Project description:A population and admixture analysis of Mesoamerican Totonacs and South American Bolivians. A panel of highly informative ancestry informative markers (AIMs) for New World populations is identified. Regions coinciding with AIMs are have moderate signatures of selection. Population structure and differentiation were assessed with a genome-wide panel of 815,377 autosomal markers, Y-chromosome STR and SNPs, and mtDNA sequence data.
Project description:In the presence of environmental change, natural selection can shape the transcriptome. Under a scenario of environmental change, genotypes that are better able to modulate gene expression to maximize fitness will tend to be favored. Therefore, it is important to examine gene expression at the population level in order to distinguish random or neutral gene expression variation from the pattern produced by natural selection. This study investigates the natural variation in transcriptional response to a cactus host shift utilizing the mainland Sonora population of Drosophila mojavensis. Drosophila mojavensis is a cactophilic species composed of four cactus host populations endemic to the deserts of North America. Overall, the change in cactus host was associated with a significant reduction in larval viability, as well as the differential expression of 21% of the genome (3,109 genes). Among the genes identified were a set of genes previously known to be involved in xenobiotic metabolism, as well as genes involved in cellular energy production, oxidoreductase/carbohydrate metabolism, structural components and mRNA binding. Interestingly, of the 3,109 genes whose expression was affected by host use, there was a significant overrepresentation of genes that lacked an orthologous call to the D. melanogaster genome, suggesting the possibility of an accelerated rate of evolution in these genes. Of the genes with a significant cactus effect, the majority, 2,264 genes, did not exhibit a significant cactus-by-line interaction. This population level approach facilitated the identification of genes involved in past cactus host shifts. Dataset from Population transcriptomics of cactus host shifts in Drosophila mojavensis, Matzkin, LM. Molecular Ecology.
Project description:Proteomics characterization of the venoms of the two subspecies (bilineatus and smaragdinus) of the poorly studied South American palm pitviper Bothrops bilineatus from the Brazilian state of Rondônia
Project description:Proteomics characterization of the venoms of the two subspecies (bilineatus and smaragdinus) of the poorly studied South American palm pitviper Bothrops bilineatus from the Brazilian state of Rondônia
Project description:Bacillus cereus is the second leading cause of collective food poisoning in France. B. cereus is also associated with severe clinical infections leading to patient death in 10% of the cases. The emergence of B. cereus as a foodborne and opportunistic pathogen has intensified the need to distinguish strains of public health concern. In this work, by performing a screen on a large collection of B. cereus strains of varying pathogenic potential, we identified genetic determinants capable of discriminating B. cereus strains inducing negative clinical outcomes. The combination of 4 biomarkers is sufficient to accurately discern clinical strains from harmless strains. Three of the biomarkers are located on the chromosome, with a fourth one identifying a plasmid carried by most pathogenic strains. A 50 kbp region of this plasmid promotes the virulence potential of these strains and could thus be defined as a new pathogenicity island of B. cereus. These new findings help in the understanding of B. cereus pathogenic potential and complexity and may provide tools for a better assessment of the risks associated with B. cereus contamination to improve patient health and food safety.
Project description:There is a need for expansion of the available potato genomic and transcriptomic resources in order to explore novel traits for potato improvement. Transcriptomic data derived from leaves from eleven native South American potato landraces (ten Peruvian and another; TBR Chilean) has been collected in order to aid the annotation of these genomes.