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Insect Glands May Illuminate Human Fertilization Process

By Guest PostMay 12, 2012Health, Scienceallan spradling, bee, cellular physiology, egg, fertilization, fruit fly, gene, hr39, human, insect glands, jianjun sun, lrh 1, mammals, receptor protein, reproductive glands, secretion, secretion glands, sperm

Baltimore, MD — Insect glands are responsible for producing a host of secretions that allow bees to sting and ants to lay down trails to and from their nests. New research from Carnegie scientists focuses on secretions from glands in the reproductive tract that help sperm survive and guide the sperm on the trip to fertilize an egg. The gene that controls the development of these glands in fruit flies provides important information about gland development in all insects, as well as potential clues to similar human reproductive glands. Their work is published this month in Current Biology.

When a female fruit fly receives sperm from a male fruit fly, lubricating secretions in her reproductive tract activate the sperm, store it, and guide it to fertilization. Without the aid of these secretions, sperm would not make it to the eggs. Carnegie’s Allan Spradling and Jianjun Sun demonstrated that the gene in charge of regulating the development of fruit fly secretion glands is called Hr39. It encodes a steroid receptor protein. (more…)

Researchers Find Potential ‘Dark Side’ To Diets High In Beta-Carotene

By Guest PostMay 7, 2012Healthabdulkerim eroglu, africa, antioxidant, asia, beta-carotene, carlo dela sena, carotenoids, carrots, dark side, diet, earl harrison, gene, golden maize, health hazard, immune function, metabolism, molecule, ohio state university, robert curley, shockwave, south america, steven schwartz, sureshbabu narayanasamy, sweet potatoes, synthetic molecule, vitamin A

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that there could be health hazards associated with consuming excessive amounts of beta-carotene.

This antioxidant is a naturally occurring pigment that gives color to foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes and certain greens. It also converts to vitamin A, and foods and supplements are the only sources for this essential nutrient.

But scientists at Ohio State University have found that certain molecules that derive from beta-carotene have an opposite effect in the body: They actually block some actions of vitamin A, which is critical to human vision, bone and skin health, metabolism and immune function. (more…)

Promiscuous Queen Bees Maintain Genetic Diversity

By Guest PostApril 18, 2012NatureChina, coast, csds, diploid male, entomologist, female workforce, fertile male, flavor, gene, genetic diversity, hainan island, infertile male, island queen, isolated island, malaysia, Philippines, plos one, promiscuous, queen bees, sex, voila moment, zachary huang

EAST LANSING, Mich. — By mating with nearly 100 males, queen bees on isolated islands avoid inbreeding and keep colonies healthy.

The results, published in the current issue of PLoS ONE, focused on giant honey bee colonies on Hainan Island, off the coast of China. Since these bees have long been separated from their continental cousins, it was thought that the island bees would be prime candidates for inbreeding as well as having very different genes, said Zachary Huang, Michigan State University entomologist. (more…)

International Team Uncovers New Genes That Shape Brain Size, Intelligence

By Guest PostApril 16, 2012Scienceadenine, alzheimer's disease, arthur toga, australia, bad gene, barbara franke, bigger brain, bipolar disorder, brain size, brain study, centers, cytosine, dementia, depression, derrek hibar, disorder, DNA, Europe, gene, genetic variant, geneticist, guanine, hmga2, human gene, intelligence, iq test, jason stein, margaret wright, memory, mental illnesses, neda jahanshad, nick martin, North America, paul thompson, project enigma, rita cantor, rudy senstad, schizophrenia, thymine

*UCLA-launched partnership identifies genes that boost or lessen risk of brain atrophy, mental illness, Alzheimer’s disease*

In the world’s largest brain study to date, a team of more than 200 scientists from 100 institutions worldwide collaborated to map the human genes that boost or sabotage the brain’s resistance to a variety of mental illnesses and Alzheimer’s disease.

Published April 15 in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, the study also uncovers new genes that may explain individual differences in brain size and intelligence. (more…)

Scientists Find Possible Cause of Movement Defects in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Healthamino acid, childhood disorder, christine beattie, emily caldwell, function, gene, genetic link, genetic manipulation, le hao, levels of protein, marc wolman, michael granato, motor neuron, muscle weakness, nerve cell, plastin 3, protein, sma, smn, spinal cord, spinal muscular atrophy, zebrafish

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An abnormally low level of a protein in certain nerve cells is linked to movement problems that characterize the deadly childhood disorder spinal muscular atrophy, new research in animals suggests.

Spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, is caused when a child’s motor neurons – nerve cells that send signals from the spinal cord to muscles – produce insufficient amounts of what is called survival motor neuron protein, or SMN. This causes motor neurons to die, leading to muscle weakness and the inability to move. (more…)

Seed Size is Controlled by Maternally Produced Small Rnas, Scientists Find

By Guest PostApril 14, 2012Naturearabidopsis, austin, david baulcombe, diploid, double fertilization, duplicate genome, embryo, endosperm, flowering plant, gene, maternal genome, molecular mechanism, placenta, plant, plant embryo, plant evolution, rna molecule, seed, seed production, sirnas, small, small interfering rnas, tetraploid, university of cambridge, university of texas, z jeff chen

AUSTIN, Texas — Seed size is controlled by small RNA molecules inherited from a plant’s mother, a discovery from scientists at The University of Texas at Austin that has implications for agriculture and understanding plant evolution.

“Crop seeds provide nearly 70 to 80 percent of calories and 60 to 70 percent of all proteins consumed by the human population,” said Z. Jeff Chen, the D.J. Sibley Centennial Professor in Plant Molecular Genetics at The University of Texas at Austin. “Seed production is obviously very important for agriculture and plant evolution.” (more…)

UCLA Study Identifies Genes Linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

By Guest PostApril 7, 2012Healthafghanistan, alan steinberg, american, armen goenjian, danger, david walling, devon schmidt, disorder, DNA, ernest noble, flashbacks, gene, hyper alert, Iraq, julia bailey, natural disaster, post traumatic, ptsd, ptsd symptom, rape, stress disorder, symptoms, tph1, tph2, uma dandekar, variant, war, war veteran

Why do some people experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while others who suffered the same ordeal do not? A new UCLA study may shed light on the answer.

UCLA scientists have linked two genes involved in serotonin production to a higher risk of developing PTSD. Published in the April 3 online edition of the Journal of Affective Disorders, the findings suggest that susceptibility to PTSD is inherited, pointing to new ways of screening for and treating the disorder. (more…)

Slow Snails, Fast Genes: Predatory Snails Refine Venoms Through Continuous Gene Duplication

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Natureamerican samoa, cone snail, conotoxins, dan chang, DNA, gene, gene family, genus conus, hawaii, marine, molecular mechanism, neurotoxin, olfactory genes, panama, scorpion, snake, thomas duda, tropical, venoms

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— When tropical marine cone snails sink their harpoon-like teeth into their prey, they inject paralyzing venoms made from a potent mix of more than 100 different neurotoxins.

Biologists have known for more than a decade that the genes which provide the recipes for cone snail toxins are among the fastest-evolving genes in the animal kingdom, enabling these predatory gastropods to constantly refine their venoms to more precisely target the neuromuscular systems of their prey. (more…)

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