Embryological evidence substantiates the subcoxal theory on the origin of pleuron in insects

The lateral body plate pleuron is a significant structure in insects that contributes to the development and elaboration of wings and limbs (appendages). Although the pleuron is thought to originate from the proximal-most appendicular segment, the subcoxa, details remain unclear, and the morphological boundary between the dorsal body plate tergum and appendage (BTA) has not been clearly specified. Employing low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the nano-suit method for SEM, we followed, in detail, the development of the thoracic segments of the two-spotted cricket Gryllus bimaculatus and succeeded in clearly defining the BTA. This study demonstrates the subcoxal origin of the pleuron, suggests the tergal origin of spiracles, and reveals that the wing proper originates exclusively from the tergum, whereas the wing hinge and direct muscles may be appendicular in origin, suggesting the dual origin (i.e., tergal plus appendicular origin) of wings

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Zorotypus pecten, a new species of Zoraptera (Insecta) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Mashimo, Yuta, Müller, Patrick, Beutel, Rolf G. (2019): Zorotypus pecten, a new species of Zoraptera (Insecta) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Zootaxa 4651 (3): 565-577, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4651.3.

Zorotypus (Octozoros) hirsutus Mashimo & Müller & Pohl & Beutel 2018, sp. n.

<i>Zorotypus</i> (<i>Octozoros</i>) <i>hirsutus</i> Mashimo, sp. n. <p>(Figs. 1, 2)</p> <p> <b>Holotype:</b> Alate female; Myanmar, Kachin State, Hukawng Valley (Kania <i>et al</i>. 2015: fig. 1; Jałoszyński <i>et al</i>. 2017: fig. 1); Albian-Cenomanian boundary, mid Cretaceous. The holotype is deposited in Patrick Müller’s private collection (depository number BUB2785).</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The specific name is taken from a Latin adjective <i>hirsutus</i> meaning “hairy, shaggy”, and refers to the bristly or hirsute appearance, with a dense vestiture of long and slender setae.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> <i>Zorotypus hirsutus</i> <b>sp. n.</b> is tentatively assigned to the subgenus <i>Octozoros</i> based on the eightsegmented antenna. This species is readily distinguished from the other species of <i>Octozoros</i> by the combination of the following characters: strongly developed vestiture of bristles on the entire body; very slender, elongate antennomeres; elongated head with concave genal region; absence of thorn-like protuberances on mesonotal anterolateral corners; absence of jugate setae along posterior margin of forewings; relatively slender tibiae; empodium of meta-pretarsus reduced to a slender hair-like structure.</p> <p> <b>Description.</b> Alate female. Integument blackish brown except antennomeres VII and VIII (Fig. 1A, B). Head subtriangular, moderately elongated, with concave genal region (Figs. 1C, 2A). Surface covered with vestiture of long setae (Figs. 1C, 2A). Compound eyes prominent; three ocelli present. Antennae 8-segmented, with vestiture of setae of moderate length (Fig. 1A, B); antennomere I elongate, approximately 4.5 times longer than wide; antennomere II relatively short, about one-third as long as antennomere I; antennomere III elongate, approximately twice as long as antennomere II; antennomeres IV–VI distinctly elongated, slender, approximately six times as long as wide; antennomeres VII-VIII very slender, approximately four times as long as wide. Maxilla only partly visible; galea with comb of mesally directed setae on apical region (Figs. 1C, 2A); slender lacinia with two small mesally directed teeth on distal part (Fig. 2A); maxillary palpus with palpomere I not visible; palpomeres II, III and V distinctly elongated; palpomere IV slightly longer than wide. Labial palpus with palpomere I partly visible; palpomere II slightly elongated and palpomere III distinctly elongated (Figs. 1C, 2A).</p> <p>Pronotum subrectangular, longer than wide, slightly narrowing anteriorly; with vestiture of setae of moderate length on surface and also densely covered with long setae along margins (Fig. 1D). Mesonotum only partly visible; distinctly broader than long, about half as long as pronotum; thorn-like protuberances on the anterolateral corners absent; with vestiture of setae of moderate length on surface and along margins. Metanotum (and part of wings) covered by bubble; distinctly broader than long, slightly shorter than mesonotum, with setae of moderate length along lateral and posterior margin.</p> <p>Legs densely covered with setae of moderate length; tarsi 2-segmented. Protibia with bristles arranged as comb along distal ventral half and pair of spurs inserted apically (Fig. 1C, E). Mesotibia with apical pair of spurs (Fig. 1F). Metafemur proximally expanded, gently tapering towards apex; eight stout spines (sp1–8) placed on tubercles along posterior border of ventral surface (1–7 in Fig. 1F); sp5 and sp7 distinctly elongated; sp1 slightly longer than remaining spines (Fig. 1E); right metafemur with one additional small spine between sp6 and sp7 (6+ in the inset in Fig. 1F); three stiff bristles inserted at preapical region of anterior border of ventral surface (Fig. 1F). Metatibia slender, with two stout spines at apical one-third and at apex (a, b in Fig. 1A), additionally with tiny spine near most apical spine (white arrow in Fig. 1A, G). Meta-pretarsus with pair of small pulvilli (black arrowhead in the inset in Fig. 1G); empodium reduced to slender hair-like structure (white arrowhead in the inset in Fig. 1G). Stiff spine present between metacoxae (black arrow in Fig. 1F).</p> <p>Abdominal setae dense (Fig. 2C). Abdominal tergum I (T1) with transverse row of setae of moderate length along posterior margin (Fig. 2B); T2–10 with vestiture of setae of moderate length; T2–7 with pair of long, erect setae on both sides of posterior region; T8–9 with two pairs of long, erect setae on both sides of posterior region. Median up-curved projections missing (Fig. 2C). Cercus unsegmented, conical, with four or five long subapical setae almost as long as cercus, proximally with moderate to long, fine setae (Figs. 1A, B, 2B, C). Abdominal sterna I–III (S1–3) not visible; S4–8 with setae of moderate length (Fig. 2C).</p> <p> Wing venation (Fig. 1A, B) visible as faint, fuscous lines; membrane hyaline except for brownish pterostigma of forewing, covered with minute setae; both fore and hind wings with dense fringes of short setae, slightly longer than those of membrane; posterior margin of forewings lacking stiff, jugate setae. Forewing (Fig. 1A) R reaching pterostigma base, evanescent distally; Rs separating from radial stem near midpoint of wing, connected with M by short rs-m cross vein; M reaching posterior wing margin, slightly proximal to termination of Rs; CuA 1 extending over third-fifths of wing, terminating on posterior margin; CuA 2 present as a very short stub in basal third of wing. Hind wing with R+M furcated near apex, both R and M reaching wing margins; Cu absent.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> A lobe-like structure is partly visible lateral to the left galea (asterisk in Figs. 1C, 2A), but could not be unambiguously identified; corresponding part on right side concealed by bubble.</p>Published as part of <i>Mashimo, Yuta, Müller, Patrick, Pohl, Hans & Beutel, Rolf G., 2018, The " hairy beast " - Zorotypus hirsutus sp. n., an unusual new species of Zoraptera (Insecta) from Burmese amber, pp. 562-568 in Zootaxa 4508 (4)</i> on pages 563-566, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4508.4.4, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/2607538">http://zenodo.org/record/2607538</a&gt

The “hairy beast”—Zorotypus hirsutus sp. n., an unusual new species of Zoraptera (Insecta) from Burmese amber

Mashimo, Yuta, Müller, Patrick, Pohl, Hans, Beutel, Rolf G. (2018): The "hairy beast " - Zorotypus hirsutus sp. n., an unusual new species of Zoraptera (Insecta) from Burmese amber. Zootaxa 4508 (4): 562-568, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4508.4.

Zorotypus in Peninsular Malaysia (Zoraptera: Zorotypidae), with the description of three new species

Three new species of the uncommonly encountered insect order Zoraptera are described and figured from Peninsular Malaysia—Zorotypus magnicaudelli sp. n., Zorotypus cervicornis sp. n., and Zorotypus impolitus sp. n. Another species from the region, identified as Zorotypus caudelli Karny, 1927, was also collected and is reevaluated herein based on new material. A brief discussion of characters used in zorapteran systematics is provided, and a key to the species of Peninsular Malaysia provided. This is the first report for the order Zoraptera from Peninsular Malaysia