scholarly journals Stage- and sex-specific transcriptome analyses reveal distinctive sensory gene expression patterns in a butterfly

BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Ernst ◽  
Erica L. Westerman

Abstract Background Animal behavior is largely driven by the information that animals are able to extract and process from their environment. However, the function and organization of sensory systems often change throughout ontogeny, particularly in animals that undergo indirect development. As an initial step toward investigating these ontogenetic changes at the molecular level, we characterized the sensory gene repertoire and examined the expression profiles of genes linked to vision and chemosensation in two life stages of an insect that goes through metamorphosis, the butterfly Bicyclus anynana. Results Using RNA-seq, we compared gene expression in the heads of late fifth instar larvae and newly eclosed adults that were reared under identical conditions. Over 50 % of all expressed genes were differentially expressed between the two developmental stages, with 4,036 genes upregulated in larval heads and 4,348 genes upregulated in adult heads. In larvae, upregulated vision-related genes were biased toward those involved with eye development, while phototransduction genes dominated the vision genes that were upregulated in adults. Moreover, the majority of the chemosensory genes we identified in the B. anynana genome were differentially expressed between larvae and adults, several of which share homology with genes linked to pheromone detection, host plant recognition, and foraging in other species of Lepidoptera. Conclusions These results revealed promising candidates for furthering our understanding of sensory processing and behavior in the disparate developmental stages of butterflies and other animals that undergo metamorphosis.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Ernst ◽  
Erica L. Westerman

AbstractAnimal behavior is largely driven by the information that animals are able to extract and process from their environment. However, the function and organization of sensory systems often change throughout ontogeny, particularly in animals that undergo indirect development. As an initial step toward investigating these ontogenetic changes at the molecular level, we characterized the sensory gene repertoire and examined the expression profiles of genes linked to vision and chemosensation in two life stages of an insect that undertakes a dramatic metamorphosis, the butterfly Bicyclus anynana. Using RNA-seq, we compared gene expression in the heads of late fifth instar larvae and newly-eclosed adults that were reared under identical conditions. Over 50% of all expressed genes were differentially expressed between the two developmental stages, with 4,046 genes upregulated in larval heads and 4,402 genes upregulated in adult heads. In larvae, upregulated vision-related genes were biased toward those involved with eye development, while phototransduction genes dominated the vision genes that were upregulated in adults. Moreover, the majority of the chemosensory genes we identified in the B. anynana genome were differentially expressed between larvae and adults, several of which share homology with genes linked to pheromone detection, host plant recognition, and foraging in other species of Lepidoptera. These results reveal promising candidates for furthering our understanding of sensory processing and behavior in the disparate developmental stages of butterflies and other animals that undergo metamorphosis.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliki Xanthopoulou ◽  
Javier Montero-Pau ◽  
Belén Picó ◽  
Panagiotis Boumpas ◽  
Eleni Tsaliki ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo: Cucurbitaceae) are a popular horticultural crop for which there is insufficient genomic and transcriptomic information. Gene expression atlases are crucial for the identification of genes expressed in different tissues at various plant developmental stages. Here, we present the first comprehensive gene expression atlas for a summer squash cultivar, including transcripts obtained from seeds, shoots, leaf stem, young and developed leaves, male and female flowers, fruits of seven developmental stages, as well as primary and lateral roots. Results In total, 27,868 genes and 2352 novel transcripts were annotated from these 16 tissues, with over 18,000 genes common to all tissue groups. Of these, 3812 were identified as housekeeping genes, half of which assigned to known gene ontologies. Flowers, seeds, and young fruits had the largest number of specific genes, whilst intermediate-age fruits the fewest. There also were genes that were differentially expressed in the various tissues, the male flower being the tissue with the most differentially expressed genes in pair-wise comparisons with the remaining tissues, and the leaf stem the least. The largest expression change during fruit development was early on, from female flower to fruit two days after pollination. A weighted correlation network analysis performed on the global gene expression dataset assigned 25,413 genes to 24 coexpression groups, and some of these groups exhibited strong tissue specificity. Conclusions These findings enrich our understanding about the transcriptomic events associated with summer squash development and ripening. This comprehensive gene expression atlas is expected not only to provide a global view of gene expression patterns in all major tissues in C. pepo but to also serve as a valuable resource for functional genomics and gene discovery in Cucurbitaceae.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1901
Author(s):  
Brielle Jones ◽  
Chaoyang Li ◽  
Min Sung Park ◽  
Anne Lerch ◽  
Vimal Jacob ◽  
...  

Mesenchymal stromal cells derived from the fetal placenta, composed of an amnion membrane, chorion membrane, and umbilical cord, have emerged as promising sources for regenerative medicine. Here, we used next-generation sequencing technology to comprehensively compare amniotic stromal cells (ASCs) with chorionic stromal cells (CSCs) at the molecular and signaling levels. Principal component analysis showed a clear dichotomy of gene expression profiles between ASCs and CSCs. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering confirmed that the biological repeats of ASCs and CSCs were able to respectively group together. Supervised analysis identified differentially expressed genes, such as LMO3, HOXA11, and HOXA13, and differentially expressed isoforms, such as CXCL6 and HGF. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that the GO terms of the extracellular matrix, angiogenesis, and cell adhesion were significantly enriched in CSCs. We further explored the factors associated with inflammation and angiogenesis using a multiplex assay. In comparison with ASCs, CSCs secreted higher levels of angiogenic factors, including angiogenin, VEGFA, HGF, and bFGF. The results of a tube formation assay proved that CSCs exhibited a strong angiogenic function. However, ASCs secreted two-fold more of an anti-inflammatory factor, TSG-6, than CSCs. In conclusion, our study demonstrated the differential gene expression patterns between ASCs and CSCs. CSCs have superior angiogenic potential, whereas ASCs exhibit increased anti-inflammatory properties.


2004 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Mutch ◽  
Pascale Anderle ◽  
Muriel Fiaux ◽  
Robert Mansourian ◽  
Karine Vidal ◽  
...  

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of proteins comprise a group of membrane transporters involved in the transport of a wide variety of compounds, such as xenobiotics, vitamins, lipids, amino acids, and carbohydrates. Determining their regional expression patterns along the intestinal tract will further characterize their transport functions in the gut. The mRNA expression levels of murine ABC transporters in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon were examined using the Affymetrix MuU74v2 GeneChip set. Eight ABC transporters (Abcb2, Abcb3, Abcb9, Abcc3, Abcc6, Abcd1, Abcg5, and Abcg8) displayed significant differential gene expression along the intestinal tract, as determined by two statistical models (a global error assessment model and a classic ANOVA, both with a P < 0.01). Concordance with semiquantitative real-time PCR was high. Analyzing the promoters of the differentially expressed ABC transporters did not identify common transcriptional motifs between family members or with other genes; however, the expression profile for Abcb9 was highly correlated with fibulin-1, and both genes share a common complex promoter model involving the NFκB, zinc binding protein factor (ZBPF), GC-box factors SP1/GC (SP1F), and early growth response factor (EGRF) transcription binding motifs. The cellular location of another of the differentially expressed ABC transporters, Abcc3, was examined by immunohistochemistry. Staining revealed that the protein is consistently expressed in the basolateral compartment of enterocytes along the anterior-posterior axis of the intestine. Furthermore, the intensity of the staining pattern is concordant with the expression profile. This agrees with previous findings in which the mRNA, protein, and transport function of Abcc3 were increased in the rat distal intestine. These data reveal regional differences in gene expression profiles along the intestinal tract and demonstrate that a complete understanding of intestinal ABC transporter function can only be achieved by examining the physiologically distinct regions of the gut.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Wright ◽  
Mette K. Smed ◽  
J. Lee Nelson ◽  
Jørn Olsen ◽  
Merete L. Hetland ◽  
...  

Abstract Background To evaluate our hypotheses that, when rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flares postpartum, gene expression patterns are altered compared to (a) healthy women, (b) RA women whose disease activity is low or in remission postpartum, and (c) pre-pregnancy expression profiles. Methods Twelve women with RA and five healthy women were included in this pilot study. RA disease activity and postpartum flare were assessed using the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI). Total RNA from frozen whole blood was used for RNA sequencing. Differential gene expression within the same women (within-group) over time, i.e., postpartum vs. third trimester (T3) or pre-pregnancy (T0), were examined, using a significance threshold of q < 0.05 and fold-change ≥ 2. Results Nine of the women with RA experienced a flare postpartum (RAFlare), while three had low disease activity or were in remission (RANoFlare) during that time frame. Numerous immune-related genes were differentially expressed postpartum (vs. T3) during a flare. Fold-changes in expression from T3 to postpartum were mostly comparable between the RAFlare and healthy groups. At 3 months postpartum, compared to healthy women, several genes were significantly differentially expressed only among the RAFlare women, and not among the RANoFlare women. Some of these genes were among those whose “normal” expression was significantly modulated postpartum, and the postpartum expression patterns were significantly altered during the RA flare. There were also some genes that were significantly differentially expressed in RAFlare compared to both healthy and RANoFlare women, even though their expression was not significantly modulated postpartum. Furthermore, while postpartum expression profiles were similar to those at pre-pregnancy among healthy women, significant differences were found between those time points among the RAFlare women. Conclusions The large majority of gene expression changes between T3 and 3 months postpartum among RA women who flared postpartum reflected normal postpartum changes also seen among healthy women. Nonetheless, during a postpartum flare, a set of immune-related genes showed dysregulated expression compared to healthy women and women with RA whose disease activity was low or in remission during the same time frame, while other genes demonstrated significant differences in expression compared to RA pre-pregnancy levels.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 165
Author(s):  
X. S. Cui ◽  
X. Y. Li ◽  
T. Kim ◽  
N.-H. Kim

Trichostatin A (TSA) is an inhibitor of histone deacetylase and is able to alter gene expression patterns by interfering with the removal of acetyl groups from histones. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of TSA treatment on the development and gene expression patterns of mouse zygotes developing in vitro. The addition of 100 nm TSA to the culture medium did not affect the cleavage of mouse embryos (TSA treatment, 148/150 (99%) v. control, 107/107 (100%)); however, embryos that were treated with TSA arrested at the 2-cell stage (145/148, 98%). We estimated the number of nuclei in control and TSA-treated embryos by propidium iodide staining, taking into account the presence of any cells with two or more nuclei. At 62–63 h post-hCG stimulation, control zygotes had developed to the 4-cell stage and exhibited one nucleus in each blastomere, indicative of normal development. In contrast, we observed tetraploid nuclei in at least one blastomere in 20.8% (11/53) of the embryos that had been treated with TSA. At 28–29 h post-hCG stimulation (metaphase of the 1-cell stage), there was no difference in the mitotic index (as determined by analyzing the microtubule configuration) in the TSA group compared to the control group. At the 2-cell stage, however, we did not observe mitotic spindles and metaphase chromatin in embryos in the TSA treatment group compared to the controls. Interestingly, when embryos were cultured in TSA-free medium from 35 h post-hCG stimulation (S- or early G2-phase of the 2-cell stage) onward, almost all of them (47/50) developed to the blastocyst stage. In contrast, when embryos were cultured in TSA-free medium from 42 h post-hCG stimulation (middle G2-phase of the 2-cell stage) onward, they did not develop to the 4-cell stage. We used Illumina microarray technology to analyze the gene expression profiles in control and TSA-treated late 2-cell-stage embryos. Applied Biosystems Expression System software was used to extract assay signals and assay signal-to-noise ratio values from the microarray images. Our data showed that 897 genes were significantly (P < 0.05; 2-sample t-test) up- or down-regulated by TSA treatment compared to controls. Analysis using the PANTHER classification system (https://panther.appliedbiosystems.com) revealed that the 575 genes that were differentially expressed in the TSA group compared to the control were classified as being associated with putative biological processes or molecular function. Overall, in terms of putative biological processes, more nucleoside, nucleotide, and nucleic acid metabolism, protein metabolism and modification, signal transduction, developmental process, and cell cycle genes were differentially expressed between the TSA and control groups. In terms of putative molecular function, more nucleic acid-binding transcription factor and transferase genes were differentially expressed between the groups. The results collectively suggest that inhibition of histone acetylation in mouse embryos affects gene expression profiles at the time of zygotic genome activation, and this subsequently affects further development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoming Gong ◽  
Lewis Rubin

Abstract Objectives Carotenoid/retinoids status and metabolism are essential for normal placental and fetal development. Both deficiencies and excess of retinoids and some carotenoids are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preeclampsia and preterm birth. A group of important genes involved in regulating carotenoid/retinoid metabolism and maternal to fetal transfer in human placenta. The objective of this study is to analyze (a) the expression of genes critical for regulating carotenoid/retinoid metabolism and maternal-fetal transport in human trophoblasts and (b) placental transcriptional profiles of these pathways in response to carotenoid exposure. Methods Human cytotrophoblasts (CTBs) were isolated from term placentas. CTB RNA was used to analyze the expression of genes involved in carotenoid/retinoid metabolism and pathways by qRT-PCT. First trimester-like trophoblasts (HTR-8/SVneo) were treated with either β-carotene or lycopene. RNAs were isolated and gene expression were analyzed by DNA microarrays. Results Human CTBs express retinoid metabolism and pathways-related genes, including Stra6, Lrat, Rdh5, Rdh10, Aldh1a1, Aldh1a2, Aldh1a3, Aldh8a1, Cyp26a1, and Cyp26b1, but not carotenoid metabolism genes, BCO1 and BCO2. Microarray analysis of placental gene expression profile revealed a total of 872 and 756 differentially expressed genes, respectively, compared to the control. Gene set enrichment analysis and functional annotation clustering was performed to characterize the genes differentially expressed in either β-carotene or lycopene-treated HTR-8/SVneo cells. Many known retinoid metabolism related genes and genes involved in regulation of retinoid signaling were found, and the expression profiles of these genes were markedly different in response to β-carotene treatments. Finally, the qRT-PCR and microarray analysis results showed similar gene expression patterns of carotenoid/retinoid metabolism and pathways. Conclusions These findings suggest that placental expression of genes involved in retinoid metabolism and transport in trophoblasts is critical for regulating retinoid homeostasis during placental and fetal development. Carotenoid exposure in early placental development, significantly modify the placenta gene expression related to retinoid pathways and maternal to fetal transfer. Funding Sources NIH HD421174.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 3020-3020
Author(s):  
Alicia Báez ◽  
Beatriz Martin-Antonio ◽  
Concepción Prats-Martín ◽  
Isabel Álvarez-Laderas ◽  
María Victoria Barbado ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3020 Introduction: Hematopoietic progenitors cells (HPCs) used in allogenic transplantation (allo-HSCT) may have different biological properties depending on their source of origin: mobilized peripheral blood (PB), bone marrow (BM) or umbilical cord (UC), which may be reflected in miRNAs or gene expression. The identification of different patterns of expression could have clinical implications. The aim of this study was to determine differences in miRNAs and gene expression patterns in the different sources of HPCs used in allo-HSCT. Materials and Method: CD34 + cells were isolated by immunomagnetic separation and sorting from 5 healthy donors per type of source: UC, BM and PB mobilized with G-CSF. A pool of samples from PB not mobilized was used as reference group. We analyzed the expression of 375 miRNAs using TaqMan MicroRNA Arrays Human v2.0 (Applied Biosystems), and gene expression using Whole Human Genome Oligo microarray kit 4×44K (Agilent). The expression levels of genes and miRNAs were obtained by the 2-ΔΔCTmethod. From expression data hierarchical clustering was performed using the Euclidean distance. To identify genes and miRNAs differentially expressed between the different sources of HPCs statistical Kruskal Wallis test was applied. All analysis were performed using the Multiexperiment Viewer 4.7.1. The function of the miRNAs and genes of interest was determined from the various databases available online (TAM database, Gene Ontology and TargetScan Human). Results: Forty-two miRNAs differentially expressed between the different sources were identified. As compared to BM or UC, in mobilized PB most miRNAs were overexpressed, including the miRNA family of miR515, which is characteristic of embryonic stem cells. On the other hand, 47 genes differentially expressed between the different sources were identified. Interestingly, a similar pattern of expression was observed between movilized PB and UC as compared to BM. Interestingly, 13 of these genes are targets of the miRNAs also identified in this study, which suggests that their expression might be regulated by these miRNAs. Conclusion: There are significant differences in miRNAs and gene expression levels between the different sources of HPCs Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Peng ◽  
Huiqin Ma ◽  
Shangwu Chen

Lycium ruthenicum Murr., which belongs to the family Solanaceae, is a resource plant for Chinese traditional medicine and nutraceutical foods. In this study, RNA sequencing was applied to obtain raw reads of L. ruthenicum fruit at different stages of ripening, and a de novo assembly of its sequence was performed. Approximately 52.45 million 100-bp paired-end raw reads were generated from the samples by deep RNA-seq analysis. These short reads were assembled to obtain 164814 contigs, and the contigs were assembled into 84968 non-redundant unigenes using the Trinity method. Assembled sequences were annotated with gene descriptions, gene ontology, clusters of orthologous group and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes)pathway terms. Digital gene expression analysis was applied to compare gene-expression patterns at different fruit developmental stages. These results contribute to existing sequence resources for Lycium spp. during the fruit-ripening stages, which is valuable for further functional studies of genes involved in L. ruthenicum fruit nutraceutical quality.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinjian Li ◽  
Xuelei Han ◽  
Caixia Sun ◽  
Gaiying Li ◽  
Kejun Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Epidemic diseases cause great economic loss in pig farms each year, some of which are characterized mainly in spleen. Yorkshire pig is the most popular used first dam in the commercial pork production system. But the mRNA and lncRNA expression networks in developing Yorkshire pig spleens remain obscure. Results: Here, we profiled the systematic characters of mRNA and lncRNA repertoires in three groups of spleens from nine Yorkshire pigs, each three aged at 7 days, 90 days and 180 days. By using a precise mRNA and lncRNA identification pipeline, we identified 19,647 genes and 219 known and 3,219 putative lncRNA transcripts, 1,729 genes and 64 lncRNAs therein were found to express differentially in three groups. Gene expression characteristics of genes and lncRNAs were found to be basically fixed before 90 days after birth. Enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes and potential target genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs both displayed crucial roles of up-regulation in immune activation and hematopoiesis and down-regulation in cell replication and division in 90 and 180 days compared to 7 days. The unregulated terms and their significance levels in 90 and 180 days both showed an extremely high degree of consistency. ENSSSCT00000001325 was the only lncRNA transcript that existed in three groups. CDK1, PCNA and PLK were detected to be hub genes that varied with age. BNIP3L, IL5, CD38 and TGFβ1 were found to be common top regulators from 7 to 90 and 180 days while ERAP1, NLRC5 and IL2RG were top regulators from 90 to 180 days.Conclusions: This study provided the first mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles in Yorkshire spleens at three developmental stages. We established gene expression modules and networks in the spleen of pigs from immune system initiation to adulthood. Our results are helpful for the study of transcriptome and functional genomics of spleen tissue in farm animals.


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