Comparison of Current Sarcopenia Classification Criteria in Older New England Women

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of sarcopenia in a sample of older, sedentary women using criteria from the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP), the International Working Group (IWG), and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Sarcopenia Project (FNIHSP). Design: Cross-sectional analysis. Setting and Participants: Community-dwelling women (n = 61) aged 71.9 ± 4.6 years (mean±SD) with a BMI 27.3 ± 6.0 kg/m2 who by self-report were healthy and did not exercise were recruited and evaluated for sarcopenia. Measurements: Height, weight, grip strength, gait speed, and appendicular lean mass (via segmental multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis: SMF-BIA) were measured. Prevalence was reported using descriptive statistics and a Fisher’s exact test was used to analyze the distribution frequency of sarcopenia classification by different criteria. Results: In this sample 14.8% met EWGSOP criteria, 6.6% met FNIHSP criteria, and 3.3% met IWG criteria. There was a borderline significant difference in distribution frequency between EWGSOP and IWG classification criteria (p=0.053). Conclusion: The variation in sarcopenia prevalence depending on the diagnostic criteria used is consistent with previous research and there are borderline significant differences between classification criteria in this population. These data suggest the need for additional examination to determine current cut points for ALM measured by SMF-BIA, as well as which established definition of sarcopenia is appropriate for this population

Improved annotation of the insect vector of citrus greening disease: Biocuration by a diverse genomics community

The Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama) is the insect vector of the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), the pathogen associated with citrus Huanglongbing (HLB, citrus greening). HLB threatens citrus production worldwide. Suppression or reduction of the insect vector using chemical insecticides has been the primary method to inhibit the spread of citrus greening disease. Accurate structural and functional annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid genome, as well as a clear understanding of the interactions between the insect and CLas, are required for development of new molecular-based HLB control methods. A draft assembly of the D. citri genome has been generated and annotated with automated pipelines. However, knowledge transfer from well-curated reference genomes such as that of Drosophila melanogaster to newly sequenced ones is challenging due to the complexity and diversity of insect genomes. To identify and improve gene models as potential targets for pest control, we manually curated several gene families with a focus on genes that have key functional roles in D. citri biology and CLas interactions. This community effort produced 530 manually curated gene models across developmental, physiological, RNAi regulatory and immunity-related pathways. As previously shown in the pea aphid, RNAi machinery genes putatively involved in the microRNA pathway have been specifically duplicated. A comprehensive transcriptome enabled us to identify a number of gene families that are either missing or misassembled in the draft genome. In order to develop biocuration as a training experience, we included undergraduate and graduate students from multiple institutions, as well as experienced annotators from the insect genomics research community. The resulting gene set (OGS v1.0) combines both automatically predicted and manually curated gene models.Peer reviewedBiochemistry and Molecular BiologyEntomology and Plant Patholog