who-is-who-non-invasive-methods-to-individually-sex-mark-altricial

Who is Who? Non-invasive Methods to Individually Sex and Mark Altricial Chicks

Many experiments require early determination of offspring's sex as well as early marking of newborns for individual recognition. According to animal ...

Alteration in DNA content is an early event in oral carcinogenesis. We have examined oral brush samples to detect non-diploid cells (NDC) using simultaneous morphological and cytogenetic analysis. The study included 8 oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC), 22 premalignant lesions (OPLs), and 25 control individuals. Slides stained with Giemsa followed by FISH using chromosome 2 centromeric DNA probe, were scanned and fluorescent signals were simultaneously analyzed in parallel with the morphology. The proportion of NDC increased with the severity of the diagnosis. In two control subjects, 1-1.5% of the examined cells were NDC. Over 2% NDC were present in all OSCC cases and in 11 of the OPLs, of which, in 8 the histologic diagnosis was either epithelial hyperplasia or mild dysplasia. A significant number of NDC had normal morphology when cytomorphology and FISH were compared. Two patients with OPLs developed OSCC these patients had a significant proportion of NDC. We suggest that the combined morphological and cytogenetic analysis of cells collected by a non-invasive brush sampling can enhance early detection of potentially malignant cells.

Detection of non-diploid cells in premalignant and malignant oral lesions using combined morphological and FISH analysis - a new method for early detection of suspicious oral lesions.

Bio-alcamid is one of the newest agents on the market for soft tissue augmentation. Seven studies were documented in the medical literature that examined the safety of Bio-alcamid (Polymekon, Brindisy, Italy); all reported no cases of tissue migration, foreign body granulomas, allergenicity, or interference with the control of cell proliferation. On 2 separate occasions, a woman who had recently undergone lip augmentation presented at our hospital with submucosal nodules of the lip. Histologic examination revealed multiple foreign body-type granulomas composed of giant cells, epithelioid cells, and chronic inflammation of the lip. Efforts to produce a cosmetic material that fulfills all the criteria as an "ideal" agent has not yet been found because all injectable foreign agents have the potential to induce adverse reactions. Caution must be exercised in all cases and the risks explained to the patient before its use.

Foreign body granulomas after injection of Bio-alcamid for lip augmentation.

Cigarette smoke creates a field of injury in the epithelial lining of the entire respiratory tract causing an increased risk for the development of malignant lesions. It is conceivable, therefore, that early genetic alterations, can be detected in oral mucosa of heavy smokers mainly those affected by lung cancer. As aneuploidy was shown to be an early event in oral carcinogenesis, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of aneuploid cells (ACs) in samples obtained from apparently normal looking oral mucosa of heavy smokers affected by lung cancer (LC). Two brush samples were collected from the oral mucosa of 152 subjects; 31 heavy smokers with LC, 59 heavy smokers without LC and 62 never-smokers. The samples were simultaneously analyzed for morphology and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) using chromosomes 2 and 8 centromeric probes. Over 2% ACs were found in 23% of heavy smokers with LC compared to 12% in heavy smokers without LC and 5% of the never-smokers group (P=0.015). A trend was also noticed when comparing the group of heavy smokers without LC with the never-smokers (P=0.198). We conclude that heavy smokers harbour detectable chromosomal numerical aberrations in oral epithelial cells of normal looking mucosa. These aberrations are more frequently found in heavy smokers affected by LC.

Chromosomal numerical aberrations in apparently normal oral mucosa of heavy smokers affected by lung cancer.

While all members of the Orchidaceae are fully dependent on mycorrhizal fungi during their achlorophyllous juvenile stages, mature plants may remain fully myco-heterotrophic, become fully autotrophic or develop a nutritional mode where the carbon gain through photosynthesis is complemented by organic carbon from fungal partners. This so-called partial myco-heterotrophy is intriguingly complex. Current knowledge indicates a large range in the proportion of fungus-derived carbon between and within partially myco-heterotrophic plant species. However, the driving factors for this variation are so far mostly unknown. Here we show for two green species of the orchid genus Cephalanthera that light availability is the major determinant of the degree of myco-heterotrophy. Using leaf stable isotope natural abundance analysis together with time-integrated microscale light climate monitoring we could demonstrate that there is a sensitive reaction to varying light availability within forests. Low light levels result in strong myco-heterotrophy while higher irradiances successively drive the orchids towards autotrophy. Our results demonstrate that partial myco-heterotrophy in these species is not a static nutritional mode but a flexible mechanism driven by light availability which allows a balanced usage of carbon resources available in nature.

Irradiance governs exploitation of fungi: fine-tuning of carbon gain by two partially myco-heterotrophic orchids.

The zebra finch is an important model organism in several fields with unique relevance to human neuroscience. Like other songbirds, the zebra finch communicates through learned vocalizations, an ability otherwise documented only in humans and a few other animals and lacking in the chicken-the only bird with a sequenced genome until now. Here we present a structural, functional and comparative analysis of the genome sequence of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), which is a songbird belonging to the large avian order Passeriformes. We find that the overall structures of the genomes are similar in zebra finch and chicken, but they differ in many intrachromosomal rearrangements, lineage-specific gene family expansions, the number of long-terminal-repeat-based retrotransposons, and mechanisms of sex chromosome dosage compensation. We show that song behaviour engages gene regulatory networks in the zebra finch brain, altering the expression of long non-coding RNAs, microRNAs, transcription factors and their targets. We also show evidence for rapid molecular evolution in the songbird lineage of genes that are regulated during song experience. These results indicate an active involvement of the genome in neural processes underlying vocal communication and identify potential genetic substrates for the evolution and regulation of this behaviour.

The genome of a songbird.

Der Zebrafink ist ein wichtiger Modellorganismus in mehrere Felder mit eindeutigen Relevanz f&uuml;r menschliche Neurowissenschaften. Wie andere Singv&ouml;gel kommuniziert der Zebrafink durch gelernten Laute, eine F&auml;higkeit, die sonst nur in Menschen und ein paar andere Tiere dokumentiert und fehlt in der Huhn-der einzige Vogel mit einem sequenzierte Genom bis jetzt. Hier pr&auml;sentieren wir eine strukturelle, funktionelle und vergleichende Analyse der Genom-Sequenz von der Zebrafink (Taeniopygia Guttata), ist ein Singvogel geh&ouml;ren die gro&szlig;en Vogelgrippe Auftrag Passeriformes. Wir finden, dass die allgemeinen Strukturen der Genome &auml;hnlich in der Zebrafink und Huhn sind, aber sie unterscheiden sich in vielen intrachromosomal Umlagerungen, Herkunfts-spezifische gen-Familie-Erweiterungen, die Anzahl der langen-Terminal-Wiederholung-basierte Retrotransposons und Ausgleichsmechanismen Sex Chromosome Dosierung. Wir zeigen, dass Lied Verhalten gen regulatorische Netzwerke im Gehirn Zebrafink, engagiert sich den Ausdruck von lange nicht-kodierenden RNAs, MicroRNAs, Transkriptionsfaktoren und ihre Ziele zu ver&auml;ndern. Wir zeigen auch Beweise f&uuml;r die schnelle Molekulare Evolution in der Singvogel-Linie von Genen, die w&auml;hrend der Song-Erfahrung reguliert werden. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen eine aktive Beteiligung des Genoms in neuronalen Prozessen zugrunde liegen, Sprechverbindung und Identifizieren m&ouml;gliche genetische Substrate f&uuml;r die Entwicklung und Regulierung dieses Verhaltens.

Das Genom ein Singvogel.

Songbirds are a productive model organism to study the neural basis of auditory-guided vocal motor learning. Like human babies, juvenile songbirds learn many of their vocalizations by imitating an adult conspecific. This process is a product of genetic predispositions and the individual's life experience and has been investigated mainly by neuroanatomical, physiological and behavioral methods. Results have revealed general principles governing vertebrate motor behavior, sensitive periods, sexual dimorphism, social behavior regulation and adult neurogenesis. More recently, the emerging field of birdsong neurogenetics has advanced the way we think about genetic contributions to communication, mechanistically and conceptually.

Neurogenetics of birdsong.

Diet is generally believed to affect the aging process. The effects of complex foods on life span can be investigated using simple models that produce rapid results and allow the identification of food-gene interactions. Here, we show that 1 % lyophilized broccoli, added to flour as a dietary source, significantly increases the life span of the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) under physiological conditions (32 °C) and under heat stress (42 °C). The beneficial effects of broccoli could also be reproduced by supplementing flour with the isothiocyanate sulforaphane at concentrations found in the broccoli-supplemented diet. We identified stress-resistant genes responsible for these effects on longevity by microinjecting pupae with double-stranded RNA to induce RNA interference (RNAi). The knockdown of transcripts encoding homologs of Nrf-2, Jnk-1 and Foxo-1 reduced the life span of beetles and abrogated the beneficial effects of broccoli, whereas the knockdown of Sirt-1 and Sirt-3 had no impact in either scenario. In conclusion, T. castaneum is a suitable model organism to investigate food-gene interactions that affect stress resistance and longevity, and RNAi can be used to identify functionally relevant genes. As a proof of principle, we have shown here that broccoli increases the longevity of beetles and mediates its effect through signaling pathways that include key stress-resistant factors such as Nrf-2, Jnk-1 and Foxo-1.

Longevity in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum is enhanced by broccoli and depends on nrf-2, jnk-1 and foxo-1 homologous genes.

: Food quality is a fundamental issue all over the world. There are two major requirements to provide the highest quality of food: having the lowest reachable concentrations of health-threatening ingredients or contaminants and having the optimal concentrations of health-improving functional ingredients. Often, the boundaries of both requirements are blurred, as might be best exemplified by nutraceuticals (enriched food products invented to prevent or even treat diseases), for which undesirable side effects have been reported sometimes. Accordingly, there is an increasing need for reliable methods to screen for health effects of wanted or unwanted ingredients in a complex food matrix before more complex model organisms or human probands become involved. In this chapter, we present the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum as a model organism to screen for effects of complex foods on healthspan or lifespan by assessing the survival of the beetles under heat stress at 42 °C after feeding different diets. There is a higher genetic homology between T. castaneum and humans when compared to other invertebrate models, such as Drosophila melanogaster or Caenorhabditis elegans. Therefore, the red flour beetle appears as an interesting model to study interactions between genes and food ingredients, with relevance for stress resistance and lifespan. In that context, we provide data showing reduced lifespans of the beetles when the food-relevant contaminant benz(a)pyrene is added to the flour they were fed on, whereas a lifespan extension was observed in beetles fed on flour enriched with an extract of red wine.

The Red Flour Beetle Tribolium castaneum as a Model to Monitor Food Safety and Functionality.

The singing of song birds can form complex signal systems comprised of numerous subunits sung with distinct combinatorial properties that have been described as syntax-like. This complexity has inspired inquiries into similarities of bird song to human language; but the quantitative analysis and description of song sequences is a challenging task. In this study, we analysed song sequences of common nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) by means of a network analysis. We translated long nocturnal song sequences into networks of song types with song transitions as connectors. As network measures, we calculated shortest path length and transitivity and identified the 'small-world' character of nightingale song networks. Besides comparing network measures with conventional measures of song complexity, we also found a correlation between network measures and age of birds. Furthermore, we determined the numbers of in-coming and out-going edges of each song type, characterizing transition patterns. These transition patterns were shared across males for certain song types. Playbacks with different transition patterns provided first evidence that these patterns are responded to differently and thus play a role in singing interactions. We discuss potential functions of the network properties of song sequences in the framework of vocal leadership. Network approaches provide biologically meaningful parameters to describe the song structure of species with extremely large repertoires and complex rules of song retrieval.

Article	Year
Detection of non-diploid cells in premalignant and malignant oral lesions using combined morphological and FISH analysis - a new method for early detection of suspicious oral lesions. Cancer letters\| PubMed ID: 17386971	2007
Foreign body granulomas after injection of Bio-alcamid for lip augmentation. American journal of otolaryngology\| PubMed ID: 19720259	2009
Chromosomal numerical aberrations in apparently normal oral mucosa of heavy smokers affected by lung cancer. Oral oncology\| PubMed ID: 20004132	2010
Irradiance governs exploitation of fungi: fine-tuning of carbon gain by two partially myco-heterotrophic orchids. Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society\| PubMed ID: 20053652	2010
The genome of a songbird. Nature\| PubMed ID: 20360741	2010
Neurogenetics of birdsong. Current opinion in neurobiology\| PubMed ID: 23102970	2013
Longevity in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum is enhanced by broccoli and depends on nrf-2, jnk-1 and foxo-1 homologous genes. Genes & nutrition\| PubMed ID: 23321956	2013
The Red Flour Beetle Tribolium castaneum as a Model to Monitor Food Safety and Functionality. Advances in biochemical engineering/biotechnology\| PubMed ID: 23748350	2013
The use of network analysis to study complex animal communication systems: a study on nightingale song. Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society\| PubMed ID: 24807258	2014

Iris Adam

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