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De novo gene birth

May 23, 2019

De novo gene birth

Image credit: qimono, pixabay

PLOS Genetics Research Prize 2019

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05/23/2019

Research Article

Gata4 regulates hedgehog signaling and Gata6 expression for outflow tract development

Gata4 is an important transcription factor that regulates the development of the heart. Humans that possess a single copy of Gata4 mutation display congenital heart defects, including double outlet right ventricle (DORV). In this study, Liu, Cheng and colleagues use a Gata4 mutant mouse model to study how Gata4 mutations cause DORV, and show that Gata4 is required in the cardiac precursor cells for the normal alignment of the great arteries.

Image credit: Liu, Cheng and colleagues

Gata4 regulates hedgehog signaling and Gata6 expression for outflow tract development

Recently Published Articles

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Current Issue

Current Issue April 2019

05/22/2019

Research Article

The subunit of RNA N6-methyladenosine methyltransferase OsFIP regulates early degeneration of microspores in rice

Zhang, Zhang et al identify the components of the N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methyltransferase complex in rice and uncover an unknown function of m6A RNA methylation in regulating early microspore apoptosis. The authors also reveal the sporogenesis stage-specific distribution of m6A peaks along genes and the specific modification motif in rice.

Image credit: Zhang, Zhang and colleagues

The subunit of RNA N6-methyladenosine methyltransferase OsFIP regulates early degeneration of microspores in rice

05/23/2019

Research Article

Metabolites of lactic acid bacteria present in fermented foods are highly potent agonists of human hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 3

Here, Peters et al use a combination of evolutionary, analytical and functional methods to unravel the role of the third hominid hydroxycarboxylic acid, HCA3 in vitro and in vivo. The authors report the discovery of the interaction of D-phenyllactic acid (D-PLA) and the human host through highly potent activation of HCA3.

Image credit: Anna Peters and colleagues

Metabolites of lactic acid bacteria present in fermented foods are highly potent agonists of human hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 3

05/15/2019

Research Article

MicroRNA26 attenuates vascular smooth muscle maturation via endothelial BMP signalling

Here, Charlene Watterston and colleagues use a zebrafish model to identify a small microRNA that regulates vascular stabilization. The authors show that microRNA26a is enriched in the endothelial lining of the blood vessel wall and communicates to the smooth muscle cell to control its maturation. 

MicroRNA26 attenuates vascular smooth muscle maturation via endothelial BMP signalling

Image credit: Charlene Watterston and colleagues

05/15/2019

Editorial

How microbes “jeopardize” the modern synthesis

In this Editorial, Aaron Novick and W. Ford Doolittle summarise a collection of reviews published in PLOS Genetics entitled “How Microbes ‘Jeopardize’ the Modern Synthesis”, which examine how the study of microbial evolution is changing evolutionary theory. 

How microbes “jeopardize” the modern synthesis

Image credit: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay

05/09/2019

Perspective

Taming the giant within

Bateman & Anderson discuss work by Fingerhut et al, who identify a unique gene expression program utilized for the proper expression of genes with intron gigantism, using Drosophila spermatogenic genes as a model system.

Taming the giant within

Image credit: Jack R Bateman & David J Anderson

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