Biology subjects

Gambino, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Gambino, G..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Genomic structural variation in Nebbiolo grapevines at the individual, clonal and cultivar levels

Structural Variants (SVs) are a widely unexplored source of genetic variation, both due to methodological limitations and because they are generally associated to deleterious effects. However, with the advent of long-range genomic platforms, it has become easier to directly detect SVs. In the same direction, clonally propagated crops provide a unique opportunity to study SVs, offering a suitable genomic environment for their accumulation in heterozygosis. In particular, it has been reported that SVs generate drastic levels of heterozygosity in grapevines. Nebbiolo (Vitis vinifera L.) is a grapevine cultivar typical of north-western Italy, appreciated for its use in producing high-quality red wines. Here, we aimed to analyze the frequency of SVs in Nebbiolo, at three different organizational levels. For this purpose, we generated genomic data based on long-reads, linked-reads and optical mapping. We assembled a reference genome for this cultivar and compared two different clones, including V. vinifera reference genome (PN40024) in our comparisons. Our results indicate that SVs differentially occurring between Nebbiolo clones might be rare, while SVs differentiating haplotypes of the same individual are as abundant as those that occur differentially between cultivars.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2020

Multimodal determinants of phase-locked dynamics across deep-superficial hippocampal sublayers during theta oscillations

Theta oscillations play a major role in temporarily defining the hippocampal rate code by translating behavioural sequences into neuronal representations. However, mechanisms constraining phase timing and cell-type specific phase preference are unknown. Here, we employ computational models tuned with evolutionary algorithms to evaluate phase preference of individual CA1 pyramidal cells recorded in mice and rats not engaged in any particular memory task. We applied unbiased and hypothesis-free approaches to identify effects of intrinsic and synaptic factors, as well as cell morphology, in determining phase preference. We found that perisomatic inhibition delivered by complementary populations of basket cells interacts with input pathways to shape phase-locked specificity of deep and superficial pyramidal cells. Somatodendritic integration of fluctuating glutamatergic inputs defined cycle-by-cycle by unsupervised methods demonstrated that firing selection is tuneable across sublayers. Our data identify different mechanisms of phase-locking selectivity that are instrumental for high-level flexible dynamical representations.

neuroscience↗