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The Signal Monthly newsletter of the W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology

at North Carolina State University

February, 2015, vol. 16, no.6.

REFLECTIONS ON BIG DATA

Technological advances in the last ten years have

enabled us to sequence whole genomes and

transcriptomes of many individuals, expanded our

abilities to analyze protein and metabolite

compositions in cells, tissues and whole animals, and

visualize activities in networks of multiple neurons in

the brain. The exponential increase in data that can be

generated rapidly has brought about an avalanche of

new computational and bioinformatics tools that can be

used to try to make sense of the massive data sets that

can be generated quickly.

This is all good and provides opportunities that we

could not have dreamed of even two decades ago. The

frenzy of acquiring large amounts of data has led to a

new bandwagon in science: BIG DATA. The BIG

DATA concept, in whatever way it is interpreted, has

become a buzz word that has become an important

driver for funding priorities as well as a trend setter for

strategic university policy projections.

Let us step back a moment from the BIG DATA

euphoria; after all, the notion of dealing with large data

sets is of itself nothing new. The arrival of BIG DATA

to the life sciences may constitute a new trend, but

quantitative geneticists, meteorologists and

astronomers have dealt with large data sets for decades;

not to mention law enforcement agencies and many

large multinational corporations. It is also humbling to

remember that many of the greatest scientific

discoveries did not rely on massive data sets, but were

conceptual accomplishments. The discovery of

penicillin or the development of the PCR reaction did

not rely on BIG DATA, and the elucidation of the

structure of DNA rested on a single X-ray photograph.

The most influential publication in biology - at least

the most cited paper by far – is the measurement of

protein published in 1951 by Lowry and his colleagues.

One of the dangers of the BIG DATA bandwagon is

that we might ignore the contributions “little data” can

still make to science - well-conceived focused

experiments that lead to important conceptual

innovations. The danger of the BIG DATA trend is that

we can easily acquire large data sets without a sound

conceptual justification and ultimately we need to

develop data reduction processes to make these large

data sets comprehensible.

Engaging in BIG DATA research is powerful and

worthwhile provided these expensive undertakings are

rooted in a conceptual and intellectually well-reasoned

framework with a realistic chance of being able to

interpret them. The BIG DATA trend is wonderful as

long as it does not compromise the ultimate foundation

on which all science should be based: scholarship.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author,

Robert Anholt

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The Scourge of Endocrine Disruptors

by Jamie Mankiewicz

On January 29, 2015, the W. M. Keck Center for

Behavioral Biology, hosted Dr. Andrea Gore from the

University of Texas at Austin. Her seminar was titled

“Are environmental endocrine disruptors impairing

reproduction, brain, and behavior?”

Gore began by introducing EDC’s and defining them

as “exogenous chemicals or mixtures that interfere

with any aspect of hormone action”. Gore’s research

focuses primarily on the effect of polychlorinated

biphenyls (PCBs) on the hypothalamus. She suggests

that if EDCs are interfering with hormones during

development, it is likely they will have a profound

effect on the developing embryo, resulting in

structural, functional, and behavioral changes.

The seminar first focused on prenatal exposures of

EDCs in the developing hypothalamus. Here, Gore

described a study with a 3rd

trimester exposure of a

PCB mixture, Aroclor 1221 (A1221), to a pregnant rat.

The 3rd

trimester timing of the experiment corresponds

to a critical period of brain sex-differentiation in the

developing embryos. The data show that prenatal PCB

exposure results in earlier onset of puberty in females

and slightly later puberty in males. In addition,

decreased age of eye opening in females, slightly

heavier body weight in both sexes, and age/region

specific changes in gene/protein expression in the

hypothalamus were observed. Overall, PCBs have a

greater impact on females resulting in females

displaying masculinized protein and gene expression

(e.g. ER-α, kisspeptin, GnRH).

Gore went on to present new data on behavioral

consequences of prenatal EDC exposures. She

measured ultrasonic vocalizations, the animals calling

to each other, as a behavioral response to removal of an

opposite sex rat from the cage. Typically when a

potential mate is removed, the rat left behind will call

with a high number of ultrasonic vocalizations. When

frequency modulated ultrasonic vocalizations (i.e. rise,

step, and trill calls) were recorded, those rats that were

prenatally treated with a low dose of A1221 had

significantly higher numbers of calls on day 3. Social

novelty tests were also conducted and demonstrated

that males behaved more female-like and females

behaved more male-like in PCB treated groups.

Next, Gore’s seminar presented research on

developmental exposure to PCBs on reproduction and

aging. She explains these studies are similar to

previous experiments in design with the prenatal

exposure to A1221, but now the animals are allowed to

age to 9 months, which is close to reproductive

senescence. When estrous cycles were examined they

Dr. Andrea Gore

found that the cycles in the control group had shorter

cycle lengths, suggesting they were not as far along in

reproductive senescence as the PCB treated animals.

They also show serum luteinizing hormone (LH) in

females that were regularly cycling to be lower in PCB

treated animals. When a PCR array was run for

different areas of the brain (AVPV, ARC, ME), the

data showed many genes that were differentially

expressed in the EDC treated animals compared to

controls. These studies show that prenatal exposure to

EDCs results in long-term consequences that are

sustained during aging.

Finally, Gore focused on the trans-generational

effects of EDCs. For the studies presented here, the F1

embryos were again prenatally exposed to A1221.

These F1 embryos contained germ cells which were

consequently exposed to the PCB and would be part of

the F2 generations, so to examine the trans-

generational effects and not exposure, an F3 generation

was used. Both F3 males and females from PCB

treated animals showed increases in body weight.

There were also differences in gene expression across

F1, F2, and F3 generations as well as across treatments.

Gore also briefly discussed a collaborative study with

Dr. Michael Skinner (Washington State University)

where they looked at the effects of the EDC, the

fungicide vinclozolin, on partner preference in the F3

generation. A mate preference test was performed on

the F3 females with either an F3 vehicle or F3 EDC

male. The females showed a strong preference for the

F3 vehicle males suggesting they could detect trans-

generational differences between the two male rats and

that the EDC males are less attractive to females.

Gore concluded by discussing the relevance of her

studies on EDCs to human health.

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Sharing the Buzz in Arizona

by Hongmei Li-Byarlay

The 2015 American Bee Research Conference

of the American Association of Professional

Apiculturists was held at the Junior League of

Tucson Meeting Facility in the beautiful city of

Tucson, Arizona, from January 21 to 23, 2015.

Keck Center scientists David Tarpy and

Hongmei Li-Byarlay attended this two-day

meeting and presented their research on

oxidative stress and lifespan of the honey bee

drone caste. There were about 50 people at this

meeting, and 23 talks and five posters were

presented.

The purpose of these meetings is to allow

scientists to give recent research updates on

topics related to honey bee health and colony

improvements. The keynote speech was given

by Dr. Mark Winston. His new book “Bee

Time: Lessons from the Hive” addresses current

problems facing apiculture business, and

recommendations for solutions. He urged

beekeepers to change their current management

style, and reduce the use of chemicals and

antibiotics in bee hives.

After the keynote speech, four students

presented their work for the student paper

competition on topics ranging from honey bee

colony immunity to a national survey of

management practices among beekeepers, and

honey bee pathogens and colony health. Kaira

Wagoner from the University of North Carolina

at Greensboro won the first place for her work

on the effects of beehive structure on chemical

content and behavior.

Another interesting talk by Dr. Joshua Gibson

from Purdue University discussed nuclear-

mitochondrial interactions and gene expression

in honey bee hybrids, and described how

imprinting of genes could be related to

aggression and metabolism.

Dr. Frank Drummond from the University of

Maine described the effect of exposure of honey

bees to the sterol inhibiting fungicide,

propiconazole, on flowers of low bush

blueberry.

Finally, Reed Johnson from the Ohio State

University talked about the effect of “bee-safe”

insecticides, such as diflubenzuron, on queen

and worker development.

Four scientists from the Carl Hayden Bee

Research Center of USDA-ARS also shared

their new findings on Varroa mite migration

among bee colonies and a new approach to

improve colony health.

This was a very successful meeting with

exciting discussions on potential solutions and

insight on honey bee colony health and

improvements. Next year the meeting will be

held in Jacksonville, Florida.

Seminars

On February 20, the W. M. Keck Center for

Behavioral Biology will host its sixteenth annual

student/postdoc symposium. See the Announcement

and Call for Abstracts in the January issue of the

Signal.

On March 23, 1:30 pm, Dr. Stavros Lomvardas

from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular

Biophysics at the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind, Brain

and Behavior Institute at Columbia University, New

York, NY, will present a seminar titled “Molecular

Mechanisms of Olfactory Receptor Gene Choice.” The

seminar will be in 3503 Thomas Hall.

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Publications

Botero, C. A., Weissing, F. J., Wright, J. and

Rubenstein, D. R. (2015) Evolutionary tipping points

in the capacity to adapt to environmental change. Proc.

Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112: 184-189.

Dembeck, L. M. (2014) Supporting women on the

tenure track: how PIs can help. GSA Reporter 4: 17.

Dembeck, L. M. (2014) The global innovation

initiative. AWIS Magazine Winter: 10-11.

Adrion, J. R., Kousathanas, A., Pascual, M., Burrack,

H. J., Haddad, N. M., Bergland, A. O., Machado, H.,

Sackton, T. B., Schlenke, T. A., Watada, M.,

Wegmann, D. and Singh, N. D. (2014) Drosophila

suzukii: The genetic footprint of a recent, worldwide

invasion. Mol. Biol. Evol. 31: 3148-3163.

Beckmann, M. C., Gilliam, J. F. and Langerhans, R.

B. (2015) X-ray imaging as a time-saving, non-

invasive technique for diet analysis. Fisheries Res.

161: 1-7.

Flores, G. E., Caporaso, J. G., Henley, J. B., Rideout,

J. R., Domogala, D., Chase, J., Leff, J. W., Vazquez-

Baeza, Y., Gonzalez, A., Knight, R., Dunn, R. R. and

Fierer, N. (2014) Temporal variability is a personalized

feature of the human microbiome. Genome Biol. 15:

531.

Heinen-Kay, J. L., Noel, H. G., Layman, C. A. and

Langerhans, R. B. (2014) Human-caused habitat

fragmentation can drive rapid divergence of male

genitalia. Evol. Appl. 7: 1252-1267.

Just, M. G., Norton, J. F., Traud, A. L., Antonelli, T.,

Poteate, A. S., Backus, G. A., Snyder-Beattie, A.,

Sanders, R. W. and Dunn, R. R. (2014) Global

biogeographic regions in a human-dominated world:

the case of human diseases. Ecosphere 5: 143.

Lucky, A., Savage, A. M., Nichols, L. M.,

Castracani, C., Shell, L., Grasso, D. A., Mori, A. and

Dunn, R. R. (2014) Ecologists, educators, and writers

collaborate with the public to assess backyard diversity

in The School of Ants Project. Ecosphere 5: 78.

Marchin, R. M., Dunn, R. R. and Hoffmann, W. A.

(2014) Are winter-active species vulnerable to climate

warming? A case study with the wintergreen terrestrial

orchid, Tipularia discolor. Oecologia 176: 1161-1172.

Pelini, S. L., Diamond, S. E., Nichols, L. M., Stuble,

K. L., Ellison, A. M., Sanders, N. J., Dunn, R. R. and

Gotelli, N. J. (2014) Geographic differences in effects

of experimental warming on ant species diversity and

community composition. Ecosphere 5: 125.

Williamson, V. M., Thomas, V. P., Jimeno, J.,

Fudali, S., Bird, D. and Nielsen, D. (2015) Genetic

mapping and physical localization of virulence traits in

Meloidogyne hapla. J. Nematol. 46: 257.

McGraw, L. A., Suarez, S. S. and Wolfner, M. F.

(2015) On a matter of seminal importance. Bioessays

37: 142-147.

Of note…

Jennifer Baltzegar gave an oral presentation titled

“Transgenic corn and the monarch butterfly” at a

workshop titled “When science and citizens connect:

Public engagement on genetically modified organisms”

at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington,

DC.

Visit our website: http://keck.sciences.ncsu.edu/

To contribute to The Signal, to be placed on our

mailing list or for information about the W. M. Keck

Center for Behavioral Biology, contact Dr. Robert

Anholt, Department of Biological Sciences, Box

7614, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

27695-7614, tel. (919) 515-1173, anholt@ncsu.edu.