20 research outputs found

    Drop on a Bent Fibre

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    Inspired by the huge droplets attached on cypress tree leaf tips after rain, we find that a bent fibre can hold significantly more water in the corner than a horizontally placed fibre (typically up to three times or more). The maximum volume of the liquid that can be trapped is remarkably affected by the bending angle of the fibre and surface tension of the liquid. We experimentally find the optimal included angle (36\sim {36}{^\circ}) that holds the most water. Analytical and semi-empirical models are developed to explain these counter-intuitive experimental observations and predict the optimal angle. The data and models could be useful for designing microfluidic and fog harvesting devices

    Additional file 1: Figure S1. of PRKCQ promotes oncogenic growth and anoikis resistance of a subset of triple-negative breast cancer cells

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    PRKCQ downregulation in MDA-231-LucD3H2LN cells results in G2-M arrest. Triple-negative MDA-231-LucD3H2LN cells were infected with PRKCQ shRNA lentiviral supernatant for 48 hours. Cells were fixed and stained with PI, and cell-cycle profile analysis was performed using flow cytometry. Results from four independent experiments were averaged. Figure S2 PRKCQ shRNA has no effect on growth of MDA231 cells that do not express detectable PKCθ protein. MDA231 cells expressing empty vector (EV) or PRKCQ shRNA (54) were grown in 3-D cultures for 7 days. (PDF 573 kb

    The genome of the rayed Mediterranean limpet Patella caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758)

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    Patella caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758) is a mollusc limpet species of the class Gastropoda. Endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, it is considered a keystone species due to its primary role in structuring and regulating the ecological balance of tidal and subtidal habitats. It is currently being used as a bioindicator to assess the environmental quality of coastal marine waters and as a model species to understand adaptation to ocean acidification. Here, we provide a high-quality reference genome assembly and annotation for P. caerulea. We generated similar to 30 Gb of Pacific Biosciences high-fidelity data from a single individual and provide a final 749.8 Mb assembly containing 62 contigs, including the mitochondrial genome (14,938 bp). With an N50 of 48.8 Mb and 98% of the assembly contained in the 18 largest contigs, this assembly is near chromosome-scale. Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs scores were high (Mollusca, 87.8% complete; Metazoa, 97.2% complete) and similar to metrics observed for other chromosome-level Patella genomes, highlighting a possible bias in the Mollusca database for Patellids. We generated transcriptomic Illumina data from a second individual collected at the same locality and used it together with protein evidence to annotate the genome. A total of 23,938 protein-coding gene models were found. By comparing this annotation with other published Patella annotations, we found that the distribution and median values of exon and gene lengths was comparable with other Patella species despite different annotation approaches. The present high-quality P. caerulea reference genome, available on GenBank (BioProject: PRJNA1045377; assembly: GCA_036850965.1), is an important resource for future ecological and evolutionary studies.ISSN:1759-665

    Multiple Wheat Genomes Reveal Novel Gli-2 Sublocus Location and Variation of Celiac Disease Epitopes in Duplicated α-Gliadin Genes

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    The seed protein α-gliadin is a major component of wheat flour and causes gluten-related diseases. However, due to the complexity of this multigene family with a genome structure composed of dozens of copies derived from tandem and genome duplications, little was known about the variation between accessions, and thus little effort has been made to explicitly target α-gliadin for bread wheat breeding. Here, we analyzed genomic variation in α-gliadins across 11 recently published chromosome-scale assemblies of hexaploid wheat, with validation using long-read data. We unexpectedly found that the Gli-B2 locus is not a single contiguous locus but is composed of two subloci, suggesting the possibility of recombination between the two during breeding. We confirmed that the number of immunogenic epitopes among 11 accessions varied. The D subgenome of a European spelt line also contained epitopes, in agreement with its hybridization history. Evolutionary analysis identified amino acid sites under diversifying selection, suggesting their functional importance. The analysis opens the way for improved grain quality and safety through wheat breeding

    Data from: Patterns of polymorphism and selection in the subgenomes of the allopolyploid Arabidopsis kamchatica

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    Genome duplication is widespread in wild and crop plants. However, little is known about genome-wide selection in polyploids due to the complexity of duplicated genomes. In polyploids, the patterns of purifying selection and adaptive substitutions may be affected by masking owing to duplicated genes or homeologs as well as effective population size. Here, we resequence 25 accessions of the allotetraploid Arabidopsis kamchatica, which is derived from the diploid species A. halleri and A. lyrata. We observe a reduction in purifying selection compared with the parental species. Interestingly, proportions of adaptive non-synonymous substitutions are significantly positive in contrast to most plant species. A recurrent pattern observed in both frequency and divergence–diversity neutrality tests is that the genome-wide distributions of both subgenomes are similar, but the correlation between homeologous pairs is low. This may increase the opportunity of different evolutionary trajectories such as in the HMA4 gene involved in heavy metal hyperaccumulation
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