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6,861 results for “Animation”
Data from: Social behaviour and collective motion in plant-animal worms
Social behaviour may enable organisms to occupy ecological niches that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Here we test this major evolutionary principle by demonstrating self-organizing social behaviour in the plant-animal, Symsagittifera roscoffensis. These marine aceol flat worms rely for all of their nutrition on the algae within their bodies: hence their common name. We show that individual worms interact with one another to co-ordinate their movements so that even at low densities they begin to swim in small polarized groups and at increasing densities such flotillas turn into circular mills. We use computer simulations to: (1) determine if real worms interact socially by comparing them with virtual worms that do not interact and (2) show that the social phase transitions of the real worms can occur based only on local interactions between and among them. We hypothesize that such social behaviour helps the worms to form the dense biofilms or mats observed on certain sun-exposed sandy beaches in the upper intertidal of the East Atlantic and to become in effect a super-organismic seaweed in a habitat where macro-algal seaweeds cannot anchor themselves. S. roscoffensis, a model organism in many other areas in biology (including stem cell regeneration), also seems to be an ideal model for understanding how individual behaviours can lead, through collective movement, to social assemblages.
Data from: The evolutionary dynamics of adaptive virginity, sex-allocation and altruistic helping in haplodiploid animals
In haplodiploids, females can produce sons from unfertilized eggs without mating. However, virgin reproduction is usually considered to be a result of a failure to mate, rather than an adaptation. Here we build an analytical model for evolution of virgin reproduction, sex-allocation, and altruistic female helping in haplodiploid taxa. We show that when mating is costly (e.g. when mating increases predation risk), virginity can evolve as an adaptive female reproductive strategy. Furthermore, adaptive virginity results in strongly divergent sex-ratios in mated and virgin queen nests ('split sex ratios'), which promotes the evolution of altruistic helping by daughters in mated queen nests. However, when helpers evolve to be efficient and increase nest production significantly, virgin reproduction is selected against. Our results suggest that adaptive virginity could have been an important stepping stone on the pathway to eusociality in haplodiploids. We further show that virginity can be an adaptive reproductive strategy also in primitively social haplodiploids if workers bias the sex ratio toward females. By remaining virgin, queens are free to produce sons, the more valuable sex in a female-biased population. Our work brings a new dimension to the studies linking reproductive strategies with social evolution.
Data from: Increased survival of experimentally evolved antimicrobial peptide-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an animal host
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been proposed as new class of antimicrobial drugs, following the increasing prevalence of bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Synthetic AMPs are functional analogues of highly evolutionarily conserved immune effectors in animals and plants, produced in response to microbial infection. Therefore, the proposed therapeutic use of AMPs bears the risk of 'arming the enemy': bacteria that evolve resistance to AMPs may be cross-resistant to immune effectors (AMPs) in their hosts. We used a panel of populations of Staphylococcus aureus that were experimentally selected for resistance to a suite of individual AMPs and antibiotics to investigate the 'arming the enemy' hypothesis. We tested whether the selected strains showed higher survival in an insect model (Tenebrio molitor) and cross-resistance against other antimicrobials in vitro. A population selected for resistance to the antimicrobial peptide iseganan showed increased in vivo survival, but was not more virulent. We suggest that increased survival of AMP-resistant bacteria almost certainly poses problems to immune-compromised hosts.
Data from: Beyond animals and plants: dynamic maternal effects in the fungus Neurospora crassa
Maternal effects are widely documented in animals and plants, but not in fungi or other eukaryotes. A principal cause of maternal effects is asymmetrical parental investment in a zygote, creating greater maternal versus paternal influence on offspring phenotypes. Asymmetrical investments are not limited to animals and plants, but are also prevalent in fungi and groups including apicomplexans, dinoflagellates, and red algae. Evidence suggesting maternal effects among fungi is sparse and anecdotal. In an experiment designed to test for maternal effects across sexual reproduction in the model fungus Neurospora crassa, we measured offspring phenotypes from crosses of all possible pairs of 22 individuals. Crosses encompassed reciprocals of 11 mating-type "A" and 11 mating-type "a" wild strains. After controlling for the genetic and geographic distances between strains in any individual cross, we found strong evidence for maternal control of perithecia (sporocarp) production, as well as maternal effects on spore numbers and spore germination. However, both parents exert equal influence on the percentage of spores that are pigmented, and size of pigmented spores. We propose a model linking the stage-specific presence or absence of maternal effects to cellular developmental processes: effects appear to be mediated primarily through the maternal cytoplasm, and, after spore cell walls form, maternal influence on spore development is limited. Maternal effects in fungi, thus far largely ignored, are likely to shape species' evolution and ecologies. Moreover, the association of anisogamy and maternal effects in a fungus suggests maternal effects may also influence the biology of other anisogamous eukaryotes.
Data from: Active buoyancy adjustment increases dispersal potential in benthic marine animals
1. While the study of dispersal and connectivity in the ocean typically centers on pelagic species and planktonic larval stages of benthic species, the present work explores an overlooked locomotor means in post-settlement benthic stages that redefines their dispersal potential. 2. Members of the echinoderm class Holothuroidea colonize a diversity of marine environments worldwide, where they play key ecological and economical roles, making their conservation a priority. Holothuroids are commonly called sea cucumbers or sea slugs to reflect their slow movements and are assumed to disperse chiefly through pelagic larvae. 3. The present study documents and explores their unexpected ability to actively modify their buoyancy, leading them to tumble or float at speeds orders of magnitudes faster than through benthic crawling. Two focal species representing different taxonomic orders, geographic distributions and reproductive strategies were studied over several years. 4. Active buoyancy adjustment (ABA) was achieved through a rapid increase in seawater to flesh ratio by up to 740%, leading to bloating, and simultaneously detachment from the substrate. It occurred as early as 6 months post settlement in juveniles and was recorded in wild adult populations. In experimental trials, ABA was triggered by high conspecific density, decreasing salinity and increasing water turbidity. Based on field video footage, ABA-assisted movements generated speeds of up to 90 km d-1. 5. These findings imply that displacement during planktonic larval stages may not supersede the locomotor capacity of benthic stages, challenging the notion of sedentarity. Combining the present results and anecdotal reports, ABA emerges as a generalized means of dispersal among benthic animals, with critical implications for worldwide management and conservation of commercially and ecologically significant species.
Data from: Weaponry and defenses in fighting animals: how allometry can alter predictions from contest theory
Theoretical models have been developed to understand how animals decide to withdraw from a contest. They provide testable predictions regarding the relationship between resource holding potential (RHP) and contest duration that assume linear relationships among RHP traits. However, RHP traits might scale with body size according to power laws. Furthermore, investment across different RHP traits may vary. Herein, we provide a model that encompasses the allometric relationship between body size and other RHP traits. First, we partition RHP traits into "offensive" traits (i.e., the ability to inflict damage) and "defensive" traits (i.e., persistence in a contest). Defensive traits may in turn be subdivided into "damage endurance" (DE) or the ability to absorb damage and "stamina." We then model scenarios where: 1) there are power relationships among RHP traits; 2) individuals invest differently in defensive and offensive traits; 3) offensive traits and DE have a positive/negative relationship with body size. We modeled sized-matched injurious contests where 1) offensive capacity (OC) increases superlinearly with body size, 2) DE increases superlinearly, and 3) OC increases superlinearly but DE increases sublinearly. Our analyses indicate that if RHP traits scale linearly current predictions are upheld for injurious contests—contest duration increases with body size. However, with power relationships we can expect nonlinear relationships. Here, contest duration increased with body size until a maximum, decreasing afterwards. Thus, considering allometric relationships between body size and RHP traits may lead to new insights in animal contest theory and may help to solve discrepancies between current theory and empirical data.
Data from: A systematic review and meta-analysis of gene therapy in animal models of cerebral glioma: why did promise not translate to human therapy?
Background: The development of therapeutics is often characterized by promising animal research that fails to translate into clinical efficacy; this holds for the development of gene therapy in glioma. We tested the hypothesis that this is because of limitations in the internal and external validity of studies reporting the use of gene therapy in experimental glioma. Method: We systematically identified studies testing gene therapy in rodent glioma models by searching three online databases. The number of animals treated and median survival were extracted and studies graded using a quality checklist. We calculated median survival ratios and used random effects meta-analysis to estimate efficacy. We explored effects of study design and quality and searched for evidence of publication bias. Results: We identified 193 publications using gene therapy in experimental glioma, including 6,366 animals. Overall, gene therapy improved median survival by a factor of 1.60 (95% CI 1.53–1.67). Study quality was low and the type of gene therapy did not account for differences in outcome. Study design characteristics accounted for a significant proportion of between-study heterogeneity. We observed similar findings in a data subset limited to the most common gene therapy. Conclusion: As the dysregulation of key molecular pathways is characteristic of gliomas, gene therapy remains a promising treatment for glioma. Nevertheless, we have identified areas for improvement in conduct and reporting of studies, and we provide a basis for sample size calculations. Further work should focus on genes of interest in paradigms recapitulating human disease. This might improve the translation of such therapies into the clinic.
Data from: Cohabitation with farm animals rather than breeding effort increases the infection with feather-associated bacteria in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica
Feather-associated bacteria are widespread inhabitants of avian plumage. However, the determinants of the between-individual variation in plumage bacterial loads are less well understood. Infection intensities can be determined by ecological factors, such as breeding habitat, and can be actively regulated by hosts via preening. Preening, yet, is a resource intensive activity, and thus might be traded-off against reproductive investment in breeding birds. Here, we studied barn swallows Hirundo rustica to assess the bacterial cost of reproduction in relation to nesting site micro-habitats. Barn swallows prefer to breed in the company of large-sized farm animals, although the presence of mammalian livestock in barns assures a warm and humid micro-climate that favours bacterial proliferation. Thus, we experimentally manipulated brood sizes of birds breeding in barns with, or without, farm animals and measured total cultivable bacteria (TCB) and feather-degrading bacteria (FDB) from the plumage. We found that the abundance of feather-associated bacteria (i.e. both TCB and FDB) in females, but not males, breeding in barns with livestock were significantly higher than in conspecifics breeding in empty barns. Plumage bacterial loads, however, were not affected by brood size manipulations in either sex. In addition, we report a negative relationship between both TCB and FDB and hatching date in females, and several sex and seasonal differences in plumage bacterial abundances. Our study is the first to show that breeding micro-habitat (i.e. livestock co-tenancy) has consequences for the abundance of feather-associated bacteria.
Data from: Decreased mitochondrial metabolic requirements in fasting animals carry an oxidative cost
1. Many animals experience periods of food shortage in their natural environment. It has been hypothesised that the metabolic responses of animals to naturally-occurring periods of food deprivation may have long-term negative impacts on their subsequent life-history. 2. In particular, reductions in energy requirements in response to fasting may help preserve limited resources but potentially come at a cost of increased oxidative stress. However, little is known about this trade-off since studies of energy metabolism are generally conducted separately from those of oxidative stress. 3. Using a novel approach that combines measurements of mitochondrial function with in vivo levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in brown trout (Salmo trutta), we show here that fasting induces energy savings in a highly metabolically active organ (the liver) but at the cost of a significant increase in H2O2, an important form of reactive oxygen species (ROS). 4. After a 2-week period of fasting, brown trout reduced their whole-liver mitochondrial respiratory capacities (state 3, state 4 and cytochrome c oxidase activity), mainly due to reductions in liver size (and hence the total mitochondrial content). This was compensated for at the level of the mitochondrion, with an increase in state 3 respiration combined with a decrease in state 4 respiration, suggesting a selective increase in the capacity to produce ATP without a concomitant increase in energy dissipated through proton leakage. However, the reduction in total hepatic metabolic capacity in fasted fish was associated with an almost two-fold increase in in vivo mitochondrial H2O2 levels (as measured by the MitoB probe). 5. The resulting increase in mitochondrial ROS, and hence potential risk of oxidative damage, provides mechanistic insight into the trade-off between the short-term energetic benefits of reducing metabolism in response to fasting and the potential long-term costs to subsequent life-history traits.
Data from: An Ishihara-style test of animal colour vision
Colour vision mediates ecologically relevant tasks for many animals, such as mate choice, foraging and predator avoidance. However, our understanding of animal colour perception is largely derived from human psychophysics, even though animal visual systems differ from our own. Behavioural tests of non-human animals are required to understand how colour signals are perceived by them. Here we introduce a novel test of colour vision in animals inspired by the Ishihara colour charts, which are widely used to identify human colour deficiencies. These charts consist of dots that vary in colour, brightness and size, and are designed so that a numeral or letter is distinguishable from distractor dots for humans with normal colour vision. In our method, distractor dots have a fixed chromaticity (hue and saturation) but vary in luminance. Animals can be trained to find single target dots that differ from distractor dots in chromaticity. We provide Matlab code for creating these stimuli, which can be modified for use with different animals. We demonstrate the success of this method with triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus, and highlight behavioural parameters that can be measured, including success of finding the target dot, time to detect dot and error rate. Triggerfish quickly learnt to select target dots that differed from distractors dots regardless of the particular hue or saturation, and proved to use acute colour vision. We measured discrimination thresholds by testing the detection of target colours that were of increasing colour distances (∆S) from distractor dots in different directions of colour space. At least for some colours, thresholds indicated better discrimination than expected from the Receptor Noise Limited (RNL) model assuming 5% Weber fraction for the long-wavelength cone. This methodology seems to be highly effective because it resembles natural foraging behavior for the triggerfish and may well be adaptable to a range of other animals, including mammals, birds, bees and freshwater fish. Other questions may be addressed using this methodology, including luminance thresholds, sensory bias, effects of sensory noise in detection tasks, colour categorization and saliency
Data from: Quantifying behavioral changes in territorial animals caused by sudden population declines
Although territorial animals are able to maintain exclusive use of certain regions of space, movement data from neighboring individuals often suggest overlapping home ranges. To explain and unify these two aspects of animal space use, we use recently developed mechanistic models of collective animal movement. We apply our approach to a natural experiment on an urban red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population that underwent a rapid decline in population density due to a sarcoptic mange epizooty. By extracting details of movement and interaction strategies from location data, we show how foxes alter their behavior, taking advantage of sudden population-level changes by acquiring areas vacated due to neighbor mortality, while ensuring territory boundaries remain contiguous. The rate of territory border movement increased eightfold as the population declined and the foxes' response time to neighboring scent reduced by a third. By demonstrating how observed, fluctuating territorial patterns emerge from movements and interactions of individual animals, our results give the first data-validated, mechanistic explanation of the elastic disc hypothesis, proposed nearly 80 years ago.
Data from: Resveratrol supplementation reduces oxidative stress and modulates the immune response in free-living animals during a viral infection
1. Diet quality may have an important effect on the regulation of oxidative status and the immune system during an infectious disease. However, the relationship among intake of specific dietary molecules, an individual's oxidative status and the occurrence and progress of a viral disease remains almost unexplored in free-living organisms. 2. Here, we study a wild, long-lived animal, the Magnificent frigatebird Fregata magnificens to investigate: i) the differences in a number of physiological traits (biomarkers of blood oxidative status, corticosterone (CORT), immunity, and inflammation) between sick and healthy nestlings; and ii) whether experimentally increased intake of resveratrol (a polyphenol with antioxidant and antiviral properties) affects these physiological markers during the progress of a severe viral disease. 3. Birds with visible clinical signs showed higher oxidative damage, hemolysis and hemagglutination scores, and lower antioxidant defenses in comparison to birds without clinical signs. At the end of the experiment, supplemented birds showed: i) increased plasma haptoglobin levels and circulating antioxidant defenses; ii) reduced generation of lipid oxidative damage; and iii) negligible to no influence on immune markers, baseline CORT levels, and activity of antioxidant enzymes. 4. Our work illustrates how the availability of specific organic molecules in the diet may constrain the individuals' capacity to cope with viral infections in free-living animals.
Data from: Vaccination method affects immune response and bacterial growth but not protection in the Salmonella Typhimurium animal model of typhoid
Understanding immune responses elicited by vaccines, together with immune responses required for protection, is fundamental to designing effective vaccines and immunisation programs. This study examines the effects of the route of administration of a live attenuated vaccine on its interactions with, and stimulation of, the murine immune system as well as its ability to increase survival and provide protection from colonisation by a virulent challenge strain. We assess the effect of administration method using the murine model for typhoid, where animals are infected with S. Typhimurium. Mice were vaccinated either intravenously or orally with the same live attenuated S. Typhimurium strain and data were collected on vaccine strain growth, shedding and stimulation of antibodies and cytokines. Following vaccination, mice were challenged with a virulent strain of S. Typhimurium and the protection conferred by the different vaccination routes was measured in terms of challenge suppression and animal survival. The main difference in immune stimulation found in this study was the development of a secretory IgA response in orally-vaccinated mice, which was absent in IV vaccinated mice. While both strains showed similar protection in terms of challenge suppression in systemic organs (spleen and liver) as well as survival, they differed in terms of challenge suppression of virulent pathogens in gut-associated organs. This difference in gut colonisation presents important questions around the ability of vaccines to prevent shedding and transmission. These findings demonstrate that while protection conferred by two vaccines can appear to be the same, the mechanisms controlling the protection can differ and have important implications for infection dynamics within a population.
Data from: Environmental stress correlates with increases in both genetic and residual variances: a meta-analysis of animal studies
Adaptive evolutionary responses are determined by the strength of selection and the amount of genetic variation within traits, however, both are known to vary across environmental conditions. As selection is generally expected to be strongest under stressful conditions, understanding how the expression of genetic variation changes across stressful and benign environmental conditions is crucial for predicting the rate of adaptive change. While theory generally predicts increased genetic variation under stress, previous syntheses of the field has found limited support for this notion. These studies have focused on heritability, which is dependent on other environmentally sensitive, but non-genetic, sources of variation. Here, we aim to complement these studies with a meta-analysis where we examine changes in coefficient of variation (CV) in maternal, genetic, and residual variances across stressful and benign conditions. Confirming previous analyses, we did not find any clear direction in how heritability changes across stressful and benign conditions. However, when analyzing CV, we found higher genetic and residual variance under highly stressful conditions in life-history traits but not in morphological traits. Our findings are of broad significance to contemporary evolution suggesting that rapid evolutionary adaptive response may be mediated by increased evolutionary potential in stressed populations.
Data from: Animal tracking meets migration genomics: transcriptomic analysis of a partially migratory bird species
Seasonal migration is a widespread phenomenon, which is found in many different lineages of animals. This spectacular behaviour allows animals to avoid seasonally adverse environmental conditions to exploit more favourable habitats. Migration has been intensively studied in birds, which display astonishing variation in migration strategies, thus providing a powerful system for studying the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape migratory behaviour. Despite intensive research, the genetic basis of migration remains largely unknown. Here we used state-of-the-art radio-tracking technology to characterize the migratory behaviour of a partially migratory population of European blackbirds (Turdus merula) in southern Germany. We compared gene expression of resident and migrant individuals using high-throughput transcriptomics in blood samples. Analyses of sequence variation revealed a non-significant genetic structure between blackbirds differing by their migratory phenotype. We detected only four differentially expressed genes between migrants and residents, which might be associated with hyperphagia, moulting, and enhanced DNA replication and transcription. The most pronounced changes in gene expression occurred between migratory birds depending on when, in relation to their date of departure, blood was collected. Overall, the differentially expressed genes detected in this analysis may play crucial roles in determining the decision to migrate, or in controlling the physiological processes required for the onset of migration. These results provide new insights into, and testable hypotheses for, the molecular mechanisms controlling the migratory phenotype and its underlying physiological mechanisms in blackbirds and other migratory bird species.
Data from: Effect of sensor location on continuous intraperitoneal glucose sensing in an animal model
In diabetes research, the development of the artificial pancreas has been a major topic since continuous glucose monitoring became available in the early 2000's. A prerequisite for an artificial pancreas is fast and reliable glucose sensing. However, subcutaneous continuous glucose monitoring carries the disadvantage of slow dynamics. As an alternative, we explored continuous glucose sensing in the peritoneal space, and investigated potential spatial differences in glucose dynamics within the peritoneal cavity. As a secondary outcome, we compared the glucose dynamics in the peritoneal space to the subcutaneous tissue. Eight-hour experiments were conducted on 12 anesthetised non-diabetic pigs. Four commercially available amperometric glucose sensors (FreeStyle Libre, Abbott Diabetes Care Ltd., Witney, UK) were inserted in four different locations of the peritoneal cavity and two sensors were inserted in the subcutaneous tissue. Meals were simulated by intravenous infusions of glucose, and frequent arterial blood and intraperitoneal fluid samples were collected for glucose reference. No significant differences were discovered in glucose dynamics between the four quadrants of the peritoneal cavity. The intraperitoneal sensors responded faster to the glucose excursions than the subcutaneous sensors, and the time delay was significantly smaller for the intraperitoneal sensors, but we did not find significant results when comparing the other dynamic parameters.
Data from: An active-radio-frequency-identification system capable of identifying co-locations and social-structure: validation with a wild free-ranging animal
Behavioural events that are important for understanding sociobiology and movement ecology are often rare, transient and localised, but can occur at spatially distant sites e.g. territorial incursions and co-locating individuals. Existing animal tracking technologies, capable of detecting such events, are limited by one or more of: battery life; data resolution; location accuracy; data security; ability to co-locate individuals both spatially and temporally. Technology that at least partly resolves these limitations would be advantageous. European badgers (Meles meles L.), present a challenging test-bed, with extra-group paternity (apparent from genotyping) contradicting established views on rigid group territoriality with little social-group mixing. In a proof of concept study we assess the utility of a fully automated active-radio-frequency-identification (aRFID) system combining badger-borne aRFID-tags with static, wirelessly-networked, aRFID-detector base-stations to record badger co-locations at setts (burrows) and near notional border latrines. We summarise the time badgers spent co-locating within and between social-groups, applying network analysis to provide evidence of co-location based community structure, at both these scales. The aRFID system co-located animals within 31.5 m (adjustable) of base-stations. Efficient radio transmission between aRFIDs and base-stations enables a 20 g tag to last for 2–5 years (depending on transmission interval). Data security was high (data stored off tag), with remote access capability. Badgers spent most co-location time with members of their own social-groups at setts; remaining co-location time was divided evenly between intra- and inter-social-group co-locations near latrines and inter-social-group co-locations at setts. Network analysis showed that 20–100% of tracked badgers engaged in inter-social-group mixing per week, with evidence of trans-border super-groups, that is, badgers frequently transgressed notional territorial borders. aRFID occupies a distinct niche amongst established tracking technologies. We validated the utility of aRFID to identify co-locations, social-structure and inter-group mixing within a wild badger population, leading us to refute the conventional view that badgers (social-groups) are territorial and to question management strategies, for controlling bovine TB, based on this model. Ultimately aRFID proved a versatile system capable of identifying social-structure at the landscape scale, operating for years and suitable for use with a range of species.
Data from: Application of benchmark concentration (BMC) analysis on zebrafish data – a new perspective for quantifying toxicity in alternative animal models
Over the past decade, the zebrafish is increasingly being used as a model to screen for chemical-mediated toxicities including developmental toxicity (DT) and neurotoxicity (NT). One of the major challenges is lack of harmonization in data analysis approaches, thereby posing difficulty in comparing findings across laboratories. To address this, we sought to establish a unified data analysis strategy for both DT and NT data, by adopting the benchmark concentration (BMC) analysis. There are two critical aspects in the BMC analysis: having a toxicity endpoint amenable for BMC and selecting a proper benchmark response (BMR) for the endpoint. For the former, in addition to the typical endpoints in NT assay (e.g., hyper/hypo- response quantified by distance moved), we also used endpoints that assess the differences in movement patterns between chemical-treated embryos and control embryos. For the latter, we standardized the selection of BMR, which is analogous to minimum activity threshold, based on intrinsic response variations in the endpoint. When comparing our BMC results with a traditionally used LOAEL method (Lowest-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level), we found high active compound concordance (100% for DT vs 74% for NT); generally, the BMC was more sensitive than LOAEL (# of BMC more sensitive/# of concordant active compounds, 43/50 for DT vs 16/26 for NT). Using the BMC with standardized toxicity endpoints and an appropriate BMR, we may now have a unified data-analysis approach to comparing results across different zebrafish datasets, for a better understanding of strengths and challenges when using the zebrafish as a screening tool.
Data from: Cryptic ecology among host generalist Campylobacter jejuni in domestic animals
Homologous recombination between bacterial strains is theoretically capable of preventing the separation of daughter clusters, and producing cohesive clouds of genotypes in sequence space. However, numerous barriers to recombination are known. Barriers may be essential such as adaptive incompatibility, or ecological, which is associated with the opportunities for recombination in the natural habitat. Campylobacter jejuni is a gut colonizer of numerous animal species and a major human enteric pathogen. We demonstrate that the two major generalist lineages of C. jejuni do not show evidence of recombination with each other in nature, despite having a high degree of host niche overlap and recombining extensively with specialist lineages. However, transformation experiments show that the generalist lineages readily recombine with one another in vitro. This suggests ecological rather than essential barriers to recombination, caused by a cryptic niche structure within the hosts.
Data from: The chinchilla as a novel animal model of pregnancy
Several parameters are important when choosing the most appropriate animal to model human obstetrics, including gestation period, number of fetuses per gestation and placental structure. The domesticated long-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) is a well-suited and appropriate animal model of pregnancy that often will carry only one offspring and has a long gestation period of 105–115 days. Furthermore, the chinchilla placenta is of the haemomonochorial labyrinthine type and is therefore comparable to the human villous haemomonochorial placenta. This proof-of-concept study demonstrated the feasibility in laboratory settings, and demonstrated the potential of the pregnant chinchilla as an animal model for obstetric research and its potential usefulness for non-invasive measurements in the placenta. We demonstrate measurements of the placental and fetal metabolism (demonstrated in vivo by hyperpolarized MRI and in vitro by qPCR analyses), placental vessels (demonstrated ex vivo by contrast-enhanced CT angiography) and overall anatomy (demonstrated in vivo by whole-body CT).
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.