The Role of Human Leukocyte Antigen Alleles and Maternal Microchimerism in Very-Early-Onset Ulcerative Colitis in Japanese Children.

Background: Very-early-onset ulcerative colitis (VEO-UC) is a severe form of inflammatory bowel disease that manifests before the age of 6 years. Compared to typical pediatric UC, it is characterized by distinct genetic and immunological factors. This study aimed to investigate the roles of specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and maternal microchimerism (MMc) in the pathogenesis of VEO-UC in a Japanese population.

Long-term clinical and endoscopic outcomes of ustekinumab in pediatric Crohn's disease with anti-tumor necrosis factor failure.

Background And Aim: Only a few studies have reported the long-term effects of ustekinumab on pediatric Crohn's disease. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the long-term clinical and endoscopic outcomes of ustekinumab and its safety profile in pediatric-onset Crohn's disease with anti-tumor necrosis factor failure.

Methods: Medical records of patients with pediatric-onset Crohn's disease in whom anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy failed and ustekinumab treatment was initiated from 2017 to 2022 at a Japanese tertiary children's hospital were retrospectively reviewed.

Molecular phylogeny and species diversity of the genus Dichaetophora Duda and related taxa (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

Our intensive surveys of wild drosophilids in East and Southeast Asia discovered a great species diversity (more than 100 putatively new species) of the genus Dichaetophora, which is currently comprised of 67 formally described species assigned into five species groups, i.e., agbo, tenuicauda, acutissima, sinensis and trilobita.

Single-fly genome assemblies fill major phylogenomic gaps across the Drosophilidae Tree of Life.

Long-read sequencing is driving rapid progress in genome assembly across all major groups of life, including species of the family Drosophilidae, a longtime model system for genetics, genomics, and evolution. We previously developed a cost-effective hybrid Oxford Nanopore (ONT) long-read and Illumina short-read sequencing approach and used it to assemble 101 drosophilid genomes from laboratory cultures, greatly increasing the number of genome assemblies for this taxonomic group. The next major challenge is to address the laboratory culture bias in taxon sampling by sequencing genomes of species that cannot easily be reared in the lab.

Skeleton phylogeny reconstructed with transcriptomes for the tribe Drosophilini (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

The family Drosophilidae is one of the most important model systems in evolutionary biology. Thanks to advances in high-throughput sequencing technology, a number of molecular phylogenetic analyses have been undertaken by using large data sets of many genes and many species sampled across this family. Especially, recent analyses using genome sequences have depicted the family-wide skeleton phylogeny with high confidence.

Single-fly assemblies fill major phylogenomic gaps across the Drosophilidae Tree of Life.

Long-read sequencing is driving rapid progress in genome assembly across all major groups of life, including species of the family Drosophilidae, a longtime model system for genetics, genomics, and evolution. We previously developed a cost-effective hybrid Oxford Nanopore (ONT) long-read and Illumina short-read sequencing approach and used it to assemble 101 drosophilid genomes from laboratory cultures, greatly increasing the number of genome assemblies for this taxonomic group. The next major challenge is to address the laboratory culture bias in taxon sampling by sequencing genomes of species that cannot easily be reared in the lab.

Phylogenetic classification and palm-inflorescence anthophily of the Colocasiomyia zeylanica species group (Diptera: Drosophilidae), with descriptions of five new species.

The zeylanica group is one of the six species groups of the anthophilic genus Colocasiomyia de Meijere in the family Drosophilidae. In addition to two known species, five morphospecies have been recognized as members of this species group but left undescribed formally. In this study, species delimitation of these putatively new species was determined by barcoding of the mitochondrial COI (cytochrome c oxydase subunit I) gene and morphological comparison.

Secondary reversion to sexual monomorphism associated with tissue-specific loss of doublesex expression.

Animal evolution is characterized by frequent turnover of sexually dimorphic traits-new sex-specific characters are gained, and some ancestral sex-specific characters are lost, in many lineages. In insects, sexual differentiation is predominantly cell autonomous and depends on the expression of the doublesex (dsx) transcription factor. In most cases, cells that transcribe dsx have the potential to undergo sex-specific differentiation, while those that lack dsx expression do not.

A standardized nomenclature and atlas of the female terminalia of .

The model organism has become a focal system for investigations of rapidly evolving genital morphology as well as the development and functions of insect reproductive structures. To follow up on a previous paper outlining unifying terminology for the structures of the male terminalia in this species, we offer here a detailed description of the female terminalia of . Informative diagrams and micrographs are presented to provide a comprehensive overview of the external and internal reproductive structures of females.

Biology and ecology of the Oriental flower-breeding and related species.

Animals adapt to their environments in the course of evolution. One effective approach to elucidate mechanisms of adaptive evolution is to compare closely related species with model organisms in which knowledge of the molecular and physiological bases of various traits has been accumulated. and its close relatives, belonging to the same species group as the model organism , exhibit various unique characteristics such as flower-breeding habit, courtship display, territoriality, sexual dimorphism, and colour polymorphism.

Phylogeny, taxonomy and flower-breeding ecology of the Colocasiomyia cristata species group (Diptera: Drosophilidae), with descriptions of ten new species.

The phylogeny of the Colocasiomyia cristata species group is reconstructed as a hypothesis, based on DNA sequences of two mitochondrial and six nuclear genes and 51 morphological characters. The resulting tree splits this species group into two clades, one of which corresponds to the colocasiae subgroup. Therefore, a new species subgroup named as the cristata subgroup is established for the other clade.

Divergence and correlated evolution of male wing spot and courtship display between Drosophila nepalensis and D. trilutea.

Male-specific wing spots are usually associated with wing displays in the courtship behavior of Drosophila and may play important roles in sexual selection. Two closely related species, D. nepalensis and D.

The genus Lamb, 1914 (Diptera, Drosophilidae) from southern China.

The genus was established by Lamb in 1914 for a single species, described therein. It contains 13 known species recorded from the Old World (the Oriental, Australasian, Palearctic and Afrotropical regions). In the present paper, five new species discovered from southern China are described as members of : Wang & Gao, , Wang & Gao, , Wang & Gao, , Wang, Li & Gao, and Wang, Li & Gao, The new species were delimitated, based on not only morphological characters but also molecular data.

DrosoPhyla: Resources for Drosophilid Phylogeny and Systematics.

The vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster is a pivotal model for invertebrate development, genetics, physiology, neuroscience, and disease. The whole family Drosophilidae, which contains over 4,400 species, offers a plethora of cases for comparative and evolutionary studies. Despite a long history of phylogenetic inference, many relationships remain unresolved among the genera, subgenera, and species groups in the Drosophilidae.

Highly contiguous assemblies of 101 drosophilid genomes.

Over 100 years of studies in and related species in the genus have facilitated key discoveries in genetics, genomics, and evolution. While high-quality genome assemblies exist for several species in this group, they only encompass a small fraction of the genus. Recent advances in long-read sequencing allow high-quality genome assemblies for tens or even hundreds of species to be efficiently generated.

Phylogeny and evolution of mycophagy in the Zygothrica genus group (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

Despite numerous phylogenetic studies on the family Drosophilidae, relationships among some important lineages are still poorly resolved. An example is the equivocal position of the Zygothrica genus group that is mostly comprised of the mycophagous genera Hirtodrosophila, Mycodrosophila, Paramycodrosophila, and Zygothrica. To fill this gap, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis by assembling a dataset of 24 genes from 92 species, including 42 species of the Zygothrica genus group mainly from the Palearctic and Oriental regions.

Taxonomy and evolution of asymmetric male genitalia in the subgenus Ashima Chen (Diptera: Drosophilidae: Phortica Schiner), with descriptions of seven new species.

The taxonomy of the subgenus Ashima of the genus Phortica is revised. A cladistic analysis of 66 morphological characters is conducted, covering 35 species (28 known and 7 new species: Phortica efragmentata sp. nov.

Efficacy of Eradication Therapy on Platelet Recovery in Pediatric Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura-Case Series and a Systematic Review.

Evidence relating to the efficacy of eradication therapy for chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (cITP) in childhood is inadequate. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the efficacy of eradication therapy for platelet response in pediatric patients with cITP in our hospital, and to perform a systematic review of previous reports about pediatric patients with cITP who were positive for infection and were treated with eradication therapy. Analysis of the data of pediatric patients with cITP in our hospital and a systematic review of digital literature databases of studies in pediatric patients with cITP were performed.

A standardized nomenclature and atlas of the male terminalia of .

Animal terminalia represent some of the most diverse and rapidly evolving structures in the animal kingdom, and for this reason have been a mainstay in the taxonomic description of species. The terminalia of , with its wide range of experimental tools, have recently become the focus of increased interest in the fields of development, evolution, and behavior. However, studies from different disciplines have often used discrepant terminologies for the same anatomical structures.

Evolution and diversity of the courtship repertoire in the Drosophila montium species group (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

Changes in elements of courtship behaviour can influence sexual isolation between species. Large-scale analyses of changes, including loss and gain of courtship elements, across a relatively complete phylogenetic group are rare but needed to understand the significance of such changes, for example whether the gain and loss of courtship elements are essentially arbitrary or equally reversible. In most species of Drosophila, courtship, including singing, mainly occurs before mounting as premounting courtship.

The Lordiphosa denticeps species group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in China, with redescriptions of four known species and descriptions of nine new species.

Based on specimens collected from Yunnan, Xizang, and Taiwan in China, nine new species of the Lordiphosa denticeps species group, L. mikioides sp. nov.

A revision of the subgenus Dudaica Strand of the genus Fallén, with descriptions of six new species (Diptera, Drosophilidae).

The subgenus Dudaica Strand of the genus Fallén has been known to comprise only two species: Drosophila (Dudaica) senilis Duda, 1926 (recorded from Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Bhutan, and India) and (Takada, 1976) (recorded from Malaysia). In the present study, this subgenus is revised, with redescribed and six new species discovered and described from China, Malaysia, and Indonesia: Katoh & Gao, , Katoh & Gao, , Katoh, Toda & Gao, , Katoh & Gao, , Katoh, Toda & Gao, , and Katoh & Gao, Both morphological and molecular data (DNA barcodes) are used to distinguish the above species. A key to species of this subgenus is provided.

A review of the genus Basden in India, with descriptions of four new species from the Himalayan region (Diptera, Drosophilidae).

All Indian species of the genus Basden are reviewed, with descriptions of four new species, Fartyal & Toda, . of the species group and Kandpal & Singh, , Pradhan & Chatterjee, and Sati & Fartyal, of the species group. Two of the new species, and , were found visiting flowers of and , respectively.