Cellular and extracellular miRNAs are blood‐compartment‐specific diagnostic targets in sepsis

Septic shock is a common medical condition with a mortality approaching 50% where early diagnosis and treatment are of particular importance for patient survival. Novel biomarkers that serve as prompt indicators of sepsis are urgently needed. High‐throughput technologies assessing circulating microRNAs represent an important tool for biomarker identification, but the blood‐compartment specificity of these miRNAs has not yet been investigated. We characterized miRNA profiles from serum exosomes, total serum and blood cells (leukocytes, erythrocytes, platelets) of sepsis patients by next‐generation sequencing and RT‐qPCR (n = 3 × 22) and established differences in miRNA expression between blood compartments. In silico analysis was used to identify compartment‐specific signalling functions of differentially regulated miRNAs in sepsis‐relevant pathways. In septic shock, a total of 77 and 103 miRNAs were down‐ and up‐regulated, respectively. A majority of these regulated miRNAs (14 in serum, 32 in exosomes and 73 in blood cells) had not been previously associated with sepsis. We found a distinctly compartment‐specific regulation of miRNAs between sepsis patients and healthy volunteers. Blood cellular miR‐199b‐5p was identified as a potential early indicator for sepsis and septic shock. miR‐125b‐5p and miR‐26b‐5p were uniquely regulated in exosomes and serum, respectively, while one miRNA (miR‐27b‐3p) was present in all three compartments. The expression of sepsis‐associated miRNAs is compartment‐specific. Exosome‐derived miRNAs contribute significant information regarding sepsis diagnosis and survival prediction and could serve as newly identified targets for the development of novel sepsis biomarkers.     

Patient and impatient punishers of free-riders

Costly punishment of cheaters who contribute little or nothing to a cooperating group has been extensively studied, as an effective means to enforce cooperation. The prevailing view is that individuals use punishment to retaliate against transgressions of moral standards such as fairness or equity. However, there is much debate regarding the psychological underpinnings of costly punishment. Some authors suggest that costly punishment must be a product of humans'' capacity for reasoning, self-control and long-term planning, whereas others argue that it is the result of an impulsive, present-oriented emotional drive. Here, we explore the inter-temporal preferences of punishers in a multilateral cooperation game and show that both interpretations might be right, as we can identify two different types of punishment: punishment of free-riders by cooperators, which is predicted by patience (future orientation); and free-riders'' punishment of other free-riders, which is predicted by impatience (present orientation). Therefore, the picture is more complex as punishment by free-riders probably comes not from a reaction against a moral transgression, but instead from a competitive, spiteful drive. Thus, punishment grounded on morals may be related to lasting or delayed psychological incentives, whereas punishment triggered by competitive desires may be linked to short-run aspirations. These results indicate that the individual''s time horizon is relevant for the type of social behaviour she opts for. Integrating such differences in inter-temporal preferences and the social behaviour of agents might help to achieve a better understanding of how human cooperation and punishment behaviour has evolved.     

Phenological and elevational shifts of plants,animals and fungi under climate change in the European Alps

Mountain areas are biodiversity hotspots and provide a multitude of ecosystem services of irreplaceable socio-economic value. In the European Alps, air temperature has increased at a rate of about 0.36°C decade⁻¹ since 1970, leading to glacier retreat and significant snowpack reduction. Due to these rapid environmental changes, this mountainous region is undergoing marked changes in spring phenology and elevational distribution of animals, plants and fungi. Long-term monitoring in the European Alps offers an excellent natural laboratory to synthetize climate-related changes in spring phenology and elevational distribution for a large array of taxonomic groups. This review assesses the climatic changes that have occurred across the European Alps during recent decades, spring phenological changes and upslope shifts of plants, animals and fungi from evidence in published papers and previously unpublished data. Our review provides evidence that spring phenology has been shifting earlier during the past four decades and distribution ranges show an upwards trend for most of the taxonomic groups for which there are sufficient data. The first observed activity of reptiles and terrestrial insects (e.g. butterflies) in spring has shifted significantly earlier, at an average rate of −5.7 and −6.0 days decade⁻¹, respectively. By contrast, the first observed spring activity of semi-aquatic insects (e.g. dragonflies and damselflies) and amphibians, as well as the singing activity or laying dates of resident birds, show smaller non-significant trends ranging from −1.0 to +1.3 days decade⁻¹. Leaf-out and flowering of woody and herbaceous plants showed intermediate trends with mean values of −2.4 and −2.8 days decade⁻¹, respectively. Regarding species distribution, plants, animals and fungi (N = 2133 species) shifted the elevation of maximum abundance (optimum elevation) upslope at a similar pace (on average between +18 and +25 m decade⁻¹) but with substantial differences among taxa. For example, the optimum elevation shifted upward by +36.2 m decade⁻¹ for terrestrial insects and +32.7 m decade⁻¹ for woody plants, whereas it was estimated to range between −1.0 and +11 m decade⁻¹ for semi-aquatic insects, ferns, birds and wood-decaying fungi. The upper range limit (leading edge) of most species also shifted upslope with a rate clearly higher for animals (from +47 to +91 m decade⁻¹) than for plants (from +17 to +40 m decade⁻¹), except for semi-aquatic insects (−4.7 m decade⁻¹). Although regional land-use changes could partly explain some trends, the consistent upward shift found in almost all taxa all over the Alps is likely reflecting the strong warming and the receding of snow cover that has taken place across the European Alps over recent decades. However, with the possible exception of terrestrial insects, the upward shift of organisms seems currently too slow to track the pace of isotherm shifts induced by climate warming, estimated at about +62 to +71 m decade⁻¹ since 1970. In the light of these results, species interactions are likely to change over multiple trophic levels through phenological and spatial mismatches. This nascent research field deserves greater attention to allow us to anticipate structural and functional changes better at the ecosystem level.     

Reduced expression of α-tubulin genes in Arabidopsis thaliana specifically affects root growth and morphology, root hair development and root gravitropism

Different alpha-tubulin cDNA sequences fused in an antisense orientation to a CaMV 35S promoter were introduced into Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Several independent transgenic lines that showed a moderate but clear reduction of alpha-tubulin gene expression (TUA6/AS lines) were obtained and phenotypically characterized. Although no apparent abnormalities were detected in the aerial parts of TUA6/AS plants, root development was severely affected. Cells in TUA6/AS root tips were found to contain aberrant microtubular structures, to expand abnormally and to be unable to undergo regular cell division. These cellular defects caused a dramatic radial expansion of the root tip and inhibited root elongation. In addition, TUA6/AS roots displayed ectopic formation of root hairs, root hair branching and a reduced ability to respond to gravitropic challenges. Our results contribute to an improved understanding of the different roles microtubules play during root development and demonstrate that reverse genetics is a powerful tool to analyze cytoskeletal functions during plant organogenesis.     

EPB41L5 controls podocyte extracellular matrix assembly by adhesome-dependent force transmission

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Genetic attributes of midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) populations do not correlate with degree of species decline

Genetic diversity is crucial for long‐term population persistence. Population loss and subsequent reduction in migration rate among the most important processes that are expected to lead to a reduction in genetic diversity and an increase in genetic differentiation. While the theory behind this is well‐developed, empirical evidence from wild populations is inconsistent. Using microsatellite markers, we compared the genetic structure of populations of an amphibian species, the midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans), in four Swiss regions where the species has suffered variable levels of subpopulation extirpation. We also quantified the effects of several geographic factors on genetic structure and used a model selection approach to ascertain which of the variables were important for explaining genetic variation. Although subpopulation pairwise F_ST‐values were highly significant even over small geographic scales, neither any of the geographic variables nor loss of subpopulations were important factors for predicting spatial genetic structure. The absence of a signature of subpopulation loss on genetic differentiation may suggest that midwife toad subpopulations function as relatively independent units.     

Genome-Wide Identification of the TCP Transcription Factor Family in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and Their Transcriptional Responses to Dehydration and Exogenous Abscisic Acid Treatments

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is regarded as one of the important grain legumes of the Fabaceae family and being consumed in many...     

Sustained neural rhythms reveal endogenous oscillations supporting speech perception

Rhythmic sensory or electrical stimulation will produce rhythmic brain responses. These rhythmic responses are often interpreted as endogenous neural oscillations aligned (or “entrained”) to the stimulus rhythm. However, stimulus-aligned brain responses can also be explained as a sequence of evoked responses, which only appear regular due to the rhythmicity of the stimulus, without necessarily involving underlying neural oscillations. To distinguish evoked responses from true oscillatory activity, we tested whether rhythmic stimulation produces oscillatory responses which continue after the end of the stimulus. Such sustained effects provide evidence for true involvement of neural oscillations. In Experiment 1, we found that rhythmic intelligible, but not unintelligible speech produces oscillatory responses in magnetoencephalography (MEG) which outlast the stimulus at parietal sensors. In Experiment 2, we found that transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) leads to rhythmic fluctuations in speech perception outcomes after the end of electrical stimulation. We further report that the phase relation between electroencephalography (EEG) responses and rhythmic intelligible speech can predict the tACS phase that leads to most accurate speech perception. Together, we provide fundamental results for several lines of research—including neural entrainment and tACS—and reveal endogenous neural oscillations as a key underlying principle for speech perception.

Just as a child on a swing continues to move after the pushing stops, this study reveals similar entrained rhythmic echoes in brain activity after hearing speech and electrical brain stimulation; perturbation with tACS shows that these brain oscillations help listeners to understand speech.