Browsing by Subject "Sequence Analysis, DNA"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 72

Open Access
A high-resolution map of human evolutionary constraint using 29 mammals.
(Nature, 2011-10-12) Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin; Garber, Manuel; Zuk, Or; Lin, Michael F; Parker, Brian J; Washietl, Stefan; Kheradpour, Pouya; Ernst, Jason; Jordan, Gregory; Mauceli, Evan; Ward, Lucas D; Lowe, Craig B; Holloway, Alisha K; Clamp, Michele; Gnerre, Sante; Alföldi, Jessica; Beal, Kathryn; Chang, Jean; Clawson, Hiram; Cuff, James; Di Palma, Federica; Fitzgerald, Stephen; Flicek, Paul; Guttman, Mitchell; Hubisz, Melissa J; Jaffe, David B; Jungreis, Irwin; Kent, W James; Kostka, Dennis; Lara, Marcia; Martins, Andre L; Massingham, Tim; Moltke, Ida; Raney, Brian J; Rasmussen, Matthew D; Robinson, Jim; Stark, Alexander; Vilella, Albert J; Wen, Jiayu; Xie, Xiaohui; Zody, Michael C; Broad Institute Sequencing Platform and Whole Genome Assembly Team; Baldwin, Jen; Bloom, Toby; Chin, Chee Whye; Heiman, Dave; Nicol, Robert; Nusbaum, Chad; Young, Sarah; Wilkinson, Jane; Worley, Kim C; Kovar, Christie L; Muzny, Donna M; Gibbs, Richard A; Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center Sequencing Team; Cree, Andrew; Dihn, Huyen H; Fowler, Gerald; Jhangiani, Shalili; Joshi, Vandita; Lee, Sandra; Lewis, Lora R; Nazareth, Lynne V; Okwuonu, Geoffrey; Santibanez, Jireh; Warren, Wesley C; Mardis, Elaine R; Weinstock, George M; Wilson, Richard K; Genome Institute at Washington University; Delehaunty, Kim; Dooling, David; Fronik, Catrina; Fulton, Lucinda; Fulton, Bob; Graves, Tina; Minx, Patrick; Sodergren, Erica; Birney, Ewan; Margulies, Elliott H; Herrero, Javier; Green, Eric D; Haussler, David; Siepel, Adam; Goldman, Nick; Pollard, Katherine S; Pedersen, Jakob S; Lander, Eric S; Kellis, Manolis
The comparison of related genomes has emerged as a powerful lens for genome interpretation. Here we report the sequencing and comparative analysis of 29 eutherian genomes. We confirm that at least 5.5% of the human genome has undergone purifying selection, and locate constrained elements covering ∼4.2% of the genome. We use evolutionary signatures and comparisons with experimental data sets to suggest candidate functions for ∼60% of constrained bases. These elements reveal a small number of new coding exons, candidate stop codon readthrough events and over 10,000 regions of overlapping synonymous constraint within protein-coding exons. We find 220 candidate RNA structural families, and nearly a million elements overlapping potential promoter, enhancer and insulator regions. We report specific amino acid residues that have undergone positive selection, 280,000 non-coding elements exapted from mobile elements and more than 1,000 primate- and human-accelerated elements. Overlap with disease-associated variants indicates that our findings will be relevant for studies of human biology, health and disease.
Open Access
A novel chloroplast gene reported for flagellate plants.
(American journal of botany, 2018-01) Song, M; Kuo, L; Huiet, L; Pryer, KM; Rothfels, CJ; Li, F
PREMISE OF THE STUDY:Gene space in plant plastid genomes is well characterized and annotated, yet we discovered an unrecognized open reading frame (ORF) in the fern lineage that is conserved across flagellate plants. METHODS:We initially detected a putative uncharacterized ORF by the existence of a highly conserved region between rps16 and matK in a series of matK alignments of leptosporangiate ferns. We mined available plastid genomes for this ORF, which we now refer to as ycf94, to infer evolutionary selection pressures and assist in functional prediction. To further examine the transcription of ycf94, we assembled the plastid genome and sequenced the transcriptome of the leptosporangiate fern Adiantum shastense Huiet & A.R. Sm. KEY RESULTS:The ycf94 predicted protein has a distinct transmembrane domain but with no sequence homology to other proteins with known function. The nonsynonymous/synonymous substitution rate ratio of ycf94 is on par with other fern plastid protein-encoding genes, and additional homologs can be found in a few lycophyte, moss, hornwort, and liverwort plastid genomes. Homologs of ycf94 were not found in seed plants. In addition, we report a high level of RNA editing for ycf94 transcripts-a hallmark of protein-coding genes in fern plastomes. CONCLUSIONS:The degree of sequence conservation, together with the presence of a distinct transmembrane domain and RNA-editing sites, suggests that ycf94 is a protein-coding gene of functional significance in ferns and, potentially, bryophytes and lycophytes. However, the origin and exact function of this gene require further investigation.
Open Access
A nucleosome-guided map of transcription factor binding sites in yeast.
(PLoS Comput Biol, 2007-11) Narlikar, Leelavati; Gordân, Raluca; Hartemink, Alexander J
Finding functional DNA binding sites of transcription factors (TFs) throughout the genome is a crucial step in understanding transcriptional regulation. Unfortunately, these binding sites are typically short and degenerate, posing a significant statistical challenge: many more matches to known TF motifs occur in the genome than are actually functional. However, information about chromatin structure may help to identify the functional sites. In particular, it has been shown that active regulatory regions are usually depleted of nucleosomes, thereby enabling TFs to bind DNA in those regions. Here, we describe a novel motif discovery algorithm that employs an informative prior over DNA sequence positions based on a discriminative view of nucleosome occupancy. When a Gibbs sampling algorithm is applied to yeast sequence-sets identified by ChIP-chip, the correct motif is found in 52% more cases with our informative prior than with the commonly used uniform prior. This is the first demonstration that nucleosome occupancy information can be used to improve motif discovery. The improvement is dramatic, even though we are using only a statistical model to predict nucleosome occupancy; we expect our results to improve further as high-resolution genome-wide experimental nucleosome occupancy data becomes increasingly available.
Open Access
Analyses of pediatric isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans from South Africa.
(J Clin Microbiol, 2011-01) Miglia, Kathleen J; Govender, Nelesh P; Rossouw, Jenny; Meiring, Susan; Mitchell, Thomas G; Group for Enteric, Respiratory and Meningeal Disease Surveillance in South Africa
Compared to the incidence in adults, cryptococcosis is inexplicably rare among children, even in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the highest prevalence of coinfection with HIV and Cryptococcus neoformans. To explore any mycological basis for this age-related difference in the incidence of cryptococcosis, we investigated isolates of C. neoformans recovered from pediatric and adult patients during a 2-year period in South Africa. From reports to the Group for Enteric, Respiratory, and Meningeal Disease Surveillance in South Africa (GERMS-SA), we reviewed all cases of cryptococcosis in 2005 and 2006. We analyzed one isolate of C. neoformans from each of 82 pediatric patients (<15 years of age) and determined the multilocus sequence type (ST), mating type, ploidy, and allelic profile. This sample included isolates of all three molecular types of serotype A or C. neoformans var. grubii (molecular types VNI, VNII, and VNB) and one AD hybrid. Seventy-seven (94%) of the strains possessed the MATα mating type allele, and five were MATa. Seventy-five (91%) were haploid, and seven were diploid. A total of 24 different STs were identified. The ratios of each mating type and the proportion of haploids were comparable to those for the isolates that were obtained from 86 adult patients during the same period. Notably, the most prevalent pediatric ST was significantly associated with male patients. Overall, these pediatric isolates exhibited high genotypic diversity. They included a relatively large percentage of diploids and the rarely reported MATa mating type.
Open Access
Association between novel PLCE1 variants identified in published esophageal cancer genome-wide association studies and risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
(BMC cancer, 2011-06-20) Ma, Hongxia; Wang, Li-E; Liu, Zhensheng; Sturgis, Erich M; Wei, Qingyi
Phospholipase C epsilon 1 (PLCE1) (an effector of Ras) belonging to the phospholipase family plays crucial roles in carcinogenesis and progression of several cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, rs2274223) in PLCE1 has been identified as a novel susceptibility locus in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA) that share similar risk factors with SCCHN. Therefore, we investigated the association between potentially functional SNPs in PLCE1 and susceptibility to SCCHN.We genotyped three potentially functional SNPs (rs2274223A/G, rs3203713A/G and rs11599672T/G) of PLCE1 in 1,098 SCCHN patients and 1,090 controls matched by age and sex in a non-Hispanic white population.Although none of three SNPs was alone significantly associated with overall risk of SCCHN, their combined effects of risk alleles (rs2274223G, rs3203713G and rs11599672G) were found to be associated with risk of SCCHN in a locus-dose effect manner (Ptrend=0.046), particularly for non-oropharyngeal tumors (Ptrend=0.017); specifically, rs2274223 was associated with a significantly increased risk (AG vs. AA: adjusted OR=1.29, 95% CI=1.01-1.64; AG/GG vs. AA: adjusted OR=1.30, 95% CI=1.03-1.64), while rs11599672 was associated with a significantly decreased risk (GG vs. TT: adjusted OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.34-0.86; TG/GG vs. TT: adjusted OR=0.76, 95% CI=0.61-0.95).Our findings suggest that PLCE1 variants may have an effect on risk of SCCHN associated with tobacco and alcohol exposure, particularly for those tumors arising at non-oropharyngeal sites. These findings, although need to be validated by larger studies, are consistent with those in esophageal and gastric cancers.
Open Access
Associations between antibiotic exposure during pregnancy, birth weight and aberrant methylation at imprinted genes among offspring.
(International journal of obesity (2005), 2013-07) Vidal, AC; Murphy, SK; Murtha, AP; Schildkraut, JM; Soubry, A; Huang, Z; Neelon, SEB; Fuemmeler, B; Iversen, E; Wang, F; Kurtzberg, J; Jirtle, RL; Hoyo, C
Objectives
Low birth weight (LBW) has been associated with common adult-onset chronic diseases, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and some cancers. The etiology of LBW is multi-factorial. However, recent evidence suggests exposure to antibiotics may also increase the risk of LBW. The mechanisms underlying this association are unknown, although epigenetic mechanisms are hypothesized. In this study, we evaluated the association between maternal antibiotic use and LBW and examined the potential role of altered DNA methylation that controls growth regulatory imprinted genes in these associations.
Methods
Between 2009-2011, 397 pregnant women were enrolled and followed until delivery. Prenatal antibiotic use was ascertained through maternal self-report. Imprinted genes methylation levels were measured at differentially methylated regions (DMRs) using bisulfite pyrosequencing. Generalized linear models were used to examine associations among antibiotic use, birth weight and DMR methylation fractions.
Results
After adjusting for infant gender, race/ethnicity, maternal body mass index, delivery route, gestational weight gain, gestational age at delivery, folic acid intake, physical activity, maternal smoking and parity, antibiotic use during pregnancy was associated with 138 g lower birth weight compared with non-antibiotic use (β-coefficient=-132.99, s.e.=50.70, P=0.008). These associations were strongest in newborns of women who reported antibiotic use other than penicillins (β-coefficient=-135.57, s.e.=57.38, P=0.02). Methylation at five DMRs, IGF2 (P=0.05), H19 (P=0.15), PLAGL1 (P=0.01), MEG3 (P=0.006) and PEG3 (P=0.08), was associated with maternal antibiotic use; among these, only methylation at the PLAGL1 DMR was also associated with birth weight.
Conclusion
We report an inverse association between in utero exposure to antibiotics and lower infant birth weight and provide the first empirical evidence supporting imprinted gene plasticity in these associations.
Open Access
Avian genomes. A flock of genomes. Introduction.
(Science, 2014-12-12) Zhang, Guojie; Jarvis, Erich D; Gilbert, M Thomas P
Open Access
Biogeography in deep time - What do phylogenetics, geology, and paleoclimate tell us about early platyrrhine evolution?
(Mol Phylogenet Evol, 2015-01) Kay, Richard Frederick
Molecular data have converged on a consensus about the genus-level phylogeny of extant platyrrhine monkeys, but for most extinct taxa and certainly for those older than the Pleistocene we must rely upon morphological evidence from fossils. This raises the question as to how well anatomical data mirror molecular phylogenies and how best to deal with discrepancies between the molecular and morphological data as we seek to extend our phylogenies to the placement of fossil taxa. Here I present parsimony-based phylogenetic analyses of extant and fossil platyrrhines based on an anatomical dataset of 399 dental characters and osteological features of the cranium and postcranium. I sample 16 extant taxa (one from each platyrrhine genus) and 20 extinct taxa of platyrrhines. The tree structure is constrained with a "molecular scaffold" of extant species as implemented in maximum parsimony using PAUP with the molecular-based 'backbone' approach. The data set encompasses most of the known extinct species of platyrrhines, ranging in age from latest Oligocene (∼26 Ma) to the Recent. The tree is rooted with extant catarrhines, and Late Eocene and Early Oligocene African anthropoids. Among the more interesting patterns to emerge are: (1) known early platyrrhines from the Late Oligocene through Early Miocene (26-16.5Ma) represent only stem platyrrhine taxa; (2) representatives of the three living platyrrhine families first occur between 15.7 Ma and 13.5 Ma; and (3) recently extinct primates from the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola) are sister to the clade of extant platyrrhines and may have diverged in the Early Miocene. It is probable that the crown platyrrhine clade did not originate before about 20-24 Ma, a conclusion consistent with the phylogenetic analysis of fossil taxa presented here and with recent molecular clock estimates. The following biogeographic scenario is consistent with the phylogenetic findings and climatic and geologic evidence: Tropical South America has been a center for platyrrhine diversification since platyrrhines arrived on the continent in the middle Cenozoic. Platyrrhines dispersed from tropical South America to Patagonia at ∼25-24 Ma via a "Paraná Portal" through eastern South America across a retreating Paranense Sea. Phylogenetic bracketing suggests Antillean primates arrived via a sweepstakes route or island chain from northern South America in the Early Miocene, not via a proposed land bridge or island chain (GAARlandia) in the Early Oligocene (∼34 Ma). Patagonian and Antillean platyrrhines went extinct without leaving living descendants, the former at the end of the Early Miocene and the latter within the past six thousand years. Molecular evidence suggests crown platyrrhines arrived in Central America by crossing an intermittent connection through the Isthmus of Panama at or after 3.5Ma. Any more ancient Central American primates, should they be discovered, are unlikely to have given rise to the extant Central American taxa in situ.
Open Access
Chiropteran types I and II interferon genes inferred from genome sequencing traces by a statistical gene-family assembler.
(BMC Genomics, 2010-07-21) Kepler, Thomas B; Sample, Christopher; Hudak, Kathryn; Roach, Jeffrey; Haines, Albert; Walsh, Allyson; Ramsburg, Elizabeth A
BACKGROUND: The rate of emergence of human pathogens is steadily increasing; most of these novel agents originate in wildlife. Bats, remarkably, are the natural reservoirs of many of the most pathogenic viruses in humans. There are two bat genome projects currently underway, a circumstance that promises to speed the discovery host factors important in the coevolution of bats with their viruses. These genomes, however, are not yet assembled and one of them will provide only low coverage, making the inference of most genes of immunological interest error-prone. Many more wildlife genome projects are underway and intend to provide only shallow coverage. RESULTS: We have developed a statistical method for the assembly of gene families from partial genomes. The method takes full advantage of the quality scores generated by base-calling software, incorporating them into a complete probabilistic error model, to overcome the limitation inherent in the inference of gene family members from partial sequence information. We validated the method by inferring the human IFNA genes from the genome trace archives, and used it to infer 61 type-I interferon genes, and single type-II interferon genes in the bats Pteropus vampyrus and Myotis lucifugus. We confirmed our inferences by direct cloning and sequencing of IFNA, IFNB, IFND, and IFNK in P. vampyrus, and by demonstrating transcription of some of the inferred genes by known interferon-inducing stimuli. CONCLUSION: The statistical trace assembler described here provides a reliable method for extracting information from the many available and forthcoming partial or shallow genome sequencing projects, thereby facilitating the study of a wider variety of organisms with ecological and biomedical significance to humans than would otherwise be possible.
Open Access
Comparative analyses of clinical and environmental populations of Cryptococcus neoformans in Botswana.
(Mol Ecol, 2015-07) Chen, Yuan; Litvintseva, Anastasia P; Frazzitta, Aubrey E; Haverkamp, Miriam R; Wang, Liuyang; Fang, Charles; Muthoga, Charles; Mitchell, Thomas G; Perfect, John R
Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii (Cng) is the most common cause of fungal meningitis, and its prevalence is highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Patients become infected by inhaling airborne spores or desiccated yeast cells from the environment, where the fungus thrives in avian droppings, trees and soil. To investigate the prevalence and population structure of Cng in southern Africa, we analysed isolates from 77 environmental samples and 64 patients. We detected significant genetic diversity among isolates and strong evidence of geographic structure at the local level. High proportions of isolates with the rare MATa allele were observed in both clinical and environmental isolates; however, the mating-type alleles were unevenly distributed among different subpopulations. Nearly equal proportions of the MATa and MATα mating types were observed among all clinical isolates and in one environmental subpopulation from the eastern part of Botswana. As previously reported, there was evidence of both clonality and recombination in different geographic areas. These results provide a foundation for subsequent genomewide association studies to identify genes and genotypes linked to pathogenicity in humans.
Open Access
Comparative genomics based on massive parallel transcriptome sequencing reveals patterns of substitution and selection across 10 bird species.
(Mol Ecol, 2010-03) Künstner, Axel; Wolf, Jochen BW; Backström, Niclas; Whitney, Osceola; Balakrishnan, Christopher N; Day, Lainy; Edwards, Scott V; Janes, Daniel E; Schlinger, Barney A; Wilson, Richard K; Jarvis, Erich D; Warren, Wesley C; Ellegren, Hans
Next-generation sequencing technology provides an attractive means to obtain large-scale sequence data necessary for comparative genomic analysis. To analyse the patterns of mutation rate variation and selection intensity across the avian genome, we performed brain transcriptome sequencing using Roche 454 technology of 10 different non-model avian species. Contigs from de novo assemblies were aligned to the two available avian reference genomes, chicken and zebra finch. In total, we identified 6499 different genes across all 10 species, with approximately 1000 genes found in each full run per species. We found evidence for a higher mutation rate of the Z chromosome than of autosomes (male-biased mutation) and a negative correlation between the neutral substitution rate (d(S)) and chromosome size. Analyses of the mean d(N)/d(S) ratio (omega) of genes across chromosomes supported the Hill-Robertson effect (the effect of selection at linked loci) and point at stochastic problems with omega as an independent measure of selection. Overall, this study demonstrates the usefulness of next-generation sequencing for obtaining genomic resources for comparative genomic analysis of non-model organisms.
Open Access
Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation.
(Science, 2014-12-12) Zhang, Guojie; Li, Cai; Li, Qiye; Li, Bo; Larkin, Denis M; Lee, Chul; Storz, Jay F; Antunes, Agostinho; Greenwold, Matthew J; Meredith, Robert W; Ödeen, Anders; Cui, Jie; Zhou, Qi; Xu, Luohao; Pan, Hailin; Wang, Zongji; Jin, Lijun; Zhang, Pei; Hu, Haofu; Yang, Wei; Hu, Jiang; Xiao, Jin; Yang, Zhikai; Liu, Yang; Xie, Qiaolin; Yu, Hao; Lian, Jinmin; Wen, Ping; Zhang, Fang; Li, Hui; Zeng, Yongli; Xiong, Zijun; Liu, Shiping; Zhou, Long; Huang, Zhiyong; An, Na; Wang, Jie; Zheng, Qiumei; Xiong, Yingqi; Wang, Guangbiao; Wang, Bo; Wang, Jingjing; Fan, Yu; da Fonseca, Rute R; Alfaro-Núñez, Alonzo; Schubert, Mikkel; Orlando, Ludovic; Mourier, Tobias; Howard, Jason T; Ganapathy, Ganeshkumar; Pfenning, Andreas; Whitney, Osceola; Rivas, Miriam V; Hara, Erina; Smith, Julia; Farré, Marta; Narayan, Jitendra; Slavov, Gancho; Romanov, Michael N; Borges, Rui; Borges, Rui; Machado, João Paulo; Khan, Imran; Springer, Mark S; Gatesy, John; Hoffmann, Federico G; Opazo, Juan C; Håstad, Olle; Sawyer, Roger H; Kim, Heebal; Kim, Kyu-Won; Kim, Hyeon Jeong; Cho, Seoae; Li, Ning; Huang, Yinhua; Bruford, Michael W; Zhan, Xiangjiang; Dixon, Andrew; Bertelsen, Mads F; Derryberry, Elizabeth; Warren, Wesley; Wilson, Richard K; Li, Shengbin; Ray, David A; Green, Richard E; O'Brien, Stephen J; Griffin, Darren; Johnson, Warren E; Haussler, David; Ryder, Oliver A; Willerslev, Eske; Graves, Gary R; Alström, Per; Fjeldså, Jon; Mindell, David P; Edwards, Scott V; Braun, Edward L; Rahbek, Carsten; Burt, David W; Houde, Peter; Zhang, Yong; Yang, Huanming; Wang, Jian; Avian Genome Consortium; Jarvis, Erich D; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Wang, Jun
Birds are the most species-rich class of tetrapod vertebrates and have wide relevance across many research fields. We explored bird macroevolution using full genomes from 48 avian species representing all major extant clades. The avian genome is principally characterized by its constrained size, which predominantly arose because of lineage-specific erosion of repetitive elements, large segmental deletions, and gene loss. Avian genomes furthermore show a remarkably high degree of evolutionary stasis at the levels of nucleotide sequence, gene synteny, and chromosomal structure. Despite this pattern of conservation, we detected many non-neutral evolutionary changes in protein-coding genes and noncoding regions. These analyses reveal that pan-avian genomic diversity covaries with adaptations to different lifestyles and convergent evolution of traits.
Open Access
Complete genome sequencing and analysis of six enterovirus 71 strains with different clinical phenotypes.
(Virol J, 2013-04-11) Wen, Hong-ling; Si, Lu-ying; Yuan, Xiao-jing; Hao, Shu-bin; Gao, Feng; Chu, Fu-lu; Sun, Cheng-xi; Wang, Zhi-yu
BACKGROUND: Hand, foot and mouth diseases (HFMD) caused by enterovirus 71(EV71) presents a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from mild febrile disease to fatal neurolocal disease. However, the mechanism of virulence is unknown. METHODS: We isolated 6 strains of EV71 from HFMD patients with or without neurological symptoms, and sequenced the whole genomes of the viruses to reveal the virulence factors of EV71. RESULTS: Phylogenetic tree based on VP1 region showed that all six strains clustered into C4a of C4 sub-genotype. In the complete polypeptide, 298 positions were found to be variable in all strains, and three of these positions (Val(P814)/Ile(P814) in VP1, Val(P1148)/Ile(P1148) in 3A and Ala(P1728)/Cys)/Val(P1728) in 3C) were conserved among the strains with neurovirulence, but variable in strains without neurovirulence. In the 5'-UTR region, it showed that the first 10 nucleotides were mostly conserved, however from the 11th nucleotide, nucleotide insertions and deletions were quite common. The secondary structure prediction of 5'-UTR sequences showed that two of three strains without neurovirulence (SDLY11 and SDLY48) were almost the same, and all strains with neurovirulence (SDLY96, SDLY107 and SDLY153) were different from each other. SDLY107 (a fatal strain) was found different from other strains on four positions (C(P241)/T(P241), A(P571)/T(P571), C(P579)/T(P579) in 5'-UTR and T(P7335)/C(P7335) in 3'-UTR). CONCLUSIONS: The three positions (Val(P814)/Ile(P814) in VP1, Val(P1148)/Ile(P1148) in 3A and Ala(P1728)/Cys(P1728)/Val(P1728) in 3C), were different between two phenotypes. These suggested that the three positions might be potential virulent positions. And the three varied positions were also found to be conserved in strains with neurovirulence, and variable in strains without neurovirulence. These might reveal that the conservation of two of the three positions or the three together were specific for the strains with neurovirulence. Varation of secondary structure of 5'-UTR, might be correlated to the changes of viral virulence. SDLY107 (a fatal strain) was found different from other strains on four positions, these positions might be related with death.
Open Access
Cyanobacterial ribosomal RNA genes with multiple, endonuclease-encoding group I introns.
(BMC evolutionary biology, 2007-09-08) Haugen, P; Bhattacharya, D; Palmer, JD; Turner, S; Lewis, LA; Pryer, KM
Group I introns are one of the four major classes of introns as defined by their distinct splicing mechanisms. Because they catalyze their own removal from precursor transcripts, group I introns are referred to as autocatalytic introns. Group I introns are common in fungal and protist nuclear ribosomal RNA genes and in organellar genomes. In contrast, they are rare in all other organisms and genomes, including bacteria.Here we report five group I introns, each containing a LAGLIDADG homing endonuclease gene (HEG), in large subunit (LSU) rRNA genes of cyanobacteria. Three of the introns are located in the LSU gene of Synechococcus sp. C9, and the other two are in the LSU gene of Synechococcus lividus strain C1. Phylogenetic analyses show that these introns and their HEGs are closely related to introns and HEGs located at homologous insertion sites in organellar and bacterial rDNA genes. We also present a compilation of group I introns with homing endonuclease genes in bacteria.We have discovered multiple HEG-containing group I introns in a single bacterial gene. To our knowledge, these are the first cases of multiple group I introns in the same bacterial gene (multiple group I introns have been reported in at least one phage gene and one prophage gene). The HEGs each contain one copy of the LAGLIDADG motif and presumably function as homodimers. Phylogenetic analysis, in conjunction with their patchy taxonomic distribution, suggests that these intron-HEG elements have been transferred horizontally among organelles and bacteria. However, the mode of transfer and the nature of the biological connections among the intron-containing organisms are unknown.
Open Access
Depression in pregnancy, infant birth weight and DNA methylation of imprint regulatory elements.
(Epigenetics : official journal of the DNA Methylation Society, 2012-07) Liu, Y; Murphy, SK; Murtha, AP; Fuemmeler, BF; Schildkraut, J; Huang, Z; Overcash, F; Kurtzberg, J; Jirtle, R; Iversen, ES; Forman, MR; Hoyo, C
Depressed mood in pregnancy has been linked to low birth weight (LBW, 4,500 g) infants had 5.9% higher methylation at the PLAGL1 DMR compared with normal birth weight infants. Our findings confirm that severe maternal depressed mood in pregnancy is associated with LBW, and that MEG3 and IGF2 plasticity may play important roles.
Open Access
Distinguishing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-associated mutations from background genetic noise.
(Journal of cardiovascular translational research, 2014-04) Kapplinger, JD; Landstrom, AP; Bos, JM; Salisbury, BA; Callis, TE; Ackerman, MJ
Despite the significant progress that has been made in identifying disease-associated mutations, the utility of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) genetic test is limited by a lack of understanding of the background genetic variation inherent to these sarcomeric genes in seemingly healthy subjects. This study represents the first comprehensive analysis of genetic variation in 427 ostensibly healthy individuals for the HCM genetic test using the "gold standard" Sanger sequencing method validating the background rate identified in the publically available exomes. While mutations are clearly overrepresented in disease, a background rate as high as ∼5 % among healthy individuals prevents diagnostic certainty. To this end, we have identified a number of estimated predictive value-based associations including gene-specific, topology, and conservation methods generating an algorithm aiding in the probabilistic interpretation of an HCM genetic test.
Open Access
Do asexual polyploid lineages lead short evolutionary lives? A case study from the fern genus Astrolepis.
(Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 2011-11) Beck, JB; Windham, MD; Pryer, KM
A life-history transition to asexuality is typically viewed as leading to a heightened extinction risk, and a number of studies have evaluated this claim by examining the relative ages of asexual versus closely related sexual lineages. Surprisingly, a rigorous assessment of the age of an asexual plant lineage has never been published, although asexuality is extraordinarily common among plants. Here, we estimate the ages of sexual diploids and asexual polyploids in the fern genus Astrolepis using a well-supported plastid phylogeny and a relaxed-clock dating approach. The 50 asexual polyploid samples we included were conservatively estimated to comprise 19 distinct lineages, including a variety of auto- and allopolyploid genomic combinations. All were either the same age or younger than the crown group comprising their maternal sexual-diploid parents based simply on their phylogenetic position. Node ages estimated with the relaxed-clock approach indicated that the average maximum age of asexual lineages was 0.4 My, and individual lineages were on average 7 to 47 times younger than the crown- and total-ages of their sexual parents. Although the confounding association between asexuality and polyploidy precludes definite conclusions regarding the effect of asexuality, our results suggest that asexuality limits evolutionary potential in Astrolepis.
Open Access
Dual infection with Ehrlichia chaffeensis and a spotted fever group rickettsia: a case report.
(Emerging infectious diseases, 1998-04) Sexton, DJ; Corey, GR; Carpenter, C; Kong, LQ; Gandhi, T; Breitschwerdt, E; Hegarty, B; Chen, SM; Feng, HM; Yu, XJ; Olano, J; Walker, DH; Dumler, SJ
Well-documented cases of simultaneous human infection with more than one tick-borne pathogen are rare. To our knowledge only two dual infections have been reported: simultaneous human infection with the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis and Borrelia burgdorferi and simultaneous human infection with B. burgdorferi and Babesia microti (1-2). Rocky Mountain spotted fever has long been known to be endemic in North Carolina; cases of human ehrlichial infection were recognized there soon after Ehrlichia chaffeensis was recognized as an important cause of tick-borne disease in the southeastern United States. Because both Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis are prevalent in North Carolina, occasional cases of simultaneous human infection by rickettsial and ehrlichial agents would not be surprising; however, no such cases seem to have been reported.
Open Access
Evidence for GC-biased gene conversion as a driver of between-lineage differences in avian base composition.
(Genome Biol, 2014) Weber, Claudia C; Boussau, Bastien; Romiguier, Jonathan; Jarvis, Erich D; Ellegren, Hans
BACKGROUND: While effective population size (Ne) and life history traits such as generation time are known to impact substitution rates, their potential effects on base composition evolution are less well understood. GC content increases with decreasing body mass in mammals, consistent with recombination-associated GC biased gene conversion (gBGC) more strongly impacting these lineages. However, shifts in chromosomal architecture and recombination landscapes between species may complicate the interpretation of these results. In birds, interchromosomal rearrangements are rare and the recombination landscape is conserved, suggesting that this group is well suited to assess the impact of life history on base composition. RESULTS: Employing data from 45 newly and 3 previously sequenced avian genomes covering a broad range of taxa, we found that lineages with large populations and short generations exhibit higher GC content. The effect extends to both coding and non-coding sites, indicating that it is not due to selection on codon usage. Consistent with recombination driving base composition, GC content and heterogeneity were positively correlated with the rate of recombination. Moreover, we observed ongoing increases in GC in the majority of lineages. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide evidence that gBGC may drive patterns of nucleotide composition in avian genomes and are consistent with more effective gBGC in large populations and a greater number of meioses per unit time; that is, a shorter generation time. Thus, in accord with theoretical predictions, base composition evolution is substantially modulated by species life history.
Open Access
Evidence for reciprocal origins in Polypodium hesperium (Polypodiaceae): a fern model system for investigating how multiple origins shape allopolyploid genomes.
(American journal of botany, 2014-09-17) Sigel, EM; Windham, MD; Pryer, KM
•Many polyploid species are composed of distinct lineages originating from multiple, independent polyploidization events. In the case of allopolyploids, reciprocal crosses between the same progenitor species can yield lineages with different uniparentally inherited plastid genomes. While likely common, there are few well-documented examples of such reciprocal origins. Here we examine a case of reciprocal allopolyploid origins in the fern Polypodium hesperium and present it as a natural model system for investigating the evolutionary potential of duplicated genomes.•Using a combination of uniparentally inherited plastid and biparentally inherited nuclear sequence data, we investigated the distributions and relative ages of reciprocally formed lineages in Polypodium hesperium, an allotetraploid fern that is broadly distributed in western North America.•The reciprocally derived plastid haplotypes of Polypodium hesperium are allopatric, with populations north and south of 42°N latitude having different plastid genomes. Incorporating biogeographic information and previously estimated ages for the diversification of its diploid progenitors, we estimate middle to late Pleistocene origins of P. hesperium.•Several features of Polypodium hesperium make it a particularly promising system for investigating the evolutionary consequences of allopolyploidy. These include reciprocally derived lineages with disjunct geographic distributions, recent time of origin, and extant diploid progenitors.

Browsing by Subject "Sequence Analysis, DNA"

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion