Project description:During the process of flower opening, most petals move downward in the direction of pedicel (i.e., epinastic movement). In most Delphinium flowers, however, their two lateral petals display a very peculiar movement, the mirrored helical rotation. Such a distinctive petal movement requires the twist of the stalk. However, in some lineages, their lateral petals also exhibit asymmetric bending that increases the degree of mirrored helical rotation, facilitating the formation of a 3D final shape. Notably, the petal asymmetric bending is a novel trait that has not been noticed yet so that its morphological nature, developmental process and molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, by using D. anthriscifolium as a model, we determined that the petal asymmetric bending was caused by localized expansion of cell width, accompanied with specialized arrangement of surface ornamentation, on the adaxial epidermis. Digital gene analyses, gene expression and functional studies revealed that a class I homeodomain-leucine zipper family transcription factor gene, DeanLATE MERISTEM IDENTITY1 (DeanLMI1), contributes to the petal asymmetric bending; knockdown of it led to the formation of explanate 2D petals. Specifically, DeanLMI1 promotes cell expansion in width and influences the arrangement of surface ornamentation, through regulating the auxin distribution, on the localized adaxial epidermis. These results not only provide a comprehensive portrait of petal asymmetric bending for the first time, but also shed some new insight into the mechanisms of flower opening and helical movement in plants.
Project description:Primary objectives: The primary objective is to investigate circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) via deep sequencing for mutation detection and by whole genome sequencing for copy number analyses before start (baseline) with regorafenib and at defined time points during administration of regorafenib for treatment efficacy in colorectal cancer patients in terms of overall survival (OS).
Primary endpoints: circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) via deep sequencing for mutation detection and by whole genome sequencing for copy number analyses before start (baseline) with regorafenib and at defined time points during administration of regorafenib for treatment efficacy in colorectal cancer patients in terms of overall survival (OS).
Project description:The naked mole-rat (NMR; Heterocephalus glaber) has recently gained considerable attention in the scientific community for its unique potential to unveil novel insights in the fields of medicine, biochemistry, and evolution. NMRs exhibit unique adaptations that include protracted fertility, cancer resistance, eusociality, and anoxia. This suite of adaptations is not found in other rodent species, suggesting that interrogating conserved and accelerated regions in the NMR genome will find regions of the NMR genome fundamental to their unique adaptations. However, the current NMR genome assembly has limits that make studying structural variations, heterozygosity, and non-coding adaptations challenging. We present a complete diploid naked-mole rat genome assembly by integrating long-read and 10X-linked read genome sequencing of a male NMR and its parents, and Hi-C sequencing in the NMR hypothalamus (N=2). Reads were identified as maternal, paternal or ambiguous (TrioCanu). We then polished genomes with Flye, Racon and Medaka. Assemblies were then scaffolded using the following tools in order: Scaff10X, Salsa2, 3d-DNA, Minimap2-alignment between assemblies, and the Juicebox Assembly Tools. We then subjected the assemblies to another round of polishing, including short-read polishing with Freebayes. We assembled the NMR mitochondrial genome with mitoVGP. Y chromosome contigs were identified by aligning male and female 10X linked reads to the paternal genome and finding male-biased contigs not present in the maternal genome. Contigs were assembled with publicly available male NMR Fibroblast Hi-C-seq data (SRR820318). Both assemblies have their sex chromosome haplotypes merged so that both assemblies have a high-quality X and Y chromosome. Finally, assemblies were evaluated with Quast, BUSCO, and Merqury, which all reported the base-pair quality and contiguity of both assemblies as high-quality. The assembly will next be annotated by Ensembl using public RNA-seq data from multiple tissues (SRP061363). Together, this assembly will provide a high-quality resource to the NMR and comparative genomics communities.
