Conserved in Biological News

Scientists identify human monoclonal antibodies effective against bird and seasonal flu viruses

... A subtypes because they bind to the highly conserved stem region of H5 type hemaglutinin (HA). Binding ... the stem region of hemaglutinin is highly conserved because it undergoes a dramatic conformational ... the heavy chain of the mAb inserts into a highly conserved pocket in the HA stem, inhibiting the ...

Scientists identify human monoclonal antibodies effective against bird, seasonal flu viruses

... A subtypes because they bind to the highly conserved stem region of H5 type hemaglutinin (HA). Binding ... the stem region of hemaglutinin is highly conserved because it undergoes a dramatic conformational ... the heavy chain of the mAb inserts into a highly conserved pocket in the HA stem, inhibiting the ...

Scientists uncover new class of non-protein coding genes in mammals with key functions

... thousands of such genes and that they have been conserved across mammalian evolution. "The challenge in ... are transcribed into lincRNAs, and that these are conserved across mammals. "The epigenomic marks revealed ... sequence then revealed that the genes are highly conserved in mammalian genomes, which strongly suggested ...

Scientists shed light on evolution of gene regulation

... DNA segments that are bound to GATA1 have been conserved in the genomes of related animals. They also found that the GATA1-bound DNA segments that are conserved among mammals do act to control the level of ... are said to be conserved. A portion of these conserved sequences shows a particularly high level of ...

CSHL team traces extensive networks regulating alternative RNA splicing

... which are surprisingly extensive and highly conserved by evolution, help scientists gain insights into ... of 28 different vertebrate species. From conserved networks to disease targets Experimental ... The fact that the predicted targets were conserved during evolution across distantly related species ...

Thumbs up -- a tiny ancestral remnant lends developmental edge to humans

... that certain regions of genomesthose which are conserved across many species over evolutionary time and do ... screened across these species to find the most conserved regions, but where humans had many more changes ... the identification and characterization of these conserved noncoding sequences and the changes they induce ...

Genome sequence of small marine creature sheds light on vertebrate origins

... a number of features of amphioxus that are conserved with vertebrates, as well as some that are ... identified several DNA regulatory elements conserved between amphioxus and humans. Three conserved elements from two human paralogs and a single ...

Moss protein plays role in Alzheimer's disease

... the human and moss proteins had an evolutionary conserved function. In the moss, they were very nearly ... from moss and humans were not only structurally conserved but also shared similar functions, Khandelwal ... and youre seeing more evidence of genes being conserved in widely different organisms, Quatrano said. ...

Ultraconserved elements in the genome: Are they indispensable?

... among the three species. They have been perfectly conserved since the last common ancestor of mice, rats, and ... 85 million years ago. These and other highly conserved sequences are thought to have persisted with ... "There is plenty of evidence that highly conserved sequences do perform vital functions," says ...

Sequencing the cow's genetic code -- a new agricultural era dawns

... He explains that "the finding that about 75% of human genes are well conserved across mammals is striking. The bovine genome gives us further insight ... us to determine that this diversification mechanism is more evolutionary conserved than previously thought", says Alexandre Reymond, the leader of the ...

Protein is key to embryonic stem cell differentiation

... a result of different signaling mechanisms. The discovery that Shp2 has a conserved role between mice and humans suggests an interesting common signaling ... in both mESCs and hESCs. Taken together, these results suggest a conserved role for Shp2 in ESC differentiation and self-renewal in both mice and ...

New computational technique allows comparison of whole genomes as easily as whole books

... most common techniques have relied on comparing a limited number of highly conserved genes - no more than a couple dozen - in organisms that have all these ... that could not be classified. "Some viruses have no or few highly conserved common genes to other viruses, thus, the gene alignment-based method ...

Research exposes new target for malaria drugs

... that binds to placenta, PfEMP1, to detail how plasmodia protect these conserved areas. Higgins found that a variable region of PfEMP1 covers a section ... pregnancies by developing an immune response for PfEMP1. Targeting this conserved binding domain of the protein with pharmaceuticals that mimic chondroitin ...

SEX4, starch and phosphorylation

... excess of undigested starch. Sequencing analyses have shown that GWD is conserved over many plant taxa, and proteins similar to SEX4 have been found in ... Elements of the newly-discovered mechanism of starch breakdown may also be conserved across kingdoms. Amylopectin has similarities to glycogen, the soluble ...

X chromosome exposed

... report in the current issue of the journal Cell. The evolutionarily conserved enzyme is also found in humans. In species ranging from insects to ... located on the sex chromosome versus other chromosomes in males. MOF is conserved across species and also has a human homolog. Since the mechanism of dosage ...

A study reveals how cells communicate to activate the cell division machinery

... of the fly wing. The signaling pathways involved in this process are also conserved in humans, and when altered in diverse tissues give rise to the appearance ... The interesting feature is that these two pathways are highly conserved in humans and when mutations arise tumors appear. The fruit fly wing is a ...

Researchers uncover details about how dietary restriction slows down aging

... a similar way. "The role of TOR and translation in aging is known to be conserved across many different species, so its plausible that this function of Gcn4 is conserved as well," Kennedy said. Future research will be aimed at testing this ...

Evolution with a restricted number of genes

... is the basis for the production of proteins. RNA polymerase II is highly conserved through evolution, with many of its structural characteristics being conserved between bacteria and humans. Single-cell organisms were already in ...

Weizmann Institute scientists discover: A 'risk distribution law' for evolution

... organism. Not all genes evolve at the same rate. Indeed, some have been conserved through long stretches of evolution: Similar versions of some genes are ... when do they allow evolution to experiment with them" Clearly, highly conserved genes fulfill some basic, universal function for all life, and changes in ...

Green algae -- the nexus of plant/animal ancestry

... This exercise led them to identify photosynthesis-related proteins conserved across the plant kingdom, with many even conserved in the ancient cyanobacteria. (Cyanobacteria have been on the planet for ...

Study involving more than 100 scientists provides new insights on green algae

... This research led them to identify photosynthesis-related proteins conserved across the plant kingdom, with many even conserved in ancient cyanobacteria. The majority of the identified proteins have ...

Flies can turn off their immune response

... a good model for the induction of an innate immune response, pointing to conserved pathways and mechanisms. Recent work shows that the flys immune response ... disease. Thus, feedback inhibition of NF- B appears to be evolutionarily conserved to maintain properly balanced immune responses. ...

Scientists discover gene mutation responsible for hereditary neuroendocrine tumor

... with PGL2 from a previously described Dutch lineage. They identified a single DNA nucleotide change which resulted in a mutation in the most conserved region of the protein. Of the 45 individuals within the affected lineage who inherited the mutation, 33 have developed PGL2, providing strong ...

International research team seeks to unravel flatworm regeneration

... cells. Many planaria genes resemble those of humans, and also many genes specifically linked to planarian stem cell biology and regeneration are conserved in humans. Understanding planarian regeneration therefore promises to yield important insights into human regeneration and stem cell biology, the ...

Dogs, humans, put heads together to find cure for brain cancer

... of looking at 50 million base pairs that contain several hundred genes, we can focus on the portion of human chromosome 22 that is evolutionarily conserved with dog chromosome 27," Breen says. "By looking at dog and human meningiomas together we reduce the amount of searching we need to do 50-fold. It's ...

The battle for CRTC2: How obesity increases the risk for diabetes

... to become diabetic. When ER stress signaling is abnormal glucose output is actually increased." "It is possible that mutations in the highly conserved CRTC2 lead to a predisposition to inappropriate gluconeogenesis," says Montminy, who is now trying to identify natural mutations in CRTC2 that may ...

Recruitment of reproductive features into other cell types may underlie extended lifespan in animals

... broadly used as a model for studying basic biological systems. Ruvkun and other researchers discovered that simple mutations in genetic pathways conserved throughout evolution can double or triple the lifespan of C. elegans , and that similar mutations in the corresponding pathways also dramatically ...

Studies shed light on collapse of coral reefs

... A gene that controls skeletal development in humans, for instance, is the identical gene in corals that helps it develop its external skeleton conserved in the different species over hundreds of millions of years since they parted from a common ancestor on their separate evolutionary paths. There's ...

Plant Min protein sits tight and rescues E. coli

... complementation of E. coli HL1 mutant (MinDE) by AtMinD and the requirement of EcMinC for this complementation suggest that the function of MinD is conserved between bacteria and plants," says Yikun He, a member of the research team. "However, this complementation doesn't require the presence of EcMinE ...

Swine flu genes dissimilar to past pandemics

... swine-flu strain. Jonathan Allen and Tom Slezak from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, America, published their analysis identifying 34 conserved amino acid markers from past pandemic flu strains two weeks ago. They have since studied sequences from the new virus and found that only about half ...

Fertilization intensifies competition for light and endangers plant diversity

... and for the development of conservation policy. Our research shows that it is necessary to control nutrient enrichment if plant diversity is to be conserved in the long term concludes Andy Hector. ...

FANTOM findings boost for biologists

... a number of BioMed Central's open access journals, including Genome Biology and BMC Bioinformatics , provide further insight into HCNE (highly conserved non-coding element) mediated long-range gene regulation at the core of animal multicellularity regulation. Now at its fourth stage, FANTOM4, ...

ASBMB Annual Meeting to feature talks on the biochemistry of aging

... and longevity. Thus, in addition to potentially linking HFD-obesity to diabetes and heart disease, TOR might be a central mediator of lifespan. conserved Links Between Nutrient Signaling, Translation and Aging Brian Kennedy, University of Washington, Seattle (Wed, April 22 8:30 AM - 10:50 AM, Room: ...

Rhythmic genomics -- the yeast metronome and the walk of life

... to re-set, apparently overwriting each others' rhythm and eliminating unwanted variations on the theme. This provides clues as to how key motifs are conserved and allows us to track the evolutionary history of hybrids. Steve James, lead researcher at the Institute of Food Research (IFR), said "I have ...

Genomatix gets patent for comparative genomics method

... and the inventor of the approach says: "We developed the method over several years, running many projects aimed to identify the evolutionary conserved regulatory elements shared between different eucaryots. It was essential in understanding regulatory networks, mechanisms and pathways, including ...

Scripps research team identifies key molecules that inhibit viral production

... targeted yet is the core protein, the one responsible for assembly and packaging of the HCV RNA genome. The Core of the Matter Core, the most conserved protein among all HCV genotypes, plays several essential roles in the viral cycle in the host cell; studies have suggested that these core-core or ...

Caltech researchers help unlock the secrets of gene regulatory networks

... says. "Because the neural crest cell type represents a vertebrate innovation, our work in lampreys shows that this network is ancient and tightly conserved to the base of vertebrates," she says. The fourth of the Caltech papers, by Paul W. Sternberg, the Thomas Hunt Morgan Professor of Biology at ...

Single gene lets bacteria jump from host to host

... and his colleagues scoured the genomes of the two different strains of V. fischeri and found that most of the bacterium's genetic architecture was conserved over the course of millions of years of evolutionary history, but with a key difference: The strain that colonizes the squid has a regulatory gene ...

New insights into a leading poultry disease and its risks to human health

... said Mellata. The ABCs of APEC In all, the group found 31 genes important for bacterial virulence, with more than one quarter (26 percent) conserved in other species. Almost half of the proteins made by these genes (46 percent) had no similarity to proteins that have been deposited into a public ...

Scientists uncover evolutionary keys to common birth disorders

... to prioritize future clinical and functional research on these disease mutations. An outgrowth of these insights was the realization that the highly conserved protein modules that make up the Msx protein help to define a class of animal specific master control genes that each go on to specifically pattern ...