Biology subjects

Akinmusola, R. Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Akinmusola, R. Y..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Chromosome-level assembly of the Arabian killifish as a novel biomedical model species.

The Arabian killifish (Aphaniops dispar) is an excellent model for studying human diseases such as fungal infections and cancer progression. The embryos possess a transparent chorion for live imaging and display an extended period of independent feeding (13 days post-fertilisation). They also exhibit broad thermal tolerance which enables live imaging at physiologically relevant human temperatures. However, omics resources for this species remain limited and restricts its use in genomics studies. We generated a 1.45 GB high-quality reference assembly with 24 chromosome-level scaffolds and N50 score of 60.64 Mb by combining long-read, long-range, and short-read sequencing. The A. dispar genome exhibits a high level of homozygosity (95.6%) with BUSCO gene completeness scores of 99.2% and 97.5% for the Actinopterygii and Cyprinodontiformes lineages, respectively. The genome is highly repetitive (58.7%) and the majority of these are DNA transposons. The mitochondrial genome is 81.55% similar to that of Aphanius iberus (the Spanish toothcarp), with minor structural modifications. A. dispar exhibits highly conserved synteny with Fundulus heteroclitus within the Cyprinodontoidei clade. Together, these findings provide a valuable genomic resource for comparative genomics within the teleost community.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2026

Title: A de novo transcriptomic atlas of early embryo development in the Arabian killifish

The Arabian killifish (Aphaniops dispar) is new tractable vertebrate model system for developmental, ecological and biomedical research, including drug screening, pharmacological and infection biology studies. It is a relatively small euryhaline teleost with broad thermal tolerance and adaptability across a wide range of salinities from freshwater to hypersaline habitats. The embryos and early larvae are tolerant to environmental stressors and exhibit a delayed period of nutritional independence before hatching. This advantage offers an extended window for experimenting on the early developmental processes. Here, we describe time-course gene expression profiling of Arabian killifish embryos across nine developmental time points, from the 1-cell stage to the larval pre-hatching stage. Clustering of dynamic expression profiles for 27,564 Trinity genes revealed coordinated transcriptional modules corresponding to the maternal, blastula, maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT)-related, gastrulation, organogenesis and larval maturation stages. The maternal stage displayed a highly distinct expression profile, dominated by maternal-specific transcripts that are rapidly degraded during the MZT. The later stages, from 48 hpf onward, revealed a shift from early regulatory mechanisms to the expression of organogenesis-related genes. The ZGA stage showed the conserved up-regulation of many zinc finger-associated genes, consistent with zebrafish and other teleost genomes. Overall, embryo development in A. dispar is slower than in zebrafish, with equivalent stages occurring several hours later. We propose a delayed onset of zygotic genome activation (ZGA) in the blastula stage, corresponding to 6 hpf in the Arabian killifish. Taken together, this study provides a transcriptomic resource for mining embryo development-related genes in the Arabian killifish.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2024

Busted: maternal modifiers of the triploid block involved in seed size control.

The triploid block leads to seed abortion in crosses involving tetraploid Col-0 pollen. The genetic basis underlying this phenomenon is established in the endosperm and attributed to parental genomic imprinting. This research utilised the genetic variation in Arabidopsis to identify the genomic regions harbouring the maternal modifiers of the triploid block to produce viable large seeds. Distinct chromosomal regions were identified in Bla-1 and Tsu-0 accessions. The Bla-1 maternal modifier maps to the TTG2 locus at the lower end of chromosome 2 to produce large viable seeds in response to a triploid block. Tsu-0 accession, on the other hand, recruits the TTG1 locus on the upper arm of chromosome 5 as a maternal modifier of the triploid block. TTG1 and TTG2 mutations significantly increased the proportion of large viable seeds in interploidy crosses. Both genes are involved in transcriptional regulation in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. However, to regulate seed size in diploids, TTG1 functions synergistically with auxin but does so independently of TTG2. This work contributed to the genetic framework for the TTG1 and TTG2 seed size roles. HIGHLIGHTSO_LIDifferent Arabidopsis accessions recruit maternal modifiers to repress Col-killing in F1 triploids. C_LIO_LIThese maternal modifiers may operate in the same pathway, such as the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway or other interconnected pathways such as auxin. C_LIO_LITTG1 and TTG2 generally increase F1 triploid survival but in an accession-dependent manner. C_LIO_LITTG1 differentially exhibits a strong positive additive interaction with auxin to increase diploid seed size. C_LIO_LIThe TTG1/TTG2 roles in diploid seed size control appear to have diverged somewhere in the auxin branch of the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. C_LI

plant biology↗