Genetics

A rare loss-of-function mutation in a gene called SERPINE1 identified among Old Order Amish in Indiana is associated with a longer lifespan, improved metabolism and a lower occurrence of diabetes, according to a Northwestern University-led study published this week. Amish family riding in a traditional Amish buggy in Lancaster County, …

An international team of researchers led by the University of California, Davis, has sequenced the genome of the Tausch’s goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii), one of the three progenitors of bread wheat. The Tausch’s goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii), also known as the rough-spike hard grass, is a self-pollinating goatgrass species in the Triticeae …

An international team of researchers has mapped and analyzed the genome of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, a species of land plant found around the human habitat in temperate regions. The findings are published in the journal Cell. Marchantia polymorpha. Image credit: Holger Casselmann / CC BY-SA 3.0. Marchantia polymorpha, sometimes …

An international team of researchers led by the Swedish Museum of Natural History has discovered that fossilized remains of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) more often came from males than females (69% versus 31%). The scientists speculate that this skewed ratio exists in the fossil record because inexperienced male mammoths more …

A team of Chinese scientists has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of Rangifer tarandus (reindeer), the only fully domesticated species in the deer family Cervidae. The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). Rangifer tarandus is native to arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. Reindeer …

A multinational consortium of scientists has produced the first high-quality genomic sequence for the river buffalo (Bubalus bubalis bubalis), an important species for agriculture and local economies. This is Olimpia da Farfengo, the female Mediterranean water buffalo that the researchers sequenced. Image credit: Caterina Cambuli. The water buffalo is a …

The aboriginal inhabitants of the Canary Islands, commonly known as Guanches, were genetically most similar to modern North African Berbers, according to an ancient-DNA sequencing study published this week in the journal Current Biology. Guanches. Image credit: Gran Enciclopedia Virtual de las Islas Canarias. When and how the Guanches arrived …

An international team of researchers has used advanced DNA sequencing methods to retrieve and analyze mitochondrial genome data from two lineages of saber-toothed cats, Smilodon and Homotherium. Published in the journal Current Biology, the results suggest that these iconic felids diverged from each other about 18 million years ago and …

Chalmers University of Technology Professor Erik Kristiansson and co-authors have identified over 70 new metallo-?-lactamase genes that make bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics. Scanning electron micrograph of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Image credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “Metallo-?-lactamases are bacterial enzymes that provide resistance to carbapenems, the most …

An international team of researchers from Canada and China has sequenced the genome of the economically important species Apostichopus japonicus, commonly known as the Japanese spiky sea cucumber or the Japanese sea cucumber. The Japanese sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus). Image credit: Qiang Xu. Sea cucumbers are members of Holothuroidea, a …