Biology subjects

Wilson, J. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Wilson, J. R..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

The tomato yellow leaf curl virus C4 protein alters the expression of plant developmental genes correlating to leaf upward cupping phenotype in tomato

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), a monopartite begomovirus in the family Geminiviridae, is efficiently transmitted by the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, and causes serious economic losses to tomato crops around the world. TYLCV-infected tomato plants develop distinctive symptoms of yellowing and leaf upper cupping. In recent years, excellent progress has been made in the characterization of TYLCV C4 protein function as a pathogenetic determinant in experimental plants, including Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana. However, molecular mechanism leading to disease symptom development in natural host plant tomato has yet to be characterized. The aim of the current study was to generate transgenic tomato plants expressing the TYLCV C4 gene and evaluate differential gene expression through comparative transcriptome analysis between the transgenic C4 plants and the transgenic green fluorescent protein (Gfp) gene control plants. Transgenic tomato plants expressing the TYLCV C4 developed phenotypes, including leaf upward cupping and yellowing that are similar the disease symptom expressed on tomato plants infected with TYLCV. In a total of 241 differentially expressed genes identified in the transcriptome analysis, a series of plant development-related genes, including transcription factors, glutaredoxins, protein kinases, R-genes and microRNA target genes, were significantly altered. These results provide further evidence to support the important function of the C4 protein in begomovirus pathogenicity. These transgenic tomato plants could serve as basic genetic materials for further characterization of plant receptors that are interacting with the TYLCV C4.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2021

Policy-relevant indicators for invasive alien species assessment and reporting

Invasive alien species are repeatedly shown to be amongst the top threats to biodiversity globally. Robust indicators for measuring the status and trends of biological invasions are lacking, but essential for monitoring biological invasions and the effectiveness of interventions. Here, we formulate and demonstrate three such indicators that capture the key dimensions of species invasions, each a significant and necessary advance to inform invasive alien species policy targets: 1) Rate of Invasive Alien Species Spread, which provides modelled rates of ongoing introductions of species based on invasion discovery and reporting. 2) Impact Risk, that estimates invasive alien species impacts on the environment in space and time and provides a basis for nationally targeted prioritization of where best to invest in management efforts. 3) Status Information on invasive alien species, that tracks improvement in the essential dimensions of information needed to guide relevant policy and data collection and in support of assessing invasive alien species spread and impact. We show how proximal, model-informed status and trend indicators on invasive alien species can provide more effective global (and national) reporting on biological invasions, and how countries can contribute to supporting these indicators.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

Proteomic portraits reveal evolutionarily conserved and divergent responses to spinal cord injury

Despite the emergence of promising therapeutic approaches in preclinical studies, the failure of large-scale clinical trials leaves clinicians without effective treatments for acute spinal cord injury (SCI). These trials are hindered by their reliance on detailed neurological examinations to establish outcomes, which inflate the time and resources required for completion. Moreover, therapeutic development takes place in animal models whose relevance to human injury remains unclear. Here, we address these challenges through targeted proteomic analyses of CSF and serum samples from 111 acute SCI patients and, in parallel, a large animal (porcine) model of SCI. We develop protein biomarkers of injury severity and recovery, including a prognostic model of neurological improvement at six months with an AUC of 0.91, and validate these in an independent cohort. Through cross-species proteomic analyses, we dissect evolutionarily conserved and divergent aspects of the SCI response, and establish the CSF abundance of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) as a biochemical outcome measure in both humans and pigs. Our work opens up new avenues to catalyze translation by facilitating the evaluation of novel SCI therapies, while also providing a resource from which to direct future preclinical efforts.

neuroscience↗