Project description:To understand hypoxia mediated changes in whole blood, normal C57Bl/10 mice were gradually exposed to a chronic chemical hypoxic environment, for 2 weeks. Control, age-machted mice were maintained under normoxic conditions. Purpose: To examine and characterize the expression profile of genes expressed at chemical hypoxia of whole blood in comparison to the control. Methods: At the beginning of the experiment mice were divided into two groups, control (room condition) and chemical hypoxic (room condition). For conditioning, the chemical hypoxic group was supplemented with 200ng of CoCl2 per 100ml/day. Animalâs weight and food intake were monitored daily. Food and water were changed daily during the course of the experiment. Before and after the experiments the hematocrit was monitored by taking blood from the tail vein of control and hypoxic animals. After 15 days animals were euthanized using CO2 after whole blood extraction from V. Cava for further analysis. RNA from whole blood was isolated, processed and used for microarray-based expression profiling. Profiles were generated for genes differentially expressed at control versus chemical hypoxia in whole blood using a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0%.We validated the profiles by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results: The regional transcriptomes associated with chemical hypoxia in whole blood were identified. We found 3094 genes that were differentially expressed in chemical hypoxic whole blood compared to control with a 0% FDR and a 2 fold cutoff. Conclusion: Transcriptome level differences exist between control and chemical hypoxia in whole blood. Our definition of the synaptic transcriptome provides insight into the functioning of the unique response to hypoxia in whole blood.
Project description:We collected whole genome testis expression data from hybrid zone mice. We integrated GWAS mapping of testis expression traits and low testis weight to gain insight into the genetic basis of hybrid male sterility.
Project description:We collected whole genome testis expression data from hybrid zone mice. We integrated GWAS mapping of testis expression traits and low testis weight to gain insight into the genetic basis of hybrid male sterility. Gene expression was measured in whole testis from males aged 62-86 days. Samples include 190 first generation lab-bred male offspring of wild-caught mice from the Mus musculus musculus - M. m. domesticus hybrid zone.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:To determine hypoxia mediated changes in whole blood, normal C57Bl/10 mice were gradually exposed to a chronic hypoxic environment, equivalent to an altitude of 6500m, for 2 weeks in vivo. Control, age-matched mice were maintained under normoxic, normobaric conditions by exposing them to ambient air in Philadelphia (c. 50 mts above sea level). Purpose: To determine the expression profile of genes differentially expressed in mouse whole blood upon exposure to normobaric hypoxia in vivo. Methods: The hypoxic group consisting of 6 C57/BL10 mice was exposed to normobaric hypoxia, in a specially designed and hermetically closed hypoxic chamber, using a gas mixing system Pegas 4000 MF (Columbus Instruments, Ohio, USA). The oxygen level was decreased from 21% to 8% over a period of 14 days. 6 control mice were kept at normal oxygen and pressure levels by exposing them to ambient air in Philadelphia (c. 50 mts above sea level). RNA from whole blood was isolated, processed and used for microarray-based expression profiling. Profiles were generated for genes differentially expressed at control versus normobaric hypoxia in whole blood using a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0%. The Profile was validated by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) on 2 biologically independent samples, not used for generating the profile. Results: The transcriptomes associated with normobaric hypoxia in whole blood were identified. We found 4723 genes that were differentially expressed in normobaric hypoxic whole blood compared to control with a 0% FDR and a 2 fold cutoff. Conclusion: Transcriptome level differences exist in the whole blood of animals subjected to normobaric hypoxia. Our definition of the normobaric hypoxia blood transcriptome provides insight into the functioning and response to hypoxia in whole blood.