BMC Biology - Latest articles via MedWorm.com MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'BMC Biology - Latest articles' source. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:31:58 +0100 Involvement of Plasmodium falciparum protein kinase CK2 in the chromatin assembly pathway http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5656294&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F10%2F5 Conclusions: Our reverse genetics data demonstrate that each of the two regulatory PfCK2 subunits is required for completion of the asexual erythrocytic cycle. Our interactome study points to an implication of PfCK2 in many cellular pathways, with chromatin dynamics being identified as a major process regulated by PfCK2. This study paves the way for a kinome-wide interactomics-based approach to elucidate protein kinase function in malaria parasites. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5656294 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5656294 Q&A: What is a pathogen? A question that begs the point http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5656293&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F10%2F6 Arturo Casadevall and Liise-anne Pirofski explain in Q&A format the emergent properties of microbial pathogenesis that make the question impossible to answer, and the emergence of new pathogens almost impossible to predict. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5656293 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5656293 A novel role for microglia in minimizing excitotoxicity http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5656292&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F10%2F7 Ramified microglia, previously branded as 'resting', protect hippocampal neurons against excitotoxicity according to research published in Journal of Neuroinflammation. Mariko Howe and Ben Barres discuss how these findings add to a growing recognition of active roles for microglia in health and disease. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5656292 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5656292 Single vesicle imaging indicates distinct modes of rapid membrane retrieval during nerve growth http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5643747&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F10%2F4 Conclusions: This study provides insight into the dynamic membrane remodeling processes essential for nerve growth by identifying several distinct modes of rapid membrane retrieval in the growth cone during axon extension. We found that endocytic membrane retrieval is intensified at specific subdomains and may drive the dynamic membrane ruffling and re-absorption of filopodia and lamellipodia in actively extending growth cones. The findings offer a platform for determining the molecular mechanisms of distinct endocytic processes that may remodel the surface distribution of receptors, ion channels, and other membrane-associated proteins locally to drive growth cone extension and chemotactic guidance. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5643747 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5643747 Global transgenerational gene expression dynamics in two newly synthesized allohexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum) lines http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5635286&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F10%2F3 Conclusions: Our results show that two patterns of global alteration in gene expression are conditioned by allohexaploidization in wheat, that is, parental dominance expression and non-additive expression. Both altered patterns of gene expression but not the identity of the genes involved are likely to play functional roles in stabilization and establishment of the newly formed allohexaploid plants, and hence, relevant to speciation and evolution of T. aestivum. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5635286 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5635286 Protein dynamics and conformational selection in bidirectional signal transduction http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5635287&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F10%2F2 Sixteen new conformations of the ligand-binding domain of the cell:cell signaling receptor EphrinA4 are identified in research published in BMC Biophysics. Nussinov and Ma discuss how such conformational diversity allows binding of different ligands to propagate distinct signals through secondary conformational change. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5635287 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5635287 Detailed interrogation of trypanosome cell biology via differential organelle staining and automated image analysis http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5568670&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F10%2F1 Conclusions: Our approach to DNA staining and automated quantitative analysis of trypanosomatid morphology accelerated analysis of trypanosomatid protozoa. We have validated this approach using Leishmania mexicana, Crithidia fasciculata and wild-type and mutant Trypanosoma brucei. Automated analysis of T. brucei morphology was of comparable quality to manual analysis while being faster and less susceptible to experimentalist bias. The complete data set from each cell and all analysis parameters used can be recorded ensuring repeatability and allowing complete data archiving and reanalysis. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5568670 Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5568670 The bending of cell sheets-from folding to rolling http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5568671&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F90 Keller and Shook explore how cell shape changes, junctional interactions and epithelial morphogenetic processes drive early development, including data from a recent analysis by Hoehn and Hallmann of a relatively unexplored inversion process in the multicellular alga Volvox globator. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5568671 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5568671 Difficult phylogenetic questions: more data, maybe; better methods, certainly http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5556709&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F91 Niels Bohr said that 'Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future,' but phylogeneticists would just be happy with the past. Philippe and Roure discuss some methods for dealing with particularly difficult evolutionary problems, and how corroboration is the key to success. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5556709 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5556709 There is more than one way to turn a spherical cellular monolayer inside out: type B embryo inversion in Volvox globator http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5549648&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F89 Conclusions: Concerted, spatially and temporally coordinated changes in cellular shapes in conjunction with concerted migration of cells relative to the CB system are the causes of type B inversion in V. globator. Despite significant similarities between type A and type B inverters, differences exist in almost all details of the inversion process, suggesting analogous inversion processes that arose through parallel evolution. Based on our results and due to the cellular biomechanical implications of the involved tensile and compressive forces, we developed a global mechanistic scenario that predicts epithelial folding during embryonic inversion in V. globator. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5549648 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5549648 The bending of cell sheets - from folding to rolling http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5549647&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F90 Keller and Shook explore how cell shape changes, junctional interactions and epithelial morphogenetic processes drive early development, including data from a recent analysis by Hoehn and Hallmann of a relatively unexplored inversion process in the multicellular alga Volvox globator. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5549647 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5549647 Multiple origins of endosymbiosis within the Enterobacteriaceae (gamma-Proteobacteria): convergence of complex phylogenetic approaches http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5549650&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F87 Symbiosis is assumed to be a rare event, but a sophisticated evolutionary analysis picks apart the history of endosymbiosis between bacteria and insects and shows that in contrast to a single origin, symbiosis in this context has independently evolved a number of times. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5549650 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5549650 Endothelio-hematopoietic relationship: getting closer to the beginnings http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5549649&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F88 Both blood cells and vascular cells can differentiate from a single precursor cell, the hemangioblast. But what is the origin of the hemangioblast? Gordon-Keylock and Medvinsky discuss a new method of labeling these cells, reported by Ana T Tavares and colleagues, that may provide an answer. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5549649 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5549649 Correction: The majority of total nuclear-encoded non-ribosomal RNA in a human cell is 'dark matter' un-annotated RNA http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5533103&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F86 The publisher notes typographical errors which were introduced to the first paragraph of page 10 (beginning "Previously, human large intergenic non-coding (linc) RNAs were identified in normal human embryonic and stem cell lines...") during the production process. The publisher apologises for the errors caused. The online article HTML was corrected on 19 October 2011, and the article PDF on 31 October 2011; readers with previous versions of the article are advised to update to the corrected version http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/149 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5533103 Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5533103 Putting the pH into phosphatidic acid signaling http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5473503&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F85 John Shin and Christopher Loewen explain how the unique properties of phosphatidic acid may equip it to act as a pH biosensor in the lipid membrane of cells, and review the emerging evidence that lipids monitor and respond to changes in cellular pH. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5473503 Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5473503 Pit-bull reviewing, the pursuit of perfection and the victims of success http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5465078&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F84 The festering discontent with reviewing and editorial practices in the high-profile biology journals has erupted into a new high-quality open access journal to be launched in 2012. Miranda Robertson explores the problem and the solutions offered, and revisits the re-review opt-out policy operated by BMC Biology. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5465078 Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5465078 Bidirectional remodeling of beta1-integrin adhesions during chemotropic regulation of nerve growth http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5465080&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F82 Conclusions: Altogether, these findings demonstrate the neurotrophin-dependent formation of integrin-based adhesions in the growth cone and reveal how a positive regulator of substrate adhesions can counteract the negative remodeling and growth inhibitory effects of MAG. Such bidirectional remodeling may allow the growth cone to rapidly adjust adhesiveness to the extracellular matrix as a general mechanism for governing axon extension. Techniques for manipulating integrin internalization and activation state may be important for overcoming local inhibitory factors after traumatic injury or neurodegenerative disease to enhance regenerative nerve growth. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5465080 Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5465080 Notch1 binds and induces degradation of Snail in hepatocellular carcinoma http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5465079&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F83 Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that NICD can oppose Snail dependent HCC cell invasion by binding and inducing proteolytic degradation of Snail. Although Notch signaling and Snail are both widely considered tumor promoting factors, our findings indicate that the individual oncogenic contribution of Notch1 and Snail in malignant systems should be interpreted carefully, particularly when they are conjointly expressed. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5465079 Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5465079 Motion dazzle and camouflage as distinct anti-predator defenses http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447560&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F81 Conclusions: Our study provides the clearest evidence yet that some patterns inhibit the capture of moving targets, but that camouflage and motion dazzle are not complementary strategies. Therefore, the specific coloration that evolves in animals will depend on how the life history and ontogeny of each species influence the trade-off between the costs and benefits of motion dazzle and camouflage. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447560 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5447560 Clustered ChIP-Seq-defined transcription factor binding sites and histone modifications map distinct classes of regulatory elements http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447561&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F80 Conclusion: By integrating genome-wide data of transcription factor binding and chromatin structure, our data-driven approach has pinpointed the chromatin marks that best explain transcription factor association to different regulatory elements. Our results also indicate that a modest selection of transcription factors may be sufficient to map most regulatory elements in the human genome. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447561 Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5447561 How plants cope with temperature stress http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5417386&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F79 A cold night can follow a hot day, and because they cannot move, plants subjected to such temperature fluctuations must acclimate on the basis mainly of pre-existing proteins. Zhang et al. report in a paper in BMC Plant Biology, however, that heat-induced cell death results from transcriptional activation of a kinase related to disease resistance factors and leading to a localized hypersensitive response. This specialized response reflects the failure of adaptations that normally enable plants to survive over a remarkable temperature range, by mechanisms that are not fully understood. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5417386 Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5417386 Two patients walk into a clinic...a genomics perspective on the future of schizophrenia http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5404674&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F77 How will progress in understanding genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia affect patients? Aiden Corvin suggests that it will not continue to be viewed as a single disease, and that diagnosis and treatment will be transformed. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5404674 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5404674 Genes, animal models and the current understanding of psychiatric disease http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5404673&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F78 Two articles in our Wiring the Brain series explore the implications of new genetic information on psychiatric disease for clinical practice and for elucidation of the complex biology of disorders of the mind. Penelope Austin explains the two points of view they reflect. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5404673 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5404673 Following the genes: a framework for animal modeling of psychiatric disorders http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5396657&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F76 Following a brief overview of the revolution in psychiatric genetics, Kevin Mitchell and colleagues explain how the effects of causal mutations can be studied in animals to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms and neurobiological phenotypes of direct relevance to human disease. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5396657 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5396657 Requirement for Pdx1 in specification of latent endocrine progenitors in zebrafish http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5374999&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F75 Conclusions: The nearly complete beta cell deficiency after combined loss of hb9 and pdx1 suggests functional cooperation, which we clarify as distinct roles in early and late endocrine cell formation. A novel imaging approach permitted visualization of the emergence of late endocrine cells within developing embryos for the first time. We demonstrate a pdx1-dependent progenitor population essential for the formation of duct-associated, second wave endocrine cells. We further reveal an unexpectedly low mitotic activity in these progenitor cells, indicating that they are set aside early in development. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5374999 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5374999 Molecular dynamics simulations and drug discovery http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5375003&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F71 Modeling the movements of atoms within macromolecules can predict their conformational flexibility to inform drug discovery. Jacob Durrant and Andrew McCammon explain how this is done in molecular dynamics simulations, reviewing both the successes and current limitations of the approach. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5375003 Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5375003 Proteasome inhibition, the pursuit of new cancer therapeutics, and the adaptor molecule p130Cas http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5375002&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F72 Current interest in proteasome inhibitors for cancer therapy has stimulated considerable research efforts to identify the molecular pathway to their cytotoxicity with a view to identifying the mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance as well as informing the development of new drugs. Zhao and Vuori describe this month in BMC Biology experiments indicating a novel role of the adaptor protein p130Cas in sensitivity to apoptosis induced not only by proteasome inhibitors but also by the unrelated drug doxorubicin.See research article: http:// http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/73 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5375002 Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5375002 The docking protein p130Cas regulates cell sensitivity to proteasome inhibition http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5375001&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F73 Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that Cas is required for apoptosis that is induced by proteasome inhibition, and potentially by other death stimuli. We additionally show that Cas may promote such apoptosis, at least partially, by inhibiting autophagy. This is the first demonstration of Cas being involved in the regulation of autophagy, adding to the previous findings by others linking focal adhesion components to the process of autophagy. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5375001 Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5375001 Sumo-dependent substrate targeting of the SUMO protease Ulp1 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5375000&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F74 Conclusions: In summary, our study provides novel insights into how the Ulp1 SUMO protease is actively targeted to its substrates in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, we find that a substrate-trapping Ulp1(3)(C580S) interacts robustly with human SUMO1, SUMO2, and SUMO2 chains, making it a potentially useful tool for the analysis and purification of SUMO-modified proteins. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5375000 Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5375000 Genome-wide assessment of the carriers involved in the cellular uptake of drugs: a model system in yeast. http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5355228&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F70 Conclusions: As well as providing a useful platform technology, these results further substantiate the notion that the cellular uptake of pharmaceutical drugs normally occurs via carrier-mediated transport and indicates that establishing the identity and tissue distribution of such carriers should be a major consideration in the design of safe and effective drugs. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5355228 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5355228 Appetite for destruction: the inhibition of glycolysis as a therapy for tuberous sclerosis complex-related tumors http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5343437&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F69 The elevated metabolic requirements of cancer cells reflect their rapid growth and proliferation and are met through mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes that reprogram cellular processes. For example, in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC)-related tumors, the loss of TSC1/2 function causes constitutive mTORC1 activity, which stimulates glycolysis, resulting in glucose addiction in vitro. In research published in Cell and Bioscience, Jiang and colleagues show that pharmacological restriction of glucose metabolism decreases tumor progression in a TSC xenograft model.See research article: http://www.cellandbioscience.com/content/1/1/34 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5343437 Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5343437 Toward a comprehensive language for biological systems http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5330404&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F68 Biology is complex, and biologists are (mostly) resistant to modeling. James Faeder, lucidly challenging this resistance, welcomes a new rule-based software package reported in a recent paper in BMC Systems Biology that begins to confront the complexity. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5330404 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5330404 Host-parasite relationships in the genome http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5310607&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F67 Commenting on a paper in BMC Evolutionary Biology, John Brookfield picks his way elegantly through the minefield of evolutionary issues bearing on the proliferation of transposons in the genomic ecosphere (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5310607 Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5310607 Q&A: What is the Golgi apparatus, and why are we asking? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5292739&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F63 Sean Munro explains in Q&A format why the Golgi apparatus remains a gently seething cauldron of controversy more than 120 years after its discovery. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5292739 Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5292739 Mobile DNA transposition in somatic cells http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5268480&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F62 Haig Kazazian discusses a growing body of evidence not only that DNA transposition events in somatic cells are common but that they may be biologically important. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5268480 Thu, 29 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5268480 Characterization of the axon initial segment (AIS) of motor neurons and identification of a para-AIS and a juxtapara-AIS, organized by protein 4.1B http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5268479&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F66 Conclusions: Alpha motor neurons have heterogeneous AISs, which underlie different spiking properties. Yet, they all have a para- and a JXP-AIS contiguous to their AIS, where the myelin sheath begins, which might limit some AIS plasticity. Protein 4.1B plays a key role in ensuring the proper molecular compartmentalization of this hemi-node-type region. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5268479 Thu, 29 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5268479 The intriguing evolutionary dynamics of plant mitochondrial DNA http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5268483&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F61 Next-gen sequence of plant mitochondrial DNA indicates that the dynamic evolution of these comparatively large genomes, in relation to most animal mitochondria, is driven by the need for repair machinery. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5268483 Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5268483 Double-strand break repair processes drive evolution of the mitochondrial genome in Arabidopsis http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5268482&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F64 Conclusions: Extensive mitochondrial genomic variation within a single plant species derives largely from DSB activity and its repair. Observed gene conversion and mismatch repair activity contribute to the low nucleotide substitution rates seen in these genomes. On a phenotypic level, these patterns of rearrangement likely contribute to reproductive versatility of higher plants. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5268482 Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5268482 Drosophila insulin and target of rapamycin (TOR) pathways regulate GSK3beta activity to control Myc stability and determine Myc expression in vivo http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5268481&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F65 Conclusions: Our study presents novel evidence that Myc activity acts downstream of insulin and TOR pathways to control growth in Drosophila. At the biochemical level we found that both these pathways converge at GSK3beta to control Myc protein stability, while our genetic analysis shows that insulin and TOR pathways have different requirements for Myc activity during development of the eye, suggesting that Myc might be differentially induced by these pathways during growth or proliferation of cells that make up the ommatidia. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5268481 Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5268481 The conservation and uniqueness of the caspase family in the basal chordate, amphioxus http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5246110&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F60 Conclusions: Our study not only demonstrates the conservation of bbtCaspase-8 in apoptosis, but also reveals the unique features of several amphioxus caspases with novel domain architectures arose some 500 million years ago. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5246110 Wed, 21 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5246110 Inferring the Tree of Life: chopping a phylogenomic problem down to size? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5246111&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F59 The recent rapid increase in molecular sequence data has been a boon for phylogeneticists, but brings with it a greater need to separate bad data from good. Bininda-Emonds explains how this is being done, and discusses some of the problems that remain to be solved before we might reconstruct the entire tree of life. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5246111 Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5246111 Is sex necessary? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5191097&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F56 Sexuality is the reproductive mode of choice for eukaryotes, but fungal species often evolve apparent asexuality. Sun and Heitman explain why this might happen, but add a word of caution about the experimental difficulty of definitively identifying a fungus as asexual. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5191097 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5191097 Origins of cellular geometry http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5191096&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F57 Many cells, both protozoan and metazoan, have extremely elaborate architectures, and most have organelles that obey scaling laws. Wallace Marshall discusses what is known of these remarkably ill understood properties. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5191096 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5191096 A novel reporter of notch signalling indicates regulated and random notch activation during Vertebrate neurogenesis http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5191095&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F58 A new Notch reporter allows cell- by-cell readout of Notch activity in neurogenesis in real time, thanks to a promoter based on the well characterized Notch target Hes5-1 and multiple destabilization elements. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5191095 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5191095 The taming of an impossible child: a standardized all-in approach to the phylogeny of Hymenoptera using public database sequences http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5246112&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F55 Ralph Peters and colleagues feed the available data on the super-diverse insect order of wasps, bees, sawflies and ants into an improved bioinformatic pipeline designed to generate phylogenetic trees from rapidly accumulating sequence data, and demonstrate its usefulness, and the need for more data to resolve outstanding phylogenetic issues. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5246112 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5246112 The taming of an impossible child - a standardized all-in approach to the phylogeny of Hymenoptera using public database sequences http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5155484&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F55 Ralph Peters and colleagues feed the available data on the super-diverse insect order of wasps, bees, sawflies and ants into an improved bioinformatic pipeline designed to generate phylogenetic trees from rapidly accumulating sequence data, and demonstrate its usefulness, and the need for more data to resolve outstanding phylogenetic issues. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5155484 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5155484 Identification of Specificity Determining Residues in Peptide Recognition Domains using an Information Theoretic Approach Applied to Large-Scale Binding Maps http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5116972&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F53 ${item.shortDescription} (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5116972 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5116972 Identification and characterization of a set of conserved and new regulators of cytoskeletal organisation, cell morphology and migration http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5116971&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F54 Anne Ridley and colleagues identify novel regulators of cytoskeletal organization and cell migration in human cells through a genome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila cells. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5116971 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5116971 The noncoding universe http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5076284&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F52 In an editorial revisiting the controversy on the extent of the noncoding transcriptome, BMC Biology concludes that the bioinformatic facts are becoming clearer but their biological meaning remains obscure. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5076284 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5076284 Mouse maternal systemic inflammation at the zygote stage causes blunted cytokine responsiveness in LPS-challenged adult offspring http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5048204&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F49 Systemic inflammation induced in female mice at the time of conception has consequences for the behavior, adiposity and innate immune responses of their adult offspring. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5048204 Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5048204 Noncoding RNA, antigenic variation, and the virulence genes of Plasmodium falciparum http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5048203&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F50 The malaria parasite P. falciparum has 60 variants of the gene encoding the major virulence factor PfEMP, variably expressed on the red blood cell surface so that it evades immune detection. Taylor Bright and Elizabeth Winzeler discuss a recent report in Genome Biology on a new family of long noncoding RNAs that may explain the selective suppression of these genes. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5048203 Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5048203 Tracing lineages to uncover neuronal identity http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5048202&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F51 Understanding the development of the diverse dopamine-secreting neurons that populate the ventral midbrain may help in the treatment of disorders such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. Lia Panman and Thomas Perlmann comment on a paper in Neural Development which elucidates the early life history of these cells. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5048202 Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5048202 Cofactor-mediated conformational control in the bifunctional kinase/RNase Ire1 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5155485&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F48 Korennykh and colleagues show how ADP binding can tune the kinase in the activation of the bifunctional kinase-RNase that invokes the transcriptional rescue program in response to the toxic accumulation of unfolded proteins in the ER. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5155485 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5155485 Structural and functional basis for RNA cleavage by Ire1 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5006239&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F47 Conclusions: Our data define the catalytic center of Ire1 RNase and suggest a mechanism of RNA cleavage: each RNase monomer apparently contains a separate catalytic apparatus for RNA cleavage, whereas two RNase subunits contribute to RNA stem-loop docking. Conservation of the key residues among Ire1 homologues suggests that the mechanism elucidated here for yeast Ire1 applies to Ire1 in metazoan cells, and to the only known Ire1 homologue RNase L. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5006239 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5006239 Cofactor-mediated conformational control in the bifunctional kinase/RNase Ire1 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5006238&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F48 Conclusions: Our structural and biochemical evidence converges on a model that the co-factor-induced conformational change in Ire1 is coupled to oligomerization of the receptor, which, in turn, activates the RNase. The data reveal that cofactor-Ire1 interactions occur in two independent steps: binding of a cofactor to Ire1 and subsequent rearrangement of Ire1 resulting in its self-association. The pronounced allosteric effect of cofactors on protein-protein interactions involving Ire1's kinase domain suggests that protein kinases and pseudokinases encoded in metazoan genomes may use ATP pocket binding ligands similarly to exert signaling roles other than phosphoryl-transfer. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5006238 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5006238 Robustness and fault tolerance make brains harder to study http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4983180&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F46 Brains increase the survival value of organisms by being robust and fault tolerant. That is, brain circuits continue to operate as the organism needs, even when the circuit properties are significantly perturbed. Kispersky and colleagues, in a recent paper in Neural Systems & Circuits, have found that Granger Causality analysis, an important method used to infer circuit connections from the behavior of neurons within the circuit, is defeated by the mechanisms that give rise to this robustness and fault tolerance.See research article: http://www.neuralsystemsandcircuits.com/content/1/1/9/abstract (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4983180 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4983180 Centrosome polarisation to the immunological synapse directs secretion from cytolytic cells of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4974564&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F45 Conclusions: These results reveal that, like CTLs of the adaptive immune system, the centrosomes of NK and iNKT cells (cytolytic cells of the innate immune system) direct secretory lysosomes to the immunological synapse. Morphologically, the overall structure of the immunological synapses formed by NK and iNKT cells are very similar to those formed by CTLs, with both exocytic and endocytic organelles polarised towards the centrosome at the plasma membrane, which forms a focal point for exocytosis and endocytosis within the immunological synapse. We conclude that centrosomal polarisation provides a rapid, responsive and precise mechanism for secretory lysosome delivery to the immunological synapse in CTLs, NK cells and iNKT cells. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4974564 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4974564 Origin and global diversification patterns of tropical rain forests: inferences from a complete genus-level phylogeny of palms http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4932044&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F44 Conclusions: Because palms are restricted to TRF and assuming biome conservatism over time, our results suggest the presence of a TRF-like biome in the mid-Cretaceous of Laurasia, consistent with controversial fossil evidence of the earliest TRF. Throughout its history, the TRF biome is thought to have been highly dynamic and to have fluctuated greatly in extent, but it has persisted even during climatically unfavourable periods. This may have allowed old lineages to survive and contribute to the steady accumulation of diversity over time. In contrast to other plant studies, our results suggest that ancient and steady evolutionary processes dating back to the mid-Cretaceous can contribute, at least in part, to present day species richness in TRF. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4932044 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4932044 Selecting synaptic partners: GRASPing the role of UNC-6/netrin http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4919936&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F43 Forming synaptic connections of the appropriate strength between specific neurons is crucial for constructing neural circuits to control behavior. A recent paper in Neural Development describes the use of a synapse-specific label in Caenorhabditis elegans to implicate local UNC-6/netrin signaling in this developmental process. Thus, as well as their well known roles in cell migration and axon guidance, UNC-6/netrin signals distinguish an appropriate synaptic partner from other potential targets.See Research article: http://www.neuraldevelopment.com/content/6/1/28 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4919936 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4919936 The individuality of stem cells http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4910278&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F40 Arthur Lander reflects on how current assumptions that stem cells divide asymmetrically and are programmed to produce the right differentiated cell types at the right times may fail to acknowledge a fundamental contribution of stem cell individuality. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4910278 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4910278 Stochastic dynamics and the evolution of mutations in stem cells http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4910277&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F41 Stem cells are the target of mutations that can lead to life threatening diseases. However, stem cell populations tend to be small and therefore clonal expansion of mutant cells is highly sensitive to stochastic fluctuations. The evolutionary dynamics of mutations in these cells is discussed, taking into consideration the impact of such mutations on the reproductive fitness of cells. We show how stochastic effects can explain clinical observations, including extinction of acquired clonal stem cell disorders. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4910277 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4910277 Stem cell biology and drug discovery http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4910276&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F42 This article focuses on how this may be implemented. Recent advances in the production of reprogrammed adult cells and their regulated differentiation to disease-relevant cells are presented, and diseases that have been modeled using these methods are discussed. Remaining difficulties are highlighted, as are new therapeutic insights that have emerged. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4910276 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4910276 Following autophagy step by step http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4891465&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F39 Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosomal degradation route for soluble components of the cytosol and organelles. There is great interest in identifying compounds that modulate autophagy because they may have applications in the treatment of major diseases including cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Hundeshagen and colleagues describe this month in BMC Biology a screening assay based on flow cytometry that makes it possible to track distinct steps in the autophagic process and thereby identify novel modulators of autophagy.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/38 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4891465 Wed, 01 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4891465 Concurrent detection of autolysosome formation and lysosomal degradation by flow cytometry in a high-content screen for inducers of autophagy http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4891464&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F38 Conclusions: Our systematic analysis of autophagic and endo-lysosomal activities outperformed conventional autophagy assays and highlights the complexity of drug influence on autophagy. We demonstrate conditional dependencies of established regulators. Moreover, we identified new autophagy regulators and characterized cardiac glycosides as novel potent inducers of autophagic flux. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4891464 Wed, 01 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4891464 Microarrays, deep sequencing and the true measure of the transcriptome http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4882653&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F34 Microarrays first made the analysis of the transcriptome possible, and have produced much important information. Today, however, researchers are increasingly turning to direct high-throughput sequencing - RNA-Seq - which has considerable advantages for examining transcriptome fine structure - for example in the detection of allele-specific expression and splice junctions. In this article, we discuss the relative merits of the two techniques, the inherent biases in each, and whether all of the vast body of array work needs to be revisited using the newer technology. We conclude that microarrays remain useful and accurate tools for measuring expression levels, and RNA-Seq complements and extends microarray measurements. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4882653 Mon, 30 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4882653 No small feat: microRNA responses during vocal communication in songbirds http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4882652&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F35 Simply hearing the song produced by another bird of the same species triggers the regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) in high-order auditory parts of the zebra finch brain. Some of the identified miRNAs appear to be unique to birds, possibly to songbirds. These findings, reported in BMC Genomics, highlight the complexities of gene regulation associated with vocal communication and point to possible key regulators of song-triggered gene networks.See research article:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/12/277 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4882652 Mon, 30 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4882652 DNA replication: archaeal oriGINS http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4882651&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F36 GINS is an essential eukaryotic DNA replication factor that is found in a simplified form in Archaea. A new study in this issue of BMC Biology reveals the first structure of the archaeal GINS complex. The structure reveals the anticipated similarity to the previously determined eukaryotic complex but also has some intriguing differences in the relative disposition of subunit domains.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/28 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4882651 Mon, 30 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4882651 Identification of a functional docking site in the Rpn1 LRR domain for the UBA-UBL domain protein Ddi1 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4882650&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F33 Conclusions: These studies provide insight into the mechanism by which the UBA-UBL protein Ddi1 is recruited to the proteasome to enable Ub-dependent degradation of its ligands. Our studies suggest that different UBA-UBL proteins are recruited to the proteasome by distinct mechanisms. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4882650 Mon, 30 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4882650 A novel deconvolution method for modeling UDP-GlcNAc biosynthetic pathways based on 13C mass isotopologue profiles under non steady-state conditions http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4882649&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F37 Conclusions: This computational approach revealed the relative fluxes through the different biosynthetic pathways of UDP-GlcNAc, which comprises simultaneous sequential and parallel reactions, providing new insight into the regulation of UDP-GlcNAc levels and O-linked protein glycosylation. This is the first such analysis of UDP-GlcNAc dynamics, and the approach is generally applicable to other complex metabolites comprising distinct metabolic subunits, where sufficient numbers of isotopologues can be unambiguously resolved and accurately measured. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4882649 Mon, 30 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4882649 PKC isoforms interact with and phosphorylate DNMT1 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4870628&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F31 Conclusions: Our results indicate that phosphorylation of human DNMT1 by PKC is isoform-specific and provide the first evidence of cooperation between PKC and DNMT1 in the control the DNA methylation patterns of the genome. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4870628 Thu, 26 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4870628 Real-time visualization of heterotrimeric G protein Gq activation in living cells http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4870627&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F32 Conclusions: Our observations reveal that the application of a truncated mTurquoise as donor and a YFP-tagged Ggamma2 as acceptor in FRET-based Gq activity sensors substantially improves their dynamic range. This optimization enables the real-time single cell quantification of Gq signalling dynamics, the influence ofaccessory proteins and allows future drug screening applications by virtue of its sensitivity. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4870627 Thu, 26 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4870627 Sex, sex chromosomes and gene expression http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4788075&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F30 The X chromosome has fewer testis-specific genes than autosomes in many species. This bias is commonly attributed to X inactivation in spermatogenesis but a recent paper in BMC Biology provides evidence against X inactivation in Drosophila and proposes that somatic tissue- and testis- but not ovary-specific genes tend not to be located on the X chromosome. Here, we discuss possible mechanisms underlying this bias, including sexual antagonism and dosage compensation.See research article {http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/29} (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4788075 Tue, 03 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4788075 Lack of global meiotic sex chromosome inactivation, and paucity of tissue-specific gene expression on the Drosophila X chromosome. http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4788074&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F29 Conclusions: Our data show that the global meiotic inactivation of the X chromosome does not occur in Drosophila. Paucity of testis-biased genes on the X appears not to be linked to reproduction or germline-specific events, but rather reflects a general underrepresentation of tissue-biased genes on this chromosome. Our analyses suggest that the activation/repression switch mechanisms that probably orchestrate the highly-biased expression of tissue-specific genes are generally not efficient on the X chromosome. This effect, probably caused by dosage compensation counteracting repression of the X-linked genes, may be the cause for the exodus of highly tissue-biased genes to the autosomes. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4788074 Tue, 03 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4788074 Promiscuity and preferences of metallothioneins: the cell rules http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4762177&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F25 Metalloproteins are essential for many cellular functions, but it has not been clear how they distinguish between the different metals to bind the correct ones. A report in BMC Biology finds that preferences of two metallothionein isoforms for two different cations are due to inherent properties of these usually less discriminating proteins. Here these observations are discussed in the context of the cellular mechanisms that regulate metal binding to proteins.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/4 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4762177 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4762177 Butterfly eyespot serial homology: Enter the Hox genes http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4762176&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F26 Hox genes modify serial homology patterns in many organisms, exemplified in vertebrates by modification of the axial skeleton and in arthropods by diversification of the body segments. Butterfly wing eyespots also appear in a serial homologous pattern that, in certain species, is subject to local modification. A paper in EvoDevo reports the Hox gene Antp is the earliest known gene to have eyespot-specific expression; however, not all Lepidoptera express Antp in eyespots, suggesting some developmental flexibility.See research article: http://www.evodevojournal.com/content/2/1/9 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4762176 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4762176 Expression of constitutively active erythropoietin receptor in cortical neurons boosts higher cognitive functions in mice http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4762175&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F27 Conclusions: Active EPOR stimulates neuronal plasticity independent of any hematopoietic effects and in addition to its neuroprotective actions. This property of EPO should be exploited for defining novel strategies to therapeutically enhance cognitive performance in disease conditions. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4762175 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4762175 Polyploidization increases meiotic recombination frequency in Arabidopsis http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4741690&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F24 Conclusions: The evolutionary success of polyploid plants in nature and under domestication has been attributed to buffering of mutations and sub- and neo-functionalization of duplicated genes. Should the data described here be representative for polyploid plants, enhanced meiotic recombination, and the resulting rapid creation of genetic diversity, could have also contributed to their prevalence. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4741690 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4741690 Learning to live together: mutualism between self-splicing introns and their hosts http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4703474&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F22 Group I and II introns can be considered as molecular parasites that interrupt protein-coding and structural RNA genes in all domains of life. They function as self-splicing ribozymes and thereby limit the phenotypic costs associated with disruption of a host gene while they act as mobile DNA elements to promote their spread within and between genomes. Once considered purely selfish DNA elements, they now seem, in the light of recent work on the molecular mechanisms regulating bacterial and phage group I and II intron dynamics, to show evidence of co-evolution with their hosts. These previously underappreciated relationships serve the co-evolving entities particularly well in times of environmental stress. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4703474 Sun, 10 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4703474 Q&A: Who is H. sapiens really, and how do we know? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4663158&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F20 Modern sequencing technology has made it possible to scavenge the DNA of extinct hominin ancestors for evidence of interbreeding with Homo sapiens. Liang and Nielsen examine the evidence, what it tells us and how sure we can be (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4663158 Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4663158 Toward forward genetic screens in malaria-causing parasites using the piggyBac transposon http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4663157&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F21 The ability to analyze gene function in malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites has received a boost with a recent paper in BMC Genomics that describes a genome-wide mutagenesis system in the rodent malaria species Plasmodium berghei using the transposon piggyBac. This advance holds promise for identifying and validating new targets for intervention against malaria. But further improvements are still needed for the full power of genome-wide molecular genetic screens to be utilized in this organism.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/12/155 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4663157 Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4663157 A next-generation sequencing method for overcoming the multiple gene copy problem in polyploid phylogenetics, applied to Poa grasses http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4626132&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F19 Background: Polyploidy is important from a phylogenetic perspective because of its immense past impact on evolution and its potential future impact on diversification, survival and adaptation, especially in plants. Molecular population genetics studies of polyploid organisms have been difficult because of problems in sequencing multiple-copy nuclear genes using Sanger sequencing. This paper describes a method for sequencing a barcoded mixture of targeted gene regions using next-generation sequencing methods to overcome these problems. Results: Using 64 3-bp barcodes, we successfully sequenced three chloroplast and two nuclear gene regions (each of which contained two gene copies with up to two alleles per individual) in a total of 60 individuals across 11 species of Australian Poa grasses.... BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4626132 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4626132 Biophysics - whence, whither, wherefore - or Hold that hyphen http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4539993&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F12 In one of two special articles to mark the relaunch of PMC Biophysics as BMC Biophysics, Walter Gratzer takes an eclectic route through the history of the field from lethal experiments with ‘animal electricity’ in the 19th century to Crick and the revolutionary impact of x-ray crystallography. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4539993 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4539993 Q&A: What is biophysics? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4539992&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F13 In a Q&A to mark the relaunch of PMC Biophysics as BMC Biophysics, Huan-Xiang Zhou explains the scope of modern biophysics and its impact on physics as well as on biology. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4539992 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4539992 History and phylogeny of intermediate filaments: Now in insects http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4531370&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F16 Intermediate filaments include the nuclear lamins, which are universal in metazoans, and the cytoplasmic intermediate filaments, which are much more varied and form cell type-specific networks in animal cells. Until now, it has been thought that insects harbor lamins only. This view is fundamentally challenged by the discovery, reported in BMC Biology, of an intermediate filament-like cytoplasmic protein, isomin, in the hexapod Isotomurus maculatus. Here we briefly review the history of research on intermediate filaments, and discuss the implications of this latest finding in the context of what is known of their structure and functions.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/17 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4531370 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4531370 Evc2 is a positive modulator of Hedgehog signalling that interacts with Evc at the cilia membrane and is also found in the nucleus http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4531369&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F14 Conclusions: We demonstrate for the first time that Evc2 is a positive regulator of the Hh signalling pathway and that it is located at the basal body of primary cilia. We show that the presence of Evc and Evc2 at the basal body and cilia membrane is co-dependent. In addition, Evc2, but not Evc, is present in the cell nucleus suggesting movement of Evc2 between the cilium and nucleus. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4531369 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4531369 Haploinsufficiency and the sex chromosomes from yeasts to humans http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4531368&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F15 Conclusion: A special relationship between HI genes and the sex/mating-type chromosome extends from S. cerevisiae to Homo sapiens, with the microbe being a useful model for species throughout the evolutionary range. Furthermore, haploinsufficiency in yeast can predict the phenotype in higher organisms. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4531368 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4531368 Quantitative imaging strategies pave the way for testable biological concepts http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4521396&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F10 In developmental biology, the accumulation of qualitative phenotypic descriptions has fueled the need for testable parsimonious hypotheses, giving a fresh impetus to quantitative strategies. As an illustration, thanks to the precise quantification of cell growth and microtubule behavior in a study published in BMC Plant Biology, Zhang and collaborators have identified sequential phases of polarized and isotropic growth in puzzle-shaped leaf epidermal cells, thus providing new clues to explore how growth coordination occurs in this tissue. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4521396 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4521396 Computational and phylogenetic validation of nematode horizontal gene transfer http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4506613&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F9 Sequencing of expressed genes has shown that nematodes, particularly the plant-parasitic nematodes, have genes purportedly acquired from other kingdoms by horizontal gene transfer. The prevailing orthodoxy is that such transfer has been a driving force in the evolution of niche specificity, and a recent paper in BMC Evolutionary Biology that presents a detailed phylogenetic analysis of cellulase genes in the free-living nematode Pristionchus pacificus at the species, genus and family levels substantiates this hypothesis.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/13 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4506613 Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4506613 Not just another genome http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4436336&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F8 Sequence analysis of the Daphnia pulex genome holds some surprises that could not have been anticipated from what was learned so far from other arthropod genomes. It establishes Daphnia as an eco-genetical model organism par excellence. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4436336 Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4436336 Modularity of gene-regulatory networks revealed in sea-star development http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4418453&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F6 Evidence that conserved developmental gene-regulatory networks can change as a unit during deutersostome evolution emerges from a study published in BMC Biology. This shows that genes consistently expressed in anterior brain patterning in hemichordates and chordates are expressed in a similar spatial pattern in another deuterostome, an asteroid echinoderm (sea star), but in a completely different developmental context (the animal-vegetal axis). This observation has implications for hypotheses on the type of development present in the deuterostome common ancestor.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/143/abstract (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4418453 Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4418453 The activation mechanism of Irga6, an interferon-inducible GTPase contributing to mouse resistance against Toxoplasma gondii http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4411040&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F7 Conclusions: The catalytic interface of Irga6 defined in the present experiments can probably be used as a paradigm for the nucleotide-dependent interactions of all members of the large family of IRG GTPases, both activating and regulatory. Understanding the activation mechanism of Irga6 will help to explain the mechanism by which IRG proteins exercise their resistance function. We find no support from sequence or G-domain structure for the idea that IRG proteins and the SRP GTPases have a common phylogenetic origin. It therefore seems probable, if surprising, that the substrate-assisted catalytic mechanism has been independently evolved in the two protein families. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4411040 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4411040 Shaping mechanisms of metal specificity in a family of metazoan metallothioneins: evolutionary differentiation of mollusc metallothioneins http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4381950&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F4 Conclusion: The Roman snail HpCdMT and HpCuMT isoforms can thus be regarded as prototypes of isoform families that evolved genuine metal-specificity within pulmonate molluscs. Diversification into these isoforms may have been initiated by gene duplication, followed by speciation and selection towards opposite needs for protecting copper-dominated metabolic pathways from nonessential cadmium. The mechanisms enabling these proteins to be metal-specific could also be relevant for other metalloproteins. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4381950 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4381950 Tunicates push the limits of animal evo-devo http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4376960&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F3 The phylum to which humans belong, Chordata, takes its name from one of the major shared derived features of the group, the notochord. All chordates have a notochord, at least during embryogenesis, and there is little doubt about notochord homology at the morphological level. A study in BMC Evolutionary Biology now shows that there is greater variability in the molecular genetics underlying notochord development than previously appreciated.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/21 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4376960 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4376960 Screening for genes that wire the cerebral cortex http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4322024&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F9%2F1 Thalamocortical projections convey visual, somatosensory and auditory information to the cerebral cortex. A recent report in Neural Development shows how a forward genetic screen has enabled the identification of novel mutations affecting specific decision points of thalamocortical axon pathfinding.See research article: http://www.neuraldevelopment.com/content/6/1/3/abstract (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4322024 Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4322024 Leaf-cutting ant fungi produce cell wall degrading pectinase complexes reminiscent of phytopathogenic fungi http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4301938&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F156 Conclusions: Pectinolytic enzymes produced in the gongylidia of the fungal symbiont are ingested but not digested by Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants so that they end up in the fecal fluid and become mixed with new garden substrate. Substantial quantities of pectinolytic enzymes are typically found in pathogenic fungi that attack live plant tissue, where they are known to breach the cell walls to allow the fungal mycelium access to the cell contents. As the leaf-cutting ant symbionts are derived from fungal clades that decompose dead plant material, our results suggest that their pectinolytic enzymes represent secondarily evolved adaptations that are convergent to those normally found in phytopathogens. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4301938 Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4301938 Genome-wide SNP identification by high-throughput sequencing and selective mapping allows sequence assembly positioning using a framework genetic linkage map http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4300195&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F155 Conclusions: We demonstrated the utility of this approach by accurately determining the bin map positions of the majority of the large sequence contigs from each genome sequence and validated our method by mapping single sequence repeat markers derived from sequence contigs on a full mapping population. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4300195 Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4300195 Curvature recognition and force generation in phagocytosis http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4298291&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F154 Conclusions: Phagocytes scan a particle surface for convex and concave regions. By modulating the spatiotemporal pattern of actin organization, they are capable of switching between different modes of interaction with a particle, either arresting at a concave region and applying force in an attempt to sever the particle there, or extending the cup along the particle surface to identify the very end of the object to be ingested. Our data illustrate the flexibility of regulatory mechanisms that are at the phagocyte's disposal in exploring an environment of irregular geometry. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4298291 Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4298291 Gene transfer: anything goes in plant mitochondria http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280645&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F147 Parasitic plants and their hosts have proven remarkably adept at exchanging fragments of mitochondrial DNA. Two recent studies provide important mechanistic insights into the pattern, process and consequences of horizontal gene transfer, demonstrating that genes can be transferred in large chunks and that gene conversion between foreign and native genes leads to intragenic mosaicism. A model involving duplicative horizontal gene transfer and differential gene conversion is proposed as a hitherto unrecognized source of genetic diversity.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/150 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280645 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4280645 Zebrafish models of the immune response: taking it on the ChIn http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280644&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F148 The zebrafish is proving to be an extremely versatile new experimental model for unraveling the mysteries of innate immunity and has considerable promise as a system for the identification of novel modulators of this crucial biological process. A rate-limiting factor, however, is the mechanical stimulus required to induce the inflammatory response. A new chemically induced inflammation assay ('ChIn' assay) published in BMC Biology obviates this requirement and seems set to accelerate progress in the field. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280644 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4280644 Horizontal acquisition of multiple mitochondrial genes from a parasitic plant followed by gene conversion with host mitochondrial genes http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280643&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F150 Conclusions: This study reports the best evidence to date that multiple mitochondrial genes can be transferred via a single HGT event and that transfer occurred via a strictly DNA-level intermediate. The discovery of gene conversion between co-resident foreign and native mitochondrial copies suggests that transferred genes may be evolutionarily important in generating mitochondrial genetic diversity. Finally, the complex relationships within each lineage of transferred genes imply a surprisingly complicated history of these genes in Plantago subsequent to their acquisition via HGT, with this history likely involving some combination of additional transfers (including intracellular transfer), gene duplication and differential loss, and mutation-rate variation. Unraveling this history will p... BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280643 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4280643 A high-throughput chemically induced inflammation assay in zebrafish http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280642&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F151 Conclusions: This approach allows rapid screening of thousands of compounds or mutagenized zebrafish for effects on inflammation and enables the identification of novel players in the regulation of innate immunity and potential lead compounds towards new immuno-modulatory therapies. We have called this method the Chemically-Induced Inflammation Assay, or ChIn Assay.See Commentary article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/148. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280642 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4280642 Drosophila EGFR pathway coordinates stem cell proliferation and gut remodeling following infection http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280641&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F152 Conclusions: This study demonstrates that restoration of normal gut morphology following bacterial infection is a more complex phenomenon than previously described. Maintenance of gut homeostasis requires the coordination of stem cell proliferation and differentiation, with the incorporation and morphogenesis of new cells and the expulsion of damaged enterocytes. We show that one signaling pathway, the EGFR pathway, is central to all these stages, and its activation at multiple steps could synchronize the complex cellular events leading to gut repair and homeostasis. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280641 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4280641 Q&A: What is biodiversity? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4264108&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F145 As the UN International Year of Biodiversity comes to a close, Anne Magurran asks what biodiversity is, why it matters, and what are the different ways in which we measure it. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4264108 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4264108 How the vertebrates were made: selective pruning of a double-duplicated genome http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4257899&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F144 Vertebrates are the result of an ancient double duplication of the genome. A new study published in BMC Biology explores the selective retention of genes after this event, finding an extensive enrichment of signaling proteins and transcription factors. Analysis of their expression patterns, interactions and subsequent history reflect the forces that drove their evolution, and with it the evolution of vertebrate complexity.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/146/abstract (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4257899 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4257899 2R and remodeling of vertebrate signal transduction engine http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4252530&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F146 Conclusions: The 2R event left an indelible imprint on vertebrate signaling and cell-cycle. We show that 2R-WGD preferentially retained genes are associated with higher organismal complexity (e.g. locomotion, nervous system, morphogenesis), while genes associated with basic cellular functions (e.g. translation, replication, splicing, recombination; with the notable exception of cell-cycle) tended to be excluded. 2R-WGD set the stage for the emergence of key vertebrate functional novelties (such as complex brains, circulatory system, heart, bone, cartilage, musculature, and the adipose tissue). Full explanation of the impact of 2R on evolution, function, and the flow of information in vertebrate signaling networks is likely to have practical consequences for regenerative medicine, stem cell... BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4252530 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4252530 Spontaneous focal activation of invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells) in mouse liver and kidney http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4212722&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F142 Conclusions: This is the first report that supplies direct evidence for explicit activation events of NKT cells in vivo and raises issues about the triggering mechanism and consequences for immune functions in liver and kidney. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4212722 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4212722 Uncoupling of complex regulatory patterning during evolution of larval development in echinoderms http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4212721&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F143 Conclusions: Our findings therefore extend, for the first time, evidence of a conserved axial pattering to echinoderm embryos exhibiting maximal indirect development. The dissociation of head/anterior brain patterning from "retinal specification" in echinoderm blastulae might reflect modular changes to a developmental gene regulatory network within the ectoderm that facilitates the evolution of these microscopic larvae. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4212721 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4212721 Software that goes with the flow in systems biology http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4212724&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F140 A recent article in BMC Bioinformatics describes new advances in workflow systems for computational modeling in systems biology. Such systems can accelerate, and improve the consistency of, modeling through automation not only at the simulation and results-production stages, but also at the model-generation stage. Their work is a harbinger of the next generation of more powerful software for systems biologists.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/11/582/abstract/Ever since the rise of systems biology at the end of the last century, mathematical representations of biological systems and their activities have flourished. They are being used to describe everything from biomolecular networks, such as gene regulation, metabolic processes and signaling pathways, at the lo... BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4212724 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4212724 The bridge helix coordinates movements of modules in RNA polymerase http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4212723&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F141 The RNA polymerase 'bridge helix' is a metastable α-helix that spans the leading edge of the enzyme active-site cleft. A new study published in BMC Biology reveals surprising tolerance to helix-disrupting changes in a region previously thought crucial for translocation, and suggests roles for two hinge-like segments of the bridge helix in coordinating modules that move during the nucleotide-addition cycle.See Research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/134 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4212723 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4212723 Cotton domestication: dramatic changes in a single cell http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4166955&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F137 Investigations on the nature of genetic changes underpinning plant domestication have begun to shed light on the evolutionary history of crops and can guide improvements to modern cultivars. A recent study focused on cotton fiber cells tracks the dramatic genome-wide changes in gene expression during development that have accompanied selection for increased fiber yield and quality.See Research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/139 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4166955 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4166955 A climate for contemporary evolution http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4158330&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F136 This study is particularly important in the ongoing debate over the extent and significance of evolutionary response to climate change because divergence has occurred in relatively few generations in spite of ongoing gene flow and in the aftermath of a significant genetic bottleneck, factors that have previously been considered obstacles to evolution. Climate change may thus be more likely to foster contemporary evolutionary responses than has been anticipated, and I argue here for the importance of investigating their possible occurrence.See Research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/350/abstract (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4158330 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4158330 The G Protein regulators EGL-10 and EAT-16, the Gialpha GOA-1 and the Gqalpha EGL-30 modulate the response of the C. elegans ASH polymodal nociceptive sensory neurons to repellents http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4158329&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F138 Conclusions: The ASH polymodal nociceptive sensory neurons can be modulated not only in their capacity to detect stimuli but also in the efficiency with which they respond to them. The Galpha and RGS molecules studied in this work are conserved in evolution and, for each of them, mammalian orthologs can be identified. The discovery of their role in the modulation of signal transduction and signal transmission of nociceptors may help us to understand how pain is generated and how its control can go astray (such as chronic pain) and may suggest new pain control therapies. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4158329 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4158329 Wing pathology of white-nose syndrome in bats suggests life-threatening disruption of physiology http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4158328&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F135 White-nose syndrome (WNS) is causing unprecedented declines in several species of North American bats. The characteristic lesions of WNS are caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, which erodes and replaces the living skin of bats while they hibernate. It is unknown how this infection kills the bats. We review here the unique physiological importance of wings to hibernating bats in relation to the damage caused by G. destructans and propose that mortality is caused by catastrophic disruption of wing-dependent physiological functions. Mechanisms of disease associated with G. destructans seem specific to hibernating bats and are most analogous to disease caused by chytrid fungus in amphibians. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4158328 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4158328 The nucleotide addition cycle of RNA polymerase is controlled by two molecular hinges in the Bridge Helix domain http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4116940&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F134 Conclusions: The properties of two distinct molecular hinges in the Bridge Helix domain of RNAP determine its functional contribution to key stages of the NAC by coordinating conformational changes in surrounding domains. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4116940 Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4116940 Functional diversity in the color vision of cichlid fishes http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4116941&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F133 Conclusions: Our study describes complex opponent and non-opponent cone interactions that represent the requisite neural processing for color vision. We present the first comprehensive evidence for pentachromatic color vision in vertebrates, which offers the potential for extraordinary spectral discrimination capabilities. We show that opsin gene expression in cichlids, and possibly also spectral sensitivity, may be sex-dependent. We argue that females and males sample their visual environment differently, providing a neural basis for sexually dimorphic visual behaviour. The diversification of spectral sensitivity likely contributes to sensory adaptations that enhance the contrast of transparent prey and the detection of optical signals from conspecifics, suggesting a role for both natural... BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4116941 Wed, 27 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4116941 ARTEMIS stabilizes the genome and modulates proliferative responses in multipotent mesenchymal cells http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4116942&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F132 Conclusions: Our discoveries suggest that Art prevents genome damage and restrains proliferation in MSCs exposed to various stress stimuli. We propose that Art deficiency leads to a preneoplastic state in primary MSCs and is associated with aberrant proliferative control and cellular stress resistance. Thus, our data reveal surprising new roles for ARTEMIS and the NHEJ pathway in normal MSC function and fitness relevant to tumor suppression in mesenchymal tissues. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4116942 Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4116942 Colonization, mouse-style http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4116943&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F131 Several recent papers, including one in BMC Evolutionary Biology, examine the colonization history of house mice. As well as background for the analysis of mouse adaptation, such studies offer a perspective on the history of movements of the humans that accidentally transported the mice.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/325 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4116943 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4116943 Q&A: H1N1 pandemic influenza - what's new? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4059585&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F130 Stephen Turner, Peter Doherty and Anne Kelso ask, in Q and A format, what may be the remaining dangers of influenza A (H1N1), now no longer pandemic, and what it has taught us about managing future pandemics. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4059585 Sun, 10 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4059585 Immunogenicity and efficacy of oral vaccines in developing countries: lessons from a live cholera vaccine http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4030289&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F129 Oral vaccines, whether living or non-living, viral or bacterial, elicit diminished immune responses or have lower efficacy in developing countries than in developed countries. Here I describe studies with a live oral cholera vaccine that include older children no longer deriving immune support from breast milk or maternal antibodies and that identify some of the factors accounting for the lower immunogenicity, as well as suggesting counter-measures that may enhance the effectiveness of oral immunization in developing countries. The fundamental breakthrough is likely to require reversing effects of the 'environmental enteropathy' that is often present in children living in fecally contaminated, impoverished environments. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4030289 Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4030289 Focusing on optic tectum circuitry through the lens of genetics http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4011445&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F126 The visual pathway is tasked with processing incoming signals from the retina and converting this information into adaptive behavior. Recent studies of the larval zebrafish tectum have begun to clarify how the 'micro-circuitry' of this highly organized midbrain structure filters visual input, which arrives in the superficial layers and directs motor output through efferent projections from its deep layers. The new emphasis has been on the specific function of neuronal cell types, which can now be reproducibly labeled, imaged and manipulated using genetic and optical techniques. Here, we discuss recent advances and emerging experimental approaches for studying tectal circuits as models for visual processing and sensorimotor transformation by the vertebrate brain. (Source: BMC Biology - Late... BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4011445 Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4011445 Kruppel-like transcription factors and control of pluripotency http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4011448&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F125 Recent papers have demonstrated a role for Krüppel-like transcription factors 2, 4 and 5 in the control of mouse embryonic stem cell pluripotency. However, it is not clear whether each factor has a unique role or whether they are functionally redundant. A paper by Parisi and colleagues in BMC Biology now sheds light on the mechanism by which Klf5 regulates pluripotency.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/128 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4011448 Sun, 26 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4011448 A cautionary tale of virus and disease http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4011447&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F124 The recent identification of the gammaretrovirus XMRV and a second gammaretrovirus of a different subtype in chronic fatigue syndrome has aroused much interest, not least among sufferers. However, it remains highly controversial whether the detection of these viruses represents true infection or laboratory artifacts. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4011447 Sun, 26 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4011447 Direct targets of Klf5 transcription factor contribute to the maintenance of mouse embryonic stem cell undifferentiated state http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4011446&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F128 Conclusions: Taken together, these results, through the definition of a detailed list of Klf5 transcriptional targets in mouse ESCs, support the important and specific functional role of Klf5 in the maintenance of the undifferentiated ESC phenotype.See: http://www.biomedcental.com/1741-7007/8/125 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4011446 Sun, 26 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4011446 An arthropod cis-regulatory element functioning in sensory organ precursor development dates back to the Cambrian http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3997856&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F127 Conclusions: The SOPE is not detectable by inter-specific sequence comparison, raising the possibility that other ancient regulatory modules in invertebrates might have escaped detection. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3997856 Thu, 23 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3997856 Q&A: Antibiotic resistance: where does it come from and what can we do about it? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4030290&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F123 As long as we continue to use antibiotics the development of resistance is inevitable. Gerard Wright explains why it is an increasing problem, and what can be done about it. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4030290 Sun, 19 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4030290 The coming and going of Batesian mimicry in a Holarctic butterfly clade http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3972351&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F122 A study using phylogenetic hypothesis testing, published in BMC Evolutionary Biology, suggests that non-mimetic forms of the North American white admiral butterfly evolved from a mimetic ancestor. This case might provide one of the first examples in which mimicry was gained and then lost again, emphasizing the evolutionary lability of Batesian mimicry.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/239 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3972351 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3972351 Bed bug deterrence http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3953224&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F117 A recent study in BMC Biology has determined that the immature stage of the bed bug (the nymph) signals its reproductive status to adult males using pheromones and thus avoids the trauma associated with copulation in this species. The success of this nymphal strategy of deterrence is instructive. Against the background of increasing problems with bed bugs, this research raises the question whether pheromones might be used to control them.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/121 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3953224 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3953224 Nymphs of the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) produce anti-aphrodisiac defence against conspecific males http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3953223&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F121 Immature nymph stages of bed bugs avoid damaging sexual encounters with mature males by secreting an alarm pheromone – a device already known to be deployed, with a variant of the pheromone, to avoid homosexual matings. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3953223 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3953223 Response to Kluetsch and Crapon de Caprona http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3968523&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F120 This article is a response to Kleutsch and Crapon de CapronaSee correspondence article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/119 and our original research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/16. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3968523 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3968523 Correction: The IGF1 small dog haplotype is derived from Middle Eastern gray wolves http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3945997&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F118 N/A (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3945997 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3945997 The IGF1 small dog haplotype is derived from Middle Eastern grey wolves: a closer look at statistics, sampling, and the alleged Middle Eastern origin of small dogs http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3945996&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F119 This paper is a response to Gray MM, Sutter NB, Ostrander EA, Wayne RK: The IGF1 small dog haplotype is derived from Middle Eastern grey wolves. BMC Biology 2010, 8:16.See research article at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/16. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3945996 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3945996 Response to Kleutsch and Crapon de Caprona http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3945995&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F120 This article is a response to Kleutsch and Crapon de CapronaSee correspondence article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/119 and our original research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/16. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3945995 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3945995 Photoperiodic diapause under the control of circadian clock genes in an insect http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3932561&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F116 Conclusions: This study revealed that the circadian clock genes are crucial not only for daily rhythms but also for photoperiodic diapause. RNAi directed against period and cycle had opposite effects not only in the circadian cuticle deposition rhythm but also in the photoperiodic diapause. These RNAi also had opposite effects on juvenile hormone-regulated gene expression. It is still possible that the circadian clock genes pleiotropically affect ovarian development but, based on these results, we suggest that the circadian clock operated by the circadian clock genes, period and cycle, governs seasonal timing as well as the daily rhythms.See Commentary: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/115 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3932561 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3932561 Circadian clock genes, ovarian development and diapause http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3932560&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F115 Insects, like most organisms, have an internal circadian clock that oscillates with a daily rhythmicity, and a timing mechanism that mediates seasonal events, including diapause. In research published in BMC Biology, Ikeno et al. show that downregulation of the circadian clock genes period and cycle affects expression of ovarian diapause in the insect Riptortus pedestris. They interpret these important results as support for Erwin Bünning's (1936) hypothesis that the circadian clock constitutes the basis of photoperiodism. However, their observations could also be the result of pleiotropic effects of the individual clock genes.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/116 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3932560 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3932560 Oestrogen blocks the nuclear entry of SOX9 in the developing gonad of a marsupial mammal http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3919996&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F113 Conclusions: We have uncovered a mechanism by which oestrogen can regulate gonadal development through the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of SOX9. This may represent an underlying ancestral mechanism by which oestrogen promotes ovarian development in the gonads of nonmammalian vertebrates. Furthermore, oestrogen may retain this function in adult female mammals to maintain granulosa cell fate in the differentiated ovary by suppressing nuclear translocation of the SOX9 protein.See commentary: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/110 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3919996 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3919996 Oestrogen shuts the door on SOX9 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3919995&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F110 Oestrogen exerts a robust yet imperfectly understood effect on sexual development in vertebrate embryos. New work by Pask and colleagues in BMC Biology indicates that it may interfere with male development by preventing nuclear localization of SOX9, a master regulator of the testis differentiation pathway.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/113 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3919995 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3919995 Bayesian random local clocks, or one rate to rule them all http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3919994&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F114 Conclusions: The examples suggest that large sequence datasets may only require a small number of local molecular clocks to reconcile their branch lengths with a time scale. All of the analyses described here are implemented in the open access software package BEAST 1.5.4 (http://beast-mcmc.googlecode.com/). (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3919994 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3919994 Paleoclimate and bubonic plague: a forewarning of future risk? http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3911160&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F108 Pandemics of bubonic plague have occurred in Eurasia since the sixth century ad. Climatic variations in Central Asia affect the population size and activity of the plague bacterium's reservoir rodent species, influencing the probability of human infection. Using innovative time-series analysis of surrogate climate records spanning 1,500 years, a study in BMC Biology concludes that climatic fluctuations may have influenced these pandemics. This has potential implications for health risks from future climate change.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/112 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3911160 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3911160 Modeling the epidemiological history of plague in Central Asia: Palaeoclimatic forcing on a disease system over the past millennium http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3911159&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F112 Conclusions: Central Asian climate fluctuations appear to have had significant influences on regional human plague frequency in the first part of the 20th century, and probably over the past 1500 years. This first attempt at ecoepidemiological reconstruction of historical disease activity may shed some light on how long-term plague epidemiology interacts with human activity. As plague activity in Central Asia seems to have followed climate fluctuations over the past centuries, we may expect global warming to have an impact upon future plague epidemiology, probably sustaining or increasing plague activity in the region, at least in the rodent reservoirs, in the coming decades.See commentary: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/108 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3911159 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3911159 A mixed community of actinomycetes produce multiple antibiotics for the fungus farming ant Acromyrmex octospinosus http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3906873&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F109 Conclusions: Our results show that a combination of co-evolution and environmental sampling results in the diversity of actinomycete symbionts and antibiotics associated with attine ants. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3906873 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3906873 Single locus affects embryonic segment polarity and multiple aspects of an adult evolutionary novelty http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3906872&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F111 Conclusions: This study characterizes the segregation and developmental effects of alleles at a single locus that controls the morphology of a lineage-specific trait (butterfly eyespots) and a conserved process (embryonic segment polarity and, specifically, the regulation of Wingless signalling). Because no gene with such function was found in the orthologous, highly syntenic genomic regions of two other lepidopterans, we hypothesize that our locus is a yet undescribed, possibly lineage-specific, negative regulator of the conserved Wnt/Wg pathway. Moreover, the fact that this locus interferes with multiple aspects of eyespot morphology and maps to a genomic region containing key wing pattern loci in different other butterfly species suggests it might correspond to a 'hotspot' locus in the ... BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3906872 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3906872 Kinesin-14: the roots of reversal http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3868515&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F107 Kinesin-14 motor proteins step towards microtubule minus ends, in the opposite direction to other kinesins. Work on the still-enigmatic kinesin-14 mechanism published in BMC Structural Biology shows that the carboxyl terminus of the motor head undergoes a dock-undock cycle, like that of plus-end-directed kinesins.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6807/10/19 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3868515 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3868515 Q&A: Single-molecule localization microscopy for biological imaging http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3857643&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F106 In Q&A format, Ann McEvoy, Jan Liphardt and colleagues explain the principles of single-molecule localization microscopy and how it can be used for understanding cell biology (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3857643 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3857643 A little bit is better than nothing: the incomplete parthenogenesis of salamanders, frogs and fish http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3815809&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F78 A re-examination of the mitochondrial genomes of unisexual salamander lineages, published in BMC Evolutionary Biology, shows them to be the oldest unisexual vertebrates known, having been around for 5 million years. This presents a challenge to the prediction that lack of genetic recombination is a fast track to extinction.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/238 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3815809 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3815809 Insulators and imprinting: from flies to mammals http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3805373&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F104 The nuclear factor CTCF has been shown to be necessary for the maintenance of genetic imprinting at the mammalian H19/Igf2 locus. MacDonald and colleagues now report in BMC Biology that the mechanisms responsible for maintaining the imprinted state in Drosophila may be evolutionarily conserved and that CTCF may also play a critical role in this process.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/105 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3805373 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3805373 The Drosophila homolog of the mammalian imprint regulator, CTCF, maintains the maternal genomic imprint in Drosophila melanogaster http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3805371&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F105 Conclusions: CTCF in Drosophila functions in maintaining parent-specific expression from an imprinted domain, as it does in mammals. We propose that Drosophila CTCF maintains an insulator boundary on the maternal X chromosome, shielding genes from the imprint-induced silencing that occurs on the paternally inherited X chromosome. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3805371 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3805371 Vertebrate Hedgehog signaling: cilia rule http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3801811&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F102 The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway differentially utilizes the primary cilium in mammals and fruit flies. Recent work, including a study in BMC Biology, demonstrates that Hh signals through the cilium in zebrafish, clarifying the evolution of Hh signal transduction.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/65 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3801811 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3801811 Losing the desire: selection can promote obligate asexuality http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3798021&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F101 Whilst parthenogenesis has evolved multiple times from sexual invertebrate and vertebrate lineages, the drivers and consequences of the sex-asex transition remain mostly uncertain. A model by Stouthamer et al. recently published in BMC Evolutionary Biology shows a pathway by which obligate asexuality could be selected for following endosymbiont infection.See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/229 (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3798021 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3798021 How 5000 independent rowers coordinate their strokes in order to row into the sunlight: Phototaxis in the multicellular green alga Volvox http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3794038&cid=s_34021_62_f&fid=34021&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biomedcentral.com%2F1741-7007%2F8%2F103 Conclusions: On the basis of our results, we developed a mechanistic model that predicts the phototactic behavior in V. rousseletii. The model involves photoresponses, periodically changing light conditions, morphological polarity, rotation of the spheroid, two modes of flagellar beating, and the impact of gravity. Our results also indicate how recently evolved multicellular organisms adapted the phototactic capabilities of their unicellular ancestors to multicellular life. (Source: BMC Biology - Latest articles) BMC Biology - Latest articles journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3794038 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3794038