crooked legs encodes a family of zinc finger proteins required for leg morphogenesis and ecdysone-regulated gene expression during Drosophila metamorphosis

Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (9) ◽  
pp. 1733-1745 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.P. D'Avino ◽  
C.S. Thummel

Drosophila imaginal discs undergo extensive pattern formation during larval development, resulting in each cell acquiring a specific adult fate. The final manifestation of this pattern into adult structures is dependent on pulses of the steroid hormone ecdysone during metamorphosis, which trigger disc eversion, elongation and differentiation. We have defined genetic criteria that allow us to screen for ecdysone-inducible regulatory genes that are required for this transformation from patterned disc to adult structure. We describe here the first genetic locus isolated using these criteria: crooked legs (crol). crol mutants die during pupal development with defects in adult head eversion and leg morphogenesis. The crol gene is induced by ecdysone during the onset of metamorphosis and encodes at least three protein isoforms that contain 12–18 C2H2 zinc fingers. Consistent with this sequence motif, crol mutations have stage-specific effects on ecdysone-regulated gene expression. The EcR ecdysone receptor, and the BR-C, E74 and E75 early regulatory genes, are submaximally induced in crol mutants in response to the prepupal ecdysone pulse. These changes in gene activity are consistent with the crol lethal phenotypes and provide a basis for understanding the molecular mechanisms of crol action. The genetic criteria described here provide a new direction for identifying regulators of adult tissue development during insect metamorphosis.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Shan Lin ◽  
Zhicheng Zou ◽  
Cuibing Zhou ◽  
Hancheng Zhang ◽  
Zhiming Cai

Caterpillar fungus is a well-known fungal Chinese medicine. To reveal molecular changes during early and late stages of adenosine biosynthesis, transcriptome analysis was performed with the anamorph strain of caterpillar fungus. A total of 2,764 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified (p≤0.05, |log2 Ratio| ≥ 1), of which 1,737 were up-regulated and 1,027 were down-regulated. Gene expression profiling on 4–10 d revealed a distinct shift in expression of the purine metabolism pathway. Differential expression of 17 selected DEGs which involved in purine metabolism (map00230) were validated by qPCR, and the expression trends were consistent with the RNA-Seq results. Subsequently, the predicted adenosine biosynthesis pathway combined with qPCR and gene expression data of RNA-Seq indicated that the increased adenosine accumulation is a result of down-regulation of ndk, ADK, and APRT genes combined with up-regulation of AK gene. This study will be valuable for understanding the molecular mechanisms of the adenosine biosynthesis in caterpillar fungus.


2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (14) ◽  
pp. 565-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pao-Yang Chen ◽  
Amit Ganguly ◽  
Liudmilla Rubbi ◽  
Luz D. Orozco ◽  
Marco Morselli ◽  
...  

Maternal nutrient restriction causes the development of adult onset chronic diseases in the intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) fetus. Investigations in mice have shown that either protein or calorie restriction during pregnancy leads to glucose intolerance, increased fat mass, and hypercholesterolemia in adult male offspring. Some of these phenotypes are shown to persist in successive generations. The molecular mechanisms underlying IUGR remain unclear. The placenta is a critical organ for mediating changes in the environment and the development of embryos. To shed light on molecular mechanisms that might affect placental responses to differing environments we examined placentas from mice that had been exposed to different diets. We measured gene expression and whole genome DNA methylation in both male and female placentas of mice exposed to either caloric restriction or ad libitum diets. We observed several differentially expressed pathways associated with IUGR phenotypes and, most importantly, a significant decrease in the overall methylation between these groups as well as sex-specific effects that are more pronounced in males. In addition, a set of significantly differentially methylated genes that are enriched for known imprinted genes were identified, suggesting that imprinted loci may be particularly susceptible to diet effects. Lastly, we identified several differentially methylated microRNAs that target genes associated with immunological, metabolic, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and neurological chronic diseases, as well as genes responsible for transplacental nutrient transfer and fetal development.


1990 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 197-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Walton ◽  
Robert P. Rehfuss

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy W. Levenson

With a worldwide incidence rate of almost 70 million annually, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a frequent cause of both disability and death. Our modern understanding of the zinc-regulated neurochemical, cellular, and molecular mechanisms associated with TBI is the result of a continuum of research spanning more than three decades. This review describes the evolution of the field beginning with the initial landmark work on the toxicity of excess neuronal zinc accumulation after injury. It further shows how the field has expanded and shifted to include examination of the cellular pools of zinc after TBI, identification of the role of zinc in TBI-regulated gene expression and neurogenesis, and the use of zinc to prevent cognitive and behavioral deficits associated with brain injury.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (12) ◽  
pp. 4276-4285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keli Ou ◽  
Catherine Ong ◽  
Shze Yung Koh ◽  
Fiona Rodrigues ◽  
Siew Hoon Sim ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Natural isolates of pathogenic bacteria can exhibit a broad range of phenotypic traits. To investigate the molecular mechanisms contributing to such phenotypic variability, we compared the genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes of two natural isolates of the gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of the human disease melioidosis. Significant intrinsic genomic, transcriptional, and proteomic variations were observed between the two strains involving genes of diverse functions. We identified 16 strain-specific regions in the B. pseudomallei K96243 reference genome, and for eight regions their differential presence could be ascribed to either DNA acquisition or loss. A remarkable 43% of the transcriptional differences between the strains could be attributed to genes that were differentially present between K96243 and Bp15682, demonstrating the importance of lateral gene transfer or gene loss events in contributing to pathogen diversity at the gene expression level. Proteins expressed in a strain-specific manner were similarly correlated at the gene expression level, but up to 38% of the global proteomic variation between strains comprised proteins expressed in both strains but associated with strain-specific protein isoforms. Collectively, >65 hypothetical genes were transcriptionally or proteomically expressed, supporting their bona fide biological presence. Our results provide, for the first time, an integrated framework for classifying the repertoire of natural variations existing at distinct molecular levels for an important human pathogen.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago C. Moulin ◽  
Federico Ferro ◽  
Angela Hoyer ◽  
Pierre Cheung ◽  
Michael J. Williams ◽  
...  

More than 320 million people live with depression in the world, a disorder that severely limits psychosocial functioning and diminishes quality of life. The prevalence of major depression is almost two times higher in women than in men. However, the molecular mechanisms of its sex-specific pathophysiology are still poorly understood. Drosophila melanogaster is an established model for neurobiological research of depression-like states, as well as for the study of molecular and genetic sex differences in the brain. Here, we investigated sex-specific effects on forced-climbing locomotion (negative geotaxis) and gene expression of a fly model of depression-like phenotypes induced by levodopa administration, which was previously shown to impair normal food intake, mating frequency, and serotonin concentration. We observed that both males and females show deficits in the forced-climbing paradigm; however, modulated by distinct gene expression patterns after levodopa administration. Our results suggest that Drosophila models can be a valuable tool for identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying the difference of depressive disorder prevalence between men and women.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R Gamazon ◽  
Heather E Wheeler ◽  
Kaanan Shah ◽  
Sahar V Mozaffari ◽  
Keston Aquino-Michaels ◽  
...  

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of variants robustly associated with complex traits. However, the biological mechanisms underlying these associations are, in general, not well understood. We propose a gene-based association method called PrediXcan that directly tests the molecular mechanisms through which genetic variation affects phenotype. The approach estimates the component of gene expression determined by an individual's genetic profile and correlates the “imputed” gene expression with the phenotype under investigation to identify genes involved in the etiology of the phenotype. The genetically regulated gene expression is estimated using whole-genome tissue-dependent prediction models trained with reference transcriptome datasets. PrediXcan enjoys the benefits of gene- based approaches such as reduced multiple testing burden, more comprehensive annotation of gene function compared to that derived from single variants, and a principled approach to the design of follow-up experiments while also integrating knowledge of regulatory function. Since no actual expression data are used in the analysis of GWAS data - only in silico expression - reverse causality problems are largely avoided. PrediXcan harnesses reference transcriptome data for disease mapping studies. Our results demonstrate that PrediXcan can detect known and novel genes associated with disease traits and provide insights into the mechanism of these associations.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1535
Author(s):  
Kanoko Nokihara ◽  
Yoshihiro Okada ◽  
Shinichiro Ohata ◽  
Yuki Monden

Because weevils are the most damaging pests of sweetpotato, the development of cultivars resistant to weevil species is considered the most important aspect in sweetpotato breeding. However, the genes and the underlying molecular mechanisms related to weevil resistance are yet to be elucidated. In this study, we performed an RNA sequencing-based transcriptome analysis using the resistant Kyushu No. 166 (K166) and susceptible Tamayutaka cultivars. The weevil resistance test showed a significant difference between the two cultivars at 30 days after the inoculation, specifically in the weevil growth stage and the suppressed weevil pupation that was only observed in K166. Differential expression and gene ontology analyses revealed that the genes upregulated after inoculation in K166 were related to phosphorylation, metabolic, and cellular processes. Because the weevil resistance was considered to be related to the suppression of larval pupation, we investigated the juvenile hormone (JH)-related genes involved in the inhibition of insect metamorphosis. We found that the expression of some terpenoid-related genes, which are classified as plant-derived JHs, was significantly increased in K166. This is the first study involving a comprehensive gene expression analysis that provides new insights about the genes and mechanisms associated with weevil resistance in sweetpotato.


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