Neurofly 2008 abstracts : the 12th European Drosophila neurobiology conference 6-10 September 2008 Wuerzburg, Germany

This volume consists of a collection of conference abstracts

Effect of two constant light regimens on antibody profiles and immune gene expression in Atlantic salmon following vaccination and experimental challenge with salmonid alphavirus

Before seawater transfer, farmed Atlantic salmon are subjected to treatments that may affect the immune system and susceptibility to pathogens. E.g., exposure to constant light (CL) stimulates smoltification, which prepares salmon to life in sea water, but endocrine changes in this period are associated with suppression of immune genes. Salmon are vaccinated towards end of the freshwater period to safeguard that adequate vaccine efficacy is achieved by the time the fish is transferred to sea. In the present study, we investigated how the responses to vaccination and viral infection varied depending on the time of CL onset relative to vaccination. The salmon were either exposed to CL two weeks prior to vaccination (2-PRI) or exposed to CL at the time of vaccination (0-PRI). A cohabitant challenge with salmonid alphavirus, the causative agent of pancreatic disease, was performed 9 weeks post vaccination. The immunological effects of the different light manipulation were examined at 0- and 6-weeks post vaccination, and 6 weeks post challenge. Antibody levels in serum were measured using a serological bead-based multiplex panel as well as ELISA, and 92 immune genes in heart and spleen were measured using an integrated fluidic circuit-based qPCR array for multiple gene expression. The 2-PRI group showed a moderate transcript down-regulation of genes in the heart at the time of vaccination, which were restored 6 weeks after vaccination (WPV). Conversely, at 6WPV a down-regulation was seen for the 0-PRI fish. Moreover, the 2-PRI group had significantly higher levels of antibodies binding to three of the vaccine components at 6WPV, compared to 0-PRI. In response to SAV challenge, transcription of immune genes between 2-PRI and 0-PRI was markedly dissimilar in the heart and spleen of control fish, but no difference was found between vaccinated salmon from the two CL regimens. Thus, by using labor-saving high throughput detection methods, we demonstrated that light regimens affected antibody production and transcription of immune genes in non-vaccinated and virus challenged salmon, but the differences between the light treatment groups appeared eliminated by vaccination.publishedVersio

Advances in comparative endocrinology : vol. VIII

Ponències presentades al 10th Congress of the Iberian Association of Comparative Endocrinology (AIEC), celebrat a la Universitat Jaume I, els dies 23 al 25 de setembre de 2015Les diverses comunicacions presentades al 10è Congrés de la Asociación Ibérica de Endocrinología Comparada (23-25 setembre 2016, Castelló) s'agrupen en aquest volum. Les intervencions han aportat els darrers avenços en àrees científiques com ara reproducció, metabolisme, estrés, resposta immune, creixement, mineralització i pigmentació...Las diversas comunicaciones presentadas en el 10º Congreso de la Asociación Ibérica de Endocrinología Comparada (23-25 septiembre 2016, Castellón) se agrupan en este volumen. Las intervenciones han aportado los últimos adelantos en áreas científicas como por ejemplo reproducción, metabolismo, estrés, respuesta inmune, crecimiento, mineralización y pigmentación...The present volume of Advances in Comparative Endocrinology collects the contributions of the participants at the 10th Congress of the Iberian Association of Comparative Endocrinology (AIEC). Eighteen years after the foundational meeting of our Association in Peñíscola, the return of this Congress to Castellón highlights the growing success of this initiative to foster the research and scientific development in the field of comparative endocrinology developed in the Iberian Peninsula. AIEC meetings have proven to be a way to keep in contact among research groups with common interests. Some of the participants in this last meeting were also present in the foundational one, others members came after and keep assisting every time. As one of the aims of AIEC has been to encourage students to participate, we are particulary proud of those young students and doctors from the first editions that have gained more permanent positions and continue participating in the AIEC meetings with new students

Engineering protein assemblies with allosteric control via monomer fold-switching

The macromolecular machines of life use allosteric control to self-assemble, dissociate and change shape in response to signals. Despite enormous interest, the design of nanoscale allosteric assemblies has proven tremendously challenging. Here we present a proof of concept of allosteric assembly in which an engineered fold switch on the protein monomer triggers or blocks assembly. Our design is based on the hyper-stable, naturally monomeric protein CI2, a paradigm of simple two-state folding, and the toroidal arrangement with 6-fold symmetry that it only adopts in crystalline form. We engineer CI2 to enable a switch between the native and an alternate, latent fold that self-assembles onto hexagonal toroidal particles by exposing a favorable inter-monomer interface. The assembly is controlled on demand via the competing effects of temperature and a designed short peptide. These findings unveil a remarkable potential for structural metamorphosis in proteins and demonstrate key principles for engineering protein-based nanomachinery.This work was supported by the European Research Council (grant ERC-2012-ADG- 323059 to V.M.) and by the PRODESTECH network funded through the CONSOLIDER program from the Spanish Government (grant CSD2009-00088). L.A.C. acknowledges support from Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grants BIO2016- 78768-P and RYC-2013-13197. V.M. acknowledges additional support from the W.M. Keck Foundation and from the CREST Center for Cellular and Biomomolecular Machines (grant NSF-CREST-1547848). J.M.V. acknowledges additional support from Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grant BFU2016-75984. F.M.R. and A.R. thank the staff from the ALBA synchrotron (Spain) for assistance with the XALOC beamline. Structural data are deposited in the Protein Data Bank with accession codes 6QIY (X-ray CI2 classical geometry) and 6QIZ (X-ray CI2 domain swapped) and EMD- 4568 (cryo-EM CI2eng assembly)

Studying effects of light pollution and aquacultural light regimes using the teleost model medaka (Oryzias latipes)

Light is the main cue in synchronizing daily circadian rhythm in most animals, in addition to synchronizing the perception of the year for some species. Due to the steady increase of light pollution around the world, and especially near water bodies, this study aims to investigate the effects of different light regimes. Those regimes include light pollution and the continuous light regime used in aquaculture, mainly to increase growth and delay sexual maturation, is also studied. Firstly, light pollution levels were measured in Oslo’s main river, and the harbor area. I found that urban light pollution is severe in some places and can reach relatively deep as I detected it at 5 meters depth in the fjord. These results suggest that aquatic animals may be exposed to light pollution in the Oslo area and thus the effects should be studied. I then investigated in a laboratory setup the effect of light pollution on the teleost model Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). In addition to the continuous light regime was also studied. I found several effects of the altered light regimes. The reproductive cycle was found to be desynchronized for both light regimes. The fish’s behavior was also found to be altered. Additionally, fish development was found to be affected with promoted growth and altered brain and heart morphology. The artificial light regimes were also found to affect neurochemistry and the gene expression of one pituitary gene. A clear noradrenergic response was found, with the control fish having higher noradrenergic activity. Fish exposed to light pollution had a higher serotonergic brain activity. The pituitary gonadotropin lhb was found to be decreased in the continuous light regime. All together these results demonstrate that light pollution and continuous light clearly affect the fish, having welfare implications for aquaculture production, and suggesting that light pollution indeed affects wild fish

A novel optical sensor system for the automatic classification of mosquitoes by genus and sex with high levels of accuracy

Background: Every year, more than 700,000 people die from vector-borne diseases, mainly transmitted by mosqui‑ toes. Vector surveillance plays a major role in the control of these diseases and requires accurate and rapid taxo‑ nomical identifcation. New approaches to mosquito surveillance include the use of acoustic and optical sensors in combination with machine learning techniques to provide an automatic classifcation of mosquitoes based on their fight characteristics, including wingbeat frequency. The development and application of these methods could enable the remote monitoring of mosquito populations in the feld, which could lead to signifcant improvements in vector surveillance. Methods: A novel optical sensor prototype coupled to a commercial mosquito trap was tested in laboratory conditions for the automatic classifcation of mosquitoes by genus and sex. Recordings of > 4300 laboratory-reared mosquitoes of Aedes and Culex genera were made using the sensor. The chosen genera include mosquito species that have a major impact on public health in many parts of the world. Five features were extracted from each recording to form balanced datasets and used for the training and evaluation of fve diferent machine learning algorithms to achieve the best model for mosquito classifcation. Results: The best accuracy results achieved using machine learning were: 94.2% for genus classifcation, 99.4% for sex classifcation of Aedes, and 100% for sex classifcation of Culex. The best algorithms and features were deep neural network with spectrogram for genus classifcation and gradient boosting with Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefcients among others for sex classifcation of either genus. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the frst time that a sensor coupled to a standard mosquito suction trap has provided automatic classifcation of mosquito genus and sex with high accuracy using a large number of unique samples with class balance. This system represents an improvement of the state of the art in mosquito surveillance and encourages future use of the sensor for remote, real-time characterization of mosquito populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interactive Art and the Action of Behavioral Aesthetics in Embodied Philosophy

https://digitalmaine.com/academic/1004/thumbnail.jp

Self-Repair and Sleep in Jellyfish

Studying the cnidarian jellyfish, we have pursued basic biological questions related to self-repair mechanisms and sleep behavior. Working in Aurelia we have discovered a novel strategy of self-repair; we determined that they can undergo body reorganization after amputations that culminates in the recovery of essential radial symmetry without rebuilding lost parts. Working with Cassiopea, we have, for the first time, identified a behavioral sleep-like state in an animal without a centralized nervous system, supporting the hypothesis that sleep is ancestral in animals.</p