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Background Red mullet ( Mullus barbatus ) is a key species in Mediterranean fisheries, yet its stock structure and population dynamics remain poorly understood due to a lack of comprehensive genomic resources. This study provides the first high-quality reference genome for M. barbatus and a comprehensive set of SNP markers to investigate its population structure and adaptive potential across the Mediterranean. Results Using the newly generated chromosome-level reference genome, we re-analyzed a Mediterranean-wide reduced-representation genomic dataset. Our analysis reveals a panmictic population structure with strong genetic connectivity across the species’ range, likely driven by extensive larval dispersal and multigenerational gene flow. Despite minimal genome-wide differentiation, outlier analysis identified candidate loci under directional selection, linked to key biological processes such as ontogeny and environmental adaptation. Conclusions This study presents the first genomic resource for M. barbatus , providing valuable insights into its genetic structure and adaptive mechanisms. While the identification of loci under selection offers promising leads, these findings are preliminary due to the limited genomic coverage of the dataset. Nonetheless, they pave the way for future genomic studies to explore how M. barbatus adapts to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. These results hold significant implications for the sustainable management of Mediterranean fisheries, especially in the context of climate change and conservation.

Purifying selection is the most pervasive type of selection, as it constantly removes deleterious mutations arising in populations, directly scaling with population size. Highly expressed genes appear to accumulate fewer nonsynonymous mutations between divergent species' lineages (known as E–R anticorrelation), pointing toward gene expression as an additional component modulating the selection coefficient of protein-coding mutations. However, estimates of the effect of gene expression on segregating deleterious variants in natural populations are scarce, as is an understanding of the relative contribution of population size and gene expression to purifying selection. Here, we analyze genomic and transcriptomic data from two natural populations of closely related sister species with different demographic histories, the Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) and the King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), and show that purifying selection at the population level depends on gene expression rate, resulting in very high selection coefficients at highly expressed genes. Leveraging realistic forward simulations, we estimate that the top 10% of the most highly expressed genes in a genome experience a selection pressure corresponding to an average selection coefficient of −0.1, which decreases to a selection coefficient of −0.01 for the top 50%. Gene expression rate can be regarded as a fundamental parameter of protein evolution in natural populations, maintaining selection effective even at small population size. We suggest gene expression could be considered as a major component of gene-specific selection coefficients, which are notoriously difficult to derive in nonmodel species under real-world conditions.

Background/Aims: Scarce physical activity predicts shorter survival in dialysis patients. However, the relationship between physical (motor) fitness and clinical outcomes has never been tested in these patients. Methods: We tested the predictive power of an established metric of motor fitness, the Six-Minute Walking Test (6MWT), for death, cardiovascular events and hospitalization in 296 dialysis patients who took part in the trial EXCITE (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01255969). Results: During follow up 69 patients died, 90 had fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, 159 were hospitalized and 182 patients had the composite outcome. In multivariate Cox models - including the study allocation arm and classical and non-classical risk factors - an increase of 20 walked metres during the 6MWT was associated to a 6% reduction of the risk for the composite end-point (P=0.001) and a similar relationship existed between the 6MWT, mortality (P<0.001) and hospitalizations (P=0.03). A similar trend was observed for cardiovascular events but this relationship did not reach statistical significance (P=0.09). Conclusions: Poor physical performance predicts a high risk of mortality, cardiovascular events and hospitalizations in dialysis patients. Future studies, including phase-2 EXCITE, will assess whether improving motor fitness may translate into better clinical outcomes in this high risk population.

BackgroundRecognition of secondary movement disorders (SMDs) is fundamental either to alleviate disabling disturbances or to treat potentially life-threatening conditions, such as brain tumors. Primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare form of CNS cancer that is often located in subcortical areas, accounting for both neuropsychiatric and motoric disorders. Nevertheless, an overview on PCNSL-related movement disorders (MDs) phenomenology has not been provided yet.ObjectiveTo outline the main features of PCNSL-related MDs.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on a cohort of patients with PCNSL presenting with MDs, including all existing cases identified by a systematic literature review (source: Medline; period: 1946–2020) and two unreported cases. Data on phenomenology, neuroimaging, histology, and clinical course were collected.ResultsA total cohort of fifteen subjects was defined, enrolling thirteen previously described patients extracted from eleven published studies, and our two unreported cases. A parkinsonian syndrome appearing at about 60 years of age, unresponsive to levodopa, associated to other neurological signs, resulted as the most common presentation of PCNSL-related MD. Chorea, dystonia, and dyskinesia occurred less frequently, with some degree of responsiveness to symptomatic treatments. Basal ganglia were involved in most cases and motoric disturbances often ameliorated after tumor mass reduction.ConclusionsThis study identified those features of PCNSL-related MDs that could support an appropriate approach to such a rare condition. In fact, while the outcome remains still poor, the therapeutic scenario of PCNSL is changing; an early diagnosis together with an adequate management will be thus crucial for timely and successful interventions.

Clear evidence has highlighted a role for hormones in the plant stress response, including salt stress. Interplay and cross-talk among different hormonal pathways are of vital importance in abiotic stress tolerance. A genome-wide transcriptional analysis was performed on leaves and roots of three-day salt treated and untreated plants of two Italian rice varieties, Baldo and Vialone Nano, which differ in salt sensitivity. Genes correlated with hormonal pathways were identified and analyzed. The contents of abscisic acid, indoleacetic acid, cytokinins, and gibberellins were measured in roots, stems, and leaves of seedlings exposed for one and three days to salt stress. From the transcriptomic analysis, a huge number of genes emerged as being involved in hormone regulation in response to salt stress. The expression profile of genes involved in biosynthesis, signaling, response, catabolism, and conjugation of phytohormones was analyzed and integrated with the measurements of hormones in roots, stems, and leaves of seedlings. Significant changes in the hormone levels, along with differences in morphological responses, emerged between the two varieties. These results support the faster regulation of hormones metabolism in the tolerant variety that allows a prompt growth reprogramming and the setting up of an acclimation program, leading to specific morpho-physiological responses and growth recovery.

Metis is the first solar coronagraph designed for a space mission capable of performing simultaneous imaging of the off-limb solar corona in both visible and UV light. The observations obtained with Metis aboard the Solar Orbiter ESA-NASA observatory will enable us to diagnose, with unprecedented temporal coverage and spatial resolution, the structures and dynamics of the full corona from 1.7 \\(R_\\odot\\) to about 9 \\(R_\\odot\\). Due to the uniqueness of the Solar Orbiter mission profile, Metis will be able to observe the solar corona from a close vantage point (down to 0.28 AU), achieving out-of-ecliptic views with the increase of the orbit inclination over time. Moreover, observations near perihelion, during the phase of lower rotational velocity of the solar surface relative to the spacecraft, will allow longer-term studies of the coronal features. Thanks to a novel occultation design and a combination of a UV interference coating of the mirrors and a spectral bandpass filter, Metis images the solar corona simultaneously in the visible light band, between 580 and 640 nm, and in the UV H I Lyman-{\\alpha} line at 121.6 nm. The coronal images in both the UV Lyman-{\\alpha} and polarised visible light are obtained at high spatial resolution with a spatial scale down to about 2000 km and 15000 km at perihelion, in the cases of the visible and UV light, respectively. A temporal resolution down to 1 second can be achieved when observing coronal fluctuations in visible light. The Metis measurements will allow for complete characterisation of the main physical parameters and dynamics of the electron and neutral hydrogen/proton plasma components of the corona in the region where the solar wind undergoes acceleration and where the onset and initial propagation of coronal mass ejections take place, thus significantly improving our understanding of the region connecting the Sun to the heliosphere.