Examined demographic scenarios. Abbreviations are shown for each model parameter; abbreviations are reused for parameters that share a prior distribution

Leveraging whole genome sequencing data for demographic inference with approximate Bayesian computation

Sept. 11, 2019

Accounting for historical demographic features, such as the strength and timing of gene flow and divergence times between closely related lineages, is vital for many inferences in evolutionary biology. Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) is one method commonly used to estimate demographic parameters. However, the DNA sequences used as input for...

Inflammatory macrophage factors identified in post-TAVR serum mediate myofibroblast deactivation on stiff hydrogels.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacements alter circulating serum factors to mediate myofibroblast deactivation

Sept. 10, 2019

The transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure has emerged as a minimally invasive treatment for patients with aortic valve stenosis (AVS). However, alterations in serum factor composition and biological activity after TAVR remain unknown. Here, we quantified the systemic inflammatory effects of the TAVR procedure and hypothesized that alterations in...

Rat cardiac fibroblasts鈥攚hich happen to be in the shape of a heart鈥攇rown on hydrogels mimicking cardiac tissue and treated with human serum.

Mimicking the heart's microenvironment

Sept. 10, 2019

CU Boulder engineers and faculty from the Consortium for Fibrosis Research & Translation (CFReT) at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus have teamed up to develop biomaterial-based 鈥渕imics鈥 of heart tissues to measure patients鈥 responses to an aortic valve replacement procedure, offering new insight into the ways that cardiac tissue re-shapes...

Phylogenetic tree representing described and previously undescribed mycobacterial hsp65 sequences.

A Global Survey of Mycobacterial Diversity in Soil

Aug. 13, 2019

Mycobacteria are a diverse bacterial group ubiquitous in many soil and aquatic environments. Members of this group have been associated with human and other animal diseases, including the nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), which are of growing relevance to public health worldwide. Although soils are often considered an important source of environmentally...

Examples of contig depth distributions from (A) Usnea cornuta and (B) Heterodermia leucomelos used to estimate single鈥恈opy depth of the mycobiont nuclear genome that show the cystobasidiomycete contigs (yellow arrows) fall near, or within, one order of magnitude of the distribution of the 1000 largest contigs in the metagenome (blue bars).

A taxonomically broad metagenomic survey of 339 species spanning 57 families suggests cystobasidiomycete yeasts are not ubiquitous across all lichens

Aug. 8, 2019

Premise Lichens are fungi that enter into obligate symbioses with photosynthesizing organisms (algae, cyanobacteria). Traditional narratives of lichens as binary symbiont pairs have given way to their recognition as dynamic metacommunities. Basidiomycete yeasts, particularly of the genus Cyphobasidium , have been inferred to be widespread and important components of lichen...

ATP driven actomyosin cross-bridge cycle

The ATPase cycle of human muscle myosin II Isoforms: adaptation of a single mechanochemical cycle for different physiological roles

Aug. 5, 2019

Striated muscle myosins are encoded by a large gene family in all mammals, including human. These isoforms define several of the key characteristics of the different striated muscle fiber types including maximum shortening velocity. We have previously used recombinant isoforms of the motor domains of seven different human myosin isoforms...

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Three-Dimensional Microscale Imaging and Measurement of Soft Material Contact Interfaces under Quasi-Static Normal Indentation and Shear

July 9, 2019

Understanding the contact and friction between soft materials is vital to a wide variety of engineering applications including soft sealants and medical devices such as catheters and stents. Although the mechanisms of friction between stiff materials have been extensively studied, the mechanisms of friction between soft materials are much less...

Ring

Extensive chloroplast genome rearrangement amongst three closely related Halamphora spp. (Bacillariophyceae), and evidence for rapid evolution as compared to land plants

July 2, 2019

Diatoms are the most diverse lineage of algae, but the diversity of their chloroplast genomes, particularly within a genus, has not been well documented. Herein, we present three chloroplast genomes from the genus Halamphora ( H . americana , H . calidilacuna , and H . coffeaeformis ), the first...

Expression and localization of Zn2+ transporter ZnT3 in cultured neurons by immunofuorescence.

Intracellular Zn2+ transients modulate global gene expression in dissociated rat hippocampal neurons

June 27, 2019

Zinc (Zn 2+ ) is an integral component of many proteins and has been shown to act in a regulatory capacity in different mammalian systems, including as a neurotransmitter in neurons throughout the brain. While Zn 2+ plays an important role in modulating neuronal potentiation and synaptic plasticity, little is...

Evolution Meeting 2019

Chris Smith: Evolution Meeting

June 25, 2019

I just got back from the Evolution Meeting in Providence and I鈥檓 full of information and ideas for research. I had the opportunity to reconnect with past colleagues and meet some new people. Other CU Boulder folks attended, including the labs of Dan Doak, Nancy Emery, Nolan Kane, Stacy Smith,...

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