The Early Nutritional Environment of Mice Determines the Capacity for Adipose Tissue Expansion by Modulating Genes of Caveolae Structure

While the phenomenon linking the early nutritional environment to disease susceptibility exists in many mammalian species, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We hypothesized that nutritional programming is a variable quantitative state of gene expression, fixed by the state of energy balance in the neonate, that waxes and wanes in the adult animal in response to changes in energy balance. We tested this hypothesis with an experiment, based upon global gene expression, to identify networks of genes in which expression patterns in inguinal fat of mice have been altered by the nutritional environment during early post-natal development. The effects of over- and under-nutrition on adiposity and gene expression phenotypes were assessed at 5, 10, 21 days of age and in adult C57Bl/6J mice fed chow followed by high fat diet for 8 weeks. Under-nutrition severely suppressed plasma insulin and leptin during lactation and diet-induced obesity in adult mice, whereas over-nourished mice were phenotypically indistinguishable from those on a control diet. Food intake was not affected by under- or over-nutrition. Microarray gene expression data revealed a major class of genes encoding proteins of the caveolae and cytoskeleton, including Cav1, Cav2, Ptrf (Cavin1), Ldlr, Vldlr and Mest, that were highly associated with adipose tissue expansion in 10 day-old mice during the dynamic phase of inguinal fat development and in adult animals exposed to an obesogenic environment. In conclusion gene expression profiles, fat mass and adipocyte size in 10 day old mice predicted similar phenotypes in adult mice with variable diet-induced obesity. These results are supported by phenotypes of KO mice and suggest that when an animal enters a state of positive energy balance adipose tissue expansion is initiated by coordinate changes in mRNA levels for proteins required for modulating the structure of the caveolae to maximize the capacity of the adipocyte for lipid storage

The Antiquity and Evolutionary History of Social Behavior in Bees

A long-standing controversy in bee social evolution concerns whether highly eusocial behavior has evolved once or twice within the corbiculate Apidae. Corbiculate bees include the highly eusocial honey bees and stingless bees, the primitively eusocial bumble bees, and the predominantly solitary or communal orchid bees. Here we use a model-based approach to reconstruct the evolutionary history of eusociality and date the antiquity of eusocial behavior in apid bees, using a recent molecular phylogeny of the Apidae. We conclude that eusociality evolved once in the common ancestor of the corbiculate Apidae, advanced eusociality evolved independently in the honey and stingless bees, and that eusociality was lost in the orchid bees. Fossil-calibrated divergence time estimates reveal that eusociality first evolved at least 87 Mya (78 to 95 Mya) in the corbiculates, much earlier than in other groups of bees with less complex social behavior. These results provide a robust new evolutionary framework for studies of the organization and genetic basis of social behavior in honey bees and their relatives

Tumour necrosis factor and PI3-kinase control oestrogen receptor alpha protein level and its transrepression function

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410160

Selective Release of MicroRNA Species from Normal and Malignant Mammary Epithelial Cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in body fluids are candidate diagnostics for a variety of conditions and diseases, including breast cancer. One premise for using extracellular miRNAs to diagnose disease is the notion that the abundance of the miRNAs in body fluids reflects their abundance in the abnormal cells causing the disease. As a result, the search for such diagnostics in body fluids has focused on miRNAs that are abundant in the cells of origin. Here we report that released miRNAs do not necessarily reflect the abundance of miRNA in the cell of origin. We find that release of miRNAs from cells into blood, milk and ductal fluids is selective and that the selection of released miRNAs may correlate with malignancy. In particular, the bulk of miR-451 and miR-1246 produced by malignant mammary epithelial cells was released, but the majority of these miRNAs produced by non-malignant mammary epithelial cells was retained. Our findings suggest the existence of a cellular selection mechanism for miRNA release and indicate that the extracellular and cellular miRNA profiles differ. This selective release of miRNAs is an important consideration for the identification of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers of disease

The origin of multicellularity in cyanobacteria

Background: Cyanobacteria are one of the oldest and morphologically most diverse prokaryotic phyla on our planet. The early development of an oxygen-containing atmosphere approximately 2.45 - 2.22 billion years ago is attributed to the photosynthetic activity of cyanobacteria. Furthermore, they are one of the few prokaryotic phyla where multicellularity has evolved. Understanding when and how multicellularity evolved in these ancient organisms would provide fundamental information on the early history of life and further our knowledge of complex life forms. Results: We conducted and compared phylogenetic analyses of 16S rDNA sequences from a large sample of taxa representing the morphological and genetic diversity of cyanobacteria. We reconstructed ancestral character states on 10,000 phylogenetic trees. The results suggest that the majority of extant cyanobacteria descend from multicellular ancestors. Reversals to unicellularity occurred at least 5 times. Multicellularity was established again at least once within a single-celled clade. Comparison to the fossil record supports an early origin of multicellularity, possibly as early as the “Great Oxygenation Event” that occurred 2.45 - 2.22 billion years ago. Conclusions: The results indicate that a multicellular morphotype evolved early in the cyanobacterial lineage and was regained at least once after a previous loss. Most of the morphological diversity exhibited in cyanobacteria today —including the majority of single-celled species— arose from ancient multicellular lineages. Multicellularity could have conferred a considerable advantage for exploring new niches and hence facilitated the diversification of new lineages

Phylogeny and evolution of life-history strategies in the Sycophaginae non-pollinating fig wasps (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-pollinating Sycophaginae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) form small communities within <it>Urostigma </it>and <it>Sycomorus </it>fig trees. The species show differences in galling habits and exhibit apterous, winged or dimorphic males. The large gall inducers oviposit early in syconium development and lay few eggs; the small gall inducers lay more eggs soon after pollination; the ostiolar gall-inducers enter the syconium to oviposit and the cleptoparasites oviposit in galls induced by other fig wasps. The systematics of the group remains unclear and only one phylogeny based on limited sampling has been published to date. Here we present an expanded phylogeny for sycophagine fig wasps including about 1.5 times the number of described species. We sequenced mitochondrial and nuclear markers (4.2 kb) on 73 species and 145 individuals and conducted maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses. We then used this phylogeny to reconstruct the evolution of Sycophaginae life-history strategies and test if the presence of winged males and small brood size may be correlated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The resulting trees are well resolved and strongly supported. With the exception of <it>Apocrytophagus</it>, which is paraphyletic with respect to <it>Sycophaga</it>, all genera are monophyletic. The Sycophaginae are divided into three clades: (i) <it>Eukoebelea</it>; (ii) <it>Pseudidarnes</it>, <it>Anidarnes </it>and <it>Conidarnes </it>and (iii) <it>Apocryptophagus</it>, <it>Sycophaga </it>and <it>Idarnes</it>. The ancestral states for galling habits and male morphology remain ambiguous and our reconstructions show that the two traits are evolutionary labile.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The three main clades could be considered as tribes and we list some morphological characters that define them. The same biologies re-evolved several times independently, which make Sycophaginae an interesting model to test predictions on what factors will canalize the evolution of a particular biology. The ostiolar gall-inducers are the only monophyletic group. In 15 Myr, they evolved several morphological adaptations to enter the syconia that make them strongly divergent from their sister taxa. Sycophaginae appears to be another example where sexual selection on male mating opportunities favored winged males in species with small broods and wingless males in species with large broods. However, some species are exceptional in that they lay few eggs but exhibit apterous males, which we hypothesize could be due to other selective pressures selecting against the re-appearance of winged morphs.</p

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

CropPol: a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination

This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record The original dataset (v1.1.0) of the CropPol database can be accessed from the ECOLOGY repository. Main upgrades of these datasets will be versioned and deposited in Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5546600)Data availability. V.C. Computer programs and data-processing algorithms: The algorithms used in deriving, processing, or transforming data can be accessed in the DataS1.zip file and the Zenodo repository (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5546600). V.D. Archiving: The data is archived for long-term storage and access in Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5546600)Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop yield, as well as to anticipate changes in this service, develop predictions, and inform management actions. Here, we present CropPol, a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination. It contains measurements recorded from 202 crop studies, covering 3,394 field observations, 2,552 yield measurements (i.e. berry weight, number of fruits and kg per hectare, among others), and 47,752 insect records from 48 commercial crops distributed around the globe. CropPol comprises 32 of the 87 leading global crops and commodities that are pollinator dependent. Malus domestica is the most represented crop (32 studies), followed by Brassica napus (22 studies), Vaccinium corymbosum (13 studies), and Citrullus lanatus (12 studies). The most abundant pollinator guilds recorded are honey bees (34.22% counts), bumblebees (19.19%), flies other than Syrphidae and Bombyliidae (13.18%), other wild bees (13.13%), beetles (10.97%), Syrphidae (4.87%), and Bombyliidae (0.05%). Locations comprise 34 countries distributed among Europe (76 studies), Northern America (60), Latin America and the Caribbean (29), Asia (20), Oceania (10), and Africa (7). Sampling spans three decades and is concentrated on 2001-05 (21 studies), 2006-10 (40), 2011-15 (88), and 2016-20 (50). This is the most comprehensive open global data set on measurements of crop flower visitors, crop pollinators and pollination to date, and we encourage researchers to add more datasets to this database in the future. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation), and the products generated with this database should be shared under the same license terms (CC BY-NC-SA). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.OBServ Projec