RESUMEN

Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA fragments that can be replicated or transposed within a genome. TEs make up a high proportion of the plant genome and contribute to genetic diversity and evolution, affecting genome structure or gene activity. Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are short, non-autonomous class II DNA transposable elements. MITEs have specific sequences, target site duplications (TSDs), and terminal inverted repeats(TIRs), which are characteristics of the classification of MITE families. In this study, a Stowaway-like MITE, PTE-2, was activated in transgenic Chinese cabbage lines. PTE-2 was revealed by in silico analysis as the putative activated element in transgenic Chinese cabbage lines. To verify the in silico analysis data, MITE insertion polymorphism (MIP) PCR was conducted and PTE-2 was confirmed to be activated in transgenic Chinese cabbage lines. The activation tendency of the copy elements of PTE-2 at different loci was also analyzed and only one more element was activated in the transgenic Chinese cabbage lines. Analyzing the sequence of MIP PCR products, the TSD sequence and TIR motif of PTE-2 were identified and matched to the characteristics of the Stowaway-like MITE family. In addition, the flanking region of PTE-2 was modified when PTE-2 was activated.

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RESUMEN

Survival of airplane stowaways is rare. Here we report an exceptional case of successful treatment and full recovery. After a transcontinental flight an unconscious stowaway was discovered in a wheel well of a Boeing 747-400F. Airport paramedics confirmed regular respiration and achieved 100% oxygen saturation (pulse oximetry) by high-flow oxygen. Rectal body temperature was 35.5 °C. On arrival at the emergency department, the patient's vital signs were stable. He did not respond to verbal stimuli. He localized to painful stimuli with both arms, however, there was no reaction to stimuli to both legs. We suspected his neurological deficits were caused by posthypoxic encephalopathy or altitude decompression sickness (DCS), the latter amenable to hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). HBOT was performed for 5 h (US Navy Treatment Table 6) and afterwards, full neurological recovery was documented. About 24 h after admission a new proximal paresis of the left leg was noted. Assuming recurrence of DCS, daily HBOT was scheduled for three days, after which motor function had again returned to normal. Stowaways travelling in airplane wheel wells experience extreme environmental circumstances. The presented patient survived an eight-hour exposure to calculated barometric pressures as low as 190 mmHg and ambient PO2 of 40 mmHg. Apart from creating awareness of this rare patient category, we want to stress the risk of altitude DCS in unpressurized flights. When DCS is suspected, immediate high-flow oxygen therapy should be initiated, followed by HBOT at the earliest opportunity.

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RESUMEN

The earliest mention of a stowaway in the wheel well of an airplane dates back to 1947: A 30-year-old man chose this mode of travel for a trip from Lisbon to Brazil and survived (Véronneau et al., 1996). In a retrospective study, we evaluated cases with lethal outcome of stowaways in airplane wheel wells by focusing on forensic autopsy results, in particular, in regard to hypothermia, hypoxia, and injuries. In addition, the flight routes, flight altitudes, and flight durations were analyzed. Using the forensik® program, a search of all the autopsies performed between 1994-2017 at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was conducted, using the key words "airplane," "flights," and "wheel well." All of the thus retrieved autopsy reports, medicolegal expert reports, and police investigation reports were then evaluated. Five cases were included in our study. The decedents were all men, aged between 14 and 26 years. Four of the decedents had been discovered at the Frankfurt Main airport within airplane wheel wells; the fifth man had been discovered in a woods underlying one of the flight approach paths to the airport. Two stowaways had died of hypoxic asphyxiation, possibly in conjunction with hypothermia as a contributing factor. One stowaway died of the polytrauma he sustained when he was crushed by retracting landing gear. For a further stowaway, the cause of death could not be macroscopically determined at autopsy. In one case, only an external postmortem examination had been performed, without autopsy. Analysis of the flight routes, altitudes, and durations showed that the flights had been international flights, the flight altitudes had varied between 7000m (∼23,000ft) und 11,000m (∼36,000ft), and the flight duration had been between 4 and 9.5h. At high altitudes, the ambient conditions in wheel wells, which are not pressurized, are rarely survived by stowaways, with hypoxic asphyxiation likely posing greater peril than hypothermia. Further dangers are that of being crushed by retracting landing gear after takeoff, or of falling out of a wheel well, from a great height, when the landing gear is deployed. When it appears conceivable that a stowaway may have fallen from an aircraft wheel well during landing or takeoff, an autopsy and discovery scene investigation are essential to reconstructing the course of events.

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RESUMEN

The prevalence of non-autonomous class II transposable elements (TEs) in plant genomes may serve as a tool for relatively rapid and low-cost development of gene-associated molecular markers. Miniature inverted-repeat transposable element (MITE) copies inserted within introns can be exploited as potential intron length polymorphism (ILP) markers. ILPs can be detected by PCR with primers anchored in exon sequences flanking the target introns. Here, we designed primers for 209 DcSto (Daucus carota Stowaway-like) MITE insertion sites within introns along the carrot genome and validated them as candidate ILP markers in order to develop a set of markers for genotyping the carrot. As a proof of concept, 90 biallelic DcS-ILP markers were selected and used to assess genetic diversity of 27 accessions comprising wild Daucus carota and cultivated carrot of different root shape. The number of effective alleles was 1.56, mean polymorphism informative content was 0.27, while the average observed and expected heterozygosity was 0.24 and 0.34, respectively. Sixty-seven loci showed positive values of Wright's fixation index. Using Bayesian approach, two clusters comprising four wild and 23 cultivated accessions, respectively, were distinguished. Within the cultivated carrot gene pool, four subclusters representing accessions from Chantenay, Danvers, Imperator, and Paris Market types were revealed. It is the first molecular evidence for root-type associated diversity structure in western cultivated carrot. DcS-ILPs detected substantial genetic diversity among the studied accessions and, showing considerable discrimination power, may be exploited as a tool for germplasm characterization and analysis of genome relationships. The developed set of DcS-ILP markers is an easily accessible molecular marker genotyping system based on TE insertion polymorphism.

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