ABSTRACT: Investigation of RNA viruses in biting midges in the southeast of Para, in the municipalities of Canaa dos Carajas, Curionopolis, and Maraba.
Project description:The biting behavior observed in Carpenter ants infected by the specialized fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis s.l. is an example of a complex host behavioral manipulation by parasite. Though parasitic manipulation of host behavior is generally assumed to be due to the parasite’s gene expression, few studies have set out to test this. We experimentally infected Carpenter ants to collect tissue from both parasite and host during the time period when manipulated biting behavior is experienced. Upon observation of synchronized biting, samples were collected and subjected to RNA-Seq analyses. We also sequenced and annotated the O. unilateralis s.l. genome as a reference for the fungal reads. Our mixed transcriptomics approach, together with a comparative genomics study, shows that the majority of the fungal genes that are up-regulated during manipulated biting behavior are unique to the O. unilateralis s.l. genome. This study furthermore reveals that the fungal parasite might be regulating immune- and neuronal stress responses in the host during manipulated biting, as well as impairing its chemosensory communication and causing apoptosis. Moreover, we found genes up-regulated during manipulation that putatively encode for proteins with reported effects on behavioral outputs, proteins involved in various neuropathologies, and proteins involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as alkaloids.
Project description:Gene expression in the hypothalamus and pre frontal cortex in pigs performing and receiving tail biting behaviour was compared with expression in pigs not performing or receiving tail biting
Project description:The miRNA expression profiles in one pair of hTERT-positive gastric cancer tissue and an hTERT-negative para-cancerous tissue. The para-cancerous tissue is at least 5cm away from the cancer tisse. The expression of hTERT of identified by immunohistochemistry before RNA extraction for miRNA assay.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of RNA samples from un-infected Rhesus Bone Marrow Derived Macrophages (RhBMDMs) exposed to IMDM complete media used as control were compared to RNA from RhBMDMs infected for 24 hr with 'dos' mutants of Mtb viz. MtbΔdosR, MtbΔdosS, or MtbΔdosT
Project description:The history of human settlement in Southeast Asia has been complex and involved several distinct dispersal events. Here we report the analyses of 1825 individuals from Southeast Asia including new genome-wide genotype data for 146 individuals from three Mainland Southeast Asian (Burmese, Malay and Vietnamese) and four Island Southeast Asian (Dusun, Filipino, Kankanaey and Murut) populations. While confirming the presence of previously recognized major ancestry components in the Southeast Asian population structure, we highlight the Kankanaey Igorots from the highlands of the Philippine Mountain Province as likely the closest living representatives of the source population that may have given rise to the Austronesian expansion. This conclusion rests on independent evidence from various analyses of autosomal data and uniparental markers.
Project description:This study measured the differential expression of genes from two populations of Wyeomyia smithii in the USA that differ in their propensity to bite over a geographic gradient. Population KC is a northern non-biting population from Maine; population WI is a southern low-frequency biting population from Florida. The mosquitoes were maintained at the University of Oregon under standard rearing conditions and run through two generations to minimize maternal and field effects. Selection for biting was conducted using ~14,000 individuals from the WI population. The environment and protocols used for selection were the same as for KC except biters were removed from their cage and placed into a separate “biting” cage with supplemental males from the same generation of the selected line. All hatch from the biting cage were used to generate the subsequent generations. This protocol was followed until the selected line had undergone 5 generation of selection. Through all generations of selection, including those that were not offered a host, hatch were placed on short days (LL:D=10:14) at 21°C to synchronize each generation and to miigate inadvertant direct selection on development time, generation time, or the timing of reproductive allocation. After adults of a given generation had died, their offspring were transferred to long days and reared to adulthood, as above. During experiments, all animals were in good physical condition. Animal heads were dissected then transferred into 1.5-ml microcentrifuge tubes and shock-frozen in liquid nitrogen. Samples were short-term stored at -80°C. For all experimental conditions, four independent replicates (50 heads each) were analyzed. This GEO record is for three comparisons among the three populations: (EXP1) non-biters in the base population (WI) versus biting individuals in the WI line selected for biting (WIOB) over 5 generations of selection (WI vs WIOB); (EXP2) WIOB versus northern obligate non-biters (KC); (3) WI versus KC (n=4 per treatment group for each population).