Cypriot banks reopen after 12 days -- but customers can only withdraw $383 each

Yannis Behrakis / Reuters

A staff member of Laiki Bank, which is to be liquidated, tries to calm customers as the branch in Nicosia prepares to open.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

Banks on the tax haven of Cyprus opened Thursday for the first time in 12 days amid the island's continuing financial crisis.

Strict limits on the amount of money that could be withdrawn have been imposed ? people will be able to withdraw 300 euros ($383) a day and no checks will be cashed ? amid fears of a run on the banks.

Account holders showed up hours before the banks were due to open to get in line.

Early indications were that there was no mass rush to withdraw cash, with just 13 people waiting outside one large Bank of Cyprus branch on the island as it opened at noon local time (6 a.m. ET). They were surrounded by a scrum of journalists.

?We need only from you cooperation, understanding and please patience,? the manager of the branch said before opening.

However a small crowd of people did press against the doors of a branch of Laiki Bank, which is being liquidated. CNBC sources estimate those with more than 100,000 euros (about $128,000) in accounts in Laiki Bank could lose 40 to 70 percent of their deposits.

During the banking shutdown, people could only withdraw 100 euros (about $127) a day from the country's two biggest banks, using ATMs.?Most who lined up for the opening Thursday were elderly people and those without ATM cards.?

Deposits above 100,000 euros with the Bank of Cyprus will be frozen and 40 percent of each account will be converted into bank stock. Accounts in both banks with balances under 100,000 euros will be fully protected.

A previous proposal to take less from all bank accounts?was vetoed by the Cypriot parliament.

The country is seeking to meet the terms of a bailout from the European Union of 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) and, in order to raise enough funds to meet strict conditions imposed by the EU, it is preparing to take money from bank accounts.

CNBC's Michelle Caruso Cabrera reports on banks reopening in Cyprus and the limits they've imposed on depositors. The situation, she says, is calmer than expected.

Ahead of the banks? reopening, money was flown into the island and guards were seen delivering cash to banks in armored vehicles.

The banks were due to close at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET).

There was some relief on the island that the banks were finally opening again, but this was mixed with fear about what could happen.

'Slow death'
Yorgos Georgiou, who owns a dry cleaning business in Nicosia, told Reuters that "finally people's mood will be lifted and we can start to trust the system again."

But he added: "I'm worried about the poor kids working in the cashiers today, because people might vent their anger at them. You can't predict how people will react after so many days."

Kostas Nikolaou, a 60-year-old retiree, told Reuters that the uncertainty of the past two weeks had been "like a slow death."

"How can they tell you that you can't access your own money in the bank? It's our money, we are entitled to it,? he added.

The country?s president, Nicos Anastasiades, has described the bailout deal as ?painful? but essential.

However, Nobel laureate economist Christopher Pissarides said it was ?extremely unfair to the little guy.?

?For the first time in the euro zone, depositors are (being) asked to bail out failing banks," he said. "Now that used to be the case in the 1930s, especially United States (and) caused big bank runs. It has been decided since then that we shouldn?t allow that to happen again.?

As Cyprus celebrates its Independence Day, the ?government is defending the last-minute bailout deal it's negotiated with the European Union. This means shutting down the country's second biggest bank, with big savers facing ?losses. ?ITV's Emma Murphy reports.

Among other controls, the island's central bank will review all commercial transactions over 5,000 euros and scrutinize transactions over 200,000 euros on an individual basis, Reuters reported. People leaving Cyprus can take only 1,000 euros with them. An earlier draft of the decree had put the figure at 3,000.

Reuters summed up the situation facing the island:

With just 860,000 people, Cyprus has about 68 billion euros in its banks - a vastly outsized financial system that attracted deposits from foreigners as an offshore haven but foundered after investments in neighboring Greece went sour.

The European Union and International Monetary Fund concluded that Cyprus could not afford a rescue unless it imposed losses on depositors, seen as anathema in previous euro zone bailouts.?The bailout looks set to push Cyprus deeper into an economic slump, shrink the banking sector and cost thousands of jobs.

European leaders said the bailout deal averted a chaotic national bankruptcy that might have forced Cyprus out of the euro.

Many Cypriots say the deal was foisted upon them by Cyprus's partners in the 17-nation euro zone within the European Union, and some have taken to the streets to vent their frustration.

CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera and Katie Slaman, and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

Cypriots fear run on banks as branches prepare to reopen

Cypriots: Hope, but also fear they 'will be like slaves' to Russia

EU to Cypriots: Let us raid your savings or no bailout

This story was originally published on Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:52 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a1626f4/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C280C174975730Ecypriot0Ebanks0Ereopen0Eafter0E120Edays0Ebut0Ecustomers0Ecan0Eonly0Ewithdraw0E3830Eeach0Dlite/story01.htm

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UK-Odd Summary

New York cop who toured with band charged with disability fraud

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York police officer was charged on Tuesday with mail fraud for allegedly claiming disability benefits for two years while at the same time performing and touring with his heavy metal band, "Cousin Sleaze," according to court documents. Christopher Inserra, an officer with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was the lead singer with the Brooklyn band, whose "Sick Maniacs" album features such songs as "Infection" and "Walk of Shame," according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

Battle rages over bones of England's Richard III

LONDON (Reuters) - King Richard III is at the centre of a new fight over the location of his final resting place, just weeks after the remains of the last English king to die in battle were found underneath a council car park. Archaeologists announced one of the most remarkable finds in recent English history last month when they confirmed the discovery of the body of Richard, who was slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, during excavations in Leicester.

"Shameful" sexist Ford car ads spark outrage in India

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A series of car ads, including one showing women bound and gagged in the trunk of a Ford driven by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has prompted Internet outrage in India and prompted an apology from Ford India. The ads came just days after India approved a tougher new law to punish sex crimes, following the fatal gang rape of a student in December. That attack sparked unprecedented protests over the treatment of women in the country.

"Panda-monium" as giant pandas arrive in Canada from China

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada got a taste of international panda diplomacy on Monday with the arrival of two "Very Important Pandas" at the start of a 10-year loan to two Canadian zoos. Speaking as the two giant pandas arrived in Toronto from China, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Junsai - who gave the animals the VIP designation - noted that when he started his posting in Canada two years ago, he was greeted only by the Canadian director of protocol.

Punxsutawney Phil charged with fraud for early spring forecast

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - With a snow storm expected to batter the Plains, Midwest and East Coast this weekend, a spring-deprived Ohio prosecutor is taking out his frustration with the long winter on a famous prognosticating groundhog. "I decided it was about time we indicted Punxsutawney Phil afor fraud," said Mike Gmoser, prosecutor in Ohio's Butler County, in an interview Friday.

Harvard stripped of quiz tournament titles

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Harvard University will be stripped of four national quiz championship titles after organizers found a competitor from the Ivy League school inappropriately accessed information about questions used in the tournament. The National Academic Quiz Tournaments said that a security review found that Harvard competitor Andy Watkins accessed pages on its administrative Website just before the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Intercollegiate Championship Tournaments or "Quiz Bowls".

100,000 Portuguese sign petition to keep ex-PM Socrates off TV

LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese state television channel RTP's plan to give former premier Jose Socrates a weekly commentary spot has sparked outrage, with 100,000 people signing a petition citing his "bad management" that led the country to take a bailout in 2011. "We, citizens and tax-payers, declare that we reject the presence of former Prime Minister Jose Socrates on any programme at RTP, television paid for by public funds of taxpayers suffering from the bad management of this gentleman," the Internet petition said.

Swiss court jails "healer" for infecting 16 with HIV

ZURICH (Reuters) - A self-styled healer was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in jail on Friday after a Swiss court found the acupuncturist guilty of infecting 16 people with HIV. A Berne court found the man guilty of causing bodily harm and spreading the virus which can cause Aids, court secretary Rene Graf told Reuters. He did not give any further details.

Tunisian rapper gets jail term for calling police dogs in song

TUNIS (Reuters) - A Tunisian court has sentenced a rap singer to two years in jail in absentia for insulting the police in a case likely to fuel debate over free speech under the Islamist-led government. The singer, known as Weld el 15, is on the run. Two of his associates, singers Mohamed Hedi Belgueyed and Sabrine Klibi, were in court when they received suspended sentences of six months each, a Justice Ministry source said on Friday.

Russian serial killer sentenced to life for nine murders

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian serial killer who butchered his nine victims with a knife and hammer, and said he ate the hearts of two of them, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday. Prosecutors said Alexander Bychkov targeted alcoholics and the homeless out of disdain for their way of life, lured them into deserted areas, killed them, dismembered them and hid the body parts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-odd-summary-074951526.html

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2014 Mercedes S-Class Official Interior Photos and Details ...

26 March 2013 | JDavis

Mercedes-Benz unveiled a plethora of information on the 2014 S-Class this morning with plenty of photos to go with it. ?In an effort to give you all the information as quickly as possible, we will be posting the complete press releases throughout the day. ?Stay tuned and check back often.

Check out part II of the S-Class Interior coverage- ?The Essence of Luxury?.

Looked at all the interior information and photos and still want to see more of the 2014 S-Class, check out the Journey to the 2014 S-Class.

Interior design: Visual breadth and calm solidity

With its clear-cut architecture, the interior design of the new S-Class is the embodiment of a classic and serene, yet ultra-modern saloon car. The interior space derives its expressiveness from a distinctively flowing, sensual and elegant style. Horizontal features and lines create an ambience characterised by visual breadth and calm solidity. High quality and elegance go hand in hand with clarity and functionality. The interior concept of the S-Class combines driving, spatial and operating comfort at the highest level.

The radically redesigned display extends behind the two-spoke steering wheel ? reminiscent of the S-Class heritage ? as a major part of the horizontal alignment. It replaces the traditional instrument cluster and combines numerous other functions in a visually and ergonomically highly sophisticated manner (see section ?New display concept?). The entire display unit appears to be free-floating, an impression reinforced by ambience backlighting.

The high-quality unit formed by the center air vents and the analogue clock is precisely set into three-dimensional wood trim. For the first time this classic wood trim feature is positioned very low. This creates a second level of decorative trim whose luxurious stitched leather lies in the primary field of vision. Both levels extend elegantly across the entire width of the dashboard and doors. With this layout the designers have created an association with the wingbeat of a bird. The result is an extraordinary impression of width combined with a pleasant, calm ambience.

The visually prominent dashboard is characterised by the striking double-S curve. This already made the preceding model unmistakable, and imparts a feeling of spaciousness, safety and security.

The perfectly coordinated use of materials and colours produces an elegant interior seemingly cast from a single mould. There is generous use of wood trim, especially in the dashboard and centre console. Metallised switch surfaces with pearl-effect paint finishes in three colour shades to suit the interior colour particularly highlight the outstanding quality.

Innovative lighting systems in the form of a continuous light band under the wood trim strips and the central display ? a completely new dimension in ambience lighting ? and elegant lighting units with stylish details in the headlining enhance the comfortable atmosphere.The number and size of the stowage facilities in the interior have been greatly increased compared to the preceding model.

Passengers in the rear are also seated in first-class ? the design and exclusivity of the seats, door panels and all controls are to the same, high standard as the front. If a luxury or reclining seat (Executive seat) is specified for the rear, the backrest inclines backwards into the parcel shelf, which means that legroom is not restricted even in the resting position. As an additional individualisation feature, the ?First Class Rear? incorporates a Business centre console combining personal comfort with practical convenience (integration of a telephone handset, additional stowage compartments, folding table, etc.). The side finishers of the front seats are formally integrated and feature useful stowage compartments (for details see section ?Seats?).

In combination with the first-class quality of materials and outstandingly high perceived value, the decidedly varied range of available appointments emphatically confirms the premium positioning of Mercedes-Benz. The innovative architecture of the interior design, which is based on both additive and integrating features, allows a choice of different and very individual styling in terms of colours and materials.

The standard appointments already meet high expectations. They include leather seat upholstery, elegantly finished wood trim and surfaces with decorative topstitching. Various leather versions are available as optional extras, differing in their surface finish (e.g. patterned perforations and a hand-quilted look and feel), and also in terms of the relative leather and trim surfaces. The customer also has a choice of five interior colour arrangements combined with five different types of exotic wood trim.

The interior design of the new S-Class was also influenced by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Interior Design Studio in Como, whose primary task was also to explore how the highest possible perceived quality can be created. Using the so-called ?appreciation model?, the designers were able to give free rein to their imagination and look for ways of translating these ideals into series production features. This led to a harmonious and luxurious interior whose design, character and perceived value are unrivalled.

Source: http://www.emercedesbenz.com/autos/mercedes-benz/s-class/2014-mercedes-s-class-official-interior-photos-and-details/

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Obamacare's voter-registration conspiracy debunked

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/relax-obamacares-voter-registration-not-secret-democrat-ploy-141156497.html

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You Can Buy a Home Even When It's Not for Sale | AOL Real Estate

By Marilen Cawad

Chris Lichon found her "dream" starter home as she was driving around Rutherford County, Tenn., one fine spring day. The house was on about an acre of ground, on a dead-end street, with a big pasture beside it that she could rent for her horse. It was perfect, she thought, except for one small detail. The house was not for sale.

Lichon had already been house-hunting for four months when she came across the 1970s ranch-style home. So when she found what she was looking for, her trusted real estate agent didn't think twice about knocking on the door and asking the question, "Would you consider selling your home?" To Lichon's surprise, the homeowners said yes. "They just asked us to give them a half hour to tidy up and then they showed us around the house," she said. Save for a few places that needed additional insulation, she found the three-bedroom, one-bath home to be well-maintained.

As luck would have it, the owners were a growing family of seven who had long thought about moving to a larger place. They named their price, Lichon found it fair, and just like that, the house was sold. The lesson in this story: When buying a home, don't just rely on a real estate listing or a "for sale" sign. Trust your instincts and let your Realtor do the dirty work for you.
Joshua Baris, a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker in Northern New Jersey, recently had to knock on an unsuspecting homeowner's door for his client who wanted a specific three-bedroom luxury condo in West New York, N.J. His bold step resulted in a successful sale. "If you want to succeed in this market, you really have to be aggressive and creative," said Baris. Not only is he going house-to-house, he's also sending out letters to owners of unlisted homes on behalf of his clients.

His letter would typically say: "My client is looking to buy a house and came across yours. Please call me to discuss in greater detail." Some recipients of his letter might find his actions intrusive and some might even think it's a scam, but Baris said that more often than not, people are willing to talk and negotiate. "It's not that everyone has a price, but you'll be surprised how many homeowners have thought about selling, but just never got around to doing it," said Baris. "The best deals are sometimes made when the buyer's agent is one step ahead."

The practice is not uncommon. All over the U.S., Realtors have been resorting to cold calls to get prospective buyers into unlisted homes. "This is happening more often than you might think, especially in the current market, in places where inventories are extremely low," said Keith Sorem, a real estate consultant and associate at Keller Williams Real Estate Services in Los Angeles.

A house, for example, may have failed to sell one or two years ago, so the owner took it off the market. However, home values in the area may already have increased today -- enough to where the owner would be willing to sell. In this case, Sorem said, a cold call would be welcomed by both buyer and seller.

When buying a home, it's always best to keep in mind that you have more options than you are presented with. You might consider selling your own home if prospective buyers asked and the offer was right. Similarly, your ideal home may not be on sale, but that doesn't mean you cannot buy it.

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find foreclosures in your area.
Find homes for rent in your area.
See more celebrity real estate.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/03/25/buy-home-not-for-sale/

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How late Russian tycoon burned through billions

LONDON (AP) ? How do you burn through billions?

The death of Boris Berezovsky, whose body was found Saturday inside his upscale English home, has refocused attention on the fantastic wealth racked up by Russia's ruthless oligarchs ? and their propensity for spending it. Berezovsky, 67, had once been considered Russia's richest man ? but by this January, a British judge was wondering whether the tycoon would be able to pay his debts.

Police say post mortem examinations have found that Berezovsky died from hanging. There was no violent struggle, and no evidence of anyone else being involved, they said. His lawyer said the oligarch had been in "a horrible, terrible" emotional state. The tycoon had survived several assassination attempts, including a 1994 car bomb in Moscow, and there was speculation as to whether his death was natural, part of a conspiracy or a suicide.

To understand how one man could lose so much money, it helps to see how he made it in the first place.

___

FOUNDATIONS OF A FORTUNE

Berezovsky, a mathematician, made his fortune in the 1990s during the catastrophic privatization of the Soviet Union's state-run economy. That era was marked by hyperinflation, contract killings and rampant corruption. As Russia's GDP crumbled, oligarchs leveraged their ties to ruthless criminals and crooked officials to tear off huge chunks of the country's assets for themselves, draining resources and stripping factories to build fabulous fortunes.

Berezovsky ? whose interests ran from automobiles to airplanes to aluminum ? was one of this dark period's primary beneficiaries. He became a political operator in Russian President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle, trading on his connections to rack up assets estimated by Forbes to be worth roughly $3 billion in 1997.

"No man profited more from Russia's slide into the abyss," author Paul Klebnikov wrote in a critical profile of Berezovsky titled "Godfather of the Kremlin."

Eventually, the abyss began threatening Berezovsky as well.

The tycoon had been instrumental in orchestrating the accession of Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, but when the new leader and Berezovsky began to clash, his political cover disintegrated. Berezovsky then fled the country in 2000, eventually claiming political asylum in Britain.

___

LIVING LARGE IN LONDON

How much money Berezovsky really had ? and how much he was able to take with him from Moscow ? remains shrouded in uncertainty. Rich Russians at the time routinely stashed their money in labyrinthine offshore trusts or held assets under the names of associates or family members. Many deals weren't even put into writing.

What's clear is that the 1998 Russian financial crisis, coupled with Berezovsky's spectacular fall from political grace, had a big impact on his bottom line. Forbes estimated his post-Moscow fortune in the hundreds of millions. Rival oligarch Roman Abramovich testified in court that Berezovsky had been down to his last $1 million when he fled Russia.

If Berezovsky were strapped for cash, he didn't show it. He rode around London in a reinforced Maybach limousine and was often seen huddled with business contacts in the exclusive hotels that line London's Hyde Park. His string of oversize mansions in England, France and the Caribbean suggested he was a cut above the average millionaire.

Russian officials seemed to believe that Berezovsky had plenty of cash on hand, trying ? with mixed success ? to claw back some of the exile's assets. Charges are still pending against him in relation to the alleged embezzlement of some $13 million from Russia's now-defunct SBS-Agro bank. Berezovsky had also previously been convicted in absentia of bilking hundreds of millions of rubles from the airline company Aeroflot and the carmaker AvtoVaz.

___

THE BILLS PILE UP

Berezovsky often expressed a fondness for Britain's legal system, despite his frequent and expensive encounters with it. A search of British court records throws up roughly three dozen judgments ? libel, fraud, divorce, breach of contract ? involving the tycoon in some way.

Berezovsky sued a business associate over a fraudulent loan. Other business associates sued him over a botched oil deal. Berezovsky sued Forbes over an unflattering profile. He sued Russian television for suggesting he had a hand in the poisoning death of ex-Russian KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. His second wife sued him for a divorce. His girlfriend sued him for a house he'd promised her. He sued the wife of his long-time partner, Badri Patarkatsishvili, in a complicated dispute over how to split the man's assets after his death.

The sums involved were staggering. The loan deal was worth $5 million. His second divorce settlement in 2011 reportedly cost him 100 million pounds (about $154 million at the time). Patarkatsishvili's assets could be worth hundreds of millions more. The biggest lawsuit of all, against Abramovich for breach of contract and blackmail, was for a mind-boggling $5.6 billion.

Berezovsky lost the lawsuit against Abramovich last year and the judge involved stopped just short of calling him a liar. He was stuck with tens of millions of pounds in legal bills.

___

A FORTUNE FALTERS

Whatever the extent of Berezovsky's wealth, his expensive divorce, Patarkatsishvili's death and his paper mountain of litigation left it much reduced.

In 2008, Berezovsky was forced to sell the Darius, a 110-meter (360-foot) -long custom-built yacht that many believed was an attempt to compete with an even larger ship, the Eclipse, being built for Abramovich.

Earlier this month, the Times of London reported that Berezovsky was downsizing his art collection, selling off his homes, firing staff and closing his office in London's upscale Mayfair district.

In a January ruling in a dispute between Berezovsky and his ex-girlfriend Helena Gorbunova, High Court Judge George Mann wrote that the oligarch's fortune appeared to have been spread thin.

"On the evidence, Mr. Berezovsky is a man under financial pressure," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berezovskys-billions-tycoon-lost-much-202702400--finance.html

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Researchers discover how model organism Tetrahymena plays roulette with seven sexes

Mar. 26, 2013 ? It's been more than fifty years since scientists discovered that the single-celled organism Tetrahymena thermophila has seven sexes. But in all that time, they've never known how each cell's sex, or "mating type," is determined; now they do. The new findings are published 26 March in the open access journal PLOS Biology.

By identifying Tetrahymena's long-unknown mating-type genes, a team of UC Santa Barbara biologists, with research colleagues in the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and in the J. Craig Venter Institute, also uncovered the unusual process of DNA rearrangements needed for sex determination in this organism. The discovery has potential human health implications ranging from tissue transplantation to cancer, including allorecognition?the ability of an organism to distinguish its own tissues from those of another?which can be a first line of defense against infection and illness.

In the study, the scientists show that in this multi-sexed, single-celled organism, the sex of the progeny is randomly determined by a series of "cut and paste" genomic recombination events that assemble one complete gene pair and delete all others.

"We found a pair of genes that have a specific sequence which is different for each mating type," said Eduardo Orias, a research professor emeritus and part of the UCSB team. "They are very similar genes?clearly related to one another, going back probably to a common ancestor?but they have become different. And each is different in a specific way that determines the mating type of the cell."

Each unicellular Tetrahymena boasts two nuclei: the 'germline nucleus' and the 'somatic nucleus'. Genetic information for progeny cells is stored in the former, analogous to ovaries or testes in humans, while genes are actively transcribed in the latter, the "working copy" nucleus. The sex of the progeny is determined during mating, when fertilization results in new germline and somatic nuclei that are made using contributions from the germline nucleus of each parent.

The authors found that the germline nucleus contains a tandem array of similarly organized but incomplete gene pairs?one for each mating type (although Tetrahymena have seven sexes, the particular cell line used in this study has just six). In the new somatic nucleus, a single complete gene pair is assembled when DNA segments from each end of this array are fused to one of the six incomplete pairs, and the remaining five are deleted. This precise but random rearrangement leaves the new cell with exactly one gene pair?and one mating type.

"The mating type of the 'parents' has no influence whatsoever on the sex of the progeny," Orias said. "It's completely random, as if they had roulette wheel with six numbers and wherever the marble ends up is what they get. By chance they may have same mating type as the parents?but it's only by chance. It's a fascinating system."

"By understanding this process better in Tetrahymena, what we learn ultimately may be of use in medicine," Orias said. "Tetrahymena has about as many genes as the human genome. For thousands of those genes you can recognize the sequence similarity to corresponding genes in the human genome with the same biological function. That's what makes it a valuable organism to investigate important biological questions."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Marcella D. Cervantes, Eileen P. Hamilton, Jie Xiong, Michael J. Lawson, Dongxia Yuan, Michalis Hadjithomas, Wei Miao, Eduardo Orias. Selecting One of Several Mating Types through Gene Segment Joining and Deletion in Tetrahymena thermophila. PLoS Biology, 2013; 11 (3): e1001518 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001518

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/zD4vlCQXda8/130326194102.htm

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