Date palm is one of the most economically important woody crops cultivated in the Middle East and North Africa and is a good candidate for improving agricultural yields in arid environments. Nonetheless, long generation times (5-8 years) and dioecy (separate male and female trees) have complicated its cultivation and genetic analysis. To address these issues, we assembled a draft genome for a Khalas variety female date palm, the first publicly available resource of its type for a member of the order Arecales. The ~380 Mb sequence, spanning mainly gene-rich regions, includes >25,000 gene models and is predicted to cover ~90% of genes and ~60% of the genome. Sequencing of eight other cultivars, including females of the Deglet Noor and Medjool varieties and their backcrossed males, identified >3.5 million polymorphic sites, including >10,000 genic copy number variations. A small subset of these polymorphisms can distinguish multiple varieties. We identified a region of the genome linked to gender and found evidence that date palm employs an XY system of gender inheritance.

Recent research efforts provided compelling evidence of genome-wide DNA methylation alterations in aging and age-related disease. It is currently well established that DNA methylation biomarkers can determine biological age of any tissue across the entire human lifespan, even during development. There is growing evidence suggesting epigenetic age acceleration to be strongly linked to common diseases or occurring in response to various environmental factors. DNA methylation based clocks are proposed as biomarkers of early disease risk as well as predictors of life expectancy and mortality. In this review, we will summarize key advances in epigenetic clocks and their potential application in precision health. We will also provide an overview of progresses in epigenetic biomarker discovery in Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, we will highlight the importance of prospective study designs to identify and confirm epigenetic biomarkers of disease.

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RationaleMyocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. In Qatar specifically, cardiovascular diseases account for 20% of the main causes of death in the country, and the cases of MI is rising rapidly. Recent developments in the management of MI, particularly the emergent opening of the Culprit artery by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI), have resulted in significant improvement of outcome in patients. In spite of that, the early and long outcome following MI varies considerably in different patients, and a significant number develop major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in the first year after successful PPCI. The clinical complications of MI, such as ventricular remodelling and heart failure, are thrombo-inflammatory processes that involve platelet activation and interactions with blood cells, the endothelium, and the myocardium. Increased platelet activation has been reported in numerous cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, atherosclerosis, stroke, acute coronary syndromes, and myocardial infarction. However, the course of platelet activation after MI and its role in adverse remodelling has not yet been assessed.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to evaluate the time course of platelet activation markers in patients diagnosed with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) in Qatar. Findings will be correlated with patients’ clinical outcomes to evaluate the role of platelet activation markers as prognostic markers of disease progression in adverse remodelling after PPCI.MethodsPlatelet activation was assessed by expression of inflammatory markers platelet P-selectin (CD62P), and lysosome-associated membrane protein (CD63), and formation of platelet-neutrophil aggregates (PNA) using flow cytometry. Measurements were done in peripheral blood samples obtained from healthy subjects (n = 25) and from patients at admission to the cath lab at day 0 (n = 55) before PPCI, and 48 hours (n = 51) and, 1 month (n = 48) after PPCI. P-selectin and CD63 expression is defined as the percentage of antibody-positive platelets (P-sel+ and CD63+). PNA are gated by their characteristic forward and side scatter properties and identified as dual-labelled cells in the gate of neutrophils exhibiting leukocyte CD45 and platelet CD42b fluorescence (CD45+/CD42b+).ResultsPlatelet P-selectin and CD63 expression were high in patients at day 0 than in healthy control subjects (% of expression: 24.4 ± 3.0 vs 9.0 ± 2.7; p

Background and Objective: The Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) was hunted to near extinction in from the 1950s to the 1970s. Thus, the oryx ranks among the rarest mammals in the world. Qatar currently has ~800 oryx and has donated numerous oryx to breeding programs around the world. As such, Qatar may be a significant source of genetic diversity to the worldwide oryx population. The primary purpose of this project was to provide a genome sequence and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) data in hopes it can be used for improving breading strategies by maintaining as much genetic diversity as possible. Methods: A DNA sample was provided from an oryx male in the Wabra Wildlife Preservation in Qatar. The animal's whole genome was sequenced using next-generation sequencing approach. After assembling the contigs, we utilized a 67bp kmer and ~2.4B paired 100bp (~80X coverage) reads from the Illumina HiSeq. These reads were distributed across libraries ranging in size from 300-1200bp for paired-end and 2000-5000bp for mate-pair libraries. Genome physical coverage by mate-pair libraries was approximately 15X. De novo gene prediction was conducted on scaffolds >500bp. SNPs were also detected. Results: Predicted genome size of ~3Gb (similar to other Mammals), a scaffold N50 of ~300kb, an assembly spanning ~2.5Gb of the genome which is likely >90% of euchromatic sequence. The sequence is distributed across 36,964 scaffolds greater than 500bp. We detected ~1M SNPs between parental alleles, which is significantly fewer than in other "rare" animals such as the giant panda. Conclusion: The initial analysis of polymorphisms suggests a relatively high level of inbreeding, and further study will be needed to clarify whether this is only in certain herds or a worldwide issue.

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Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. The aim of this study is to improve the prognosis of Breast Cancer in women living in State of Qatar by accurate diagnosis. In the study 70 Breast Cancer patients (year 2000 ‐ 2006) were included. It was found that the mean diagnostic age of breast cancer patients were (46.9 ± 10.4), the majority (48.4 %) of patients was obese (P‐value 0.006) and all of them were positive for estrogens (E) and progesterone (P) receptors. Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) was the most common type found (93.3 %).Immunohistochemical investigations revealed 30% of samples were negative for the expression of (E) & (P) Receptors. On the other hand HER‐2/neu testing by Immunohistochemistry showed that 22.9 % of the subjects were diagnosed as negative for the HER‐2/neu protein and 76.1 % subjects with positive HER2/neu receptor (54.9 % +2 expressing, 22.2 % +3 or higher)By FISH application to the selected cases, of the total Border line area of IHC tested for HER2 (+2 expression), we have found 60% of them were actually positive for the gene amplification, while 24% were found to be negative. Unfortunately 16% of the +2 expressing cases couldn't be determined for HER2 amplification due excessive denaturation. As FISH is more accurate than IHC in diagnosis of HER‐2 positive cases it's recommended to use FISH in diagnosis to make better prognosis and further training to master FISH technique to avoid any technical error. This study was funded by QU & UREP.

Introduction and Background: The date palm is a critical tree to Arabian Gulf agriculture, history and culture. Dates are a major source of nutrition in the region, and the tree itself plays an important role in the development of sustainable agriculture in many drought and saline-affected regions of the world. Date palm development presents a challenge, however, as the tree is a dioecious species, that is, individual plants are either male or female and are indistinguishable during the first 5-8 years, until flowering begins. We recently identified a region of the date palm genome linked to gender, which showed that the date palm employs an XY system of gender inheritance similar to that of humans. Methods and Technology: As part of a development plan we recently released a draft sequence of the date palm genome (Khalas female). In our findings, we identified sequence variations on four contigs that were strongly linked to gender and validated them in a large pedigree. We identified an additional 20 contigs with some evidence of linkage to gender. Validation of new gender-linked contigs will help in the fine-mapping of a possible single mutation, which results in gender determination in date palm. To validate linkage we have amplified the DNA of 7 male and 7 female date palm samples using 20 specifically designed primers. The PCR products obtained are sequenced by Sanger's sequencing. The sequenced regions from these contigs are from a diverse set of male and female date palms. We are studying these sequences and regions to identify a possible specific mutation or other gene content difference that determines plant gender. Result: We have confirmed linkage in many of the contigs, and these provide a set of genes within the "degraded" male sequence which may offer clues to how gender is determined biochemically and developmentally in date palm. Conclusion: There may be many more additional contigs which we are investigating to aid in the mapping of more variations and mutations, which correspond to different traits and features in the date palm, particularly dealing with gender.