Project description:To dissect the gene regulatory networks operating during Scarlet Runner Bean seed development, we identified the binding sites genome-wide for transcription factor in Scarlet Runner Bean seeds during seed development using ChIP-seq
Project description:Lions and tigers, as dominant apex predators, likely became competitors when lions expanded from Africa into Eurasia approximately one million years ago (Ma), forming a lion–tiger transition belt from the Middle East through Central Asia to the Russian Far East. At the easternmost edge of this zone, the Japanese Archipelago has long been considered a Late Pleistocene tiger refugium, supported by large felid subfossils traditionally attributed to tigers (Panthera tigris), though their taxonomic identity remained unresolved. To clarify the origin, evolutionary history, and biogeography of Japan’s Pleistocene felids, we analyzed 26 ancient specimens previously assumed to be tigers. Using mitochondrial and nuclear genome hybridization capture and sequencing, paleoproteomics, Bayesian molecular dating, and radiocarbon dating, we found that all ancient Japanese “tiger” remains yielding molecular data were, unexpectedly, cave lions (Panthera spelaea). One specimen was radiocarbon dated to 31,060 ± 190 BP. These cave lions likely dispersed to the Japanese Archipelago between ~72.7 and 37.5 thousand years ago (ka), when a land bridge connected northern Japan to the mainland during the Last Glacial Period. Our findings challenge the long-held view that tigers once took refuge in Japan, showing instead that cave lions were widespread in northeast Asia during this period and were the Panthera lineage that colonized Japan, reaching even its southwestern regions despite habitats previously thought to favor tigers.
Project description:High-throughput small RNA sequencing (sRNA-seq) has facilitated many discoveries, but extracellular sRNA (ExRNA) present unique analytical challenges that are not met by current software. Therefore, we developed a novel data analysis pipeline entitled, “TIGER”, which caters to exRNA. To demonstrate the power of this tool, sRNA-seq was performed on high-density lipoproteins (HDL), apolipoprotein B particles (APOB), bile, urine, and liver samples. TIGER was able to characterize approximately 60% of lipoprotein, and >85% of liver, bile, and urine sRNA-seq depth, a significant advance compared to existing software. A key advance for the TIGER pipeline is the ability to analyze host and non-host sRNAs at genomic, parent RNA, and individual fragment levels. Results suggest that the majority of sRNAs on lipoproteins are derived from bacterial sources in the microbiome and environment. Collectively, TIGER facilitated novel discoveries of lipoprotein and biofluid sRNAs and has tremendous applicability for the field of exRNA.
Project description:We used laser capture microdissection (LCM) to capture globular scarlet runner bean embryo propers and suspensors, and profiled the transcriptomes of these two embryo regions using next-generation sequencing. Our long-term goal is to understand the region-specific differentiation processes that occur during early embryo development and how genes are activated specifically in the suspensor and embryo proper. Illumina sequencing of transcripts from laser-captured embryo proper and suspensor regions of scarlet runner bean globular stage embryos. Two biological replicates were collected for each embryo region.
