Metabolic molecular markers of the tidal clock in the marine crustacean Eurydice pulchra

SummaryIn contrast to the well mapped molecular orchestration of circadian timekeeping in terrestrial organisms, the mechanisms that direct tidal and lunar rhythms in marine species are entirely unknown. Using a combination of biochemical and molecular approaches we have identified a series of metabolic markers of the tidal clock of the intertidal isopod Eurydice pulchra. Specifically, we show that the overoxidation of peroxiredoxin (PRX), a conserved marker of circadian timekeeping in terrestrial eukaryotes [1], follows a circatidal (approximately 12.4 hours) pattern in E. pulchra, in register with the tidal pattern of swimming. In parallel, we show that mitochondrially encoded genes are expressed with a circatidal rhythm. Together, these findings demonstrate that PRX overoxidation rhythms are not intrinsically circadian; rather they appear to resonate with the dominant metabolic cycle of an organism, regardless of its frequency. Moreover, they provide the first molecular leads for dissecting the tidal clockwork

Radical surgery versus organ preservation via short-course radiotherapy followed by transanal endoscopic microsurgery for early-stage rectal cancer (TREC): a randomised, open-label feasibility study

Background: Radical surgery via total mesorectal excision might not be the optimal first-line treatment for early-stage rectal cancer. An organ-preserving strategy with selective total mesorectal excision could reduce the adverse effects of treatment without substantially compromising oncological outcomes. We investigated the feasibility of recruiting patients to a randomised trial comparing an organ-preserving strategy with total mesorectal excision. Methods: TREC was a randomised, open-label feasibility study done at 21 tertiary referral centres in the UK. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older with rectal adenocarcinoma, staged T2 or lower, with a maximum diameter of 30 mm or less; patients with lymph node involvement or metastases were excluded. Patients were randomly allocated (1:1) by use of a computer-based randomisation service to undergo organ preservation with short-course radiotherapy followed by transanal endoscopic microsurgery after 8–10 weeks, or total mesorectal excision. Where the transanal endoscopic microsurgery specimen showed histopathological features associated with an increased risk of local recurrence, patients were considered for planned early conversion to total mesorectal excision. A non-randomised prospective registry captured patients for whom randomisation was considered inappropriate, because of a strong clinical indication for one treatment group. The primary endpoint was cumulative randomisation at 12, 18, and 24 months. Secondary outcomes evaluated safety, efficacy, and health-related quality of life assessed with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ C30 and CR29 in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN14422743. Findings: Between Feb 22, 2012, and Dec 19, 2014, 55 patients were randomly assigned at 15 sites; 27 to organ preservation and 28 to radical surgery. Cumulatively, 18 patients had been randomly assigned at 12 months, 31 at 18 months, and 39 at 24 months. No patients died within 30 days of initial treatment, but one patient randomly assigned to organ preservation died within 6 months following conversion to total mesorectal excision with anastomotic leakage. Eight (30%) of 27 patients randomly assigned to organ preservation were converted to total mesorectal excision. Serious adverse events were reported in four (15%) of 27 patients randomly assigned to organ preservation versus 11 (39%) of 28 randomly assigned to total mesorectal excision (p=0·04, χ2 test). Serious adverse events associated with organ preservation were most commonly due to rectal bleeding or pain following transanal endoscopic microsurgery (reported in three cases). Radical total mesorectal excision was associated with medical and surgical complications including anastomotic leakage (two patients), kidney injury (two patients), cardiac arrest (one patient), and pneumonia (two patients). Histopathological features that would be considered to be associated with increased risk of tumour recurrence if observed after transanal endoscopic microsurgery alone were present in 16 (59%) of 27 patients randomly assigned to organ preservation, versus 24 (86%) of 28 randomly assigned to total mesorectal excision (p=0·03, χ2 test). Eight (30%) of 27 patients assigned to organ preservation achieved a complete response to radiotherapy. Patients who were randomly assigned to organ preservation showed improvements in patient-reported bowel toxicities and quality of life and function scores in multiple items compared to those who were randomly assigned to total mesorectal excision, which were sustained over 36 months’ follow-up. The non-randomised registry comprised 61 patients who underwent organ preservation and seven who underwent radical surgery. Non-randomised patients who underwent organ preservation were older than randomised patients and more likely to have life-limiting comorbidities. Serious adverse events occurred in ten (16%) of 61 non-randomised patients who underwent organ preservation versus one (14%) of seven who underwent total mesorectal excision. 24 (39%) of 61 non-randomised patients who underwent organ preservation had high-risk histopathological features, while 25 (41%) of 61 achieved a complete response. Overall, organ preservation was achieved in 19 (70%) of 27 randomised patients and 56 (92%) of 61 non-randomised patients. Interpretation: Short-course radiotherapy followed by transanal endoscopic microsurgery achieves high levels of organ preservation, with relatively low morbidity and indications of improved quality of life. These data support the use of organ preservation for patients considered unsuitable for primary total mesorectal excision due to the short-term risks associated with this surgery, and support further evaluation of short-course radiotherapy to achieve organ preservation in patients considered fit for total mesorectal excision. Larger randomised studies, such as the ongoing STAR-TREC study, are needed to more precisely determine oncological outcomes following different organ preservation treatment schedules. Funding: Cancer Research UK

Sexual selection in seaweed flies: Genetic variation in male size and its reliability as an indicator in natural populations

Characters that are evolving in response to indirect sexual selection operating through the production either of attractive sons (the Fisher process) or of progeny with high viability (good genes), are expected to exhibit high levels of additive genetic variation. In seaweed flies (Coelopa frigida) male size is subject to both direct and indirect sexual selection, whereas female size has probably evolved in response to direct selection alone. Coefficients of additive genetic variance (CVA's) in adult size were shown to be larger in males than females. Virtually all the genetic variation is attributable to the alpha beta chromosomal inversion which is known to be associated with larval survival. Sexual selection appears to have led to differential expression of relevant loci in the two sexes, and in the focussing of this variation into a single region of the genome. Samples from 25 natural populations provided estimates of CVA's in male size. Although the CVA values suggest male size is, on average, a reliable indicator of offspring fitness, both spatial and temporal differences in CVA's were observed. We suggest that indirect sexual selection is a very inconstant force of evolution.</p

The circadian clock gene bmal1 is necessary for co-ordinated circatidal rhythms in the marine isopod Eurydice pulchra (Leach).

Circadian clocks in terrestrial animals are encoded by molecular feedback loops involving the negative regulators PERIOD, TIMELESS or CRYPTOCHROME2 and positive transcription factors CLOCK and BMAL1/CYCLE. The molecular basis of circatidal (~12.4 hour) or other lunar-mediated cycles (~15 day, ~29 day), widely expressed in coastal organisms, is unknown. Disrupting circadian clockworks does not appear to affect lunar-based rhythms in several organisms that inhabit the shoreline suggesting a molecular independence of the two cycles. Nevertheless, pharmacological inhibition of casein kinase 1 (CK1) that targets PERIOD stability in mammals and flies, affects both circadian and circatidal phenotypes in Eurydice pulchra (Ep), the speckled sea-louse. Here we show that these drug inhibitors of CK1 also affect the phosphorylation of EpCLK and EpBMAL1 and disrupt EpCLK-BMAL1-mediated transcription in Drosophila S2 cells, revealing a potential link between these two positive circadian regulators and circatidal behaviour. We therefore performed dsRNAi knockdown of Epbmal1 as well as the major negative regulator in Eurydice, Epcry2 in animals taken from the wild. Epcry2 and Epbmal1 knockdown disrupted Eurydice's circadian phenotypes of chromatophore dispersion, tim mRNA cycling and the circadian modulation of circatidal swimming, as expected. However, circatidal behaviour was particularly sensitive to Epbmal1 knockdown with consistent effects on the power, amplitude and rhythmicity of the circatidal swimming cycle. Thus, three Eurydice negative circadian regulators, EpCRY2, in addition to EpPER and EpTIM (from a previous study), do not appear to be required for the expression of robust circatidal behaviour, in contrast to the positive regulator EpBMAL1. We suggest a neurogenetic model whereby the positive circadian regulators EpBMAL1-CLK are shared between circadian and circatidal mechanisms in Eurydice but circatidal rhythms require a novel, as yet unknown negative regulator

Quantifying Elements in Arctic Grayling and Bull Trout in the South Nahanni River Watershed, Northwest Territories, Using Nonlethal Tissue Samples

<p>Monitoring of contaminants in fish generally involves lethal sampling, but public scrutiny and increased pressure on fisheries have driven the need to develop nonlethal sampling methods. We examined the ability of adipose, anal, and caudal fin tissues to serve as nonlethal surrogates for lethal muscle tissue samples in the analysis of metals (elements). First, we evaluated the use of biopsies by examining relationships between concentrations of 39 elements in low-volume dorsal muscle biopsies and high-volume muscle samples from Arctic Grayling <i>Thymallus arcticus</i> and Bull Trout <i>Salvelinus confluentus</i> collected in the South Nahanni River watershed, Northwest Territories, Canada. Low-volume dorsal biopsy samples in this study served to most closely model the concentrations of elements found in high-volume dorsal samples; caudal and anal fins were more representative of high-volume dorsal samples than were adipose fins. Regressions between high- and low-volume dorsal muscle samples were significant for 12 elements/species, with Cs, Rb, and Tl having the strongest relationships in both species. Regression analyses comparing low-volume muscle samples and fin samples revealed variation between Arctic Grayling and Bull Trout, but Co, Hg, and Tl concentrations among samples were strongly related for both species. Addition of fish length or age as a covariate did not greatly improve the predictive power of calculated regressions. For future monitoring, selection of a nonlethal sampling strategy (e.g., use of dorsal biopsy or adipose fin samples) will require consideration of the element of interest, the primary route of exposure, interaction with other elements, and the basic biology and ecology of the fish species. Ideally, nonlethal sampling tools can be further developed for the two species to promote inclusion of community partners; these tools offer sustainable, long-term approaches for monitoring sensitive fish populations in northern Canadian habitats.</p> <p>Received February 29, 2016; accepted September 9, 2016Published online December 20, 2016</p

Circadian cycles are the dominant transcriptional rhythm in the intertidal mussel Mytilus californianus

Residents in the marine intertidal, the zone where terrestrial and marine habitats converge, inhabit an environment that is subject to both the 24-h day and night daily rhythm of the terrestrial earth and also the 12.4-h ebb and flow of the tidal cycle. Here, we investigate the relative contribution of the daily and tidal cycle on the physiology of intertidal mussels, Mytilus californianus, by monitoring rhythms of gene expression in both simulated and natural tidal environments. We report that >40% of the transcriptome exhibits rhythmic gene expression, and that depending on the specific tidal conditions, between 80% and 90% of the rhythmic transcripts follow a circadian expression pattern with a period of 24 to 26 h. Consistent with the dominant effect of the circadian cycle we show that the expression of clock genes oscillates with a 24-h period. Our data indicate that the circadian 24-h cycle is the dominant driver of rhythmic gene expression in this intertidal inhabitant despite the profound environmental and physiological changes associated with aerial exposure during tidal emergence