Neurospora crassa is a central organism in the history of twentieth-century genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology. Here, we report a high-quality draft sequence of the N. crassa genome. The approximately 40-megabase genome encodes about 10,000 protein-coding genes-more than twice as many as in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and only about 25% fewer than in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. Analysis of the gene set yields insights into unexpected aspects of Neurospora biology including the identification of genes potentially associated with red light photobiology, genes implicated in secondary metabolism, and important differences in Ca(2+) signalling as compared with plants and animals. Neurospora possesses the widest array of genome defence mechanisms known for any eukaryotic organism, including a process unique to fungi called repeat-induced point mutation (RIP). Genome analysis suggests that RIP has had a profound impact on genome evolution, greatly slowing the creation of new genes through genomic duplication and resulting in a genome with an unusually low proportion of closely related genes

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, starting in early childhood and persisting into adulthood in the majority of cases. Family and twin studies have demonstrated the importance of genetic factors and candidate gene association studies have identified several loci that exert small but significant effects on ADHD. To provide further clarification of reported associations and identify novel associated genes, we examined 1038 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning 51 candidate genes involved in the regulation of neurotransmitter pathways, particularly dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin pathways, in addition to circadian rhythm genes. Analysis used within family tests of association in a sample of 776 DSM-IV ADHD combined type cases ascertained for the International Multi-centre ADHD Gene project. We found nominal significance with one or more SNPs in 18 genes, including the two most replicated findings in the literature: DRD4 and DAT1. Gene-wide tests, adjusted for the number of SNPs analysed in each gene, identified associations with TPH2, ARRB2, SYP, DAT1, ADRB2, HES1, MAOA and PNMT. Further studies will be needed to confirm or refute the observed associations and their generalisability to other samples. Molecular Psychiatry (2006) 11, 934-953.

No abstract

Fig. 6. GH induces EMT, suppresses apoptosis, and increases motility. Western blot analysis of PTEN and EMT factors in (A) hNCC and (B) HCT116 cells treated with indicated doses of GH for 24 h. (C) Western blot analysis of cleaved caspase 3 in cells treated with GH (500 ng/mL) for 24 h. Experiments were performed at least three times, and representative results shown. (D) Migration of hNCC and HCT116 cells treated with GH (500 ng/mL) and harvested 48 h after plating. (E) Migration of HCT116 cocultured for 48 h with hCF infected with lentivector or lentiGH. In D and E, for quantification, the number of migrated cells per 1,000 cells in five randomly chosen fields in each duplicate transwell were counted and means calculated. Results are presented as mean ± SEM of three independent experiments; *P < 0.05. (F) Number of colonies and arbitrary colony size formed in soft agar by HCT116 cells cocultured with hCF infected with lentivector or lentiGH, and tested for anchorage independent growth. Colony size was determined using ImageJ software. Results are presented as mean ± SEM of duplicates from two independent experiments; **P < 0.01 vs. control. In D-F, the differences between groups were analyzed using two-tailed unpaired Student t test.