Project description:The formation of neuronal connections requires the precise guidance of developing axons towards their targets. In the Drosophila visual system, photoreceptor neurons (R cells) project from the eye into the brain. These cells are grouped into some 750 clusters comprised of eight photoreceptors or R-cells each. R cells fall into three classes, R1-R6, R7 and R8. Posterior R8 cells are the first to project axons into the brain. How these axons select a specific pathway is not known. Here, we used a microarray-based approach to identify genes expressed in R7 and R8 neurons as they extend into the brain.
Project description:The formation of neuronal connections requires the precise guidance of developing axons towards their targets. In the Drosophila visual system, photoreceptor neurons (R cells) project from the eye into the brain. These cells are grouped into some 750 clusters comprised of eight photoreceptors or R-cells each. R cells fall into three classes, R1-R6, R7 and R8. Posterior R8 cells are the first to project axons into the brain. How these axons select a specific pathway is not known. Here, we used a microarray-based approach to identify genes expressed in R7 and R8 neurons as they extend into the brain. We used microarray analysis to measure gene expression changes when the transcription factor Runt is misexpressed in eye discs and conversely when eye discs are rendered mutant for the Senseless transcription factor.
Project description:Perkinsus marinus is an intracellular parasitic protozoan that is responsible for serious disease epizootics in marine bivalve molluscs worldwide and along with P. olseni belongs to the OIE list of notified diseases. Despite all available information on P. marinus genomics, more baseline data is required at the proteomic level for a better understanding of P. marinus biological processes, including virulence mechanisms. In the present study, we have established in vitro clonal cultures of P. marinus from infected gills and mantle tissues of C. rhizophorae to evaluate the parasite cellular proteomic profile. A high throughput label-free shotgun HDMS approach using nanoUPLC-MS was used. Our intention was to provide the first comprehensive proteome profile of P. marinus that might serve as a valuable resource for future investigations involving comparative analyses of P. marinus from different regions, as well as comparisons of different species of Perkinsus.
