The Expression of Petunia Strigolactone Pathway Genes is Altered as Part of the Endogenous Developmental Program

Analysis of mutants with increased branching has revealed the strigolactone synthesis/perception pathway which regulates branching in plants. However, whether variation in this well conserved developmental signaling system contributes to the unique plant architectures of different species is yet to be determined. We examined petunia orthologs of the Arabidopsis MAX1 and MAX2 genes to characterize their role in petunia architecture. A single ortholog of MAX1, PhMAX1 which encodes a cytochrome P450, was identified and was able to complement the max1 mutant of Arabidopsis. Petunia has two copies of the MAX2 gene, PhMAX2A and PhMAX2B which encode F-Box proteins. Differences in the transcript levels of these two MAX2-like genes suggest diverging functions. Unlike PhMAX2B, PhMAX2A mRNA levels change in leaves of differing age/position on the plant. Nonetheless, this gene functionally complements the Arabidopsis max2 mutant indicating that the biochemical activity of the PhMAX2A protein is not significantly different from MAX2. The expression of the petunia strigolactone pathway genes (PhCCD7, PhCCD8, PhMAX1, PhMAX2A, and PhMAX2B) was then further investigated throughout the development of wild-type petunia plants. Three of these genes showed changes in mRNA levels over a development series. Alterations to the expression patterns of these genes may influence the branching growth habit of plants by changing strigolactone production and/or sensitivity. These changes could allow both subtle and dramatic changes to branching within and between species

Environmental factors related to the production of a complex set of spicules in a tropical freshwater sponge

Adverse natural conditions will, generally, induce gemmulation in freshwater sponges. Because of this environmental dependence, gemmoscleres are given exceptional value in taxonomic, ecological and paleoenvironmental studies. Other spicules categories such as microscleres and beta megascleres have received little attention with regard to their occurrence and function during the sponge biological cycle. Metania spinata, a South American species common to bog waters in the Cerrado biome, produces alpha and beta megascleres, microscleres and gemmoscleres. To detect the environmental factors triggering the production of all these kinds of spicules, the species annual seasonal cycle was studied. Artificial substrates were devised, supplied with gemmules and placed in Lagoa Verde pond which contained a natural population of M. spinata. Field monitoring was conducted for eight months in order to observe the growth of sponges and spicules formation. Samples of water were taken monthly for physical and chemical parameters determination. The appearance of the alpha megascleres was sequentially followed by that of microscleres, gemmoscleres and beta megascleres. The first ones built the new sponge skeleton, the last three were involved in keeping inner moisture in the sponge body or its gemmules. The water level, temperature and the silicon (Si) concentration in the pond were the most important factors related to this sequential production of spicules, confirming environmental reconstructions based on the presence or absence of alpha megascleres and gemmoscleres in past sediments

Molecular Characterization of the Schistosoma mansoni Zinc Finger Protein SmZF1 as a Transcription Factor

Schistosomes are parasites that exhibit a complex life cycle during which they progress through many morphological and physiological transformations. These transformations are likely accompanied by alterations in gene expression, making genetic regulation important for parasite development. Here we describe a Schistosoma mansoni protein (SmZF1) that may act as a parasite transcription factor. These factors are key proteins for gene regulation. We have previously demonstrated that SmZF1 is able to bind DNA and that its mRNA is present at different stages during the parasite life cycle. In this study we aimed to define if this protein can function as a transcription factor in S. mansoni. SmZF1 was detected in the nucleus of adult male worms, cercariae and schistosomula cells. It was not, however, observed in female cells, suggesting it to be gender specific. We used mammalian cells expressing recombinant SmZF1 to analyze if SmZF1 protein is able to activate/repress gene transcription and demonstrated that it increased the expression of a reporter gene by two-fold. The results obtained confirm SmZF1 as a S. mansoni transcription factor

Identificación especie-específica en animales domésticos: Fundamentos y métodos de genotipificación empleados para la asignación de un individuo o una muestra biológica a su especie de origen

En los últimos veinte años, el análisis de ADN ha revolucionado la ciencia forense y se ha convertido en una herramienta de suma importancia a la hora de aplicar la ley. Por otra parte, surgieron circunstancias que han llevado a la necesidad de identificar la especie de origen a la que pertenece una muestra biológica desconocida. Entre los motivos que llevan a la identificación de la especie a la que pertenece una muestra, se encuentran: i) La aparición de nuevas enfermedades transmitidas por animales, como la influenza aviar y la fiebre aftosa; ii) Las malas prácticas de parte de algunos productores de alimentos en las que se reemplazan materias primas de una especie de mayor valor comercial (pescados, carne, leche) por otras de menor valor, sobre todo cuando existen marcadas diferencias de precio o problemas de disponibilidad en el mercado; iii) La preocupación por las comunidades (principalmente hebreos y musulmanes) por el consumo de productos alimenticios adulterados o contaminados con carne de cerdo que, por cuestiones religiosas, no se consideran aceptables para su consumo; iv) La existencia de individuos susceptibles a determinadas proteínas de origen animal, quienes suelen ser rigurosos con la elección de las especies a la hora de elegir alimentos con el objeto de evitar las alergias alimentarias; v) La existencia de muestras encontradas en la escena del crimen que no dan resultados para los análisis estándares de DNA o microsatélites, permite plantearse si se está ante una muestra con ADN no apto para un análisis o si en realidad el ADN no pertenece a una persona. Si hubiera restos óseos que no son identificables morfológicamente, es posible confirmar la especie de origen por medio del ADN; vi) La identificación de restos en el campo o en posesión de un sospechoso producto de la caza furtiva y la ayuda en la resolución de casos en la lucha contra de tráfico de especies en peligro de extinción. La identificación de especie de productos también se ha utilizado ampliamente en los que ya no es posible la identificación morfológica, como madera procesada y partes de animales (como los que se usan en la medicina tradicional china o las aletas de tiburón), que adquieren un elevado valor comercial en el mercaado internacional; vii) La identificación de restos animales no humanos o especies vegetales utilizadas para la elaboración de utensilios, alimentación, rituales, etc. encontrados en sitios arqueológicos.Fil: Posik, Diego Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Gonçalves Drummond, Marcela. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Sousa Dalsecco, Lisandra. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Alves Pimenta Neto, Danilo. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Aparecida Andrade de Oliveira, Denise. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Giovambattista, Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; Argentin

Medical health condition of institutionalized elderly / Condição médica de saúde de idosos institucionalizados

Brazil has been experiencing a process of population aging, which has led to an increase in the number of elderly people, as well as an enhancement of the importance of Long-term Institutions for Elderly People (LIEP). Based on this approach, this study aimed to know the health medical conditions and the medications used by the elderly people institutionalized in the city of Anápolis (GO). It was a descriptive and quantitative cross-sectional typology with pre-structured questionnaires used for analysis of medical records and reports of a population composed by 101 elderly people hosted in five LIEP. The results of this research were a higher prevalence of institutionalized elderly people over 76 years old, female, who suffer from high functional dependence, concomitantly with the decompensation of their chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, as well as worsening of acute aggravations, such as falls, and gastrointestinal disorders. It was also evaluated the prevalence of the medication classes used by the group, highlighting the usage of antihypertensive, in accordance with the most prevalent chronic disease. In addition, it was reported some difficulty in accessing adequate medical treatment. Finally, most of these places present socioeconomic characteristics of low financial conditions, conflicting family contact, absent leisure activities, with acute aggravations and decompensation caused by chronic diseases, and restricted medical care. However, all visited institutions were interested in the search for improvements that culminate in quality of life for the elderly people and fit the requirements recommended by the Ministry of Health. 

A DHODH inhibitor increases p53 synthesis and enhances tumor cell killing by p53 degradation blockage

ML, CD, IvL, GP, TM, SD, MS, APF, CT, DL, MAH, KL and SL: project grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation. MHi and JC: Cancer Research UK (C8/A6613). MC, EP and WE: Wellcome Trust (073915). MN and BV: projects MEYS-NPS-LO1413 and GACR P206/12/G151. EMC, MP, MMS, ZF and PG: Norwegian Cancer Society (182735, 732200) and Helse Vest (911884, 911789). RB and SC: NIH (R01 CA95684), the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Waxman Foundation. NW, AH, Ad’H: Cancer Research UK (C21383/A6950) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Doctoral Training Program. JL and YZ: Cancer Research UK (C240/A15751). MH and BW: SARomics Biostructures ABUY, KF: DDDP SciLife, Sweden. LJ, MHa, RS and A-LG: CBCS, Sweden. VP: SciLife fellowship. AT: Breast Cancer Research Scotland.The development of non-genotoxic therapies that activate wild-type p53 in tumors is of great interest since the discovery of p53 as a tumor suppressor. Here we report the identification of over 100 small-molecules activating p53 in cells. We elucidate the mechanism of action of a chiral tetrahydroindazole (HZ00), and through target deconvolution, we deduce that its active enantiomer (R)-HZ00, inhibits dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH). The chiral specificity of HZ05, a more potent analog, is revealed by the crystal structure of the (R)-HZ05/DHODH complex. Twelve other DHODH inhibitor chemotypes are detailed among the p53 activators, which identifies DHODH as a frequent target for structurally diverse compounds. We observe that HZ compounds accumulate cancer cells in S-phase, increase p53 synthesis, and synergize with an inhibitor of p53 degradation to reduce tumor growth in vivo. We, therefore, propose a strategy to promote cancer cell killing by p53 instead of its reversible cell cycle arresting effect.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

M6 Membrane Protein Plays an Essential Role in Drosophila Oogenesis

We had previously shown that the transmembrane glycoprotein M6a, a member of the proteolipid protein (PLP) family, regulates neurite/filopodium outgrowth, hence, M6a might be involved in neuronal remodeling and differentiation. In this work we focused on M6, the only PLP family member present in Drosophila, and ortholog to M6a. Unexpectedly, we found that decreased expression of M6 leads to female sterility. M6 is expressed in the membrane of the follicular epithelium in ovarioles throughout oogenesis. Phenotypes triggered by M6 downregulation in hypomorphic mutants included egg collapse and egg permeability, thus suggesting M6 involvement in eggshell biosynthesis. In addition, RNAi-mediated M6 knockdown targeted specifically to follicle cells induced an arrest of egg chamber development, revealing that M6 is essential in oogenesis. Interestingly, M6-associated phenotypes evidenced abnormal changes of the follicle cell shape and disrupted follicular epithelium in mid- and late-stage egg chambers. Therefore, we propose that M6 plays a role in follicular epithelium maintenance involving membrane cell remodeling during oogenesis in Drosophila

Design and validation of a 90K SNP genotyping assay for the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

Background: The availability of the bovine genome sequence and SNP panels has improved various genomic analyses, from exploring genetic diversity to aiding genetic selection. However, few of the SNP on the bovine chips are polymorphic in buffalo, therefore a panel of single nucleotide DNA markers exclusive for buffalo was necessary for molecular genetic analyses and to develop genomic selection approaches for water buffalo. The creation of a 90K SNP panel for river buffalo and testing in a genome wide association study for milk production is described here. Methods: The genomes of 73 buffaloes of 4 different breeds were sequenced and aligned against the bovine genome, which facilitated the identification of 22 million of sequence variants among the buffalo genomes. Based on frequencies of variants within and among buffalo breeds, and their distribution across the genome, inferred from the bovine genome sequence, 90,000 putative single nucleotide polymorphisms were selected to create an Axiom® Buffalo Genotyping Array 90K. Results: This 90K "SNP-Chip" was tested in several river buffalo populations and found to have ∼70% high quality and polymorphic SNPs. Of the 90K SNPs about 24K were also found to be polymorphic in swamp buffalo. The SNP chip was used to investigate the structure of buffalo populations, and could distinguish buffalo from different farms. A Genome Wide Association Study identified genomic regions on 5 chromosomes putatively involved in milk production. Conclusion: The 90K buffalo SNP chip described here is suitable for the analysis of the genomes of river buffalo breeds, and could be used for genetic diversity studies and potentially as a starting point for genome-assisted selection programmes. This SNP Chip could also be used to analyse swamp buffalo, but many loci are not informative and creation of a revised SNP set specific for swamp buffalo would be advised.Daniela Iamartino, Ezequiel L. Nicolazzi, Curtis P. Van Tassell, James M. Reecy, Eric R. Fritz-Waters, James E. Koltes, Stefano Biffani, Tad S. Sonstegard, Steven G. Schroeder, Paolo Ajmone-Marsan, Riccardo Negrini, Rolando Pasquariello, Paola Ramelli, Angelo Coletta, José F. Garcia, Ahmad Ali, Luigi Ramunno, Gianfranco Cosenza, Denise A.A. de Oliveira, Marcela G. Drummond, Eduardo Bastianetto, Alessandro Davassi, Ali Pirani, Fiona Brew, John L. William