Project description:Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that low folate diet (control diet with 2mg folate/kg, low folate diet with 0.3mg folate/kg) can induce intestinal tumors in BALB/c mice. In addition, we reported that C57Bl/6J mice did not form tumors under the same conditions. We used microarrays to identify the genetic differences between BALB/c and C57Bl/6J mice that promote tumorigenesis in BALB/c mice. Two groups of mice will be used in the micro-array experiment. One group will consist of four BALB/c mice and the second group will consist of four C57Bl/6 mice. Both groups have mild MTHFR deficiency (Mthfr+/-) and will receive low folate diet (0.3 mg folate/kg) for one year. RNA samples will be extracted from duodenum, the first section of the small intestine where tumors were observed in BALB/c mice. Eight Affymetrix GeneChip Mouse Gene 1.0 ST Array Chips will be used in this experiment.
Project description:Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that low folate diet (control diet with 2mg folate/kg, low folate diet with 0.3mg folate/kg) can induce intestinal tumors in BALB/c mice. We used microarrays to compare MTHFR+/+ BALB/c mice fed control diet and MTHFR+/- BALB/c mice fed low folate diet. After weaning, 4 BALB/c Mthfr +/+ mice were fed with a control diet (CD, 2mg folate/kg) and 4 BALB/c Mthfr +/- mice were fed a low folate diet (FD, 0.3mg folate/kg) for 1 year. Both diets contain succinylsulfanthiozole (1%) to prevent folate synthesis by intestine microbial biota.
Project description:PURPOSE: To provide a detailed gene expression profile of the normal postnatal mouse cornea. METHODS: Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was performed on postnatal day (PN)9 and adult mouse (6 week) total corneas. The expression of selected genes was analyzed by in situ hybridization. RESULTS: A total of 64,272 PN9 and 62,206 adult tags were sequenced. Mouse corneal transcriptomes are composed of at least 19,544 and 18,509 unique mRNAs, respectively. One third of the unique tags were expressed at both stages, whereas a third was identified exclusively in PN9 or adult corneas. Three hundred thirty-four PN9 and 339 adult tags were enriched more than fivefold over other published nonocular libraries. Abundant transcripts were associated with metabolic functions, redox activities, and barrier integrity. Three members of the Ly-6/uPAR family whose functions are unknown in the cornea constitute more than 1% of the total mRNA. Aquaporin 5, epithelial membrane protein and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) omega-1, and GST alpha-4 mRNAs were preferentially expressed in distinct corneal epithelial layers, providing new markers for stratification. More than 200 tags were differentially expressed, of which 25 mediate transcription. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to providing a detailed profile of expressed genes in the PN9 and mature mouse cornea, the present SAGE data demonstrate dynamic changes in gene expression after eye opening and provide new probes for exploring corneal epithelial cell stratification, development, and function and for exploring the intricate relationship between programmed and environmentally induced gene expression in the cornea. Keywords: other
Project description:We collected whole genome testis expression data from hybrid zone mice. We integrated GWAS mapping of testis expression traits and low testis weight to gain insight into the genetic basis of hybrid male sterility.
Project description:Genome wide expression profiling to determine the overlap of Affymetrix-signals with SOLID sequencing RNA was extracted using the Qiagen RNeasy kit following the manufacturers guidelines, arrays were prepared and hybridized following the Affymetrix protocol. Mus musculus samples from small intestine and colon, to be compared to transcript data aquired with other techniques
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.