Hormone homeostasis and induction of the small-fruit phenotype in ‘Hass’ avocado

Plant hormones play an important regulatory role in growth and development of fleshy fruits and often these are synthesized in a sequence that is tissue- and/or fruit-specific. Previous studies using Hass avocado and its small-fruit phenotype as a model demonstrated a relationship between the cytokinin/abscisic acid ration and final fruit size. More detailed studies revealed that differential activity of molybdenum-cofactor-containing enzymes was in part responsible for the observed increase in abscisic acid in small Hass fruit and that the same suite of enzymes likely impacted levels of indole-3-acetic acid. The present study confirms that the inability of the seed to produce/accumulate indole-3-acetic acid is a major contributing factor and characteristic of fruit that display a small-fruit phenotype, that reduced indole-3-acetic acid levels occur concomitant with increased abscisic acid, and that cytokinin metabolism appears unchanged irrespective of fruit size. Results are discussed in relation to the role of molybdenum-cofactor-requiring enzymes in indole-3-acetic acid and abscisic acid metabolism.     

Uncover Genetic Interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans by RNA Interference

RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) has emerged recently as one of the most powerful functional genomics tools. RNAi has been particularly effective in the nematode worm C. elegans where RNAi has been used to analyse the loss-of-function phenotypes of almost all predicted genes. In this review, we illustrate how RNAi has been used to analyse gene function in C. elegans as well as pointing to some future directions for using RNAi to examine genetic interactions in a systematic manner.     

Platelet-rich plasma provides nucleus for mineralization in cultures of partially differentiated periodontal ligament cells

Summary Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used to promote periodontal regeneration following the premise that constituent transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and platelet-derived growth factor-AB will stimulate cell proliferation at the site of application. In previous studies, we demonstrated that PRP mimics TGF-β1 to modulate proliferation in a cell type-specific manner, that fibrin clot formation by PRP upregulates type I collagen, and that an unidentified factor(s) in PRP increases alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in human periodontal ligament (PDL) cell cultures. We have now examined the effects of PRP on in vitro mineralization. Platelet-rich plasma and PDL cells were prepared from human adult volunteers or rats. After 20 d of continuous treatment with PRP in dexamethazone (Dex)-containing osteogenic medium, PRP time dependently promoted mineralization by rat PDL cells but failed to fully induce the osteoblastic phenotype. Furthermore, when human PDL cells were induced to increase ALP activity in osteogenic medium that lacked Dex, a condition that should delay (or suppress) osteoblastic differentiation, transmission electron microscopy revealed that mineralized spicules were initially deposited onto PRP-derived platelet aggregates. Taken together with our previous data, these findings suggest that PRP provides platelet aggregates as nuclei to initiate mineralization while stimulating PDL cell proliferation, differentiation, and collagen production. The combination of these effects may effectively mediate PRP's ability to promote regeneration of periodontal tissue, including skeletal tissue, at the site of injury.     

Female mate-choice behavior and sympatric speciation

Many models have investigated how the process of speciation may occur in sympatry. In these models, individuals are either asexual or mate choice is determined by very simple rules. Females, for example, may be assumed either to compare their phenotype to that of a potential mate, preferring to mate with similar males (phenotype matching), or to possess preference genes that determine which male phenotype they prefer. These rules often do not reflect the mate-choice rules found in empirical studies. In this paper, we compare these two modes of female choice with various types of sexual imprinting. We examine the efficacy of different mate-choice behavior in causing divergence in male traits under simple deterministic one-locus population genetic models as well as under polygenic, individual-based simulations based on the models of Dieckmann and Doebeli (1999). We find that the inheritance mechanism of mate choice can have a large effect on the ease of sympatric speciation. When females imprint on their mothers, the result of the model is similar to phenotype matching, where speciation can occur fairly easily. When females imprint on their fathers or imprint obliquely, speciation becomes considerably less likely. Finally, when females rely on preference genes, male trait evolution occurs easily, but the correlation between trait and preference can be weak, and interpreting these results as speciation may be suspect.     

Plant genetic determinants of arthropod community structure and diversity

To test the hypothesis that genes have extended phenotypes on the community, we quantified how genetic differences among cottonwoods affect the diversity, abundance, and composition of the dependent arthropod community. Over two years, five major patterns were observed in both field and common-garden studies that focused on two species of cottonwoods and their naturally occurring F1 and backcross hybrids (collectively referred to as four different cross types). We did not find overall significant differences in arthropod species richness or abundance among cottonwood cross types. We found significant differences in arthropod community composition among all cross types except backcross and narrowleaf cottonwoods. Thus, even though we found similar richness among cross types, the species that composed the community were significantly different. Using vector analysis, we found that the shift in arthropod community composition was correlated with percent Fremont alleles in the host plant, which suggests that the arthropod community responds to the underlying genetic differences among trees. We found 13 arthropod species representing different trophic levels that were significant indicators of the four different cross types. Even though arthropod communities changed in species composition from one year to the next, the overall patterns of community differences remained remarkably stable, suggesting that the genetic differences among cross types exert a strong organizing influence on the arthropod community. Together, these results support the extended phenotype concept. Few studies have observationally and experimentally shown that entire arthropod communities can be structured by genetic differences in their host plants. These findings contribute to the developing field of community genetics and suggest a strategy for conserving arthropod diversity by promoting genetic diversity in their host plants.     

Re-analysis of data and its integration

To understand a biological process it is clear that a single approach will not be sufficient, just like a single measurement on a protein--such as its expression level--does not describe protein function. Using reference sets of proteins as benchmarks different approaches can be scaled and integrated. Here, we demonstrate the power of data re-analysis and integration by applying it in a case study to data from deletion phenotype screens and mRNA expression profiling.     

Isolation of a fluffy mutant of Aspergillus niger from chemostat culture and its potential use as a morphologically stable host for protein production

Chemostat cultivation of Aspergillus niger and other filamentous fungi is often hindered by the spontaneous appearance of morphologic mutants. Using the Variomixing bioreactor and applying different chemostat conditions we tried to optimize morphologic stability in both ammonium- and glucose-limited cultures. In most cultivations mutants with fluffy (aconidial) morphology became dominant. From an ammonium-limited culture, a fluffy mutant was isolated and genetically characterized using the parasexual cycle. The mutant contained a single morphological mutation, causing an increased colony radial growth rate. The fluffy mutant was subjected to transformation and finally conidiospores from a forced heterokaryon were shown to be a proper inoculum for fluffy strain cultivation.     

SEQUENTIAL FEMALE ASSESSMENT DRIVES COMPLEX SEXUAL SELECTION ON BOWER SHAPE IN A CICHLID FISH

In many animals, sexual selection on male traits results from female mate choice decisions made during a sequence of courtship behaviors. We use a bower‐building cichlid fish, Nyassachromis cf. microcephalus, to show how applying standard selection analysis to data on sequential female assessment provides new insights into sexual selection by mate choice. We first show that the cumulative selection differentials confirm previous results suggesting female choice favors males holding large volcano‐shaped sand bowers. The sequential assessment analysis reveals these cumulative differentials are the result of selection acting on different bower dimensions during the courtship sequence; females choose to follow males courting from tall bowers, but choose to engage in premating circling with males holding bowers with large diameter platforms. The approach we present extends standard selection analysis by partitioning the variances of increasingly accurate estimates of male reproductive fitness and is applicable to systems in which sequential female assessment drives sexual selection on male traits.