Genetic effects on coat colour in cattle: dilution of eumelanin and phaeomelanin pigments in an F2-Backcross Charolais × Holstein population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In cattle, the gene coding for the melanocortin receptor 1 (<it>MC1R</it>) is known to be the main regulator of the switch between the two coat colour pigments: eumelanin (black pigment) and phaeomelanin (red pigment). Some breeds, such as Charolais and Simmental, exhibit a lightening of the original pigment over the whole body. The dilution mutation in Charolais (<it>Dc</it>) is responsible for the white coat colour of this breed. Using an F2-Backcross Charolais × Holstein population which includes animals with both pigment backgrounds, we present a linkage mapping study of the Charolais dilution locus.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A Charolais × Holstein crossbred population was investigated for genetic effects on coat colour dilution. Three different traits representing the dilution of the phaeomelanin, eumelanin, and non-pigment-specific dilution were defined. Highly significant genome-wide associations were detected on chromosome 5 for the three traits analysed in the marker interval [ETH10-DIK5248]. The <it>SILV </it>gene was examined as the strongest positional and functional candidate gene. A previously reported non-synonymous mutation in exon 1 of this gene, <it>SILV </it>c.64A>G, was associated with the coat colour dilution phenotype in this resource population. Although some discrepancies were identified between this mutation and the dilution phenotype, no convincing recombination events were found between the <it>SILV </it>c.64A>G mutation and the <it>Dc </it>locus. Further analysis identified a region on chromosome 28 influencing the variation in pigment intensity for a given coat colour category.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study has identified a region on bovine chromosome 5 that harbours the major locus responsible for the dilution of the eumelanin and phaeomelanin seen in Charolais crossbred cattle. In this study, no convincing evidence was found to exclude <it>SILV </it>c.64A>G as the causative mutation for the Charolais dilution phenotype, although other genetic effects may influence the coat colour variation in the population studied. A region on chromosome 28 influences the intensity of pigment within coat colour categories, and therefore may include a modifier of the <it>Dc </it>locus. A candidate gene for this effect, <it>LYST</it>, was identified.</p

The British public atitude survey regarding inflation and interest rates

The importance of achieving the price stability objective consists in remaining the inflation expectations close to the inflation target in the medium term. As part of its price stability objective, the Bank of England has the task of achieving a 2% inflation target, measured by the annual change in the consumer price index. Regarding these facts, the inflation expectations play a key role in the household and business decision because the inflation expectations are very important for the wage negotiation, and because inflation expectations play an important role in household’s savings decisions. In this article we focus upon the Bank of England / GfK NOP Attitude Survey. The first section deals with some aspects as: the random location, the sample design, the selection of the respondents and the confidence limits for observed survey data. The second section debates the latest trends in household inflation perceptions and expectations. The final section summarizes the public’s attitudes to interest rates and the conduct of the monetary policy.price stability, inflation risk, inflation expectations

A Dependency Pair Framework for AvC-Termination

The development of powerful techniques for proving termination of rewriting modulo a set of equational axioms is essential when dealing with rewriting logic-based programming languages like CafeOBJ, Maude, ELAN, OBJ, etc. One of the most important techniques for proving termination over a wide range of variants of rewriting (strategies) is the dependency pair approach. Several works have tried to adapt it to rewriting modulo associative and commutative (AC) equational theories, and even to more general theories. However, as we discuss in this paper, no appropriate notion of minimality (and minimal chain of dependency pairs) which is well-suited to develop a dependency pair framework has been proposed to date. In this paper we carefully analyze the structure of in nite rewrite sequences for rewrite theories whose equational part is any combination of associativity and/or commutativity axioms, which we call AvC-rewrite theories. Our analysis leads to a more accurate and optimized notion of dependency pairs through the new notion of stably minimal term. We then develop a suitable dependency pair framework for proving termination of AvC-rewrite theories.Alarcón Jiménez, B.; Gutiérrez Gil, R.; Lucas, S.; Meseguer, J. (2011). A Dependency Pair Framework for AvC-Termination. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/1079

Influencia de la metodología “flipped classroom” en los resultados de aprendizaje en la asignatura de Física y Química en 1º de Bachillerato

Debido a la situación actual que se vive a causa de la pandemia provocada por el coronavirus SARS-2, la presencialidad en los centros educativos se ha visto afectada, al disminuir el número de estudiantes por aula que se recomienda para evitar contagios. Por ello, en Aragón (España), se ha propuesto durante el curso 2020/2021 la semipresencialidad, de modo que hay alumnos que reciben la formación desde sus hogares. Como consecuencia de tener que asistir a las clases de manera telemática, se ha decidido utilizar, en la asignatura de Física y Química en el nivel de 1º de Bachillerato, la metodología flipped classroom. De este modo, los estudiantes aprenden a través de vídeos explicativos que se encuentran en la plataforma YouTube y practican las actividades, o debates que surjan, cuando estén presencialmente en el centro. En la presente investigación, el objetivo es valorar qué variables juegan un papel importante en la metodología flipped classroom en el aprendizaje de la materia de Física y Química.<br /

Co3O4 hollow nanotubes for the catalytic oxidation of C2-chlorinated VOCs

Structured Co3O4 catalysts with a hollow nanotube morphology were prepared by several synthesis routes based on the Kirkendall effect. The resulting samples were kinetically evaluated in the gas-phase oxidation of vinyl chloride and 1,2-dichloroethane, two model C2-chlorinated volatile organic compounds; and exhaustively characterised by means of BET measurements, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and temperature-programmed techniques (adsorption of ammonia and chlorinated VOC, O2-TPD, H2-TPR and TPO). The performance of the prepared nanotubes was essentially controlled by the presence of active oxygen species at the surface, which in turn depended on the Co2+/Co3+ molar ratio, and the adsorption capacity of the catalyst for the chlorocarbon. Both pollutants were efficiently converted to deep oxidation products at relatively low temperatures. In addition, the optimal catalyst exhibited an appreciable stability when operating during 120 h.Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2019-107105RB-I00 AEI/FEDER, UE and PDC2022-133897-I00) // Basque Government (IT1509-22) // University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (PIF18/185

Elucidating fish oil-induced milk fat depression in dairy sheep: Milk somatic cell transcriptome analysis

9 páginas, 4 figuras.In this study, RNA sequencing was used to obtain a comprehensive profile of the transcriptomic changes occurring in the mammary gland of lactating sheep suffering from fish oil-induced milk fat depression (FO-MFD). The milk somatic cell transcriptome analysis of four control and four FO-MFD ewes generated an average of 42 million paired-end reads per sample. In both conditions, less than 220 genes constitute approximately 89% of the total counts. These genes, which are considered as core genes, were mainly involved in cytoplasmic ribosomal proteins and electron transport chain pathways. In total, 117 genes were upregulated, and 96 genes were downregulated in FO-MFD samples. Functional analysis of the latter indicated a downregulation of genes involved in the SREBP signaling pathway (e.g., ACACA, ACSL, and ACSS) and Gene Ontology terms related to lipid metabolism and lipid biosynthetic processes. Integrated interpretation of upregulated genes indicated enrichment in genes encoding plasma membrane proteins and proteins regulating protein kinase activity. Overall, our results indicate that FO-MFD is associated with the downregulation of key genes involved in the mammary lipogenesis process. In addition, the results also suggest that this syndrome may be related to upregulation of other genes implicated in signal transduction and codification of transcription factors.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO; AGL2014-54587-R and AGL2015-66035-R projects, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund). P.G.T. and B.G.G. are funded by two postdoctoral research contracts from MINECO (Juan de la Cierva -JCI-2012-11836- and Ramón y Cajal -RYC-2012-10230 programs, respectively).Peer reviewe

Exploring the mechanisms of resistance to Teladorsagia circumcincta infection in sheep through transcriptome analysis of abomasal mucosa and abomasal lymph nodes

8 p.The present study exploited the RNA-seq technology to analyze the transcriptome of target tissues affected by the Teladorsagia circumcincta infection in two groups of adult ewes showing different statuses against gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infection with the aim of identifying genes linked to GIN infection resistance in sheep. For this, based on the accumulated faecal egg count of 18 adult Churra ewes subjected to a first experimental infection with T. circumcincta, six ewes were classified as resistant and six others as susceptible to the infection. These 12 animals were dewormed and infected again. After humanitarian sacrifice of these 12 animals at day 7 post-infection, RNA samples were obtained from abomasal mucosa and lymph node tissues and RNA-Seq datasets were generated using an Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencer. The distribution of the genes based on their expression level were very similar among the two different tissues and conditions. The differential expression analysis performed with two software (DESeq and EdgeR) only identified common differentially expressed genes (DEGs), a total of 106, in the lymph node samples which were considered as GIN-activated. The enrichment analysis performed for these GIN-activated genes identified some pathways related to cytokine-mediated immune response and the PPARG signaling pathway as well as disease terms related to inflammation and gastro-intestinal diseases as enriched. A systematic comparison with the results of previous studies confirmed the involvement of genes such as ITLN2, CLAC1 and galectins, in the immune mechanism activated against T. circumcincta in resistant sheep. Financiado por la Junta de Castilla y León (Conserjería de Educación) y Fondo Social Europeo (Ref. LE248U14). Ejecución: Universidad de León. Dpto. Producción Animal. Investigador Principal: Dr. Beatriz Gutierrez GilS

Variant discovery in genes identified as differentially expressed genes between the abomasal lymph node transcriptome of resistant and susceptible adult sheep to teladorsagia circumcincta infection

Gastrointestinal nematode infections are one of the major health issues facing grazing sheep populations and it incurs on major economic losses for sheep breeders. The resistance/susceptibility trait appears to be a highly complex trait (Behnke et al. 2003; Dominik 2005). In sheep resistance to nematode infection shows a moderate level of heritability (range 0.3-0.6) (Stear et al. 2001). Several QTL mapping studies have tried to identify genomic regions and mutations that influence resistance to nematode infection (Atlija et al. 2016; Coltman et al. 2001; Gutiérrez-Gil et al. 2009; Sayers et al. 2005), although the detection of causal mutations for this trait is still a challenge for the research community. The recently available RNA-seq technology provides the opportunity to extract highthroughput transcriptome data from a specific tissue to perform gene quantification, differential gene expression and detection of variants (SNPs and indels), which could be assessed as potential causal mutations (Hudson, Dalrymple, and Reverter 2012). A previous study of our research group has identified a list of 106 differential expression genes (DEGs) based on RNA-Seq dataset obtained from the abomasal lymph nodes of 12 adult sheep, previously classified as resistant or susceptible to GIN infection based on an artificial infection with T. circumcincta larvae Chitneedi et al. (2018). In the present study we present a detailed study of the variants mapping within the list of DEGs previously reported in that study. Thus, the present study provides a list of functionally relevant variants that could underlie the genetic control of resistance/susceptibility to T. circumcincta in adult sheep. Financiado por la Junta de Castilla y León (Conserjería de Educación) y Fondo Social Europeo (Ref. LE248U14). Ejecución: Universidad de León. Dpto. Producción Animal. Investigador Principal: Dr. Beatriz Gutierrez Gi

Gaining Bioinformatics skills through the End of Degree Project in Veterinary Medicine

Resúmenes IV Congreso VetDoc de Docencia Veterinaria, León 2017 (6-7 de Julio)[ES] El análisis de los datos genómicos se realiza con programas libres diseñados para entorno Linux (Unix), frente a los sistemas operativos más habituales (Windows), y en la utilización de la línea de comandos. Dado la falta de familiarización de los estudiantes del Grado de Veterinaria con este entorno, y previendo la bioinformática como una potencial salida profesional para algunos futuros graduados en Veterinaria, nuestro Grupo de Innovación Docente (GID) de la Universidad de León (ULE), ha realizado varias ofertas de Trabajos de Fin de Grado (TFG) expresamente diseñados para la adquisición de competencias en el campo de la bioinformática