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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Background Female promiscuity is highly variable among birds, and particularly among songbirds. Comparative work has identified several patterns of covariation with social, sexual, ecological and life history ...

Background The impressive adaptive radiation of notothenioid fishes in Antarctic waters is generally thought to have been facilitated by an evolutionary key innovation, antifreeze glycoproteins, permitting ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

The ability of neurons to encode information and communicate with each other is vital for the normal functioning of our brain and body. The large pyramidal cells of the hippocampus have been of particular interest, due to ...

The seasonal cycle of phytoplankton with emphasis on Pseudo-nitzschia was studied at Elle, Drøbak from September 2016 to August 2017. Vertical (1 m) and horizontal net hauls (20 – 0 m), and water samples (1 m) were collected ...

Sea cage production of salmonid fish delivers a large amount of waste products to the marine environment including dissolved nutrients, organic particles, and chemicals. Recent developments in the Norwegian aquaculture ...

In animals, cellularization of a coenocyte is a specialized form of cytokinesis that results in the formation of a polarized epithelium during early embryonic development. It is characterized by coordinated assembly of an ...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the main causative agents of nosocomial infections and the spread of multidrug-resistant strains is rising. Therefore, novel strategies for therapy are urgently required. The outer membrane ...

Due to their antifungal activity, chitosan and its derivatives have potential to be used for treating yeast infections in humans. However, to be considered for use in human medicine, it is necessary to control and know the ...

Background Brucella is a facultative intracellular pathogen responsible for zoonotic disease brucellosis. Little is known about the molecular basis of Brucella adherence to host cells. In the present study, the possible ...

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 ...

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 ...

Y. ruckeri is the causative agent of enteric redmouth disease (ERM), a serious infection of marine and freshwater fish. ERM is a global problem affecting aquaculture facilities worldwide. Losses caused by ERM can reach up ...

Every genome encodes a story of evolution, the remarkable complexity of life. Today, about five decades after Ohno’s momentous proposition on the genetic redundancy being an important driver for the evolution of genetic ...

The SpyCatcher-SpyTag system was developed seven years ago as a method for protein ligation. It is based on a modified domain from a Streptococcus pyogenes surface protein (SpyCatcher), which recognizes a cognate 13-amino-acid ...

Background Studying variation in life-history traits and correlated behaviours, such as boldness and foraging (i.e., pace-of-life syndrome), allows us to better understand how these traits evolve in a ...

Den teknologiske eksplosjonen i næringslivet har vore med på å skape eit behov for teknologisk kompetanse. Utdanningsinstitusjonane og grunnopplæringa har som fylje av dette innført programmering i utdannings- og skuleløp ...

Programmering får en stadig sterkere rolle i de ulike realfagene. Dette ser vi gjennom fagfornyelsen i norsk grunn- og videregående skole, og på behovet i næringslivet. Universitetet i Oslo er blant de første i Norge til ...

Background The concept of pioneer transcription factors is emerging as an essential part of the epigenetic regulation, taking place during cell development and differentiation. However, the precise molecular ...

Cryptic species could represent a substantial fraction of biodiversity. However, inconsistent definitions and taxonomic treatment of cryptic species prevent informed estimates of their contribution to biodiversity and ...

Background Increased availability of genome assemblies for non-model organisms has resulted in invaluable biological and genomic insight into numerous vertebrates, including teleosts. Sequencing of the ...

Over the past ten years the massive use of genomic and transcriptomic technologies has revealed groundbreaking information about the genetic drivers of cancer in general. The knowledge of these drivers is not only fundamental ...

Transmembrane proteins in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria are almost exclusively β-barrels. They are inserted into the outer membrane by a conserved and essential protein complex called the BAM (for β-barrel ...

Background Marine threespine sticklebacks colonized and adapted to brackish and freshwater environments since the last Pleistocene glacial. Throughout the Holarctic, three lateral plate morphs are observed; ...

Background Understanding the effects of habitat modification on the feeding strategies of threatened species is essential to designing effective conservation management plans. Bale monkeys (Chlorocebus ...

The genomic landscape of a hybrid species is marked by alternating regions of parental inheritance and areas of genomic constraint which form reproductive barriers. A PhD candidate at the University of Oslo has explored ...

Background The ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) belongs to a large teleost family containing more than 600 species showing several unique evolutionary traits such as lack of stomach and hermaphroditism. ...

Skeletal muscle is a heterogeneous tissue comprised of a variety of different cell types, including the multinucleated skeletal myofiber. Although myofibers are post-mitotic, they hold a remarkable ability to adapt new ...

Background The class Diphyllatea belongs to a group of enigmatic unicellular eukaryotes that play a key role in reconstructing the morphological innovation and diversification of early eukaryotic evolution. ...

We have previously shown that aberrant promoter methylation of ZNF331 is a potential biomarker for colorectal cancer detection with high sensitivity (71%) and specificity (98%). This finding was recently confirmed by others, ...

Concentrations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) are increasing in a large number of lakes across the Northern hemisphere. This browning serves a dual role for biota by protecting against harmful ultraviolet radiation, ...

Comparative genomics of non-model organisms has resurrected whole genome duplication (WGD) from being viewed as a somewhat obscure process that happens in plants to a primary driver of eukaryotic diversification. The shadow ...

Many bacteria, both environmental and pathogenic, exhibit the property of autoaggregation. In autoaggregation (sometimes also called autoagglutination or flocculation), bacteria of the same type form multicellular clumps ...

In this thesis, a general phosphoproteomics workflow was established by careful evaluation of the different steps for phosphopeptide enrichment. In addition, the application of two different collision energies for MS2 ...

Albumin and IgG have remarkably long serum half-lives due to pH-dependent FcRn-mediated cellular recycling that rescues both ligands from intracellular degradation. Furthermore, increase in half-lives of IgG and albumin-based ...

Background Emergence of tick-borne diseases is impacting humans and livestock across the Northern Hemisphere. There are, however, large regional variations in number of cases of tick-borne diseases. Some ...

Background The gelada monkey (Theropithecus gelada), endemic to the Ethiopian highlands, is the only graminivorous primate, i.e., it feeds mainly on grasses and sedges. In spite of known dental, manual, ...

Background Environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring is growing increasingly popular in aquatic systems as a valuable complementary method to conventional monitoring. However, such tools have not yet been ...

In the last decades, limnic water bodies in the Northern hemisphere have experienced a noticeable browning, i.e., increasing levels of dissolved organic matter (DOM). While the effects on primary producers is usually ...

The last few years have seen the arrival of new effective cancer therapies which is directed at the immune system rather than the cancer cells directly. One type of cancer immunotherapies is the so-called checkpoint ...

Silicon is often regarded as a likely candidate to replace graphite as the main active anode material in next-generation lithium ion batteries; however, a number of problems impacting its cycle stability have limited its ...

A new PhD-thesis at the University of Oslo have investigated how certain parasites of the genus Gyrodactylus have spread after the last ice age in Norwegian freshwater systems and how humans have affected the spread. ...

Background The expansion of offshore oil exploration increases the risk of marine species being exposed to oil pollution in currently pristine areas. The adverse effects of oil exposure through toxic ...

Adaptive radiation is the evolution of ecological and phenotypical diversity. It arises via ecological opportunity that promotes the exploration of underutilized or novel niches mediating specialization and reproductive ...

Studying the ecology and measuring levels of population genetic diversity are important steps for assessing the conservation status and implementing appropriate conservation strategies for rare or endangered plant species. ...

Species occurrence data records the location and time of an encounter with a species, and is valuable for many aspects of ecological and evolutionary analyses. A key distinction within species occurrence data is between ...

Fish in aquaculture is known to ingest less feed after exposure to stressors such as handling, crowding, vaccination and transportation. In scientific studies, this phenomenon has been ascribed to an appetite-reducing ...

Interactions between birds and fish are often overlooked in aquatic ecosystems. We studied the influence of Atlantic salmon and brown trout on the breeding population size and reproductive output of the white-throated ...

Aim: Skeletal muscle is a heterogeneous tissue containing several different cell types, and only about 40%‐50% of the cell nuclei within the tissue belong to myofibres. Existing technology, attempting to distinguish myonuclei ...

In this doctoral work, Ingvild Gudim and co-workers have studied a network of proteins that transfer electrons to each other. They have shown that even if these proteins are structurally similar and have the same function, ...

Objective: A major goal in systems neuroscience is to determine the causal relationship between neural activity and behavior. To this end, methods that combine monitoring neural activity, behavioral tracking, and targeted ...

There is a quest for production of soluble protein of high quality for the study of T-cell receptors (TCRs), but expression often results in low yields of functional molecules. In this study, we used an E. coli chaperone-assisted ...

The genetic impact of farmed fish escaping aquaculture is a highly debated issue. However, non-target species, such as cleaner fish used to remove sea lice from farmed fish, are rarely considered. Here, we report that wild ...

Despite half-a-century of research since the seminal work of Hubel and Wiesel, the role of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) in shaping the visual signals is not properly understood. Placed on route from retina ...

The algae Hydrurus foetidus (Villars) Trevisan is native to polar and peri-glacial freshwater rivers in Norway and similar regions around the world, where it plays a crucial role as a primary producer of energy whilst ...

The astonishing diversity of life we see around us is shaped by the interactions between organisms and the environment. How this happen over long time has been a lasting interest of evolutionary biology, and is even more ...

After meiosis, an unequal cell division generates the male gamete lineage in flowering plants. The generative cell will undergo a second division, giving rise to the two gametes, i.e. the sperm cells. The other cell will ...

In this contribution, we develop a theoretical framework for linking microprocesses (i.e., population dynamics and evolution through natural selection) with macrophenomena (such as interconnectedness and modularity within ...

The integrated stress response (ISR) has been associated with malignancy in cancer cells, with evidence for the eIF2α kinases PERK and GCN2 having important roles in tumor survival. For GCN2, this association has been ...

Removing individuals from a wild population can affect the availability of prospective mates and the outcome of competitive interactions, with subsequent effects on mating patterns and sexual selection. Consequently, the ...

The effect of poly(2-ethyl-butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles containing the cytotoxic drug cabazitaxel was studied in three breast cancer cell lines and one basal-like patient-derived xenograft model grown in the mammary ...

Sensitivity to environmental stressors largely depend on the genetic complement of the organism. Recent sequencing and assembly of teleost fish genomes enable us to trace the evolution of defense genes in the largest and ...

Male fertilization success depends on investment in both pre- and postcopulatory sexually selected traits, and considerable attention has recently been paid to quantifying the strength and direction of covariance between ...

Intense selective harvest of large mammals who carry the largest weapons may lead to an evolutionary shrinkage of those weapons. Currently, evidence suggesting evolutionary effects of harvest is limited to a few species ...

Speciation is a continuous process and analysis of species pairs at different stages of divergence provides insight into how it unfolds. Previous genomic studies on young species pairs have revealed peaks of divergence and ...

Louse-borne relapsing fever was one of the major diseases affecting Western human populations, with its last major pandemic killing millions after World War I. Despite the major role fevers have played in epidemic events ...

The use of genetic markers under putative selection in population studies carries the potential for erroneous identification of populations and misassignment of individuals to population of origin. Selected markers are ...

Much research on large herbivore movement has focused on the annual scale to distinguish between resident and migratory tactics, commonly assuming that individuals are sedentary at the within-season scale. However, apparently ...