Project description:Natural history museum specimens of historical honeybees have been successfully used to explore the genomic past of the honeybee, indicating fast and rapid changes between historical and modern specimens, possibly as a response to current challenges. In our study we explore a potential untapped archive from natural history collections - specimens of beeswax. We examine an Apis mellifera mellifera queen cell specimen from the 19th century. The intact and closed cell was analysed by X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) to reveal a perfectly preserved queen bee inside her cell. Subsequently, a micro-destructive approach was used to evaluate the possibility of protein extraction from the cell. Our results show that studies on specimens such as these provide valuable information about the past rearing of queens, their diet and development, which is relevant for understanding current honeybee behaviour. In addition we evaluate the feasibility of using historical beeswax as a biomolecular archive for ancient proteins to study honeybees.
Project description:<p>The living and dried specimens in botanical collections play an important role in society for scientific and recreational purposes, offering the opportunity to obtain both macroscopic and molecular information for individual plants, ecosystems, and environmental studies. Untargeted metabolomics is an analytical approach that permits the simultaneous study of multiple small molecules present in an organism, which allows us to statistically compare different conditions of interest. Metabolomic approaches have been used on living specimens in botanical collections, but, until now, not on historical dried material. Using the Nicotiana genus herbaceous plant (tobacco) as a case study, we propose an untargeted metabolomic study to evaluate the potential of dried historical specimens as a source of metabolomic information on the past. The metabolomic profile from polar and less-polar/apolar aqueous extracts of four modern handmade tobacco cigars (split into wrapper, binder, and filler leaves), and a set of eight late-19th to early-20th century tobacco specimens (seven tobacco leaves and one snuff powder) from the collection of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew (London, UK) were analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry. Results showed a wide range of polar and less-polar/apolar molecules which are preserved in dried botanical material, providing information optimal for metabolomic studies. The metabolomic profiles of historical dried samples were distinct enough to classify as Nicotiana tabacum or Nicotiana rustica, and showed differences based on geographic provenance or product transformation/processing. Statistical models based on the molecular data from the historical material permitted us to validate the labelling of the historical collection, which identified one possible mislabelled specimen and offered some clues as to the species of one unknown Nicotiana sample. Finally, metabolomic differences in profiles between Nicotiana tabacum and modern cigars showed that both share a large proportion of their metabolomic profile, where molecular differences could be possibly associated with both location of growth and anthropogenic transformation suffered by the plant in the last two centuries. This study demonstrates that dry botanical collections are a feasible source of information, and, if applied to a large set of individuals, conclusions may be drawn about the possible evolution and anthropogenic modification over time in plant material. The results are significant for disciplines interested in the history of plants, such as botany, history and archaeology.</p>
Project description:The molecular characterization of samples from works of art can provide valuable insights into the composition of ancient restoration materials and their conservation state. Here, we present a novel experimental protocol for the molecular characterization of a specific adhesive used in historical painting restoration, known as "glue lining pastes." Due to the high molecular complexity of these adhesives, we propose a multi-step extraction protocol to simultaneously recover and fractionate from a single microsample the three main classes of biomolecules contained in glue pastes (lipids, polysaccharides, and proteins). High-performance separation coupled with high-resolution MS techniques were applied to the isolated fractions to identify specific components. The proposed method was optimized using test specimens of various traditional glue pastes applied to canvases and successfully applied to a historical glue paste sample from the 17th-century painting "La fuga in Egitto," part of the Pagliara collection at the University Suor Orsola Benincasa (Naples, Italy). The data collected in this work provide insights into the specific recipe used for adhesive preparation, supporting artistic and historical interpretations, and contributing to a broader understanding of old restoration practices.
2024-10-17 | PXD051480 | Pride
Project description:Whole genome sequencing of historical Mexican wolf samples.
| PRJNA719803 | ENA
Project description:Assessing genotyping errors in mammalian museum study skins using high-throughput genotyping-by-sequencing
Project description:Skin specimens were derived from involved skin of 3 systemic scleroderma (SSc), 3 localized scleroderma (LSc) and 3 keloid patients. These skin samples and 3 control skins were collected and fixed in formaldehyde immediately after resections. The microRNA (miRNA) isolation from human skin tissue was performed using miRNeasy FFPE kit (Qiagen). For PCR array, miRNAs were reverse-transcribed into first strand cDNA using RT2 miRNA First Strand Kit (SABiosciences). A mixture of equal amounts of miRNAs from 3 normal skins, 3 SSc, 3 LSc or 3 keloid were prepared, and miRNA expression profile in each disease in vivo was evaluated using RT2 Profiler PCR Array. The cDNA was mixed with RT2 SYBR Green/ROX qPCR Master Mix and the mixture was added into 96-well RT2 miRNA PCR Array that includes primer pairs for 88 human miRNAs (SABiosciences). Skin specimens were derived from involved skin of 3 systemic scleroderma (SSc), 3 localized scleroderma (LSc) and 3 keloid patients. These skin samples and 3 control skins were collected and fixed in formaldehyde immediately after resections. Control donors were each matched with diseases for age, sex, and biopsy site.
Project description:Skin specimens were derived from involved skin of 3 systemic scleroderma (SSc), 3 localized scleroderma (LSc) and 3 keloid patients. These skin samples and 3 control skins were collected and fixed in formaldehyde immediately after resections. The microRNA (miRNA) isolation from human skin tissue was performed using miRNeasy FFPE kit (Qiagen). For PCR array, miRNAs were reverse-transcribed into first strand cDNA using RT2 miRNA First Strand Kit (SABiosciences). A mixture of equal amounts of miRNAs from 3 normal skins, 3 SSc, 3 LSc or 3 keloid were prepared, and miRNA expression profile in each disease in vivo was evaluated using RT2 Profiler PCR Array. The cDNA was mixed with RT2 SYBR Green/ROX qPCR Master Mix and the mixture was added into 96-well RT2 miRNA PCR Array that includes primer pairs for 88 human miRNAs (SABiosciences).
Project description:We sought to identify genes and gene signatures which correlate with progression by sampling human melanomas from nevi, primary, and metastatic tumors. The large number of samples also permits analysis within groups. Human melanoma samples were isolated from historical frozen patient specimens. RNA was extracted and run on the human Affymetrix U133A microarray chip.