Studies comparing animal genomes generally focus on the DNA sequence itself. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis shows how the three-dimensional scaffolding of chromosomes is related across several species of carnivores, offering a new approach of “comparative scaffotyping” that could be used to identify related genes across species and place them in context. The work, published the week of Feb.
Scientists are a step closer to breeding plants with genes from only one parent. New research led by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Nov. 19 in Science Advances, shows the underlying mechanism behind eliminating half the genome and could make for easier and more rapid breeding of crop plants with desirable traits such as disease resistance.
A recent publication in Scientific Reports by Brydges et al. titled "Indoxyl sulfate, a gut microbiome-derived uremic toxin, is associated with psychic anxiety and its functional magnetic resonance imaging-based neurologic signature" investigated whether indoles in the gut microbiome are associated with depression and anxiety. The study found that abundance of indoles is correlated with anxiety, but anxiety treatment was not related to the modulation of indoles in the gut.
The first atlas of metabolites in the mouse brain has been published by a team led by UC Davis researchers. The dataset includes 1,547 different molecules across 10 brain regions in male and female laboratory mice from adolescence through adulthood and into advanced old age. The work is published Oct. 15 in the Nature Communications. The complete dataset is publicly available at https://mouse.atlas.metabolomics.us/.
The Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) today (April 28) announced their flagship study including high-quality, near error-free, and near complete reference genome assemblies for 16 species representing six major lineages of vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, monotremes, amphibians and fish.
Blue coloring in nature is difficult to find; however, there is consumer demand for natural food coloring. Research conducted by Denish et al. (2021) in Science Advances describes the discovery of a cyan blue anthocyanin-based colorant. Synthetic biology and computational protein design tools were leveraged to develop an enzymatic transformation of red cabbage anthocyanins into the desired anthocyanin. This newly discovered cyan blue colorant could replace FD&C Blue No. 1.
Together, several Genome Center faculty have catalogued regulatory genes in chickens, cattle, and pigs that could lead to improvements in breeding these important farm animals.
Genome Sequence of Verticillium dahliae Race 1 Isolate VdLs.16 From Lettuce
This recent publication by Chen et al. in Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions presented a high-quality reference genome sequence of Verticillium dahliae race 1 isolate VdLs.16, which is an important fungal pathogen of crop and ornamental plants. This resource is a building block for future research on pathogenicity and population diversity. Read the full article here.
Phytopathogen Effectors Use Multiple Mechanisms to Manipulate Plant Autophagy
A recent publication in Cell Host & Microbe by Lal et al. investigated the molecular mechanisms by which plant pathogens manipulate autophagy to increase pathogenicity. The authors found that Pseudomonas syringae HrpZ1, HopF3, and AvrPtoB alter autophagy to enhance infection.
