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A R Beaumont

Publications and source records attributed to A R Beaumont.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Disruption of doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA in hybrid mussels (Mytilus edulis x M. galloprovincialis).

Blue mussels of the genus Mytilus have an unusual mode of mitochondrial DNA inheritance termed doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI). Females are homoplasmic for the F mitotype which is inherited maternally, whereas males are heteroplasmic for this and the paternally inherited M mitotype. In areas where species distributions overlap a varying degree of hybridization occurs; yet genetic differences between allopatric populations are maintained. Observations from natural populations and previous laboratory experiments suggest that DUI may be disrupted by hybridization, giving rise to heteroplasmic females and homoplasmic males. We carried out controlled laboratory crosses between Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis to produce pure species and hybrid larvae of known parentage. DNA markers were used to follow the fate of the F and M mitotypes through larval development. Disruption of the mechanism which determines whether the M mitotype is retained or eliminated occurred in an estimated 38% of M. edulis x M. galloprovincialis hybrid larvae, a level double that previously observed in adult mussels from a natural M. edulis x M. galloprovincialis hybrid population. Furthermore, reciprocal hybrid crosses exhibited contrasting types of DUI disruption. The results indicate that disruption of DUI in hybrid mussels may be associated with increased mortality and hence could be a factor in the maintenance of genetic integrity for each species.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Mitochondrial DNA variation in the scallop Pecten maximus (L.) assessed by a PCR-RFLP method.

Two PCR-RFLP mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers were developed through the cloning and sequencing of mtDNA from the scallop Pecten maximus, and were used to study genetic differentiation off UK and Atlantic coast populations of this species. Although no distinct pattern of mtDNA haplotype frequencies was apparent and no diagnostic haplotypes were identified for any population, sequence divergence data provided convincing evidence that a P. maximus sample taken from Mulroy Bay, Eire, a semi-enclosed sea lough, was genetically differentiated form all other samples. However, this could not be unequivocally attributed to a restriction in gene flow, as the sample consisted of an ongrown single spatfall, which may not have been representative of the wild population. Despite the inability to separate populations on the basis of haplotype frequency, it was noteworthy that the frequency pattern of the commonest haplotype varied between sampling sites in a manner similar to that of allozyme allele frequencies in Aequipecten opercularis, a scallop species with a similar distribution and life history, for which there is evidence of population subdivision. Pecten maximus from St. Brieuc Bay, reasoned to be a self-recruiting population from reproductive and physiological evidence, could not be separated from other populations using mtDNA markers. Further investigation of this population with alternative markers is warranted.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Urinary retention after total hip replacement. A prospective study.

We report a prospective study of the factors associated with acute urinary retention after total hip replacement in 103 consecutive male patients. Eleven patients (10.7%) developed retention after operation. Of the factors investigated before operation three had predictive value: inability to pass urine into a bottle whilst lying in bed, urinary peak-flow rates indicative of obstruction, and a history of previous bladder outflow problems. This study suggests that patients showing one or more of these factors should be assessed and if necessary treated by a urologist before arthroplasty, so as to avoid the need for catheterisation, and the consequent risk of deep infection.

Adult↗