m6A RNA Methylation in marine plants: first insights and relevance for biological rhythms

Circadian regulations are essential for enabling organisms to synchronize physiology with environmental light-dark cycles. Post-transcriptional RNA modifications still represent an understudied level of gene expression regulation in plants, although they could play crucial roles in environmental adaptation. N6-methyl-adenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent mRNA modification, established by "writer" and "eraser" proteins. It influences the clockwork in several taxa, but only few studies have been conducted in plants and none in marine plants. Here, we provided a first inventory of m6A-related genes in seagrasses and investigated daily changes in the global RNA methylation and transcript levels of writers and erasers in Cymodocea nodosa and Zostera marina. Both species showed methylation peaks during the dark period under the same photoperiod, despite exhibiting asynchronous changes in the m6A profile and related gene expression during a 24-h cycle. At contrasting latitudes, Z. marina populations displayed overlapping daily patterns of the m6A level and related gene expression. The observed rhythms are characteristic for each species and similar in populations of the same species with different photoperiods, suggesting the existence of an endogenous circadian control. Globally, our results indicate that m6A RNA methylation could widely contribute to circadian regulation in seagrasses, potentially affecting the photo-biological behaviour of these plants.FCT: UIDB/04326/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS): A report of two patients and review of literature

AbstractKlippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS) is an uncommon congenital condition, resulting in vascular malformations affecting capillary, venous, and lymphatic systems and bone and/or soft tissue hypertrophy. Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) may be useful in assessing the severity of the disease and for treatment planning. We present two cases of two white men with the typical clinical presentation of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome i.e. vascular malformations (capillary, venous and lymphatic) and localized bone and/or soft tissues hypertrophy. Splenic hemangiomas were evidenced in both patients and MRA was helpful in assessing and delineating the abnormal venous drainage system. KTS is a complex disorder whose true prevalence and etiology are still unknown. In most cases the emblematic clinical manifestation consisting in vascular malformations and extremity overgrowth is represented. KTS may be associated with several different conditions including scoliosis and splenic hemangiomas. The presence of the lateral marginal vein (LMV) is pathognomonic. Imaging is fundamental in confirming the diagnosis and for therapeutic strategies. An effective treatment does not exist to date and a multidisciplinary approach is usually required to prevent complications

A highly-detailed anatomical study of left atrial auricle as revealed by in-vivo computed tomography

The left atrial auricle (LAA) is the main source of intracardiac thrombi, which contribute significantly to the total number of stroke cases. It is also considered a major site of origin for atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing ablation procedures. The LAA is known to have a high degree of morphological variability, with shape and structure identified as important contributors to thrombus formation. A detailed understanding of LAA form, dimension, and function is crucial for radiologists, cardiologists, and cardiac surgeons.This review describes the normal anatomy of the LAA as visualized through multiple imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and echocardi-ography. Special emphasis is devoted to a discussion on how the morphological characteristics of the LAA are closely related to the likelihood of developing LAA thrombi, including insights into LAA embryology

Seagrass genomes reveal ancient polyploidy and adaptations to the marine environment

DATA AVAILABILITY : The DNA sequencing data for the C. nodosa genome assembly have been deposited in the NCBI database under BioProject PRJNA1041560 via the link https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/?term=PRJNA1041560. All assemblies and annotations for all seagrass species discussed in the current paper can be found at https://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/gdb/seagrasses/. The transcriptome data (including raw data and clean data) and sequencing QC reports for C. nodosa can be found at https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/portal/pages/dynamicOrganismDownload.jsf?organism=Cymnodnscriptome_2, the transcriptome data and sequencing QC reports for P. oceanica can be found at https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/portal/pages/dynamicOrganismDownload.jsf?organism=Posocenscriptome_2, the transcriptome data and sequencing QC reports for T. testudinum can be found at https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/portal/pages/dynamicOrganismDownload.jsf?organism=Thatesnscriptome_4 and the transcriptome data for Z. marina are from ref. 15. For the public databases, the RFAM database v.14.7 can be downloaded at https://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/Rfam/14.7/, the UniProt database can be accessed from the web at http://www.uniprot.org and downloaded from http://www.uniprot.org/downloads and the NCBI nucleotide database can be accessed via https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.We present chromosome-level genome assemblies from representative species of three independently evolved seagrass lineages: Posidonia oceanica, Cymodocea nodosa, Thalassia testudinum and Zostera marina. We also include a draft genome of Potamogeton acutifolius, belonging to a freshwater sister lineage to Zosteraceae. All seagrass species share an ancient whole-genome triplication, while additional whole-genome duplications were uncovered for C. nodosa, Z. marina and P. acutifolius. Comparative analysis of selected gene families suggests that the transition from submerged-freshwater to submerged-marine environments mainly involved fine-tuning of multiple processes (such as osmoregulation, salinity, light capture, carbon acquisition and temperature) that all had to happen in parallel, probably explaining why adaptation to a marine lifestyle has been exceedingly rare. Major gene losses related to stomata, volatiles, defence and lignification are probably a consequence of the return to the sea rather than the cause of it. These new genomes will accelerate functional studies and solutions, as continuing losses of the ‘savannahs of the sea’ are of major concern in times of climate change and loss of biodiversity.The DOE, JGI, Berkeley, California, USA, under the Community Sequencing Program 2018; the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ; Ghent University (Methusalem funding); the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation); the Helmholtz School for Marine Data Science; partially supported by the project Marine Hazard, PON03PE_00203_1 (MUR, Italian Ministry of University and Research) and by the National Biodiversity Future Centre Program, Italian Ministry of University and Research, PNRR, Missione 4 Componente 2 Investimento 1.4; and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.https://www.nature.com/nplants2024-07-26hj2024BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologySDG-14:Life below wate

Differential Leaf Age-Dependent Thermal Plasticity in the Keystone Seagrass Posidonia oceanica

Introduction: Gene-expression patterns and their upstream regulatory mechanisms (e.g. epigenetic) are known to modulate plant acclimatability and thus tolerance to heat stress. Within species, thermal plasticity (i.e. temperature-sensitive phenotypic plasticity) and differential thermo-tolerance are recognized among different genotypes, development stages, organs or tissues. Leaf age and lifespan have been demonstrated to strongly affect photosynthetic thermo-tolerance in terrestrial species, whereas there is no information available for marine plants. Materials and Methods: Here, we investigated how an intense warming event affects molecular and photo-physiological functions in the large-sized seagrass Posidonia oceanica, at fine spatial resolution. Plants were exposed for one week at 34°C in a controlled-mesocosm system. Subsequent variations in the expression of 12 target genes and global DNA methylation level were evaluated in three leaf-age sections (i.e. basal, medium and high) established along the longitudinal axis of youngest, young and fully mature leaves of the shoot. Targeted genes were involved in photosynthesis, chlorophyll biosynthesis, energy dissipation mechanisms, stress response and programmed cell death. Molecular analyses paralleled the assessment of pigment content and photosynthetic performance of the same leaf segments, as well as of plant growth inhibition under acute warming. Results: Our data revealed, for the first time, the presence of variable leaf age-dependent stress-induced epigenetic and gene-expression changes in seagrasses, underlying photo-physiological and growth responses to heat stress. An investment in protective responses and growth arrest was observed in immature tissues; while mature leaf sections displayed a higher ability to offset gene down-regulation, possibly through the involvement of DNA methylation changes, although heat-induced damages were visible at photo-physiological level. Discussion: Overall, mature and young leaf tissues exhibited different strategies to withstand heat stress and thus a variable thermal plasticity. This should be taken in consideration when addressing seagrass response to warming and other stressors, especially in large-sized species, where sharp age differences are present within and among leaves, and other gradients of environmental factors (e.g. light) could be at play. Molecular and physiological evaluations conducted only on adult leaf tissues, as common practice in seagrass research, could give inadequate estimates of the overall plant state, and should not be considered as a proxy for the whole shoot

SENTINEL LYMPH NODE BIOPSY IN THE TREATMENT OF BREAST CANCER. EXPERIENCE IN 527 CASES

Knowledge of axillary lymph node status is a key aid to staging and prognosis and it represents a guideline for adjuvant therapy in breast cancer. Despite the morbidity it causes, complete axillary dissection was long the mainstay of treatment. Sentinel lymph node biopsy has proved so reliable in the evaluation of node involvement that axillary node dissection is now generally performed when sentinel node biopsy tests negative. METHODS: In this 3-phase study, 50 patients were enrolled to evaluate the learning curve of sentinel node biopsy (phase 1, September 1997-January 1998); 256 patients (age range 27-81 years) with infiltrative breast cancer (T <3 cm, clinical N0) underwent level 1 lymph node dissection when the sentinel node tested negative at histopathology (phase 2, February 1998-March 2001); 221 patients with T <3 cm underwent dissection of the sentinel node when it tested negative for metastasis (phase 3, April 2001-March 2005). RESULTS: The sentinel node was preoperatively detected in 98.6% of cases after peritumoral and intradermic injection of the radionuclide tracer and intraoperatively in 99% (90% with radio-guided surgery, 10% with vital staining). The sentinel node was positive in 15% of patients with T1 and metastatic in 65%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are in line with the published data; therefore, the study will go forward to examine the role of the micrometastasis in the sentinel node and of in-transit tumoral cells

P values of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

<p>Values in italics refer to the dataset corrected for null alleles. See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0149496#pone.0149496.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a> for abbreviations.</p

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy for lung cancer: the state of art

n/

Characteristics of sampling sites, including geographic information and genetic diversity indices per geographic sample.

<p>N: number of individuals sampled in each site; N_pa: number of private alleles; A_r: allelic richness per geographic sample; H_e and H_o indicate expected and observed heterozygosity respectively; <i>F</i>_IS is the inbreeding coefficient calculated in each population sample. In italics values after correction for null alleles.</p

Matrix of pair-wise <i>F</i>_ST (below the diagonal) and pair-wise Jost’s D (above the diagonal).

<p>Matrix of pair-wise <i>F</i>_ST (below the diagonal) and pair-wise Jost’s D (above the diagonal).</p