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Takeda, H.

Publications and source records attributed to Takeda, H..

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Extraocular Photoreception Controls nocturnal hatching via a neuroendocrine pathway in False Clownfish

Hatching is the transition from embryo to larva in oviparous animals. Birds, reptiles, and insects rupture the eggshell mechanically, whereas fish and amphibians digest the egg envelope using hatching enzymes. When and where larvae emerge influences their fitness. Many species regulate hatching timing using environmental cues, such as light, oxygen availability, and physical stimuli. In fish, hatching is driven by a neuroendocrine event that triggers hatching enzyme secretion; however, the mechanisms controlling this event are unknown. Using the false clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris, which hatches synchronously within 1-2 h after sunset, we showed that the role of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) as a hatching hormone, previously established in zebrafish and medaka, extended to clownfish, where TRH activated Ca2+; signaling in hatching gland cells through its receptor trhra, reinforcing the TRH-Ca2+-hatching enzyme axis as a conserved core module of teleost hatching. In clownfish, this module was additionally placed under upstream control by extraocular photoreception because dark-induced hatching persisted in eyeless embryos. This photoreceptive system was most sensitive to green light (550 nm), and several opsins with absorbance maxima in the corresponding middle- to long-wavelength range were expressed outside the eyes of pre-hatching embryos. Coupling extraocular photoreception to a conserved neuroendocrine module placed a critical life-history transition under stringent photic control, releasing larvae only in complete darkness, an adaptation that may have underpinned the success of this lineage in predator-rich coral reefs.

zoology↗

Sodium ion-assisted structural lipidomics for sphingolipid profiling

Sphingolipids are diverse lipids with sphingobases and N-acyl fatty acids as the hydrophobic moieties. While the importance of the in-depth elucidation of hydrophobic structures is widely recognized in lipid biology, mass spectrometry-based annotation of ceramides in the commonly used protonated form is often hindered by in-source dehydration during electrospray ionization in the heated state and variable water losses in the product ion spectrum. In this study, we investigated the sodium ion form and its product ions in ceramides with the use of electron-activated dissociation tandem mass spectrometry (EAD MS/MS) in addition to collision-induced dissociation to facilitate indepth structural elucidation. While dehydrated ions from the protonated form were frequently observed, the sodium adduct ions remained stable because of their higher activation energy compared with the protonated form, which was validated using quantum chemical calculations. Using the three adduct forms under optimized conditions increased confidence in annotating the ceramide peaks through retention-time matching. Furthermore, EAD MS/MS of the sodium adduct ions facilitated the positional determination of double bonds and hydroxyl groups in the ceramide hydrophobic moiety. Our approach is showcased by the annotation of phytoceramides with N-acyl 2- and 3-hydroxyl groups in mouse feces and ceramides with N-acyl n-6 very long-chain polyunsaturated 2-hydroxy fatty acids in mouse testis.

bioengineering↗

Differential spreading behaviors of Nodal signalling molecules in the extracellular space cooperatively shape left-right asymmetry

Left-right (LR) patterning of vertebrate embryos is mediated by diffusive proteins secreted mainly from the left-right organizer (LRO), such as TGF-{beta} superfamily ligands Nodal and Gdf1, as well as their inhibitors Dand5 and Lefty. However, precise modes of action for these proteins remain unclear due to difficulties in visualizing and manipulating their extracellular behaviors. Here we visualize and manipulate the extracellular dynamics of these proteins employing novel transgenic zebrafish lines and extracellular trapping molecules including the morphotrap. We demonstrate that the heterodimer of Nodal and Gdf1, which is the major signal transducer in vertebrate Nodal signalling, spreads from the LRO through the extracellular space in the paraxial mesoderm (PM) to its target tissue, the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM), in a free-diffusion-like manner. By contrast, Dand5 is highly enriched in the right PM, where it is immobilized through interaction with heparan sulfate proteoglycans and asymmetrically suppresses Nodal signalling. Our study uncovers diverse modes of action for LR-related secreted proteins in the extracellular space, providing a new framework for understanding how spatially organized Nodal signalling molecules shape embryonic LR asymmetry.

developmental biology↗

Wntless interacts with Notch signaling to balance the generation of neurons and gliocytes in vertebrate dorsal diencephalon

Wnt chaperon Wntless (Wls) mediates the intracellular transport of Wnts and plays important roles in early vertebrate brain development. Spatially restricted induction of Wls denotes the earliest differentiation of non-telencephalic cells in human brain organoids. In zebrafish developing diencephalon, loss-of-Wls reduces the formation of habenula (HA) neurons but how Wls influences HA neurogenesis is unclear and whether Wls regulates gliocyte development is unknown. Here we report that the formations of cholinergic, substance P-ergic or glutamatergic neurons in HA are reduced differentially but the generation of gliocyte-derived choroid plexus (ChP) epithelia is increased in wls null mutants. At earlier stage, three-dimensional gene expression analyses revealed that while neurog1 expressions in HA progenitor zones are reduced, the expressions of Notch downstream effector her6 are increased and expanded into HA progenitor zones in wls mutants. Over-expressing Her6 in neurog1-positive cells reduced neurog1 expressions in HA progenitor zones. These results indicate that Wls restricts the expressions of Notch effector her6 to promote the specification of neurog1 proneurons and demotes the generation of ChP epithelia in zebrafish embryonic dorsal diencephalon.

developmental biology↗

Regnase-1 Promotes Tumor-Initiating Activity in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Regnase-1, encoded by the ZC3H12A gene, is a well-known RNase that suppresses inflammation by degrading the mRNAs of inflammatory cytokines. However, its role in cancer pathogenesis, especially in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), remains poorly understood. Through an analysis of public databases, we found that NSCLC patients with higher ZC3H12A expression levels had a worse prognosis than those with lower levels. To explore the function of Regnase-1 in NSCLC, we knocked out the ZC3H12A gene in NSCLC cell lines and compared their transcriptomes with those of parental cells. This analysis identified the SOX2 pathway as a common pathway suppressed by Regnase-1 deficiency. Consistent with the SOX2 contribution to the cancer stemness, Regnase-1 inhibition impaired oncosphere growth and tumor formation of cell lines derived from adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma. It was also effective for NRF2-activated NSCLC cells, which are highly resistant to most of the therapeutics. Notably, post-tumorigenic suppression of Regnase-1 significantly inhibited tumor growth, suggesting that Regnase-1 could be a promising therapeutic target for post-tumorigenic treatment of NSCLC. Given recent studies describing that Regnase-1 inhibition enhances anti-cancer immunity, we propose that targeting Regnase-1 could be an ideal strategy for controlling intractable cancers by both suppressing cancer cells and activating anti-cancer immunity.

cancer biology↗

Characterizing lipoprotein profiles in coronary atherosclerosis development through quantitative lipidomics and proteomics approaches

Lipoproteins, which are synthesized in hepatic cells and secreted into the blood, play an important role in lipid transport. The quality of lipoproteins, including small dense low-density lipoproteins and the cholesterol efflux capacity of high-density lipoproteins, influences cardiovascular outcomes, although the relationship between lipid changes and lipoprotein quality remains unclear. This study characterized lipid molecules and apolipoproteins in lipoprotein particles during the development of coronary atherosclerosis in myocardial infarction-prone rabbits. Using quantitative lipidomics and proteomics techniques, the lipid composition in lipoprotein particles was evaluated by normalizing lipidomics data with lipoprotein particle numbers estimated by apolipoprotein B-100 concentration. While apolipoproteins and common risk factors for abnormal lipid metabolism, including cholesterol and triacylglycerol, did not change across stages of coronary atherosclerosis, ceramide molecules in lipoprotein particles were significantly associated with early stage progression. This study provides a perspective on the role of lipid composition in the progression of coronary atherosclerosis.

bioengineering↗

Data-independent acquisition coupled with electron-activated dissociation for in-depth structure elucidation of fatty acid ester of hydroxy fatty acids

Fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acid (FAHFAs) are a biologically important class of lipids known for their anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects in animals. The physiological activity of FAHFAs varies depending on the length of the carbon chain, number and position of double bonds (DBs), and the position of the hydroxyl (OH) group. Moreover, gut bacteria produce FAHFAs with more diverse structures than those produced by the host, which necessitates a FAHFA-lipidomics approach grasping their diverse structures to fully understand the physiological and metabolic significance of FAHFAs. In this study, we developed a methodology for in-depth structural elucidation of FAHFAs. First, FAHFAs were enriched using a solid-phase extraction (SPE) system coated with titanium and zirconium dioxide, which separated these analytes from neutral lipids and phospholipids. The fractionated metabolites were then derivatized using N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (DMED) to facilitate FAHFA detection in the positive ion mode of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) system. A data-independent acquisition technique known as sequential window acquisition of all theoretical mass spectra (SWATH-DIA) was used to collect sequential MS/MS spectra of the DMED-derivatized fatty acid metabolites. Structural elucidation was based on the fragment ions generated by electron-activated dissociation (EAD). DMED-FAHFAs were annotated using the newly updated MS-DIAL program, and FAHFA isomers were quantified using the MRMPROBS program, which quantifies lipids based on SWATH-MS/MS chromatograms. This procedure was applied to profile the FAHFAs present in mouse fecal samples, characterizing seven structures at the molecular species level, 63 structures at the OH position-resolved level, and 15 structures at both the DB and OH position-resolved levels using the MS-DIAL program. In the MRMPROBS analysis, 2OH and 3OH hydroxy fatty acids with more than 20 carbon atoms were predominantly expressed, while 5OH-13OH hydroxy fatty acids with 16 or 18 carbon atoms were the major components, abundant at positions 5, 7, 9, and 10. Furthermore, age-related changes in FAHFA isomers were also observed, where FAHFA 4:0/2O(FA 26:0) and FAHFA 16:0/10O(FA 16:0) significantly increased with age. In conclusion, our study offers a novel LC-SWATH-EAD-MS/MS technique with the updates of computational MS to facilitate in-depth structural lipidomics of FAHFAs. TOC graphics O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=101 SRC="FIGDIR/small/627939v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (29K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1d33c09org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@10a97b5org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@6e2c35org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1186da5_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

biochemistry↗

Dual fragmentation via collision-induced and oxygen attachment dissociations using water and its radicals for C=C position-resolved lipidomics

Oxygen attachment dissociation (OAD) is a tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) technique used to annotate the positions of double bonds (C=C) in complex lipids. Although OAD has been used for untargeted lipidomics, its availability has been limited to the positive-ion mode, requiring the independent use of a collision-induced dissociation (CID) method. In this study, we demonstrated the OAD-MS/MS technique in the negative-ion mode for profiling phosphatidylserines, phosphatidylglycerols, phosphatidylinositols, and sulfatides, where the fragmentation mechanism remained consistent with that in the positive-ion mode. Furthermore, we proposed optimal conditions for the simultaneous acquisition of CID- and OAD-specific fragment ions, termed OAciD. In the collision cell for OAD, oxygen atoms and hydroxy radicals facilitate C=C position-specific fragmentation, while residual water vapor induces cleavage of low-energy covalent bonds, such as ester and peptide bonds, at higher collision energy values, preserving OAD-specific ions under high collision energy conditions. Finally, theoretical fragment ions were implemented in MS-DIAL 5 to accelerate C=C position-resolved untargeted lipidomics. The OAciD methodology was applied to lipid profiling of five marmoset brain regions: the frontal lobe, hippocampus, midbrain, cerebellum, and medulla. Region-specific marmoset lipidomes were characterized with C=C positional information, where the ratios of C=C positional isomers such as delta 9- and delta 11 of fatty acid 18:1 in phosphatidylcholine were also estimated using OAciD-MS/MS. In addition, we characterized the profiles of polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing complex lipids with C=C positional information, where lipids containing omega-3 fatty acids were enriched in the cerebellum, while those containing omega-6 fatty acids were more abundant in the hippocampus and frontal lobe.

bioengineering↗

MS-DIAL 5 multimodal mass spectrometry data mining unveils lipidome complexities

Lipidomics and metabolomics communities comprise various informatics tools; however, software programs that can handle multimodal mass spectrometry (MS) data with structural annotations guided by the Lipidomics Standards Initiative are limited. Here, we provide MS-DIAL 5 to facilitate the in-depth structural elucidation of lipids through electron-activated dissociation (EAD)-based tandem MS, as well as determine their molecular localization through MS imaging (MSI) data using a species/tissue-specific lipidome database containing the predicted collision-cross section (CCS) values. With the optimized EAD settings using 14 eV kinetic energy conditions, the program correctly delineated the lipid structures based on EAD-MS/MS data from 96.4% of authentic standards. Our workflow was showcased by annotating the sn- and double-bond positions of eye-specific phosphatidylcholine molecules containing very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs), characterized as PC n-3-VLC-PUFA/FA. Using MSI data from the eye and HeLa cells supplemented with n-3-VLC-PUFA, we identified glycerol 3-phosphate (G3P) acyltransferase (GPAT) as an enzyme candidate responsible for incorporating n-3 VLC-PUFAs into the sn-1 position of phospholipids in mammalian cells, which was confirmed using recombinant proteins in a cell-free system. Therefore, the MS-DIAL 5 environment, combined with optimized MS data acquisition methods, facilitates a better understanding of lipid structures and their localization, offering novel insights into lipid biology.

bioinformatics↗

Cell cycle length regulates heterochromatin reprogramming during early development in non-mammalian vertebrates

Heterochromatin marks such as H3K9me3 undergoes global erasure and re-establishment after fertilization, and the proper reprogramming of H3K9me3 is essential for early development. Despite the widely conserved dynamics of heterochromatin reprogramming in invertebrates and non-mammalian vertebrates, previous studies have shown that the underlying mechanisms may differ between species. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism of H3K9me3 dynamics in medaka (Japanese killifish, Oryzias latipes) as a non-mammalian vertebrate model, and found that rapid cell cycle during the cleavage stages causes DNA replication-dependent passive erasure of H3K9me3. We also found that cell cycle slowing, toward the mid-blastula transition, permits increasing nuclear accumulation of H3K9me3 histone methyltransferase Setdb1, leading to the onset of H3K9me3 re-accumulation. We further demonstrated that cell cycle length in early development regulates H3K9me3 reprogramming in zebrafish and Xenopus laevis as well. Together with the previous studies in invertebrates, we propose that the cell cycle length-dependent mechanism for both global erasure and re-accumulation of H3K9me3 is widely conserved among rapid-cleavage species of non-mammalian vertebrates and invertebrates such as Drosophila, C. elegans and teleost fish.

developmental biology↗

A procedure for solid phase extractions using metal oxide coated silica column in lipidomics

Lipid enrichment is indispensable for enhancing the coverage of targeted molecules in mass spectrometry (MS)-based lipidomics studies. In this study, we developed a simple stepwise fractionation method using a titanium- and zirconium-dioxide-coated solid-phase extraction (SPE) silica column that separates neutral lipids, phospholipids, and other lipids, including fatty acids (FAs) and glycolipids. Chloroform was used to dissolve the lipids, and neutral lipids, including steryl esters and di- and triacylglycerols, were collected in the loading fraction. Second, methanol with formic acid (99:1, v/v) was used to retrieve FAs, ceramides, and glycolipids, including glycosylated ceramides and glycosylated diacylglycerols, by competing for affinity with the Lewis acid sites on the metal oxide surface. Finally, phospholipids strongly retained via chemoaffinity interactions were eluted using a solution containing 5% ammonia and high water content (45:50 v/v, 2-propanol:water), which canceled the electrostatic and chelating interactions with the SPE column. High average reproducibility of <10% and coverage of [~]100% compared to those of the non-SPE samples were demonstrated by untargeted lipidomics of human plasma and mouse brain, testis, and feces. The advantage of our procedure was showcased by characterizing minor lipid subclasses, including dihexosylceramides containing very long-chain polyunsaturated FA in the testis, mono- and digalactosyl monoacylglycerols in feces, and acetylated and glycolylated derivatives of gangliosides in the brain that were not detected using conventional solvent extraction methods. Likewise, the value of our method in biology is maximized during glycolipidome profiling in the absence of neutral lipids and phospholipids that cover more than 80% of the chromatographic peaks. Table of Contents artwork O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=109 SRC="FIGDIR/small/562428v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (34K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@170b451org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4e4d3forg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@b1a1d4org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f77b31_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

bioengineering↗

Using data-dependent and independent hybrid acquisitions for fast liquid chromatography-based untargeted lipidomics

Untargeted lipidomics using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has become an essential technique for large cohort studies. When a fast LC gradient of less than 10 min is used for the rapid screening of lipids, the annotation rate decreases because of the lower coverage of the MS/MS spectra caused by the narrow peak width. We propose a systematic procedure to achieve a high annotation rate in fast LC-based untargeted lipidomics by integrating data-dependent acquisition (DDA), and sequential window acquisition of all theoretical mass spectra data-independent acquisition (SWATH-DIA) techniques with the updated MS-DIAL program. Our strategy uses variable SWATH-DIA methods for quality control (QC) samples, which are a mixture of biological samples analyzed multiple times to correct MS signal drifts. In contrast, biological samples are analyzed using DDA to facilitate the structural elucidation of lipids using the pure spectrum to the maximum extent. We demonstrate our workflow using an 8.6 min LC gradient, where QCs are analyzed using five different SWATH-DIA methods. The results indicated that using both DDA and SWATH-DIA achieves 2.0-fold annotation coverage from publicly available benchmark data obtained by a fast LC-DDA-MS technique and offers 94.5% lipid coverage compared with the benchmark dataset from a 25 min LC gradient. Our study demonstrated that harmonized improvements in the analytical conditions and informatics tools provide a comprehensive lipidome in fast LC-based untargeted lipidomics, not only for large-scale studies but also for small-scale experiments, contributing to both clinical applications and basic biology.

bioinformatics↗

Maternal high-fat diet affects the contents of eggs and causes abnormal development in the medaka fish

Maternal nutritional status can affect development and metabolic phenotypes of their progeny in animals. The effects of maternal diet are thought to be mediated mainly by changes inside oocytes such as organelles, maternal RNAs, and metabolites. However, to what extent each factor contributes to offspring phenotypes remains uncertain, especially in viviparous mammalian systems, where factors other than oocytes, such as placenta and milk, need to be considered. Here, using the medaka fish as an oviparous vertebrate model, we examined whether maternal high-fat diet (mHFD) feeding affects offspring development, and what kind of changes occur in the contents of mature eggs. We found that mHFD caused the high frequency of embryonic deformities of offspring, accompanied by downregulation of transcription- and translation-related genes and zygotic transcripts at the blastula stage. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses of mature eggs suggested decreased catabolism of amino acids and glycogen, moderate upregulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related genes, and elevated lipid levels in mHFD eggs. Furthermore, HFD females showed upregulation of follicle-stimulating hormone, a higher incidence of oocyte atresia and downregulation of egg protein genes in the liver. These data suggested that attenuated amino acid catabolism triggered by decreased yolk protein load/processing, as well as elevated lipid levels inside eggs, are the prime candidates that account for the higher incidence of embryonic deformities in mHFD offspring. Our study presents a comprehensive data on the changes inside eggs in mHFD model of non-mammalian vertebrates, and provides insights into the mechanisms of parental nutritional effects on their offspring.

physiology↗

Sequenced-based GWAS for linear classification traits in Belgian Blue beef cattle reveals new coding variants in genes regulating body size in mammals

Cohorts of individuals that have been genotyped and phenotyped for genomic selection programs offer the opportunity to better understand genetic variation associated with complex traits. Here, we perform an association study for traits related to body size and muscular development in intensively selected beef cattle. We leveraged multiple trait information to refine and interpret the significant associations. After a multiple-step genotype imputation to the sequence-level for 14,762 Belgian Blue beef (BBB) cattle cows, we performed a GWAS for 11 traits related to muscular development and body size. The 37 identified genome-wide significant QTL could be condensed in 11 unique QTL regions based on their position. There was evidence for pleiotropic effects in most of these regions (e.g., correlated association signals, overlap between credible sets of candidate variants - CSCV). We consequently applied a multiple-trait approach to combine information from different traits to refine the CSCV. In several QTL regions, we identified strong candidate genes known to be related to growth and height in other species such as LCORL-NCAPG or CCND2. For some of these genes, relevant candidate variants were identified in the CSCV, including three new missense variants in EZH2, PAPPA2 and ADAM12, possibly two additional coding variants in LCORL, and candidate regulatory variants linked to CCND2 and ARMC12. Strikingly, four other QTL regions were related to five (recessive) deleterious coding variants previously identified. Heterozygotes for several of these mutations have favorable effects for muscular development traits. Our study further supports that a set of common genes controls body size across mammalian species. In particular, we added new genes to the list of those associated with height in both human and cattle. We also identified new strong candidate causing variants in some of those genes, strengthening the evidence of the causality of these genes. Several breed-specific recessive deleterious variants were identified in our QTL regions, probably as a result of the extreme selection for muscular development in BBB cattle.

genetics↗

High-fat diet in early life triggers both reversible and persistent epigenetic changes in the medaka fish (Oryzias latipes)

The nutritional status during early life can have enduring effects on an animals metabolism, although the mechanisms underlying these long-term effects are still unclear. Epigenetic modifications are considered a prime candidate mechanism for encoding early-life nutritional memories during this critical developmental period. However, the extent to which these epigenetic changes occur and persist over time remains uncertain, in part due to challenges associated with directly stimulating the fetus with specific nutrients in viviparous mammalian systems. In this study, we used medaka as an oviparous vertebrate model to establish an early-life high-fat diet (HFD) model. Larvae were fed with HFD from the hatching stages (one week after fertilization) for six weeks, followed by normal chow (NC) for eight weeks until the adult stage. We examined the changes in the transcriptomic and epigenetic state of the liver over this period. We found that HFD induces fatty liver phenotypes, accompanied by drastic changes in the hepatic transcriptome, chromatin accessibility, and histone modifications, especially in metabolic genes. These changes were largely reversed after the long-term NC, demonstrating the high plasticity of the epigenetic state in hepatocytes. However, we found a certain number of genomic loci showing non-reversible epigenetic changes, especially around genes related to cell signaling, liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, implying persistent changes in the cellular state of the liver triggered by early-life HFD feeding. Our data provide novel insights into the epigenetic mechanism of nutritional programming and a comprehensive atlas of the long-term epigenetic state in an early-life HFD model of non-mammalian vertebrates.

genomics↗

PNPO-PLP Axis Senses Prolonged Hypoxia by Regulating Lysosomal Activity

Oxygen is critical for all metazoan organisms on the earth and impacts various biological processes in physiological and pathological conditions. While oxygen sensing systems inducing acute hypoxic response, including HIF pathway, have been identified, those operating in prolonged hypoxia remain to be elucidated. Here, we show that pyridoxine 5-phosphate oxidase (PNPO) that catalyzes bioactivation of vitamin B6 serves as an oxygen sensor and regulates lysosomal activity in macrophages. Decline of PNPO activity under prolonged hypoxia reduced an active form of vitamin B6, pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP), and inhibited lysosomal activity, leading to the augmentation of inflammatory response of macrophages. The PNPO-PLP axis creates a distinct layer of oxygen sensing, which gradually turns down and up the PLP-dependent metabolism according to prolonged changes in oxygen availability.

biochemistry↗

Epigenetically distinct synaptic architecture in clonal compartments in the teleostean dorsal pallium

The dorsal telencephalon (i.e. the pallium) exhibits high anatomical diversity across vertebrate classes. The mammalian dorsal pallium accommodates a six layered-structure, the neocortex, whereas the teleostean dorsal pallium possesses various compartmentalized structures among species. The development, function and evolution of the fish dorsal pallium remain unillustrated. Here, we analyzed the structure and epigenetic landscapes of cell lineages in the telencephalon of medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) which possesses a clearly delineated dorsal pallium (the Dd2 region). We found that different pallial regions, including Dd2, are formed by mutually exclusive clonal units, and that each pallium compartment exhibits a distinct epigenetic landscape. In particular, Dd2 possesses a unique open chromatin pattern that preferentially targets synapse-related genes. Indeed, Dd2 shows a high density of synapses, which might reflect strong plasticity. Finally, we identified several transcription factors as candidate regulators for the Dd2, which are partially shared with the human neocortex and hippocampus.

neuroscience↗

Targeted single-cell genomics reveals novel host adaptation strategies of the symbiotic bacteria Endozoicomonas in Acropora tenuis coral

Endozoicomonas bacteria symbiose with various marine organisms and are known to be beneficial for coral health. However, genome analysis of coral-associated Endozoicomonas has been limited owing to the difficulty in cultivation and metagenomic approach by contamination of host-derived sequences. In this study, we applied a novel single-cell genomics technique using droplet microfluidics to obtain single-cell amplified genome (SAGs) for coral-associated Endozoicomonas spp. genome. We obtained seven novel Endozoicomonas genomes from Acropora tenuis coral. These genomes revealed that Endozoicomonas bacteria played host-associated functions in host corals and had undergone independent host-adaptive evolution in different clades. These adaptive evolutions were mediated by host-derived eukaryotic-like genes, some of which were speculated to influence host immune mechanisms. These genes are speculated to enhance coral tolerance to environmental stresses. This study suggests the possibility of host adaptation of Endozoicomonas spp. in symbiosis with corals and their contribution to coral bleaching tolerance.

microbiology↗