Biology subjects

Eran Tauber

Publications and source records attributed to Eran Tauber.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2016

Deep sequencing analysis of the circadian transcriptome of the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis

The study of the circadian clock has benefited greatly from using Drosophila as a model system. Yet, accumulating evidence suggests that the fly might not be the canonical insect model. Here, we have analysed the circadian transcriptome of the Jewl wasp Nasonia vitripennis by using RNA-seq in both constant darkness (DD) and constant light (LL, the wasps are rhythmic in LL with period shortening). At a relatively stringent FDR (q < 0.1), we identified 1,057 cycling transcripts in DD and 929 in LL (fraction of 6.7% and 5.9% of all transcripts analysed in DD and LL respectively). Although there was little similarity between cycling genes in Drosophila and Nasonia, the functions fulfilled by cycling transcripts were similar in both species. Of the known Drosophila core clock genes, only pdp1e, shaggy and Clok showed a significant cycling in Nasonia, underscoring the importance of studying the clock in non-model organisms.

Genomics↗

bioRxiv2015

Neural and non-neural contributions to sexual dimorphism of mid-day sleep in Drosophila: A pilot study

Many of the characteristics associated with mammalian sleep are also observed in Drosophila, making the fruit-fly a powerful model organism for studying the genetics of this important process. Among these similarities is the presence of sexual dimorphic sleep patterns, which in flies, is manifested as increased mid-day sleep ( siesta) in males, compared to females. Here, we have used targeted miss-expression of the gene transformer (tra) and tra2 to either feminise or masculinise specific neural and non-neural tissues in the fly. Feminization of males using three different GAL4 drivers which are expressed in the mushroom bodies induced a female-like reduced siesta, while the masculinisation of females using these drivers triggered the male-like increased siesta. We also observed a similar reversal of sex-specific sleep by miss-expressing tra in the fat body, a key tissue in energy metabolism and hormone secretion. In addition, the daily expression levels of takeout, an important circadian clock output gene, were sexually dimorphic. Taken together, our experiments suggest that sleep-sexual dimorphism in Drosophila is driven by multiple neural and non-neural circuits, within and outside the brain.

Neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2015

WaspAtlas: A Nasonia vitripennis gene database

SummaryWaspAtlas is a new integrated gene database for the emerging model organism Nasonia vitripennis, which combines annotation data from all available annotation releases with original analyses to form the most comprehensive N. vitripennis resource to date. WaspAtlas allows users to browse and search for gene information in a clear and co-ordinated fashion providing detailed illustrations and easy to understand summaries. The database provides a platform for integrating gene expression and DNA methylation data. WaspAtlas also functions as an archive for empirical data relating to genes, allowing users to easily browse published data relating to their gene(s) of interest.\n\nAvailabilityFreely available on the web at http://waspatlas.com. Website implemented in Catalyst, MySQL and Apache, with all major browsers supported.\n\nContactnjd23@le.ac.uk

Bioinformatics↗