Muscle fibre size optimisation provides flexibility for energy budgeting in calorie-restricted coho salmon transgenic for growth hormone

The study was supported by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (Scottish Funding Council grant HR09011) and by the Canadian Biotechnology Strategy (to R.H.D.). Deposited in PMC for immediate releaseCoho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) transgenic for growth hormone (GH) show substantially faster growth than wild-type (WT) fish. We fed GH-transgenic salmon either to satiation (1 year; TF) or the same smaller ration of wild-type fish (2 years; TR), resulting in groups matched for body size to WT salmon. The myotomes of TF and WT fish had the same number and size distribution of muscle fibres, indicating a twofold higher rate of fibre recruitment in the GH transgenics. Unexpectedly, calorie restriction was found to decrease the rate of fibre production in transgenics, resulting in a 20% increase in average fibre size and reduced costs of ionic homeostasis. Genes for myotube formation were downregulated in TR relative to TF and WT fish. We suggest that muscle fibre size optimisation allows the reallocation of energy from maintenance to locomotion, explaining the observation that calorie-restricted transgenics grow at the same rate as WT fish whilst exhibiting markedly higher foraging activity.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Genetic, abiotic and social influences on sex differentiation in cichlid fishes and the evolution of sequential hermaphroditism

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73799/1/j.1467-2979.2005.00184.x.pd

Measurement of the splashback feature around SZ-selected Galaxy clusters with DES, SPT, and ACT

We present a detection of the splashback feature around galaxy clusters selected using the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) signal. Recent measurements of the splashback feature around optically selected galaxy clusters have found that the splashback radius, rsp, is smaller than predicted by N-body simulations. A possible explanation for this discrepancy is that rsp inferred from the observed radial distribution of galaxies is affected by selection effects related to the optical cluster-finding algorithms. We test this possibility by measuring the splashback feature in clusters selected via the SZ effect in data from the South Pole Telescope SZ survey and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter survey. The measurement is accomplished by correlating these cluster samples with galaxies detected in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 data. The SZ observable used to select clusters in this analysis is expected to have a tighter correlation with halo mass and to be more immune to projection effects and aperture-induced biases, potentially ameliorating causes of systematic error for optically selected clusters. We find that the measured rsp for SZ-selected clusters is consistent with the expectations from simulations, although the small number of SZ-selected clusters makes a precise comparison difficult. In agreement with previous work, when using optically selected redMaPPer clusters with similar mass and redshift distributions, rsp is ∼2σ smaller than in the simulations. These results motivate detailed investigations of selection biases in optically selected cluster catalogues and exploration of the splashback feature around larger samples of SZ-selected clusters. Additionally, we investigate trends in the galaxy profile and splashback feature as a function of galaxy colour, finding that blue galaxies have profiles close to a power law with no discernible splashback feature, which is consistent with them being on their first infall into the cluster

Identification of common genetic risk variants for autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heritable and heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental phenotypes diagnosed in more than 1% of children. Common genetic variants contribute substantially to ASD susceptibility, but to date no individual variants have been robustly associated with ASD. With a marked sample-size increase from a unique Danish population resource, we report a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 18,381 individuals with ASD and 27,969 controls that identified five genome-wide-significant loci. Leveraging GWAS results from three phenotypes with significantly overlapping genetic architectures (schizophrenia, major depression, and educational attainment), we identified seven additional loci shared with other traits at equally strict significance levels. Dissecting the polygenic architecture, we found both quantitative and qualitative polygenic heterogeneity across ASD subtypes. These results highlight biological insights, particularly relating to neuronal function and corticogenesis, and establish that GWAS performed at scale will be much more productive in the near term in ASD.Peer reviewe

Polymerase chain reaction amplification and functional characterization of sockeye salmon histone H3, metallothionein-B, and protamine promoters.

Molecular marine biology and biotechnology25308-31

EVIDENCE OF ENERGY REUSE THROUGH BODY WAVE MOTION IN BUTTERFLY SWIMMING

In butterfly swimming the upper body is raised above the water during the stroke cycle. There is a possibility that oscillations of other body parts out of phase with the oscillations of the shoulders serves to minimise the centre of mass (CM) oscillation and thereby mechanical work. Another possibility is that energy accrued by raising the upper body is transmitted along the body in a caudal direction and contributes to forward propulsion. The purpose of this study was to investigate these possibilities. Digitised data from eight elite male and eight elite female butterfly and individual medley swimmers recorded simultaneously by two above water and two below water video cameras were made available by the International center for Aquatic Research. The vertical oscillations of the vertex, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and CM of each swimmer were analysed to determine the phase and amplitude of the first (H 1) and second (H2) Fourier frequencies. The vertical oscillation of the CM was substantial (approx. .08m from maximum to minimum) and there was no evidence to suggest that elite butterfly swimmers minimised the vertical oscillation of the CM by compensatory oscillations of body parts. There was no significant relationship between amplitude of CM oscillation and swimming speed. The HI oscillations had phase differences among body parts that indicated a consistent progression of a 'body wave' in a caudal direction. The average speed of this body wave was faster than the forward motion of the CM by an average of 34m.s-1 for the males and .17ms-1 for the females. The relationship between speed of the body wave and CM motion was significant (pc.01) for males (ra.88) and females (rm.96). The findings supported the possibility that energy accrued by raising the upper body was transmitted caudally and contributed to forward propulsion

Gene construct and expression: Information relevant for risk assessment and management

Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Organisms395-11