Browsing by Author "Pavez, Leonardo"

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    Genome-wide identification of new Wnt/β-catenin target genes in the human genome using CART method
    (2010) Hodar, Christian; Assar, Rodrigo; Colombres, Marcela; Aravena, Andres; Pavez, Leonardo; Gonzalez, Mauricio; Martinez, Servet; Inestrosa, Nibaldo C.; Maass, Alejandro
    Background: The importance of in silico predictions for understanding cellular processes is now widely accepted, and a variety of algorithms useful for studying different biological features have been designed. In particular, the prediction of cis regulatory modules in non-coding human genome regions represents a major challenge for understanding gene regulation in several diseases. Recently, studies of the Wnt signaling pathway revealed a connection with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. In this article, we construct a classification tool that uses the transcription factor binding site motifs composition of some gene promoters to identify new Wnt/beta-catenin pathway target genes potentially involved in brain diseases.
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    Tomato Cultivars With Variable Tolerances to Water Deficit Differentially Modulate the Composition and Interaction Patterns of Their Rhizosphere Microbial Communities
    (2021) Gaete, Alexis; Pulgar, Rodrigo; Hodar, Christian; Maldonado, Jonathan; Pavez, Leonardo; Zamorano, Denisse; Pastenes, Claudio; Gonzalez, Mauricio; Franck, Nicolas; Mandakovic, Dinka
    Since drought is the leading environmental factor limiting crop productivity, and plants have a significant impact in defining the assembly of plant-specific microbial communities associated with roots, we aimed to determine the effect of thoroughly selected water deficit tolerant and susceptible Solanum lycopersicum cultivars on their rhizosphere microbiome and compared their response with plant-free soil microbial communities. We identified a total of 4,248 bacterial and 276 fungal different operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in soils by massive sequencing. We observed that tomato cultivars significantly affected the alpha and beta diversity of their bacterial rhizosphere communities but not their fungal communities compared with bulk soils (BSs), showing a plant effect exclusively on the bacterial soil community. Also, an increase in alpha diversity in response to water deficit of both bacteria and fungi was observed in the susceptible rhizosphere (SRz) but not in the tolerant rhizosphere (TRz) cultivar, implying a buffering effect of the tolerant cultivar on its rhizosphere microbial communities. Even though water deficit did not affect the microbial diversity of the tolerant cultivar, the interaction network analysis revealed that the TRz microbiota displayed the smallest and least complex soil network in response to water deficit with the least number of connected components, nodes, and edges. This reduction of the TRz network also correlated with a more efficient community, reflected in increased cooperation within kingdoms. Furthermore, we identified some specific bacteria and fungi in the TRz in response to water deficit, which, given that they belong to taxa with known beneficial characteristics for plants, could be contributing to the tolerant phenotype, highlighting the metabolic bidirectionality of the holobiont system. Future assays involving characterization of root exudates and exchange of rhizospheres between drought-tolerant and susceptible cultivars could determine the effect of specific metabolites on the microbiome community and may elucidate their functional contribution to the tolerance of plants to water deficit.