Project description:The English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae, is a major agricultural pest of wheat, barley and oats, and is a major vector of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) leading to reductions in grain yield. RNA-seq data from a genotype (SA3) was generated from heads and bodies, and from winged and unwinged aphids. The primary goal was to generate evidence for genome annotation, and the secondary goal was to compare expression of genes between head and body, and also between winged and unwinged aphids.
Project description:Spear-ATAC is a modified droplet-based single-cell ATAC-seq (scATAC-seq) protocol that enables simultaneous read-out of chromatin accessibility profiles and integrated sgRNA spacer sequences from thousands of individual cells at once. Spear-ATAC profiling of 104,592 cells representing 414 sgRNA knock-down populations across three experiments revealed the temporal dynamics of epigenetic responses to regulatory perturbations in cancer cells and the associations between transcription factor binding profiles, demonstrating a high-throughput method for perturbing and evaluating dynamic single-cell epigenetic states.
Project description:Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, generates multiple protein-coding, subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) from a longer genomic RNA, all bearing identical termini with poorly understood roles in regulating viral gene expression. Insulin and interferon-gamma, two host-derived, stress-related agents, and virus spike protein, induce binding of glutamyl-prolyl-tRNA synthetase (EPRS1), within an unconventional, tetra-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase complex, to the sgRNA 3'end thereby enhancing sgRNA expression. We identify an EPRS1-binding sarbecoviral pan-end activating RNA (SPEAR) element in the 3'end of viral RNAs driving agonist-induction. Translation of another co-terminal 3'end feature, ORF10, is necessary for SPEAR-mediated induction, independent of Orf10 protein expression. The SPEAR element enhances viral programmed ribosomal frameshifting, thereby expanding its functionality. By co-opting noncanonical activities of a family of essential host proteins, the virus establishes a post-transcriptional regulon stimulating global viral RNA translation. A SPEAR-targeting strategy markedly reduces SARS-CoV-2 titer and kinetics, suggesting a pan-sarbecoviral therapeutic modality.
Project description:In this study, we investigated the effects of the marine microalga Tisochrysis lutea F&M-M36 (T. lutea) on cardiometabolic components of pre-MetS induced by a high fat diet, and its underlying mechanisms.
Project description:The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, exhibits several environmentally cued polyphenisms, in which discrete, alternative phenotypes are produced. At low density parthenogenetic females produce unwinged female progeny, but at high density females produce progeny that develop with wings. These alternative phenotypes represent a solution to the competing demands of dispersal and reproduction. Males also develop as either winged or unwinged, but these alternatives are determined by a genetic polymorphism. Winged and unwinged males are morphologically less distinct from each other than winged and unwinged females, possibly because males experience fewer trade-offs between dispersal and reproduction. To assess whether shared physiological differences mirror the shared morphological differences that characterize the wing polyphenism and polymorphism, we used a cDNA microarray representing an estimated 10% of the coding genome (1734 genes) to examine differential transcript accumulation between winged and unwinged females and males. We identified several transcripts that differentially accumulate between winged and unwinged morphs in both sexes, the majority of which are involved in energy production. Unexpectedly, the extent of differential transcript accumulation between winged and unwinged morphs was greater for adult males than for adult females. Together, these results suggest not only that similar physiological differences underlie the polyphenism and polymorphism, but that male morphs, like females, are subject to trade-offs between reproduction and dispersal that are reflected in levels of transcript accumulation and possibly genome-wide patterns of gene regulation. These data also provide a baseline for future studies of the molecular and physiological basis of life history trade-offs. Keywords: Transcript levels were compared between winged and unwinged male and female pea aphids, for both nymphs and adults.
Project description:The Personalized Discovery Process is the only program offering patients treatment recommendations based on an empirically constructed Drosophila "fly" model of their disease. Special committee selects one of the one of the few 2-3 FDA approved drug combinations or single agents that improved survival in the fly cancer model.