Project description:Most species of bee are capable of delivering a defensive sting which is often painful. A solitary lifestyle is the ancestral state of bees and most extant species are solitary, but information on bee venoms comes predominantly from studies on eusocial species. In this study we investigated the venom composition of the Australian great carpenter bee, Xylocopa aruana Ritsema, 1876. We show that the venom is relatively simple, composed mainly of one small amphipathic peptide (XYTX1-Xa1a), with lesser amounts of an apamin homologue (XYTX2-Xa2a) and a venom phospholipase-A2 (PLA2). XYTX1-Xa1a is homologous to, and shares a similar mode-of-action to melittin and the bombilitins, the major components of the venoms of the eusocial Apis mellifera (Western honeybee) and Bombus spp. (bumblebee), respectively. XYTX1-Xa1a and melittin directly activate mammalian sensory neurons and cause spontaneous pain behaviours in vivo, effects which are potentiated in the presence of venom PLA2. The apamin-like peptide XYTX2-Xa2a was a relatively weak blocker of small conductance calcium-activated potassium (KCa) channels and, like A. mellifera apamin and mast cell-degranulating peptide, did not contribute to pain behaviours in mice. While the composition and mode-of-action of the venom of X. aruana are similar to that of A. mellifera, the greater potency, on mammalian sensory neurons, of the major pain-causing component in A. mellifera venom may represent an adaptation to the distinct defensive pressures on eusocial Apidae.
Project description:The emergence of eusociality is one of the major transitions in evolution. There have been several investigations into the reasons for shaping caste differentiation and social behavior of eusocial insects, such as ants and honeybees. However, the molecular mechanisms governing the sociality of these insects remain obscure. In this study, we profiled the transcriptome and chromatin accessibility of brain tissues in all castes: queens, males, gynes and workers in Monomorium pharaonis which is a typical caste-dependent eusocial insect. We created a comprehensive dataset including 16 RNA-seq and 16 ATAC-seq profiles from 4 biological replicates. We also demonstrated strong reproducibility of the datasets and identified specific genes and open chromatin regions in the genome that may be associated with caste differentiation. Overall, our data will be a valuable resource for further study of the mechanisms underlying eusocial insect behavior, particularly the role of the brain in the control of eusociality.
Project description:Genome and transcriptome sequence data from a solitary fibrous tumors (sarcoma) patient, generated as part of the BC Cancer Agency's Personalized OncoGenomics (POG) study
Project description:Genome and transcriptome sequence data from a solitary fibrous tumors (sarcoma) patient, generated as part of the BC Cancer Agency's Personalized OncoGenomics (POG) study
Project description:First brain methylome and transcriptomic data of two simple eusocial insects: Polistes canadensis paper wasp and Dinoponera quadriceps dinosaur ant
Project description:We evaluated the expression profile of miRNA and snoRNA of normal mucosa in five patients with synchronous CRCs and seven patients with solitary CRCs using the Affymetrix GeneChip miRNA 1.0 array. We found that global dysregulated miRNAs and snoRNAs in normal mucosa between solitary and synchronous CRC. Our findings represent the first comprehensive miRNA and snoRNA expression signatures in normal mucosa between solitary and synchronous CRC, which increases the understanding of the molecular basis of synchronous CRC, and firstly implicates the difference of genetic background in patients with solitary and synchronous CRC.