Project description:This paper reports a high-resolution isotopic study of medieval horse mobility, revealing their origins and in-life mobility both regionally and internationally. The animals were found in an unusual horse cemetery site found within the City of Westminster, London, England. Enamel strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope analysis of 15 individuals provides information about likely place of birth, diet, and mobility during the first approximately 5 years of life. Results show that at least seven horses originated outside of Britain in relatively cold climates, potentially in Scandinavia or the Western Alps. Ancient DNA sexing data indicate no consistent sex-specific mobility patterning, although three of the five females came from exceptionally highly radiogenic regions. Another female with low mobility is suggested to be a sedentary broodmare. Our results provide direct and unprecedented evidence for a variety of horse movement and trading practices in the Middle Ages and highlight the importance of international trade in securing high-quality horses for medieval London elites.
Project description:We undertook gene expression microarray experiments to identify genes that are differentially expressed in invasive (Chorionic Girdle) and non-invasive (Chorion) placental tissue, and resting and Pokeweed Mitogen (PWM) stimulated horse lymphocytes. Conceptus tissues were dissected to obtain chorionic girdle, and chorion. Freshly isolated horse peripheral blood lymphocytes were split and harvested immediately, or stimulated with PWM and harvested over a five day period. These experiments utilized a commercially available Agilent horse array that featured >43,000 probes on a 4x44k array format.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE35741: Gene expression variation in horse placental and fetal tissue, and resting and stimulated horse lymphocytes [Agilent-018932] GSE35742: Gene expression variation in horse placental tissue, and resting and stimulated horse lymphocytes [Agilent-021322] Refer to individual Series
Project description:Captive rearing programs (hatcheries) are often used in conservation and management efforts for at-risk salmonid fish populations. However, hatcheries typically rear juveniles in environments that contrast starkly with natural conditions, which may lead to phenotypic and/or genetic changes that adversely affect the performance of juveniles upon their release to the wild. Environmental enrichment has been proposed as a mechanism to improve the efficacy of population restoration efforts from captive-rearing programs: in this study, we examine the influence of environmental enrichment during embryo and yolk-sac larval rearing at the level of the transcriptome in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Full siblings were reared in either a “simple” environment devoid of structure or a “complex” environment enriched with gravel substrate. At the end of endogenous feeding by juveniles, we examined patterns of gene transcription in head tissues using the cGRASP-designed Agilent 4×44K microarray. Significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) indicated that 808 genes were differentially transcribed between rearing environments and a total of 184 gene ontological (GO) terms were over- or under-represented, several of which are associated with mitosis/cell cycle and muscle and heart development. However, there were also pronounced differences among families in gene transcriptional response to rearing environment, with the number of genes significantly differentially transcribed by juveniles in our independent analyses of each family ranging from zero to 3445 (FDR of 5%). Overall, our results suggest that rearing environment enrichment can profoundly change patterns of gene transcription during salmon development, but that the degree of response depends on genetic background.
Project description:We undertook gene expression microarray experiments to identify genes that are differentially expressed in different placental and fetal tissue, and resting and Pokeweed Mitogen (PWM) stimulated horse lymphocytes. Conceptus tissues were dissected to obtain chorionic girdle, chorion, and fetal tissue. Freshly isolated horse peripheral blood lymphocytes were split and harvested immediately, or stimulated with PWM and harvested over a five day period. These experiments utilized a custom Agilent horse array designed in house that featured >14,000 probes on an 8x15k array format. Several genes were selected from the results for validation by quantitative real-time PCR. QPCR results matched the microarray results very closely.