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Shen Tian 田申

@tianshenbio.bsky.social

270 followers 410 following 51 posts

evodevo｜RNA｜phenotypic diversification

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Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 5

Our miRNA story is now in @science.org ! We found a microRNA, not a protein, that finally solved a long-standing evolutionary mystery of wing coloration in butterflies and moths. (1/n)
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A microRNA is the effector gene of a classic evolutionary hotspot locus

In Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the genomic region around the gene cortex is a “hotspot” locus, repeatedly implicated in generating intraspecific melanic wing color polymorphisms across 100 mi...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

eric lai @lucksmith.bsky.social · 27d

New #miRNA paper from Lai lab!! 🧬🔥

some think this field, despite recent Nobel to Ambros and Ruvkun, doesn't have much surprises left. but, do we EVEN KNOW WHAT a miRNA precursor LOOKS LIKE? we found some conserved miRNA hairpins up to 10x longer than suspected. this is mir-12, just bonkers! 1/n

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

Luisa Cochella @lcochella.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our work on the function of miR-51/miR-100 is out! miR-100 is widely conserved across eumetazoans but its function has been mysterious. Emilio Santillán found in worms it regulates signaling and extracellular matrix genes, some of which seem to be conserved targets! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An ancient and essential miRNA family controls cellular interaction pathways in C. elegans

A microRNA that arose at the origin of eumetazoans regulates cell adhesion and signaling in C. elegans through conserved targets.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

Timothy Fuqua 🏳‍🌈 @timothyfuqua.bsky.social · Aug 28

Excited / nervous to share the “magnum opus” of my postdoc in Andreas Wagner’s lab!

"De-novo promoters emerge more readily from random DNA than from genomic DNA"

This project is the accumulation of 4 years of work, and lays the foundation for my future group. In short, we… (1/4)

De-novo promoters emerge more readily from random DNA than from genomic DNA

Promoters are DNA sequences that help to initiate transcription. Point mutations can create de-novo promoters, which can consequently transcribe inactive genes or create novel transcripts. We know lit...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · Aug 15

Music to my ears. This is brilliant. Either 90% of us can claim to be better musicians than Beethoven or… maybe just maybe polygenic scores aren’t perfect?

Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · Aug 7

If someone you know buys into claims about "genetic optimization" of embryos using polygenic scores of cognition, just send them our 2024 paper on Beethoven & musicality. We wrote it to help communicate limits of individual-level genetic predictions & complexity of links between DNA & behaviour. 🧪👇

Notes from Beethoven’s genome

Wesseldijk et al. compare the genomic information collected from Ludwig van Beethoven with population-based datasets used to quantify musical achievement.

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

闵娅(Min Ya; Minya) PhD @minyaaa.bsky.social · Aug 12

My sister department EEB is hiring an animal evo-devo assistant prof! I'm the plant evo-devo person on the SC and happy to answer any questions! (spoiler alert: This is a GREAT place to be and with fantastic colleagues & support!!!!) @socdevbio.bsky.social
illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Assistant Professor, Evolution, Ecology & Behavior

Duties & Responsibilities

illinois.csod.com

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

monteirolab.bsky.social @monteirolab.bsky.social · Aug 2

Here is a very detailed examination on how pigmentation in the cuticle of a butterfly wing scale changes the density and refractive index of chitin and, thus, also alters structural color. rdcu.be/eyUwS

Nanoscale cuticle mass density variations influenced by pigmentation in butterfly wing scales

Nature Communications - Here, the authors investigate the interaction of pigment distribution and cuticle density within butterfly wing scales. They use ptychographic X-ray computed tomography to...

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

Kaessmann Lab @kaessmannlab.bsky.social · Jul 16

Our study on a male-essential microRNA and the evolution of other dosage compensation mechanisms in birds is now out in Nature! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A male-essential miRNA is key for avian sex chromosome dosage compensation - Nature

Birds have evolved a unique sex chromosome dosage compensation mechanism involving the male-biased microRNA (miR-2954), which is essential for male survival by regulating the expression of dosage-sens...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

Wouter van der Bijl @vdbijl.bsky.social · Jul 1

🚨 Super exited to see our paper on the inheritance and genetic basis of guppy color variation come out in @natecoevo.nature.com‬ rdcu.be/eugWV

Guppy males have enormous variation in color patterns, with many combinations of ornamental spots and stripes. But where does all this variation come from?

Photo of guppy males from lab population, each showing a unique combination of black and orange ornaments. Photo by Wouter van der Bijl.

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Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · May 24

Glad to share the final piece of my PhD thesis. We discovered a novel Hox gene promotor that might have facilitated the evolution of phenotypic plasticity across a butterfly subfamily.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A novel Hox gene promoter fuels the evolution of adaptive phenotypic plasticity

Adaptive phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to display distinct phenotypes in response to variable environments, but little is known about the genomic changes that promote the evolution of plastic...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · May 9

It is sad that even basic research needs to be defended with utility. For me, basic research is in the same category as art: civilized societies can't do without it, because we all want to know who we are and what our place in the natural world is -- questions that only science can answer.

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · Dec 17

New preprint by butterfly wizard
@lucalivraghi.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We mapped optix (again?!) as the switch gene of a natural polymorphism, this time controlling silver patches of a mountain butterfly. Gorgeous RNAi validation, evidence of selective sweeps, introgression

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

tirthabanerjee.bsky.social @tirthabanerjee.bsky.social · Dec 12

Our new manuscript describing gene multiplexing (using RAM-FISH) is finally out... We profiled multiple known and novel mRNA candidates during different developmental stages of Bicyclus and zebrafish using the easy-to-use HCR-based protocol that most labs can adapt. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 10

Very cool! I should look more into this.

Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 10

Thank you!😊

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Reposted by Shen Tian 田申

Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · Dec 9

Small but mighty: The differences in these two butterflies' wings are driven by a microRNA, a discovery that solves a longstanding genetic mystery. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🦋

Mir-193 mutant Bicyclus anynana butterfly with lighter wings and no black spots (top) and a wild-type (below). Credit: Shen Tian

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Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 8

Thank you!

Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 6

Thanks! In drosophila all these genes affect some basic processes (cell cycle etc) Mutations do not directly hit any gene but they land on the large non-coding intergenic region, likely cis-regulatory elements regulating the expression of ivory/mir-193 - likely the sole color regulator.

Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 6

Thank you prof. Wheat! 😊

Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 6

Thank you Sandra!

Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 6

Here’s a video about the story, made by prof. Antonia Monteiro’s daughter Florence.

youtu.be/xsjlZWldn8s?...

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Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 5

Thx Tirtha :)

Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 5

Thank you Rick!! 😊

Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 5

This was also an exciting journey with two companion papers from @lucalivraghi.bsky.social and @hwkmthcrspr.bsky.social . Please also check their amazing works focusing on the lncRNA ivory! (22/n)

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 5

This study results from a teamwork involving researchers from Singapore, Japan, and the USA. A big thanks to all the coauthors and collaborators from Monteiro lab, Ui-Tei lab, Fujiwara lab, and Wittkopp lab. This would not have been possible without their support. (21/n)

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