Annual variation in the levels of transcripts of sex-specific genes in the mantle of the common mussel, Mytilus edulis

Mytilus species are used as sentinels for the assessment of environmental health but sex or stage in the reproduction cycle is rarely considered even though both parameters are likely to influence responses to pollution. We have validated the use of a qPCR assay for sex identification and related the levels of transcripts to the reproductive cycle. A temporal study of mantle of Mytilus edulis found transcripts of male-specific vitelline coat lysin (VCL) and female-specific vitelline envelope receptor for lysin (VERL) could identify sex over a complete year. The levels of VCL/VERL were proportional to the numbers of sperm/ova and are indicative of the stage of the reproductive cycle. Maximal levels of VCL and VERL were found in February 2009 declining to minima between July - August before increasing and re-attaining a peak in February 2010. Water temperature may influence these transitions since they coincide with minimal water temperature in February and maximal temperature in August. An identical pattern of variation was found for a cryptic female-specific transcript (H5) but a very different pattern was observed for oestrogen receptor 2 (ER2). ER2 varied in a sex-specific way with male > female for most of the cycle, with a female maxima in July and a male maxima in December. Using artificially spawned animals, the transcripts for VCL, VERL and H5 were shown to be present in gametes and thus their disappearance from mantle is indicative of spawning. VCL and VERL are present at equivalent levels in February and July-August but during gametogenesis (August to January) and spawning (March to June) VCL is present at lower relative amounts than VERL. This may indicate sex-specific control mechanisms for these processes and highlight a potential pressure point leading to reduced reproductive output if environmental factors cause asynchrony to gamete maturation or release

The "Ram Effect": A "Non-Classical" Mechanism for Inducing LH Surges in Sheep

During spring sheep do not normally ovulate but exposure to a ram can induce ovulation. In some ewes an LH surge is induced immediately after exposure to a ram thus raising questions about the control of this precocious LH surge. Our first aim was to determine the plasma concentrations of oestradiol (E2) E2 in anoestrous ewes before and after the "ram effect" in ewes that had a "precocious" LH surge (starting within 6 hours), a "normal" surge (between 6 and 28h) and "late» surge (not detected by 56h). In another experiment we tested if a small increase in circulating E2 could induce an LH surge in anoestrus ewes. The concentration of E2 significantly was not different at the time of ram introduction among ewes with the three types of LH surge. "Precocious" LH surges were not preceded by a large increase in E2 unlike "normal" surges and small elevations of circulating E2 alone were unable to induce LH surges. These results show that the "precocious" LH surge was not the result of E2 positive feedback. Our second aim was to test if noradrenaline (NA) is involved in the LH response to the "ram effect". Using double labelling for Fos and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) we showed that exposure of anoestrous ewes to a ram induced a higher density of cells positive for both in the A1 nucleus and the Locus Coeruleus complex compared to unstimulated controls. Finally, the administration by retrodialysis into the preoptic area, of NA increased the proportion of ewes with an LH response to ram odor whereas treatment with the α1 antagonist Prazosin decreased the LH pulse frequency and amplitude induced by a sexually active ram. Collectively these results suggest that in anoestrous ewes NA is involved in ram-induced LH secretion as observed in other induced ovulators

Evidence for the association of the SLC22A4 and SLC22A5 genes with Type 1 Diabetes: a case control study

BACKGROUND: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic, autoimmune and multifactorial disease characterized by abnormal metabolism of carbohydrate and fat. Diminished carnitine plasma levels have been previously reported in T1D patients and carnitine increases the sensitivity of the cells to insulin. Polymorphisms in the carnitine transporters, encoded by the SLC22A4 and SLC22A5 genes, have been involved in susceptibility to two other autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. For these reasons, we investigated for the first time the association with T1D of six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mapping to these candidate genes: slc2F2, slc2F11, T306I, L503F, OCTN2-promoter and OCTN2-intron. METHODS: A case-control study was performed in the Spanish population with 295 T1D patients and 508 healthy control subjects. Maximum-likelihood haplotype frequencies were estimated by applying the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm implemented by the Arlequin software. RESULTS: When independently analyzed, one of the tested polymorphisms in the SLC22A4 gene at 1672 showed significant association with T1D in our Spanish cohort. The overall comparison of the inferred haplotypes was significantly different between patients and controls (χ(2 )= 10.43; p = 0.034) with one of the haplotypes showing a protective effect for T1D (rs3792876/rs1050152/rs2631367/rs274559, CCGA: OR = 0.62 (0.41–0.93); p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The haplotype distribution in the carnitine transporter locus seems to be significantly different between T1D patients and controls; however, additional studies in independent populations would allow to confirm the role of these genes in T1D risk

The flipflop orphan genes are required for limb bud eversion in the Tribolium embryo

Abstract Background Unlike Drosophila but similar to other arthropod and vertebrate embryos, the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum develops everted limb buds during embryogenesis. However, the molecular processes directing the evagination of epithelia are only poorly understood. Results Here we show that the newly discovered genes Tc-flipflop1 and Tc-flipflop2 are involved in regulating the directional budding of appendages. RNAi-knockdown of Tc-flipflop results in a variety of phenotypic traits. Most prominently, embryonic limb buds frequently grow inwards rather than out, leading to the development of inverted appendages inside the larval body. Moreover, affected embryos display dorsal closure defects. The Tc-flipflop genes are evolutionarily non-conserved, and their molecular function is not evident. We further found that Tc-RhoGEF2, a highly-conserved gene known to be involved in actomyosin-dependent cell movement and cell shape changes, shows a Tc-flipflop-like RNAi-phenotype. Conclusions The similarity of the inverted appendage phenotype in both the flipflop- and the RhoGEF2 RNAi gene knockdown led us to conclude that the Tc-flipflop orphan genes act in a Rho-dependent pathway that is essential for the early morphogenesis of polarised epithelial movements. Our work describes one of the few examples of an orphan gene playing a crucial role in an important developmental process

A Profile Likelihood Analysis of the Constrained MSSM with Genetic Algorithms

The Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM) is one of the simplest and most widely-studied supersymmetric extensions to the standard model of particle physics. Nevertheless, current data do not sufficiently constrain the model parameters in a way completely independent of priors, statistical measures and scanning techniques. We present a new technique for scanning supersymmetric parameter spaces, optimised for frequentist profile likelihood analyses and based on Genetic Algorithms. We apply this technique to the CMSSM, taking into account existing collider and cosmological data in our global fit. We compare our method to the MultiNest algorithm, an efficient Bayesian technique, paying particular attention to the best-fit points and implications for particle masses at the LHC and dark matter searches. Our global best-fit point lies in the focus point region. We find many high-likelihood points in both the stau co-annihilation and focus point regions, including a previously neglected section of the co-annihilation region at large m_0. We show that there are many high-likelihood points in the CMSSM parameter space commonly missed by existing scanning techniques, especially at high masses. This has a significant influence on the derived confidence regions for parameters and observables, and can dramatically change the entire statistical inference of such scans.Comment: 47 pages, 8 figures; Fig. 8, Table 7 and more discussions added to Sec. 3.4.2 in response to referee's comments; accepted for publication in JHE

Tor1/Sch9-Regulated Carbon Source Substitution Is as Effective as Calorie Restriction in Life Span Extension

The effect of calorie restriction (CR) on life span extension, demonstrated in organisms ranging from yeast to mice, may involve the down-regulation of pathways, including Tor, Akt, and Ras. Here, we present data suggesting that yeast Tor1 and Sch9 (a homolog of the mammalian kinases Akt and S6K) is a central component of a network that controls a common set of genes implicated in a metabolic switch from the TCA cycle and respiration to glycolysis and glycerol biosynthesis. During chronological survival, mutants lacking SCH9 depleted extracellular ethanol and reduced stored lipids, but synthesized and released glycerol. Deletion of the glycerol biosynthesis genes GPD1, GPD2, or RHR2, among the most up-regulated in long-lived sch9Δ, tor1Δ, and ras2Δ mutants, was sufficient to reverse chronological life span extension in sch9Δ mutants, suggesting that glycerol production, in addition to the regulation of stress resistance systems, optimizes life span extension. Glycerol, unlike glucose or ethanol, did not adversely affect the life span extension induced by calorie restriction or starvation, suggesting that carbon source substitution may represent an alternative to calorie restriction as a strategy to delay aging

Measurement of the top quark mass using the matrix element technique in dilepton final states

We present a measurement of the top quark mass in pp¯ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The data were collected by the D0 experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.7  fb−1. The matrix element technique is applied to tt¯ events in the final state containing leptons (electrons or muons) with high transverse momenta and at least two jets. The calibration of the jet energy scale determined in the lepton+jets final state of tt¯ decays is applied to jet energies. This correction provides a substantial reduction in systematic uncertainties. We obtain a top quark mass of mt=173.93±1.84  GeV

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme gene polymorphisms predict response to lung volume reduction surgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT), marked variability in response to lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) was observed. We sought to identify genetic differences which may explain some of this variability.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 203 subjects from the NETT Genetics Ancillary Study, four outcome measures were used to define response to LVRS at six months: modified BODE index, post-bronchodilator FEV₁, maximum work achieved on a cardiopulmonary exercise test, and University of California, San Diego shortness of breath questionnaire. Sixty-four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in five genes previously shown to be associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease susceptibility, exercise capacity, or emphysema distribution.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A SNP upstream from glutathione S-transferase pi (<it>GSTP1</it>; p = 0.003) and a coding SNP in microsomal epoxide hydrolase (<it>EPHX1</it>; p = 0.02) were each associated with change in BODE score. These effects appeared to be strongest in patients in the non-upper lobe predominant, low exercise subgroup. A promoter SNP in <it>EPHX1 </it>was associated with change in BODE score (p = 0.008), with the strongest effects in patients with upper lobe predominant emphysema and low exercise capacity. One additional SNP in <it>GSTP1 </it>and three additional SNPs in <it>EPHX1 </it>were associated (p < 0.05) with additional LVRS outcomes. None of these SNP effects were seen in 166 patients randomized to medical therapy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Genetic variants in <it>GSTP1 </it>and <it>EPHX1</it>, two genes encoding xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes, were predictive of response to LVRS. These polymorphisms may identify patients most likely to benefit from LVRS.</p