Aspidistra is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae, native to eastern and southeastern Asia, particularly China and Vietnam. They grow in shade under trees and shrubs. Their leaves arise more or less directly from ground level, where their flowers also appear. The number of species known has increased considerably from the 1980s onwards, with around 100 accepted as of July 2013. Aspidistra elatior is common worldwide as a foliage house plant that is very tolerant of neglect. It and other species can also be grown in shade outside, where they are generally hardy to −5 °C (23 °F).
Drosophila melanogaster is a species of fly in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly", "pomace fly", or "banana fly". In the wild, D. melanogaster are attracted to rotting fruit and fermenting beverages, and are often found in orchards, kitchens and pubs.
Calorie restriction mimetics (CRM), also known as energy restriction mimetics, are a hypothetical class of dietary supplements or drug candidates that would, in principle, mimic the substantial anti-aging effects that calorie restriction (CR) has on many laboratory animals and humans. CR is defined as a reduction in calorie intake of 20% to 50% without incurring malnutrition or a reduction in essential nutrients. An effective CRM would alter the key metabolic pathways involved in the effects of CR itself, leading to preserved youthful health and longer lifespan without the need to reduce food intake. The term was coined by Lane, Ingram, Roth of the National Institute on Aging in a seminal 1998 paper in the Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine, the forerunner of Rejuvenation Research. A number of genes and pathways have been shown to be involved with the actions of CR in model organisms and these represent attractive targets for drug discovery and for developing CRM. However, no effective CRM have been identified to date.
Medicago truncatula, the barrelclover, strong-spined medick, barrel medic, or barrel medick, is a small annual legume native to the Mediterranean region that is used in genomic research. It is a low-growing, clover-like plant 10–60 centimetres (3.9–23.6 in) tall with trifoliate leaves. Each leaflet is rounded, 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) long, often with a dark spot in the center. The flowers are yellow, produced singly or in a small inflorescence of two to five together; the fruit is a small, spiny pod.
The Drosophilidae are a diverse, cosmopolitan family of flies, which includes species called fruit flies, although they are more accurately referred to as vinegar or pomace flies. Another distantly related family of flies, Tephritidae, are true fruit flies because they are frugivorous, and include apple maggot flies and many pests. The best known species of the Drosophilidae is Drosophila melanogaster, within the genus Drosophila, also called the "fruit fly." Drosophila melanogaster is used extensively for studies concerning genetics, development, physiology, ecology and behaviour. Many fundamental biological mechanisms were discovered first in D. melanogaster. The fruit fly is mostly composed of post-mitotic cells, has a very short lifespan, and shows gradual aging. As in other species, temperature influences the life history of the animal. Several genes have been identified that can be manipulated to extend the lifespan of these insects. Additionally, Drosophila subobscura, also within the genus Drosophila, has been reputed as a model organism for evolutionary-biological studies, along with D. sechellia for the evolution of host specialization on the toxic noni fruit and Scaptomyza flava for the evolution of herbivory and specialist on toxic mustard leaves.
A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the phenotype of an organism. Transgene describes a segment of DNA containing a gene sequence that has been isolated from one organism and is introduced into a different organism. This non-native segment of DNA may either retain the ability to produce RNA or protein in the transgenic organism or alter the normal function of the transgenic organism's genetic code. In general, the DNA is incorporated into the organism's germ line. For example, in higher vertebrates this can be accomplished by injecting the foreign DNA into the nucleus of a fertilized ovum. This technique is routinely used to introduce human disease genes or other genes of interest into strains of laboratory mice to study the function or pathology involved with that particular gene.
Epsins are a family of highly conserved membrane proteins that are important in creating membrane curvature. Epsins contribute to membrane deformations like endocytosis, and block vesicle formation during mitosis.
Swertia is a genus in the gentian family containing plants sometimes referred to as the felworts. Some species bear very showy purple and blue flowers. Many members of this genus have medicinal and cultural purposes.
Glycine N-methyltransferase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GNMT gene.
Aurora kinase C, also Serine/threonine-protein kinase 13 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the AURKC gene.
Rabconnectin-3A (Rbcn-3A) or DmX is a gene located on the X chromosome in Drosophila and encodes for the relatively large WD-repeat protein, rabconnectin-3A. Rabconnectin-3A is involved in Notch signalling by regulating the vacuolar proton pump V-ATPase. DmX is a highly conserved gene and is widely found in insects and mammals. Two orthologs of DmX exist in humans, DMXL1 and DMXL2, the latter of which codes for the synaptic protein rabconnectin-3α. Its name comes from the fact that it binds the Ras-related protein Rab3.
The cave nectar bat, dawn bat, common dawn bat, common nectar bat or lesser dawn bat is a species of megabat within the genus Eonycteris. The scientific name of the species was first published by Dobson in 1871.
Baicalein (5,6,7-trihydroxyflavone) is a flavone, a type of flavonoid, originally isolated from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis and Scutellaria lateriflora. It is also reported in Oroxylum indicum and Thyme. It is the aglycone of baicalin. Baicalein is one of the active ingredients of Sho-Saiko-To, which is a Chinese classic herbal formula, and listed in Japan as Kampo medicine.
Chrysophanol, also known as chrysophanic acid, is a fungal isolate and a natural anthraquinone. It is a C-3 methyl substituted chrysazin of the trihydroxyanthraquinone family.
N-acyl amides are a general class of endogenous fatty acid compounds characterized by a fatty acyl group linked to a primary amine metabolite by an amide bond. Broadly speaking, N-acyl amides fall into several categories: amino acid conjugates, neurotransmitter conjugates, ethanolamine conjugates, and taurine conjugates. N-acyl amides have pleiotropic signaling functions in physiology, including in cardiovascular function, metabolic homeostasis, memory, cognition, pain, motor control and others. Initial attention focused on N-acyl amides present in mammalian organisms, however recently lipid signaling systems consisting of N-acyl amides have also been found to be present in invertebrates, such as Drosophila melanogaster. N-acyl amides play important roles in many biochemical pathways involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes, as well as the metabolic enzymes, transporters, and receptors that regulate their signaling.
Hugo J. Bellen is a professor at Baylor College of Medicine and an investigator emeritus at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute who studies genetics and neurobiology in the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly.
Scaptomyza flava is an herbivorous leaf mining fly species in the family Drosophilidae. In Latin, flava means golden or yellow. The fly is amber to dark brown in color and approximately 2.5 mm in length. In Europe and New Zealand the larvae are pests of plants in the order Brassicales, including arugula, brassicas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, cabbage, canola, cauliflower, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, napa cabbage, nasturtium, radish, rapini, rutabaga, turnip, wasabi and watercress. In New Zealand, its range has expanded to include host species that are intercropped with salad brassicas, including gypsophila, otherwise known as baby's breath, which is in the pink family (Caryophyllaceae) and the pea in the Fabaceae. More typically, S. flava is oligophagous within the Brassicales. Scaptomyza are unusual within the Drospophilidae because the group includes species that are truly herbivorous. Other herbivorous drosophilids include D. suzukii, which attacks fruit very early during ripening and species within the genus Lordiphosa, from Africa and Asia, which also include leaf miners. Most drosophilids feed on microbes associated with decaying vegetation and sap fluxes.
Camellia ptilophylla, also called the cocoa tea plant, is a species of Camellia plant found in Southern Asia. It has insignificant levels of naturally occurring caffeine, unlike other varieties of the plant used to make tea.
Longan witches broom-associated virus is a species of positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that has not been assigned to a genus within the family Potyviridae. It is thought to be the cause of witch's broom in longan, a large tropical tree from southeastern Asia of economic value. Longan witches broom disease is a condition that was first described in 1941. The virus was found in symptomatic plants and absent in healthy plants, but not all of Koch's postulates have been fulfilled.
Death regulator Nedd2-like caspase was firstly identified and characterised in Drosophila in 1999 as a cysteine protease containing an amino-terminal caspase recruitment domain. At first, it was thought of as an effector caspase involved in apoptosis, but subsequent findings have proved that it is, in fact, an initiator caspase with a crucial role in said type of programmed cell death.
