Retromer Is Essential for Autophagy-Dependent Plant Infection by the Rice Blast Fungus

We thank Dr. Yizhen Deng at the Temasek Life sciences Laboratory (TLL) for providing the RFP-MoAtg8 plasmid. We would like to thank Drs. Zhenbiao Yang (University of California, Riverside) and Xianying Dou (Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University) for helpful discussions.Author Summary The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae utilizes key infection structures, called appressoria, elaborated at the tips of the conidial germ tubes to gain entry into the host tissue. Development of the appressorium is accompanied with autophagy in the conidium leading to programmed cell death. This work highlights the significance of the Vps35/retromer membrane-trafficking machinery in the regulation of autophagy during appressorium-mediated host penetration, and thus sheds light on a novel molecular mechanism underlying autophagy-based membrane trafficking events during pathogen-host interaction in rice blast disease. Our findings provide the first genetic evidence that the retromer controls the initiation of autophagy in filamentous fungi.Yeshttp://www.plosgenetics.org/static/editorial#pee

Qurliqnoria (Mammalia: Bovidae) fossils from Qaidam Basin, Tibetan Plateau and deep-time endemism of the Tibetan antelope lineage

Abstract The Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) is an endemic bovid of the Tibetan Plateau, which was, until recently, considered an endangered species. Researchers have long speculated on the evolutionary origin of Pantholops, suggesting a connection to the rare fossil bovid Qurliqnoria. However, the lack of adequate fossil samples has prevented the testing of this deep-time endemism hypothesis for eight decades. Here, we report new fossils of Qurliqnoria cheni from the northern Tibetan Plateau, substantially increasing the amount of morphological data that can be brought to bear on the question of Tibetan antelope evolution. Phylogenetic analysis supports a Pantholops–Qurliqnoria clade and suggests that this lineage has been endemic to the Plateau for 11 Myr. Recent morphological and molecular studies that support the outgroup position of Pantholops relative to caprins (goats and relatives) and the fossil record of stem bovids from Europe together suggest that the Qurliqnoria–Pantholops lineage is likely to have dispersed to the Tibetan Plateau 15–11 Mya. Furthermore, the harsh environmental conditions to which Pantholops has adapted are likely to extend back to the time of its evolutionary origin. These findings provide an important new context for conservation management and research into the near-threatened Tibetan antelope, as the longest-living endemic member of the Tibetan Plateau fauna

Himalayan fossils of the oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats

Pantherine felids (‘big cats’) include the largest living cats, apex predators in their respective ecosystems. They are also the earliest diverging living cat lineage, and thus are important for understanding the evolution of all subsequent felid groups. Although the oldest pantherine fossils occur in Africa, molecular phylogenies point to Asia as their region of origin. This paradox cannot be reconciled using current knowledge, mainly because early big cat fossils are exceedingly rare and fragmentary. Here, we report the discovery of a fossil pantherine from the Tibetan Himalaya, with an age of Late Miocene–Early Pliocene, replacing African records as the oldest pantherine. A ‘total evidence’ phylogenetic analysis of pantherines indicates that the new cat is closely related to the snow leopard and exhibits intermediate characteristics on the evolutionary line to the largest cats. Historical biogeographic models provide robust support for the Asian origin of pantherines. The combined analyses indicate that 75% of the divergence events in the pantherine lineage extended back to the Miocene, up to 7 Myr earlier than previously estimated. The deeper evolutionary origin of big cats revealed by the new fossils and analyses indicate a close association between Tibetan Plateau uplift and diversification of the earliest living cats

Himalayan fossils of the oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats.

Pantherine felids ('big cats') include the largest living cats, apex predators in their respective ecosystems. They are also the earliest diverging living cat lineage, and thus are important for understanding the evolution of all subsequent felid groups. Although the oldest pantherine fossils occur in Africa, molecular phylogenies point to Asia as their region of origin. This paradox cannot be reconciled using current knowledge, mainly because early big cat fossils are exceedingly rare and fragmentary. Here, we report the discovery of a fossil pantherine from the Tibetan Himalaya, with an age of Late Miocene-Early Pliocene, replacing African records as the oldest pantherine. A 'total evidence' phylogenetic analysis of pantherines indicates that the new cat is closely related to the snow leopard and exhibits intermediate characteristics on the evolutionary line to the largest cats. Historical biogeographic models provide robust support for the Asian origin of pantherines. The combined analyses indicate that 75% of the divergence events in the pantherine lineage extended back to the Miocene, up to 7 Myr earlier than previously estimated. The deeper evolutionary origin of big cats revealed by the new fossils and analyses indicate a close association between Tibetan Plateau uplift and diversification of the earliest living cats

Nerve Growth Factor-mediated Neurite Outgrowth via Regulation of Rab5

Nerve growth factor (NGF) induces neurite outgrowth and differentiation in a process that involves NGF binding to its receptor TrkA and endocytosis of the NGF–TrkA complex into signaling endosomes. Here, we find that biogenesis of signaling endosomes requires inactivation of Rab5 to block early endosome fusion. Expression of dominant-negative Rab5 mutants enhanced NGF-mediated neurite outgrowth, whereas a constitutively active Rab5 mutant or Rabex-5 inhibited this process. Consistently, inactivation of Rab5 sustained TrkA activation on the endosomes. Furthermore, NGF treatment rapidly decreased cellular level of active Rab5-GTP, as shown by pull-down assays. This Rab5 down-regulation was mediated by RabGAP5, which was shown to associate with TrkA by coimmunoprecipitation assays. Importantly, RNA interference of RabGAP5 as well as a RabGAP5 truncation mutant containing the TrkA-binding domain blocked NGF-mediated neurite outgrowth, indicating a requirement for RabGAP5 in this process. Thus, NGF signaling down-regulates Rab5 activity via RabGAP5 to facilitate neurite outgrowth and differentiation