Phylogenetic relationships of cone snails endemic to Cabo Verde based on mitochondrial genomes

Background: Due to their great species and ecological diversity as well as their capacity to produce hundreds of different toxins, cone snails are of interest to evolutionary biologists, pharmacologists and amateur naturalists alike. Taxonomic identification of cone snails still relies mostly on the shape, color, and banding patterns of the shell. However, these phenotypic traits are prone to homoplasy. Therefore, the consistent use of genetic data for species delimitation and phylogenetic inference in this apparently hyperdiverse group is largely wanting. Here, we reconstruct the phylogeny of the cones endemic to Cabo Verde archipelago, a well-known radiation of the group, using mitochondrial (mt) genomes. Results: The reconstructed phylogeny grouped the analyzed species into two main clades, one including Kalloconus from West Africa sister to Trovaoconus from Cabo Verde and the other with a paraphyletic Lautoconus due to the sister group relationship of Africonus from Cabo Verde and Lautoconus ventricosus from Mediterranean Sea and neighboring Atlantic Ocean to the exclusion of Lautoconus endemic to Senegal (plus Lautoconus guanche from Mauritania, Morocco, and Canary Islands). Within Trovaoconus, up to three main lineages could be distinguished. The clade of Africonus included four main lineages (named I to IV), each further subdivided into two monophyletic groups. The reconstructed phylogeny allowed inferring the evolution of the radula in the studied lineages as well as biogeographic patterns. The number of cone species endemic to Cabo Verde was revised under the light of sequence divergence data and the inferred phylogenetic relationships. Conclusions: The sequence divergence between continental members of the genus Kalloconus and island endemics ascribed to the genus Trovaoconus is low, prompting for synonymization of the latter. The genus Lautoconus is paraphyletic. Lautoconus ventricosus is the closest living sister group of genus Africonus. Diversification of Africonus was in allopatry due to the direct development nature of their larvae and mainly triggered by eustatic sea level changes during the Miocene-Pliocene. Our study confirms the diversity of cone endemic to Cabo Verde but significantly reduces the number of valid species. Applying a sequence divergence threshold, the number of valid species within the sampled Africonus is reduced to half.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [CGL2013-45211-C2-2-P, CGL2016-75255-C2-1-P, BES-2011-051469, BES-2014-069575, Doctorado Nacional-567]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Partner in fat metabolism: role of KLFs in fat burning and reproductive behavior

The abnormalities caused by excess fat accumulation can result in pathological conditions which are linked to several interrelated diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and obesity. This set of conditions, known as metabolic syndrome, is a global pandemic of enormous medical, economic, and social concern affecting a significant portion of the world’s population. Although genetics, physiology and environmental components play a major role in the onset of disease caused by excessive fat accumulation, little is known about how or to what extent each of these factors contributes to it. The worm, Caenorhabditis elegans offers an opportunity to study disease related to metabolic disorder in a developmental system that provides anatomical and genomic simplicity relative to the vertebrate animals and is an excellent eukaryotic genetic model which enable us to answer the questions concerning fat accumulation which remain unresolved. The stored triglycerides (TG) provide the primary source of energy during periods of food deficiency. In nature, lipid stored as TGs are hydrolyzed into fatty acids which are broken down through β-oxidation to yield acetyl-CoA. Our recent study suggests that a member of C. elegans Krüppel-like factor, klf-3 regulates lipid metabolism by promoting FA β-oxidation and in parallel may contribute in normal reproduction and fecundity. Genetic and epigenetic factors that influence this pathway may have considerable impact on fat related diseases in human. Increasing number of studies suggest the role of mammalian KLFs in adipogenesis. This functional conservation should guide our further effort to explore C. elegans as a legitimate model system for studying the role of KLFs in many pathway components of lipid metabolism

Sex Bias in Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Neuroinflammation: Relevance for Dimethyl Fumarate Immunomodulatory/Anti-oxidant Action

In the present study, upon showing sexual dimorphism in dimethyl fumarate (DMF) efficacy to moderate the clinical severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in Dark Agouti rats, cellular and molecular substrate of this dimorphism was explored. In rats of both sexes, DMF administration from the day of immunization attenuated EAE severity, but this effect was more prominent in males leading to loss of the sexual dimorphism observed in vehicle-administered controls. Consistently, in male rats, DMF was more efficient in diminishing the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes infiltrating spinal cord (SC) and their reactivation, the number of IL-17+ T lymphocytes and particularly cellularity of their highly pathogenic IFN-gamma+GM-CSF+IL-17+ subset. This was linked with changes in SC CD11b+CD45+TCR alpha beta- microglia/proinflammatory monocyte progeny, substantiated in a more prominent increase in the frequency of anti-inflammatory phygocyting CD163+ cells and the cells expressing high surface levels of immunoregulatory CD83 molecule (associated with apoptotic cells phagocytosis and implicated in downregulation of CD4+ T lymphocyte reactivation) among CD11b+CD45+TCR alpha beta- cells in male rat SC. These changes were associated with greater increase in the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 expression in male rats administered with DMF. In accordance with the previous findings, DMF diminished reactive nitrogen and oxygen species generation and consistently, SC level of advanced oxidation protein products, to the greater extent in male rats. Overall, our study indicates sex-specificity in the sensitivity of DMF cellular and molecular targets and encourages sex-based clinical research to define significance of sex for action of therapeutic agents moderating autoimmune neuroinflammation-/oxidative stress-related nervous tissue damage