Antarctica\u27s \u27moss forests\u27 are drying and dying

The lush moss beds that grow near East Antarctica\u27s coast are among the only plants that can withstand life on the frozen continent. But our new research shows that these slow-growing plants are changing at a far faster rate than anticipated

Desiccation protects Antarctic mosses from ultraviolet-B induced DNA damage

Antarctic mosses live in a frozen desert, and are characterised by the ability to survive desiccation. They can tolerate multiple desiccation-rehydration events over the summer growing season. As a result of recent ozone depletion, such mosses may also be exposed to ultraviolet-B radiation while desiccated. The ultraviolet-B susceptibility of Antarctic moss species was examined in a laboratory experiment that tested whether desiccated or hydrated mosses accumulated more DNA damage under enhanced ultraviolet-B radiation. Accumulation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and pyrimidine (64) pyrimidone dimers was measured in moss samples collected from the field and then exposed to ultraviolet-B radiation in either a desiccated or hydrated state. Two cosmopolitan species, Ceratodon purpureus (Hedw.) Brid. and Bryum pseudotriquetrum (Hedw.) Gaertn., B.Mey. and Scherb, were protected from DNA damage when desiccated, with accumulation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers reduced by at least 60% relative to hydrated moss. The endemic Schistidium antarctici (Cardot) L.I. Savicz and Smirnova accumulated more DNA damage than the other species and desiccation was not protective in this species. The cosmopolitan species remarkable ability to tolerate high ultraviolet-B exposure, especially in the desiccated state, suggests they may be better able to tolerate continued elevated ultraviolet-B radiation than the endemic species

Artificial Intelligence for Computer-Assisted Diagnosis of Hyperplasia in Atlantic Salmon Gill Histology Images

Measuring hyperplasia in Atlantic salmon gills can provide valuable insights into fish health. In this study, we propose an innovative technique for classifying histology images to identify regions of hyperplasia. Our pipeline utilises novel signal processing techniques in conjunction with prototypical deep learning methods to analyse image texture. We hypothesise and demonstrate that our method effectively captures distinct features of gill histopathology whole-slide images, thereby enhancing the classification task. Compared to conventional deep learning methods, our hybrid approach exhibits exceptional performance in speed and accuracy. When further developed, the concept can support conventional histopathological assessment by providing a computer-assisted hyperplasia score as an objective quantitative histopathological endpoint. The workflow is translatable to other gill conditions and histopathology images beyond gills

The Wicked Problem of microplastics – an interdisciplinary solution

WICKED PROBLEMS Traditional university education equips students with deep discipline knowledge and skills. However, our planet faces many challenges and wicked problems that require solutions to span disciplines and need graduates with essential transferable skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, prioritisation, communication and teamwork. Our students require a flexible, open mindset that facilitates interdisciplinary problem solving. One such challenge is the microplastics pollution which has extended into all corners of the globe. This messy, multifaceted problem lacks clear boundaries and defies simple solutions. Such complex problems are best tackled with interdisciplinary approaches to break down boundaries between disciplines and generate new ways of thinking and integrated solutions. AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH In 2022, academics from the Science Schools within the Faculty of Science, Medicine Health at the University of Wollongong (UOW) partnered with undergraduate students, industry professionals and academics across other faculties to design and deliver a one-day interdisciplinary education event. This extracurricular activity brought together over thirty, mostly third year, undergraduate students across science, law, environmental engineering, public health, and geography and sustainable communities to tackle the issue of microplastics, and their impact on environmental and human health. The students were allocated to teams and provided a schema to identify one critical source or pathway of microplastics waste and to explore solutions to reduce its impact. Students used the strengths of their varying disciplines and considered the role of individuals, local government, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), industry and/or corporations when developing a solution through a one-slide infographic/poster and three-minute pitch. IMPACTS ON STUDENT DEVELOPMENT Our initiative was purposefully aimed at third-year students to provide further work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities pre-graduation and to focus on developing skills that may have been impacted during the pandemic and the move to online activities. Student feedback was very positive and highlighted key learnings about the benefits of networking, students putting themselves back out there socially and professionally, alongside combining expertise and developing creativity. Students enjoyed the topic area and gaining experience and confidence in presenting their ideas to others. At the same time student attendees, and our student partners gained recognition of their extracurricular involvement through a UOWx certification, noting key employability skills developed through their involvement. Students were also invited to a field trip to sample microplastics at a local beach in partnership with the Australian Microplastics Assessment Project (AUSMAP). The ongoing challenge is to work towards embedding such opportunities within curricula which involves navigating complex university governance structures, internal funding and staff models, course constraints and timetabling. The presenters welcome discussion

Artificial Intelligence for Computer-Assisted Diagnosis of Hyperplasia in Atlantic Salmon Gill Histology Images

Measuring hyperplasia in Atlantic salmon gills can provide valuable insights into fish health. In this study, we propose an innovative technique for classifying histology images to identify regions of hyperplasia. Our pipeline utilises novel signal processing techniques in conjunction with prototypical deep learning methods to analyse image texture. We hypothesise and demonstrate that our method effectively captures distinct features of gill histopathology whole-slide images, thereby enhancing the classification task. Compared to conventional deep learning methods, our hybrid approach exhibits exceptional performance in speed and accuracy. When further developed, the concept can support conventional histopathological assessment by providing a computer-assisted hyperplasia score as an objective quantitative histopathological endpoint. The workflow is translatable to other gill conditions and histopathology images beyond gills

Moss species on the move in East Antarctic terrestrial communities

Antarctica has experienced major changes in temperature, wind speed and stratospheric ozone levels over the last 50 years. Whilst West Antarctica and the peninsula showed rapid warming and associated ecosystem change, East Antarctica appeared to be little impacted by climate warming, thus biological changes were predicted to be relatively slow. Detecting the biological effects of Antarctic climate change has also been hindered by the paucity of long-term data sets, particularly for organisms that have been exposed to these changes throughout their lives. We monitored vegetation communities in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica from 2000 to 2014 and found significant changes in moss species composition. In addition, we have shown that radiocarbon signals preserved along shoots of the dominant Antarctic moss flora can be used to determine accurate growth rates over a period of several decades, allowing us to explore the influence of environmental variables on growth. Carbon stable isotopic measurements suggest that the observed effects of climate variation on growth are mediated through changes in water availability and most likely linked to the more positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode and changing westerly wind patterns. For cold remote locations like Antarctica, where climate records are limited and of relatively short duration, this illustrates that mosses can act as microclimate proxies and have the potential to increase our knowledge of coastal Antarctic climate change

The anxiety and ethanol intake controlling GAL5.1 enhancer is epigenetically modulated by, and controls preference for, high-fat diet

Excess maternal fat intake and obesity increase offspring susceptibility to conditions such as chronic anxiety and substance abuse. We hypothesised that environmentally modulated DNA methylation changes (5mC/5hmC) in regulatory regions of the genome that modulate mood and consumptive behaviours could contribute to susceptibility to these conditions. We explored the effects of environmental factors on 5mC/5hmC levels within the GAL5.1 enhancer that controls anxiety-related behaviours and alcohol intake. We first observed that 5mC/5hmC levels within the GAL5.1 enhancer differed significantly in different parts of the brain. Moreover, we noted that early life stress had no significant effect of 5mC/5hmC levels within GAL5.1. In contrast, we identified that allowing access of pregnant mothers to high-fat diet (> 60% calories from fat) had a significant effect on 5mC/5hmC levels within GAL5.1 in hypothalamus and amygdala of resulting male offspring. Cell transfection-based studies using GAL5.1 reporter plasmids showed that 5mC has a significant repressive effect on GAL5.1 activity and its response to known stimuli, such as EGR1 transcription factor expression and PKC agonism. Intriguingly, CRISPR-driven disruption of GAL5.1 from the mouse genome, although having negligible effects on metabolism or general appetite, significantly decreased intake of high-fat diet suggesting that GAL5.1, in addition to being epigenetically modulated by high-fat diet, also actively contributes to the consumption of high-fat diet suggesting its involvement in an environmentally influenced regulatory loop. Furthermore, considering that GAL5.1 also controls alcohol preference and anxiety these studies may provide a first glimpse into an epigenetically controlled mechanism that links maternal high-fat diet with transgenerational susceptibility to alcohol abuse and anxiety

Editorial: Revisiting the limits of plant life - plant adaptations to extreme terrestrial environments relating to astrobiology and space biology

Plants were essential to the early evolution of terrestrial life and colonization of the young Earth (Kapoor et al., 2023). Plant communities continue to colonize and transform our planet including the newest ecosystems formed post-glaciation, restoring those degraded by human activities and adapting to changing ecological conditions (Huston and Smith, 1987; Chapin et al., 1994; Yuan et al., 2020; Heim et al., 2021). Plants cannot move away from a harmful stimulus, and thus, have evolved remarkable strategies to survive and eventually thrive in harsh environments. Today, humanity is on the verge of exploring our solar system and beyond, eager to discover, answer fundamental questions, and search for extraterrestrial forms of life. Undoubtedly, plants are key organisms to successful deep space missions and independence from the provision of terrestrial resources, whether for long duration interplanetary travel or establishing permanent settlements. With this thought in mind, we have collated articles focusing on terrestrial plants from extreme environments and their adaptations to harsh conditions. This collective knowledge will advance the selection of desired plant characteristics relevant to human space mission

CRISPR disruption and UK Biobank analysis of a highly conserved polymorphic enhancer suggests a role in male anxiety and alcohol intake.

Excessive alcohol intake is associated with 5.9% of global deaths. However, this figure is especially acute in men such that 7.6% of deaths can be attributed to alcohol intake. Previous studies identified a significant interaction between genotypes of the galanin (GAL) gene with anxiety and alcohol abuse in different male populations but were unable to define a mechanism. To address these issues the current study analysed the human UK Biobank cohort and identified a significant interaction (n = 115,865; p = 0.0007) between allelic variation (GG or CA genotypes) in the highly conserved human GAL5.1 enhancer, alcohol intake (AUDIT questionnaire scores) and anxiety in men. Critically, disruption of GAL5.1 in mice using CRISPR genome editing significantly reduced GAL expression in the amygdala and hypothalamus whilst producing a corresponding reduction in ethanol intake in KO mice. Intriguingly, we also found the evidence of reduced anxiety-like behaviour in male GAL5.1KO animals mirroring that seen in humans from our UK Biobank studies. Using bioinformatic analysis and co-transfection studies we further identified the EGR1 transcription factor, that is co-expressed with GAL in amygdala and hypothalamus, as being important in the protein kinase C (PKC) supported activity of the GG genotype of GAL5.1 but less so in the CA genotype. Our unique study uses a novel combination of human association analysis, CRISPR genome editing in mice, animal behavioural analysis and cell culture studies to identify a highly conserved regulatory mechanism linking anxiety and alcohol intake that might contribute to increased susceptibility to anxiety and alcohol abuse in men

A genome-wide linkage study of mammographic density, a risk factor for breast cancer

Abstract Introduction Mammographic breast density is a highly heritable (h2 > 0.6) and strong risk factor for breast cancer. We conducted a genome-wide linkage study to identify loci influencing mammographic breast density (MD). Methods Epidemiological data were assembled on 1,415 families from the Australia, Northern California and Ontario sites of the Breast Cancer Family Registry, and additional families recruited in Australia and Ontario. Families consisted of sister pairs with age-matched mammograms and data on factors known to influence MD. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping was performed on 3,952 individuals using the Illumina Infinium 6K linkage panel. Results Using a variance components method, genome-wide linkage analysis was performed using quantitative traits obtained by adjusting MD measurements for known covariates. Our primary trait was formed by fitting a linear model to the square root of the percentage of the breast area that was dense (PMD), adjusting for age at mammogram, number of live births, menopausal status, weight, height, weight squared, and menopausal hormone therapy. The maximum logarithm of odds (LOD) score from the genome-wide scan was on chromosome 7p14.1-p13 (LOD = 2.69; 63.5 cM) for covariate-adjusted PMD, with a 1-LOD interval spanning 8.6 cM. A similar signal was seen for the covariate adjusted area of the breast that was dense (DA) phenotype. Simulations showed that the complete sample had adequate power to detect LOD scores of 3 or 3.5 for a locus accounting for 20% of phenotypic variance. A modest peak initially seen on chromosome 7q32.3-q34 increased in strength when only the 513 families with at least two sisters below 50 years of age were included in the analysis (LOD 3.2; 140.7 cM, 1-LOD interval spanning 9.6 cM). In a subgroup analysis, we also found a LOD score of 3.3 for DA phenotype on chromosome 12.11.22-q13.11 (60.8 cM, 1-LOD interval spanning 9.3 cM), overlapping a region identified in a previous study. Conclusions The suggestive peaks and the larger linkage signal seen in the subset of pedigrees with younger participants highlight regions of interest for further study to identify genes that determine MD, with the goal of understanding mammographic density and its involvement in susceptibility to breast cancer