The Mytilos project was carried during the last 3 years (2004-2006) in order to evaluate the level of chemical contamination along the coasts of the western basin of the Mediterranean Sea. Active mussel watch consisted of caged (12 weeks) Mytilus galloprovincialis at 123 stations along the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, France, Italy, North Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Results indicated total ...

Unlike their Western counterparts, some of the Eastern/Southern Mediterranean countries lack centralized coordinated blood transfusion services leading to an unequal blood safety level. This was recently highlighted by a recent World Health Organization (WHO) regional committee report in which WHO urges these countries to establish and implement a national blood system with well-coordinated blo...

Paleogeographical considerations on the development of the Paratethys and the Mediterranean during Oligocene and Miocene are presented in twelve time-slices. Plate tectonic activities and the collision of India with Asia caused the destruction of the Western Tethys Ocean in the Late Eocene. The Mediterranean and the intracontinental Paratethys basins came into existence as new marine realms. In...

Molecular approaches have proven efficient to identify cryptic lineages within single taxonomic entities. Sometimes these cryptic lineages maybe previously unreported or unknown invasive taxa. The genetic structure of the marine gastropod Stramonita haemastoma has been examined in the Western Mediterranean and North-Eastern Atlantic populations with mtDNA COI sequences and three newly developed...

Genetic diversity of durum wheat landraces is a powerful tool for the introgression of new alleles of commercial interest in breeding programs. In a previous study, our team structured a collection of 172 durum wheat landraces from 21 Mediterranean countries in four genetic populations related to their geographical origin: east Mediterranean (17), east Balkan and Turkey (23), west Balkan and Eg...

The present study deals with the presence of Diopatramarocensis in the eastern Mediterranean. This species is small-sized and inhabited muddy bottom near the opening of rivers or lagoons [salinity range: 33-39‰] in the Aegean and Levantine Seas, and reached a maximum density of 90 ind.m(-2) in Mersin Bay. This species might be an alien species that was introduced from the East Atlantic (near Gi...

OBJECTIVE To describe geographical differences and time trends in the supply of the most important food components of the traditional Mediterranean diet. DESIGN Food supply data collected from national food balance sheets for the period 1961-2001. SETTING Selected Mediterranean countries: Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. RESULTS Differences of almost 30-...

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in the otoliths of Atlantic bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus were used to investigate trans-Atlantic movement and natal homing behaviors. Otolith δ13C and δ18O of yearling bluefin tuna from 6 different year classes (1999 to 2004) were characterized to validate the approach and assess inter-annual variation in these markers for individuals from eastern (Mediterranea...

Food intake in Chile has changed markedly in the last decades, showing an increase in fat consumption and presently a small fruit and vegetables intake. A parallel is made between the Chilean and Mediterranean diet (mainly the one from Spain, Italy, and Greece), both currently and from 50 years ago. The main differences and similarities are based on food availability. Although Chilean diet seem...