Vertical transmission of tissue microbiota in Caenorhabditis elegans

The past forty-five years has witnessed Caenorhabditis elegans as the most significant model animal in life science since its discovery seventy years ago1,2, as it introduced principles of gene regulated organ development, and RNA interference into biology3-5. Meanwhile, it has become one of the lab animals in gut microbiota studies as these symbionts contribute significantly to many aspects in host biology6,7. Meanwhile, the origin of gut microbiota remains debatable in human8- 11, and has not been investigated in other model animals. Here we show that the symbiont bacteria in C. elegans not only vertically transmit from the parent generation to the next, but also distributes in the worm tissues parallel with its development. We found that bacteria can enter into the embryos of C. elegans, a step associated with vitellogenin, and passed to the next generation. These vertically transmitted bacteria share global similarity, and bacterial distribution in worm tissues changes as they grow at different life stages. Antibiotic treatment of worms increased their vulnerability against pathogenic bacteria, and replenishment of tissue microbiota restored their immunity. These results not only offered a molecular basis of vertical transmission of bacteria in C. elegans, but also signal a new era for the mixed tissue cell-bacteria multi-species organism study.

Exploring the Effects of E-Cigarettes using Drosophila Melanogaster

Although the number of vaping-related deaths in the US is rising, the specific cause remains unidentified. Therefore, determining what long-term effects vegetable glycerin (VG) and propylene glycol (PG), the main non-nicotine components in e-cigarettes, may have is crucial. Discovering that these components are harmful when tested on fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), a model organism, may suggest similar effects in humans. In this study, the number of offspring, changes in behavior, and phenotypic mutations in fruit flies were observed for the parent, F1, and F2 generations after the parent generation was exposed to one of four treatments of aerosolized solution. These included a 50% PG/50% VG, a 30% PG/70% VG, a 70% PG/30% VG, or no solution (control) using a nebulizer for 18 seconds each day, for two days. It was found that each experimental group had fewer offspring than the control. A two-sample T-test (α = 0.05) was used to find that the size of the flies in the F1 generation was statistically significantly smaller in ⅔ of the experimental groups when compared to the control. Furthermore, it was observed using a two-proportion Z-test (α = 0.05) that ⅔ of experimental groups in the parent generation, and all F1 experimental groups were statistically significantly more likely to develop at least one phenotypic mutation than the control. Additionally statistically significant changes were seen in activity patterns and reflex immediately after exposure. Overall, it is probable that exposure to aerosolized VG and PG is a major problem. Although the number of vaping-related deaths in the US is rising, the specific cause remains unidentified. Therefore, determining what long-term effects vegetable glycerin (VG) and propylene glycol (PG), the main non-nicotine components in e-cigarettes, may have is crucial. Discovering that these components are harmful when tested on fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), a model organism, may suggest similar effects in humans. In this study, the number of offspring, changes in behavior, and phenotypic mutations in fruit flies were observed for the parent, F1, and F2 generations after the parent generation were exposed to one of four treatments of aerosolized solution. These included a 50% PG/50% VG, a 30% PG/70% VG, a 70% PG/30% VG, or no solution (control) using a nebulizer for 18 seconds each day, for two days. It was found that each experimental group had fewer offspring than the control. A two-sample T-test (α = 0.05) was used to find that the size of the flies in the F1 generation was statistically significantly smaller in ⅔ of the experimental groups when compared to the control. Furthermore, it was observed using a two-proportion Z-test (α = 0.05) that ⅔ of experimental groups in the parent generation, and all F1 experimental groups were statistically significantly more likely to develop at least one phenotypic mutation than the control. Additionally statistically significant changes were seen in activity patterns and reflex immediately after exposure. Overall, it is probable that exposure to aerosolized VG and PG is a major problem.

The Impact of Personality Pathology Across Three Generations: Evidence From the St. Louis Personality and Intergenerational Network Study

Personality disorder (PD) symptoms in a parent generation may confer risk for problems in future generations, but intergenerational transmission has not been studied beyond parent–child effects. We examined the generational transfer of risk associated with PDs using structural models of grandparent personality pathology and grandchild psychopathology among 180 adults (mean age = 66.9 years), 218 of their children (mean age = 41.2 years), and 337 of their grandchildren (mean age = 10.5 years). We found evidence for general and heterotypic domain-specific transmission. Specifically, broad grandparent personality pathology was associated with broad grandchild psychopathology ( b = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [−0.01, 0.31]); at the domain level, grandparent internalizing personality pathology was associated with grandchild externalizing psychopathology ( b = 0.06, 95% CI = [0.01, 0.12]). Neither association was significantly mediated by parental personality pathology. These findings indicate that personality pathology in one generation confers risk for psychopathology across subsequent generations. Such intergenerational transmission operates across broad rather than specific (i.e., individual disorder) psychopathology domains.

Does Race or Ethnicity Modify the Impact of Age on Cognition in Middle- and Older-Aged Adults?

We compared verbal list learning, verbal memory, animal fluency, and letter fluency in 1407 education-matched participants from two community-based, intergenerational studies of cognitive aging and dementia. WHICAP participants are sampled from Medicare-eligible people aged 65+ and the Offspring cohort includes their middle-aged children. WHICAP participants (n=1218) were 72.1±6.5 years old and Offspring participants (n=189) were 53.7±8.4 years old at baseline. WHICAP participants had lower scores on most cognitive measures than Offspring participants; however, these differences were not uniform across race/ethnicity. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks in WHICAP had disproportionately lower scores on letter fluency compared to their offspring. On delayed verbal memory, non-Hispanic White and Hispanic offspring obtained higher scores than the parent generation – but among Blacks, memory scores were relatively low regardless of cohort. Racial disparities in cognition are apparent in both mid- and late-life and may be amplified in older age, particularly in Blacks.

EVALUATION OF RESISTANCE IN TEN GENERATIONS OF CULEX QUINQUEFASCIATUS (SAY, 1823) EXPOSED TO METHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF CALOTROPIS PROCERA

Mosquitoes constitute a serious Public Health menace, resulting in millions of death worldwide each year. Emergence of insecticide resistant strains of the mosquitoes poses a serious threat and hence calls for alternative control measures. This study assessed the larvicidal efficacy of the methanolic leaf extract of Calotropis procera against the 3rd instar larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus, after ten generations for 24 hours of exposure. Larvicidal activities of the leaf of the plant were studied on laboratory reared larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus at concentration ranges of 15 mg/L to 19 mg/L. The LC50 values were obtained from Probit analysis at 95% confidence limit (CL). Results of the study indicated that the LC50 values obtained from the parent generation (F0) to the tenth generation (F10) were; 15.79 mg/L, 16.58 mg/L, 17.29 mg/L, 18.07 mg/L, 18.95 mg/L, 19.99 mg/L, 20.65 mg/L, 21.18 mg/L, 22.80 mg/L, 25.16 mg/L and 32.98 mg/L respectively at 24hours. A higher efficacy of activity was exhibited by the extract at the parent generation (F0) with lowest LC50 of 15.97 mg/L at 24h. The results of this research therefore underscore the efficacy of the plant and further suggest the use of the leaf extracts of Calotropis procera in the control of mosquito vectors and indirectly to the diseases they vectored.

STARVATION AND ITS EFFECTS IN EXPERIMENTS ON INSECTS

In the set of experiments with short-living and long-living housefly strains Sh gen and L gen we showed that starvation as restriction of food availability for young adults at reproductive maturation stage caused change of life span and fecundity in parent generation and consecutive offspring generations. Change of viability and developmental time of progeny demonstrated transgenerational nature of starvation stress.

Step-Grandparent–Step-Grandchild Relationships: Is There a “Grand Step-Gap” in Emotional Closeness and Contact?

High divorce and remarriage rates have expanded nontraditional family forms, as some family members leave and others join during the process of repartnering. A less explored consequence of the growth in step-families is the proliferation of step-grandparenthood. This paper focuses on emotional closeness and frequency of contact between step-grandparents and their step-grandchildren in childhood and adulthood. Based on 4,992 biological grandparents and step-grandparents participating in the 2014 wave of the German Ageing Survey, we compared 7,710 biological grandparent–grandchild relations to 465 step-grandparent–step-grandchild relations. Step-relations were differentiated by whether repartnering occurred in the grandparent or parent generation. Hierarchical linear regression results provided support for the hypothesis that step-grandparents feel less emotionally close to their step-grandchildren than biological grandparents feel to their biological grandchildren. In contrast, the observed lower frequency of contact in step-grandparent–step-grandchild relations was mostly explained by their weaker emotional ties.

Cultural Imaging of the French “Other”

This chapter explores the roots of American francophobia into the early twentieth century. Historically, Americans had long been cautious of conniving French diplomats, alarmed at France’s sexual and racial permissiveness, and dismissive of France’s supposedly weak republican system of government. Set against the backdrop of Social Darwinism, intense nationalism, Anglo-Saxonism, and conceptions of a racial hierarchy, the parent generation of the future men of the Kennedy administration began to ascribe hard, negative attributes to France and the French that they passed down to their offspring. By casting the French as overly emotional, excessively proud, vain, cruel, conservative, backward, and effeminate, these elites were better able to rationalize their own perceived racial superiority and legacy as inheritors of sound British traditions. This chapter sets out to explain the evolution of American views of France with the intention of illustrating the perceptions and stereotypes that were common currency during Kennedy’s formative years. The candid notations in Kennedy’s 1937 diary from his summer trip to Europe—during which he spent several weeks in France—clearly illustrate that he had absorbed many of the popular francophobic themes in circulation during the interwar years.

Social Change and Intergenerational Value Differences in a Bedouin Community in Israel

The current study tests the application of Greenfield’s theory of social change and human development to an Arab Bedouin community transitioning from a nomadic to a sedentary way of life. We predicted that sociodemographic change across three generations away from a rural subsistence way of life (a Gemeinschaft ecology) toward an urban, educated, and technological way of life in a commercial economy (a Gesellschaft ecology) would correspond to generational differences in individualistic values related to gender, focusing on equality and chosen roles. We also examined the hypothesis that the pattern of intergenerational differences would suggest a more rapid pace of value change for women than for men. We presented 20 adolescent girls, their mothers, and their grandmothers, and 20 adolescent boys, their fathers, and their grandfathers with a series of vignettes to measure their values. Results showed increasing Gesellschaft-adapted values across generations of both women and men; however, the pattern of generational differences suggested that the most dramatic change for women was in the parent generation, whereas the most dramatic change for men was in the adolescent generation. This pattern suggested a more rapid pace of value change for women than for men. Mediation analyses showed that education, TV watching, and Internet use explained differences in values across the generations. Qualitative examples illustrate how beliefs about ideal gender behaviors and male–female relations shift across generations in correspondence with sociodemographic changes.