Loss of KAT6B causes premature ossification and promotes osteoblast differentiation during development.

The MYST family histone acetyltransferase gene, KAT6B (MYST4, MORF, QKF) is mutated in two distinct human congenital disorders characterised by intellectual disability, facial dysmorphogenesis and skeletal abnormalities; Say-Barber-Biesecker-Young-Simpson variant of Ohdo syndrome and Genitopatellar syndrome. Despite its requirement in normal skeletal development, the cellular and transcriptional effects of KAT6B in skeletogenesis have not been thoroughly studied. Here, we show that germline deletion of the Kat6b gene in mice causes premature ossification in vivo, resulting in shortened craniofacial elements and increased bone density, as well as shortened tibias with an expanded pre-hypertrophic layer, as compared to wild type controls.

Comparative genomics of the sexually transmitted parasite reveals relaxed and convergent evolution and genes involved in spillover from birds to humans.

is the causative agent of the venereal disease trichomoniasis which infects men and women globally and is associated with serious outcomes during pregnancy and cancers of the human reproductive tract. Trichomonads parasitize a range of hosts in addition to humans including birds, livestock, and domesticated animals. Recent genetic analysis of trichomonads recovered from columbid birds has provided evidence that these parasite species undergo frequent host-switching, and that a current epoch spillover event from columbids likely gave rise to in humans.