The Goals and Research of the BioEnergy Sciences Center (BESC): Developing Cost-effective and Sustainable Means of Producing Biofuels by Overcoming Biomass Recalcitrance

The mission of BioEnergy Sciences Center is to understand and overcome the recalcitrance of biomass to conversion by modifying plant cell walls with improved biocatalysts. The papers in this volume are from the plant transformation and the biomass characterization areas, and showcase the multidisciplinary and multi-institutional nature of the center.     

Nutrition has a pervasive impact on cardiac microRNA expression in isogenic mice

The complex interaction between obesity, Western-style diets, and cardiovascular disease is of increasing interest, with a growing number of children being born to obese parents with poor lifestyle choices. These offspring have themselves an increased susceptibility to obesity and subsequent cardiovascular disease in adult life, which may be ‘programmed’ by their intrauterine environment. Cardiac microRNAs (miRNAs) are affected by multiple disease states, and have also been shown to be capable of exerting a hormone-like control on whole body metabolism. Here we sought to determine the effect of prenatal exposure to maternal obesity and/or postnatal exposure to a Western diet on miRNA expression in the heart. Unbiased small RNA sequencing was carried out on cardiac tissue from young adult mice born to lean or obese mothers; offspring were weaned onto either a low-fat control diet or a high-fat Western-style diet. We found 8 cardiac miRNAs that were significantly altered in response to maternal obesity, but only when the offspring were challenged postnatally with the Western diet. In contrast, postnatal exposure to the diet alone induced significant changes to the expression of a much larger number of miRNAs (33 in offspring of lean and 46 in offspring of obese). Many of the affected miRNAs have previously been implicated in various cardiac pathologies. The pervasive cardiac miRNA changes induced by a Western diet suggest that an individual's lifestyle choices outweigh the impact of any programming effects by maternal obesity on miRNA-related cardiac health.     

Snapper rest where they see best: visually mediated choice behaviour of Australasian snapper (Chrysophrys auratus)

The sensory physiology and behaviour of many fish species are strongly affected by light. This short study demonstrates that in the Australasian snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) absolute light intensity governs visual acuity and also guides preference behaviour, with fish choosing to ‘rest where they see best’. Use of the optomotor response to test visual acuity at four light intensities (0.01, 0.05, 1 and 3 μmol s^?1 m²), showed that visual acuity (measured as directional bias) was best at a light intensity of 0.05 μmol s^?1 m² (84.9% directional bias), but weakened at the highest and lowest light intensity (41.1 and 35.3%). When provided with a choice of the same four light environments fish also spent most time in the 0.05 μmol s^?1 m² light environment, while the highest and lowest intensity light environments were usually avoided. Acclimated light intensity (that is daytime light intensity of the home aquarium) was also 0.05 μmol s^?1 m²_. By selecting an environment where visual function is optimised, C. auratus are also optimising the ability to search for prey and to detect predators. The results are discussed with reference to habitat utilisation and thoughts for trawl fishing practices.