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  1. Abstract

    Stochastic networks for the clock were identified by ensemble methods using genetic algorithms that captured the amplitude and period variation in single cell oscillators ofNeurosporacrassa. The genetic algorithms were at least an order of magnitude faster than ensemble methods using parallel tempering and appeared to provide a globally optimum solution from a random start in the initial guess of model parameters (i.e., rate constants and initial counts of molecules in a cell). The resulting goodness of fit$${x}^{2}$$x2was roughly halved versus solutions produced by ensemble methods using parallel tempering, and the resulting$${x}^{2}$$x2per data point was only$${\chi }^{2}/n$$χ2/n= 2,708.05/953 = 2.84. The fitted model ensemble was robust to variation in proxies for “cell size”. The fitted neutral models without cellular communication between single cells isolated by microfluidics provided evidence for onlyoneStochastic Resonance at one common level of stochastic intracellular noise across days from 6 to 36 h of light/dark (L/D) or in a D/D experiment. When the light-driven phase synchronization was strong as measured by the Kuramoto (K), there was degradation in the single cell oscillations away from the stochastic resonance. The rate constants for the stochastic clock network are consistent with those determined on a macroscopic scale of 107cells.

     
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  2. null (Ed.)
    The vegetative life cycle in the model filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa, relies on the development of conidiophores to produce new spores. Environmental, temporal, and genetic components of conidiophore development have been well characterized; however, little is known about their morphological variation. We explored conidiophore architectural variation in a natural population using a wild population collection of 21 strains from Louisiana, United States of America (USA). Our work reveals three novel architectural phenotypes, Wild Type, Bulky, and Wrap, and shows their maintenance throughout the duration of conidiophore development. Furthermore, we present a novel image-classifier using a convolutional neural network specifically developed to assign conidiophore architectural phenotypes in a high-throughput manner. To estimate an inheritance model for this discrete complex trait, crosses between strains of each phenotype were conducted, and conidiophores of subsequent progeny were characterized using the trained classifier. Our model suggests that conidiophore architecture is controlled by at least two genes and has a heritability of 0.23. Additionally, we quantified the number of conidia produced by each conidiophore type and their dispersion distance, suggesting that conidiophore architectural phenotype may impact N. crassa colonization capacity. 
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  3. Abstract Motivation Time-series NMR has advanced our knowledge about metabolic dynamics. Before analyzing compounds through modeling or statistical methods, chemical features need to be tracked and quantified. However, because of peak overlap and peak shifting, the available protocols are time consuming at best or even impossible for some regions in NMR spectra. Results We introduce RTExtract (Ridge Tracking based Extract), a computer vision-based algorithm, to quantify time-series NMR spectra. The NMR spectra of multiple time points were formulated as a 3D surface. Candidate points were first filtered using local curvature and optima, then connected into ridges by a greedy algorithm. Interactive steps were implemented to refine results. Among 173 simulated ridges, 115 can be tracked (RMSD < 0.001). For reproducing previous results, RTExtract took less than two hours instead of ∼48 hours, and two instead of seven parameters need tuning. Multiple regions with overlapping and changing chemical shifts are accurately tracked. Availability Source code is freely available within Metabolomics toolbox GitHub repository (https://github.com/artedison/Edison_Lab_Shared_Metabolomics_UGA/tree/master/metabolomics_toolbox/code/ridge_tracking) and is implemented in MATLAB and R. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. 
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  4. null (Ed.)
  5. Four inter-related measures of phase are described to study the phase synchronization of cellular oscillators, and computation of these measures is described and illustrated on single cell fluorescence data from the model filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa. One of these four measures is the phase shift ϕ in a sinusoid of the form x(t) = A(cos(ωt + ϕ), where t is time. The other measures arise by creating a replica of the periodic process x(t) called the Hilbert transform x̃(t), which is 90 degrees out of phase with the original process x(t). The second phase measure is the phase angle FH(t) between the replica x̃(t) and X(t), taking values between -π and π. At extreme values the Hilbert Phase is discontinuous, and a continuous form FC(t) of the Hilbert Phase is used, measuring time on the nonnegative real axis (t). The continuous Hilbert Phase FC(t) is used to define the phase MC(t1,t0) for an experiment beginning at time t0 and ending at time t1. In that phase differences at time t0 are often of ancillary interest, the Hilbert Phase FC(t0) is subtracted from FC(t1). This difference is divided by 2π to obtain the phase MC(t1,t0) in cycles. Both the Hilbert Phase FC(t) and the phase MC(t1,t0) are functions of time and useful in studying when oscillators phase-synchronize in time in signal processing and circadian rhythms in particular. The phase of cellular clocks is fundamentally different from circadian clocks at the macroscopic scale because there is an hourly cycle superimposed on the circadian cycle. 
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  6. In previous work we reconstructed the entire transcriptional network for all 2,418 clock-associated genes in the model filamentous fungus, N. crassa. Several authors have suggested that there is extensive post-transcriptional control in the genome-wide clock network (IEEE 3: 27, 2015). Here we have successfully reconstructed the entire clock network in N. crassa with a Variable Topology Ensemble Method (VTENS), assigning each clock-associated gene to the regulation of one or more of 5 transcription factors as well as to 6 RNA operons. The resulting network provides a unifying framework to explore the clock’s linkage to metabolism through post-transcriptional regulation, in which ~850 genes are predicted to fall under the regulatory control of an RNA operon. A unique feature of all of the RNA operons inferred is their functional connection to genes connected to the ribosome. We have been successful in distinguishing several hypotheses about regulatory topologies of the clock network through protein profiling of the regulators. 
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  7. This paper reports the measurement on light entrainment of single cell circadian oscillator of a model fungal system, Neurospora crassa (N. crassa), through a high-throughput microfluidic droplet platform [1]. The results demonstrated for the first time that single cell circadian oscillators could be entrained by light. 
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