Recently, Applied Physics Reviews (IF: 17.05), an international physical journal under the American Institute of Physics, published the latest research results of researchers from Beijing Forestry University Advanced Innovation Center for Molecular Design and Breeding of Forest Trees. The paper titled "Statistical Mechanics of Clock Gene Networks Underlying Circadian Rhythms" was selected as the journal's featured article. This research has been reported and tracked by many scientific news media in the United States, and has attracted wide attention internationally.
Beijing Forestry University Forest Tree Molecular Design Breeding Advanced Innovation Center Young Researcher Professor Sun Lidan is the first author of the paper , doctoral student Dong Ang from the Center for Computational Biology and Pennsylvania State University Associate Professor Christopher Griffin participated in this work. The corresponding author of the paper is Professor Wu Rongling of .
is affected by the rotation of the earth, and the behavior of all creatures in nature operates according to specific cycles and laws. The "clock" that controls this running law, the biological clock , can specify the 24-hour cycle rhythm of an organism from day to night every day.
In the mid-1980s, three American scientists independently cloned a periodic gene (Per gene) from the fruit fly , and extracted the Per protein encoded by the Per gene. The Per protein forms an inhibitory feedback loop with the Per gene, resulting in a continuous and cyclic 24-hour rhythm. This scientific discovery laid the groundwork for the three scientists to be awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
After these three scientists, a large number of internationally renowned scholars have invested in this work.Joseph Takahashi, a Japanese-American scientist, discovered the mammalian biological clock gene for the first time, thus providing a more complete explanation of the biological clock phenomena and regulatory mechanisms in different organisms.
However, a growing body of experimental evidence suggests that the genetic mechanism of the biological clock is far more complex than has been realized. First of all, most of the biological clock genes are conserved, that is to say, the biological clock genes found in Drosophila cannot be simply inferred to humans, nor can they be simply inferred to plants. Secondly, there are different biological clocks between different organs and even cells of the same organism. For example, the biological clock genes of the human brain are very different from those of the liver, and they perform different biological functions that need to be coordinated with each other. Moreover, when one organism is parasitized by another organism, there is a resonance phenomenon in the biological clock between the host and the parasite , which affects the pathogenesis of the host. In addition, more importantly, there are not one or two circadian clock genes, nor a few or dozens, but maybe hundreds of thousands of genes in the organism. There is a complex interaction network between these genes. Obviously, these problems cannot be solved only by the traditional method of mutant gene cloning based on abnormal rhythm and whole gene sequencing method.
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Researchers at the Advanced Innovation Center have invented a highly innovative statistical physics method to solve the above problems.The new method of integrates multidisciplinary elements, analyzes the interaction pattern and strength between genes with the help of evolutionary game theory, and uses developmental modularity theory under the guidance of multi-dimensional statistical clustering method to analyze horizontal The gene network across multiple organs is decomposed into different modules, and the signal transduction pathway of each biological clock gene to the biological rhythm is precisely located in the fine-grained genetic network, so as to go from surface to point and from point to surface To systematically analyze the regulation mechanism of and that affects the biological clock, and effectively push the biological clock gene localization work to a higher level.
The new method breaks the limitations of traditional forward genetics methods and creates a reverse genetics method based on common genetic mapping populations or genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) populations, thereby It can effectively answer the non-conservative question of biological clock genes, which is a key breakthrough in the intersection and integration of biological clock molecular mechanism research and quantitative genetics of , and has wide universality and practicability.
In an interview with Douglas Gross, a senior reporter from the American Physical Union, Professor Wu Rongling, the lead author of the paper, said, "The new method can discover early bird and night owl (night owl) genes. We can transform the early riser gene into a night owl gene, so that those early risers who must be engaged in and night work can adapt well to the night environment without affecting their health ."
Wu Rongling further pointed out, " The research of this project will also play an important role in improving agricultural and forestry yields. By genetically altering the growth rhythm of crops and trees, people can cultivate excellent strains with long birth periods and concentrated biomass energy distribution to target organs.
Wu Rongling finally pointed out, "All in all, modern biology has a broad future. To achieve our desired goals, we need multidisciplinary researchers to break academic barriers and integrate multiple means to overcome the same problem." The combination of statistical genetics and statistical physics will lead to a new leap in genome research. "
Extended reading
Wu Rongling, professor of Beijing Forestry University, has been selected for a number of talent projects. Graduated from the University of Washington, majoring in quantitative genetics, and obtained a doctorate degree. In 2003, he served as a master tutor for ; in 2007, he served as a Ph.D. Student tutor . The current research areas are mainly computational biology and statistical genetics.
Sun Lidan, Professor of , School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, doctoral tutor, graduated from the School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University with a doctorate in 2013. Horticulture major, was promoted to associate professor and master tutor in 2017, and exceptionally promoted to professor and doctoral tutor in 2018. Engaged in the mining and innovation of garden plant germplasm resources, molecular breeding of plum blossoms, model construction of complex traits in woody plants, and genetic mechanism analysis He is the deputy editor-in-chief of domestic and foreign magazines such as "Plant Molecular Biology Report" and "Ornamental Plant Research". He has won the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the Ministry of Education Science and Technology Progress Award, the Ministry of Education Natural Science Award, the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Award, More than 10 national, provincial and school-level academic awards, including Liang Xi Youth Academic Paper Award and Beijing Forestry University Science and Technology Star. The latest information!
Source of material: Green News Network, Beilin Research Recruitment Official Micro
