| 1. |
- Morris, John A, et al.
(författare)
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An atlas of genetic influences on osteoporosis in humans and mice.
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-1718 .- 1061-4036. ; 51, s. 258-266
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Osteoporosis is a common aging-related disease diagnosed primarily using bone mineral density (BMD). We assessed genetic determinants of BMD as estimated by heel quantitative ultrasound in 426,824 individuals, identifying 518 genome-wide significant loci (301 novel), explaining 20% of its variance. We identified 13 bone fracture loci, all associated with estimated BMD (eBMD), in ~1.2 million individuals. We then identified target genes enriched for genes known to influence bone density and strength (maximum odds ratio (OR)=58, P=1 × 10-75) from cell-specific features, including chromatin conformation and accessible chromatin sites. We next performed rapid-throughput skeletal phenotyping of 126 knockout mice with disruptions in predicted target genes and found an increased abnormal skeletal phenotype frequency compared to 526 unselected lines (P<0.0001). In-depth analysis of one gene, DAAM2, showed a disproportionate decrease in bone strength relative to mineralization. This genetic atlas provides evidence linking associated SNPs to causal genes, offers new insight into osteoporosis pathophysiology, and highlights opportunities for drug development.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Balthasar, Uwe, et al.
(författare)
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Early Cambrian "soft-shelled" brachiopods as possible stem-group phoronids
- 2009
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Ingår i: Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. - 0567-7920 .- 1732-2421. ; 54:2, s. 307-314
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brachiopods and phoronids are widely recognised as closely related lophophorate phyla. but the lack of morphological intermediates linking the bivalved bodyplan of brachiopods with tubular phoronids has frustrated precise phylogenetic placement. Here we describe Lingulosacculus nuda gen. et sp. nov., a new "soft-shelled" brachiopod from the Early Cambrian Mural Formation of western Alberta which provides a plausible candidate for a phoronid stem-group within (paraphyletic) Brachiopoda. In addition to its non-biomineralised shell, L. nuda had a ventral valve with an exceptionally long, pocket-like extension (pseudointerarea) that Would have allowed the transformation of criss-crossing brachiopod-type musculature to the longitudinal arrangement typical of phoronids. "Soft-shelled" linguliform brachiopods have previously been reported from both the Chengjiang and Burgess Shale Lagerstatten which, together with L. nuda. probably represent two independent losses of shell mineralisation in brachiopods.
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| 4. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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| 5. |
- Slater, Ben, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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A cryptic record of Burgess Shale-type diversity from the early Cambrian of Baltica
- 2017
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Ingår i: Palaeontology. - : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc.. - 0031-0239 .- 1475-4983. ; 60:1, s. 117-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Exceptionally preserved ‘Burgess Shale-type’ fossil assemblages from the Cambrian of Laurentia, South China and Australia record a diverse array of non-biomineralizing organisms. During this time, the palaeocontinent Baltica was geographically isolated from these regions, and is conspicuously lacking in terms of comparable accessible early Cambrian Lagerstätten. Here we report a diverse assemblage of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) from the early Cambrian (Stage 4) File Haidar Formation of southeast Sweden and surrounding areas of the Baltoscandian Basin, including exceptionally preserved remains of Burgess Shale-type metazoans and other organisms. Recovered SCFs include taxonomically resolvable ecdysozoan elements (priapulid and palaeoscolecid worms), lophotrochozoan elements (annelid chaetae and wiwaxiid sclerites), as well as ‘protoconodonts’, denticulate feeding structures, and a background of filamentous and spheroidal microbes. The annelids, wiwaxiids and priapulids are the first recorded from the Cambrian of Baltica. The File Haidar SCF assemblage is broadly comparable to those recovered from Cambrian basins in Laurentia and South China, though differences at lower taxonomic levels point to possible environmental or palaeogeographical controls on taxon ranges. These data reveal a fundamentally expanded picture of early Cambrian diversity on Baltica, and provide key insights into high-latitude Cambrian faunas and patterns of SCF preservation. We establish three new taxa based on large populations of distinctive SCFs: Baltiscalida njorda gen. et sp. nov. (a priapulid), Baltichaeta jormunganda gen. et sp. nov. (an annelid) and Baltinema rana gen. et sp. nov. (a filamentous problematicum).
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| 6. |
- Slater, Ben, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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Cochleatina: an enigmatic Ediacaran-Cambrian survivor among small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Palaeontology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0031-0239 .- 1475-4983. ; 63:5, s. 733-752
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conspicuously few body‐fossil taxa are known to span the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary, a pattern usually taken to signal either a terminal Proterozoic mass extinction, or taphonomic failure. We draw attention to the emerging record of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs), which exhibit continuous preservation spanning this critical interval. Here we focus on the enigmatic SCF Cochleatina, a morphologically complex coil‐shaped problematicum that ranges across the Ediacaran–Cambrian divide, and is potentially among the oldest fossil occurrences of metazoans. We report new material of Cochleatina canilovica from the Ediacaran of Estonia and Ukraine, which offers new characters for assessing its palaeobiology. Significantly, new specimens include sets of three‐alike triplets of Cochleatina adhering to organic sheets, suggesting a clustering habit, or grouping of elements within an individual during life; an important step in constraining the morphology and ecology of this Ediacaran–Cambrian problematicum. We present revised systematic descriptions for Cochleatina and C. canilovica, and critically evaluate previous biological interpretations, drawing comparisons with metazoan, algal and protistan analogues. We reject hypotheses supporting Cochleatina as a metazoan mouthpart, and suggest new grounds for viewing Cochleatina as a potential multicomponent predator that trapped protists among microbial mats. Most occurrences are from Baltica, but we synthesize sporadic reports of Cochleatina from other palaeocontinents, pointing to its global distribution during the latest ˜10 myr of the Ediacaran and majority of the earliest Cambrian Fortunian Stage. As a rare example of an ‘Ediacaran survivor’, Cochleatina highlights the broader significance of SCFs as a novel means of tracking evolutionary patterns through the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic transition.
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| 7. |
- Slater, Ben J., 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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Crossing the boundary : small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) as a means of tracking Ediacaran–Cambrian 'survivors'
- 2020
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Only a handful of body‐fossil taxa are known to span the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary. This pattern has frequently been interpreted as signifying a terminal Proterozoic mass extinction; however, identification of such major evolutionary perturbations is heavily reliant on taphonomic continuity. Unfortunately, the traceability of taxa over this boundary is seriously compromised; the coincident opening and closure of several key taphonomic windows around the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition hampers any detailed tracking of taxonomic ranges from this interval, a problem that may amplify the apparent disconnect between Ediacaran and Cambrian biotas. Before a precise outline of the magnitude, timing and nature of this transition can reasonably be achieved, it is crucial to establish an improved record of non‐biomineralizing taxa in order to distinguish genuine macroevolutionary patterns from any obscuring taphonomic signals. The emerging record of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) exhibits a more-or-less continuous pattern of preservation spanning this critical interval. We focus on a number of distinctive SCF taxa (including possible metazoans) that range across the Ediacaran–Cambrian divide. These rare additions to the select club of ‘Ediacaran survivors’ highlight the wider significance of SCFs as a novel source of tracking evolutionary patterns over the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic transition.
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| 8. |
- Slater, Ben, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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Small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) from the Terreneuvian (lower Cambrian) of Baltica
- 2018
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Ingår i: Palaeontology. - : Wiley. - 0031-0239 .- 1475-4983. ; 61:3, s. 417-439
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We describe a new assemblage of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) from diagenetically minimally altered clays and siltstones of Terreneuvian age from the Lontova and Voosi formations of Estonia, Lithuania and Russia. This is the first detailed account of an SCF assemblage from the Terreneuvian and includes a number of previously undocumented Cambrian organisms. Recognizably bilaterian-derived SCFs include abundant protoconodonts (total-group Chaetognatha), and distinctive cuticular spines of scalidophoran worms. Alongside these metazoan remains are a range of protistan-grade fossils, including Retiranus balticus gen. et sp. nov., a distinctive funnel-shaped or sheet-like problematicum characterized by terminal or marginal vesicles, and Lontohystrichosphaera grandis gen. et sp. nov., a large (100–550 μm) ornamented vesicular microfossil. Together these data offer a fundamentally enriched view of Terreneuvian life in the epicratonic seas of Baltica, from an episode where records of non-biomineralized life are currently sparse. Even so, the recovered assemblages contain a lower diversity of metazoans than SCF biotas from younger (Stage 4) Baltic successions that represent broadly equivalent environments, echoing the diversification signal recorded in the coeval shelly and trace-fossil records. Close comparison to the biostratigraphical signal from Fortunian small shelly fossils supports a late Fortunian age for most of the Lontova/Voosi succession, rather than a younger (wholly Stage 2) range.
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