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Chia Genome Sequenced by Researchers, New Study Finds

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Cheer (salvia hispanica) It is one of the most popular nutrient-dense foods and pseudocereals of the Lamiaceae family Lamiaceae. Chia seeds are rich in protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, and antioxidants. A team of scientists at Oregon State University has sequenced the chia genome, providing a blueprint for future research to exploit the nutritional and human health benefits of the chia plant.

chia seeds. Image credit: Valeria Lu.

Chia is an annual herbaceous plant in the Lamiaceae family, which also includes popular culinary herbs.

It is grown in southern Mexico and Central America for its nutrient-rich seeds containing protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, antioxidants, and minerals.

Compared to dietary fiber sources such as soy, wheat, and corn, chia seeds contain approximately 54g of dietary fiber per 100g, of which 93% is insoluble fiber.

Similarly, 60% of the total fatty acids are composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and proteins constitute 18–24% of the seed mass.

Additionally, the health-beneficial effects of chia seeds on improving muscle lipid content, cardiovascular health, total cholesterol ratio, triglyceride content, and anti-carcinogenic properties have been demonstrated in humans and animals.

The high fiber content in chia seeds also helps to reduce hypoglycemic effects and stabilize blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

Professor Pankaj Jaiwal from Oregon State University said, “Our study opens up the possibility for scientists to study chia seeds with a view to improving human health, while also expanding knowledge of chia’s full range of nutritional benefits.” We will continue to deepen our understanding.”

“Long-term food and nutritional security currently requires diversifying human diets through breeding and genetic improvement of nutrient-rich so-called minor crops like chia,” said Dr. Sushma Naisani of Oregon State University. We have reached a stage where this is necessary.”

In the study, the authors assembled a haploid chia genome with an estimated genome size of 356 Mb.

They identified genes and genetic markers in chia that could help agricultural researchers breed plants to amplify plant traits valuable to human health.

They discovered 29 genes involved in the biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids and 93 genes that aid chia seeds’ gel-forming properties.

They also found 2,707 genes highly expressed in the seeds that are likely to produce small biologically active peptides (biopeptides) derived from proteins.

When seed proteins are digested in the intestinal tract, these small biopeptides are released and absorbed into the body, with potential properties that may help alleviate human health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Masu.

“This is the first report in silico “Annotation of plant genomes for protein-derived small biopeptides associated with improved human health,” the researchers said.

of findings It was published in the magazine Frontiers of plant science.

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parul gupta other. 2023. Reference genome of the nutrient-rich orphan crop chia (salvia hispanica) and implications for future breeding. front.plant science 14; doi: 10.3389/fps.2023.1272966

Source: www.sci.news

Effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines diminishes with passage of time, study finds

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A study by the UK Health and Safety Executive that analyzed more than 10 million coronavirus patients found that vaccination significantly reduced the risk of death, with the most significant benefit seen within six months of vaccination. Became. The results of this study support the success of vaccination programs and the need for booster vaccinations. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Credit: SciTechDaily.com

According to a study by the UK Health and Safety Executive, COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) Vaccination significantly reduces the risk of death, especially within 6 months after vaccination, highlighting the importance of booster vaccination.

The risk of dying from COVID-19 is significantly reduced after vaccination, but this protection wears off after six months, providing evidence to continue giving booster shots, a new study has found.

Researchers from the UK Health and Safety Agency (UKHSA) analyzed more than 10 million coronavirus infections in adults between May 2020 and February 2022. The result is Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (JRSM).

Vaccination and mortality reduction

Cross-referencing vaccination status with case fatality risk (CFR), the proportion of cases that result in death, revealed a clear association between vaccination and lower mortality rates. Of note, this study highlights a critical period (within 6 months of last vaccination) in which CFR was consistently lowest across all age groups. After this time, the protective effect started to decrease and the CFR increased.

Noteworthy findings in the elderly

The study highlights that the COVID-19 vaccination program has been successful in reducing mortality rates.

Among adults aged 50 years and older, CFR was 10 times higher among those who had not been vaccinated (6.3%) compared with those who had received the vaccine within 6 months of testing positive (0.6%). The study also found a sharp decline in CFR in early 2021, coinciding with the initial vaccine rollout.

Florence Halford, from UKHSA’s Covid-19 Vaccines and Epidemiology Unit, said: ‘The risk of dying from Covid-19 is reduced after vaccination, and those vaccinated up to six months before the sample collection date. This was the lowest of all age groups.” This provides some evidence for the continuation of booster doses in the elderly group. ”

Reference: “Temporal changes in the risk of adult mortality from COVID-19 after vaccination in the UK from May 2020 to February 2022: a national surveillance study” Florence Halford, Kathryn Yates, Tom Clare , by Jamie Lopez Bernal, Megan Karl, and Hester Allen, December 13, 2023, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
DOI: 10.1177/01410768231216332

Source: scitechdaily.com

BeReal Introduces Private Groups and Live Photos, Pew Finds 13% of U.S. Teens Use the App

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Up-and-coming social app BeReal continues to attract users’ attention by adding more and more bells and whistles. next week, Bereal is rolling out two major new features: Behind the Scenes and RealGroups. Behind the Scenes is an iOS Live Photo-like feature that shows you a few seconds of video recorded just before you take the photo. RealGroups lets you share BeReal with a small group of friends and allows you to send messages directly within that group.

Behind the Scenes (BTS) is an opt-in feature that borrows a lot in UX from the way Apple set up Live Photos on the iPhone. When your friend enables her BTS and posts her BeReal, you will see a Live Photo symbol in the top corner of the image. If you press and hold this, you can watch a few seconds of video leading up to the BeReal photo.

The app is designed to connect you with your already close friends as it asks you to share your front and back camera photos at random times every day. You won’t be able to see other people’s posts unless you create her own BeReal posts. BeReals tend to be more unfiltered and — Because I can’t find any better words — It’s real, because you’re being prompted to take a photo at an unknown time (but if you get a notification to post while you’re in the bathroom… you might just post late). But now, BeReal is creating an experience for even closer friends. Start a RealGroup to share your BeReals more privately. To sweeten the deal, group admins will now be able to choose when daily notifications are sent. You can also DM BeReals within the group, but a group chat is also available. This is likely to be used to anger administrators who have chosen an inappropriate “BeReal time.” However, he can only belong to two groups, so choose carefully.

“Going off to college and missing your close friends from home? Create a RealGroup to stay close, share your dorm life adventures, see what’s going on at home, and stay connected no matter how far away you are.” Stay close to me even when you are away!!” BeReal wrote in a blog post.

BeReal is now on the brink of life or death. Will apps survive the hype cycle or will they fade away? According to Pew’s annual survey on teens and social media. 13% of US teens ages 13 to 17 have used BeReal. However, BeReal has rejected data from external sources in the past. In September, app analytics company Similarweb told TechCrunch that BeReal has about 16 million monthly active users (MAUs), including about 3 million in the United States. However, Apptopia told TechCrunch that BeReal’s MAU in 2023 was at its highest in October at 8.73 million, and at its lowest in February at 7.96 million. BeReal itself reports that in April it had 20 million daily active users worldwide, and in September it had 25 million daily active users.

Although the app was relatively stagnant at first, BeReal has rolled out a ton of new features, including messaging, the ability to post more photos, Spotify integration, and a “friends of friends” discovery feed. . Soon, the app will add his 2023 Year in Review feature and tagging, making it easy to repost tagged content, similar to Instagram.

Source: techcrunch.com

Study finds honeyguide birds have the ability to recognize distinct audio signals to assist humans in locating beehives

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Greater Honey Guide (indicator indicator)It is a type of African bird. well known To attract other species to the hive. They have even been known to collaborate with ratels, but their closest and most successful collaborators are humans. Several indigenous groups in Africa work with these birds throughout their range. Observing these interactions in Tanzania and Mozambique, scientists showed that honey guides were more responsive to the specific calls of their local honey-hunting partners compared to the calls of honey hunters in other regions. Ta. Honey guides therefore appear to learn the calls of their local partners, and honey hunters maintain these successful calls for generations.

Spottiswood and Wood experimentally showed that honeyguides in Tanzania and Mozambique distinguish between the calls of honeyhunters and are more likely to respond to local calls than to foreign calls. Image credit: Brian Wood.

The animal kingdom is full of interactions between species, but systems in which humans can successfully cooperate with wild animals are rare.

One such relationship involves the greater honeyguide, a small African bird known for guiding humans to wild bee hives.

Humans open the hive to collect honey, and bees eat the exposed beeswax.

Human honey hunters in different parts of Africa may use specialized and culturally distinct calls to signal their search for a honey guide partner and to maintain cooperation while following guided birds. It happens often.

For example, the honey hunters of the Yao culture group in northern Mozambique use a loud trill followed by a grunt (“brrr-hm”).

In contrast, the Honey Hunters of the Hadza cultural group of northern Tanzania use melodic flutes.

These successful calls have been maintained in these groups for generations.

In a series of field experiments across these disciplines, Dr. Claire Spottiswood of the University of Cambridge and the University of Cape Town, and Dr. Brian Wood of the University of California, Los Angeles and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, found that the ecology of honeyguides is We investigated whether it is good or not. They tend to respond more to the signals of their local human culture than to signals from another culture or any human sounds.

The authors found that honeyguides in the Yao region were more than three times more likely to initiate an induced response to honeyguides. Yao’s unique cry than Hadza’s whistle.

Conversely, honey guides in the Hadza region were more than three times more likely to respond to Hadza whistles than to Yao bloom sounds.

“It’s such a privilege to witness the collaboration between people and honeyguides, especially the birds that come looking for us,” Dr Spottiswoode said.

“Their calls sound exactly like a conversation between a bird and a bee as they travel together towards the beehive.”

According to the authors, the geographic variation and coordination between signals and responses observed in this behavioral system suggests that cultural coevolution has occurred between honeyguides and humans.

“What’s remarkable about the relationship between honey guides and humans is that interactions with humans involve free-living wild animals that have probably evolved through hundreds of thousands of years of natural selection,” Dr. Spottiswood said.

“Through learning, this ancient and evolved behavior was refined to fit local cultural traditions, or different human calls.”

“Our research demonstrates the ability of this bird to learn unique vocal signals traditionally used by various honey-hunting communities, opening up possibilities for mutually beneficial cooperation with people.” ,” Dr. Wood said.

Regarding this research, paper in a diary science.

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Claire N. Spottiswood and Brian M. Wood. 2023. Culturally determined interspecies communication between humans and honey guides. science 382 (6675): 1155-1158; doi: 10.1126/science.adh4129

Source: www.sci.news

The microbiome may be linked to memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease, new study finds

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A groundbreaking study proves that Alzheimer’s disease symptoms can be induced in healthy animals through gut microbiome transmission, highlighting the gut-brain connection and suggesting early treatment and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. New avenues for personalized interventions have been opened.

Researchers have discovered a link between the gut microbiome and gut bacteria. Alzheimer’s disease disease.

For the first time, research has demonstrated that symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted to healthy young organisms through the gut microbiome, confirming its role in Alzheimer’s disease.

The research was led by Professor Yvonne Nolan from APC Microbiome Ireland, the world’s leading SFI-funded research center based at University College Cork (UCC), and Professor Yvonne Nolan from UCC’s Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience. Professor Sandrine Thure, King’s College London, and Dr. Annamaria Cattaneo, IRCCS Fatebenefratelli, Italy.

Scientists have discovered a link between Alzheimer’s disease and the gut microbiome. Pictured are Dr. Stephanie Grabracer and Professor Yvonne Nolan. Credit: UGC

This study confirms that the gut microbiome is emerging as an important research target for Alzheimer’s disease, given its sensitivity to lifestyle and environmental influences.

was announced on brainThis study shows that memory impairment in Alzheimer’s patients can be transferred to younger animals through gut microbiota transplantation.

Alzheimer’s disease, memory impairment, gut microbiome

Patients with Alzheimer’s disease had greater abundance of pro-inflammatory bacteria in their fecal samples, and these changes were directly correlated with the patients’ cognitive status.

Professor Yvonne Nolan said: “The memory test we investigated relies on the growth of new neurons in the hippocampal region of the brain. Animals with the gut bacteria of Alzheimer’s patients produced fewer new neurons and had impaired memory. I found out that it is true.”

“Alzheimer’s patients are typically diagnosed at or after the onset of cognitive symptoms, which may be too late, at least with current treatments. “Understanding the role of gut bacteria could pave the way for the development of new treatments and even personalized interventions,” Professor Nolan said.

Implications for treatment strategies and research collaborations

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and is a general term for memory loss and other cognitive impairments severe enough to interfere with daily life. As the population ages, one in three people born today could develop Alzheimer’s disease. Funded by Science Foundation Ireland, scientists at UCC are leading the way in healthy brain aging by investigating how the gut microbiome responds to lifestyle influences such as diet and exercise. We are working to develop strategies to accelerate and advance the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Sandrine Thuret, Professor of Neuroscience at King’s College London and one of the study’s senior authors, said: ‘Alzheimer’s disease is an insidious disease and there is still no effective treatment. , represents an important advance in the understanding of this disease, confirming that the composition of our gut microbiota is causally linked to the development of the disease. This collaboration will help future research in this field. We hope that this will lead to potential advances in therapeutic interventions.”

Professor. John F. Cryan, vice president of research and innovation at UCC, who also worked on the study, said: He conducts research into related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, and with UCC he recognizes APC Microbiome Ireland as a leading institution in microbiome and brain health research. This research is consistent with our UCC Futures Framework and the University’s strategic plans in the areas of food, microbiome, health and, soon to be launched, Future Aging and Brain Sciences. “

Reference: “The microbiota of Alzheimer’s patients induces defects in cognition and hippocampal neurogenesis” Stephanie Grubrucker, Moira Marizzoni, Edina Silajzic, Nicola Lopizzo, Elisa Mombelli, Sarah Nicolas, Sebastian Dom-Hansen, Katia Scacellati, Davide Vito Moretti, Melissa Rosa, Carina Hoffman, John F. Cryan, Olivia F. O’Leary, Jane A. English, Aongus Lovell, Cora O’Neill, Sandrine. Ture, Annamaria Cattaneo, Yvonne M. Nolan, October 18, 2023; brain.
DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad303

The research was carried out by Dr Stephanie Grubrucker, a postdoctoral researcher in collaboration with Professor Nolan, in collaboration with postdoctoral colleagues Dr Edina Siladzic from King’s College London and Dr Moira Marizzoni from IRCCS Fatebenefratelli in Italy. It was carried out. UCC collaborators were Professor Cora O’Neill, Dr Olivia O’Leary, Dr Sarah Nicholas, Dr Jane English, Mr Sebastian Dohm Hansen and Dr Aongus Lovell.

Source: scitechdaily.com