Sugarcane genome sequencing and gene discovery: Getting closer to sugar content, fibre and drought traits

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)The understanding of the regulatory networks that drive sugarcane physiology and agronomic traits becomes increasingly necessary for the improvement of sugarcane. We are interested in understanding the regulation of carbon partitioning, sugar content, fibre yield and drought tolerance. Different field and greenhouse experiments have been done to obtain physiological and technological data. We collected sugarcane samples from leaf and internode tissues and analysed transcriptome and biochemical changes. Data are being integrated in the SUCEST-FUN database (http://sucest-fun.org) where several tools are available to interrogate the data focusing on different aspects. We have identified 10 262 differences in gene expression when cultivars and tissues with contrasting sucrose content were compared, 12 249 changes related to drought stress and 3524 when ancestral sugarcane species were compared to a commercial sugarcane cultivar with differing fibre deposition patterns. We are developing techniques to implement sugarcane regulatory network studies using a systems biology approach. We are identifying antisense transcripts related to the traits of interest, gene upstream and downstream promoters, and active promoters using Chip-seq combined with 454 sequencing. We are sequencing the sugarcane genome using the 454 platform and the Whole Genome Shotgun and BAC approaches. With the 454 WGS sequencing, we already obtained 10.8 Gb of data. Using sugarcane 454 sequences, we were able to confirm gene structure and to clone promoter sequences. The transcriptomic and genomic techniques that are being developed in our group associated with the physiological data are resulting in a more comprehensive understanding of sugar content, fibre and drought regulation.1151378710715Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

The associations between endogenous oxytocin levels and emotion recognition in bipolar disorder

Objective: Recent studies in patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD) have revealed problems in emotion recognition, specifically for negative emotions, which have been subsequently related to amygdala activity. Previously, the prosocial neuropeptide oxytocin has been shown to be one hormone that alters emotion perception capacities and modulates amygdala response. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to see if plasma oxytocin levels have specific effects on predicting emotion recognition patterns in BD. Methods: Twenty-eight remitted BD patients were recruited for this study and the Vienna Emotion Recognition Task was given. In addition, blood samples were collected for plasma oxytocin analysis. Results: Strong associations were found between fearful emotions and basal oxytocin levels, which were supported by a stepwise regression analysis. Patients with higher levels of basal oxytocin also exhibited greater recognition of fearful emotions. Conclusions: The relationship between recognition of fearful faces and individual endogenous oxytocin levels may contribute to explaining individual differences in social functioning and amygdala dysfunction in BD

Decision-making of the benthic diatom Seminavis robusta searching for inorganic nutrients and pheromones

Microorganisms encounter a diversity of chemical stimuli that trigger individual responses and influence population dynamics. However, microbial behavior under the influence of different incentives and microbial decision-making is poorly understood. Benthic marine diatoms that react to sexual attractants as well as to nutrient gradients face such multiple constraints. Here, we document and model behavioral complexity and context-sensitive responses of these motile unicellular algae to sex pheromones and the nutrient silicate. Throughout the life cycle of the model diatom Seminavis robusta nutrientstarved cells localize sources of silicate by combined chemokinetic and chemotactic motility. However, with an increasing need for sex to restore the initial cell size, a change in behavior favoring the attraction-pheromone-guided search for a mating partner takes place. When sex becomes inevitable to prevent cell death, safeguard mechanisms are abandoned, and cells prioritize the search for mating partners. Such selection processes help to explain biofilm organization and to understand species interactions in complex communities