Project description:Ixodes pacificus, the vector of Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) on the west coast, feeds on a variety of hosts including rodents, birds, and lizards. While rodents are reservoirs for Bb and can infect juvenile ticks, lizards are Bb-refractory. Despite the range of bloodmeals for I. pacificus, it is undetermined how larval host bloodmeal identity may affect future nymphal vector competence. Here, we conducted a transcriptome analysis on I. pacificus to determine whether and through what mechanisms host bloodmeal history affects vector competency of I. pacificus for the Lyme disease pathogen.
Project description:Based on its phylogenetic relationship to monitor lizards (Varanidae), Gila monsters (Heloderma spp.), and the earless monitor Lanthanotus borneesis, the Chinese crocodile lizard, Shinisaurus crocodilurus, has been assigned to the Toxicofera clade, which comprises venomous reptiles. However, no data about composition and biological activities of its oral secretion have been reported. In the present study, a proteomic analysis of the mandibular gland of S. crocodilurus and, for comparison, of the herbivorous Solomon Island skink Corucia zebrata, was performed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the teeth from S. crocodilurus revealed a sharp ridge on the anterior surface, but no grooves, whereas those of C. zebrata possess a flattened crown with a pointed cusp. Proteomic analysis of their gland extracts provided no evidence of venom-derived peptides or proteins, strongly supporting the non-venomous character of these lizards.
Project description:Lizards cannot naturally regenerate limbs but are the closest known relatives of mammals capable of epimorphic tail regrowth. However, the mechanisms regulating lizard blastema derivation and chondrogenesis remain unclear. We utilized single-cell RNA sequencing analyses of regenerating lizard tails throughout the course of regeneration to assess diversity and heterogeneity in regeneating tail cell populations.
Project description:Extreme environmental conditions at high altitude, such as hypobaric hypoxia, low temperature, and strong UV radiation, pose a great challenge to the survival of animals. Although the mechanisms of adaptation to high-altitude environments have attracted much attention for native plateau species, the underlying metabolic regulation remains unclear. Here, we used a multi-platform metabolomic analysis to compare metabolic profiles of liver between high- and low-altitude populations of toad-headed lizards, Phrynocephalus vlangalii, from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A total of 191 differential metabolites were identified, consisting of 108 up-regulated and 83 down-regulated metabolites in high-altitude lizards as compared with values for low-altitude lizards. Pathway analysis revealed that the significantly different metabolites were associated with carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, purine metabolism, and glycerolipid metabolism. Most intermediary metabolites of glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle were not significantly altered between the two altitudes, but most free fatty acids as well as β-hydroxybutyric acid were significantly lower in the high-altitude population. This may suggest that high-altitude lizards rely more on carbohydrates as their main energy fuel rather than lipids. Higher levels of phospholipids occurred in the liver of high-altitude populations, suggesting that membrane lipids may undergo adaptive remodeling in response to low-temperature stress at high altitude. In summary, this study demonstrates that metabolic profiles differ substantially between high- and low-altitude lizard populations, and that these differential metabolites and metabolic pathways can provide new insights to reveal mechanisms of adaptation to extreme environments at high altitude.
2024-01-16 | MTBLS6900 | MetaboLights
Project description:Genome-wide ddRADseq of Podarcis taxa (wall-lizards) from the Balkans
Project description:The health and resilience of species in natural environments are increasingly challenged by complex anthropogenic stressor combinations including climate change, habitat encroachment, and chemical contamination. To better understand impacts of these stressors, we examined the individual- and combined-stressor impacts of malaria infection, food limitation, and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) exposures on gene expression in livers of Western fence lizard (WFL, Sceloporus occidentalis) using custom WFL transcriptome-based microarrays. Computational analysis including annotation enrichment and correlation analysis identified putative functional mechanisms between transcript expression and toxicological phenotype. TNT exposure increased transcript expression for genes involved in erythropoiesis, potentially in response to TNT-induced anemia and/or methemoglobinemia, and caused dose-specific effects on genes involved in lipid and overall energy metabolism consistent with a hormesis response of growth stimulation at low doses contrasted with adverse effects on lizard growth at high doses. Functional enrichment and inguinal fat body weights suggest inhibition of lipid mobilization and catabolism by TNT coupled with a decreased overall energy budget. Malaria infection elicited enrichment of the expression of multiple immune-related functions likely corresponding to increased white blood cell (WBC) counts. Food limitation alone enriched functions related to cellular energy production and decreased expression of immune response consistent with a decrease in WBC levels. Despite these findings, the lizards demonstrated immune resilience to malaria infection under food limitation with transcriptional results indicating a fully competent immune response to malaria, even under bioenergetic constraints. Interestingly, each TNT and malaria individually tended to increase transcriptional expression of immune-related genes and increase overall WBC concentrations in blood; responses that were retained in the TNT x malaria combined exposure. The results demonstrate complex and sometimes unexpected responses to multiple stressors where the lizards displayed remarkable resiliency to the stressor combinations investigated.
Project description:The health and resilience of species in natural environments are increasingly challenged by complex anthropogenic stressor combinations including climate change, habitat encroachment, and chemical contamination. To better understand impacts of these stressors, we examined the individual- and combined-stressor impacts of malaria infection, food limitation, and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) exposures on gene expression in livers of Western fence lizard (WFL, Sceloporus occidentalis) using custom WFL transcriptome-based microarrays. Computational analysis including annotation enrichment and correlation analysis identified putative functional mechanisms between transcript expression and toxicological phenotype. TNT exposure increased transcript expression for genes involved in erythropoiesis, potentially in response to TNT-induced anemia and/or methemoglobinemia, and caused dose-specific effects on genes involved in lipid and overall energy metabolism consistent with a hormesis response of growth stimulation at low doses contrasted with adverse effects on lizard growth at high doses. Functional enrichment and inguinal fat body weights suggest inhibition of lipid mobilization and catabolism by TNT coupled with a decreased overall energy budget. Malaria infection elicited enrichment of the expression of multiple immune-related functions likely corresponding to increased white blood cell (WBC) counts. Food limitation alone enriched functions related to cellular energy production and decreased expression of immune response consistent with a decrease in WBC levels. Despite these findings, the lizards demonstrated immune resilience to malaria infection under food limitation with transcriptional results indicating a fully competent immune response to malaria, even under bioenergetic constraints. Interestingly, each TNT and malaria individually tended to increase transcriptional expression of immune-related genes and increase overall WBC concentrations in blood; responses that were retained in the TNT x malaria combined exposure. The results demonstrate complex and sometimes unexpected responses to multiple stressors where the lizards displayed remarkable resiliency to the stressor combinations investigated.
Project description:The health and resilience of species in natural environments are increasingly challenged by complex anthropogenic stressor combinations including climate change, habitat encroachment, and chemical contamination. To better understand impacts of these stressors, we examined the individual- and combined-stressor impacts of malaria infection, food limitation, and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) exposures on gene expression in livers of Western fence lizard (WFL, Sceloporus occidentalis) using custom WFL transcriptome-based microarrays. Computational analysis including annotation enrichment and correlation analysis identified putative functional mechanisms between transcript expression and toxicological phenotype. TNT exposure increased transcript expression for genes involved in erythropoiesis, potentially in response to TNT-induced anemia and/or methemoglobinemia, and caused dose-specific effects on genes involved in lipid and overall energy metabolism consistent with a hormesis response of growth stimulation at low doses contrasted with adverse effects on lizard growth at high doses. Functional enrichment and inguinal fat body weights suggest inhibition of lipid mobilization and catabolism by TNT coupled with a decreased overall energy budget. Malaria infection elicited enrichment of the expression of multiple immune-related functions likely corresponding to increased white blood cell (WBC) counts. Food limitation alone enriched functions related to cellular energy production and decreased expression of immune response consistent with a decrease in WBC levels. Despite these findings, the lizards demonstrated immune resilience to malaria infection under food limitation with transcriptional results indicating a fully competent immune response to malaria, even under bioenergetic constraints. Interestingly, each TNT and malaria individually tended to increase transcriptional expression of immune-related genes and increase overall WBC concentrations in blood; responses that were retained in the TNT x malaria combined exposure. The results demonstrate complex and sometimes unexpected responses to multiple stressors where the lizards displayed remarkable resiliency to the stressor combinations investigated.
2018-11-15 | GSE116024 | GEO
Project description:Evolutionary study of whiptail lizards (Aspidoscelis)