TY - JOUR A1 - Hurd, Paul J. A1 - Grübel, Kornelia A1 - Wojciechowski, Marek A1 - Maleszka, Ryszard A1 - Rössler, Wolfgang T1 - Novel structure in the nuclei of honey bee brain neurons revealed by immunostaining JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In the course of a screen designed to produce antibodies (ABs) with affinity to proteins in the honey bee brain we found an interesting AB that detects a highly specific epitope predominantly in the nuclei of Kenyon cells (KCs). The observed staining pattern is unique, and its unfamiliarity indicates a novel previously unseen nuclear structure that does not colocalize with the cytoskeletal protein f-actin. A single rod-like assembly, 3.7-4.1 mu m long, is present in each nucleus of KCs in adult brains of worker bees and drones with the strongest immuno-labelling found in foraging bees. In brains of young queens, the labelling is more sporadic, and the rod-like structure appears to be shorter (similar to 2.1 mu m). No immunostaining is detectable in worker larvae. In pupal stage 5 during a peak of brain development only some occasional staining was identified. Although the cellular function of this unexpected structure has not been determined, the unusual distinctiveness of the revealed pattern suggests an unknown and potentially important protein assembly. One possibility is that this nuclear assembly is part of the KCs plasticity underlying the brain maturation in adult honey bees. Because no labelling with this AB is detectable in brains of the fly Drosophila melanogaster and the ant Camponotus floridanus, we tentatively named this antibody AmBNSab (Apis mellifera Brain Neurons Specific antibody). Here we report our results to make them accessible to a broader community and invite further research to unravel the biological role of this curious nuclear structure in the honey bee central brain. KW - mushroom body calyx KW - synaptic complexes KW - bodies KW - insect KW - plasticity KW - insights KW - genome KW - model KW - proteins KW - methylation KW - biological techniques KW - cell biology KW - developmental biology KW - molecular biology KW - neuroscience Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260059 VL - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Biscotti, Maria Assunta A1 - Carducci, Federica A1 - Barucca, Marco A1 - Gerdol, Marco A1 - Pallavicini, Alberto A1 - Schartl, Manfred A1 - Canapa, Adriana A1 - Contar Adolfi, Mateus T1 - The transcriptome of the newt Cynops orientalis provides new insights into evolution and function of sexual gene networks in sarcopterygians JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Amphibians evolved in the Devonian period about 400 Mya and represent a transition step in tetrapod evolution. Among amphibians, high-throughput sequencing data are very limited for Caudata, due to their largest genome sizes among terrestrial vertebrates. In this paper we present the transcriptome from the fire bellied newt Cynops orientalis. Data here presented display a high level of completeness, comparable to the fully sequenced genomes available from other amphibians. Moreover, this work focused on genes involved in gametogenesis and sexual development. Surprisingly, the gsdf gene was identified for the first time in a tetrapod species, so far known only from bony fish and basal sarcopterygians. Our analysis failed to isolate fgf24 and foxl3, supporting the possible loss of both genes in the common ancestor of Rhipidistians. In Cynops, the expression analysis of genes described to be sex-related in vertebrates singled out an expected functional role for some genes, while others displayed an unforeseen behavior, confirming the high variability of the sex-related pathway in vertebrates. KW - developmental biology KW - evolution Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227326 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adolfi, Mateus C. A1 - Herpin, Amaury A1 - Regensburger, Martina A1 - Sacquegno, Jacopo A1 - Waxman, Joshua S. A1 - Schartl, Manfred T1 - Retinoic acid and meiosis induction in adult versus embryonic gonads of medaka JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In vertebrates, one of the first recognizable sex differences in embryos is the onset of meiosis, known to be regulated by retinoic acid (RA) in mammals. We investigated in medaka a possible meiotic function of RA during the embryonic sex determination (SD) period and in mature gonads. We found RA mediated transcriptional activation in germ cells of both sexes much earlier than the SD stage, however, no such activity during the critical stages of SD. In adults, expression of the RA metabolizing enzymes indicates sexually dimorphic RA levels. In testis, RA acts directly in Sertoli, Leydig and pre-meiotic germ cells. In ovaries, RA transcriptional activity is highest in meiotic oocytes. Our results show that RA plays an important role in meiosis induction and gametogenesis in adult medaka but contrary to common expectations, not for initiating the first meiosis in female germ cells at the SD stage. KW - developmental biology KW - molecular biology Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147843 VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stefanovic, Sonia A1 - Barnett, Phil A1 - van Duijvenboden, Karel A1 - Weber, David A1 - Gessler, Manfred A1 - Christoffels, Vincent M. T1 - GATA-dependent regulatory switches establish atrioventricular canal specificity during heart development JF - Nature Communications N2 - The embryonic vertebrate heart tube develops an atrioventricular canal that divides the atrial and ventricular chambers, forms atrioventricular conduction tissue and organizes valve development. Here we assess the transcriptional mechanism underlying this localized differentiation process. We show that atrioventricular canal-specific enhancers are GATA-binding site-dependent and act as switches that repress gene activity in the chambers. We find that atrioventricular canal-specific gene loci are enriched in H3K27ac, a marker of active enhancers, in atrioventricular canal tissue and depleted in H3K27ac in chamber tissue. In the atrioventricular canal, Gata4 activates the enhancers in synergy with Bmp2/Smad signalling, leading to H3K27 acetylation. In contrast, in chambers, Gata4 cooperates with pan-cardiac Hdac1 and Hdac2 and chamber-specific Hey1 and Hey2, leading to H3K27 deacetylation and repression. We conclude that atrioventricular canal-specific enhancers are platforms integrating cardiac transcription factors, broadly active histone modification enzymes and localized co-factors to drive atrioventricular canal-specific gene activity. KW - biological sciences KW - developmental biology KW - molecular biology Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121437 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 5 IS - 3680 ER -