Age-dependent effects of moderate differences in environmental predictability forecasted by climate change, experimental evidence from a short-lived lizard (Zootoca vivipara)

Whether and how differences in environmental predictability affect life-history traits is controversial and may depend on mean environmental conditions. Solid evidence for effects of environmental predictability are lacking and thus, the consequences of the currently observed and forecasted climate-change induced reduction of precipitation predictability are largely unknown. Here we experimentally tested whether and how changes in the predictability of precipitation affect growth, reproduction, and survival of common lizard Zootoca vivipara. Precipitation predictability affected all three age classes. While adults were able to compensate the treatment effects, yearlings and juvenile females were not able to compensate negative effects of less predictable precipitation on growth and body condition, respectively. Differences among the age-classes’ response reflect differences (among age-classes) in the sensitivity to environmental predictability. Moreover, effects of environmental predictability depended on mean environmental conditions. This indicates that integrating differences in environmental sensitivity, and changes in averages and the predictability of climatic variables will be key to understand whether species are able to cope with the current climatic change

Three-dimensional mapping of ultrasound-derived skeletal muscle shear wave velocity

Introduction: The mechanical properties of skeletal muscle are indicative of its capacity to perform physical work, state of disease, or risk of injury. Ultrasound shear wave elastography conducts a quantitative analysis of a tissue's shear stiffness, but current implementations only provide two-dimensional measurements with limited spatial extent. We propose and assess a framework to overcome this inherent limitation by acquiring numerous and contiguous measurements while tracking the probe position to create a volumetric scan of the muscle. This volume reconstruction is then mapped into a parameterized representation in reference to geometric and anatomical properties of the muscle. Such an approach allows to quantify regional differences in muscle stiffness to be identified across the entire muscle volume assessed, which could be linked to functional implications. Methods: We performed shear wave elastography measurements on the vastus lateralis (VL) and the biceps femoris long head (BFlh) muscle of 16 healthy volunteers. We assessed test-retest reliability, explored the potential of the proposed framework in aggregating measurements of multiple subjects, and studied the acute effects of muscular contraction on the regional shear wave velocity post-measured at rest. Results: The proposed approach yielded moderate to good reliability (ICC between 0.578 and 0.801). Aggregation of multiple subject measurements revealed considerable but consistent regional variations in shear wave velocity. As a result of muscle contraction, the shear wave velocity was elevated in various regions of the muscle; showing pre-to-post regional differences for the radial assessement of VL and longitudinally for BFlh. Post-contraction shear wave velocity was associated with maximum eccentric hamstring strength produced during six Nordic hamstring exercise repetitions. Discussion and Conclusion: The presented approach provides reliable, spatially resolved representations of skeletal muscle shear wave velocity and is capable of detecting changes in three-dimensional shear wave velocity patterns, such as those induced by muscle contraction. The observed systematic inter-subject variations in shear wave velocity throughout skeletal muscle additionally underline the necessity of accurate spatial referencing of measurements. Short high-effort exercise bouts increase muscle shear wave velocity. Further studies should investigate the potential of shear wave elastography in predicting the muscle's capacity to perform work

Fine mapping of the 9q31 Hirschsprung’s disease locus

Hirschsprung’s disease (HSCR) is a congenital disorder characterised by the absence of ganglia along variable lengths of the intestine. The RET gene is the major HSCR gene. Reduced penetrance of RET mutations and phenotypic variability suggest the involvement of additional modifying genes in the disease. A RET-dependent modifier locus was mapped to 9q31 in families bearing no coding sequence (CDS) RET mutations. Yet, the 9q31 causative locus is to be identified. To fine-map the 9q31 region, we genotyped 301 tag-SNPs spanning 7 Mb on 137 HSCR Dutch trios. This revealed two HSCR-associated regions that were further investigated in 173 Chinese HSCR patients and 436 controls using the genotype data obtained from a genome-wide association study recently conducted. Within one of the two identified regions SVEP1 SNPs were found associated with Dutch HSCR patients in the absence of RET mutations. This ratifies the reported linkage to the 9q31 region in HSCR families with no RET CDS mutations. However, this finding could not be replicated. In Chinese, HSCR was found associated with IKBKAP. In contrast, this association was stronger in patients carrying RET CDS mutations with p = 5.10 × 10−6 [OR = 3.32 (1.99, 5.59)] after replication. The HSCR-association found for IKBKAP in Chinese suggests population specificity and implies that RET mutation carriers may have an additional risk. Our finding is supported by the role of IKBKAP in the development of the nervous system

Environmental and Parental Influences on Offspring Health and Growth in Great Tits (Parus major)

PMCID: PMC3728352This 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

A Novel Adaptive Method for the Analysis of Next-Generation Sequencing Data to Detect Complex Trait Associations with Rare Variants Due to Gene Main Effects and Interactions

There is solid evidence that rare variants contribute to complex disease etiology. Next-generation sequencing technologies make it possible to uncover rare variants within candidate genes, exomes, and genomes. Working in a novel framework, the kernel-based adaptive cluster (KBAC) was developed to perform powerful gene/locus based rare variant association testing. The KBAC combines variant classification and association testing in a coherent framework. Covariates can also be incorporated in the analysis to control for potential confounders including age, sex, and population substructure. To evaluate the power of KBAC: 1) variant data was simulated using rigorous population genetic models for both Europeans and Africans, with parameters estimated from sequence data, and 2) phenotypes were generated using models motivated by complex diseases including breast cancer and Hirschsprung's disease. It is demonstrated that the KBAC has superior power compared to other rare variant analysis methods, such as the combined multivariate and collapsing and weight sum statistic. In the presence of variant misclassification and gene interaction, association testing using KBAC is particularly advantageous. The KBAC method was also applied to test for associations, using sequence data from the Dallas Heart Study, between energy metabolism traits and rare variants in ANGPTL 3,4,5 and 6 genes. A number of novel associations were identified, including the associations of high density lipoprotein and very low density lipoprotein with ANGPTL4. The KBAC method is implemented in a user-friendly R package

Do Fleas Affect Energy Expenditure of Their Free-Living Hosts?

Parasites can cause energetically costly behavioural and immunological responses which potentially can reduce host fitness. However, although most laboratory studies indicate that the metabolic rate of the host increases with parasite infestation, this has never been shown in free-living host populations. In fact, studies thus far have shown no effect of parasitism on field metabolic rate (FMR).We tested the effect of parasites on the energy expenditure of a host by measuring FMR using doubly-labelled water in free-living Baluchistan gerbils (Gerbillus nanus) infested by naturally occurring fleas during winter, spring and summer. We showed for the first time that FMR of free-living G. nanus was significantly and positively correlated with parasite load in spring when parasite load was highest; this relationship approached significance in summer when parasite load was lowest but was insignificant in winter. Among seasons, winter FMRs were highest and summer FMRs were lowest in G. nanus.The lack of parasite effect on FMR in winter could be related to the fact that FMR rates were highest among seasons. In this season, thermoregulatory costs are high which may indicate that less energy could be allocated to defend against parasites or to compensate for other costly activities. The question about the cost of parasitism in nature is now one of the major themes in ecological physiology. Our study supports the hypothesis that parasites can elevate FMR of their hosts, at least under certain conditions. However, the effect is complex and factors such as season and parasite load are involved

HOXB5 Cooperates with NKX2-1 in the Transcription of Human RET

The enteric nervous system (ENS) regulates peristaltic movement of the gut, and abnormal ENS causes Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) in newborns. HSCR is a congenital complex genetic disorder characterised by a lack of enteric ganglia along a variable length of the intestine. The receptor tyrosine kinase gene (RET) is the major HSCR gene and its expression is crucial for ENS development. We have previously reported that (i) HOXB5 transcription factor mediates RET expression, and (ii) mouse with defective HOXB5 activity develop HSCR phenotype. In this study, we (i) elucidate the underlying mechanisms that HOXB5 mediate RET expression, and (ii) examine the interactions between HOXB5 and other transcription factors implicated in RET expression. We show that human HOXB5 binds to the promoter region 5′ upstream of the binding site of NKX2-1 and regulates RET expression. HOXB5 and NKX2-1 form a protein complex and mediate RET expression in a synergistic manner. HSCR associated SNPs at the NKX2-1 binding site (-5G>A rs10900296; -1A>C rs10900297), which reduce NKX2-1 binding, abolish the synergistic trans-activation of RET by HOXB5 and NKX2-1. In contrast to the synergistic activation of RET with NKX2-1, HOXB5 cooperates in an additive manner with SOX10, PAX3 and PHOX2B in trans-activation of RET promoter. Taken together, our data suggests that HOXB5 in coordination with other transcription factors mediates RET expression. Therefore, defects in cis- or trans-regulation of RET by HOXB5 could lead to reduction of RET expression and contribute to the manifestation of the HSCR phenotype

Cloacal Bacterial Diversity Increases with Multiple Mates: Evidence of Sexual Transmission in Female Common Lizards

Sexually transmitted diseases have often been suggested as a potential cost of multiple mating and as playing a major role in the evolution of mating systems. Yet there is little empirical data relating mating strategies to sexually transmitted microorganisms in wild populations. We investigated whether mating behaviour influences the diversity and composition of cloacal assemblages by comparing bacterial communities in the cloaca of monandrous and polyandrous female common lizards Zootoca vivipara sampled after the mating period. We found that polyandrous females harboured more diverse communities and differed more in community composition than did monandrous females. Furthermore, cloacal diversity and variability were found to decrease with age in polyandrous females. Our results suggest that the higher bacterial diversity found in polyandrous females is due to the sexual transmission of bacteria by multiple mates. The impact of mating behaviour on the cloacal microbiota may have fitness consequences for females and may comprise a selective pressure shaping the evolution of mating systems

Equal opportunities: Do shareable interfaces promote more group participation than single users displays?

Computers designed for single use are often appropriated suboptimally when used by small colocated groups working together. Our research investigates whether shareable interfaces–that are designed for more than one user to inter-act with–can facilitate more equitable participation in colocated group settings compared with single user displays. We present a conceptual framework that characterizes Shared Information Spaces (SISs) in terms of how they constrain and invite participation using different entry points. An experiment was conducted that compared three different SISs: a physical-digital set-up (least constrained), a multitouch tabletop (medium), and a laptop display (most constrained). Statistical analyses showed there to be little difference in participation levels between the three conditions other than a predictable lack of equity of control over the interface in the laptop condition. However, detailed qualitative analyses revealed more equitable participation took place in the physical-digital condition in terms of verbal utterances over time. Those who spoke the least contributed most to the physical design task. The findings are discussed in relation to the conceptual framework and, more generally, in terms of how to select, design, and combine different display technologies to support collaborative activities

Antioxidant Defenses Predict Long-Term Survival in a Passerine Bird

Normal and pathological processes entail the production of oxidative substances that can damage biological molecules and harm physiological functions. Organisms have evolved complex mechanisms of antioxidant defense, and any imbalance between oxidative challenge and antioxidant protection can depress fitness components and accelerate senescence. While the role of oxidative stress in pathogenesis and aging has been studied intensively in humans and model animal species under laboratory conditions, there is a dearth of knowledge on its role in shaping life-histories of animals under natural selection regimes. Yet, given the pervasive nature and likely fitness consequences of oxidative damage, it can be expected that the need to secure efficient antioxidant protection is powerful in molding the evolutionary ecology of animals. Here, we test whether overall antioxidant defense varies with age and predicts long-term survival, using a wild population of a migratory passerine bird, the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), as a model.Plasma antioxidant capacity (AOC) of breeding individuals was measured using standard protocols and annual survival was monitored over five years (2006-2010) on a large sample of selection episodes. AOC did not covary with age in longitudinal analyses after discounting the effect of selection. AOC positively predicted annual survival independently of sex. Individuals were highly consistent in their relative levels of AOC, implying the existence of additive genetic variance and/or environmental (including early maternal) components consistently acting through their lives.Using longitudinal data we showed that high levels of antioxidant protection positively predict long-term survival in a wild animal population. Present results are therefore novel in disclosing a role for antioxidant protection in determining survival under natural conditions, strongly demanding for more longitudinal eco-physiological studies of life-histories in relation to oxidative stress in wild populations