Article
Microbiology
Crystal S. Vincent, Esteban Beckwith, Carolina Simoes da Silva, William Pearson, Katrin Kierdorf, Giorgio Gilestro, Marc Dionne
Summary: Host behavioural changes are a common response to infection, including increased physical activity. Different mechanisms may drive the increased activity in different bacterial infections, some requiring immune response and others being independent of known immune detection pathways. This increased activity could be an important aspect of the host response.
Article
Biology
Andrew D. Sweet, Kevin P. Johnson, Stephen L. Cameron
Summary: The fragmentation of mitochondrial genomes in parasitic lice has evolved multiple times and is highly variable, showing associations with relaxed selection and lower AT% composition. These findings provide important insights into mitochondrial evolution.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yuxue Gao, Zhaoliang Shan, Chunhua Jian, Ying Wang, Xia Yao, Shengnan Li, Xiuxiu Ti, Guochun Zhao, Chen Liu, Qing Zhang
Summary: Hedgehog signaling mediated by Ci/Gli plays a key role in development and homeostasis, and dysregulation can lead to human disorders. Cofactors of Ci/Gli that affect tumorigenesis are not well understood. Through genetic screening in Drosophila, the researchers found that overexpression of active Ci alone is not sufficient to generate a tumor-like phenotype, but when combined with knockdown of hib, it leads to a striking tumor-like big eye phenotype. Mechanistically, HIB/SPOP inhibits tumorigenesis by modulating the stability of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) components. Additionally, Ci/Gli can promote HIB/SPOP-mediated degradation of Rpb7/Rpb3. The results indicate the importance of Ci/Gli and suitable RNAPII interaction in achieving the tumor-like eye phenotype and highlight the dual role of HIB/SPOP in controlling tumorigenesis.
Article
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Ryan J. Pewowaruk, Amy J. Hein, Kristin M. Hansen, Jill N. Barnes, Naomi C. Chesler, Claudia E. Korcarz, Adam D. Gepner
Summary: This study found that exercise increases arterial stiffness in older individuals, independently of blood pressure. The increase in arterial stiffness is associated with an increase in postexercise systolic blood pressure, which could contribute to exercise-induced hypertension in older adults.
JOURNAL OF HYPERTENSION
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Minyoung So, Johnny Stiban, Grzegorz L. Ciesielski, Stacy L. Hovde, Laurie S. Kaguni
Summary: Recent evidence indicates that iron-sulfur clusters in DNA replicative proteins sense DNA-mediated charge transfer to regulate nuclear DNA replication. The presence of an ISC and a metal cofactor in the Dm mtDNA helicase was confirmed, with the NTD also playing a role in membrane binding. The NTD binds to liposomes mimicking phospholipid membranes through electrostatic interactions, with a higher specificity as cardiolipin content increases.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Eugenio Lopez-Cortegano, Rory J. Craig, Jobran Chebib, Eniolaye J. Balogun, Peter D. Keightley
Summary: Genetic variation arises from different types of spontaneous mutations, including single-nucleotide substitutions, indels, and structural changes. Structural mutations (SMs) are important in genome evolution and have roles in evolutionary adaptation, speciation, and genetic diseases like cancer. In this study, long-read sequencing was used to determine the full mutation spectrum in mutation accumulation (MA) lines of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The rate and spectrum of SMs were found to vary between strains, with a substantial proportion of mutations being SMs. Different strains also showed variation in the types of SMs, which were associated with the presence of active transposable elements (TEs). This study highlights the significant role of different types of SMs and TEs in evolution.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Marco Fumasoni, Andrew W. Murray
Summary: The study explores how genomic features influence the evolutionary adaptation to DNA replication stress in budding yeast. Despite differences in selected genes among strains, adaptation targets three common functional modules: DNA replication, the DNA damage checkpoint, and chromosome cohesion. This suggests a conserved evolutionary response to genetic perturbations across different genomic features.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lea Marie, Lorraine S. Symington
Summary: This study reveals the recombination mechanism of repeated sequences under replication stress and proposes a model for generating chromosome rearrangements.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Adam Sturm, Himani Sharma, Ferenc Bodnar, Maryam Aslam, Tibor Kovacs, Akos Nemeth, Bernadette Hotzi, Viktor Billes, Timea Sigmond, Kitti Tatrai, Balazs Egyed, Blanka Teglas-Huszar, Gitta Schlosser, Nikolaos Charmpilas, Christina Ploumi, Andras Perczel, Nektarios Tavernarakis, Tibor Vellai
Summary: Researchers present a reliable PCR-based method to accurately determine the levels of 6mA in mtDNA of Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, and dogs, and show that these levels increase with age. Furthermore, mutant worms with defective insulin/IGF-1 signaling display a slower rate of 6mA accumulation in mtDNA compared to normal values.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)