Evidence for biased gene conversion in concerted evolution of ribosomal DNA

Concerted evolution is the production and maintenance of homogeneity within repeated families of DNA. Two mechanisms--unequal crossing over and biased gene conversion--have been the principal explanations of concerted evolution. Concerted evolution of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) arrays is thought to be largely the result of unequal crossing over. However, concerted evolution of rDNA in parthenogenetic lizards of hybrid origin is strongly biased toward one of two parental sequences, which is consistent with biased gene conversion as the operative mechanism. The apparent gene conversions are independent of initial genome dosage and result in homogenization of rDNA arrays across all nucleolar organizer regions.     

Spatial Variability of Turbulent Mixing in the Abyssal Ocean

Ocean microstructure data show that turbulent mixing in the deep Brazil Basin of the South Atlantic Ocean is weak at all depths above smooth abyssal plains and the South American Continental Rise. The diapycnal diffusivity there was estimated to be less than or approximately equal to 0.1 x 10(-4) meters squared per second. In contrast, mixing rates are large throughout the water column above the rough Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and the diffusivity deduced for the bottom-most 150 meters exceeds 5 x 10(-4) meters squared per second. Such patterns in vertical mixing imply that abyssal circulations have complex spatial structures that are linked to the underlying bathymetry.     

Textural and crystal-fabric anisotropies and the flow of ice masses

Accurate modeling and prediction of glacier response requires a better understanding of the influence of physical anisotropies on creep. To investigate the effects of variations in the degree of preferred crystallographic orientation and ice crystal size on creep, 19 samples of anisotropic glacier ice were deformed in simple shear. Results indicate that the time required for ice samples to reach the minimum strain rate decreases as crystal size increases; an increase in crystal-fabric development from an isotropic fabric to one with a strong single maximum results in an enhancement of the minimum strain rate by a factor of 4; and a doubling of the crystal size results in about a ninefold increase in the minimum strain rate.     

Stratospheric ozone, middle ultraviolet radiation, and carbon-14 measurements of marine productivity

The effects of increased ultraviolet radiation, due to decreased stratospheric ozone, on marine phytoplankton have been investigated with the use of static bottle in situ carbon-14 productivity measurements. The relative biological efficiency for photoinhibition may be used to calculate biologically effective doses and resultant amplification factors. The carbon-14 technique (short-term incubations) is inadequate for assessment of possible large amplification factor photoprocesses that may be ecologically significant.     

High-resolution holocene environmental changes in the thar desert, northwestern india

Sediments from Lunkaransar dry lake in northwestern India reveal regional water table and lake level fluctuations over decades to centuries during the Holocene that are attributed to changes in the southwestern Indian monsoon rains. The lake levels were very shallow and fluctuated often in the early Holocene and then rose abruptly around 6300 carbon-14 years before the present (14C yr B.P.). The lake completely desiccated around 4800 (14)C yr B.P. The end of this 1500-year wet period coincided with a period of intense dune destabilization. The major Harrapan-Indus civilization began and flourished in this region 1000 years after desiccation of the lake during arid climate and was not synchronous with the lacustral phase.