Preliminary search for a νirus in Dacus oleae Gmel. populations in Northern Greece

Στην περίοδο από Ιούλιο έως Δεκέμβριο 1984 συλλέχΟησαν 4.5 g ακμαίων, 8.5 g υγιών προνυμφών και 0.45 g νεκρών προνυμφών του εντόμου Dacus oleae Gmel. από περιοχές της Βόρειας Ελλάδας, που χαρακτηρίζονταν από Βαριά προσβολή των ελαιοδένδρων από δάκο, στα οποία δεν εφαρμόστηκε χημική καταπολέμηση. Τα δείγματα εξετάσθηκαν για εγκλεισμένους και μη εγκλεισμένους ιούς με τη χρησιμοποίηση φυγοκεντρήσεων, οπτικού και ηλεκτρονικού μικροσκοπίου, ανάλυσης νουκλεϊ νικών οξέων KUI πειράματα μολυσματικότητας. Στα δείγματα των νεκρών προνυμφών, και σε αντίθεση με εκείνα των υγιών προνυμφών και των ακμαίων, εντοπίσθηκαν και απομονώθηκαν ιόμορφα σωμάτια. Τα σωμάτια αυτά είχαν διάμετρο περίπου 35 nm και μερικά ήταν άδεια, όπως φάνηκε από τη διείσδυση της χρωστικής κατά την αρνητική χρώση. Δεν κατέστη δυνατός ο παραπέρα χαρακτηρισμός των «ιοσωματίων» για το λόγο έλλειψης αρκετής ποσότητας δείγματος, ενώ προσπάθειες πολλαπλασιασμούτους σε προνύμφες του λεπιδόπτερου Galleria mellonella και σε καλλιέργειες κυττάρων Drosophila melanogastcr αποδείχθησαν ανεπιτυχείς. Αν και τα μικρά ιόμορφα σωμάτια ήταν το μοναδικό πιθανό παθογόνο αίτιο που αναγνωρίστηκε στις νεκρές προνύμφες, φαίνεται κάπως απίθανο να αποτελούν και το μοναδικό αίτιο του θανάτου για το λόγο του σχετικά μικρού αριθμού τους. Πάντως αν καταστεί δυνατό να πολλαπλασιασθούν οι «ιοί» αυτοί σε εκτροφές του δάκου της ελιάς ή σε καλλιέργειες κυττάρων ιστών του ίδιου εντόμου, ίσως να αποτελέσουν στο μέλλον ένα βιολογικό μέσο καταπολέμησης του.A large number of larvae of Dacus oleae were collected from infested olives in Northern Greece, and a small proportion of these were found to be dead. Adult flies were caught in McPhail traps at the same locations. The larvae and adults were fractionated by a series of steps designed to identify occluded and nonoccluded viruses. Virus-like particles were identified in small amounts only in the dead larvae

Identification of common genetic risk variants for autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heritable and heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental phenotypes diagnosed in more than 1% of children. Common genetic variants contribute substantially to ASD susceptibility, but to date no individual variants have been robustly associated with ASD. With a marked sample-size increase from a unique Danish population resource, we report a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 18,381 individuals with ASD and 27,969 controls that identified five genome-wide-significant loci. Leveraging GWAS results from three phenotypes with significantly overlapping genetic architectures (schizophrenia, major depression, and educational attainment), we identified seven additional loci shared with other traits at equally strict significance levels. Dissecting the polygenic architecture, we found both quantitative and qualitative polygenic heterogeneity across ASD subtypes. These results highlight biological insights, particularly relating to neuronal function and corticogenesis, and establish that GWAS performed at scale will be much more productive in the near term in ASD.Peer reviewe

Genome-wide by Environment Interaction Studies of Depressive Symptoms and Psychosocial Stress in UK Biobank and Generation Scotland

Stress is associated with poorer physical and mental health. To improve our understanding of this link, we performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of depressive symptoms and genome-wide by environment interaction studies (GWEIS) of depressive symptoms and stressful life events (SLE) in two UK population-based cohorts (Generation Scotland and UK Biobank). No SNP was individually significant in either GWAS, but gene-based tests identified six genes associated with depressive symptoms in UK Biobank (DCC, ACSS3, DRD2, STAG1, FOXP2 and KYNU; p < 2.77 x 10(-6)). Two SNPs with genome-wide significant GxE effects were identified by GWEIS in Generation Scotland: rs12789145 (53-kb downstream PIWIL4; p = 4.95 x 10(-9); total SLE) and rs17070072 (intronic to ZCCHC2; p = 1.46 x 10(-8); dependent SLE). A third locus upstream CYLC2 (rs12000047 and rs12005200, p < 2.00 x 10(-8); dependent SLE) when the joint effect of the SNP main and GxE effects was considered. GWEIS gene-based tests identified: MTNR1B with GxE effect with dependent SLE in Generation Scotland; and PHF2 with the joint effect in UK Biobank (p < 2.77 x 10(-6)). Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) analyses incorporating GxE effects improved the prediction of depressive symptom scores, when using weights derived from either the UK Biobank GWAS of depressive symptoms (p = 0.01) or the PGC GWAS of major depressive disorder (p = 5.91 x 10(-3)). Using an independent sample, PRS derived using GWEIS GxE effects provided evidence of shared aetiologies between depressive symptoms and schizotypal personality, heart disease and COPD. Further such studies are required and may result in improved treatments for depression and other stress-related conditions

Integrated analysis of environmental and genetic influences on cord blood DNA methylation in new-borns

Epigenetic processes, including DNA methylation (DNAm), are among the mechanisms allowing integration of genetic and environmental factors to shape cellular function. While many studies have investigated either environmental or genetic contributions to DNAm, few have assessed their integrated effects. Here we examine the relative contributions of prenatal environmental factors and genotype on DNA methylation in neonatal blood at variably methylated regions (VMRs) in 4 independent cohorts (overall n = 2365). We use Akaike’s information criterion to test which factors best explain variability of methylation in the cohort-specific VMRs: several prenatal environmental factors (E), genotypes in cis (G), or their additive (G + E) or interaction (GxE) effects. Genetic and environmental factors in combination best explain DNAm at the majority of VMRs. The CpGs best explained by either G, G + E or GxE are functionally distinct. The enrichment of genetic variants from GxE models in GWAS for complex disorders supports their importance for disease risk

Multiple resonances and Coulomb blockade splitting in a quantum dot-DNA composite

Inspired by the recent realizations of quantum dot (QD)-DNA conjugation, we study the spectral density of a magnetic impurity coupled to a mesoscopic semiconducting host. Using a combination of exact diagonalization technique and an analytic approach, we demonstrate that various types of resonances occur according to the relative position of impurity levels (IL) with respect to the host levels (HL). While the usual Coulomb peaks appear when the IL lie inside a band gap, with IL approaching HL and hybridization activated, they shift nonlinearly with the repulsion strength and even undergo splitting for a strong hybridization. When IL merge into HL, multiple resonances of a comblike structure are found along with a parity effect