scholarly journals Patterning the Drosophila embryo: A paradigm for RNA‐based developmental genetic regulation

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Lasko
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew E Jaffe ◽  
Richard E Straub ◽  
Joo Heon Shin ◽  
Ran Tao ◽  
Yuan Gao ◽  
...  

SummaryGWAS have identified 108 loci that confer risk for schizophrenia, but risk mechanisms for individual loci are largely unknown. Using developmental, genetic, and illness-based RNA sequencing expression analysis, we characterized the human brain transcriptome around these loci and found enrichment for developmentally regulated genes with novel examples of shifting isoform usage across pre- and post-natal life. We found widespread expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), including many with transcript specificity and previously unannotated sequence that were independently replicated. We leveraged this eQTL database to show that 48.1% of risk variants for schizophrenia associated with nearby expression. Within patients and controls, we implemented a novel algorithm for RNA quality adjustment, and identified 237 genes significantly associated with diagnosis that replicated in an independent case-control dataset. These genes implicated synaptic processes and were strongly regulated in early development (p < 10-20). These data offer new targets for modeling schizophrenia risk in cellular systems.


2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1496) ◽  
pp. 1569-1578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J Lowe

Progress in developmental biology, phylogenomics and palaeontology over the past five years are all making major contributions to a long-enduring problem in comparative biology: the early origins of the deuterostome phyla. Recent advances in the developmental biology of hemichordates have given a unique insight into developmental similarities between this phylum and chordates. Transcriptional and signalling gene expression patterns between the two groups during the early development of the anteroposterior and dorsoventral axes reveal close similarities, despite large morphological disparity between the body plans. These genetic networks have been proposed to play conserved roles in patterning centralized nervous systems in metazoans, yet seem to play a conserved role in patterning the diffusely organized basiepithelial nerve net of the hemichordates. Developmental genetic data are providing a unique insight into early deuterostome evolution, revealing a complexity of genetic regulation previously attributed only to vertebrates. While these data allow for key insights into the development of early deuterostomes, their utility for reconstructing ancestral morphologies is less certain, and morphological, palaeontological and molecular datasets should all be considered carefully when speculating about ancestral deuterostome features.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Baran

AbstractReductionist thinking in neuroscience is manifest in the widespread use of animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders. Broader investigations of diverse behaviors in non-model organisms and longer-term study of the mechanisms of plasticity will yield fundamental insights into the neurobiological, developmental, genetic, and environmental factors contributing to the “massively multifactorial system networks” which go awry in mental disorders.


Author(s):  
William Theurkauf

Cell division in eucaryotes depends on coordinated changes in nuclear and cytoskeletal components. In Drosophila melanogaster embryos, the first 13 nuclear divisions occur without cytokinesis. During the final four divisions, nuclei divide in a uniform monolayer at the surface of the embryo. These surface divisions are accompanied by dramatic changes in cortical actin and microtubule structure (Karr and Alberts, 1986), and inhibitor studies indicate that these changes are essential to orderly mitosis (Zalokar and Erk, 1976). Because the early embryo is syncytial, fluorescent probes introduced by microinjection are incorporated in structures associated with all of the nuclei in the blastoderm. In addition, the nuclei divide synchronously every 10 to 20 min. These characteristics make the syncytial blastoderm embryo an excellent system for the analysis of mitotic reorganization of both nuclear and cytoskeletal elements. However, the Drosophila embryo is a large cell, and resolution of cytoskeletal filaments and nuclear structure is hampered by out-of focus signal.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Kemp John ◽  
Medina-Gomez Carolina ◽  
Estrada Karol ◽  
H M Heppe Denise ◽  
M Zillikens Carola ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Mitchell ◽  
Alessandra Chesi ◽  
Shana McCormack ◽  
Diana Cousminer ◽  
Heidi Kalkwarf ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chem Int

Aflatoxins (AFTs) are toxic products of fungal metabolism, associated with serious health consequences and substantial economic losses to agriculture, livestock and poultry sectors, particularly in the developing countries. This review outlines the current information on AFTs in terms of historical background, classification, relative occurrence and co-existence with other mycotoxins in various food commodities. The phenomenon of aflatoxin (AFT) biosynthesis has been elucidated with reference to molecular basis, genetic regulation and factors affecting the AFT production. Moreover, the in vivo disposition kinetics, toxicological action and toxico-pathological consequences of AFTs have also been highlighted. Currently employed strategies for the detection and detoxification of AFTs, biomarkers of exposure assessment, potential economic impact and regulatory considerations regarding the AFTs have been emphasized.


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