scholarly journals Loss of Polycomb Protein EZH2 causes major depletion of H3K27 and H3K9 tri-methylation and developmental defects in the fungus Podospora anserina

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Carlier ◽  
R Debuchy ◽  
L Maroc ◽  
C Souaid ◽  
D Noordermeer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Silencing ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Podospora Anserina ◽  
Chromatin Modifications ◽  
Developmental Defects ◽  
Valuable Alternative ◽  
Polycomb Protein ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractSelective gene silencing is key to development. The H3K27me3 enriched heterochromatin maintains transcription repression established during early development and regulates cell fate. Conversely, H3K9me3 enriched heterochromatin prevents differentiation but constitutes a permanent protection against transposable element. We exploited the fungus Podospora anserina, a valuable alternative to higher eukaryote models to question the biological relevance and interplay of these two distinct heterochromatin conformations. We found that H3K27me3 and H3K9me3 modifications are mutually exclusive within gene-rich regions but not within repeats. Lack of PaKmt6 EZH2-like enzyme resulted in loss of H3K27me3 and in significant H3K9me3 reduction, whereas lack of PaKmt1 SU(VAR)3-9-like enzyme caused loss of H3K9me3 only. We established that P. anserina developmental programs require H3K27me3 mediated silencing unlike most fungi studied to date. Our findings provide new insight into roles of these histone marks and into the relationship between chromatin modifications and development.

scholarly journals Loss of EZH2-like or SU(VAR)3–9-like proteins causes simultaneous perturbations in H3K27 and H3K9 tri-methylation and associated developmental defects in the fungus Podospora anserina

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Carlier ◽  
M. Li ◽  
L. Maroc ◽  
R. Debuchy ◽  
C. Souaid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Podospora Anserina ◽  
Facultative Heterochromatin ◽  
Fungal Development ◽  
Developmental Defects ◽  
Valuable Alternative ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Histone Deposition ◽  
Null Mutants

Abstract Background Selective gene silencing is key to development. It is generally accepted that H3K27me3-enriched heterochromatin maintains transcriptional repression established during early development and regulates cell fate. Conversely, H3K9me3-enriched heterochromatin prevents differentiation but constitutes protection against transposable elements. We exploited the fungus Podospora anserina, a valuable alternative to higher eukaryote models, to question the biological relevance and functional interplay of these two distinct heterochromatin conformations. Results We established genome-wide patterns of H3K27me3 and H3K9me3 modifications, and found these marks mutually exclusive within gene-rich regions but not within repeats. We generated the corresponding histone methyltransferase null mutants and showed an interdependence of H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 marks. Indeed, removal of the PaKmt6 EZH2-like enzyme resulted not only in loss of H3K27me3 but also in significant H3K9me3 reduction. Similarly, removal of PaKmt1 SU(VAR)3–9-like enzyme caused loss of H3K9me3 and substantial decrease of H3K27me3. Removal of the H3K9me binding protein PaHP1 provided further support to the notion that each type of heterochromatin requires the presence of the other. We also established that P. anserina developmental programs require H3K27me3-mediated silencing, since loss of the PaKmt6 EZH2-like enzyme caused severe defects in most aspects of the life cycle including growth, differentiation processes and sexual reproduction, whereas loss of the PaKmt1 SU(VAR)3–9-like enzyme resulted only in marginal defects, similar to loss of PaHP1. Conclusions Our findings support a conserved function of the PRC2 complex in fungal development. However, we uncovered an intriguing evolutionary fluidity in the repressive histone deposition machinery, which challenges canonical definitions of constitutive and facultative heterochromatin.

Skeletal elements of crinoid echinoderms: High-resolution structural and microanalytical results

1983 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 194-195
Author(s):  
D. F. Blake ◽  
L. F. Allard ◽  
D. R. Peacor
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
High Resolution Tem ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Echinodermata is a phylum of marine invertebrates which has been extant since Cambrian time (c.a. 500 m.y. before the present). Modern examples of echinoderms include sea urchins, sea stars, and sea lilies (crinoids). The endoskeletons of echinoderms are composed of plates or ossicles (Fig. 1) which are with few exceptions, porous, single crystals of high-magnesian calcite. Despite their single crystal nature, fracture surfaces do not exhibit the near-perfect {10.4} cleavage characteristic of inorganic calcite. This paradoxical mix of biogenic and inorganic features has prompted much recent work on echinoderm skeletal crystallography. Furthermore, fossil echinoderm hard parts comprise a volumetrically significant portion of some marine limestones sequences. The ultrastructural and microchemical characterization of modern skeletal material should lend insight into: 1). The nature of the biogenic processes involved, for example, the relationship of Mg heterogeneity to morphological and structural features in modern echinoderm material, and 2). The nature of the diagenetic changes undergone by their ancient, fossilized counterparts. In this study, high resolution TEM (HRTEM), high voltage TEM (HVTEM), and STEM microanalysis are used to characterize tha ultrastructural and microchemical composition of skeletal elements of the modern crinoid Neocrinus blakei.

On Metaphysics and the Political: A Polemics of Reading Baudelaire in the 1930s

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-259
Author(s):  
Joseph Acquisto
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern Poetry ◽  
Progressive Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

This essay examines a polemic between two Baudelaire critics of the 1930s, Jean Cassou and Benjamin Fondane, which centered on the relationship of poetry to progressive politics and metaphysics. I argue that a return to Baudelaire's poetry can yield insight into what seems like an impasse in Cassou and Fondane. Baudelaire provides the possibility of realigning metaphysics and politics so that poetry has the potential to become the space in which we can begin to think the two of them together, as opposed to seeing them in unresolvable tension. Or rather, the tension that Baudelaire animates between the two allows us a new way of thinking about the role of esthetics in moments of political crisis. We can in some ways see Baudelaire as responding, avant la lettre, to two of his early twentieth-century readers who correctly perceived his work as the space that breathes a new urgency into the questions of how modern poetry relates to the world from which it springs and in which it intervenes.

The Annual Reports of the Prison Commissioners for Scotland and Religion, 1903–1931

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Cameron McKay
Keyword(s):  
Annual Report ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Individual Choice ◽  
Drinking Habits ◽  
Parental Neglect ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Causes Of Crime ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century penologists began to explore the possibility that environment and upbringing, as opposed to individual choice, were the causes criminality. The Prison Commissioners for Scotland, the devolved body who administered prisons north of the border, were not immune to this wider trend. Smith has argued that from the 1890s onwards the Commissioners began to accept that criminality was caused by social problems, namely alcoholism, but also parental neglect, poor education and poverty. In their efforts to test these new criminological theories, the Commissioners began to make more careful enquiries into the backgrounds of their charges. From 1896 to 1931 the Commissioners interviewed a sample of prisoners each year and included the findings in their annual report. Although the main focus of these interviews was on the upbringing and drinking habits of prisoners; by the 1900s the Commissioners seem to have added irreligion to the growing list of etiological causes of crime, and from 1903 onwards prisoners were asked to give details on their religious habits. Although it is debateable how much the Prison Commissioners revealed about the relationship between religion and crime, they did however provide a useful insight into the religiosity of the average prisoner.

The Relationship between Seeker and Spiritual Guide as portrayed in contemporary Western Sufi Autobiographies

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-332
Author(s):  
Kate Zebiri
Keyword(s):  
Life Writing ◽  
New Age ◽  
The Self ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Continuity And Discontinuity

This article aims to explore the Shaykh-mur?d (disciple) or teacher-pupil relationship as portrayed in Western Sufi life writing in recent decades, observing elements of continuity and discontinuity with classical Sufism. Additionally, it traces the influence on the texts of certain developments in religiosity in contemporary Western societies, especially New Age understandings of religious authority. Studying these works will provide an insight into the diversity of expressions of contemporary Sufism, while shedding light on a phenomenon which seems to fly in the face of contemporary social and religious trends which deemphasize external authority and promote the authority of the self or individual autonomy.

Empathy as moderator of gender differences in Chinese insurance agents' business ethical sensitivity

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1029-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Ethical Sensitivity ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Insurance Agents ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

To expand the business ethics research field, and to increase society's understanding of Chinese insurance agents' business ethics, we investigated how gender differences are related to agents' business ethical sensitivity and whether or not these relationships are moderated by empathy. Through a regression analysis of the factors associated with the business ethical sensitivity of 417 Chinese insurance agents, we found that gender played an important role in affecting business ethical sensitivity, and empathy significantly affected business ethical sensitivity. Furthermore, empathy had a moderating effect on the relationship between gender and business ethical sensitivity. Both men and women with strong empathy scored high on business ethical sensitivity; however, men with strong empathy had higher levels of business ethical sensitivity than did women with little empathy. The findings add to the literature by providing insight into the mechanisms responsible for the benefits of empathy in increasing business ethical sensitivity.

AI Narratives

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Intelligent Machines ◽  
Narrative History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Imaginative Thinking ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

This book is the first to examine the history of imaginative thinking about intelligent machines. As real artificial intelligence (AI) begins to touch on all aspects of our lives, this long narrative history shapes how the technology is developed, deployed, and regulated. It is therefore a crucial social and ethical issue. Part I of this book provides a historical overview from ancient Greece to the start of modernity. These chapters explore the revealing prehistory of key concerns of contemporary AI discourse, from the nature of mind and creativity to issues of power and rights, from the tension between fascination and ambivalence to investigations into artificial voices and technophobia. Part II focuses on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in which a greater density of narratives emerged alongside rapid developments in AI technology. These chapters reveal not only how AI narratives have consistently been entangled with the emergence of real robotics and AI, but also how they offer a rich source of insight into how we might live with these revolutionary machines. Through their close textual engagements, these chapters explore the relationship between imaginative narratives and contemporary debates about AI’s social, ethical, and philosophical consequences, including questions of dehumanization, automation, anthropomorphization, cybernetics, cyberpunk, immortality, slavery, and governance. The contributions, from leading humanities and social science scholars, show that narratives about AI offer a crucial epistemic site for exploring contemporary debates about these powerful new technologies.

Die klingende Ferne; Walter Braunfels’ Opera Die Vögel after Aristophanes’ Birds

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-371
Author(s):  
Michael Ewans
Keyword(s):  
Central Theme ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Greek Comedy ◽  
Human Understanding ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract This article explores the opera Die Vögel (1920) by Walter Braunfels (1882–1954), and its reception of Aristophanes' Birds. The Introduction is substantial, as the work is little known. It is followed by an Overview of each of the two Acts, which discusses in Act I the relationship to Aristophanes (Braunfels discarded the second half of the original Greek comedy and struck out on a completely new path). Then the article analyses the development during Act II of insight into die klingende Ferne (‘the music of far away') by Hopeful, who is the principal human character in Braunfels' adaptation. It is shown that Hopeful's quest for spiritual values almost beyond human understanding is the central theme of the opera; the superiority of the life of birds, which Aristophanes treats humorously in the two parabaseis, is taken seriously in Braunfels' mystical second Act.

scholarly journals Noni fruit’s water spot appearance on the second day of harvest: a trade-off between resistance and energy

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Wu ◽  
Danyan Hu ◽  
Qingfen Wang
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Morinda Citrifolia ◽  
Transcriptome Data ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Kegg Pathways ◽  
Available Energy ◽  
Climacteric Fruit ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Background Noni (Morinda citrifolia Linn.) is a tropical tree that bears climacteric fruit. Previous observations and research have shown that the second day (2 d) after harvest is the most important demarcation point when the fruit has the same appearance as the freshly picked fruit (0 d); however, they are beginning to become water spot appearance. We performed a conjoint analysis of metabolome and transcriptome data for noni fruit of 0 d and 2 d to reveal what happened to the fruit at the molecular level. Genes and metabolites were annotated to KEGG pathways and the co-annotated KEGG pathways were used as a statistical analysis. Results We found 25 pathways that were significantly altered at both metabolic and transcriptional levels, including a total of 285 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 11 differential metabolites through an integrative analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics. The energy metabolism and pathways originating from phenylalanine were disturbed the most. The upregulated resistance metabolites and genes implied the increase of resistance and energy consumption in the postharvest noni fruit. Most genes involved in glycolysis were downregulated, further limiting the available energy. This lack of energy led noni fruit to water spot appearance, a prelude to softening. The metabolites and genes related to the resistance and energy interacted and restricted each other to keep noni fruit seemingly hard within two days after harvest, but actually the softening was already unstoppable. Conclusions This study provides a new insight into the relationship between the metabolites and genes of noni fruit, as well as a foundation for further clarification of the post-ripening mechanism in noni fruit.

scholarly journals The effects of locomotion on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell fate: insight into mechanical regulation and bone formation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanxiu Sun ◽  
Yu Yuan ◽  
Wei Wu ◽  
Le Lei ◽  
Lingli Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Differentiation Potential ◽  
Stem Cell Fate ◽  
Proliferation And Differentiation ◽  
Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽  
Adipocytic Differentiation ◽  
Regulatory Effects ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Mechanical Regulation

AbstractBone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) refer to a heterogeneous population of cells with the capacity for self-renewal. BMSCs have multi-directional differentiation potential and can differentiate into chondrocytes, osteoblasts, and adipocytes under specific microenvironment or mechanical regulation. The activities of BMSCs are closely related to bone quality. Previous studies have shown that BMSCs and their lineage-differentiated progeny (for example, osteoblasts), and osteocytes are mechanosensitive in bone. Thus, a goal of this review is to discuss how these ubiquious signals arising from mechanical stimulation are perceived by BMSCs and then how the cells respond to them. Studies in recent years reported a significant effect of locomotion on the migration, proliferation and differentiation of BMSCs, thus, contributing to our bone mass. This regulation is realized by the various intersecting signaling pathways including RhoA/Rock, IFG, BMP and Wnt signalling. The mechanoresponse of BMSCs also provides guidance for maintaining bone health by taking appropriate exercises. This review will summarize the regulatory effects of locomotion/mechanical loading on BMSCs activities. Besides, a number of signalling pathways govern MSC fate towards osteogenic or adipocytic differentiation will be discussed. The understanding of mechanoresponse of BMSCs makes the foundation for translational medicine.

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