediterranean Basin countries. Eleven highly polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used and proved to be very informative, producing a total of 179 alleles. Results Cluster analysis distinguished three main groups according to their geographical origin, with the current sample of Maltese accessions included in the Italian group. Phylogenetic analysis further differentiated Italian and Maltese olive accessions, clarifying the intermediate position of Maltese accessions along the x/y-axes of principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). Model-based and neighbor clustering, PCoA, and migration analysis suggested the existence of two different gene pools (Algerian and Syrian) and that the genetic exchange occurred between the Syrian, Italian and Maltese populations. Discussion The close relationship between Syrian and Italian and Maltese olives was consistent with the historical domestication and migration of olive tree from the North Levant to eastern Mediterranean basin. This study lays the foundations for a better understanding of olive genetic diversity in the Mediterranean basin and represents a step toward an optimal conservation and exploitation of olive genetic resources.

scholarly journals The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 363 (6432) ◽  
pp. 1230-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iñigo Olalde ◽  
Swapan Mallick ◽  
Nick Patterson ◽  
Nadin Rohland ◽  
Vanessa Villalba-Mouco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Y Chromosomes ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
History Of ◽  
Genetic Substructure

We assembled genome-wide data from 271 ancient Iberians, of whom 176 are from the largely unsampled period after 2000 BCE, thereby providing a high-resolution time transect of the Iberian Peninsula. We document high genetic substructure between northwestern and southeastern hunter-gatherers before the spread of farming. We reveal sporadic contacts between Iberia and North Africa by ~2500 BCE and, by ~2000 BCE, the replacement of 40% of Iberia’s ancestry and nearly 100% of its Y-chromosomes by people with Steppe ancestry. We show that, in the Iron Age, Steppe ancestry had spread not only into Indo-European–speaking regions but also into non-Indo-European–speaking ones, and we reveal that present-day Basques are best described as a typical Iron Age population without the admixture events that later affected the rest of Iberia. Additionally, we document how, beginning at least in the Roman period, the ancestry of the peninsula was transformed by gene flow from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.

scholarly journals Palaega pisana n. sp. (Crustacea, Isopoda, Cirolanidae) from the Pliocene of Orciano Pisano, Pisa (Toscana, Central Italy)

2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Pasini ◽  
Alessandro Garassino
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
New Form ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

We report a new form of cirolanid ascribed to<em> Palaega pisana</em> n. sp. (Crustacea, Isopoda, Cirolanidae) from the Pliocene of Orciano Pisano, Pisa (Toscana, Central Italy). This is the second species of <em>Palaega Woodward</em>, 1870, reported from the Pliocene of Tuscany and Italy, increasing the very sparce palaeontological data on presence and distribution of the genus in the Mediterranean Basin during the Late Cenozoic.

Rabbis with Inky Fingers : Making An Eighteenth-Century Hebrew Book Between North Africa and Amsterdam

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-187
Author(s):  
Noam Sienna
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Book Production ◽  
Jewish Communities ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Manuscript Copy

Abstract The first edition of Sefer Hatashbe, a collection of responsa printed in Amsterdam in 1739 at the press of Naftali Herz Levi Rofé, is a magnificent example of the fine typography and engraving that contributed to the prominence of 18th-century Dutch Jewish printing. Through an examination of the newly identified manuscript copy which was used in the printing house to typeset this book, I trace the story of the printing of Sefer Hatashbe through the efforts of Meir Crescas of Algiers, and his collaboration with Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Maghrebi, and Italian Jewish communities. I demonstrate how the material facets of book production both relied on and reinforced the various networks ‐ intellectual, financial, religious, communal, familial, social ‐ that linked Jewish communities around the Mediterranean Basin and beyond, across class, nationality, and language.

The Water-Energy Nexus in the Middle East and North Africa under Climate Change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred A. Lange
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Mena Countries ◽  
Water Energy Nexus ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

&lt;p&gt;The region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) encompasses countries of the eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and North Africa, from Morocco in the West to the Islamic Republic of Iran in the East and from the Syrian Arab Republic in the North to the Republic of Yemen in the South. It is home to some 500 million inhabitants and is characterized by widely varied political and economic settings and a rich cultural heritage. Stark environmental gradients, as well as significant differences in the provision of ecosystem services, both East to West and South to North, are typical for the MENA Region.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climate changes in the Mediterranean Basin, in general, and in the MENA countries, in particular, currently exceed global mean values significantly. Numerical model results indicate that this trend will continue in the near future and imply that the number of extreme summer temperatures and heatwaves may increase significantly over the coming decades. At the same time, a decrease in precipitation and a significantly longer dry season for most MENA countries than at present are anticipated. This leads to a significantly increased demand for water and energy. In addition, other factors further exacerbate these demands in the MENA, including the general economic development, extreme population growth and increasing urbanization, changes in lifestyle, shifting consumption patterns, inefficiencies in the use of resources that result from technical and managerial inadequacies and energy and water subsidies in several countries of the region to name but a few.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The impacts of climate change will be particularly severe in urban settings and large cities of the Mediterranean Basin and the MENA region. Cities will see an enhanced heat accumulation compared to the surrounding rural land due to heat-build-up in buildings, transportation infrastructure, and enhanced human activities. Reduced ventilation within cities exacerbates the warming, particularly during summer heatwaves. Consequently, additional, energy-intensive space cooling will be needed in order to maintain acceptable indoor conditions. With regard to water scarcity, the aforementioned decreases in precipitation will reduce available drinking water for city inhabitants and green spaces. This requires the provision of unconventional water sources, e.g., through desalination, which requires significant quantities of energy. Overall, climate change will exacerbate resource demand for water and energy, in general, and in urban settings, in particular.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, the provision of water and energy are interrelated. In order to maintain water and energy security in the MENA region, these issues need therefore be considered holistically in the framework of the Water-Energy-Nexus (WEN).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The present paper aims to elucidate some of the interrelationships between water and energy resources and their provision and will briefly outline a few of the possible mitigation/adaptation options/strategies to reduce adverse impacts of climate change on the MENA region and its inhabitants.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals BURSAPHELENCHUS SPECIES (NEMATODA: APHELENCHIDA) ASSOCIATED WITH AN OLIVE TREE IN CENTRAL ITALY

Redia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
pp. 121-127
Author(s):  
GIULIA TORRINI ◽  
AGOSTINO STRANGI ◽  
STEFANIA SIMONCINI ◽  
ILARIA CUTINO ◽  
GIUSEPPE MAZZA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Olive Tree ◽  
Dead Tree ◽  
Phytoparasitic Nematodes ◽  
Olive Cultivation ◽  
Cultural Interest ◽  
Olive Trees ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

Olive cultivation is of great economic, ecological, and cultural interest in Italy, as well as in the rest of the Mediterranean basin. Among the pests of olive trees, several groups of insects, mites, and nematodes have been reported. Phytoparasitic nematodes especially of the genera Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus, Helicotylenchus, Xiphinema, Tylenchulus, Rotylenchulus, and Heterodera have usually been extracted from roots and soil around trees. On the other hand, no information is available concerning nematodes directly associated with the wood. At the end of September 2018, in a high-density cultivated olive grove in Tuscany (central Italy), several olive trees with decline symptoms were observed. Three Bursaphelenchus species, B. fungivorus, B. minutus, and B. sexdentati were extracted from the wood of one dead tree. Even though these species had already been reported in Italy, these findings were the first ones recorded in olive wood. Moreover, another undescribed Bursaphelenchusspecies was found associated with the bark beetle Hylesinus fraxini collected from olive trunks and branches. Further research is needed to investigate the role of insects and Bursaphelenchus spp. in the decline processes of olive trees.

scholarly journals Publisher Correction: Genome-wide analysis of Corsican population reveals a close affinity with Northern and Central Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Tamm ◽  
Julie Di Cristofaro ◽  
Stéphane Mazières ◽  
Erwan Pennarun ◽  
Alena Kushniarevich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Genome Wide Analysis ◽  
Close Affinity ◽  
Genome Wide

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

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