A growing body of evidence suggests that rates of diversification of biological lineages are correlated with differences in genome-wide mutation rate. Given that most research into differential patterns of diversification rate have focused on species traits or ecological parameters, a connection to the biochemical processes of genome change is an unexpected observation. While the empirical evid...

Epigenetic research is at the forefront of plant biology and molecular genetics. Studies on higher plants underscore the significant role played by epigenetics in both plant development and stress response. Relatively recent advances in analytical methodology have allowed for a significant expansion of what is known about genome-wide mapping of DNA methylation and histone modifications. In this...

A molecular epidemiology project on diet and cancer: the EPIC-Italy prospective study. Design and baseline characteristics of participants. Relative validity and reproducibility of a food frequency dietary questionnaire for use in the Italian EPIC centres. Valle C et al. B-vitamins intake, DNA-methylation of one carbon metabolism and homocyst-eine pathway genes and myocardial infarction risk: t...

Background: Congenital factor XIII (FXIII) deficiency is one of the rarest bleeding disorders with a prevalence of one per 2 million in the general population. The disorder is accompanied by a high rate of life-threatening bleeding. Due to normal results of routine coagulation tests, diagnosis of the disorder is challenging, but molecular methods can be used for precise diagnosis. Direct mutati...

background: leishmaniasis represents a major public health concern in tropical and sub-tropical countries. at present, there is no efficacious vaccine against the disease and new control methods are needed. one way to access this important goal is to knock out genes of specific macromolecules to evaluate the effect of deletion on the growth, multiplication, pathogenesis and immunity of the para...