scholarly journals www.Malaria.tools - comparative genomic and transcriptomic database for Plasmodium species

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiao Wen Tan ◽  
Marek Mutwil

ABSTRACTMalaria is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the Plasmodium genus, which resulted in an estimated 219 million cases of malaria and 435,000 malaria-related deaths in 2017. Despite the availability of the P. falciparum genome since 2002, almost 50% of the genes remain unannotated. To remedy this paucity of functional information, we used transcriptomic data to build gene co-expression networks for two Plasmodium species (P. falciparum and P. berghei), and included genomic data of four other Plasmodium species, P. yoleii, P. knowlesi, P. vivax and P. cynomolgi, as well as two non-Plasmodium species from the Apicomplexa, Toxoplasma gondii and Theileria parva. The database is preloaded with tools that allow the identification and cross-species comparison of co-expressed gene neighborhoods, clusters, and life stage-specific expression, thus providing sophisticated tools to predict gene function. Moreover, we exemplify how the tools can be used to easily identify genes relevant for pathogenicity and various life stages of the malaria parasite. The database is freely available at www.malaria.tools.

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (D1) ◽  
pp. D768-D775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiao Wen Tan ◽  
Marek Mutwil

Abstract Malaria is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the Plasmodium genus, which resulted in an estimated 219 million cases of malaria and 435 000 malaria-related deaths in 2017. Despite the availability of the Plasmodium falciparum genome since 2002, 74% of the genes remain uncharacterized. To remedy this paucity of functional information, we used transcriptomic data to build gene co-expression networks for two Plasmodium species (P. falciparum and P. berghei), and included genomic data of four other Plasmodium species, P. yoelii, P. knowlesi, P. vivax and P. cynomolgi, as well as two non-Plasmodium species from the Apicomplexa, Toxoplasma gondii and Theileria parva. The genomic and transcriptomic data were incorporated into the resulting database, malaria.tools, which is preloaded with tools that allow the identification and cross-species comparison of co-expressed gene neighbourhoods, clusters and life stage-specific expression, thus providing sophisticated tools to predict gene function. Moreover, we exemplify how the tools can be used to easily identify genes relevant for pathogenicity and various life stages of the malaria parasite. The database is freely available at www.malaria.tools.


Author(s):  
Charlotte Scott

Beginning with an exploration of the role of the child in the cultural imagination, Chapter 1 establishes the formative and revealing ways in which societies identify themselves in relation to how they treat their children. Focusing on Shakespeare and the early modern period, Chapter 1 sets out to determine the emotional, symbolic, and political registers through which children are depicted and discussed. Attending to the different life stages and representations of the child on stage, this chapter sets out the terms of the book’s enquiry: what role do children play in Shakespeare’s plays; how do we recognize them as such—age, status, parental dynamic—and what are the effects of their presence? This chapter focuses on how the early moderns understood the child, as a symbolic figure, a life stage, a form of obligation, a profound bond, and an image of servitude.


Chemosphere ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily M. Smith ◽  
Shaogang Chu ◽  
Gordon Paterson ◽  
Chris D. Metcalfe ◽  
Joanna Y. Wilson

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. S47
Author(s):  
Louisa Cheung ◽  
Elizabeth Rico-Bautista ◽  
Gunnar Norsted ◽  
Petra Tollet-Egnell

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiran Wang ◽  
Zhihua Ou ◽  
Peiwen Ding ◽  
Chengcheng Sun ◽  
Daxi Wang ◽  
...  

Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus sinicus) might help maintain coronaviruses severely affecting human health, such as SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. It has long been suggested that bats may be more tolerant of viral infection than other mammals due to their unique immune system, but the exact mechanism remains to be fully explored. During the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple animal species were diseased by SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in the respiratory system. Herein, single-cell transcriptomic data of the lungs of a horseshoe bat, a cat, a tiger, and a pangolin were generated. The receptor distribution of twenty-eight respiratory viruses belonging to fourteen viral families were characterized for the four species. Comparison on the immune-related transcripts further revealed limited cytokine activations in bats, which might explain the reason why bats experienced only mild diseases or even no symptoms upon virus infection. Our findings might increase our understanding of the immune background of horseshoe bats and their insensitivity to virus infections.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Abraham Vargas-Vázquez ◽  
Crystian Sadiel Venegas-Barrera ◽  
Arturo Mora-Olivo ◽  
José Guadalupe Martínez-Ávalos ◽  
Eduardo Alanís-Rodríguez ◽  
...  

<p><strong>Background: </strong>The edge effect differentially affects the species in their life stages. We analyzed the environmental conditions associated with the abundance by life stage of four species of timber trees on the edge of a subdeciduous tropical forest.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Hypothesis:</strong> The edges have higher light incidence and temperature, favorable conditions for the seedlings, so it is expected that the edge will have more abundance of seedlings with respect to the forest interior.</p><p><strong>Species under study:</strong> <em>Bursera simaruba</em> (L.) Sarg.<em>, Cedrela odorata</em> L.<em>, Guazuma ulmifolia </em>Lam.<em>, Lysiloma divaricatum </em>(Jacq.) J.F. Macbr.</p><p><strong>Study site and dates:</strong> Reserva de la Biosfera "El Cielo" (Tamaulipas), Mexico. January-December 2016.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The abundance by life stages and environmental conditions were quantified within the gradient. These variables were correlated, in addition the requirements between stages were contrasted and they were associated with the identified environments.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> <em>Guazuma ulmifolia</em> showed a negative response to the edge effect, while <em>Cedrela</em> <em>odorata</em> responded positively. The environmental requirements differed between the first life stages and adults. The abundance of the seedlings was associated to conditions of higher light incidence.</p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Environmental requirements differentially affect each life stage. The abundance of seedlings increases in conditions of higher light incidence, but not in the rest of the stages, except in <em>C. odorata</em>. The loss of cover and the consequent formation of borders can lead to a reduction in the abundance of these species, with economic implications.


2021 ◽  
pp. jeb.229476
Author(s):  
Yu-Wen Chung-Davidson ◽  
Ugo Bussy ◽  
Skye D. Fissette ◽  
Anne M. Scott ◽  
Weiming Li

Pheromonal bile salts are important for sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus) to complete their life cycle. The synthesis and release of a releaser/primer pheromone 3-keto petromyzonol sulfate (3kPZS) by spermiating males have been well characterized. 3kPZS evokes sexual behaviors in ovulatory females, induces immediate 3kPZS release in spermiating males, and elicits neuroendocrine responses in prespawning adults. Another primer pheromone released by spermiating males, 3-keto allocholic acid (3kACA), antagonizes the neuroendocrine effects of 3kPZS in prespermiating males. However, the effects of 3kACA and 3kPZS on pheromone production in prespawning adults is unclear. To understand the foundation of pheromone production, we examined sea lamprey bile salt levels at different life stages. To investigate the priming effects of 3kACA and 3kPZS, we exposed prespawning adults with vehicle or synthetic 3kACA or 3kPZS. We hypothesized that endogenous bile salt levels were life-stage and sex-dependent, and differentially affected by 3kACA and 3kPZS in prespawning adults. Using ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, we found that sea lampreys contained distinct mixtures of bile salts in the liver and plasma at different life stages. Males usually contained higher amounts of bile salts than females. Petromyzonamine disulfate was the most abundant C27 bile salt and petromyzonol sulfate was the most abundant C24 bile salt. Waterborne 3kACA and 3kPZS exerted differential effects on bile salt production in the liver and gill, their circulation and clearance in the plasma, and their release into water. We conclude that bile salt levels are life-stage and sex-dependent and differentially affected by primer pheromones.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryanna K. Eisner ◽  
Jon A. Doering ◽  
Shawn C. Beitel ◽  
Steve Wiseman ◽  
Jason C. Raine ◽  
...  

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