Seasonal changes in patterns of gene expression in avian song control brain regions.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Photoperiod and hormonal cues drive dramatic seasonal changes in structure and function of the avian song control system. Little is known, however, about the patterns of gene expression associated with seasonal changes. Here we address this issue by altering the hormonal and photoperiodic conditions in seasonally-breeding Gambel's white-crowned sparrows and extracting RNA from the telencephalic song control nuclei HVC and RA across multiple time points that capture different stages of growth and regression. We chose HVC and RA because while both nuclei change in volume across seasons, the cellular mechanisms underlying these changes differ. We thus hypothesized that different genes would be expressed between HVC and RA. We tested this by using the extracted RNA to perform a cDNA microarray hybridization developed by the SoNG initiative. We then validated these results using qRT-PCR. We found that 363 genes varied by more than 1.5 fold (>log(2) 0.585) in expression in HVC and/or RA. Supporting our hypothesis, only 59 of these 363 genes were found to vary in both nuclei, while 132 gene expression changes were HVC specific and 172 were RA specific. We then assigned many of these genes to functional categories relevant to the different mechanisms underlying seasonal change in HVC and RA, including neurogenesis, apoptosis, cell growth, dendrite arborization and axonal growth, angiogenesis, endocrinology, growth factors, and electrophysiology. This revealed categorical differences in the kinds of genes regulated in HVC and RA. These results show that different molecular programs underlie seasonal changes in HVC and RA, and that gene expression is time specific across different reproductive conditions. Our results provide insights into the complex molecular pathways that underlie adult neural plasticity

Runx1 is required for the endothelial to haematopoietic cell transition but not thereafter

HSCs are the founder cells of the adult hematopoietic system, and thus knowledge of the molecular program directing their generation during development is important for regenerative hematopoietic strategies. Runx1 is a pivotal transcription factor required for HSC generation in the vascular regions of the mouse conceptus - the aorta, vitelline and umbilical arteries, yolk sac and placenta 1, 2. It is thought that HSCs emerge from vascular endothelial cells through the formation of intra-arterial clusters 3 and that Runx1 functions during the transition from ‘hemogenic endothelium’ to HSCs 4, 5. Here we show by conditional deletion that Runx1 activity in vascular endothelial cadherin (VEC) positive endothelial cells is indeed essential for intra-arterial cluster, hematopoietic progenitor, and HSC formation. In contrast, Runx1 is not required in cells expressing Vav, one of the first pan-hematopoietic genes expressed in HSCs. Collectively these data show that Runx1 function is essential in endothelial cells for hematopoietic progenitor and HSC formation from the vasculature, but its requirement ends once or before Vav is expressed

Elevated Plasma Von Willebrand Factor and Propeptide Levels in Malawian Children with Malaria

In children with malaria plasma VWF and propeptide levels are markedly elevated in both cerebral and mild paediatric malaria, with levels matching disease severity, and these normalize upon recovery. High levels of both markers also occur in retinopathy-negative 'cerebral malaria' cases, many of whom are thought to be suffering from diseases other than malaria, indicating that further studies of these markers will be required to determine their sensitivity and specificity

Regional differences in awareness and attitudes regarding genetic testing for disease risk and ancestry

Little is known about the lay public’s awareness and attitudes concerning genetic testing and what factors influence their perspectives. The existing literature focuses mainly on ethnic and socioeconomic differences; however, here we focus on how awareness and attitudes regarding genetic testing differ by geographical regions in the US. We compared awareness and attitudes concerning genetic testing for disease risk and ancestry among 452 adults (41% Black and 67% female) in four major US cities, Norman, OK; Cincinnati, OH; Harlem, NY; and Washington, DC; prior to their participation in genetic ancestry testing. The OK participants reported more detail about their personal ancestries (p = 0.02) and valued ancestry testing over disease testing more than all other sites (p < 0.01). The NY participants were more likely than other sites to seek genetic testing for disease (p = 0.01) and to see benefit in finding out more about one’s ancestry (p = 0.02), while the DC participants reported reading and hearing more about genetic testing for African ancestry than all other sites (p < 0.01). These site differences were not better accounted for by sex, age, education, self-reported ethnicity, religion, or previous experience with genetic testing/counseling. Regional differences in awareness and attitudes transcend traditional demographic predictors, such as ethnicity, age and education. Local sociocultural factors, more than ethnicity and socioeconomic status, may influence the public’s awareness and belief systems, particularly with respect to genetics

A Comparison of Scent Marking between a Monogamous and Promiscuous Species of Peromyscus: Pair Bonded Males Do Not Advertise to Novel Females

Scent marking can provide behavioral and physiological information including territory ownership and mate advertisement. It is unknown how mating status and pair cohabitation influence marking by males from different social systems. We compared the highly territorial and monogamous California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) to the less territorial and promiscuous white-footed mouse (P. leucopus). Single and mated males of both species were assigned to one of the following arenas lined with filter paper: control (unscented arena), male scented (previously scent-marked by a male conspecific), or females present (containing females in small cages). As expected, the territorial P. californicus scent marked and overmarked an unfamiliar male conspecific's scent marks more frequently than P. leucopus. Species differences in responses to novel females were also found based on mating status. The presence of unfamiliar females failed to induce changes in scent marking in pair bonded P. californicus even though virgin males increased marking behavior. Pair bonding appears to reduce male advertisement for novel females. This is in contrast to P. leucopus males that continue to advertise regardless of mating status. Our data suggest that communication through scent-marking can diverge significantly between species based on mating system and that there are physiological mechanisms that can inhibit responsiveness of males to female cues

Phylogeny in Aid of the Present and Novel Microbial Lineages: Diversity in Bacillus

Bacillus represents microbes of high economic, medical and biodefense importance. Bacillus strain identification based on 16S rRNA sequence analyses is invariably limited to species level. Secondly, certain discrepancies exist in the segregation of Bacillus subtilis strains. In the RDP/NCBI databases, out of a total of 2611 individual 16S rDNA sequences belonging to the 175 different species of the genus Bacillus, only 1586 have been identified up to species level. 16S rRNA sequences of Bacillus anthracis (153 strains), B. cereus (211 strains), B. thuringiensis (108 strains), B. subtilis (271 strains), B. licheniformis (131 strains), B. pumilus (83 strains), B. megaterium (47 strains), B. sphaericus (42 strains), B. clausii (39 strains) and B. halodurans (36 strains) were considered for generating species-specific framework and probes as tools for their rapid identification. Phylogenetic segregation of 1121, 16S rDNA sequences of 10 different Bacillus species in to 89 clusters enabled us to develop a phylogenetic frame work of 34 representative sequences. Using this phylogenetic framework, 305 out of 1025, 16S rDNA sequences presently classified as Bacillus sp. could be identified up to species level. This identification was supported by 20 to 30 nucleotides long signature sequences and in silico restriction enzyme analysis specific to the 10 Bacillus species. This integrated approach resulted in identifying around 30% of Bacillus sp. up to species level and revealed that B. subtilis strains can be segregated into two phylogenetically distinct groups, such that one of them may be renamed

Research prioritisation exercises related to the care of children and young people with life-limiting conditions, their parents, and all those who care for them : a systematic scoping review

Background: In planning high quality research in any aspect of care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions it is important to prioritise resources in the most appropriate areas. Aim: To map research priorities identified from existing research prioritisation exercises relevant to infants, children, and young people with life-limiting conditions, in order to inform future research. Design: We undertook a systematic scoping review to identify existing research prioritisation exercises; the protocol is publicly available on the project website. Data sources: The bibliographic databases ASSIA, CINAHL, MEDLINE/MEDLINE In Process and Embase were searched from 2000. Relevant reference lists and websites were hand searched. Included were any consultations aimed at identifying research for the benefit of neonates, infants, children and/or young people (birth to age 25 years) with life-limiting, -threatening or -shortening conditions; their family, parents, carers; and/or the professional staff caring for them. Results: Twenty four research prioritisation exercises met the inclusion criteria, from which 279 research questions or priority areas for health research were identified. The priorities were iteratively mapped onto an evolving framework, informed by WHO classifications. This resulted in identification of 16 topic areas, 55 sub-topics and 12 sub-sub-topics. Conclusions: There are numerous similar and overlapping research prioritisation exercises related to children and young people with life-limiting conditions. By mapping existing research priorities in the context in which they were set, we highlight areas to focus research efforts on. Further priority setting is not required at this time unless devoted to ascertaining families’ perspectives

Catalytic activity and stability of laccase entrapped in sol-gel silica with additives

This study investigated the effects of different additives and precursors on the catalytic activity of laccase entrapped in sol-gel silica. It was found that the laccase catalytic activity and stability of sol-gel laccase could be enhanced if the entrapment was performed in the presence of additives such as PVA, PEG and APTS. The use of TEOS as a precursor showed slightly higher laccase catalytic activity compared to TMOS. The PVA as an additive showed a better catalytic activity enhancement compared to the PEG and APTMS with the optimum PVA concentration of 0.03 mg/mL. The optimal temperatures of sol-gel laccase without and with additives were found to be at 40 and 27°C, respectively. After 70 days of storage at 27°C, the catalytic activity of the immobilized sol-gel laccase with additives maintained its catalytic activity compared to only 30% of its original catalytic activity for the sol-gel laccase without additives