AIMS Rheum palmatum complex comprises all taxa within section Palmata in the genus Rheum, including R. officinale, R. palmatum, R. tanguticum, R. tanguticum var. liupanshanense and R. laciniatum. The identification of the taxa in section Palmata is based primarily on the degree of leaf blade dissection and the shape of the lobes; however, difficulties in species identification may arise from th...

Copy number variations (CNV) within the genome are extremely abundant. In this closeup, Canales and Walz discuss how CNV are associated with normal variation, genomic disorders, genome evolution, adaptive traits and how the use of a novel screen described by Ermakova et al in this issue that is designed to identify human diseaserelevant phenotypes associated with CNV in the mouse can help eluci...

Identifying genes that influence phenotypic variation is extremely difficult, especially when the allelic variants only have a small effect. A recent study has used a novel approach to identify a gene that affects the behaviour of mice.

In this article we describe a unique and complex variation in the arterial pattern of the left hand of a female cadaver. The following variations were found in this case: a) persistent median artery of the palmar type, terminating in the hand as the princeps pollicis and radialis indicis arteries; b) the ulnar artery giving only two common palmar digital arteries; c) the second digital palmar a...

Despite the fact that genetic imprinting, i.e., differential expression of the same allele due to its different parental origins, plays a pivotal role in controlling complex traits or diseases, the origin, action and transmission mode of imprinted genes have still remained largely unexplored. We present a new strategy for studying these properties of genetic imprinting with a two-stage reciproc...

Genome-wide association studies and, more recently, next-generation sequencing studies have accelerated the investigation of complex human traits by providing a wealth of association data linking genetic variants to diseases and other phenotypic traits. These data promise to transform our understanding of the molecular pathways underlying complex human traits, but only if functional evaluation ...

A population faced with a new selection pressure can only adapt if appropriate genetic variation is available. This genetic variation might come from new mutations or from gene exchange with other populations or species, or it might already segregate in the population as standing genetic variation (which might itself have arisen from either mutation or gene flow). Understanding the relative imp...

In 2015, there were an estimated 10.4 million new cases of tuberculosis (TB) globally, making it one of the leading causes of death due to an infectious disease. TB is caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), with human disease resulting from infection by M. tuberculosis sensu stricto and M. africanum. Recent progress in genotyping techniques, in particular the increa...

Meiosis yields haploid gametes following two successive divisions of a germ cell in the absence of intervening DNA replication. Balanced segregation of homologous chromosomes in Meiosis I is aided by a proteinaceous structure, the synaptonemal complex (SC). The objective of this study was to determine total average autosomal SC lengths in spermatocytes in three commonly used mouse strains (129S...

Variation in complex physiological pathways has important effects on human function and medical treatment. Complex pathways involve cells at multiple locations, which serve different functions regulated by many genes and include complex neuroendocrine pathways that regulate physiological function. One of two competing hypotheses regarding the effects of selection on complex pathways predicts th...