In her PhD thesis, Synnøve Smebye Botnen investigated the diversity and community ecology of Arctic fungi, from beforehand a poorly studied group of organisms. Climate change will have major impacts on Arctic ecosystems ...

Background The ocean microbiota modulates global biogeochemical cycles and changes in its configuration may have large-scale consequences. Yet, the underlying ecological mechanisms structuring it are ...

Background The availability of preferred habitats determines the spatial and temporal distribution of herbivores in savanna ecosystems. Understanding habitat preference of a targeted wildlife species is ...

Targeting the DNA damage response to selectively kill cancer cells is a topic of great interest in the field of cancer research. Inhibitors of the cell cycle checkpoint kinases WEE1, CHK1 and ATR have been developed, and ...

Background Advances in whole genome sequencing strategies have provided the opportunity for genomic and comparative genomic analysis of a vast variety of organisms. The analysis results are highly dependent on the quality ...

Background Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) are among the most widely manufactured and used nanoparticles. Concerns about potential health effects of SiNPs have therefore risen. Using a 3D tri-culture model ...

Background Lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) are promising vehicles for drug delivery. However, since not much was known about cellular toxicity of these nanoparticles in themselves, we have here investigated the ...

Background Recent global changes have led to an increase in distribution of ticks towards higher elevation and latitude in Europe and livestock are at increasing risk of contracting tick-borne diseases, but psychological ...

Incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) can lead to biased divergence time estimates. To explore if and how ILS has influenced the results of a recent worldwide phylogeny of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we ...

Prolonged exposure to bullying behaviors may give rise to symptoms such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain. Earlier data suggest that these symptoms often are associated with stress-induced low-grade systemic inflammation. ...

The food we eat can have a huge environmental impact. Steaks, tomatoes and bread are typically farmed and transported using fossil resources, while nutrients are lost and much of the product is wasted on its way to our ...

Genomic imprinting regulates parent‐specific transcript dosage during seed development and is mainly confined to the endosperm. Elucidation of the function of many imprinted genes has been hampered by the lack of corresponding ...

Sustainable production of biofuels from lignocellulose feedstocks depends on cheap enzymes for degradation of such biomass. Plants offer a safe and cost‐effective production platform for biopharmaceuticals, vaccines and ...

Background Graph-based reference genomes have become popular as they allow read mapping and follow-up analyses in settings where the exact haplotypes underlying a high-throughput sequencing experiment are ...

The house sparrow is an important model species for studying physiological, ecological and evolutionary processes in wild populations. Here, we present a medium density, genome wide linkage map for house sparrow (Passer ...

Background The invasive benthic round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is the most successful temperate invasive fish and has spread in aquatic ecosystems on both sides of the Atlantic. Invasive species ...

Fossil sequences provide observations of phenotypes within a lineage over time and represent essential data for increasing our understanding of phyletic evolution beyond microevolutionary timescales. I investigate if fossil ...

Understanding the biological processes involved in genetic differentiation and divergence between populations within species is a pivotal aim in evolutionary biology. One particular phenomenon that requires clarification ...

Factor VII activating protease (FSAP) is a circulating serine protease implicated in thrombosis, atherosclerosis, stroke, and cancer. Using an overexpression strategy, we have systematically investigated the role of protease ...

The mechanism of action of recombinant IgG2/4 antibodies involves blocking of their target without the induction of effector functions. Examples are eculizumab (Soliris®), which is used clinically to block complement factor ...

The mycotoxin 2-Amino-14,16-dimethyloctadecan-3-ol (AOD) has been isolated from cultures of the fungus Fusarium avenaceum, one of the most prevalent Fusarium species. AOD is an analogue of sphinganine and 1-deoxysphinganine, ...

The recruitment and biomass of a fish stock are influenced by their environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures such as fishing. The variability in the environment often translates into fluctuations in recruitment, ...

Autotransporters, or type 5 secretion systems (T5SS), are widespread surface proteins of Gram-negative bacteria often associated with virulence. Three novel T5dSSs expressed in the fish pathogen Aeromonas hydrophila, the ...

Primates inhabiting human‐modified landscapes often exploit matrix habitat to supplement their diet with cultivated foods, at times resulting in economic losses and conflict with local people. Understanding human‐nonhuman ...

Bacillus anthracis , the causative agent of anthrax, is a considerable global health threat affecting wildlife, livestock, and the general public. In this study, whole‐genome sequence analysis of over 350 B. anthracis ...

The current problem of increasing antibiotic resistance and the resurgence of numerous infections indicate the need for novel vaccination strategies more than ever. In vaccine development, the search for and the selection ...

RAF kinases (ARAF, BRAF, and CRAF) are highly conserved enzymes that trigger the RAF-MEK1/2-ERK1/2 (MAPK) pathway upon activation of RAS. Despite enormous clinical interest, relatively little is known on the role of RAFs ...

Enzymes are central components of most physiological processes, and are consequently implicated in various pathologies. High‐resolution maps of enzyme activity within tissues therefore represent powerful tools for elucidating ...

Objective Earlier studies documenting the effect of candidate genes on recovery have seldom taken into consideration the impact of emotional distress. Thus, we aimed to assess the modifying effect of emotional ...

In this work Ignacio Cuervo and co-workers have studied different aspects of the transcriptional regulating processes implicated in embryonic stem cell differentiation and in the regulation and dysregulation of cancer ...

Background Mononuclear cell infiltration of exocrine glands, production of Ro/SSA and La/SSB autoantibodies, along with oral and ocular dryness, are characteristic features of primary Sjögren’s syndrome ...

Background Mutations in the N-myc downstream-regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) can cause degenerative polyneuropathy in humans, dogs, and rodents. In humans, this motor and sensory neuropathy is known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth ...

Puwainaphycins (PUWs) and minutissamides (MINs) are structurally analogous cyclic lipopeptides possessing cytotoxic activity. Both types of compound exhibit high structural variability, particularly in the fatty acid (FA) ...

On 3 August 1900, bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis) broke out in Glasgow for the first time during the Third Pandemic. The local sanitary authorities rigorously tracked the spread of the disease and they found that nearly ...

Friend or foe? Bacteria are often recognized for causing illness and fatal diseases, but many bacteria are harmless and can even serve beneficial roles in their hosts. In this doctoral work, Nelson Wang investigated both ...

Background and Objectives: The oxidative potential (OP) of particulate matter (PM) in cell-free/abiotic systems have been suggested as a possible measure of their biological reactivity and a relevant exposure metric for ...

Marine coastal areas are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. Protists are an extremely diverse group of mostly unicellular microeukaryotes and includes the microalgae. They are the basis for the majority of ...

The aim of this thesis was to combine computational and experimental methods to engineer high affinity gluten pMHC specific antibodies, validate them, and use them to study peptide presentation in CeD patients and explore ...

Background Understanding the phylogenetic relationships among species is one of the main goals of systematic biology. Simultaneously, credible phylogenetic hypotheses are often the first requirement for ...

Fungi are crucial components in all ecosystems, as decomposers and recyclers of organic matter, as pathogens and as beneficial symbionts with plants. Several recent studies indicate that the borders between these ecological ...

The increasing technological efficiency of harvesting equipment has been identified as one of the main causes of overcapacity and overexploitation of natural resources. In this paper, a formal model is developed which ...

Background Anaplasma phagocytophilum is currently regarded as a single species. However, molecular studies indicate that it can be subdivided into ecotypes, each with distinct but overlapping transmission ...

Targeted Thorium-227 Conjugates (TTCs) represent a novel class of cancer therapy currently in preclinical and clinical development. The TTCs consist of the alpha emitter thorium-227 (227Th) complexed to a 3,2-HOPO chelator ...

Air pollution is the most important environmental risk factor for disease and premature death, and exposure to combustion particles from vehicles is a major contributor. Human epidemiological studies combined with experimental ...

Ongoing global warming is now affecting migratory cycles in a large variety of taxa in seasonally variable environments. Disruption of migratory systems can cause population decline and affect ecosystem function across the ...

In recent decades, the freshwater alga Gonyostomum semen (Ehrenberg) Diesing has increased in abundance and distribution, which has created problems regarding the use of lakes for drinking water and recreation. Increases ...

Premise of the Study Fungal diversity (richness) trends at large scales are in urgent need of investigation, especially through novel situations that combine long‐term observational with environmental and remotely sensed ...

In their natural environment, marine organisms are exposed to a wide range of chemical and physical factors that can damage their genetic material. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and trace metals (e.g. copper) are ...

The presence of a multitude of bioactive organic pollutants collectively classified as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in freshwaters is of concern, considering that ecological assessments of their ...

Satellite telemetry is an increasingly utilized technology in wildlife research, and current devices can track individual animal movements at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. However, as we enter the golden ...

Objectives We report a transcriptome acquisition for the bath sponge Spongia officinalis, a non-model marine organism that hosts rich symbiotic microbial communities. To this end, a pipeline was developed to efficiently ...

Well-functioning mating systems are perceived as vital for population growth rate and resilience to environmental change, but we know surprisingly little about the interplay between human-induced mortality and the mating ...

Wild animal populations experience selection pressures from both natural and anthropogenic sources. The availability of extensive pedigrees is increasing along with our ability to quantify the heritability and evolvability ...

Abyssal plains are among the most biodiverse yet least explored marine ecosystems on our planet, and they are increasingly threatened by human impacts, including future deep seafloor mining. Recovery of abyssal populations ...

Salmonids represent an intriguing taxonomical group for investigating genome evolution in vertebrates due to their relatively recent last common whole genome duplication event, which occurred between 80 and 100 million ...

A characteristic feature of vertebrate cells is a Golgi ribbon consisting of multiple cisternal stacks connected into a single-copy organelle next to the centrosome. Despite numerous studies, the mechanisms that link the ...

To assess organisms forming mesopelagic scattering layers in the Red Sea, we took advantage of their reactions to light. We used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with LED lamps for herding the acoustic targets ...

Throughout the oceans, small fish and other micronekton migrate between daytime depths of several hundred meters and near-surface waters at night. These diel vertical migrations of mesopelagic organisms structure pelagic ...

Linking ecology and evolution can be challenging, particularly as these fields evolve rapidly tracking technological and theoretical developments. Thus, it is important for practitioners of different biological disciplines ...

This study analyses the combined impact of two types of ocean water flow, wave exposure and ocean currents, on kelp Laminaria hyperborea abundance, taking other environmental co-variables into account. The dataset covers ...

A novel passive exchange meter (EM) device was developed to assess air–surface exchange and leaching of Hg in a forest floor. Flux measurements were carried out in a subtropical forest ecosystem during a full year. Over ...

Increases in terrestrial organic matter (tOM) transport from catchments to boreal lakes can affect methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation in aquatic biota both directly by increasing concentrations of aqueous MeHg, and indirectly ...

Collapses and regime changes are pervasive in complex systems (such as marine ecosystems) governed by multiple stressors. The demise of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stocks constitutes a text book example of the consequences ...

Protist community composition and seasonal dynamics are of major importance for the production of higher trophic levels, such as zooplankton and fish. Our aim was to reveal how the protist community in the Skagerrak changes ...

In high-latitude marine environments, primary producers and their consumers show seasonal peaks of abundance in response to annual light cycle, water column stability and nutrient availability. Predatory species have adapted ...

Climate warming and harvesting affect the dynamics of species across the globe through a multitude of mechanisms, including distribution changes. In fish, migrations to and distribution on spawning grounds are likely ...

Background The geographical expansion of the tick Ixodes ricinus in northern Europe is a serious concern for animal and human health. The pathogen Anaplasma phagocytophilum is transmitted by ticks and ...

Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors of the Inuit were the first to introduce the widespread usage of dog sledge transportation technology to the Americas, but ...

Plague is a vector-borne zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis that produces serious and potentially fatal infections in humans. The transmission of plague to humans can occur through contact with animals, fleas, or ...

Plankton er essensielle organisme, både fordi mange er primærprodusenter, men også for deres rolle i karbonsyklusen. Flere av dem kan også indikere endringer i miljøet. Å forstå deres livssyklus og sesongendringer I ...

Activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/the unfolded protein response (UPR) has been linked to cancer, but the molecular mechanisms are poorly understood and there is a paucity of reagents to translate this for ...

Objective. Mechanistic modeling of neurons is an essential component of computational neuroscience that enables scientists to simulate, explain, and explore neural activity. The conventional approach to simulation of ...

Since the last Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) effort to review biological effects of the exposure to organohalogen compounds (OHCs) in Arctic biota, there has been a considerable number of new Arctic ...

Freshwaters are increasingly exposed to complex mixtures of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) from municipal wastewater, which are known to alter freshwater communities’ structure and functioning. However, ...

Calcium (Ca) is an essential element for almost all living organisms. Here, we examined global variation and controls of freshwater Ca concentrations, using 440 599 water samples from 43 184 inland water sites in 57 ...

While many in-laboratory ecotoxicological studies have shown the adverse impact of pollutants to the fitness of an individual, direct evidence from the field on the population dynamics of wildlife animals has been lacking. ...

The increased transport of terrestrially derived organic material (tOM) from catchments to rivers and lakes is leading to browning of northern freshwaters.(1) Although the same environmental drivers can be expected to lead ...

Genome-wide association studies have implicated many ion channels in schizophrenia pathophysiology. Although the functions of these channels are relatively well characterized by single-cell studies, the contributions of ...

Horses are the most common grave goods found in Icelandic Viking Age graves. Horse skeletons have previously been sexed based on pelvis shape and the presence of canine teeth in male horses over 4–5 years of age. Morphological ...

Bentiske alger og ålegras utgjør to viktige marine habitater langs Norges kystlinje. Bentiske diatomeer som epifytter er ofte funnet på disse. Det er ingen tidligere studier fra tempererte områder av sesongmessig variasjon ...

Cope's Rule describes increasing body size in evolutionary lineages through geological time. This pattern has been documented in unitary organisms but does it also apply to module size in colonial organisms? We address ...

Atmospheric N pollution may shift nutrient limitations in aquatic autotrophs from N to P or cause an intensification of P limitation in formerly pristine areas. Small changes in nutrient supply in oligotrophic lakes and ...

Complement component 5 (C5) is an essential factor of the defensive complement system in all vertebrates. We report the characterization of C5 cDNA and protein from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), a teleost fish species of ...

The importance of survival and growth variations early in life for population dynamics depends on the degrees of compensatory density dependence and size dependence in survival at later life stages. Quantifying density‐ ...

Hydrurus foetidus is a freshwater alga belonging to the phylum Heterokonta. It thrives in cold rivers in polar and high alpine regions. It has several morphological traits reminiscent of single-celled eukaryotes, but can ...

Plants both generate and shed organs throughout their lifetime. Cell separation is in function during opening of anthers to release pollen; floral organs are detached after pollination when they have served their purpose; ...

The Fungi are a diverse kingdom, dominating terrestrial environments and driving important ecologies. Although fungi, and the related Opisthosporidia, interact with photosynthetic organisms on land and in freshwater as ...

The European autophagy consortium Driving next-generation autophagy researchers towards translation (DRIVE) held its kick-off meeting in Groningen on the 14th and 15th of June 2018. This Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Training ...

The successful use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) for hematological cancer treatment has influenced the direction taken in translational research toward an increasing focus on personalized targeted immunotherapy. Thus, ...

Autotransporters, or type 5 secretion systems, are widespread surface proteins of Gram-negative bacteria often associated with virulence functions. Autotransporters consist of an outer membrane β-barrel domain and an ...

Ricin can be isolated from the seeds of the castor bean plant (Ricinus communis). It belongs to the ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) family of toxins classified as a bio-threat agent due to its high toxicity, stability ...

Recent theories in evolutionary medicine have suggested that behavioural outputs associated with depression-like states (DLS) could be an adaptation to unpredictable and precarious situations. In animal models, DLS are ...

Various studies have demonstrated that the two leaflets of cellular membranes interact, potentially through so-called interdigitation between the fatty acyl groups. While the molecular mechanism underlying interleaflet ...