Identification of Specific Nuclear Genetic Loci and Genes That Interact With the Mitochondrial Genome and Contribute to Fecundity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Previous studies have found that fecundity is a multigenic trait regulated, in part, by mitochondrial-nuclear (mit-n) genetic interactions. However, the identification of specific nuclear genetic loci or genes interacting with the mitochondrial genome and contributing to the quantitative trait fecundity is an unsolved issue. Here, a panel of recombinant inbred advanced intercrossed lines (RIAILs), established from a cross between the N2 and CB4856 strains of C. elegans, were used to characterize the underlying genetic basis of mit-n genetic interactions related to fecundity. Sixty-seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified by association mapping to be linked with fecundity among 115 SNPs linked to mitotype. This indicated significant epistatic effects between nuclear and mitochondria genetics on fecundity. In addition, two specific nuclear genetic loci interacting with the mitochondrial genome and contributing to fecundity were identified. A significant reduction in fecundity was observed in the RIAILs that carried CB4856 mitochondria and a N2 genotype at locus 1 or a CB4856 genotype at locus 2 relative to the wild-type strains. Then, a hybrid strain (CNC10) was established, which was bred as homoplasmic for the CB4856 mtDNA genome and N2 genotype at locus 1 in the CB4856 nuclear background. The mean fecundity of CNC10 was half the fecundity of the control strain. Several functional characteristics of the mitochondria in CNC10 were also influenced by mit-n interactions. Overall, experimental evidence was presented that specific nuclear genetic loci or genes have interactions with the mitochondrial genome and are associated with fecundity. In total, 18 genes were identified using integrative approaches to have interactions with the mitochondrial genome and to contribute to fecundity

Mechanisms of Avian Magnetic Orientation

Among the most fascinating mysteries of life is the interaction between biological systems and the earth’s magnetic field. Although earth’s magnetism may have an under appreciated role in biological interpretations, it has been most extensively studied in the processes of avian orientation and migration. Many species of bird are known to have behavioral responses to the earth’s and artificial magnetic fields. These responses may be mediated by a number of potential magneto-biochemical processes. The two most commonly investigated include a magnetosensitive magnetite rich region in the upper beak area and a photo/magnetoreception process in the eyes of various bird species. In addition to external magnetic stimuli, recent findings in visually restricted birds have described a hemispherically lateralized interpretation of this information within the brain. Even with these findings, a considerable amount of work is needed to clarify what information is processed and how it is used to create the bird’s magnetic compass. This review focuses these recently published findings as a means to assess this intriguing phenomenon

Severe dopaminergic neuron loss in rhesus monkey brain impairs morphine-induced conditioned place preference

It is well known that dopamine is critical for reward, but the precise role of dopamine in reward remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine what percentage of dopaminergic neurons in the primate brain is required for the expression of conditioned reward by measuring the performance of dopamine-deficient rhesus monkeys in a morphine-induced conditioned place preference paradigm. Animals with mild Parkinsonian symptoms successfully developed and retained a morphine preference that was equivalent to control monkeys. However, these monkeys could not maintain the preference as well as controls when they retained severe Parkinsonian symptoms. On the other hand, monkeys initially in a severe Parkinsonian state developed a preference for morphine, but this preference was weaker than that of the controls. Histological results showed that the loss of dopaminergic neurons in monkeys that had severe Parkinsonian symptoms was about 80% in comparison to the control monkeys. All these data suggest that a severely impaired dopamine system alters rewarding-seeking behavior in non-human primates

Effects of visual working memory on brain information processing of irrelevant auditory stimuli.

Selective attention has traditionally been viewed as a sensory processing modulator that promotes cognitive processing efficiency by favoring relevant stimuli while inhibiting irrelevant stimuli. However, the cross-modal processing of irrelevant information during working memory (WM) has been rarely investigated. In this study, the modulation of irrelevant auditory information by the brain during a visual WM task was investigated. The N100 auditory evoked potential (N100-AEP) following an auditory click was used to evaluate the selective attention to auditory stimulus during WM processing and at rest. N100-AEP amplitudes were found to be significantly affected in the left-prefrontal, mid-prefrontal, right-prefrontal, left-frontal, and mid-frontal regions while performing a high WM load task. In contrast, no significant differences were found between N100-AEP amplitudes in WM states and rest states under a low WM load task in all recorded brain regions. Furthermore, no differences were found between the time latencies of N100-AEP troughs in WM states and rest states while performing either the high or low WM load task. These findings suggested that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) may integrate information from different sensory channels to protect perceptual integrity during cognitive processing

Deficits in Water Maze Performance and Oxidative Stress in the Hippocampus and Striatum Induced by Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Field Exposure

The exposures to extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) in our environment have dramatically increased. Epidemiological studies suggest that there is a possible association between ELF-MF exposure and increased risks of cardiovascular disease, cancers and neurodegenerative disorders. Animal studies show that ELF-MF exposure may interfere with the activity of brain cells, generate behavioral and cognitive disturbances, and produce deficits in attention, perception and spatial learning. Although, many research efforts have been focused on the interaction between ELF-MF exposure and the central nervous system, the mechanism of interaction is still unknown. In this study, we examined the effects of ELF-MF exposure on learning in mice using two water maze tasks and on some parameters indicative of oxidative stress in the hippocampus and striatum. We found that ELF-MF exposure (1 mT, 50 Hz) induced serious oxidative stress in the hippocampus and striatum and impaired hippocampal-dependent spatial learning and striatum-dependent habit learning. This study provides evidence for the association between the impairment of learning and the oxidative stress i

Face recognition increases during saccade preparation.

Face perception is integral to human perception system as it underlies social interactions. Saccadic eye movements are frequently made to bring interesting visual information, such as faces, onto the fovea for detailed processing. Just before eye movement onset, the processing of some basic features, such as the orientation, of an object improves at the saccade landing point. Interestingly, there is also evidence that indicates faces are processed in early visual processing stages similar to basic features. However, it is not known whether this early enhancement of processing includes face recognition. In this study, three experiments were performed to map the timing of face presentation to the beginning of the eye movement in order to evaluate pre-saccadic face recognition. Faces were found to be similarly processed as simple objects immediately prior to saccadic movements. Starting ∼ 120 ms before a saccade to a target face, independent of whether or not the face was surrounded by other faces, the face recognition gradually improved and the critical spacing of the crowding decreased as saccade onset was approaching. These results suggest that an upcoming saccade prepares the visual system for new information about faces at the saccade landing site and may reduce the background in a crowd to target the intended face. This indicates an important role of pre-saccadic eye movement signals in human face recognition

Time Latencies of the N100-AEP trough in each brain region in WM states and rest states in the high WM load tasks.

<p>There were no statistically significant differences (<i>P</i>>0.05) in the N100-AEP latencies between WM states and rest states in the high load tasks. L-PF: left-prefrontal; M-PF: mid-prefrontal; R-PF: right-prefrontal; L-F: left-frontal; M-F: mid-frontal; R-F: right-frontal; L-T: left-temporal; R-T: right-temporal. Data is shown as mean (SD).</p

Overall average N100-AEP waveforms of the mid-frontal region.

<p>A: Waveforms of the low WM load task; B: Waveforms of the high WM load task. Solid lines represent the average N100-AEP waveform in the WM state; dotted lines represent the average N100-AEP waveform in the rest state.</p