Abdominal-B is essential for proper sexually dimorphic development of the Drosophila gonad

Sexual dimorphism requires the integration of positional information in the embryo with the sex determination pathway. Homeotic genes are a major source of positional information responsible for patterning along the anterior-posterior axis in embryonic development, and are likely to play a critical role in sexual dimorphism. Here, we investigate the role of homeotic genes in the sexually dimorphic development of the gonad in Drosophila. We have found that Abdominal-B (ABD-B) is expressed in a sexually dimorphic manner in the embryonic gonad. Furthermore, Abd-B is necessary and sufficient for specification of a sexually dimorphic cell type, the male-specific somatic gonadal precursors (msSGPs). In Abd-B mutants, the msSGPs are not specified and male gonads now resemble female gonads with respect to these cells. Ectopic expression of Abd-B is sufficient to induce formation of extra msSGPs in additional segments of the embryo. Abd-B works together with abdominal-A to pattern the non-sexually dimorphic somatic gonad in both sexes, while Abd-B alone specifies the msSGPs. Our results indicate that Abd-B acts at multiple levels to regulate gonad development and that Abd-B class homeotic genes are conserved factors in establishing gonad sexual dimorphism in diverse species.     

5-benzyloxytryptamine as an antagonist of TRPM8

5-Benzyloxytryptamine 19 was found to act as an antagonist of the TRPM8 ion-channel. For example, 19 had an IC(50) of 0.34 μM when menthol was used as the stimulating agonist. Related commercially-available tryptamine derivatives showed diminished, or no antagonist activity at TRPM8. The structural similarity of 5-benzyloxytryptamine to other literature TRPM8 antagonists was noted.     

Supplementing Seed Banks to Rehabilitate Disturbed Mojave Desert Shrublands: Where Do All the Seeds Go?

Revegetation of degraded arid lands often involves supplementing impoverished seed banks and improving the seedbed, yet these approaches frequently fail. To understand these failures, we tracked the fates of seeds for six shrub species that were broadcast across two contrasting surface disturbances common to the Mojave Desert—sites compacted by concentrated vehicle use and trenched sites where topsoil and subsurface soils were mixed. We evaluated seedbed treatments that enhance soil‐seed contact (tackifier) and create surface roughness while reducing soil bulk density (harrowing). We also explored whether seed harvesting by granivores and seedling suppression by non‐native annuals influence the success of broadcast seeding in revegetating degraded shrublands. Ten weeks after treatments, seeds readily moved off of experimental plots in untreated compacted sites, but seed movements were reduced 32% by tackifier and 55% through harrowing. Harrowing promoted seedling emergence in compacted sites, particularly for the early‐colonizing species Encelia farinosa, but tackifier was largely ineffective. The inherent surface roughness of trenched sites retained three times the number of seeds than compacted sites, but soil mixing during trench development likely altered the suitability of the seedbed thus resulting in poor seedling emergence. Non‐native annuals had little influence on seed fates during our study. In contrast, the prevalence of harvester ants increased seed removal on compacted sites, whereas rodent activity influenced removal on trenched sites. Future success of broadcast seeding in arid lands depends on evaluating disturbance characteristics prior to seeding and selecting appropriate species and seasons for application.     

Identification and characterization of novel TRPV4 modulators

TRPV4, a close relative of the vanilloid receptor TRPV1, is activated by diverse modalities such as endogenous lipid ligands, hypotonicity, protein kinases and, possibly, mechanical inputs. While its multiple roles in vivo are being explored with KO mice and selective agonists, there is a dearth of selective antagonists available to examine TRPV4 function. Herein we detail the use of a focused library of commercial compounds in order to identify RN-1747 and RN-1734, a pair of structurally related small molecules endowed with TRPV4 agonist and antagonist properties, respectively. Their activities against human, rat and mouse TRPV4 were characterized using electrophysiology and intracellular calcium influx. Significantly, antagonist RN-1734 was observed to completely inhibit both ligand- and hypotonicity-activated TRPV4. In addition, RN-1734 was found to be selective for TRPV4 in a TRP selectivity panel including TRPV1, TRPV3 and TRPM8, and could thus be a valuable pharmacological probe for TRPV4 studies.     

Characterization of GmCaMK1, a member of a soybean calmodulin-binding receptor-like kinase family

Calmodulin(CaM)-regulated protein phosphorylation forms an important component of Ca²⁺ signaling in animals but is less understood in plants. We have identified a CaM-binding receptor-like kinase from soybean nodules, GmCaMK1, a homolog of Arabidopsis CRLK1. We delineated the CaM-binding domain (CaMBD) of GmCaMK1 to a 24-residue region near the C-terminus, which overlaps with the kinase domain. We have demonstrated that GmCaMK1 binds CaM with high affinity in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner. We showed that GmCaMK1 is expressed broadly across tissues and is enriched in roots and developing nodules. Finally, we examined the CaMBDs of the five-member GmCaMK family in soybean, and orthologs present across taxa.

Structured summary

MINT-8051564: AtCRLK2 (uniprotkb:Q9LFV3) binds (MI:0407) to CaM (uniprotkb:P62199) by filter binding (MI:0049)MINT-8051416: GmCaMK3 (uniprotkb:C6ZRS6) binds (MI:0407) to CaM (uniprotkb:P62199) by filter binding (MI:0049)MINT-8051258: CaM (uniprotkb:P62199) and GmCaMK1 (genbank_protein_gi:223452504) bind (MI:0407) by isothermal titration calorimetry (MI:0065)MINT-8051400: GmCaMK2 (uniprotkb: C6ZRY5) binds (MI:0407) to CaM (uniprotkb:P62199) by filter binding (MI:0049)MINT-8051242, MINT-8051295, MINT-8051313, MINT-8051327, MINT-8051341, MINT-8051355: GmCaMK1 (genbank_protein_gi:223452504) binds (MI:0407) to CaM (uniprotkb:P62199) by filter binding (MI:0049)MINT-8051467: GmCaMK4 (uniprotkb: C6TIQ0) binds (MI:0407) to CaM (uniprotkb:P62199) by filter binding (MI:0049)MINT-8051276: CaM (uniprotkb:P62199) and GmCaMK1 (genbank_protein_gi:223452504) bind (MI:0407) by comigration in non denaturing gel electrophoresis (MI:0404)MINT-8051374: CaM (uniprotkb:P62199) and GmCaMK1 (genbank_protein_gi:223452504) bind (MI:0407) by mass spectrometry studies of complexes (MI:0069)     

Sex-specific apoptosis regulates sexual dimorphism in the Drosophila embryonic gonad

Sexually dimorphic development of the gonad is essential for germ cell development and sexual reproduction. We have found that the Drosophila embryonic gonad is already sexually dimorphic at the time of initial gonad formation. Male-specific somatic gonadal precursors (msSGPs) contribute only to the testis and express a Drosophila homolog of Sox9 (Sox100B), a gene essential for testis formation in humans. The msSGPs are specified in both males and females, but are only recruited into the developing testis. In females, these cells are eliminated via programmed cell death dependent on the sex determination regulatory gene doublesex. Our work furthers the hypotheses that a conserved pathway controls gonad sexual dimorphism in diverse species and that sex-specific cell recruitment and programmed cell death are common mechanisms for creating sexual dimorphism.