microPublication biology最新文献

Cilia are microtubule-based structures lining epithelial surfaces of many organs and play an essential role in diverse metabolic and developmental processes. Structural or functional disruptions of cilia can lead to ciliopathies affecting multiple organs. Knocking down armc3 in Schmidtea mediterranea revealed reduction in cilia length of 48.9% compared to the control, accompanied by 63.7% reduction in gliding speed. Additionally, knockdown planaria displayed abnormal cilia distribution, particularly in the anterior region. These findings suggest that ARMC3 is essential for maintaining proper motile cilia structure and function and highlight its potential relevance for understanding ciliopathies in humans.

Eleven novel cluster DJ Gordonia rubripertincta phages were isolated from soil collected in Pittsburgh, PA and Omaha, NE. The genomes of these phages have an average length of 60,185 bp and contain an average of 91 predicted genes. Genes with putative roles in structure, assembly, lysis, and nucleic acid processing were identified. Cluster DJ phages have an unusually low average G+C content (51.6%) compared to G. rubripertincta (~67%). These phages are also unusual in the organization of genes involved in lysis, the inclusion of two related major tail protein genes, and the absence of a candidate tail assembly chaperone gene.

We studied spatial changes in soil bacterial microbiome composition and diversity in a 111 acres old growth mixed hardwood forest plot in Long Island, NY. Forty soil samples were collected from four forest transects across the forest plot representing various soil features, and dominant vegetation. Three phyla account for 91% of the bacteria in the samples, Acidobacteriota (43%), Proteobacteriota (30%), and Actinobacteriota (18%). We also found 16 different classes and 33 orders. Sites dominated by black birch, Betula lenta were significant more diverse than all other sites. We also found significant differences in microbiome composition based on pH and vegetation.

Chemoreception underpins essential animal behaviors. Caenorhabditis inopinata , a close relative of C. elegans that inhabits fig syconia, provides an opportunity to test how microhabitat shapes odor preference. Using two-point chemotaxis assays, we compared these species across six volatile odorants. C. elegans showed strong attraction to all odorants, whereas C. inopinata responded only to 2,4,5-trimethylthiazole, 2-butanone, and diacetyl. In addition, C. inopinata moved more slowly under both odorant and non-odorant conditions, displayed frequent head-swinging, and rarely executed pirouette-like turns. These findings indicate divergence in odor preference and locomotory behavior, suggesting differences in chemotactic navigation associated with distinct ecological contexts.

Bacteriophage LordBart was isolated from a soil sample in Clarksville, TN using the bacterium Microbacterium foliorum. The bacteriophage has a 56,975 bp genome with 86 predicted protein-coding genes, of which 32 were assigned predicted functions. LordBart has a siphovirus morphology and is grouped with bacteriophages in cluster EF based on gene content similarity. Its genome includes eight copies of a conserved 12 bp sequence motif located upstream of predicted translational start codons of some genes of unknown functions.

Road salt application improves road safety but leads to salinization of nearby freshwater ecosystems. If populations readily adapt to their local salinity environment, then we expect to find differences in salt tolerance between populations found near vs. far from roads. We determined the salt tolerance of 10 wild strains of the freshwater microbial eukaryote Tetrahymena . We found no significant correlation between salt tolerance and road distance, suggesting that these populations are not locally adapted to their salinity environment. This result may be due to the unexpectedly high salt tolerance across lines, unknown patterns of migration between ponds, or sampling conditions.

Dye-filling has been used extensively to study the development and morphology of sensory neurons in the nematode C. elegans . Here, we report a modified dye-filling protocol that improves the robustness of amphid, phasmid, and inner labial neuron dye-filling in C. elegans , as well as in the nematode satellite model P. pacificus. Our method also allows for the consistent visualization of male specific ray sensory neurons and associated support cells in these species.

Eukaryotic elongation factor 1-alpha is among the most highly expressed genes in vertebrates. Because its transcript levels are less sensitive to perturbations than those of other housekeeping genes, the zebrafish ortholog eef1a1l1 is widely used as a reference. Here, we report absolute measurements of eef1a1l1 transcript abundance spanning the first 36 hours of zebrafish development. We find that eef1a1l1 transcripts accumulate rapidly; however, when normalized to cell number, its expression is remarkably steady. This distinguishes eef1a1l1 from developmentally regulated genes and underscores its suitability as an invariant internal control.

Dandelion seed extract exhibits potent anticancer activity in HeLa cells. HeLa viability decreased with increasing doses of DSE from 0 to 0.8 mg/mL, while HDF viability was not affected under similar conditions. DSE reduced HeLa cells' migration speed between 0-0.050 mg/mL, while no significant effect was observed in HDF cells over the same range. Both cell lines exhibited a significant decrease in cell migration speed at 0.1 mg/mL. This data suggests that DSE treatment inhibits cell migration before it significantly reduces cell viability. It points to a specific anti-migratory effect independent of viability loss.

Primary cilia, microtubule-based sensory organelles that mediate cell-cell communication, may facilitate signaling in the brain through direct physical contacts (e.g., synapse-like structures). Similarly, specialized glial cells lining the third ventricle (3V) called tanycytes signal through physical interactions and can dynamically alter their morphology in response to external stimuli and physiological changes. Here, we identify robust cilia-tanycyte contacts; we term HUGS ( H ypothalamic, U nifying G lia-cilia S tructures) and discover that these connections are disrupted in a mouse ciliopathy model ( Bbs4 ) exhibiting hypothalamic dysfunction. These data provide insight into potentially new cell-cell signaling mechanisms deployed by neuronal cilia. .