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Biology, Volume 5, Issue 2 (June 2016) – 16 articles

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7910 KiB  
Commentary
Evolution of Microbial Quorum Sensing to Human Global Quorum Sensing: An Insight into How Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication Might Be Linked to the Global Metabolic Disease Crisis
by James E. Trosko
Biology 2016, 5(2), 29; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020029 - 15 Jun 2016
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 8202
Abstract
The first anaerobic organism extracted energy for survival and reproduction from its source of nutrients, with the genetic means to ensure protection of its individual genome but also its species survival. While it had a means to communicate with its community via simple [...] Read more.
The first anaerobic organism extracted energy for survival and reproduction from its source of nutrients, with the genetic means to ensure protection of its individual genome but also its species survival. While it had a means to communicate with its community via simple secreted molecules (“quorum sensing”), the eventual shift to an aerobic environment led to multi-cellular metazoan organisms, with evolutionary-selected genes to form extracellular matrices, stem cells, stem cell niches, and a family of gap junction or “connexin” genes. These germinal and somatic stem cells responded to extracellular signals that triggered intra-cellular signaling to regulate specific genes out of the total genome. These extra-cellular induced intra-cellular signals also modulated gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in order to regulate the new cellular functions of symmetrical and asymmetrical cell division, cell differentiation, modes of cell death, and senescence. Within the hierarchical and cybernetic concepts, differentiated by neurons organized in the brain of the Homo sapiens, the conscious mind led to language, abstract ideas, technology, myth-making, scientific reasoning, and moral decision–making, i.e., the creation of culture. Over thousands of years, this has created the current collision between biological and cultural evolution, leading to the global “metabolic disease” crisis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis- what have we missed?)
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Concept Paper
Cryptic Genetic Variation in Evolutionary Developmental Genetics
by Annalise B. Paaby and Greg Gibson
Biology 2016, 5(2), 28; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020028 - 13 Jun 2016
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 7774
Abstract
Evolutionary developmental genetics has traditionally been conducted by two groups: Molecular evolutionists who emphasize divergence between species or higher taxa, and quantitative geneticists who study variation within species. Neither approach really comes to grips with the complexities of evolutionary transitions, particularly in light [...] Read more.
Evolutionary developmental genetics has traditionally been conducted by two groups: Molecular evolutionists who emphasize divergence between species or higher taxa, and quantitative geneticists who study variation within species. Neither approach really comes to grips with the complexities of evolutionary transitions, particularly in light of the realization from genome-wide association studies that most complex traits fit an infinitesimal architecture, being influenced by thousands of loci. This paper discusses robustness, plasticity and lability, phenomena that we argue potentiate major evolutionary changes and provide a bridge between the conceptual treatments of macro- and micro-evolution. We offer cryptic genetic variation and conditional neutrality as mechanisms by which standing genetic variation can lead to developmental system drift and, sheltered within canalized processes, may facilitate developmental transitions and the evolution of novelty. Synthesis of the two dominant perspectives will require recognition that adaptation, divergence, drift and stability all depend on similar underlying quantitative genetic processes—processes that cannot be fully observed in continuously varying visible traits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis- what have we missed?)
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Review
Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of Genomics: Read–Write Genome Evolution as an Active Biological Process
by James A. Shapiro
Biology 2016, 5(2), 27; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020027 - 08 Jun 2016
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 10006
Abstract
The 21st century genomics-based analysis of evolutionary variation reveals a number of novel features impossible to predict when Dobzhansky and other evolutionary biologists formulated the neo-Darwinian Modern Synthesis in the middle of the last century. These include three distinct realms of cell evolution; [...] Read more.
The 21st century genomics-based analysis of evolutionary variation reveals a number of novel features impossible to predict when Dobzhansky and other evolutionary biologists formulated the neo-Darwinian Modern Synthesis in the middle of the last century. These include three distinct realms of cell evolution; symbiogenetic fusions forming eukaryotic cells with multiple genome compartments; horizontal organelle, virus and DNA transfers; functional organization of proteins as systems of interacting domains subject to rapid evolution by exon shuffling and exonization; distributed genome networks integrated by mobile repetitive regulatory signals; and regulation of multicellular development by non-coding lncRNAs containing repetitive sequence components. Rather than single gene traits, all phenotypes involve coordinated activity by multiple interacting cell molecules. Genomes contain abundant and functional repetitive components in addition to the unique coding sequences envisaged in the early days of molecular biology. Combinatorial coding, plus the biochemical abilities cells possess to rearrange DNA molecules, constitute a powerful toolbox for adaptive genome rewriting. That is, cells possess “Read–Write Genomes” they alter by numerous biochemical processes capable of rapidly restructuring cellular DNA molecules. Rather than viewing genome evolution as a series of accidental modifications, we can now study it as a complex biological process of active self-modification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis- what have we missed?)
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Article
Abiotic Deposition of Fe Complexes onto Leptothrix Sheaths
by Tatsuki Kunoh, Hideki Hashimoto, Ian R. McFarlane, Naoaki Hayashi, Tomoko Suzuki, Eisuke Taketa, Katsunori Tamura, Mikio Takano, Mohamed Y. El-Naggar, Hitoshi Kunoh and Jun Takada
Biology 2016, 5(2), 26; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020026 - 03 Jun 2016
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4834
Abstract
Bacteria classified in species of the genus Leptothrix produce extracellular, microtubular, Fe-encrusted sheaths. The encrustation has been previously linked to bacterial Fe oxidases, which oxidize Fe(II) to Fe(III) and/or active groups of bacterial exopolymers within sheaths to attract and bind aqueous-phase inorganics. When [...] Read more.
Bacteria classified in species of the genus Leptothrix produce extracellular, microtubular, Fe-encrusted sheaths. The encrustation has been previously linked to bacterial Fe oxidases, which oxidize Fe(II) to Fe(III) and/or active groups of bacterial exopolymers within sheaths to attract and bind aqueous-phase inorganics. When L. cholodnii SP-6 cells were cultured in media amended with high Fe(II) concentrations, Fe(III) precipitates visibly formed immediately after addition of Fe(II) to the medium, suggesting prompt abiotic oxidation of Fe(II) to Fe(III). Intriguingly, these precipitates were deposited onto the sheath surface of bacterial cells as the population was actively growing. When Fe(III) was added to the medium, similar precipitates formed in the medium first and were abiotically deposited onto the sheath surfaces. The precipitates in the Fe(II) medium were composed of assemblies of globular, amorphous particles (ca. 50 nm diameter), while those in the Fe(III) medium were composed of large, aggregated particles (≥3 µm diameter) with a similar amorphous structure. These precipitates also adhered to cell-free sheaths. We thus concluded that direct abiotic deposition of Fe complexes onto the sheath surface occurs independently of cellular activity in liquid media containing Fe salts, although it remains unclear how this deposition is associated with the previously proposed mechanisms (oxidation enzyme- and/or active group of organic components-involved) of Fe encrustation of the Leptothrix sheaths. Full article
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Concept Paper
The Unicellular State as a Point Source in a Quantum Biological System
by John S. Torday and William B. Miller
Biology 2016, 5(2), 25; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020025 - 27 May 2016
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4993
Abstract
A point source is the central and most important point or place for any group of cohering phenomena. Evolutionary development presumes that biological processes are sequentially linked, but neither directed from, nor centralized within, any specific biologic structure or stage. However, such an [...] Read more.
A point source is the central and most important point or place for any group of cohering phenomena. Evolutionary development presumes that biological processes are sequentially linked, but neither directed from, nor centralized within, any specific biologic structure or stage. However, such an epigenomic entity exists and its transforming effects can be understood through the obligatory recapitulation of all eukaryotic lifeforms through a zygotic unicellular phase. This requisite biological conjunction can now be properly assessed as the focal point of reconciliation between biology and quantum phenomena, illustrated by deconvoluting complex physiologic traits back to their unicellular origins. Full article
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Essay
Epigenetic Inheritance and Its Role in Evolutionary Biology: Re-Evaluation and New Perspectives
by Warren Burggren
Biology 2016, 5(2), 24; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020024 - 25 May 2016
Cited by 127 | Viewed by 14887
Abstract
Epigenetics increasingly occupies a pivotal position in our understanding of inheritance, natural selection and, perhaps, even evolution. A survey of the PubMed database, however, reveals that the great majority (>93%) of epigenetic papers have an intra-, rather than an inter-generational focus, primarily on [...] Read more.
Epigenetics increasingly occupies a pivotal position in our understanding of inheritance, natural selection and, perhaps, even evolution. A survey of the PubMed database, however, reveals that the great majority (>93%) of epigenetic papers have an intra-, rather than an inter-generational focus, primarily on mechanisms and disease. Approximately ~1% of epigenetic papers even mention the nexus of epigenetics, natural selection and evolution. Yet, when environments are dynamic (e.g., climate change effects), there may be an “epigenetic advantage” to phenotypic switching by epigenetic inheritance, rather than by gene mutation. An epigenetically-inherited trait can arise simultaneously in many individuals, as opposed to a single individual with a gene mutation. Moreover, a transient epigenetically-modified phenotype can be quickly “sunsetted”, with individuals reverting to the original phenotype. Thus, epigenetic phenotype switching is dynamic and temporary and can help bridge periods of environmental stress. Epigenetic inheritance likely contributes to evolution both directly and indirectly. While there is as yet incomplete evidence of direct permanent incorporation of a complex epigenetic phenotype into the genome, doubtlessly, the presence of epigenetic markers and the phenotypes they create (which may sort quite separately from the genotype within a population) will influence natural selection and, so, drive the collective genotype of a population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis- what have we missed?)
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780 KiB  
Review
The Function of Fish Cytokines
by Jun Zou and Christopher J. Secombes
Biology 2016, 5(2), 23; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020023 - 24 May 2016
Cited by 425 | Viewed by 16166
Abstract
What is known about the biological activity of fish cytokines is reviewed. Most of the functional studies performed to date have been in teleost fish, and have focused on the induced effects of cytokine recombinant proteins, or have used loss- and gain-of-function experiments [...] Read more.
What is known about the biological activity of fish cytokines is reviewed. Most of the functional studies performed to date have been in teleost fish, and have focused on the induced effects of cytokine recombinant proteins, or have used loss- and gain-of-function experiments in zebrafish. Such studies begin to tell us about the role of these molecules in the regulation of fish immune responses and whether they are similar or divergent to the well-characterised functions of mammalian cytokines. This knowledge will aid our ability to determine and modulate the pathways leading to protective immunity, to improve fish health in aquaculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Understanding of Fish Immune Systems)
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Article
Effect of Different Broad Waveband Lights on Membrane Lipids of a Cyanobacterium, Synechococcus sp., as Determined by UPLC-QToF-MS and Vibrational Spectroscopy
by Olimpio Montero, Marta Velasco, Aurelio Sanz-Arranz and Fernando Rull
Biology 2016, 5(2), 22; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020022 - 23 May 2016
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4614
Abstract
Differential profile of membrane lipids and pigments of a Synechococcus sp. cyanobacterial strain cells exposed to blue, green, red and white light are determined by means of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry or diode array detection. Raman and ATR-IR spectra of intact cells [...] Read more.
Differential profile of membrane lipids and pigments of a Synechococcus sp. cyanobacterial strain cells exposed to blue, green, red and white light are determined by means of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry or diode array detection. Raman and ATR-IR spectra of intact cells under the diverse light wavebands are also reported. Blue light cells exhibited an increased content of photosynthetic pigments as well as specific species of membrane glycerolipids as compared to cells exposed to other wavebands. The A630/A680 ratio indicated an increased content of phycobilisomes (PBS) in the blue light-exposed cells. Some differences in the protein conformation between the four light waveband-exposed cells were deduced from the variable absorbance at specific wavenumbers in the FT-Raman and ATR-FTIR spectra, in particular bands assigned to amide I and amide II. Bands from 1180 to 950 cm−1 in the ATR-FTIR spectrum suggest degraded outer membrane polysaccharide in the blue light-exposed cells. Full article
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Concept Paper
Cognition, Information Fields and Hologenomic Entanglement: Evolution in Light and Shadow
by William B. Miller
Biology 2016, 5(2), 21; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020021 - 21 May 2016
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 9335
Abstract
As the prime unification of Darwinism and genetics, the Modern Synthesis continues to epitomize mainstay evolutionary theory. Many decades after its formulation, its anchor assumptions remain fixed: conflict between macro organic organisms and selection at that level represent the near totality of any [...] Read more.
As the prime unification of Darwinism and genetics, the Modern Synthesis continues to epitomize mainstay evolutionary theory. Many decades after its formulation, its anchor assumptions remain fixed: conflict between macro organic organisms and selection at that level represent the near totality of any evolutionary narrative. However, intervening research has revealed a less easily appraised cellular and microbial focus for eukaryotic existence. It is now established that all multicellular eukaryotic organisms are holobionts representing complex collaborations between the co-aligned microbiome of each eukaryote and its innate cells into extensive mixed cellular ecologies. Each of these ecological constituents has demonstrated faculties consistent with basal cognition. Consequently, an alternative hologenomic entanglement model is proposed with cognition at its center and conceptualized as Pervasive Information Fields within a quantum framework. Evolutionary development can then be reconsidered as being continuously based upon communication between self-referential constituencies reiterated at every scope and scale. Immunological reactions support and reinforce self-recognition juxtaposed against external environmental stresses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis- what have we missed?)
1245 KiB  
Review
Genetic Approaches to Study Plant Responses to Environmental Stresses: An Overview
by Khaled Moustafa and Joanna M. Cross
Biology 2016, 5(2), 20; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020020 - 17 May 2016
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 9075
Abstract
The assessment of gene expression levels is an important step toward elucidating gene functions temporally and spatially. Decades ago, typical studies were focusing on a few genes individually, whereas now researchers are able to examine whole genomes at once. The upgrade of throughput [...] Read more.
The assessment of gene expression levels is an important step toward elucidating gene functions temporally and spatially. Decades ago, typical studies were focusing on a few genes individually, whereas now researchers are able to examine whole genomes at once. The upgrade of throughput levels aided the introduction of systems biology approaches whereby cell functional networks can be scrutinized in their entireties to unravel potential functional interacting components. The birth of systems biology goes hand-in-hand with huge technological advancements and enables a fairly rapid detection of all transcripts in studied biological samples. Even so, earlier technologies that were restricted to probing single genes or a subset of genes still have their place in research laboratories. The objective here is to highlight key approaches used in gene expression analysis in plant responses to environmental stresses, or, more generally, any other condition of interest. Northern blots, RNase protection assays, and qPCR are described for their targeted detection of one or a few transcripts at a once. Differential display and serial analysis of gene expression represent non-targeted methods to evaluate expression changes of a significant number of gene transcripts. Finally, microarrays and RNA-seq (next-generation sequencing) contribute to the ultimate goal of identifying and quantifying all transcripts in a cell under conditions or stages of study. Recent examples of applications as well as principles, advantages, and drawbacks of each method are contrasted. We also suggest replacing the term “Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)” with another less confusing synonym such as “RNA-seq”, “high throughput sequencing”, or “massively parallel sequencing” to avoid confusion with any future sequencing technologies. Full article
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Commentary
The Cell as the First Niche Construction
by John S. Torday
Biology 2016, 5(2), 19; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020019 - 28 Apr 2016
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 5304
Abstract
Niche construction nominally describes how organisms can form their own environments, increasing their capacity to adapt to their surroundings. It is hypothesized that the formation of the first cell as ‘internal’ Niche Construction was the foundation for life, and that subsequent niche constructions [...] Read more.
Niche construction nominally describes how organisms can form their own environments, increasing their capacity to adapt to their surroundings. It is hypothesized that the formation of the first cell as ‘internal’ Niche Construction was the foundation for life, and that subsequent niche constructions were iterative exaptations of that event. The first instantation of niche construction has been faithfully adhered to by returning to the unicellular state, suggesting that the life cycle is zygote to zygote, not adult to adult as is commonly held. The consequent interactions between niche construction and epigenetic inheritance provide a highly robust, interactive, mechanistic way of thinking about evolution being determined by initial conditions rather than merely by chance mutation and selection. This novel perspective offers an opportunity to reappraise the processes involved in evolution mechanistically, allowing for scientifically testable hypotheses rather than relying on metaphors, dogma, teleology and tautology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis- what have we missed?)
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1619 KiB  
Review
An Evolutionary Framework for Understanding the Origin of Eukaryotes
by Neil W. Blackstone
Biology 2016, 5(2), 18; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020018 - 27 Apr 2016
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 9285
Abstract
Two major obstacles hinder the application of evolutionary theory to the origin of eukaryotes. The first is more apparent than real—the endosymbiosis that led to the mitochondrion is often described as “non-Darwinian” because it deviates from the incremental evolution championed by the modern [...] Read more.
Two major obstacles hinder the application of evolutionary theory to the origin of eukaryotes. The first is more apparent than real—the endosymbiosis that led to the mitochondrion is often described as “non-Darwinian” because it deviates from the incremental evolution championed by the modern synthesis. Nevertheless, endosymbiosis can be accommodated by a multi-level generalization of evolutionary theory, which Darwin himself pioneered. The second obstacle is more serious—all of the major features of eukaryotes were likely present in the last eukaryotic common ancestor thus rendering comparative methods ineffective. In addition to a multi-level theory, the development of rigorous, sequence-based phylogenetic and comparative methods represents the greatest achievement of modern evolutionary theory. Nevertheless, the rapid evolution of major features in the eukaryotic stem group requires the consideration of an alternative framework. Such a framework, based on the contingent nature of these evolutionary events, is developed and illustrated with three examples: the putative intron proliferation leading to the nucleus and the cell cycle; conflict and cooperation in the origin of eukaryotic bioenergetics; and the inter-relationship between aerobic metabolism, sterol synthesis, membranes, and sex. The modern synthesis thus provides sufficient scope to develop an evolutionary framework to understand the origin of eukaryotes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis- what have we missed?)
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Concept Paper
Life Is Simple—Biologic Complexity Is an Epiphenomenon
by John S. Torday
Biology 2016, 5(2), 17; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020017 - 27 Apr 2016
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 7128
Abstract
Life originated from unicellular organisms by circumventing the Second Law of Thermodynamics using the First Principles of Physiology, namely negentropy, chemiosmosis and homeostatic regulation of calcium and lipids. It is hypothesized that multicellular organisms are merely contrivances or tools, used by unicellular organisms [...] Read more.
Life originated from unicellular organisms by circumventing the Second Law of Thermodynamics using the First Principles of Physiology, namely negentropy, chemiosmosis and homeostatic regulation of calcium and lipids. It is hypothesized that multicellular organisms are merely contrivances or tools, used by unicellular organisms as agents for the acquisition of epigenetic inheritance. The First Principles of Physiology, which initially evolved in unicellular organisms are the exapted constraints that maintain, sustain and perpetuate that process. To ensure fidelity to this mechanism, we must return to the first principles of the unicellular state as the determinants of the primary level of selection pressure during the life cycle. The power of this approach is reflected by examples of its predictive value. This perspective on life is a “game changer”, mechanistically rendering transparent many dogmas, teleologies and tautologies that constrain the current descriptive view of Biology. Full article
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Article
The Contributions of the Amino and Carboxy Terminal Domains of Flightin to the Biomechanical Properties of Drosophila Flight Muscle Thick Filaments
by Nathan S. Gasek, Lori R. Nyland and Jim O. Vigoreaux
Biology 2016, 5(2), 16; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020016 - 27 Apr 2016
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4293
Abstract
Flightin is a myosin binding protein present in Pancrustacea. In Drosophila, flightin is expressed in the indirect flight muscles (IFM), where it is required for the flexural rigidity, structural integrity, and length determination of thick filaments. Comparison of flightin sequences from multiple [...] Read more.
Flightin is a myosin binding protein present in Pancrustacea. In Drosophila, flightin is expressed in the indirect flight muscles (IFM), where it is required for the flexural rigidity, structural integrity, and length determination of thick filaments. Comparison of flightin sequences from multiple Drosophila species revealed a tripartite organization indicative of three functional domains subject to different evolutionary constraints. We use atomic force microscopy to investigate the functional roles of the N-terminal domain and the C-terminal domain that show different patterns of sequence conservation. Thick filaments containing a C-terminal domain truncated flightin (flnΔC44) are significantly shorter (2.68 ± 0.06 μm; p < 0.005) than thick filaments containing a full length flightin (fln+; 3.21 ± 0.05 μm) and thick filaments containing an N-terminal domain truncated flightin (flnΔN62; 3.21 ± 0.06 μm). Persistence length was significantly reduced in flnΔN62 (418 ± 72 μm; p < 0.005) compared to fln+ (1386 ± 196μm) and flnΔC44(1128 ± 193 μm). Statistical polymer chain analysis revealed that the C-terminal domain fulfills a secondary role in thick filament bending propensity. Our results indicate that the flightin amino and carboxy terminal domains make distinct contributions to thick filament biomechanics. We propose these distinct roles arise from the interplay between natural selection and sexual selection given IFM’s dual role in flight and courtship behaviors. Full article
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Commentary
The Emergence of Physiology and Form: Natural Selection Revisited
by John S. Torday
Biology 2016, 5(2), 15; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020015 - 01 Apr 2016
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6108
Abstract
Natural Selection describes how species have evolved differentially, but it is descriptive, non-mechanistic. What mechanisms does Nature use to accomplish this feat? One known way in which ancient natural forces affect development, phylogeny and physiology is through gravitational effects that have evolved as [...] Read more.
Natural Selection describes how species have evolved differentially, but it is descriptive, non-mechanistic. What mechanisms does Nature use to accomplish this feat? One known way in which ancient natural forces affect development, phylogeny and physiology is through gravitational effects that have evolved as mechanotransduction, seen in the lung, kidney and bone, linking as molecular homologies to skin and brain. Tracing the ontogenetic and phylogenetic changes that have facilitated mechanotransduction identifies specific homologous cell-types and functional molecular markers for lung homeostasis that reveal how and why complex physiologic traits have evolved from the unicellular to the multicellular state. Such data are reinforced by their reverse-evolutionary patterns in chronic degenerative diseases. The physiologic responses of model organisms like Dictyostelium and yeast to gravity provide deep comparative molecular phenotypic homologies, revealing mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) as the final common pathway for vertical integration of vertebrate physiologic evolution; mTOR integrates calcium/lipid epistatic balance as both the proximate and ultimate positive selection pressure for vertebrate physiologic evolution. The commonality of all vertebrate structure-function relationships can be reduced to calcium/lipid homeostatic regulation as the fractal unit of vertebrate physiology, demonstrating the primacy of the unicellular state as the fundament of physiologic evolution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis- what have we missed?)
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Article
Differentiation of Crohn’s Disease-Associated Isolates from Other Pathogenic Escherichia coli by Fimbrial Adhesion under Shear Force
by Sabine Szunerits, Oleksandr Zagorodko, Virginie Cogez, Tetiana Dumych, Thibaut Chalopin, Dimitri Alvarez Dorta, Adeline Sivignon, Nicolas Barnich, Anne Harduin-Lepers, Iban Larroulet, Aritz Yanguas Serrano, Aloysius Siriwardena, Amaia Pesquera, Amaia Zurutuza, Sébastien G. Gouin, Rabah Boukherroub and Julie Bouckaert
Biology 2016, 5(2), 14; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biology5020014 - 01 Apr 2016
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 7014
Abstract
Shear force exerted on uropathogenic Escherichia coli adhering to surfaces makes type-1 fimbriae stretch out like springs to catch on to mannosidic receptors. This mechanism is initiated by a disruption of the quaternary interactions between the lectin and the pilin of the two-domain [...] Read more.
Shear force exerted on uropathogenic Escherichia coli adhering to surfaces makes type-1 fimbriae stretch out like springs to catch on to mannosidic receptors. This mechanism is initiated by a disruption of the quaternary interactions between the lectin and the pilin of the two-domain FimH adhesin and transduces allosterically to the mannose-binding pocket of FimH to increase its affinity. Mannose-specific adhesion of 14 E. coli pathovars was measured under flow, using surface plasmon resonance detection on functionalized graphene-coated gold interfaces. Increasing the shear had important differential consequences on bacterial adhesion. Adherent-invasive E. coli, isolated from the feces and biopsies of Crohn’s disease patients, consistently changed their adhesion behavior less under shear and displayed lower SPR signals, compared to E. coli opportunistically infecting the urinary tract, intestines or loci of knee and hip prostheses. We exemplified this further with the extreme behaviors of the reference strains UTI89 and LF82. Whereas their FimA major pilins have identical sequences, FimH of LF82 E. coli is marked by the Thr158Pro mutation. Positioned in the inter-domain region known to carry hot spots of mutations in E. coli pathotypes, residue 158 is indicated to play a structural role in the allosteric regulation of type-1 fimbriae-mediated bacterial adhesion. Full article
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