Functional anatomy of the female reproductive systems of two spider crabs (Decapoda,Majoidea)

To better understand the mating systems of majoid crabs, we studied the functional anatomy of the female reproductive systems of the spider crabs Leurocyclus tuberculosus and Libinia spinosa, comparing them with those of other Majoidea. Adult females were measured and dissected, and their reproductive systems described macroscopically and histologically. In females of both species, the seminal receptacles are paired globular structures of ecto‐mesodermal origin. The mesoderm‐derived region is lined by a stratified epithelium. The anchoring, proliferative, and secretory strata are clearly recognizable . The ectoderm‐derived region is lined by a simple cylindrical epithelium underlying a cuticle that increases in thickness toward the vagina. The transition between the ectoderm and mesoderm‐derived regions is abrupt, with differences between the studied species: Li. spinosa has a “velum,” whereas Le. tuberculosus presents prominent “folds.” In both species, the position in which the oviduct is connected to the seminal receptacles is intermediate between the dorsal and ventral types previously described in other eubrachyurans. The seminal receptacles of the studied species show four different conditions, which can be distinguished macroscopically based on their shape and amount of sperm stored. We compare our data with those from other Majoidea in an attempt to determine whether the morphology of the seminal receptacles is related to different mating strategies or behaviors.     

前科迪勒拉（阿根廷）寒武─奥陶纪牙形刺和沉积演化

阿根廷前科迪勒拉区寒武─奥陶系地层发育。中晚奥陶世时,前科迪勒拉东部与中部山区为浅水陆棚相,西部山区为斜坡─盆地相。牙形刺的分布主要与平静的暖水大洋有关。寒武纪仅发现晚寒武世Ｐｒｏｃｏｎｏｄｏｎｔｕｓ带,此期间有一次海侵事件。在奥陶纪发现了牙形刺并可识别出四次海侵事件三次海退事件和二次缺氧事件。     

The Expanded mtDNA Phylogeny of the Franco-Cantabrian Region Upholds the Pre-Neolithic Genetic Substrate of Basques

The European genetic landscape has been shaped by several human migrations occurred since Paleolithic times. The accumulation of archaeological records and the concordance of different lines of genetic evidence during the last two decades have triggered an interesting debate concerning the role of ancient settlers from the Franco-Cantabrian region in the postglacial resettlement of Europe. Among the Franco-Cantabrian populations, Basques are regarded as one of the oldest and more intriguing human groups of Europe. Recent data on complete mitochondrial DNA genomes focused on macrohaplogroup R0 revealed that Basques harbor some autochthonous lineages, suggesting a genetic continuity since pre-Neolithic times. However, excluding haplogroup H, the most representative lineage of macrohaplogroup R0, the majority of maternal lineages of this area remains virtually unexplored, so that further refinement of the mtDNA phylogeny based on analyses at the highest level of resolution is crucial for a better understanding of the European prehistory. We thus explored the maternal ancestry of 548 autochthonous individuals from various Franco-Cantabrian populations and sequenced 76 mitogenomes of the most representative lineages. Interestingly, we identified three mtDNA haplogroups, U5b1f, J1c5c1 and V22, that proved to be representative of Franco-Cantabria, notably of the Basque population. The seclusion and diversity of these female genetic lineages support a local origin in the Franco-Cantabrian area during the Mesolithic of southwestern Europe, ∼10,000 years before present (YBP), with signals of expansions at ∼3,500 YBP. These findings provide robust evidence of a partial genetic continuity between contemporary autochthonous populations from the Franco-Cantabrian region, specifically the Basques, and Paleolithic/Mesolithic hunter-gatherer groups. Furthermore, our results raise the current proportion (≈15%) of the Franco-Cantabrian maternal gene pool with a putative pre-Neolithic origin to ≈35%, further supporting the notion of a predominant Paleolithic genetic substrate in extant European populations.     

Multifunctionalized CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles modulate the cellular uptake by astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in primary cultures of glial cells

The efficiency of the treatments involving CNS disorders is commonly diminished by the toxicity, reduced stability and lack of targeting of the administered neuroactive compounds. In this study, we have successfully multifunctionalized CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles by coupling the CD11b antibody and loading MP into the nanoparticles. The modification of the new antibody-conjugated nanoparticles was confirmed by S-TEM observation and (1) H NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. Cytotoxicity assays revealed that the conjugates did not affect the viability of both primary cultures of glial and microglial cells. Trace analyses of FITC-labelled nanoparticles revealed that the uptake of antibody-conjugated nanoparticles was conserved in microglial cells but significantly decreased in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Thus, this study demonstrates that antibody conjugation contributes to a modulation of the internalization of these nanocarriers by different cell types, which might be of relevance for specific targeting of CNS cell populations.     

The assessment of post-vasectomy pain in mice using behaviour and the Mouse Grimace Scale

Background

Current behaviour-based pain assessments for laboratory rodents have significant limitations. Assessment of facial expression changes, as a novel means of pain scoring, may overcome some of these limitations. The Mouse Grimace Scale appears to offer a means of assessing post-operative pain in mice that is as effective as manual behavioural-based scoring, without the limitations of such schemes. Effective assessment of post-operative pain is not only critical for animal welfare, but also the validity of science using animal models.

Methodology/Principal Findings

This study compared changes in behaviour assessed using both an automated system (“HomeCageScan”) and using manual analysis with changes in facial expressions assessed using the Mouse Grimace Scale (MGS). Mice (n = 6/group) were assessed before and after surgery (scrotal approach vasectomy) and either received saline, meloxicam or bupivacaine. Both the MGS and manual scoring of pain behaviours identified clear differences between the pre and post surgery periods and between those animals receiving analgesia (20 mg/kg meloxicam or 5 mg/kg bupivacaine) or saline post-operatively. Both of these assessments were highly correlated with those showing high MGS scores also exhibiting high frequencies of pain behaviours. Automated behavioural analysis in contrast was only able to detect differences between the pre and post surgery periods.

Conclusions

In conclusion, both the Mouse Grimace Scale and manual scoring of pain behaviours are assessing the presence of post-surgical pain, whereas automated behavioural analysis could be detecting surgical stress and/or post-surgical pain. This study suggests that the Mouse Grimace Scale could prove to be a quick and easy means of assessing post-surgical pain, and the efficacy of analgesic treatment in mice that overcomes some of the limitations of behaviour-based assessment schemes.     

Structural determination of the O-specific polysaccharide from Aeromonas hydrophila strain A19 (serogroup O:14) with S-layer

Bacteria belonging to the genus Aeromonas are Gram-negative mesophilic and essentially ubiquitous in the microbial biosphere; moreover they are considered very important pathogens in fish and responsible for a great variety of human infections.The virulence of Gram-negative bacteria is often associated with the structure of lipopolysaccharides, which consist of three regions covalently linked: the glycolipid (lipid A), the oligosaccharide region (core region) and the O-specific polysaccharide (O-chain, O-antigen).The O-chain region seems to play an important role in host-pathogen interaction. In the case of Aeromonas hydrophila the majority of pathogenic strains belongs to serogroups O:11, O:16, O:18 and O:34. In this paper, we report the complete structure of the O-chain of A. hydrophila strain A19 (serogroup O:14), a pathogenic strain isolated from European eels, which showed high virulence when tested in trout or mice. Dried cells were extracted by the PCP (phenol/chloroform/petroleum ether) method obtaining the lipopolysaccharide. After mild acid hydrolysis the lipid A was removed by centrifugation and the obtained polysaccharide was fully characterized by means of chemical analysis and one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. All the data collected are directed towards the following structure:     

Solution structure, divalent metal and DNA binding of the endonuclease domain from the replication initiation protein from porcine circovirus 2

Circoviruses are the smallest circular single-stranded DNA viruses able to replicate in mammalian cells. Essential to their replication is the replication initiator, or Rep protein that initiates the rolling circle replication (RCR) of the viral genome. Here we report the NMR solution three-dimensional structure of the endonuclease domain from the Rep protein of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), the causative agent of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome in swine. The domain comprises residues 12-112 of the full-length protein and exhibits the fold described previously for the Rep protein of the representative geminivirus tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus. The structure, however, differs significantly in some secondary structure elements that decorate the central five-stranded beta-sheet, including the replacement of a beta-hairpin by an alpha-helix in PCV2 Rep. The identification of the divalent metal binding site was accomplished by following the paramagnetic broadening of NMR amide signals upon Mn(2+) titration. The site comprises three conserved acidic residues on the exposed face of the central beta-sheet. For the 1:1 complex of the PCV2 Rep nuclease domain with a 22mer double-stranded DNA oligonucleotide chemical shift mapping allowed the identification of the DNA binding site on the protein and aided in constructing a model of the protein/DNA complex.     

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle-Mediated Intracellular Cre Protein Delivery for Maize Genome Editing via loxP Site Excision,

The delivery of proteins instead of DNA into plant cells allows for a transient presence of the protein or enzyme that can be useful for biochemical analysis or genome modifications. This may be of particular interest for genome editing, because it can avoid DNA (transgene) integration into the genome and generate precisely modified “nontransgenic” plants. In this work, we explore direct protein delivery to plant cells using mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) as carriers to deliver Cre recombinase protein into maize (Zea mays) cells. Cre protein was loaded inside the pores of gold-plated MSNs, and these particles were delivered by the biolistic method to plant cells harboring loxP sites flanking a selection gene and a reporter gene. Cre protein was released inside the cell, leading to recombination of the loxP sites and elimination of both genes. Visual selection was used to select recombination events from which fertile plants were regenerated. Up to 20% of bombarded embryos produced calli with the recombined loxP sites under our experimental conditions. This direct and reproducible technology offers an alternative for DNA-free genome-editing technologies in which MSNs can be tailored to accommodate the desired enzyme and to reach the desired tissue through the biolistic method.Introducing DNA-modifying enzymes rather than DNA-based expression cassettes is an attractive alternative for genetic engineering and genome-editing applications such as gene targeting or site-specific recombination. It offers a transient presence of the enzymes, and the process can be coordinated with high levels of enzymatic activity at the time and sites of the desired DNA recombination events. Many DNA-metabolizing enzymes (endonucleases, transposases, and topoisomerases), when delivered in an unrestrained manner, show adverse effects on cell viability. Delivery in the form of protein or RNA may help to mitigate these effects (Cui et al., 2011; Sander et al., 2011; Watanabe et al., 2012). In addition, by introducing proteins, one can avoid the need to remove the protein-encoding DNA fragments from the engineered plant genome. This may help shorten the time from laboratory to field for future improved germplasms.Site-specific recombinases such as Cre or FLP have been widely used in genetic engineering applications (Sorrell and Kolb, 2005). The 38-kD Cre enzyme specifically binds to and recombines the 34-bp loxP sequences, allowing the removal, integration, or inversion of the DNA fragment flanked by these sequences (for review, see Wang et al., 2011). There are a number of established methodologies designed to provide the Cre recombinase activity for site-specific recombination in eukaryotic cells that do not involve the delivery of DNA. These methods include lipofection (Baubonis and Sauer, 1993), microinjection of protein or mRNA (de Wit et al., 1998; Luckow et al., 2009), electroporation of protein or mRNA (Kolb and Siddell, 1996; Ponsaerts et al., 2004), or using modified microorganisms for Cre delivery to their host cells (Vergunst et al., 2000; Koshy et al., 2010). Another strategy that has been used is the incubation or injection of tissues/cell cultures with cell-permeant Cre, a modified Cre protein fused to protein transduction domains or cell-penetrating peptides (Jo et al., 2001; Will et al., 2002; Lin et al., 2004; Nolden et al., 2006).For biotechnological applications in plant sciences, protein delivery systems have been developed, including microinjection (Wymer et al., 2001), protein immobilization to gold particles (Wu et al., 2011), and protein transduction through cell-penetrating peptides (for review, see Chugh et al., 2010). The cell-penetrating peptides were shown to enable intracellular delivery of the Cre recombinase protein to rice (Oryza sativa) callus tissues (Cao et al., 2006). Nanobiotechnology is offering an attractive alternative, since nanoparticles can be precisely tailored to deliver a particular biomolecule to the cell, tissue, or organism of interest when needed (for review, see Du et al., 2012). Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are particularly suited for this purpose. These porous nanoparticles are formed by a matrix of well-ordered pores that confers high loading capacity of molecules like proteins (for review, see Popat et al., 2011). Additionally, surfaces of MSNs can be readily modified, permitting the customization of nanoparticles to particular experimental needs (for review, see Trewyn et al., 2007). In our previous studies, it was shown that MSNs can be used for the codelivery of DNA and chemicals (Torney et al., 2007) as well as DNA and proteins (Martin-Ortigosa et al., 2012a) to plant cells via biolistics. To improve MSN performance as a projectile, gold plating of MSN surfaces was performed, increasing nanoparticle density and, subsequently, the ability to pass through the plant cell wall upon bombardment (Martin-Ortigosa et al., 2012b).In this work, the Cre recombinase enzyme was loaded into the pores of gold-plated MSNs and delivered through the biolistic method to maize (Zea mays) cells containing loxP sites integrated into chromosomal DNA (Lox-corn; Fig. 1A). Lox-corn expressed the glyphosate acetyltransferase gene (gat) and the Anemonia majano cyan fluorescent protein gene (AmCyan1) flanked by loxP sites. The MSN-released Cre enzyme recombined the loxP sites, thus removing the DNA fragment flanked by these sequences. Such excisions led to the expression of a variant of Discosoma sp. red fluorescent protein gene (DsRed2) and the loss of the selectable marker gene (Fig. 1A). Visual selection was used to recover the recombination events. Subsequently, fertile maize plants were regenerated from the recombined events and DNA analyses confirmed the recombination events. To our knowledge, this is the first time that MSNs have been used for the delivery of a functional recombinase into plant tissues, leading to successful genome editing.Open in a separate windowFigure 1.A, Schematic representation of the MSN-based bombardment technology. Cre protein is loaded into the pores of gold-plated MSN (Cre-6x-MSN) and subsequently bombarded onto immature embryos of a transgenic maize line carrying a loxP construct (Lox-corn). The parental transgenic Lox-corn tissues are blue fluorescence and herbicide resistant because they harbor a cassette with the glyphosate acetyltransferase (gat) selection gene and the AmCyan1 (cyan) marker gene flanked by the loxP sites. The DsRed2 (dsred) gene for the expression of a red fluorescent protein is placed downstream of the cassette. Once Cre recombinase is released inside the cell, it performs the recombination, excising gat-AmCyan1 genes and leading to the expression of the DsRed2 gene, switching the cell fluorescence pattern from blue to red. P, Promoter; T, terminator. UBINTRF, CYANF, and DSRED2R are primers for DNA analysis. B, Transmission electron microscope image showing the typical hexagonal shape and the well-ordered pore structure of a 6x-MSN. C, Scanning electron microscope image showing gold nanoparticle deposition (white dots) in all surfaces of 6x-MSN. D, Western blot showing Cre protein loading and release dynamics from 6x-MSN. The protein loading is almost immediate, even though some protein can be detected in the buffer even after 1 h of loading. For the release, some Cre protein can be observed after 24 h of incubation. Most of the protein remains in the 6x-MSN pellet. C+, 400 ng of Cre protein; Empty, a lane with no protein loading. The bands observed in the Empty lane were the spillover from the neighboring Pellet lane, which represents Cre-loaded 6x-MSN after the release experiment resuspended in Laemmli loading buffer (see “Materials and Methods”).