Phylogenetic relationships among 74 accessions belonging to six species of Phaseolus are investigated using variation in chloroplast DNA assessed according to a PCR-RFLP protocol. Three fragments of chloroplast DNA are amplified using universal primers, and then digested with 10 restriction enzymes. Thirty-six haplotypes are identified on the basis of the polymorphism in fragment number and siz...

INTRODUCTION Sex hormones are well known to increase the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). The CYP17 gene encodes the enzyme cytochrome P450c17, which functions at key steps during the process of human sex steroid hormone synthesis. A T/C polymorphism in the 5 promoter region of the CYP17 gene influences its expression and the resulting serum levels of androgens and estrogens. The aim of t...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the possible influence of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), TNF receptor I (TNFRI) and TNF receptor II (TNFRII) gene polymorphisms on anti-TNF treatment responsiveness, stratified by autoantibody status. METHODS A Greek multi-centre collaboration was established to recruit a cohort of patients (n=100) with active RA treated with anti-TNF drugs. TNF g.-238G>A (rs361...

DNA-based molecular markers for differentiation of five penaeid shrimps (Penaeus monodon, P. semisulcatus, Feneropenaeus merguiensis, Litopenaeus vannamei and Marsupenaeus japonicus) were developed based on polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) of 16S ribosomal (r) DNA. Differentiation of P. monodon, P....

The population structure of five Fennoscandian geographic populations of the endangered wood-decay fungus Phellinus nigrolimitatus (Romell) Bourdot et Galzin was examined by analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) spacer sequences (ITS and IGS1) and a partial sequence of the elongation factor 1α gene (efa). A high level of sequence variation was observed in ITS and IGS1, suggesting restrictio...

Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for bladder cancer (BC). Sulfotransferase 1A1 (SULT1A1), a phase II enzyme, plays an important role in the metabolism of several carcinogens contained in cigarettes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between SULT1A1 G638A polymorphism, cigarette smoking and bladder cancer risk in Taiwan. A total of 150 BC patients and 150 cancer-f...

Introduction: Malignant salivary gland tumors are rare entities. Despite advances in surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, the rate of the mortality and five-year survival has not been improved markedly over the last few decades. The activation of EGFRRAS-RAF signaling pathway contributes to the initiation and progression of many human cancers, promising a key pathway for therapeutic mol...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Conventional identification of mycobacteria is achieved by standard biochemical tests that are time consuming, laborious and is not always conclusive. This study was thus undertaken to standardize a simple, rapid and cost-effective polymerase chain reaction based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) using primers coding for the 16S - 23S rRNA spacer regio...

PRINCIPLES Associations between polymorphisms for genes encoding enzymes involved in biotransformation of xenobiotics and susceptibility to several cancers have been shown in several studies. The aim of the present study is to investigate the influence of cytochromes P450 (CYP450) 1A1*2C and Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) (T1 and M1) gene polymorphisms in susceptibility to chronic myeloid le...