| 1. |
- Elsik, Christine G., et al.
(författare)
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The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle : A Window to Ruminant Biology and Evolution
- 2009
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 324:5926, s. 522-528
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.
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| 2. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(författare)
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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy in higher eukaryotes
- 2008
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Ingår i: Autophagy. - : Landes Bioscience. - 1554-8627 .- 1554-8635. ; 4:2, s. 151-175
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research in autophagy continues to accelerate,1 and as a result many new scientists are entering the field. Accordingly, it is important to establish a standard set of criteria for monitoring macroautophagy in different organisms. Recent reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose.2,3 There are many useful and convenient methods that can be used to monitor macroautophagy in yeast, but relatively few in other model systems, and there is much confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure macroautophagy in higher eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers of autophagosomes versus those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway; thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from fully functional autophagy that includes delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of the methods that can be used by investigators who are attempting to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as by reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that investigate these processes. This set of guidelines is not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to verify an autophagic response.
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| 3. |
- Pace, Rishika A., et al.
(författare)
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Collagen VI glycine mutations: Perturbed assembly and a spectrum of clinical severity
- 2008
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Ingår i: Annals of Neurology. - : Wiley. - 1531-8249 .- 0364-5134. ; 64:3, s. 294-303
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The collagen VI muscular dystrophies, Bethlem myopathy and Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, form a continuum of clinical phenotypes. Glycine mutations in the triple helix have been identified in both Bethlem and Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, but it is not known why they cause these different phenotypes. Methods: We studied eight new patients who presented with a spectrum of clinical severity, screened the three collagen VI messenger RNA for mutations, and examined collagen VI biosynthesis and the assembly pathway. Results: All eight patients had heterozygous glycine mutations toward the N-terminal end of the triple helix. The mutations produced two assembly phenotypes. In the first patient group, collagen VI dimers accumulated in the cell but not the medium, microfibril formation in the medium was moderately reduced, and the amount of collagen VI in the extracellular matrix was not significantly altered. The second group had more severe assembly defects: some secreted collagen VI tetramers were not disulfide bonded, microfibril formation in the medium was severely compromised, and collagen VI in the extracellular matrix was reduced. Interpretation: These data indicate that collagen VI glycine mutations impair the assembly pathway in different ways and disease severity correlates with the assembly abnormality. In mildly affected patients, normal amounts of collagen VI were deposited in the fibroblast matrix, whereas in patients with moderate-to-severe disability, assembly defects led to a reduced collagen VI fibroblast matrix. This study thus provides an explanation for how different glycine mutations produce a spectrum of clinical severity.
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| 4. |
- Teuten, Emma L, et al.
(författare)
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Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife
- 2009
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Ingår i: PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8436 .- 1471-2970. ; 364:1526, s. 2027-2045
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plastics debris in the marine environment, including resin pellets, fragments and microscopic plastic fragments, contain organic contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides (2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane, hexachlorinated hexanes), polybrominated diphenylethers, alkylphenols and bisphenol A, at concentrations from sub ng g(-1) to mg g(-1). Some of these compounds are added during plastics manufacture, while others adsorb from the surrounding seawater. Concentrations of hydrophobic contaminants adsorbed on plastics showed distinct spatial variations reflecting global pollution patterns. Model calculations and experimental observations consistently show that polyethylene accumulates more organic contaminants than other plastics such as polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride. Both a mathematical model using equilibrium partitioning and experimental data have demonstrated the transfer of contaminants from plastic to organisms. A feeding experiment indicated that PCBs could transfer from contaminated plastics to streaked shearwater chicks. Plasticizers, other plastics additives and constitutional monomers also present potential threats in terrestrial environments because they can leach from waste disposal sites into groundwater and/or surface waters. Leaching and degradation of plasticizers and polymers are complex phenomena dependent on environmental conditions in the landfill and the chemical properties of each additive. Bisphenol A concentrations in leachates from municipal waste disposal sites in tropical Asia ranged from sub mu g l(-1) to mg l(-1) and were correlated with the level of economic development.
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