scholarly journals Evolution of ultraviolet vision in shorebirds (Charadriiformes)

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 370-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Ödeen ◽  
Olle Håstad ◽  
Per Alström

Diurnal birds belong to one of two classes of colour vision. These are distinguished by the maximum absorbance wavelengths of the SWS1 visual pigment sensitive to violet (VS) and ultraviolet (UVS). Shifts between the classes have been rare events during avian evolution. Gulls (Laridae) are the only shorebirds (Charadriiformes) previously reported to have the UVS type of opsin, but too few species have been sampled to infer that gulls are unique among shorebirds or that Laridae is monomorphic for this trait. We have sequenced the SWS1 opsin gene in a broader sample of species. We confirm that cysteine in the key amino acid position 90, characteristic of the UVS class, has been conserved throughout gull evolution but also that the terns Anous minutus, A. tenuirostris and Gygis alba , and the skimmer Rynchops niger carry this trait. Terns, excluding Anous and Gygis , share the VS conferring serine in position 90 with other shorebirds but it is translated from a codon more similar to that found in UVS shorebirds. The most parsimonious interpretation of these findings, based on a molecular gene tree, is a single VS to UVS shift and a subsequent reversal in one lineage.

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihui Tang ◽  
Jie Ning ◽  
Xiaoyan Liu ◽  
Baoming Wu ◽  
Rongfeng Hu

<P>Introduction: Machine Learning is a useful tool for the prediction of cell-penetration compounds as drug candidates. </P><P> Materials and Methods: In this study, we developed a novel method for predicting Cell-Penetrating Peptides (CPPs) membrane penetrating capability. For this, we used orthogonal encoding to encode amino acid and each amino acid position as one variable. Then a software of IBM spss modeler and a dataset including 533 CPPs, were used for model screening. </P><P> Results: The results indicated that the machine learning model of Support Vector Machine (SVM) was suitable for predicting membrane penetrating capability. For improvement, the three CPPs with the most longer lengths were used to predict CPPs. The penetration capability can be predicted with an accuracy of close to 95%. </P><P> Conclusion: All the results indicated that by using amino acid position as a variable can be a perspective method for predicting CPPs membrane penetrating capability.</P>


10.1038/8798 ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takaaki Hayashi ◽  
Arno G. Motulsky ◽  
Samir S. Deeb

1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 3470-3480 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Moran ◽  
B Zerler ◽  
T M Harrison ◽  
M B Mathews

The transformation and early adenovirus gene transactivation functions of the E1A region were analyzed with deletion and point mutations. Deletion of amino acids from position 86 through 120 had little effect on the lytic or transforming functions of the E1A products, while deletion of amino acids from position 121 through 150 significantly impaired both functions. The sensitivity of the transformation function to alterations in the region from amino acid position 121 to 150 was further indicated by the impairment of transforming activity resulting from single amino acid substitutions at positions 124 and 135. Interestingly, conversion of a cysteine residue at position 124 to glycine severely impaired the transformation function without affecting the early adenovirus gene activating functions. Single amino acid substitutions in a different region of the E1A gene had the converse effect. All the mutants produced polypeptides of sufficient stability to be detected by Western immunoblot analysis. The single amino acid substitutions at positions 124 and 135, although impairing the transformation functions, did not detectably alter the formation of the higher-apparent-molecular-weight forms of the E1A products.


2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 1315-1321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul K. S. Chan ◽  
Shih-Jen Liu ◽  
T. H. Cheung ◽  
Winnie Yeo ◽  
S. M. Ngai ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Human papillomavirus type 58 (HPV-58) exists in a relatively high prevalence in certain parts of the world, including East Asia. This study examined the T-cell response to HPV-58 L1, E6, and E7 peptides among women with cleared infection, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) or CIN3, or invasive cervical cancer (ICC). Peptides found to be reactive in the in vitro peptide binding assay or mouse-stimulating study were tested with a gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay to detect peptide-specific responses from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) collected from 91 HPV-58-infected women (32 with cleared infection, 16 CIN2, 15 CIN3, and 28 ICC). Four HLA-A11-restricted HPV-58 L1 peptides, located at amino acid positions 296 to 304, 327 to 335, 101 to 109, and 469 to 477, showed positive IFN-γ ELISPOT results and were mainly from women with cleared infection. Two HLA-A11-restricted E6 peptides (amino acid positions 64 to 72 and 94 to 102) and three HLA-A11-restricted E7 peptides (amino acid positions 78 to 86, 74 to 82, and 88 to 96) showed a positive response. A response to E6 and E7 peptides was mainly observed from subjects with CIN2 or above. One HLA-A2-restricted E6 peptide, located at amino acid position 99 to 107, elicited a positive response in two CIN2 subjects. One HLA-A24-restricted L1 peptide, located at amino acid position 468 to 476, also elicited a positive response in two CIN2 subjects. In summary, this study has identified a few immunogenic epitopes for HPV-58 E6 and E7 proteins. It is worthwhile to further investigate whether responses to these epitopes have a role in clearing an established cervical lesion.


Author(s):  
Marisa S. McDonald ◽  
Sitara Palecanda ◽  
Jonathan H. Cohen ◽  
Megan L. Porter

Stomatopod crustaceans have among the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, with up to twelve different color detection channels. The capabilities of these unique eyes include photoreception of ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths (&lt;400 nm). UV vision has been well characterized in adult stomatopods but has not been previously demonstrated in the comparatively simpler larval eye. Larval stomatopod eyes are developmentally distinct from their adult counterpart and have been described as lacking the visual pigment diversity and morphological specializations found in adult eyes. However, recent studies have provided evidence that larval stomatopod eyes are more complex than previously thought and warrant closer investigation. Using electroretinogram recordings in live animals we found physiological evidence of blue and UV sensitive photoreceptors in larvae of the Caribbean stomatopod species Neogonodactylus oerstedii. Transcriptomes of individual larvae were used to identify the expression of three distinct UV opsins transcripts, which may indicate the presence of multiple UV spectral channels. This is the first paper to document UV vision in any larval stomatopod, expanding our understanding of the importance of UV sensitivity in plankton. Similar to adults, larval stomatopod eyes are more complex than expected and contain previously uncharacterized molecular diversity and physiological functions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiwani Limbu

AbstractKinesins of class 13 (kinesin-13s), also known as KinI family proteins, are non-motile microtubule binding kinesin proteins. Mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK), a member of KinI family protein, diffuses along the microtubule and plays a key role in microtubule depolymerization. Here we have demonstrated the role of evolutionary selection in MCAK protein coding region in regulating its dynamics associated with microtubule binding and stability. Our results indicate that evolutionary selection within MCAK motor domain at amino acid position 440 in carnivora and artiodactyla order results in significant change in the dynamics of α – helix and loop 11, indicating its likely impact on changing the microtubule binding and depolymerization process. Furthermore, evolutionary selections at amino acid position 600, 617 and 698 are likely to affect MCAK stability. A deeper understanding of evolutionary selections in MCAK can reveal the mechanism associated with change in microtubule dynamics within eutherian mammals.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (10) ◽  
pp. 685-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Chu ◽  
Minjun Yang ◽  
Zhen-Ju Song ◽  
Yan Dong ◽  
Chong Li ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe classical human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genes were the most important genetic determinant for Graves’ disease (GD). The aim of the study was to fine map causal variants of the HLA genes.MethodsWe applied imputation with a Pan-Asian HLA reference panel to thoroughly investigate themajor histocompatibility complex (MHC) associations with GD down to the amino acid level of classical HLA genes in 1468 patients with GD and 1490 controls of Han Chinese.ResultsThe strongest finding across the HLA genes was the association with HLA-DPβ1 position 205 (Pomnibus=2.48×10−33). HLA-DPA1*02:02 was the strongest association among the classical HLA alleles, which was in perfect linkage disequilibrium with HLA-DPα1 residue Met11 (OR=1.90, Pbinary=1.76×10−31). Applying stepwise conditional analysis, we identified amino acid position 205 in HLA-DPβ1, position 66 and 99 in HLA-B and position 28 in HLA-DRβ1 explain majority of the MHC association to GD risk. We further evaluated risk of two clinical subtypes of GD, namely persistent thyroid stimulating hormone receptor antibody -positive (pTRAb+) group and ‘non-persistent TRAb positive’ (pTRAb−) group after antithyroid drug therapy. We found that HLA-B residues Lys66-Arg69-Val76 could drive pTRAb− GD risk alone, while HLA-DPβ1 position 205, HLA-B position 69 and 199 and HLA-DRβ1 position 28 drive pTRAb+ GD risk. The risk heterogeneity between pTRAb+ and pTRAb− GD might be driven by HLA-DPα1 Met11.ConclusionsFour amino acid positions could account for the associations of MHC with GD in Han Chinese. These distinct HLA association patterns indicated the two subtypes have distinct molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis.


Circulation ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 116 (suppl_16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel White ◽  
Peter Carson ◽  
Inder S Anand ◽  
Stephen S Gottlieb ◽  
JoAnn Lindenfeld ◽  
...  

Introduction: Bucindolol is a nonselective beta-adrenergic blocker with potent sympatholytic properties. The Beta-blocker Evaluation of Survival Trial (BEST) reported that the administration of bucindolol resulted in a nonsignificant decrease in total mortality (HR = 0.89 (0.78, 1.02), unadjusted p=0.10) in patients with advanced, NYHA Class III-IV heart failure (HF). Recent observations from that trial also reported that the amino acid arginine (Arg/Arg) or glycine (any Gly) in position 389 of the beta-1 receptor plays a significant role on the clinical response to bucindolol. The impact of bucindolol on cardiovascular mortality and morbidity (cardiovascular hospitalizations) has been incompletely investigated, because hospitalizations had been evaluated from case report forms (CRFs) only, and never adjudicated by the endpoints committee (EPC). Methods: The BEST data base consists of 2708 patients with a mean follow-up of 2.0 years. Cardiovascular (CV) mortality and hospitalizations have now been evaluated by EPC, which further subclassified total hospitalizations into cardiovascular (CV) and those due to worsening heart failure (HF). The impacts of Arg or Gly encoded at amino acid position 389 on endpoints were further investigated in the 1040 patient substudy. Results: Time to event results for adjudicated CV endpoints are presented below. Conclusions: Chronic administration of bucindolol results in a significant reduction in cardiovascular hospitalizations and mortality. Effects on either are strikingly beta-1 389 Arg/Gly specific, with the higher functioning, Arg/Arg version of the receptor associated with large treatment effects and Gly carriers exhibiting little or no evidence of efficacy. Genetic targeting of the β 1 -ΑR 389 polymorphism may improve the clinical responses to bucindolol for CV mortality and morbidity.


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