Biology subjects

Kang, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Kang, L..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Red and black: A β-carotene-binding protein carrying a red pigment regulates body-color transition in locusts

Changes of body color have important effects for animals in adapting to variable environments. The migratory locust exhibits body color polyphenism between solitary and gregarious individuals, with the former displaying a uniform green coloration and the latter having a prominent pattern of black dorsal and brown ventral surface. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the density-dependent body color changes of conspecific locusts remain largely unknown. Here, we found that up regulation of {beta}-carotene-binding protein promotes the accumulation of red pigment, which added to the green color palette present in solitary locusts changes it from green to black, and that down regulation of this protein led to the reverse, changing the color of gregarious locusts from black to green. Our results provide insight that color changes of locusts are dependent on variation in the red {beta}-carotene pigment binding to {beta}CBP. This finding of animal coloration corresponds with trichromatic theory of color vision.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2018

A geometric attractor mechanism for self-organization of entorhinal grid modules

Grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (mEC) respond when an animal occupies a periodic lattice of \"grid fields\" in the environment. The grids are organized in modules with spatial periods clustered around discrete values separated by constant ratios reported in the range 1.3-1.8. We propose a mechanism for dynamical self-organization in the mEC that can produce this modular structure. In attractor network models of grid formation, the period of a single module is set by the length scale of recurrent inhibition between neurons. We show that grid cells will instead form a hierarchy of discrete modules if a continuous increase in inhibition distance along the dorso-ventral axis of the mEC is accompanied by excitatory interactions along this axis. Moreover, constant scale ratios between successive modules arise through geometric relationships between triangular grids, whose lattice constants are separated by [Formula], or other ratios. We discuss how the interactions required by our model might be tested experimentally and realized by circuits in the mEC.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Using composite phenotypes to reveal heterogeneity and model SpO2 of altitude acclimatization

Altitude acclimatization is the physiological process of the human body adjusting to the decreased availability of oxygen. Since several physiological processes are involved and the relation among them is complicated, analyses of single-traits is insufficient in revealing the complex mechanism of altitude acclimatization. In this study, we examined whether these physiological responses could be studied as composite phenotypes which are represented by a linear combination of physiological traits. We developed a strategy which combines both spectral clustering and PLSPM to define composite phenotypes. We captured 14 composite phenotypes from 28 physiological traits of altitude acclimatization. Using these composite phenotypes, we applied k-means to reveal hidden physiological heterogeneity in altitude acclimatization. Furthermore, we employed linear regression to systematically model oxygen saturation (SpO2) changes in altitude acclimatization and evaluated the model fitness performance. And composite phenotypes based Model 2 has better fitness than single-traits based Model 1 in all measurement indices. Therefore, this new strategy of defining and applying composite phenotypes can be considered as a general strategy of complex traits.

systems biology↗