scholarly journals Transposons, Genome Size, and Evolutionary Insights in Animals

2015 ◽  
Vol 147 (4) ◽  
pp. 217-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Canapa ◽  
Marco Barucca ◽  
Maria A. Biscotti ◽  
Mariko Forconi ◽  
Ettore Olmo
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Genome Size ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Environmental Stressors ◽  
Functional Parameters ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between genome size and the percentage of transposons in 161 animal species evidenced that variations in genome size are linked to the amplification or the contraction of transposable elements. The activity of transposable elements could represent a response to environmental stressors. Indeed, although with different trends in protostomes and deuterostomes, comprehensive changes in genome size were recorded in concomitance with particular periods of evolutionary history or adaptations to specific environments. During evolution, genome size and the presence of transposable elements have influenced structural and functional parameters of genomes and cells. Changes of these parameters have had an impact on morphological and functional characteristics of the organism on which natural selection directly acts. Therefore, the current situation represents a balance between insertion and amplification of transposons and the mechanisms responsible for their deletion or for decreasing their activity. Among the latter, methylation and the silencing action of small RNAs likely represent the most frequent mechanisms.

scholarly journals Eusociality in snapping shrimps is associated with larger genomes and an accumulation of transposable elements

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (24) ◽  
pp. e2025051118
Author(s):  
Solomon T. C. Chak ◽  
Stephen E. Harris ◽  
Kristin M. Hultgren ◽  
Nicholas W. Jeffery ◽  
Dustin R. Rubenstein
Keyword(s):  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Genome Size ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Repetitive Elements ◽  
Genome Architecture ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Snapping Shrimps ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Eusocial Species

Despite progress uncovering the genomic underpinnings of sociality, much less is known about how social living affects the genome. In different insect lineages, for example, eusocial species show both positive and negative associations between genome size and structure, highlighting the dynamic nature of the genome. Here, we explore the relationship between sociality and genome architecture in Synalpheus snapping shrimps that exhibit multiple origins of eusociality and extreme interspecific variation in genome size. Our goal is to determine whether eusociality leads to an accumulation of repetitive elements and an increase in genome size, presumably due to reduced effective population sizes resulting from a reproductive division of labor, or whether an initial accumulation of repetitive elements leads to larger genomes and independently promotes the evolution of eusociality through adaptive evolution. Using phylogenetically informed analyses, we find that eusocial species have larger genomes with more transposable elements (TEs) and microsatellite repeats than noneusocial species. Interestingly, different TE subclasses contribute to the accumulation in different species. Phylogenetic path analysis testing alternative causal relationships between sociality and genome architecture is most consistent with the hypothesis that TEs modulate the relationship between sociality and genome architecture. Although eusociality appears to influence TE accumulation, ancestral state reconstruction suggests moderate TE abundances in ancestral species could have fueled the initial transitions to eusociality. Ultimately, we highlight a complex and dynamic relationship between genome and social evolution, demonstrating that sociality can influence the evolution of the genome, likely through changes in demography related to patterns of reproductive skew.

Antenatal corticosteroid therapy and blood pressure at 14 years of age in preterm children

2000 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. W. DOYLE ◽  
G. W. FORD ◽  
N. M. DAVIS ◽  
C. CALLANAN
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Corticosteroid Therapy ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Antenatal Corticosteroid ◽  
Antenatal Corticosteroids ◽  
Preterm Children ◽  
Clinical Hypertension ◽  
Blood Pressures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Mercury Sphygmomanometer

Antenatal corticosteroid therapy substantially improves the survival rate of preterm infants, with few side effects. Higher blood pressure in adulthood has been described in several animal species after exposure to antenatal corticosteroids, but there are no similar reports in humans. The objective of the present study was to determine the relationship between exposure to antenatal corticosteroid therapy and blood pressure at 14 years of age. This was a cohort study of 210 preterm survivors with birthweights of < 1501 g born in the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, between 1 January 1977 and 31 March 1982. Blood pressure was measured in 177 subjects (84.3%) at 14 years of age with a standard mercury sphygmomanometer. Children exposed to antenatal corticosteroids (n = 89) had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures than those not exposed to corticosteroids (n = 88) [mean difference (95% confidence interval) (mmHg): systolic, 4.1 (0.1–8.0); diastolic, 2.8 (0.05–5.6)]. However, few had blood pressure in the hypertensive range. It is concluded that antenatal corticosteroid therapy is associated with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures in adolescence, and might lead to clinical hypertension in survivors well beyond birth.

scholarly journals Evolution and evolvability: celebrating Darwin 200

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F.Y Brookfield
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Evolutionary Change ◽  
Adaptive Mutation ◽  
Genetic Covariances ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

The concept of ‘evolvability’ is increasingly coming to dominate considerations of evolutionary change. There are, however, a number of different interpretations that have been put on the idea of evolvability, differing in the time scales over which the concept is applied. For some, evolvability characterizes the potential for future adaptive mutation and evolution. Others use evolvability to capture the nature of genetic variation as it exists in populations, particularly in terms of the genetic covariances between traits. In the latter use of the term, the applicability of the idea of evolvability as a measure of population's capacity to respond to natural selection rests on one, but not the only, view of the way in which we should envisage the process of natural selection. Perhaps the most potentially confusing aspects of the concept of evolvability are seen in the relationship between evolvability and robustness.

Genome in toto

Genome ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander E Vinogradov
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Genome Evolution ◽  
Genome Size ◽  
Cycle Duration ◽  
Noncoding Dna ◽  
Cell Cycle Duration ◽  
The Relationship

At a certain temperature, which is a compromise for temperatures at which the species are adapted, the relationship between genome size and cell cycle duration during synchronous cleavage divisions can be very strong (r = 1.00, P < 0.01) in four closely related frogs, suggesting a functional dependence.Key words: genome size, genome evolution, genome cytoecology, noncoding DNA, cell cycle duration.

scholarly journals Genome size correlates with reproductive fitness in seed beetles

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1815) ◽  
pp. 20151421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göran Arnqvist ◽  
Ahmed Sayadi ◽  
Elina Immonen ◽  
Cosima Hotzy ◽  
Daniel Rankin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Genome Size ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Reproductive Fitness ◽  
Correlated Evolution ◽  
Seed Beetles

The ultimate cause of genome size (GS) evolution in eukaryotes remains a major and unresolved puzzle in evolutionary biology. Large-scale comparative studies have failed to find consistent correlations between GS and organismal properties, resulting in the ‘ C -value paradox’. Current hypotheses for the evolution of GS are based either on the balance between mutational events and drift or on natural selection acting upon standing genetic variation in GS. It is, however, currently very difficult to evaluate the role of selection because within-species studies that relate variation in life-history traits to variation in GS are very rare. Here, we report phylogenetic comparative analyses of GS evolution in seed beetles at two distinct taxonomic scales, which combines replicated estimation of GS with experimental assays of life-history traits and reproductive fitness. GS showed rapid and bidirectional evolution across species, but did not show correlated evolution with any of several indices of the relative importance of genetic drift. Within a single species, GS varied by 4–5% across populations and showed positive correlated evolution with independent estimates of male and female reproductive fitness. Collectively, the phylogenetic pattern of GS diversification across and within species in conjunction with the pattern of correlated evolution between GS and fitness provide novel support for the tenet that natural selection plays a key role in shaping GS evolution.

The relationship between facial whorl direction and sidedness in ridden horses

2006 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 247-250
Author(s):  
H. Randle ◽  
E. Elworthy
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Artificial Selection ◽  
Competitive Ability ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Physical Ability ◽  
Facial Hair ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

The influence of Natural Selection on the evolution of the horse (Equus callabus) is minimal due to its close association with humans. Instead Artificial Selection is commonly imposed through selection for features such as a ‘breed standard’ or competitive ability. It has long been considered to be useful if indicators of characteristics such as physical ability could be identified. Kidd (1902) suggested that the hair coverings of animals were closely related to their lifestyle, whether they were active or passive. In 1973 Smith and Gong concluded that hair whorl (trichloglyph) pattern and human behaviour is linked since hair patterning is determined at the same time as the brain develops in the foetus. More recently Grandin et al. (1995), Randle (1998) and Lanier et al. (2001) linked features of facial hair whorls to behaviour and production in cattle. Hair whorl features have also been related to temperament in equines (Randle et al., 2003).

scholarly journals MicroRNA Expression Profiles Analysis in Sperm Reveals hsa-mir-191 is an Auspicious Omen of in Vitro Fertilization

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Xu ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Zhikai Wang ◽  
Jianhui Li ◽  
Zhiming Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
In Vitro Fertilization ◽  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Roc Curve ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Vitro Fertilization ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Early Human

Abstract Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding small RNAs that play important roles in many physiological processes by regulating gene expression. Previous studies have shown that the expression levels of total miRNAs increase during mouse embryonic development, and some miRNAs control the regulatory network in development progression. However, few studies have focused on the effects of miRNAs on early human embryonic development. The relationship between miRNAs and early human embryogenesis is still unknown. Results:In this study, RNA-seq data collected from sperm samples from 102 patients with a normal sperm index but treated with assisted reproductive technology (ART) were analyzed for the relationships between differentially expressed small RNAs and the fertilization rate (FR), blastocyst rate and high-quality embryo rate (HQER). The sperm samples with high hsa-mir-191 expression had a higher FR, effective embryo rate (EER) and HQER. hsa-mir-191 was used as a single indicator to predict the HQER. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve had an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.686. We also found that hsa-mir-191 expression is correlated with an abnormal sperm rate (cor = 0.29, p< 0.01). We also evaluated the relationship between hsa-mir-34c and early human embryo development in these 102 sperm samples and obtained negative results. Conclusions: These findings suggest that high hsa-mir-191-5p expression in sperm is associated with early human embryonic quality and that hsa-mir-191-5p could be used as a potential marker to screen high-quality sperm to improve the success rates of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

scholarly journals MicroRNA Expression Profiles Analysis in Sperm Reveals hsa-mir-191 is an Auspicious Omen of in Vitro Fertilization

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Xu ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Zhikai Wang ◽  
Jianhui Li ◽  
Zhiming Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
In Vitro Fertilization ◽  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Roc Curve ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Small Rna Sequencing ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Vitro Fertilization ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Early Human

Abstract Background : MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding small RNAs that play important roles in many physiological processes by regulating gene expression. Previous studies have shown that the expression levels of total miRNAs increase during mouse embryonic development, and some miRNAs control the regulatory network in development progression. However, few studies have focused on the effects of miRNAs on early human embryonic development. The relationship between miRNAs and early human embryogenesis is still unknown. Results: In this study, sperm samples from 102 patients with a normal sperm index but treated with assisted reproductive technology (ART) were collected for small RNA sequencing, and the relationships between differentially expressed small RNAs and the fertilization rate (FR), blastocyst rate and high-quality embryo rate (HQER) were analyzed. The sperm samples with high hsa-mir-191 expression had a higher FR, effective embryo rate (EER) and HQER. hsa-mir-191 was used as a single indicator to predict the HQER. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve had an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.686. We also found that hsa-mir-191 expression is correlated with an abnormal sperm rate (cor = 0.29, p < 0.01). We also evaluated the relationship between hsa-mir-34c and early human embryo development in these 102 sperm samples and obtained negative results. Conclusions: These findings suggest that high hsa-mir-191-5p expression is associated with improved early human embryonic development and that hsa-mir-191-5p could be used as a potential marker to screen high-quality sperm to improve the success rates of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

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