Project description:Apis mellifera workers in temperate climates display two castes; short lived summer bees that engage in nursing, hive maintenance and foraging, and long lived winter bees (diutinus bees) which remain within the hive and are essential for thermoregulation. Label free quantitative proteomic analysis was conducted on A. mellifera workers sampled in June and December to compare the proteomes of summer and winter bees. Proteomic analysis was completed on head, abdominal and venom sac samples which revealed an elevated level of protein abundance in summer bees but and a decrease in protein abundance in winter bees. Head and abdominal samples displayed an increase in cuticular proteins in summer samples whereas an increase in xenobiotic proteins was observed in winter samples. Several carbohydrate metabolism pathways which have been linked to energy production and longevity in insects were observed to be increased in abundance in winter samples in comparison to summer samples. Proteomic analysis of the venom sacs an increased abundance and expression of bee venom associated proteins in comparison to winter workers. These data provides an insight into the adaptions of A. mellifera workers in summer and winter and may aid in future treatment and disease studies on honeybee colonies.
Project description:Apis mellifera workers in temperate climates display two castes; short lived summer bees that engage in nursing, hive maintenance and foraging, and long lived winter bees (diutinus bees) which remain within the hive and are essential for thermoregulation. Label free quantitative proteomic analysis was conducted on A. mellifera workers sampled in June and December to compare the proteomes of summer and winter bees. Proteomic analysis was completed on head, abdominal and venom sac samples which revealed an elevated level of protein abundance in summer bees but and a decrease in protein abundance in winter bees. Head and abdominal samples displayed an increase in cuticular proteins in summer samples whereas an increase in xenobiotic proteins was observed in winter samples. Several carbohydrate metabolism pathways which have been linked to energy production and longevity in insects were observed to be increased in abundance in winter samples in comparison to summer samples. Proteomic analysis of the venom sacs an increased abundance and expression of bee venom associated proteins in comparison to winter workers. These data provides an insight into the adaptions of A. mellifera workers in summer and winter and may aid in future treatment and disease studies on honeybee colonies.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single strand small non-coding RNAs that regulate target mRNAs at post-transcription level. Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), is an important crop plant all over the world. Long term cold exposure (vernalization) is necessary for winter wheat transition from vegetative growth to reproductive growth, yet the involvement of miRNAs in these stages remains unknown. Therefore, we performed next generation sequencing of small RNAs profiles in crown tissues at three-leaf stage, winter dormancy stage, spring greenup stage and jointing stage.
Project description:Investigation of transcriptome dynamics of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) in winter (Dec. 22-23, 2011) and summer (July 30-31, 2012). We investigated seasonal and diurnal transcriptome dynamics of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) by analyzing shoot samples collected at four-hour interval for two days in winter and summer, respectively. We first collected sequence data of expressed genes from shoots to designed microarray probes. Microarray analysis revealed the significant difference of transcripts between summer and winter, and the diurnal transcriptome dynamic in summer.Statistical analysis indicated that about 7.7 % of unique genes showed diurnal rhythms with more than two-fold of peak-to-trough amplitude in summer.
Project description:Winter survival and maintenance strategy is crucial in temperate woody plants. Here, we demonstrate novel aspects of the transcriptional regulations adopted by perennial tree species in winter/dormancy, employing a biochemical and whole transcriptome analysis. As expected, genes related to cold hardiness and defense are over-represented. Interestingly, carbohydrate biosynthesis and transport-related genes were very actively expressed in winter/dormancy. Further biochemical analyses verified the dormancy/winter transcription phenotype. Furthermore, dormancy/winter preferential expression of genes involved in the cell wall biosynthesis/modification, circadian rhythm, the indirect transcriptional regulation (RNA metabolism), and chromatin modification/remodeling were identified. Taken together, regulation of gene expression in the winter survival and maintenance may include not only controlled by promoter binding transcription factors but may also be regulated at the post-transcriptional and chromatin levels.
Project description:Many terrestrial ectotherms have gone to great evolutionary lengths to adapt to long cold winters; some have even evolved the ability to tolerate the freezing of most of the water in the body. Now, however, high-elevation, and high-latitude winters are experiencing an accelerated period of warming. Specialized winter adaptations that promoted fitness in a seasonally frozen environment may soon be superfluous or even maladaptive. We ask whether winter adaptations include changes in immune functions, and whether changing winter conditions could exert disparate effects on populations of a wide-ranging terrestrial ectotherm, the wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus). By rearing wood frogs from ancestral winter environments that vary in length and temperature in a common garden, and reciprocally crossing post-metamorphic frogs into unfrozen and frozen artificial winter conditions in the lab, we were able to decompose transcriptomic differences in ventral skin gene expression into those that were environmentally induced (responsive to temperature), genetically determined, and those that varied as an interaction between genotype and environment. We found that frogs from harsh ancestral winter environments upregulated immune processes, including cellular immunity, inflammatory processes, and adaptive immune processes, as compared to frogs from mild ancestral winter environments. Further, we saw that expression of several genes varied in an interaction between genotype and artificial winter environment, a pattern that was recapitulated at the level of hepatosomatic index (the proportion of body mass comprising liver). We suggest that just as winter climates likely served as the selective force resulting in remarkable winter adaptations such as freeze tolerance, they also induced constitutive changes in immune gene expression.