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Böswald LF, Matzek D, von La Roche D, Stahr B, Bawidamann P, Popper B. Investigations on Xenopus laevis body composition and feeding behavior in a laboratory setting. Sci Rep 2024; 14:9517. [PMID: 38664518 PMCID: PMC11045782 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59848-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, has been used as a laboratory animal for decades in many research areas. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the nutritional physiology of this amphibian species and the feeding regimen is not standardized. The aim of the present study was to get more insights into the nutrient metabolism and feeding behavior of the frogs. In Trial 1, adult female X. laevis were fed either a Xenopus diet or a fish feed. After 4 weeks, they were euthanized, weighed, measured for morphometrics and dissected for organ weights and whole-body nutrient analysis. There were no significant differences between the diet groups regarding the allometric data and nutrient contents. The ovary was the major determinant of body weight. Body fat content increased with body weight as indicator of energy reserves. In Trial 2, 40 adult female frogs were monitored with a specifically developed digital tracking system to generate heat-maps of their activity before and up to 25 min after a meal. Three diets (floating, sinking, floating & sinking) were used. The main feed intake activity was fanning the feed into the mouth, peaking until 20 min after the meal. The different swimming characteristics of the diets thereby influenced the activity of the animals. Our dataset helps to adjust the feeding needs to the physical composition and also to meet the natural behavioral patterns of feed intake as a prerequisite of animal wellbeing and animal welfare in a laboratory setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda F Böswald
- Chair for Animal Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Schönleutnerstr 8, 85764, Oberschleißheim, Germany
- Biomedical Center, Core Facility Animal Models, Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Straße 9, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Dana Matzek
- Biomedical Center, Core Facility Animal Models, Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Straße 9, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Dominik von La Roche
- Chair for Fish Diseases and Fisheries Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80539, München, Germany
| | - Bianca Stahr
- Biomedical Center, Core Facility Animal Models, Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Straße 9, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Pascal Bawidamann
- Chair for Fish Diseases and Fisheries Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80539, München, Germany
| | - Bastian Popper
- Biomedical Center, Core Facility Animal Models, Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Straße 9, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.
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Schönung M, Hess J, Bawidamann P, Stäble S, Hey J, Langstein J, Assenov Y, Weichenhan D, Lutsik P, Lipka DB. AmpliconDesign - an interactive web server for the design of high-throughput targeted DNA methylation assays. Epigenetics 2020; 16:933-939. [PMID: 33100132 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2020.1834921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Targeted analysis of DNA methylation patterns based on bisulfite-treated genomic DNA (BT-DNA) is considered as a gold-standard for epigenetic biomarker development. Existing software tools facilitate primer design, primer quality control or visualization of primer localization. However, high-throughput design of primers for BT-DNA amplification is hampered by limits in throughput and functionality of existing tools, requiring users to repeatedly perform specific tasks manually. Consequently, the design of PCR primers for BT-DNA remains a tedious and time-consuming process. To bridge this gap, we developed AmpliconDesign, a webserver providing a scalable and user-friendly platform for the design and analysis of targeted DNA methylation studies based on BT-DNA, e.g. deep amplicon bisulfite sequencing (ampBS-seq) or EpiTYPER MassArray. Core functionality of the web server includes high-throughput primer design and binding site validation based on in silico bisulfite-converted DNA sequences, prediction of fragmentation patterns for EpiTYPER MassArray, an interactive quality control as well as a streamlined analysis workflow for ampBS-seq.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Schönung
- Section Translational Cancer Epigenomics, Division of Translational Medical Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) & National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany.,Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jana Hess
- Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Pascal Bawidamann
- Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany
| | - Sina Stäble
- Section Translational Cancer Epigenomics, Division of Translational Medical Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) & National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany.,Division of Experimental Hematology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Joschka Hey
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.,Division of Cancer Epigenomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.,German-Israeli Helmholtz Research School in Cancer Biology
| | - Jens Langstein
- Section Translational Cancer Epigenomics, Division of Translational Medical Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) & National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany.,Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Yassen Assenov
- Division of Cancer Epigenomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Dieter Weichenhan
- Division of Cancer Epigenomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Pavlo Lutsik
- Division of Cancer Epigenomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Daniel B Lipka
- Section Translational Cancer Epigenomics, Division of Translational Medical Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) & National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany
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