scholarly journals Robust manipulation of the behavior of Drosophila melanogaster by a fungal pathogen in the laboratory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Elya ◽  
Tin Ching Lok ◽  
Quinn E. Spencer ◽  
Hayley McCausland ◽  
Ciera C. Martinez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogen ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Model System ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Rapid Progress ◽  
Entomophthora Muscae ◽  
Animal Hosts ◽  
Mechanistic Basis ◽  
Molecular Manipulation ◽  
New System

AbstractMany microbes induce striking behavioral changes in their animal hosts, but how they achieve this is poorly understood, especially at the molecular level. Mechanistic understanding has been largely constrained by the lack of a model system with advanced tools for molecular manipulation. We recently discovered a strain of the behavior-manipulating fungal pathogen Entomophthora muscae infecting wild Drosophila, and established methods to infect D. melanogaster in the lab. Lab-infected flies manifest the moribund behaviors characteristic of E. muscae infection: hours before death, they climb upward, extend their proboscides and affix in place, then raise their wings, clearing a path for infectious spores to launch from their abdomens. We found that E. muscae invades the fly nervous system, suggesting a direct means by which the fungus could induce behavioral changes. Given the vast molecular toolkit available for D. melanogaster, we believe this new system will enable rapid progress in understanding the mechanistic basis of E. muscae’s behavioral manipulation in the fly.

scholarly journals Robust manipulation of the behavior of Drosophila melanogaster by a fungal pathogen in the laboratory

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Elya ◽  
Tin Ching Lok ◽  
Quinn E Spencer ◽  
Hayley McCausland ◽  
Ciera C Martinez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogen ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Experimental System ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Rapid Progress ◽  
Entomophthora Muscae ◽  
Host Behavior ◽  
Animal Hosts ◽  
Molecular Manipulation ◽  
New System

Many microbes induce striking behavioral changes in their animal hosts, but how they achieve this is poorly understood, especially at the molecular level. Mechanistic understanding has been largely constrained by the lack of an experimental system amenable to molecular manipulation. We recently discovered a strain of the behavior-manipulating fungal pathogen Entomophthora muscae infecting wild Drosophila, and established methods to infect D. melanogaster in the lab. Lab-infected flies manifest the moribund behaviors characteristic of E. muscae infection: hours before death, they climb upward, extend their proboscides, affixing in place, then raise their wings, clearing a path for infectious spores to launch from their abdomens. We found that E. muscae invades the nervous system, suggesting a direct means by which the fungus could induce behavioral changes. Given the vast molecular toolkit available for D. melanogaster, we believe this new system will enable rapid progress in understanding how E. muscae manipulates host behavior.

scholarly journals 2020 Jeffrey M. Hoeg Award Lecture

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Aikawa ◽  
Mark C. Blaser
Keyword(s):  
Heart Valves ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Clinical Problem ◽  
Network Medicine ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ectopic Tissue ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Approaches To Study ◽  
Vascular Beds ◽  
Mechanistic Basis

Cardiovascular calcification is an insidious form of ectopic tissue mineralization that presents as a frequent comorbidity of atherosclerosis, aortic valve stenosis, diabetes, renal failure, and chronic inflammation. Calcification of the vasculature and heart valves contributes to mortality in these diseases. An inability to clinically image or detect early microcalcification coupled with an utter lack of pharmaceutical therapies capable of inhibiting or regressing entrenched and detectable macrocalcification has led to a prominent and deadly gap in care for a growing portion of our rapidly aging population. Recognition of this mounting concern has arisen over the past decade and led to a series of revolutionary works that has begun to pull back the curtain on the pathogenesis, mechanistic basis, and causative drivers of cardiovascular calcification. Central to this progress is the discovery that calcifying extracellular vesicles act as active precursors of cardiovascular microcalcification in diverse vascular beds. More recently, the omics revolution has resulted in the collection and quantification of vast amounts of molecular-level data. As the field has become poised to leverage these resources for drug discovery, new means of deriving relevant biological insights from these rich and complex datasets have come into focus through the careful application of systems biology and network medicine approaches. As we look onward toward the next decade, we envision a growing need to standardize approaches to study this complex and multifaceted clinical problem and expect that a push to translate mechanistic findings into therapeutics will begin to finally provide relief for those impacted by this disease.

scholarly journals Optimizing a 3D model system for molecular manipulation of tenogenesis

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Chien ◽  
Brian Pryce ◽  
Sara F. Tufa ◽  
Douglas R. Keene ◽  
Alice H. Huang
Keyword(s):  
3D Model ◽  
Model System ◽  
Molecular Manipulation

scholarly journals Adsorption mechanism and valency of catechol-functionalized hyperbranched polyglycerols

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 828-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Krysiak ◽  
Qiang Wei ◽  
Klaus Rischka ◽  
Andreas Hartwig ◽  
Rainer Haag ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adsorption Mechanism ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Model System ◽  
Surface Coatings ◽  
Adhesive Bonds ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
End Groups ◽  
Catechol Group

Nature often serves as a model system for developing new adhesives. In aqueous environments, mussel-inspired adhesives are promising candidates. Understanding the mechanism of the extraordinarily strong adhesive bonds of the catechol group will likely aid in the development of adhesives. With this aim, we study the adhesion of catechol-based adhesives to metal oxides on the molecular level using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The comparison of single catechols (dopamine) with multiple catechols on hyperbranched polyglycerols (hPG) at various pH and dwell times allowed us to further increase our understanding. In particular, we were able to elucidate how to achieve strong bonds of different valency. It was concluded that hyperbranched polyglycerols with added catechol end groups are promising candidates for durable surface coatings.

Organic Cocrystal Photovoltaic Behavior: A Model System to Study Charge Recombination of C60and C70at the Molecular Level

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 1500423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hantang Zhang ◽  
Lang Jiang ◽  
Yonggang Zhen ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Guangchao Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Level ◽  
Model System ◽  
Charge Recombination ◽  
Photovoltaic Behavior

Behavioral changes in aging Aplysia: A model system for studying the cellular basis of age-impaired learning, memory, and arousal

1983 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig H. Bailey ◽  
Vincent F. Castellucci ◽  
John Koester ◽  
Mary Chen
Keyword(s):  
Model System ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Cellular Basis

scholarly journals Molecular Manipulation of the miR399/PHO2 Expression Module Alters the Salt Stress Response of Arabidopsis thaliana

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Pegler ◽  
Jackson M.J. Oultram ◽  
Christopher P.L. Grof ◽  
Andrew L Eamens
Keyword(s):  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Salt Stress ◽  
Target Gene ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Salt Stress Response ◽  
Molecular Modification ◽  
Molecular Manipulation ◽  
Expression Module

In Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), the microRNA399 (miR399)/PHOSPHATE2 (PHO2) expression module is central to the response of Arabidopsis to phosphate (PO4) stress. In addition, miR399 has been demonstrated to also alter in abundance in response to salt stress. We therefore used a molecular modification approach to alter miR399 abundance to investigate the requirement of altered miR399 abundance in Arabidopsis in response to salt stress. The generated transformant lines, MIM399 and MIR399 plants, with reduced and elevated miR399 abundance respectively, displayed differences in their phenotypic and physiological response to those of wild-type Arabidopsis (Col-0) plants following exposure to a 7-day period of salt stress. However, at the molecular level, elevated miR399 abundance, and therefore, altered PHO2 target gene expression in salt-stressed Col-0, MIM399 and MIR399 plants, resulted in significant changes to the expression level of the two PO4 transporter genes, PHOSPHATE TRANSPORTER1;4 (PHT1;4) and PHT1;9. Elevated PHT1;4 and PHT1;9 PO4 transporter levels in salt stressed Arabidopsis would enhance PO4 translocation from the root to the shoot tissue which would supply additional levels of this precious cellular resource that could be utilized by the aerial tissues of salt stressed Arabidopsis to either maintain essential biological processes or to mount an adaptive response to salt stress.

scholarly journals Entomophthovirus: An insect-derived iflavirus that infects a behavior manipulating fungal pathogen of dipterans

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell C. Coyle ◽  
Carolyn N. Elya ◽  
Michael Bronski ◽  
Michael B. Eisen
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogen ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Delia Radicum ◽  
Sequencing Data ◽  
Entomophthora Muscae ◽  
Positive Strand Rna Virus ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
Positive Strand Rna

AbstractWe discovered a virus infecting Entomophthora muscae, a behavior-manipulating fungal pathogen of dipterans. The virus, which we name Entomophthovirus, is a capsid-forming, positive-strand RNA virus in the viral family iflaviridae, whose known members almost exclusively infect insects. We show that the virus RNA is expressed at high levels in fungal cells in vitro and during in vivo infections of Drosophila melanogaster, and that virus particles are present in E. muscae. Two close relatives of the virus had been previously described as insect viruses based on the presence of viral genomes in transcriptomes assembled from RNA extracted from wild dipterans. By analyzing sequencing data from these earlier reports, we show that both dipteran samples were co-infected with E. muscae. We also find the virus in RNA sequencing data from samples of two other species of dipterans, Musca domestica and Delia radicum, known to be infected with E. muscae. These data establish that Entomophthovirus is widely, and seemingly obligately, associated with E. muscae. As other members of the iflaviridae cause behavioral changes in insects, we speculate on the possibility that Entomophthovirus plays a role in E. muscae involved host manipulation.

scholarly journals Understanding the Molecular-Level Interactions of Glucosamine-Glycerol Assemblies: A Model System for Chitosan Plasticization

ACS Omega ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle R. Smith ◽  
Austin P. Escobar ◽  
Melissa N. Andris ◽  
Brycelyn M. Boardman ◽  
Gretchen M. Peters
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Level ◽  
Model System

Deciphering the Parts List for the Mechanical Plant

Daedalus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-97
Author(s):  
Chris Somerville
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Plant Genome ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Rapid Progress ◽  
Genome Sequences ◽  
Sequencing Technologies ◽  
Mechanistic Basis ◽  
Mechanical Plant

The development of inexpensive DNA sequencing technologies has revolutionized all aspects of biological research. The proliferation of plant genome sequences, in conjunction with the parallel development of robust tools for directed genetic manipulation, has given momentum and credibility to the goal of understanding several model plants as the sum of their parts. A broad inventory of the functions and interrelationships of the parts is currently under way, and the first steps toward computer models of processes have emerged. These approaches also provide a framework for the mechanistic basis of plant diversity. It is hoped that rapid progress in this endeavor will facilitate timely responses to expanding demand for food, feed, fiber, fuel, and ecosystem services in a period of climate change.

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