Journal of Biosciences最新文献

Nanosciences meets ecology: Evolution of stealth nanostructures in insects.

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Ullasa Kodandaramaiah

{"title":"Nanosciences meets ecology: Evolution of stealth nanostructures in insects.","authors":"Ullasa Kodandaramaiah","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"It is difficult to imagine a world without vision - eyes are everywhere around us. The evolution of vision has undeniably been one of the most profound events in the history of life on earth. Animals use their visual system to find food, shelter and mates, as well as in myriad other behaviours that enhance their fitness. On the other hand, vision is also an enemy for multitudes of prey animals that are hunted by visually-guided predators. For such prey animals, avoiding being perceived by the visual system of their potential predators is just as vital as is vision for predators. The earth has witnessed billions of prey species through evolutionary time, and today, some of the most striking adaptations are those that prey animals have evolved as a response to selection by predation. 'Camouflage' is an umbrella term that includes strategies to prevent detection or recognition (Ruxton et al. 2018). For instance, many prey match the colours and patterns of the background, i.e., background matching (Endler 1978). Others have colour patterns that break up the appearance of their body, i.e., disruptive colouration (Thayer 1909). Yet others closely resemble objects that are inedible to their predators, i.e., masquerade (Cott 1940). Camouflage can also involve other sensory systems such as olfaction such that chemically camouflaged prey may escape detection (Ruxton 2009).","PeriodicalId":15171,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biosciences","volume":"50 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143255563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Prenatal protein deficiency causes age-specific alteration in number and distribution of inhibitory neurons in the somatosensory cortex during early postnatal development.

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Arti Kumari, V Rema, Neeraj Jain

{"title":"Prenatal protein deficiency causes age-specific alteration in number and distribution of inhibitory neurons in the somatosensory cortex during early postnatal development.","authors":"Arti Kumari, V Rema, Neeraj Jain","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Prenatal protein deficiency causes behavioral and cognitive dysfunctions in children. The deficits could be caused by altered acquisition and processing of sensory information in the brain. Although GABAergic neurons are the key regulators of neuronal activity, the effect of prenatal protein deficiency on GABA neurons in the brain is largely unknown. We fed pregnant mice diets with one-third (7%) or half (10%) the normal protein requirement (20% protein). After birth, the pups were fostered with normally fed lactating females. We used transgenic mice to show that protein deficiency in pregnant dams fed a 7% protein diet affected the number and distribution of GABA neurons in the somatosensory barrel cortex and individual cortical layers during early postnatal development of pups. If the mothers were fed a 10% protein diet, the effects on GABA neurons were much less. Development of barrels was also affected in pups born to mothers fed the 7% protein diet, but not the 10% group. In addition, high protein deficiency, i.e., the 7% protein diet, affected conception, hampered gestational weight gain, induced resorption of embryos, reduced litter sizes, and increased cannibalism, which was not observed in females on 10% protein diet.","PeriodicalId":15171,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biosciences","volume":"50 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143255477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Innate immune and endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response pathways protect Caenorhabditis elegans against chloroquine toxicity.

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Rajneesh Rao, Jogender Singh

{"title":"Innate immune and endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response pathways protect Caenorhabditis elegans against chloroquine toxicity.","authors":"Rajneesh Rao, Jogender Singh","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Chloroquine (CQ) is a 4-aminoquinoline that has historically been used as an anti-malarial drug. It has also been used to treat several autoimmune diseases, cancers, and viral infections. Most of the effects of CQ are mediated through its ability to accumulate in acidic vacuoles and increase their pH. However, at high doses, CQ is known to have various toxic effects, including ocular, retinal, neuromuscular, renal, and cardiac toxicities. The host responses involved in counteracting CQ toxicity remain poorly characterized. Here, using the Caenorhabditis elegans model, we characterize the host pathways that protect against CQ toxicity. Transcriptomics studies reveal that CQ exposure results in the upregulation of innate immune response and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways. An analysis of multiple immune pathway mutants shows that different immune pathways defend against CQ toxicity. Intriguingly, some of these pathways, which converge to defend against pathogenic bacteria, operate independently to protect against CQ toxicity. Finally, we demonstrate that the ER-UPR pathways also play a crucial role in counteracting CQ toxicity.","PeriodicalId":15171,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biosciences","volume":"50 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143648537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

C. elegans wired and wireless connectome: insights into principles of nervous system structure and function.

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Keertana Venkatesh, Lidia Ripoll -Sánchez, Isabel Beets, William R Schafer

{"title":"C. elegans wired and wireless connectome: insights into principles of nervous system structure and function.","authors":"Keertana Venkatesh, Lidia Ripoll -Sánchez, Isabel Beets, William R Schafer","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the primary model organisms for neuroscience research due to its well annotated and compact nervous system. Being the first organism with a mapped connectome, published nearly 40 years ago, it holds a critical place in the field of neuroscience. Over the past decades, exhaustive mapping of the C. elegans nervous system at the molecular and cellular level, along with the development of tools to probe neural dynamics, have given invaluable insights on neuronal communication at the cellular, circuit, and systems level. In this review, we discuss key features of the C. elegans connectome, the wired (synaptic) as well as the wireless (extrasynaptic) network, and their role in executing complex behaviours. We delve into recent advances in C. elegans neuroscience, highlighting how in vivo and in silico studies have elucidated functional principles that govern sensory integration and the importance of assessing behavioural features at a systems level. With emerging connectomes of other, more complex organisms, this field offers a robust framework for testable hypotheses and comparative connectomics.","PeriodicalId":15171,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biosciences","volume":"50 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143709856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Sensory modulation of neuropeptide signaling by CASY-1 gates cholinergic transmission at Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junction.

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Navneet Shahi, Shruti Thapliyal, Kavita Babu

{"title":"Sensory modulation of neuropeptide signaling by CASY-1 gates cholinergic transmission at Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junction.","authors":"Navneet Shahi, Shruti Thapliyal, Kavita Babu","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is crucial for understanding the fundamentals of synaptic transmission and activity. Various modulators operate within neuronal circuits, from sensory to motor neurons, to influence synaptic transmission at the NMJ. This study sheds light on the regulation of sensory-evoked cholinergic neurotransmission at motor neurons orchestrated by CASY-1, the mammalian calsyntenin orthologue. We report that the increased excitation-inhibition (E-I) ratio at the NMJ in casy-1 mutants is likely due to its interactions with neuromodulators in sensory neurons. We explored the intricate genetic interactions of CASY- 1 with the neuropeptide FLP-21 and its receptor, NPR-1, both of which display simultaneous alterations in cholinergic signaling at the NMJ. Through genetic, pharmacological, and bioimaging-based experiments, we proposed a mechanism by which CASY-1 potentially interacts with the neuropeptide-carrying vesicles to regulate synaptic transmission. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans serves as an ideal model system for this study, enabling detailed insights into neuromodulatory mechanisms in the neuronal circuit.","PeriodicalId":15171,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biosciences","volume":"50 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7617471/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143255570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Contrasting sequence polymorphism and structural basis patterns of Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich proteins 2/3 in Cameroon and India.

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Loick Pradel Kojom Foko, Joseph Hawadak, Soumyananda Chakraborti, Veena Pande, Vineeta Singh

{"title":"Contrasting sequence polymorphism and structural basis patterns of Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich proteins 2/3 in Cameroon and India.","authors":"Loick Pradel Kojom Foko, Joseph Hawadak, Soumyananda Chakraborti, Veena Pande, Vineeta Singh","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"The bulk of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) target Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2), but several reports have shown that sequence variations in this protein are associated with falsenegative RDT results. The polymorphism of PfHRP2/3 was analyzed from Cameroonian and Indian P. falciparum isolates. Cameroon and India are two of eleven countries with the highest malaria burden. Exon 2 of pfhrp 2/3 genes were PCR-amplified, and the amplicons were purified and sequenced. A total of 25 PfHRP2 and 12 PfHRP3 novel repeat type variants were found. The nature and organization of PfHRP3 sequences were quite similar between Cameroon and India. Some structurally unique PfHRP2/3 sequences, characterized by a high proportion of proline (5.8-10.3%) for PfHRP2, and two non-repeat regions for PfHRP3, were found in both countries. Most of the Cameroonian isolates belonged to group B (66.7%), while the Indian isolates belonged to group C (69.2%) (p=0.03). Three epitope motifs (AHHAHHA, HATDAHH, and YAHHAHHA) were found in all Cameroonian and Indian PfHRP2 sequences. Mutations observed in unique sequences were mainly associated with alterations of helical structures in the PfHRP2 C-terminal region. The high genetic diversity, epitope availability, and structural basis patterns found here could help develop the next generation of RDTs with improved quality.","PeriodicalId":15171,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biosciences","volume":"50 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143255556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Role of public DNA-Seq data in mitogenomics research: A case study on the flying fish family (Beloniformes: Exocoetidae).

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Iuri Batista DA Silva, Igor Henrique Rodrigues-Oliveira, Karine Frehner Kavalco, Fabiano Bezerra Menegidio, Rubens Pasa

{"title":"Role of public DNA-Seq data in mitogenomics research: A case study on the flying fish family (Beloniformes: Exocoetidae).","authors":"Iuri Batista DA Silva, Igor Henrique Rodrigues-Oliveira, Karine Frehner Kavalco, Fabiano Bezerra Menegidio, Rubens Pasa","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Flying fishes (Exocoetidae) are a highly specialized group of Beloniformes, with 4 subfamilies, 7 genera, and 78 species. However,only a small number of species of flying fishes have the mitochondrial genome described sof ar. Considering the importance of mitogenomes in evolution, in this study we aimed to expand the description of mitochondrial genomes and the phylogenetic relationships of Exocoetidae. We used publicly available DNA-Seq libraries to assemble the mitochondrial genomes of 7 species of flying fishes. The mitochondrial genomes of Exocoetidae showed conserved features among all species. With 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs, and 13 protein-coding genes, they share common features among vertebrates.Cheilopogon was reconstructedaspolyphyletic, with four clades, which reinforces previous studies that recovered Cheilopogon as non-monophyletic.Werecoveredallfour subfamilies as monophyletic,with Parexocoetinae as the sister group of all other subfamilies.The genetic distance between Exocoetidae species was two times smaller than the genetic distance among the Hyporhamphus species, indicating a low genetic divergence in the family. Hereby, this study expanded the knowledge of mitochondrial genome features and presented one of the most comprehensive mitochondrial genome datasets used for studying flying fishestodate. This was achievable using publicly available data, reinforcing the importanceof the re-use of such data in the fields of mitogenomics and phylogenetics.","PeriodicalId":15171,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biosciences","volume":"50 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143709860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

O-GlcNAc transferase promotes synaptic assembly independent of catalytic activity in C. elegans.

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Mengting Wu, Huihui Jiang, Qian Li, Yunhe Liu, Hongjun Zhang, Zhiyong Shao

引用次数: 0

Origin of homochirality in terrestrial biology. 陆生生物中同种异性的起源。

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Koji Tamura

引用次数: 0

Optimal endogenous controls for microRNA analysis of visceral adipose tissue in the NAFLD mouse model.

IF 2.1 4区生物学

Journal of Biosciences Pub Date : 2025-01-01

Veronika Uhrova, Helena Parova, Zuzana Cervinkova, Otto Kucera, Vladimir Palicka

{"title":"Optimal endogenous controls for microRNA analysis of visceral adipose tissue in the NAFLD mouse model.","authors":"Veronika Uhrova, Helena Parova, Zuzana Cervinkova, Otto Kucera, Vladimir Palicka","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"The selection of proper reference genes and materials is critical in the design of PCR experiments, especially for differential expression studies. In this study, we propose a method to identify robust endogenous control miRNAs in the visceral adipose tissue of C57BL/6J mice with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease induced by alternating Western and control diets. This study outlines a comprehensive methodology for the analysis of microRNA endogenous controls using microfluidic cards in conjunction with miRNA profiling through small RNA sequencing and subsequent validation by quantitative PCR and the RefFinder algorithm. Criteria included were fold change, p-value, reads per million, and gene stability assessment. A set of six putative endogenous microRNAs was identified (miR-331-3p, let-7a-5p, miR-1839-5p, miR-151a-5p, let-7d-5p, and let-7c-5p). Subsequent validation and analysis using the RefFinder algorithm assessed the stability of the selected genes, and a combination of the three most stable endogenous miRNA controls (miR-331-3p, let-7a- 5p, and miR-1839-5p) exhibiting consistent expression patterns with minimal variability was set. Given the absence of universal endogenous controls, individual evaluation of normalizers for each experiment is imperative for accurate miRNA expression measurements. This approach, which combines multiple techniques and assessments, provides a reliable strategy for identifying and validating endogenous controls in miRNA studies.","PeriodicalId":15171,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biosciences","volume":"50 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143648542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0