Photoperiod-dependent developmental reprogramming of the transcriptional response to seawater entry in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Acknowledgments We would like to extend our thanks the skilled employees at TARS, and to Dr. Chandra S. Ravuri who assisted with sample processing. Funding We thank The Research Council of Norway for funding (project number 241016).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Characterization of mitochondrial mRNAs in codfish reveals unique features compared to mammals

Expression and processing of mitochondrial gene transcripts are fundamental to mitochondrial function, but information from early vertebrates like teleost fishes is essentially lacking. We have analyzed mitogenome sequences of ten codfishes (family Gadidae), and provide complete sequences from three new species (Saithe, Pollack and Blue whiting). Characterization of the mitochondrial mRNAs in Saithe and Atlantic cod identified a set of ten poly(A) transcripts, and six UAA stop codons are generated by posttranscriptional polyadenylation. Structural assessment of poly(A) sites is consistent with an RNaseP cleavage activity 5′ of tRNA acceptor-like stems. COI, ND5 and ND6 mRNAs were found to harbor 3′ UTRs with antisense potential extending into neighboring gene regions. While the 3′ UTR of COI mRNA is complementary to the tRNASer (UCN) and highly similar to that detected in human mitochondria, the ND5 and ND6 3′ UTRs appear more heterogenic. Deep sequencing confirms expression of all mitochondrial mRNAs and rRNAs, and provides information about the precise 5′ ends in mature transcripts. Our study supports an overall evolutionary conservation in mitochondrial RNA processing events among vertebrates, but reveals some unique 5′ and 3′ end characteristics in codfish mRNAs with implications to antisense regulation of gene expression

Severe acute hepatitis and acute liver failure of unknown origin in children:a questionnaire-based study within 34 paediatric liver centres in 22 European countries and Israel, April 2022

To detect potential concern about severe acute hepatitis in children, we conducted a survey among 50 ERN RARE-LIVER centres. By 26 April 2022, 34 centres, including 25 transplant centres, reported an estimated median of 3-5, 0-2 and 3-5 cases in 2021, 2020 and 2019 and a mean of 2 (range: 0-8) cases between January and April 2022 (mean in 10 large liver transplant centres: 3). Twelve centres reported suspicion of an increase, but no rise. Following a report by the United Kingdom (UK) on 5 April 2022 on the occurrence of cases of severe acute hepatitis in children aged 16 years or under, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised concerns about the possibility of an epidemic [1,2]. By 21 April, 169 possible or confirmed cases were reported fulfilling the WHO case definition [3]. The cause of the hepatitis is unknown but a link to a virus infection has been suggested due to the epidemiological pattern of cases [4,5]. The hepatitis can progress to paediatric acute liver failure (pALF) necessitating urgent liver transplantation to avoid multi-organ failure [6]. We intended to assess whether a rise in incidence of severe acute hepatitis or pALF could be observed between 1 January and 26 April 2022 in comparison to previous years, within the European Reference Network on Hepatological Diseases (ERN RARE-LIVER) [7]

Immunologic Profiling of the Atlantic Salmon Gill by Single Nuclei Transcriptomics

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors thank all of the animal staff at Kårvik havbruksstasjonen for their expert care of the research animals, and the University of Manchester Genomics Technology core facility (UK) for performing chromium 10x library preparation for snRNAseq. We also thanks the reviewers for their constructive comments on the original manuscript FUNDING AW is supported by the Tromsø forskningsstiftelse (TFS) grant awarded to DH (TFS2016DH). The Sentinel North Transdisciplinary Research Program Université Laval and UiT awarded to DH supports this work. SW is supported a grant from the Tromsø forskningsstiftelse (TFS) starter grant TFS2016SW. Experimental costs were covered by HFSP grant “Evolution of seasonal timers” RGP0030/2015 awarded to AL and DH. Storage resources were provided by the Norwegian National Infrastructure for Research Data (NIRD, project NS9055K).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Abundance of whales in West and East Greenland in summer 2015

An aerial line transect survey of whales in West and East Greenland was conducted in August-September 2015. The survey covered the area between the coast of West Greenland and offshore (up to 100 km) to the shelf break. In East Greenland, the survey lines covered the area from the coast up to 50 km offshore crossing the shelf break. A total of 423 sightings of 12 cetacean species were obtained and abundance estimates were developed for common minke whale, (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) (32 sightings), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) (129 sightings), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) (84 sightings), harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) (55 sightings), long-finned pilot whale, (Globicephala melas) (42 sightings) and white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostri) (50 sightings). The developed at-surface abundance estimates were corrected for both perception bias and availability bias if possible. Data on surface corrections for minke whales and harbour porpoises were collected from whales instrumented with satellite-linked time-depth-recorders. Options for estimation methods are presented and the preferred estimates are: minke whales: 5,095 (95% CI: 2,171-11,961) in West Greenland and 2,762 (95% CI: 1,160-6,574) in East Greenland, fin whales: 2,215 (95% CI: 1,017-4,823) in West Greenland and 6,440 (95% CI: 3,901-10,632) in East Greenland, humpback whales: 993 (95% CI: 434-2,272) in West Greenland and 4,223 (95% CI: 1,845-9,666) in East Greenland, harbour porpoises: 83,321 (95% CI: 43,377-160,047) in West Greenland and 1,642 (95% CI: 319-8,464) in East Greenland, pilot whales: 9,190 (95% CI: 3,635-23,234) in West Greenland and 258 (95% CI: 50-1,354) in East Greenland, white-beaked dolphins 15,261 (95% CI: 7,048-33,046) in West Greenland and 11,889 (95% CI: 4,710-30,008) in East Greenland. The abundance of cetaceans in coastal areas of East Greenland has not been estimated before, but the limited historical information from the area indicates that the achieved abundance estimates were remarkably high. When comparing the abundance estimates from 2015 in West Greenland with a similar survey conducted in 2007, there is a clear trend towards lower densities in 2015 for the three baleen whale species and white-beaked dolphins. Harbour porpoises and pilot whales, however, did not show a similar decline. The decline in baleen whale and white-beaked dolphin abundance is likely due to emigration to the East Greenland shelf areas where recent climate driven changes in pelagic productivity may have accelerated favourable conditions for these species

Lifestyle Factors and Breast Cancer in Females with PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome (PHTS)

Simple Summary: Females with PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome (PHTS) have very high hereditary breast cancer risks up to 76%. The aim of this European cohort study was to the describe the lifestyle in PHTS patients and to assess associations between physical activity, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, BMI and breast cancer in female adult PHTS patients. It was observed that of 125 patients who completed the questionnaire, 81% were >= 2 times/week physically active, 86% consumed on average = 2 times (ORtotal-adj = 0.9 (95%CI 0.3-2.6); consumed daily about 1.2-1.8 times more often >= 1 than 0-1 glasses of alcohol (ORtotal-adj = 1.2 (95%CI 0.4-4.0); ORnon-breastcancer-index-adj = 1.8 (95%CI 0.4-6.9); were about 1.04-1.3 times more often smokers than non-smokers (ORtotal-adj = 1.04 (95%CI 0.4-2.8); ORnon-breastcancer-index-adj = 1.3 (95%CI 0.4-4.2)); and overweight or obesity (72%) was about 1.02-1.3 times less common (ORtotal-adj = 0.98 (95%CI 0.4-2.6); ORnon-breastcancer-index-adj = 0.8 (95%CI 0.3-2.7)). Similar associations between lifestyle and breast cancer are suggested for PHTS and the general population. Despite not being statistically significant, results are clinically relevant and suggest that awareness of the effects of lifestyle on patients' breast cancer risk is important