Mastodawn

Amelia Cervera 🧬Apr 29, 2025

Environmentally induced variation in sperm sRNAs is linked to gene expression and transposable elements in zebrafish offspring.

#Transposons #sRNAs #miRNAs #piRNAs #Sperm #Competition #Zebrafish

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41437-025-00752-2

Environmentally induced variation in sperm sRNAs is linked to gene expression and transposable elements in zebrafish offspring - Heredity

Environmental factors affect not only paternal condition but may translate into the following generations where sperm-mediated small RNAs (sRNAs) can contribute to the transmission of paternal effects. sRNAs play a key role in the male germ line in genome maintenance and repair, and particularly in response to environmental stress and the resulting increase in transposable element (TE) activity. Here, we investigated how the social environment (high competition, low competition) of male zebrafish Danio rerio affects sRNAs in sperm and how these are linked to gene expression and TE activity in their offspring. In a first experiment, we collected sperm samples after exposing males to each social environment for 2 weeks to test for differentially expressed sperm micro- (miRNA) and piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNA). In a separate experiment, we performed in vitro fertilisations after one 2-week period using a split-clutch design to control for maternal effects and collected embryos at 24 h to test for differentially expressed genes and TEs. We developed new computational prediction tools to link sperm sRNAs with differentially expressed TEs and genes in the embryos. Our results support the idea that the molecular stress response in the male germ line has significant down-stream effects on the molecular pathways, and we provide a direct link between sRNAs, TEs and gene expression.

Nature

Helmholtz Institute Würzburg Jan 9, 2025

#HIRI researchers have identified a protein and a group of #sRNAs in B. thetaiotaomicron, which regulate sugar metabolism. These discoveries shed light on how this gut microbe adapts to varying nutritional conditions: https://www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/newsroom/news/detail/news/novel-insights-into-the-metabolism-of-the-gut-microbiota/

The findings deepen our understanding of this bacterium's role in the human gut & may pave the way for new therapeutic strategies to promote health through the microbiota. The study was published in Nature Communications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55383-8

Novel insights into the metabolism of the gut microbiota

HIRI researchers uncover control mechanisms of polysaccharide utilization in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron

Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research

Helmholtz Institute Würzburg Mar 16, 2023

Hoda Kooshapour has been a #PhD student in the #graduate training program “RNA & Infection” at the Helmholtz Institute Würzburg since 2021. 👩‍🎓 👩‍🔬 You can learn more about her passion for bacterial #sRNAs, her path to #HIRI, and her favorite place in #Würzburg in this feature: https://www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/newsroom/features-stories/curiosity-as-a-driving-force/

Curiosity as a driving force

Since 2021, Hoda Kooshapour has been a PhD student in the graduate training program “RNA & Infection” at the Helmholtz Institute Würzburg (HIRI). Her research focuses on bacterial small ribonucleic acids (sRNAs) and their role in host-microbe interactions, which she finds particularly fascinating.

Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research