| 1. |
- Lamichhaney, Sangeet, 1984-
(författare)
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The genetic basis for adaptation in natural populations
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many previous studies in evolutionary genetics have been based on few model organisms that can be reared at ease in the laboratory. In contrast, genetic studies of non-model, natural populations are desirable as they provide a wider range of adaptive phenotypes throughout evolutionary timescales and allow a more realistic understanding of how natural selection drives adaptive evolution. This thesis represents an example of how modern genomic tools can be effectively used to study adaptation in natural populations.Atlantic herring is one of the world’s most numerous fish having multiple populations with phenotypic differences adapted to strikingly different environments. Our study demonstrated insignificant level of genetic drift in herring that resulted in minute genetic differences in the majority of the genome among these populations. In contrast, a small percentage of the loci showed striking genetic differentiation that were potentially under natural selection. We identified loci associated with adaptation to the Baltic Sea and with seasonal reproduction (spring- and autumn-spawning) and demonstrated that ecological adaptation in Atlantic herring is highly polygenic but controlled by a finite number of loci.The study of Darwin’s finches constitutes a breakthrough in characterizing their evolution. We identified two loci, ALX1 and HMGA2, which most likely are the two most prominent loci that contributed to beak diversification and thereby to expanded food utilization. These loci have played a key role in adaptive evolution of Darwin’s finches. Our study also demonstrated that interspecies gene flow played a significant role in the radiation of Darwin’s finches and some species have a mixed ancestry.This thesis also explored the genetic basis for the remarkable phenotypic differences between three male morphs in the ruff. Identification of two different versions of a 4.5 MB inversion in Satellites and Faeders that occurred about 4 million years ago revealed clues about the genetic foundation of male mating strategies in ruff. We highlighted two genes in the inverted region; HSD17B2 that affects metabolism of testosterone and MC1R that has a key role in regulating pigmentation, as the major loci associated with this adaptation.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Bendazzoli, Simone, et al.
(författare)
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Automatic rat brain segmentation from MRI using statistical shape models and random forest
- 2019
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Ingår i: MEDICAL IMAGING 2019. - : SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING. - 9781510625464 - 9781510625457
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In MRI neuroimaging, the shimming procedure is used before image acquisition to correct for inhomogeneity of the static magnetic field within the brain. To correctly adjust the field, the brain's location and edges must first be identified from quickly-acquired low resolution data. This process is currently carried out manually by an operator, which can be time-consuming and not always accurate. In this work, we implement a quick and automatic technique for brain segmentation to be potentially used during the shimming. Our method is based on two main steps. First, a random forest classifier is used to get a preliminary segmentation from an input MRI image. Subsequently, a statistical shape model of the brain, which was previously generated from ground-truth segmentations, is fitted to the output of the classifier to obtain a model-based segmentation mask. In this way, a-priori knowledge on the brain's shape is included in the segmentation pipeline. The proposed methodology was tested on low resolution images of rat brains and further validated on rabbit brain images of higher resolution. Our results suggest that the present method is promising for the desired purpose in terms of time efficiency, segmentation accuracy and repeatability. Moreover, the use of shape modeling was shown to be particularly useful when handling low-resolution data, which could lead to erroneous classifications when using only machine learning-based methods.
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| 4. |
- Imsland, Freyja
(författare)
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Monogenic Traits Associated with Structural Variants in Chicken and Horse : Allelic and Phenotypic Diversity of Visually Appealing Traits
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Domestic animals have rich phenotypic diversity that can be explored to advance our understanding of the relationship between molecular genetics and phenotypic variation. Since the advent of second generation sequencing, it has become easier to identify structural variants and associate them with phenotypic outcomes. This thesis details studies on three such variants associated with monogenic traits.The first studies on Rose-comb in the chicken were published over a century ago, seminally describing Mendelian inheritance and epistatic interaction in animals. Homozygosity for the otherwise dominant Rose-comb allele was later associated with reduced rooster fertility. We show that a 7.38 Mb inversion is causal for Rose-comb, and that two alleles exist for Rose-comb, R1 and R2. A novel genomic context for the gene MNR2 is causative for the comb phenotype, and the bisection of the gene CCDC108 is associated with fertility issues. The recombined R2 allele has intact CCDC108, and normal fertility.The dominant phenotype Greying with Age in horses was previously associated with an intronic duplication in STX17. By utilising second generation sequencing we have examined the genomic region surrounding the duplication in detail, and excluded all other discovered variants as causative for Grey.Dun is the ancestral coat colour of equids, where the individual is mostly pale in colour, but carries intensely pigmented primitive markings, most notably a dorsal stripe. Dun is a dominant trait, and yet most domestic horses are non-dun in colour and intensely pigmented. We show that Dun colour is established by radially asymmetric expression of the transcription factor TBX3 in hair follicles. This results in a microscopic spotting phenotype on the level of the individual hair, giving the impression of pigment dilution. Non-dun colour is caused by two different alleles, non-dun1 and non-dun2, both of which disrupt the TBX3-mediated regulation of pigmentation. Non-dun1 is associated with a SNP variant 5 kb downstream of TBX3, and non-dun2 with a 1.6 kb deletion that overlaps the non-dun1 SNP. Homozygotes for non-dun2 show a more intensely pigmented appearance than horses with one or two non-dun1 alleles. We have also shown by genotyping of ancient DNA that non-dun1 predates domestication.
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| 5. |
- Rafati, Nima, 1982-
(författare)
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Exploring genetic diversity in natural and domestic populations through next generation sequencing
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Studying genetic diversity in natural and domestic populations is of major importance in evolutionary biology. The recent advent of next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has dramatically changed the scope of these studies, enabling researchers to study genetic diversity in a whole-genome context. This thesis details examples of studies using NGS data to: (i) characterize evolutionary forces shaping the genome of the Atlantic herring, (ii) detect the genetic basis of speciation and domestication in the rabbit, and, (iii) identify mutations associated with skeletal atavism in Shetland ponies.The Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is the most abundant teleost species inhabiting the North Atlantic. Herring has seasonal reproduction and is adapted to a wide range of salinity (3-35‰) throughout the Baltic Sea and Atlantic Ocean. By using NGS data and whole-genome screening of 20 populations, we revealed the underlying genetic architecture for both adaptive features. Our results demonstrated that differentiated genomic regions have evolved by natural selection and genetic drift has played a subordinate role.The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is native to the Iberian Peninsula, where two rabbit subspecies with partial reproductive isolation have evolved. We performed whole genome sequencing to characterize regions of reduced introgression. Our results suggest key role of gene regulation in triggering genetic incompatibilities in the early stages of reproductive isolation. Moreover, we studied gene expression in testis and found misregulation of many genes in backcross progenies that often show impaired male fertility. We also scanned whole genome of wild and domestic populations and identified differentiated regions that were enriched for non-coding conserved elements. Our results indicated that selection has acted on standing genetic variation, particularly targeting genes expressed in the central nervous system. This finding is consistent with the tame behavior present in domestic rabbits, which allows them to survive and reproduce under the stressful non-natural rearing conditions provided by humans.In Shetland ponies, abnormally developed ulnae and fibulae characterize a skeletal deformity known as skeletal atavism. To explore the genetic basis of this disease, we scanned the genome using whole genome resequencing data. We identified two partially overlapping large deletions in the pseudoautosomal region (PAR) of the sex chromosomes that remove the entire coding sequence of the SHOX gene and part of CRLF2 gene. Based on this finding, we developed a diagnostic test that can be used as a tool to eradicate this inherited disease in horses.
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| 6. |
- Steinhauf, Daniel
(författare)
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Importance of the Clr2 protein in heterochromatin formation in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Epigenetics is an area of biology that studies heritable changes in gene ex- pression without any change in the DNA sequence. The most studied epige- netic mechanisms are DNA methylation, RNA interference and histone mod- ifications. There are over 130 different modifications that can be attached to histones, and the most commonly studied are methylation, acetylation, phos- phorylation, sumoylation and ubiquitination. The modifications, spread out through the genome, form the histone code, which recruits transcription fac- tors and modifies the accessibility of the DNA, which results in either active or silenced transcription. The silenced form of chromatin is known as heter- ochromatin and is usually found in regions of the chromosome that need to be highly regulated. To study epigenetics, the model organism Schizosac- charomyces pombe is used widely used. S. pombe is a single cell, rod shaped, fission yeast. The simplicity of S. pombe and its similarities to high- er eukaryotes makes it a good model organism for studying epigenetics. We find that, when mutating evolutionary conserved amino acids in the Clr2 protein, which is involved in heterochromatin formation in S. pombe, there is a change in silencing in different heterochromatic regions. When constructs of Clr2 with the BAH domain deleted are overexpressed, there is an increase in silencing in the central core centromere of chromosome II of S. pombe.
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| 7. |
- Younis, Shady
(författare)
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Functional characterization of the biological significance of the ZBED6/ZC3H11A locus in placental mammals
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The recent advances in molecular and computational biology have made possible the study of complicated transcriptional regulatory networks that control a wide range of biological processes and phenotypic traits. In this thesis, several approaches were combined including next generation sequencing, gene expression profiling, chromatin and RNA immunoprecipitation, bioinformatics and genome editing methods in order to characterize the biological significance of the ZBED6 and ZC3H11A genes.A mutation in the binding site of ZBED6, located in an intron of IGF2, disrupts the binding and leads to 3-fold upregulation of IGF2 mRNA in pig muscle tissues. The first part of the thesis presents a detailed functional characterization of ZBED6. Transient silencing of ZBED6 expression in mouse myoblasts led to increased Igf2 expression (~2-fold). ChIP-seq analysis of ZBED6 and histone modifications showed that ZBED6 preferentially binds active promoters and modulates their transcriptional activities (paper I). In the follow-up studies using CRISPR/Cas9 we showed that either the deletion of ZBED6 or its binding site in Igf2 (Igf2ΔGGCT) led to more than 30-fold up-regulation of Igf2 expression in myoblasts. Differentiation of these genetically engineered cells resulted in hypertrophic myotubes. Transcriptome analysis revealed ~30% overlap between the differentially expressed genes in Zbed6-/- and Igf2ΔGGCT myotubes, with significant enrichment of muscle-specific genes. ZBED6-overexpression in myoblasts led to cell cycle arrest, reduced cell viability, reduced mitochondrial activities and impaired the differentiation of myoblasts (paper II). Further studies on cancer cells showed that ZBED6 influences the growth of colorectal cancer cells with dramatic changes in the transcription of hundreds of cancer-related genes (paper III). The phenotypic characterization of Zbed6-/- and Igf2pA/mG mouse models showed that the ZBED6-Igf2 axis has a major effect on regulating muscle growth and the growth of internal organs. Transcriptome analysis demonstrated a massive up-regulation of Igf2 expression (~30-fold) in adult tissues, but not in fetal tissues, of transgenic mice (paper IV).In the second part of the thesis we investigated the cellular function of Zc3h11a, the gene harboring ZBED6 in one of its first introns. The function of the ZC3H11A protein is so far poorly characterized. We show that ZC3H11A is a novel stress-induced protein that is required for efficient mRNA export from the nucleus. The inactivation of ZC3H11A inhibited the growth of multiple viruses including HIV, influenza, HSV and adenoviruses (paper V).
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