Project description:Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a disease of the central nervous system that progressively affects the motor system. Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to agriculture-related occupations or agrichemicals elevate a person’s risk for PD. Here, we sought to examine the possible epigenetic changes associated with working on a plantation on Oahu, HI and/or exposure to organochlorines (OGC) in PD cases. We measured genome-wide DNA methylation using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450K BeadChip array in matched peripheral blood and postmortem brain biospecimens in PD cases (n=20) assessed for years of plantation work and presence of organochlorines in brain tissue. The comparison of 10+ to 0 years of plantation work exposure detected 7 and 123 differentially methylated loci (DML) in brain and blood DNA, respectively (P<0.0001). The comparison of cases with 4+ to 0-2 detectable levels of OGC, identified 8 and 18 DML in brain and blood DNA, respectively (P <0.0001). Pathway analyses revealed links to key neurotoxic and neuropathologic pathways related to impaired immune and proinflammatory responses as well as impaired clearance of damaged proteins, as found in the predominantly glial cell population in these environmental exposure-related PD cases.
Project description:Comparative transcriptome analysis of early interaction events in Scots pine root tissues following challenge with a pathogenic, saprophytic or symbiotic fungus. Seedlings of P. sylvestris (19 days post germination) were transferred to wet, sterile filter paper on Petri-plates. Thereafter, the roots of the seedlings were inoculated with the mycelial homogenate of either Heterobasidion annosum (FP5, P-type) a pathogenic root rot fungus which attacks Norway spruce, Scots pine and broad leaf trees or Laccaria bicolor, an obligate ectomycorrhizal symbiont or Trichoderma aureoviride- an obligate saprotroph. Thereafter, incubated for 30 minutes, during which time some hyphae adhered to the roots. The inoculated seedlings (ten) were then transferred to another wet sterile filter paper placed on 1% water agar in Petri dishes. A second set of moist sterile filter paper was laid over the roots. The region of the Petri-dish containing the roots was covered with aluminium foil and the edges of the plate sealed with parafilm. The seedlings were then incubated for 24 hr under a photoperiod of 16h light at 20 ºC. Control seedlings were âinoculatedâ with sterile distilled water.
Project description:White-rot basidiomycete fungi are potent degraders of plant biomass with the ability to mineralize all lignocellulose components. Recent comparative genomics studies showed that these fungi use a wide diversity of enzymes for wood degradation. Deeper functional analyses are however necessary to understand the enzymatic mechanisms leading to lignocellulose breakdown. The Polyporale fungus Pycnoporus coccineus CIRM-BRFM310 grows well on both coniferous and deciduous wood. In the present study we analyzed the early response of the fungus to softwood (pine) and hardwood (aspen) feedstocks.