The phenotypic effect of mutations can depend on their genetic background, a phenomenon known as epistasis. Many experimental studies have found that epistasis is pervasive, and some indicate that it may follow a general pattern dependent on the fitness effect of the interacting mutations. These studies have, however, typically examined the effect of interactions between a small number of focal...

Despite recent advances in the knowledge of interindividual taste differences, the underlying genetic backgrounds have remained to be fully elucidated. Much of the taste variation among different mammalian species can be explained by pseudogenization of taste receptors. Here I investigated whether the most recent disruptions of taste receptor genes segregate with their intact forms in modern hu...

The prevailing paradigm for common disease emphasizes the role of common variants predisposing to various rampant health problems, and these genetic risk profiles interact with environmental and life style risk factors triggering the disease process and modifying its progress. However, most of what we know about the molecular background of common diseases is in fact based on what we have learne...

Amoebae of the Colonia (CL) strain, which normally produce plasmodia in clones, are shown to cross with mt3 and mt4 amoebae under appropriate conditions. Strains carrying mt3 and mt4 in a CL genetic background were constructed and used in the genetic analysis of mutants isolated in CL.

Using a large collection of European and North African methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates with a variety of genetic backgrounds and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) types, we evaluated the reliability of the BD GeneOhm MRSA assay. Results revealed high performance of this test for detecting MRSA strains provided from Europe and North Africa (98.3%).

This study investigated the influence of genetic factor and personality on leadership role occupancy among a sample of male twins. Identical twins (n =238) who share 100% of their genetic background were compared with fraternal twins (n =188) who are expected to share only 50% of their genetic background. Results indicated that 30% of the variance in leadership role occupancy could be accounted...