Biology subjects

Rodriguez, A. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Rodriguez, A. M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Small intestinal microbiota of undernourished women perturbs placental development in mice

Children of undernourished women have impaired pre- and postnatal growth. Undernourished women and children have a high incidence of environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), an enteropathy characterized by gut barrier dysfunction and systemic inflammation. Here, we employ gnotobiotic mice to compare the effects of bacterial consortia cultured from the duodenal microbiota of Bangladeshi women with EED and their healthy counterparts. Female mice harboring the EED-derived consortium exhibited fetal and placental growth restriction. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses disclosed pronounced effects of the EED-derived consortium on the decidual component of the maternal-fetal interface involving tissue-resident uterine natural killer (uNK) cells and disruption of TGF-{beta} signaling between uNK and decidual stromal cells. Co-housing mice with EED and healthy consortia ameliorated these effects, disclosing bacterial targets to improve prenatal development.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Comparative Analysis of Test Tube and Volumetric Drinking Monitor Methods in Voluntary Ethanol Consumption in Female Mice for Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

ObjectiveFetal alcohol spectrum disorders affect approximately 1 in 20 school age children in the United States of America. To study fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, mouse models are commonly used. Of the many approaches of gestational exposure, voluntary drinking paradigms represent the most similar mechanism of drinking as human exposure. These exposures can be done through low-tech solutions such as test tubes (TT), or more high-tech methods such as a volumetric drinking monitor (VDM). Here were compare the TT method and the VDM directly, to evaluate their effect on female mouse drinking. MethodWe adapted a drinking in the dark, active cycle, limited access (4 hr.) voluntary drinking paradigm first described by Brady et al. (2012) to test tubes and the volumetric drinking monitor. 8 mice were placed in either drinking method and we evaluated their drinking volume and blood alcohol concentrations (BACs). We compared the values for each group using t-tests. ResultsAfter 2 weeks of drinking 10% ethanol with 0.4% saccharine, BACs were not significantly different [t(14)=0.2681, p=0.7935] between the VDM (81.56 {+/-} 21.16 mg/dL) vs.TT (73.14 {+/-} 23.20 mg/dL) groups. Calculated intake of ethanol (g/kg) on the day of blood draw for BAC analysis was also not significantly different [t(14)=0.4308, p=0.6732] between VDM (2.985 {+/-} 0.4127) vs.TT (3.260 {+/-} 0.4863; Fig 1B) groups. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=139 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/658718v1_fig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (15K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@5f3ad4org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@f45edorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@b7d7f8org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c40c63_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOFig 1.C_FLOATNO C_FIG ConclusionsTest tube or VDM resulted in similar average daily ethanol consumption and resultant BACs in female mice

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Investigating a trade-off between the quality of nest grown feathers and pace of development in an altricial bird.

Life history theory provides a framework for understanding how trade-offs generate negative trait associations. Among nestling birds, developmental rate, risk of predation, and lifespan covary, but some associations are only found within species while others are only observed between species. A recent comparative study suggests that allocation trade-offs may be alleviated by disinvestment in ephemeral traits, such as nest-grown feathers, that are quickly replaced. However, direct resource allocation trade-offs cannot be inferred from inter-specific trait-associations without complementary intra-specific studies. Here, we asked whether there is evidence for a within-species allocation trade-off between feather quality and developmental speed in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Consistent with the idea that ephemeral traits are deprioritized, nest-grown feathers had lower barb density than adult feathers. However, despite substantial variation in fledging age among nestlings, there was no evidence for a negative association between developmental pace and feather quality. Furthermore, accounting for differences in resource availability by considering provisioning rate and a nest predation treatment did not reveal a trade-off that was masked by variation in resources. Our results are most consistent with the idea that the inter-specific association between development and feather quality arises from adaptive specialization, rather than from a direct allocation trade-off.

ecology↗