Publications Round-Up Week 7/11/2016
Tissue distribution of organochlorine pesticides in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) from laboratory exposure and a contaminated lake.
Author information: Dang VD1, Kroll KJ2, Supowit SD3, Halden RU3, Denslow ND2.
1Department of Physiological Sciences and Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: dv@ufl.edu.
2Department of Physiological Sciences and Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
3Biodesign Center for Environmental Security, The Biodesign Institute, Global Security Initiative and School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Journal: Environmental Pollution
Date of print publication: July 6, 2016
Abstract: Tissue concentrations of persistent organochlorine pesticides in laboratory-exposed largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and in bass collected from Lake Apopka, FL were determined by both total mass and lipid normalized mass to better understand the bioaccumulation pathways of contaminants. In the laboratory study, male bass were orally administered a single dose of a mixture of two pesticides (p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p’-DDE) and dieldrin) and then fed uncontaminated food for 28 days. Gastrointestinal tract, liver, brain, gonad, kidney, spleen, and muscle were collected for chemical analysis. Different profiles were observed by total contaminant mass in tissues compared to lipid normalized mass. On a lipid normalized basis, p,p’-DDE was highest in the gastrointestinal tract followed by the liver, gonad, spleen, muscle, kidney and then brain. Dieldrin, on the other hand, was highest in the gastrointestinal tract and spleen and then followed by the gonad, muscle, liver, kidney, and brain. Distribution of the chemicals among the organs differed by their log KOW values and generally followed the blood flow path after the gastrointestinal tract. The low contaminant levels found in kidney and brain suggest insufficient time for equilibration into these tissues, especially into the brain where the blood-brain barrier may be slow to traverse. In Lake Apopka fish, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDXs, sum of p,p’-DDE, p,p’-DDD, and p,p’-DDT), Drins (sum of aldrin, dieldrin, and endrin), and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) were found. For DDXs, the lipid normalized concentrations in each tissue were about the same, as predicted from theory. For Drins and HCHs, the lipid normalized concentrations were similar for kidney, spleen, brain, gonad and muscle, but much lower in the gastrointestinal tract and liver, probably because of metabolism occurring in those tissues.
Up-regulation of activating transcription factor 4 induces severe loss of dopamine nigral neurons in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease.
Author information: Gully JC1, Sergeyev VG2, Bhootada Y1, Mendez-Gomez H3, Meyers CA1, Zolotukhin S4, Gorbatyuk MS1, Gorbatyuk OS5.
1Department of Vision Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
2Department of Vision Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Department of Biology, Udmurt State University, Izhevsk, Russia.
3Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
4Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
5Department of Vision Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. Electronic address: oleggor@uab.edu.
Journal: Neuroscience Letters
Date of print publication: Aug. 3, 2016
Abstract: Activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) is a member of the PERK signaling pathway, which directly binds endoplasmic reticulum stress target genes and plays a crucial role in both adaptations to stress and activation of apoptosis. Previous publications demonstrated conflicting evidence on the role of ATF4 in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we used recombinant adeno-associate virus (rAAV)-mediated gene transfer to investigate if the sustained up-regulation of ATF4 launches a pro-survival or pro-death trend in the dopamine (DA) cells of the substantia nigra pars compacta in a rat model of Parkinson-like neurodegeneration induced by human alpha-synuclein (αS) overexpression. We showed that ATF4 does not protect nigral DA neurons against an αS-induced pathology. Moreover, the rAAV-mediated overexpression of ATF4 resulted in severe nigra-striatal degeneration via activation of caspases 3/7.
Host genetic influence on papillomavirus-induced tumors in the horse.
Author information: Staiger EA1, Tseng CT2, Miller D2, Cassano JM2, Nasir L3, Garrick D4, Brooks SA5, Antczak DF2.
1Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
2Baker Institute for Animal Health, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
3MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
4Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
5Department of Animal Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Journal: International Journal of Cancer
Date of print publication: Aug. 15, 2016
Abstract: The common equine skin tumors known as sarcoids have been causally associated with infection by bovine papillomavirus (BPV). Additionally, there is evidence for host genetic susceptibility to sarcoids. We investigated the genetic basis of susceptibility to sarcoid tumors on a cohort of 82 affected horses and 270 controls genotyped on a genome-wide platform and two custom panels. A Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) identified candidate regions on six chromosomes. Bayesian probability analysis of the same dataset verified only the regions on equine chromosomes (ECA) 20 and 22. Fine mapping using custom-produced SNP arrays for ECA20 and ECA22 regions identified two marker loci with high levels of significance: SNP BIEC2-530826 (map position 32,787,619) on ECA20 in an intron of the DQA1 gene in the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class II region (p = 4.6e-06), and SNP BIEC2-589604 (map position 25,951,536) on ECA22 in a 200 kb region containing four candidate genes: PROCR, EDEM2, EIF6 and MMP24 (p = 2.14e-06). The marker loci yielded odds ratios of 5.05 and 4.02 for ECA20 and ECA22, respectively. Associations between genetic MHC class II variants and papillomavirus-induced tumors have been reported for human papillomavirus and cottontail rabbit papillomavirus infections. This suggests a common mechanism for susceptibility to tumor progression that may involve subversion of the host immune response. This study also identified a genomic region other than MHC that influenced papillomavirus-induced tumor development in the studied population.
Polyploidy and the proteome.
Author information: Soltis DE1, Misra BB2, Shan S3, Chen S4, Soltis PS5.
1Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA; Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. Electronic address: dsoltis@ufl.edu.
2Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
3Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
4Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA; Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
5Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA; Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. Electronic address: psoltis@flmnh.ufl.edu.
Journal: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta
Date of print publication: Aug 2016
Abstract: Although major advances have been made during the past 20years in our understanding of the genetic and genomic consequences of polyploidy, our knowledge of polyploidy and the proteome is in its infancy. One of our goals is to stimulate additional study, particularly broad-scale proteomic analyses of polyploids and their progenitors. Although it may be too early to generalize regarding the extent to which transcriptomic data are predictive of the proteome of polyploids, it is clear that the proteome does not always reflect the transcriptome. Despite limited data, important observations on the proteomes of polyploids are emerging. In some cases, proteomic profiles show qualitatively and/or quantitatively non-additive patterns, and proteomic novelty has been observed. Allopolyploids generally combine the parental contributions, but there is evidence of parental dominance of one contributing genome in some allopolyploids. Autopolyploids are typically qualitatively identical to but quantitatively different from their parents. There is also evidence of parental legacy at the proteomic level. Proteomes clearly provide insights into the consequences of genomic merger and doubling beyond what is obtained from genomic and/or transcriptomic data. Translating proteomic changes in polyploids to differences in morphology and physiology remains the holy grail of polyploidy – this daunting task of linking genotype to proteome to phenotype should emerge as a focus of polyploidy research in the next decade. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Plant Proteomics- a bridge between fundamental processes and crop production, edited by Dr. Hans-Peter Mock.
Metabolic regulation of triacylglycerol accumulation in the green algae: identification of potential targets for engineering to improve oil yield.
Author information: Goncalves EC1, Wilkie AC2, Kirst M3, Rathinasabapathi B1.
1Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Horticultural Sciences Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
2Soil and Water Science Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
3School of Forestry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Journal: Plant Biotechnology Journal
Date of print publication: Aug. 2016
Abstract: The great need for more sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels has increased our research interests in algal biofuels. Microalgal cells, characterized by high photosynthetic efficiency and rapid cell division, are an excellent source of neutral lipids as potential fuel stocks. Various stress factors, especially nutrient-starvation conditions, induce an increased formation of lipid bodies filled with triacylglycerol in these cells. Here we review our knowledge base on glycerolipid synthesis in the green algae with an emphasis on recent studies on carbon flux, redistribution of lipids under nutrient-limiting conditions and its regulation. We discuss the contributions and limitations of classical and novel approaches used to elucidate the algal triacylglycerol biosynthetic pathway and its regulatory network in green algae. Also discussed are gaps in knowledge and suggestions for much needed research both on the biology of triacylglycerol accumulation and possible avenues to engineer improved algal strains.
NOTE: These abstracts were retrieved from the U.S. National Library of Medicine website managed in collaboration with the U.S. National Library of Medicine