Project description:Increasing utilization and human population density in the coastal zone is widely believed to place increasing stresses on the resident biota, but confirmation of this belief is somewhat lacking. While we have solid evidence that highly disturbed estuarine systems have dramatic changes in the resident biota (black and white if you will), we lack tools that distinguish the shades of grey. In part this lack of ability to distinguish shades of grey stems from the analytical tools that have been applied to studies of estuarine systems and perhaps more important is the insensitivity of the biological end points that we have used to assess these impacts. In this paper we will present data on the phenotypic adjustments as measured by transcriptomic signatures of a resilient organism (oysters) to land use practices in the surrounding watershed using advanced machine learning algorithms. We will demonstrate that such an approach can reveal subtle and meaningful shifts in oyster gene expression in response to land use. Further, the data shows that gill tissues are far more responsive and provide superior discrimination of land use classes than hepatopancreas and that transcript encoding proteins involved in energy productions, protein synthesis and basic metabolism are more robust indicators of land use than classic biomarkers such as metallothioneins, GST and cytochrome P450. Keywords: Comparative genomics, ecogenomics. Tissue differences, impacts of land use and contaminants on gene expression. Oysters were collected from 11 tidal creeks in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina at sites variously impacted by human development. A total of 267 individuals were examined for gene expression profiles in gill and hepatopancreas tissues for a total of 534 arrays. The data were filtered though standard tools and ultimately analyzed using advance machine learning techniques.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as regulators in a broad range of phenotypes. The Oriental River Prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense) is an important commercial species that is widely distributed in freshwater and low-salinity estuarine regions of China and other Asian countries. To date, there are no reports describing M. nipponense miRNAs.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as regulators in a broad range of phenotypes. The Oriental River Prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense) is an important commercial species that is widely distributed in freshwater and low-salinity estuarine regions of China and other Asian countries. To date, there are no reports describing M. nipponense miRNAs.
Project description:Understanding and quantifying the effects of environmental factors influencing the variation of abundance and diversity of microbial communities was a key theme of ecology. For microbial communities, there were two factors proposed in explaining the variation in current theory, which were contemporary environmental heterogeneity and historical events. Here, we report a study to profile soil microbial structure, which infers functional roles of microbial communities, along the latitudinal gradient from the north to the south in China mainland, aiming to explore potential microbial responses to external condition, especially for global climate changes via a strategy of space-for-time substitution. Using a microarray-based metagenomics tool named GeoChip 5.0, we showed that microbial communities were distinct for most but not all of the sites. Using substantial statistical analyses, exploring the dominant factor in influencing the soil microbial communities along the latitudinal gradient. Substantial variations were apparent in nutrient cycling genes, but they were in line with the functional roles of these genes. 300 samples were collected from 30 sites along the latitudinal gradient, with 10 replicates in every site
Project description:The Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus), native to estuarine areas of the Atlantic coast of the United States, has become a valuable ecotoxicological model due to its ability to acclimate to rapid environmental changes and adapt to polluted habitats. Killifish respond to rapid increases in salinity with an immediate change in gene expression, as well as long-term remodeling of the gills. Arsenic, a major environmental toxicant, was previously shown to inhibit the ability of killifish gill to respond to a rapid increase in salinity. We characterized miRNA expression in killifish gill under salinity acclimation with and without arsenic and identified a small group of highly expressed, well-conserved miRNAs as well as 16 novel miRNAs not yet identified in other organisms.
2018-12-26 | GSE118062 | GEO
Project description:Methanogens change (mcrA gene) along the salinity gradient in Pearl River Estuary
| PRJNA558283 | ENA
Project description:Methanotrophs change (pmoA gene) along the salinity gradient in Pearl River Estuary
Project description:Understanding and quantifying the effects of environmental factors influencing the variation of abundance and diversity of microbial communities was a key theme of ecology. For microbial communities, there were two factors proposed in explaining the variation in current theory, which were contemporary environmental heterogeneity and historical events. Here, we report a study to profile soil microbial structure, which infers functional roles of microbial communities, along the latitudinal gradient from the north to the south in China mainland, aiming to explore potential microbial responses to external condition, especially for global climate changes via a strategy of space-for-time substitution. Using a microarray-based metagenomics tool named GeoChip 5.0, we showed that microbial communities were distinct for most but not all of the sites. Using substantial statistical analyses, exploring the dominant factor in influencing the soil microbial communities along the latitudinal gradient. Substantial variations were apparent in nutrient cycling genes, but they were in line with the functional roles of these genes.
