scholarly journals The European Map Butterfly Araschnia levana as a Model to Study the Molecular Basis and Evolutionary Ecology of Seasonal Polyphenism

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Arne Baudach ◽  
Andreas Vilcinskas
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Epigenetic Regulation ◽  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Hormonal Control ◽  
Day Length ◽  
Seasonal Polyphenism ◽  
Developmental Fate ◽  
Ecological Parameters

The European map butterfly Araschnia levana is a well-known example of seasonal polyphenism. Spring and summer imagoes exhibit distinct morphological phenotypes. Key environmental factors responsible for the expression of different morphs are day length and temperature. Larval exposure to light for more than 16 h per day entails direct development and results in the adult f. prorsa summer phenotype. Less than 15.5 h per day increasingly promotes diapause and the adult f. levana spring phenotype. The phenotype depends on the timing of the release of 20-hydroxyecdysone in pupae. Release within the first days after pupation potentially inhibits the default “levana-gene-expression-profile” because pre-pupae destined for diapause or subitaneous development have unique transcriptomic programs. Moreover, multiple microRNAs and their targets are differentially regulated during the larval and pupal stages, and candidates for diapause maintenance, duration, and phenotype determination have been identified. However, the complete pathway from photoreception to timekeeping and diapause or subitaneous development remains unclear. Beside the wing polyphenism, the hormonal and epigenetic modifications of the two phenotypes also include differences in biomechanical design and immunocompetence. Here, we discuss research on the physiological and molecular basis of polyphenism in A. levana, including hormonal control, epigenetic regulation, and the effect of ecological parameters on developmental fate.

scholarly journals THE INTERACTION OF GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN THE CONTROL OF AMYLASE GENE EXPRESSION IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Genetics ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 943-954
Author(s):  
Bernhard F Benkel ◽  
Donal A Hickey
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Amylase Activity ◽  
Glucose Repression ◽  
Amylase Gene ◽  
Dietary Effects ◽  
Eukaryotic Gene ◽  
Genetic And Environmental Factors

ABSTRACT A number of previous studies have established that amylase activity can vary between Drosophila strains which are maintained under identical laboratory conditions. In addition, we have recently shown that all strains examined so far are subject to glucose repression of amylase activity. In this study, we show that the degree of glucose repression can vary between strains. Moreover, the glucose repression effect is much more pronounced in larvae than in adult flies. Our results lead to the conclusion that the strain-specific differences in activity and the dietary effects are not independent phenomena. These results have implications for the interpretation of many studies on amylase activity variation, including those experiments which have been designed to link amylase activity variations with fitness differences in nature. A question that naturally arises concerns the molecular basis for these strain-specific variations in the degree of glucose repression of this eukaryotic gene.

scholarly journals Epigenetic regulation of lateralized fetal spinal gene expression underlies hemispheric asymmetries

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Ocklenburg ◽  
Judith Schmitz ◽  
Zahra Moinfar ◽  
Dirk Moser ◽  
Rena Klose ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Epigenetic Regulation ◽  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Cpg Islands ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Human Fetuses ◽  
Hemispheric Asymmetries ◽  
Starting Point

Lateralization is a fundamental principle of nervous system organization but its molecular determinants are mostly unknown. In humans, asymmetric gene expression in the fetal cortex has been suggested as the molecular basis of handedness. However, human fetuses already show considerable asymmetries in arm movements before the motor cortex is functionally linked to the spinal cord, making it more likely that spinal gene expression asymmetries form the molecular basis of handedness. We analyzed genome-wide mRNA expression and DNA methylation in cervical and anterior thoracal spinal cord segments of five human fetuses and show development-dependent gene expression asymmetries. These gene expression asymmetries were epigenetically regulated by miRNA expression asymmetries in the TGF-β signaling pathway and lateralized methylation of CpG islands. Our findings suggest that molecular mechanisms for epigenetic regulation within the spinal cord constitute the starting point for handedness, implying a fundamental shift in our understanding of the ontogenesis of hemispheric asymmetries in humans.

scholarly journals Epigenetic Regulation of Cytokine Gene Expression in T Lymphocytes

2009 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Choong-Gu Lee ◽  
Anupama Sahoo ◽  
Sin-Hyeog Im
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
T Lymphocytes ◽  
Epigenetic Regulation ◽  
Cytokine Gene Expression ◽  
Cytokine Gene

scholarly journals Publisher Correction to: C11orf95-RELA fusion drives aberrant gene expression through the unique epigenetic regulation for ependymoma formation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuya Ozawa ◽  
Syuzo Kaneko ◽  
Frank Szulzewsky ◽  
Zhiwei Qiao ◽  
Mutsumi Takadera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Epigenetic Regulation ◽  
Aberrant Gene Expression ◽  
Aberrant Gene

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

scholarly journals Epigenetic events in medulloblastoma development

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet C. Lindsey ◽  
Jennifer A. Anderton ◽  
Meryl E. Lusher ◽  
Steven C. Clifford
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Tumor Suppressor Genes ◽  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Gene Disruption ◽  
Functional Role ◽  
Promoter Hypermethylation ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Primary Tumors ◽  
Molecular Events ◽  
Epigenetic Events

Over the last decade, the analysis of genetic defects in primary tumors has been central to the identification of molecular events and biological pathways involved in the pathogenesis of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood. Despite this, understanding of the molecular basis of the majority of cases remains poor. In recent years, the emerging field of epigenetics, which describes heritable alterations in gene expression that occur in the absence of DNA sequence changes, has forced a revision of the understanding of the mechanisms of gene disruption in cancer. Accumulating evidence indicates a significant involvement for epigenetic events in medulloblastoma development. Recent studies have identified a series of candidate tumor suppressor genes (for example, RASSF1A, CASP8, and HIC1) that are each specifically epigenetically inactivated in a large proportion (> 30%) of medulloblastomas by promoter hypermethylation, leading to the silencing of their gene expression. These findings shed new light on medulloblastoma and offer great potential for an improved understanding of its molecular pathology. The authors review the current understanding of epigenetic events in cancer and their contribution to medulloblastoma development. Their nature, origins, and functional role(s) in tumorigenesis are considered, and the authors assess the potential utility of these events as a basis for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

HORMONAL CONTROL OF GENE EXPRESSION.

1988 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. FRANKLYN ◽  
M. C. SHEPPARD
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Hormonal Control ◽  
Control Of Gene Expression
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