1,419 research outputs found

    General lack of global dosage compensation in ZZ/ZW systems? Broadening the perspective with RNA-seq

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    Abstract Background Species with heteromorphic sex chromosomes face the challenge of large-scale imbalance in gene dose. Microarray-based studies in several independent male heterogametic XX/XY systems suggest that dosage compensation mechanisms are in place to mitigate the detrimental effects of gene dose differences. However, recent genomic research on female heterogametic ZZ/ZW systems has generated surprising results. In two bird species and one lepidopteran no evidence for a global dosage compensating mechanism has been found. The recent advent of massively parallel RNA sequencing now opens up the possibility to gauge the generality of this observation with a broader phylogenetic sampling. It further allows assessing the validity of microarray-based inference on dosage compensation with a novel technology. Results We here expemplify this approach using massively parallel sequencing on barcoded individuals of a bird species, the European crow (Corvus corone), where previously no genetic resources were available. Testing for Z-linkage with quantitative PCR (qPCR,) we first establish that orthology with distantly related species (chicken, zebra finch) can be used as a good predictor for chromosomal affiliation of a gene. We then use a digital measure of gene expression (RNA-seq) on brain transcriptome and confirm a global lack of dosage compensation on the Z chromosome. RNA-seq estimates of male-to-female (m:f) expression difference on the Z compare well to previous microarray-based estimates in birds and lepidopterans. The data further lends support that an up-regulation of female Z-linked genes conveys partial compensation and suggest a relationship between sex-bias and absolute expression level of a gene. Correlation of sex-biased gene expression on the Z chromosome across all three bird species further suggests that the degree of compensation has been partly conserved across 100 million years of avian evolution. Conclusions This work demonstrates that the study of dosage compensation has become amenable to species where previously no genetic resources were available. Massively parallele transcriptome sequencing allows re-assessing the degree of dosage compensation with a novel tool in well-studies species and, in addition, gain valuable insights into the generality of mechanisms across independent taxonomic group for both the XX/XY and ZZ/ZW system.</p

    Sedimentstrategie voor de ZW Delta: een verkenning van kansen

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    In deze studie worden de ontwikkelingen in de sedimenthuishouding als uitgangspunt beschouwd voor duurzame inrichting van de ZW Delta. Centraal staan de kansen van een sedimentstrategie: het gericht beïnvloeden van de sedimenthuishouding, met het oog op het bereiken van een of meer (beleids)doelen

    Verification of Nonblockingness in Bounded Petri Nets With Minimax Basis Reachability Graphs

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    This paper proposes a semi-structural approach to verify the nonblockingness of a Petri net. We construct a structure, called minimax basis reachability graph (minimax-BRG): it provides an abstract description of the reachability set of a net while preserving all information needed to test if the net is blocking. We prove that a bounded deadlock-free Petri net is nonblocking if and only if its minimax-BRG is unobstructed, which can be verified by solving a set of integer constraints and then examining the minimax-BRG. For Petri nets that are not deadlock-free, one needs to determine the set of deadlock markings. This can be done with an approach based on the computation of maximal implicit firing sequences enabled by the markings in the minimax-BRG. The approach we developed does not require the construction of the reachability graph and has wide applicability.This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publicatio

    Spin-flip relaxation in a two-electron quantum dot with spin-phonon coupling

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    We study the spin-flip process from the first excited state to the ground state due to the spin-phonon coupling in a two-electron quantum dot in the presence of a magnetic field. We give several possible relaxation channels before and after the crossing of the Zeeman sublevels. Our results show that the Coulomb interactions between the electrons of different channels play quite different roles and thus inducing different spin relaxation behaviors. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

    Effective channels of breaking the phonon bottleneck: A lattice relaxation approach

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    We theoretically study the relaxation of electron orbital states of a quantum dot due to two-phonon processes by applying a lattice relaxation approach based on a multimode description for the electron-phonon interaction. The fast relaxation time is obtained in a large energy detuning around the longitudinal optical phonon energy. This model offers an effective channel to break the phonon bottleneck. We calculate the lattice temperature and energy separation dependence of the relaxation time for different two-phonon scattering channels and obtain a good agreement with the available experimental measurement for the phonon bottleneck in quantum dots. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3624610

    Petri Net Controllers for Disjunctive Generalized Mutual Exclusion Constraints

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    In this paper a type of specifications called OR-GMEC for place/transition nets is defined. Such a specification consists of a set of disjunctive Generalized Mutual Exclusion Constraint, i.e. the requirement is that, at any given time, the controlled system should satisfy at least one of them. We show that a bounded OR-GMEC can be enforced by a special control structure composed by a set of monitor places (one for each constraint) plus a switcher that determines the current active constraint. We also show that such a simple control structure is not maximally permissive, and characterize this problem identifying a special subset of transitions that may be over-restricted. A modified controller that ensures maximal permissiveness is also presented. Finally, we discuss a particular control problem, that consists in preventing the firing of a given set of transitions and show that it can be reduced to an OR-GMEC problem

    Evolution of a ZW sex chromosome system in willows

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    © 2023, The Author(s). cc-byTransitions in the heterogamety of sex chromosomes (e.g., XY to ZW or vice versa) fundamentally alter the genetic basis of sex determination, however the details of these changes have been studied in only a few cases. In an XY to ZW transition, the X is likely to give rise to the W because they both carry feminizing genes and the X is expected to harbour less genetic load than the Y. Here, using a new reference genome for Salix exigua, we trace the X, Y, Z, and W sex determination regions during the homologous transition from an XY system to a ZW system in willow (Salix). We show that both the W and the Z arose from the Y chromosome. We find that the new Z chromosome shares multiple homologous putative masculinizing factors with the ancestral Y, whereas the new W lost these masculinizing factors and gained feminizing factors. The origination of both the W and Z from the Y was permitted by an unexpectedly low genetic load on the Y and this indicates that the origins of sex chromosomes during homologous transitions may be more flexible than previously considered

    Two-dimensional co-seismic surface displacements field of the Chi-Chi earthquake inferred from SAR image matching

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    Author name used in this publication: Xiao-li Ding2008-2009 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishedC
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