Project description:The presence of DNA methylation in beetles (Coleoptera) has only been investigated with bisulfite sequencing of Tribolium castaneum, which produced no evidence of DNA methylation. Here, we used whole genome bisulfite sequencing to assay if DNA methylation was present in another beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides. We used T. castaneum as a negative control.
Project description:The general morphology of the insect head has remained relatively unchanged through more than 400 million years of evolution. Yet throughout this period this same region has also become a hotspot for evolutionary novelty, yielding structures such as the eyestalks of stalk-eyed flies or the cephalic horns of dung beetles. How novelty can be integrated within ancient complex traits without disrupting the function and formation of that trait is a foundational, yet largely unresolved question in developmental and evolutionary biology. Here, we approached this question by performing unique, head compartment specific RNAseq using the heads of Onthophagus taurus beetles, which bear impressive posterior horns in males. We sequenced the transcriptomes in horned males and hornless females from six distinct head compartments covering two major axes of patterning: anterior to posterior (AP) and medial to lateral (ML). Our results provide evidence of differential compartmentalization of the head along both AP and ML axes, and reveal striking parallels between morphological and transcriptomic complexity – that is, head regions with more complex morphologies, such as the posterior region, are more transcriptionally intricate compared to morphologically homogenous regions, such as the anterior of the head. Our findings support the hypothesis that the integration of novel traits within ancestral trait complexes may require the recruitment of additional genes and pathways into the networks instructing within and among compartment development. However, sexual dimorphism in posterior horn development was not paralleled by a corresponding sexual dimorphism in transcriptional complexity, instead hornless females exhibited approximately the same diversity of differentially expressed genes across posterior head compartments than did horn-bearing males.
2020-01-01 | GSE136677 | GEO
Project description:Maintenance and turnover of microbial communities in introduced dung beetles.
| PRJNA599403 | ENA
Project description:Using amplicon metagenomics to study diet of Madagascan dung beetles
Project description:Primary objectives: The primary objective is to investigate circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) via deep sequencing for mutation detection and by whole genome sequencing for copy number analyses before start (baseline) with regorafenib and at defined time points during administration of regorafenib for treatment efficacy in colorectal cancer patients in terms of overall survival (OS).
Primary endpoints: circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) via deep sequencing for mutation detection and by whole genome sequencing for copy number analyses before start (baseline) with regorafenib and at defined time points during administration of regorafenib for treatment efficacy in colorectal cancer patients in terms of overall survival (OS).
Project description:Giant panda are carnivorous bears which feed almost exclusively on plant biomass (i.e. bamboo). The potential contribution of its gut microbiome to lignocellulose degradation has been mostly investigated with cultivation-independent approaches. Recently, we reported on the first lab-scale cultivation of giant panda gut microbiomes and described their actual fermentation capacity. Fermentation of bamboo leaf using green dung resulted in a neutral pH, the main products being ethanol, lactate and H2. Fermentation of bamboo pith using yellow dung resulted in an acidic pH, the main product being lactate. Here, we cultivated giant panda gut microbiomes to test 1) the impact of mixed dung as inoculum; 2) the fermentation capacity of solid lignocellulose as opposed to organics-rich biofluids in the dung; 3) the artificial shift of pH from neutral to acidic on bamboo leaf fermentation. Our results indicate that i) gut microbiomes fermentation of solid lignocellulose contributes up to a maximum of 1/3 even in the presence of organics-rich biofluids; ii) alcohols are an important product of bamboo leaf fermentation at neutral pH; iii) aside hemicellulose, gut microbiomes may degrade plant cell membranes to produce glycerol; iv) pH, rather than portion of bamboo, ultimately determines fermentation profiles and gut microbiome assemblage.