New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Identification of Secondary Metabolites from the Mangrove-Endophyte <i>Lasiodiplodia iranensis</i> F0619 by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS

Lasiodiplodia is a widely distributed fungal genus, frequently found in tropical and subtropical regions where it can cause disease in important crops. It represents a promising source of active secondary metabolites with uses in chemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical processes. In this study, the strain Lasiodiplodia iranensis F0619 was isolated from the mangrove Avicennia ger-minans, collected from Sarigua National Park in the Republic of Panama. Fractions of crude extract were analyzed by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS, and five compounds, previously reported from Lasiodiplodia genus were identified, including 11,12-didehydro-7-iso-jasmonic acid (1), 4,5-didehydro-7-iso-jasmonic acid (2), cyclo-(L-Leu-L-Pro) (3), jasmonate-threonine (4), and abscisic acid (5). We describe and analyze their MS/MS fragmentation patterns to confirm the compounds ‘chemical structures