Project description:Most migrating passerine birds undertake their long biannual voyages during the night. During these times of the year birds are in a continuous state of severe sleep restriction, yet curiously they perform as well, or better, on tests of physical and cognitive performance than during non-migrating times of the year. This inherent physiological protection, a component of the endogenous circannual program regulating this crucial life history stage, disappears when birds are forced to stay awake at other times of the year, demonstrating that these protective changes are only associated with the nocturnal migratory state. The goal of the current study was to identify the physiological mechanisms that confer protection against the usually negative consequences of sleep loss while simultaneously allowing for the increased metabolic and cardiovascular output required for migration. To that end, we performed an RNA-seq analysis of heart and Liver collected from birds at different times of day under different migratory states and analyzed these data using differential expression, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis and Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis. We identified numerous changes in gene expression networks implicating the involvement of multiple systems and pathways. These pathways regulate many aspects of metabolism, immune function, extracellular matrix wound repair, and protection of multiple organ systems in the body. Consequently, the circannual program controlling the appearance of the migratory phenotype involves the complex regulation of diverse gene networks associated with the physical demands of migration.
Project description:The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of genotypic variation on both early microbial colonization of the gut and functional development of intestinal tissue. From two genetically diverse chicken lines intestinal content samples were taken for microbiota analyzes and intestinal tissue samples were extracted for gene expression analyzes, both at three subsequent time-points (days 0, 4, and 16). 1-day-old chicks (Lines X and Y) were housed in a floor pen system in which the chicks had ad libitum access to feed and water. At days 0, 4 and 16, 80 birds of each line X and line Y were sacrificed for tissue sampling, in total 240 birds per line. Subsequently, samples from these 80 birds were pooled in 8 pools of ten birds.
Project description:We report the mRNA found in blood of photosensitive and photorefractory migratory buntings. The aim of this study was to study the effect of first long day on the mRNA makeup of blood in birds from two different seasonal states.
Project description:FLORINASH - The role of intestinal microflora in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) EU FP7-HEALTH, project number 241913<br>Florinash examined the role on the gut microbiota in NAFLD. Metagenomic, proteomic, metabolomic and transcriptomic data were integrated to give provide a systems biology approach to disease-associated studies. Liver biopsies were obtained from patients undergoing bariatric surgery; one was used to diagnose NAFLD, the other was used to examine the host transcriptome in NAFLD. This dataset is part of the TransQST collection.