The influence of host-plant connectivity on fungal assemblages in the root microbiota of Brachypodium pinnatum.

Dispersal limitation may drive the structure of fungal microbiota of plant roots at small spatial scales. Fungal root microorganisms disperse through the plant rooting systems from hosts to hosts. Due to a pronounced host-preference effect, the composition of endophytic root microbiota may follow plant distribution.

Functional study of the Hap4-like genes suggests that the key regulators of carbon metabolism HAP4 and oxidative stress response YAP1 in yeast diverged from a common ancestor.

The transcriptional regulator HAP4, induced by respiratory substrates, is involved in the balance between fermentation and respiration in S. cerevisiae. We identified putative orthologues of the Hap4 protein in all ascomycetes, based only on a conserved sixteen amino acid-long motif.

Unraveling the stratification of an iron-oxidizing microbial mat by metatranscriptomics.

A metatranscriptomic approach was used to study community gene expression in a naturally occurring iron-rich microbial mat. Total microbial community RNA was reversely transcribed and sequenced by pyrosequencing. Characterization of expressed gene sequences provided accurate and detailed information of the composition of the transcriptionally active community and revealed phylogenetic and functional stratifications within the mat.

Distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase, dopamine, and serotonin in the central nervous system of amphioxus (Branchiostoma lanceolatum): implications for the evolution of catecholamine systems in vertebrates.

To investigate the evolutionary transition that has shaped the catecholaminergic systems of vertebrates, the organization of catecholamine-synthesizing neurons and the nature of the catecholamines were examined in the central nervous system of adult amphioxus (Branchiostoma lanceolatum), a cephalochordate. We isolated a gene transcript encoding tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the limiting enzyme of catecholamine biosynthesis, and studied its distribution together with that of dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine and TH are found in the same neurons of which they are three separate populations.

[Evolution and development of dopaminergic neurotransmitter systems in vertebrates].

Dopamine is a widespread neurotransmitter which exerts numerous neuromodulatory actions in the vertebrate central nervous system. This pleiotropic activity relies on the organisation of dopamine-synthesizing neuronal pathways and on a multiplicity of specific membrane receptors. A comparative approach has been undertaken to gain clues on the genetic events which took place during evolution to devise the dopamine systems of modern vertebrates.