Background: Every phenotypic trait can be viewed as a "system" in which a group of interconnected components function synergistically to yield a unified whole. Once a system's components and their interactions have been delineated according to biological principles, we can manipulate and engineer functionally relevant components to produce a desirable system phenotype.
Results: We describe a conceptual framework for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that control complex traits by treating trait formation as a dynamic system. This framework, called systems mapping, incorporates a system of differential equations that quantifies how alterations of different components lead to the global change of trait development and function through genes, and provides a quantitative and testable platform for assessing the interplay between gene action and development. We applied systems mapping to analyze biomass growth data in a mapping population of soybeans and identified specific loci that are responsible for the dynamics of biomass partitioning to leaves, stem, and roots.
Conclusions: We show that systems mapping implemented by design principles of biological systems is quite versatile for deciphering the genetic machineries for size-shape, structural-functional, sink-source and pleiotropic relationships underlying plant physiology and development. Systems mapping should enable geneticists to shed light on the genetic complexity of any biological system in plants and other organisms and predict its physiological and pathological states.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-0509-5-84 | DOI Listing |
Int J Equity Health
January 2025
Center for Health Systems Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
Objective: To analyze the temporal and territorial relationship between health system financing fragmentation and maternal mortality in the last two decades in Mexico.
Methods: We conducted an ecological-longitudinal study of the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in the 32 states of Mexico during the period 2000-2022. Annual MMRs were estimated at the national and state levels according to health insurance.
Sci Rep
January 2025
USDA, Agricultural Research Service, US National Poultry Research Center, 934 College Station Road, Athens, GA, 30605, USA.
Marek's disease (MD), a T cell lymphoma disease in chickens, is caused by the Marek's disease virus (MDV) found ubiquitously in the poultry industry. Genetically resistant Line 6 (L6) and susceptible Line 7 (L7) chickens have been instrumental to research on avian immune system response to MDV infection. In this study we characterized molecular signatures unique to splenic immune cell types across different genetic backgrounds 6 days after infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Acoustically probing biological tissues with light or sound, photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging can provide anatomical, functional, and/or molecular information at depths far beyond the optical diffusion limit. However, most photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging systems rely on linear-array transducers with elevational focusing and are limited to two-dimensional imaging with anisotropic resolutions. Here, we present three-dimensional diffractive acoustic tomography (3D-DAT), which uses an off-the-shelf linear-array transducer with single-slit acoustic diffraction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Adv
January 2025
Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, Japan.
Life on the nanoscale has been made accessible in recent decades by the development of fast and noninvasive techniques. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) is one such technique that shed light on single protein dynamics. Extending HS-AFM to effortlessly incorporate mechanical property mapping while maintaining fast imaging speed allows a look deeper than topography and reveal details of nanoscale mechanisms that govern life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProstate
January 2025
Cancer Epidemiology Division, Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Objective: A number of susceptibility genes in prostate tissue have been identified to be associated with prostate cancer (PCa) risk. However, the reported genes based on assessing prostate tissue could not fully explain PCa genetic susceptibility. It is believed that genes functioning in the immune system may fill in the gap of some missing heritability.
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