The Impacts Of Adaptive Capacity On Transcriptional Plasticity

 

        With climate change on the horizon, it is important to understand the consequences this will have on our oceans. The marine copepod, Acartia tonsa, was selected as a model organism in a study conducted by Brennen et al. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between adaptation and transcriptional plasticity. The study compared species found in their home environment with that those under experimental future projections. Different groups were kept in either one condition or the other, while others started in one and were kept for 20 generations before transitioning to the alternative. The results revealed that A total of 1876 genes were differentially expressed between control and experimentally evolved replicate lines. These genes are primarily related to stress response, gene expression regulation, actin regulation, developmental processes, and energy production.
        It was revealed that there were faster losses of plasticity during rapid adaptation than theory would predict. The results showed that although plasticity did not impede adaptation, adaptation eroded plasticity. Losing plasticity does not stop organisms from somewhat reverting back to their ancestral conditions; however, it does result in a trade-off of losing adaptive genetic variation.
        The use of experimental evolution is very important to understanding adaptive mechanisms. Since these are going to be the conditions future organisms will exist in, Understanding future mechanisms is just as important as understanding the current mechanisms in order to create comprehensive conservation strategies. These strategies require foresight to ensure their efficacy for the ecosystems of the future. It also revealed possible implications should we cut out emissions and revert back to cooler and less acidic conditions, which can further aid the formulation of such strategies.

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Scientists Pinpoint Molecule That Controls Stem Cell Plasticity by Boosting Gene Expression

A team of researchers from the Rockefeller University has identified a protein, Sox9, which can control stem cell plasticity by boosting gene expression in the hair follicles. Sox9 makes the genes needed by stems cell to become active and later recruit other proteins to give the genes a boost. Also, a less common, yet more powerful version, the super-enhancer was identified by scientists. Super-enhancers contain a large number of transcription factors, histones, DNA packaging proteins, and epigenetic marks. Scientists found 377 super-enhancers in the hair follicle stem cells and many of them were bound by five transcription factors, usually to Sox9.

During the research, scientists took an epicenter from the super-enhancer and linked it to a gene, which would glow green when transcription factors were present. They found that in living mice, all of the hair follicle stem cells glowed green, but did not when the cells were removed from the follicle and placed in culture. Also, scientists found that some of the stem cells glowed green during a wound-repair when culture. The scientists concluded that Sox9 was the only transcription factor expressed in culture and living tissue and it is needed to prevent the death of the stem cells.

The study shows how stem cells response to different environments (culture or repairing wounds) as it maintains plasticity. Researchers studying Sox9 can use it to further the study of male pattern baldness. It could also aid in hair growth methods people who are balding. 

Original link: http://www.newswise.com/articles/scientists-pinpoint-molecule-that-controls-stem-cell-plasticity-by-boosting-gene-expression2
Related Link: http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-642-16483-5_5492