River discharge leads to extensive phytoplankton blooms often observed in ocean color satellite images to extend far into the open ocean as high chlorophyll plumes. We investigated diversity, distribution and ecology of phytoplankton populations in the Mississippi River plume, both spatially and in the water column using molecular tools. A method was developed for the quantification of diatom/pelagophyte rbcL (large subunit of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase) mRNA using quantitative PCR and applied to cultures and in the plume. The vertical structure of phytoplankton species in the Mississippi River plume was described by flow cytometry, pigments, rbcL mRNA and rbcL cDNA libraries. High productivity in the plume was associated with a large population of Synechococcus and elevated levels of cellular form IA rbcL mRNA. rbcL cDNA libraries indicated two vertically separated clades of Prochlorococcus (high-light and low-light adapted) in addition to a diverse group of prymnesiophytes and a microdiverse clade of prasinophytes, which may have dominated the SCM (Subsurface Chlorophyll Maximum). In situ sampling and satellite image analysis were used to estimate that the plume accounted for 41% and 13% of all surface water column ix productivity in the oligotrophic Gulf of Mexico, while covering less than 3% of its area. Coastally the plume is dominated by diatoms, which are replaced by a bloom of Synechococcus as the plume moves offshore. Diatoms as indicated by pigments and rbcL clone libraries again dominated the offshore, least productive plume. 15N uptake measurements indicated that rapid recycling of ammonium despite higher levels of nitrate primarily drives production in the offshore plume. rbcL mRNA levels and photosynthetic capacity displayed strong diel patters in three out of four time series sampled during the GRIST (Geochemical Rate/mRNA Integrated Study). In addition it was demonstrated that transcriptional regulation of the global nitrogen regulatory protein NtcA in Synechococcus WH7803 may involve a small cis-encoded anti-sense mRNA. Methods for the generation of large insert BAC (Bacterial Artificial Chromosome) from cultures and the environment were refined. Partial sequencing and genomic comparison of an ntcA containing BAC clone obtained from Synechococcus WH7803 indicated that ntcA is not part of a larger nitrogen assimilation operon in cyanobacteria.

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis / Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are the etiologic agents of most cervical dysplasia and all cervical carcinoma. Integration of high risk HPV into the human genome is thought to be a critical event in the progression from cervical dysplasia to invasive cervical carcinoma. The ability to use molecular assays in the detection and evaluation of HPV integration is essential in informing clinical models for early intervention and therapies. We therefore sought to determine the feasibility of real time-PCR (RT-PCR) as a molecular tool in detecting the physical state, episomal versus integration of HPV 16 and 18 DNA in cervical cancers. Tyramide amplified fluorescent DNA in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to look for evidence of HPV 16/18 integration using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of cervical carcinomas. RT-PCR used the ratio of the E2 and E6 genes as a surrogate for determining the physical state of HPV 16 and 18 in 35 infected tissues. Results of RT-PCR showed that 16 cervical specimens (45.7%) contained episomal HPV, 17 cervical samples (48.6%) harbored the integrated form of HPV DNA, and 2 samples (5.7 %) contained both integrated and episomal forms of HPV. Results of the two assays were compared in 25 cervical carcinomas. For 13 of the 25 cervical samples there was an agreement in determining the physical state of HPV. RT-PCR, using the E2/E6 ratio as an assay for HPV integration appears to be promising and may prove to be an essential clinical method in the future.

It is now a matter of routine for the forensic scientist to obtain the genetic profile of an individual from DNA recovered from a biological stain deposited at a crime scene. Potential contributors of the stain must either be known to investigators (i.e. a developed suspect) or the questioned profile must be searched against a database of DNA profiles such as those maintained in the CODIS National DNA database. However, in those instances where there is no developed suspect and no match is obtained after interrogation of appropriate DNA databases, the DNA profile per se presently provides no meaningful information to investigators, with the notable exception of gender determination. In these situations it would be advantageous to the investigation, if additional probative information could be obtained from the biological stain. A useful biometric that could provide important probative information, and one that may be amenable to molecular genetic analysis, is the biological age of an individual. The ability to provide investigators with information as to whether a DNA donor is a newborn, infant, toddler, child, adolescent, adult, middle-aged or elderly individual could be useful in certain cases, particularly those involving young children such as kidnappings or in providing additional intelligence during terrorist investigations. Currently no validated molecular assays exist for age determination. Biological human ageing can be defined by two distinct processes, degenerative and developmental ageing. The degenerative process of ageing is based on theories which identify an increase or decrease in physiological conditions with increasing age. In contrast, the developmental process of ageing is based on the theory that as individuals increase in chronological age, there will be subtle corresponding molecular based biological changes, each requiring genes to be expressed or silenced, indicative of that particular stage of life. We investigated the degenerative process of chromosomal telomere shortening, as well as the developmental process of gene expression profiling analysis, in an attempt to identify biomarkers of biological age in a self-renewing tissue such as blood. While telomere length analysis was an ineffective method for age determination; gene expression analysis revealed three gene transcripts expressed in an age-dependent physiological manner. These species namely- COL1A2, HBE1 and IGFBP3, were found to be expressed at elevated levels in younger individuals, newborns, or post-pubertal individuals, respectively. The biological process of hemoglobin switching was also investigated for the possibility of determining human age. While experimenting with the potential of using the gamma-hemoglobin chains, as newborn specific gene candidates, we serendipitously discovered four novel truncated transcripts, which we have termed HBG1n1, HBG1n2, HBG2n2 and HBG2n3; whose expression was restricted to whole-blood newborn samples and specific fetal tissues. The molecular origin of these transcripts appears to be at the RNA level, being produced by specific rearrangement events occurring in the standard gamma hemoglobin transcripts (HBG1 and HBG2), which yield these new isoforms that are expressed in a highly regulated tissue specific manner.

To detect Post-kala-azar leishmaniasis (PKDL) cases, several molecular methods with promising diagnostic efficacy have been developed that involve complicated and expensive DNA extraction methods, thus limiting their application in resource-poor settings. As an alternative, we evaluated two rapid DNA extraction methods and determined their impact on the detection of the parasite DNA using our newly developed recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assay. Skin samples were collected from suspected PKDL cases following their diagnosis through national guidelines. The extracted DNA from three skin biopsy samples using three different extraction methods was subjected to RPA and qPCR. The qPCR and RPA assays exhibited highest sensitivities when reference DNA extraction method using Qiagen (Q) kit was followed. In contrast, the sensitivity of the RPA assay dropped to 76.7% and 63.3%, respectively, when the boil & spin (B&S) and SpeedXtract (SE) rapid extraction methods were performed. Despite this compromised sensitivity, the B&S-RPA technique yielded an excellent agreement with both Q-qPCR (k = 0.828) and Q-RPA (k = 0.831) techniques. As expected, the reference DNA extraction method was found to be superior in terms of diagnostic efficacy. Finally, to apply the rapid DNA extraction methods in resource-constrained settings, further methodological refinement is warranted to improve DNA yield and purity through rigorous experiments.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Det har forskats mycket på olika signalvägar i det mänskliga genomet, trotts detta finns det många frågetecken som kvarstår. Denna uppsats undersöker några av dem. Syfte: Undersöka förändringar i genuttryck och mRNA-nivåer för hypertrofi- (MRF4) translations- (5.8S & 18S) och proteolysreglerande gener (MuRF1 & GDF-8) efter en 10 veckor lång styrketräningsperiod hos kvinnor och män. Frågeställningar: (1) Finns det en förändring i total mängd RNA före och efter en 10 veckors styrketräningsintervention. (2) Finns det en förändring i uttryck av MRF4, 5.8S, 18S, MuRF1 samt GDF-8 efter en 10 veckors styrketräningsintervention. (3) Finns det en könsskillnad i förändringen av total mängd RNA samt aktivering av MRF4, 5.8S, 18S, MuRF1 och GDF-8 efter en 10 veckors styrketräningsintervention. Metod: Urvalet för analysen bestod av 16 otränade försökspersoner varav 8 var män och 8 var kvinnor. Försökspersonerna utförde unilateral styrketräning av nedre extremiteten under 10 veckor, under 2 av dessa veckor utfördes ocklusionsträning.  Träningsperiodiseringen var vågformig (70-90% av 1RM, 5-12 rep, 3 ggr/vecka). Muskelbiopsier togs i det arbetande benet före träningsperiodens start samt 3-7 dagar efter träningsperiodens avslut. Genuttryck analyserades med qPCR. Resultat: Det fanns ingen signifikant skillnad i förändring mellan män och kvinnors totala RNA eller genuttryck. Total RNA ökade signifikant (p<0,01) med 19,2 %. Kvinnorna hade en signifikant ökning (P<0,05) av RNA på 27,6 % medan männen hade en signifikant ökning (p<0,05) på 14 %. MRF4 hade en signifikant (P>0,05) procentuell ökning i genuttryck med 55,7 % och kvinnor för sig hade en signifikant (P>0,05) ökning på 64 %. GDF-8 ökade signifikant (P>0,05) med 55,5 % medan GAPDH ökade signifikant (P>0,05) för båda könen tillsammans med 70,6 % och för män med 87,8 %. MuRF1 och 5.8S hade inga signifikanta förändringar i genuttryck. Slutsats: Det verkar som att både män och kvinnor får en liknande procentuell förändring av total RNA och mRNA genuttryck 3-7 dagar efter en 10 veckors hypertrofistyrd styrketräningsperiod. För att mäta genuttryck av translationsgenen MRF4 verkar 3-7 dagar efter en 10 veckors styrketräningsperiod vara en tidpunkt då det fortfarande pågår hypertrofi av skelettmuskulaturen.  Av de proteolysreglerande generna GDF-8 och MuRF1 sågs en uppreglering av GDF-8 vilket skulle kunna vara ett tecken på att hypertrofin börjar hämmas. Ett oväntat fynd var att GAPDH visade sig vara olämplig som kontrollgen vid en styrketräningsintervention på 10 veckor och att 18S var väldigt stabil. Detta kan betyda att GAPDH inte skall användas vid längre styrketräningsinterventioner. / There have been much research on signaling pathways in the human genome, but there still remain many questions. This paper examines some of them. Aim: Investigate changes in gene expression and mRNA levels of hypertrophy (MRF4), translation (5.8S & 18S) and proteolysis regulating genes (GDF-8) after a 10-week strength training period in men and women. Research questions: (1) Is there a change in the total amount of RNA before and after a 10-week strength training intervention. (2) Is there a change in the expression of MRF4, 5.8S, 18S, Murf1 and GDF-8 after 10 weeks of strength training. (3) Is there a gender difference in the change of total RNA and the expression of MRF4, 5.8S, Murf1 and GDF-8 after a 10-week long strength training intervention. Method: The sample for analysis consisted of 16 untrained subjects, of whom 8 were men and 8 were women. The subjects performed unilateral resistance training of lower extremities for 10 weeks, during two of these weeks blood flow restriction training were performed. The training was undulating (70-90% of 1RM, 5-12 cord, 3 times / week). Muscle biopsies were taken from the working leg before the start and 3-7 days after the training period. Gene expression was analyzed by qPCR. Results: There was no significant gender difference in total RNA or gene expression. Total RNA was significantly increased (p <0.01) with 19.2 %. The women had a significant increase (P <0.05) of RNA at 27.6 %, while the men had a significant increase (p <0.05) at 14 %. MRF4 had a significant (P> 0.05) percentage increase in gene expression by 55.7 %, and women had a significant (P> 0.05) increase of 64 %. GDF-8 increased significantly (P> 0.05) with 55.5 %, while GAPDH increased significantly (P> 0.05) for both sexes with 70.6 % and for men with 87.8 %. Murf1 and 5.8S had no significant changes in gene expression. Conclusions: It seems that both men and women experience a similar percentage difference of total RNA and mRNA gene expression 3-7 days after a 10 weeks long strength training period. To measure the gene expression of MRF4 3-7 days after a 10-week weight-training period seems to be a time when there still is a anabolic responses in the skeletal muscle. Of the proteolysis regulating genes GDF-8 and Murf1 there was an upregulation of GDF-8, which could be a sign that the inhibition of hypertrophy started. An unexpected finding is that GAPDH was found to be unsuitable as a control gene at a strength training intervention at 10 weeks and rRNA 18S was very stable, which could mean that GAPDH should not be used as control gene in longer strength training studies.