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PubMed2026

A haploid wild yeast resource for exploring the natural ecology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurs predominantly in the diploid state in nature, limiting genetic analyses of wild populations. Here, we establish a haploid collection from 32 Taiwanese S. cerevisiae isolates through targeted HO disruption. This resource spans predomesticated Asian wild lineages and enables the investigation of reproductive isolation and ecological trait variation. Although all pairwise hybridizations formed zygotes, many yielded reduced spore viability, revealing strong postzygotic barriers. Genome analyses associated reduced hybrid fertility with lineage-specific structural variation, including elevated levels of intra-chromosomal inversions in H413-8/TW1 and inter-chromosomal rearrangements in PD35A/CHN-V, rather than sequence divergence alone. Phenotyping revealed ecological differentiation, with TW1 favoring cooler growth and a natural hybrid exhibiting heterosis with expanded thermotolerance. Most wild strains grew poorly on maltose, whereas anthropogenic strains displayed enhanced utilization linked to MAL + regulatory alleles and maltose-specific transporters. Together, this haploid collection links structural variation and metabolic divergence to ecological and reproductive differentiation in wild S. cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae↗
PubMed2026

Comprehensive genomic and computational insights into Brucella suis: pan-genome analysis, evolutionary perspectives, and in-silico vaccine design.

BACKGROUND: Brucella suis is a zoonotic intracellular pathogen responsible for brucellosis, mainly in swine and humans. Although numerous genome sequences are publicly available, an integrative genomic analysis combining pan-genome architecture, structural organization, evolutionary relationships, and vaccine-associated targets remains limited. RESULTS: In this study, we analyzed 91 publicly available B.suis genomes to characterize their pan-genome composition and genomic structure. The pan-genome exhibited an open configuration, indicating continued genomic diversification. A total of 2,146 core genes were identified, representing conserved functions essential for species maintenance, while the accessory genome reflected strain-level variability. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on single-copy orthologs revealed distinct evolutionary clades among the strains. A complementary phylogenetic analysis of pan-genome gene presence-absence patterns further supported clade differentiation and highlighted variation in accessory gene repertoires. Comparative synteny and genome structural analyses demonstrated largely conserved chromosomal organization with localized rearrangements across strains. Screening of the core proteome identified 64 putative antigenic proteins with predicted surface localization and immunogenic properties. Additionally, resistance-associated determinants related to tetracycline and doxycycline were detected in one genome within the dataset. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive genomic analysis defines the pan-genome structure, evolutionary relationships, and genome organization of B.suis. The integration of core and pan-genome-based phylogenies provides complementary insights into strain diversification, while the identified conserved antigenic candidates offer a foundation for future experimental validation and rational vaccine development strategies.

Genome, Bacterial↗
PubMed2006

GC-Profile: a web-based tool for visualizing and analyzing the variation of GC content in genomic sequences.

In order to understand the evolution, structure and function of genomes, it is important to know the general compositional features of DNA sequences. Based on the quadratic divergence, a new segmentation algorithm to partition a given genome or DNA sequence into compositionally distinct domains has been put forward. With the aid of the technique of cumulative GC profile, the distribution of segmentation points can be displayed intuitively. We have therefore developed them into GC-Profile, an interactive web-based software system, which can be used to segment prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes. GC-Profile provides a quantitative and qualitative view of genome organization. Based on the obtained results, the relationships between the G+C content and other genomic features, such as distributions of genes and CpG islands, can be analyzed in a perceivable manner. It shows that GC-Profile would be an appropriate starting point for analyzing the isochore structure of higher eukaryotic genomes, and an intuitive tool for identifying genomic islands in prokaryotic genomes. GC-Profile is freely available at the website http://tubic.tju.edu.cn/GC-Profile/. In addition, precompiled binaries, together with examples and documentation, can also be freely downloaded for a local execution.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2001

Novel immune-type receptor genes.

Novel immune-type receptor (NITR) genes, which initially were identified in the Southern pufferfish (Spheroides nephelus), encode products which consist of an extracellular variable (V) and V-like C2 (V/C2) domain, a transmembrane region, and a cytoplasmic tail, which typically possesses an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif (ITIM). Multiple NITR genes have been identified in close, contiguous chromosomal linkage. The V regions of NITRs resemble prototypic forms defined for immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell antigen receptor (TCR), are present in multiple families and exhibit regionalized variation in sequence, which also occurs in Ig and TCR. Comparisons of exons encoding transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions of multiple NITRs suggest that exon shuffling has factored in the diversification of the NITR gene complex. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) NITRs exhibit many of these characteristics. NITRs that have been identified in additional species of bony fish demonstrate additional variation in the number of extracellular domains as well as in the presence of intramembranous charged residues, cytoplasmic tails and ITIMs. The presence in NITRs of V regions that are related closely to those found in Ig and TCR, as well as regulatory motifs and other structural features that are characteristic of immune inhibitory receptors encoded at the leukocyte receptor cluster, suggests that the NITRs are representative of an integral stage in the evolution of innate and adaptive immune function.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Panmixia in a Widespread Butterfly: High Dispersal and Ecological Generalism Buffer Against Landscape Fragmentation.

Habitat fragmentation is widely expected to reduce population connectivity and increase genetic differentiation, although the strength of these effects depends on species-specific traits such as dispersal ability. Here, we investigated the population genetic structure of the cosmopolitan butterfly, Pieris rapae L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), across western Germany using genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. To analyze the effects of landscape structure on genetic connectivity, we applied a paired study design comprising four landscape pairs, each consisting of a highly intensified, modern agricultural landscape and a more heterogeneous, traditional landscape. Our results revealed no evidence of genetic differentiation. Pairwise FST values were close to zero; we detected no isolation by distance, and clustering analyses supported a single genetic population. No meaningful associations between genetic variation and environmental variables were detected, with landscape effects explaining less than 0.4% of genomic variation. Consequently, we found no evidence for stronger genetic structuring in modern compared to more connected traditional landscapes. Our results suggest that extensive habitat fragmentation does not necessarily translate into reduced genetic connectivity in highly mobile, generalist species. In P. rapae , high dispersal ability and ecological generalism appear to buffer against the genetic consequences of landscape modification, resulting in panmictic population structure even across strongly contrasting agricultural landscapes.

Pieris rapae↗
PubMed2006

A new perspective on isochore evolution.

The genomes of mammals and birds show dramatic variation in base composition over large scales, the so called isochore structure of the genome. The origin of isochores is still controversial: various neutral and selectionist models have been proposed--and criticized--since the discovery of isochores in the 1970s. The availability of complete mammalian genomes has yielded new opportunities for addressing this question. In particular, it was recently proposed that (i) the isochore structure is declining in many mammalian groups, and that (ii) GC-content is influenced by local recombination rate, possibly via the mechanism of GC-biased gene conversion. In this article we review the existing support for these two hypotheses, and discuss how they can be combined to provide a new perspective on isochore evolution.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Analysis of strain variation of R1 repeated structure in varicella-zoster virus DNA by polymerase chain reaction.

The tandem direct reiteration R1 in the varicella-zoster virus genome consists of two elements: units composed of 18 bp and those having 15 bp, both of whose numbers and types of combination patterns vary among strains. The variations of the R1 structure were examined in order to differentiate between the wild strains and a varicella vaccine (Oka) strain by the polymerase chain reaction using two primer sets. The results showed that the 31 wild strains were classified into nine patterns: the R1 structure consisted of a combination of 5 to 7 18-bp units and 8 to 12 15-bp units. The strain with a combination of 6 18-bp units and 10 15-bp units was found to be predominant in Japan, and the same pattern was found in the vaccine strain, so that differentiation between the vaccine strain and the wild strains in Japan merely by analysis of R1 in VZV genome is difficult.

DNA, Viral↗
PubMed2005

Common deletions and SNPs are in linkage disequilibrium in the human genome.

Humans show great variation in phenotypic traits such as height, eye color and susceptibility to disease. Genomic DNA sequence differences among individuals are responsible for the inherited components of these complex traits. Reports suggest that intermediate and large-scale DNA copy number and structural variations are prevalent enough to be an important source of genetic variation between individuals. Because association studies to identify genomic loci associated with particular phenotypic traits have focused primarily on genotyping SNPs, it is important to determine whether common structural polymorphisms are in linkage disequilibrium with common SNPs, and thus can be assessed indirectly in SNP-based studies. Here we examine 100 deletion polymorphisms ranging from 70 bp to 7 kb. We show that common deletions and SNPs ascertained with similar criteria have essentially the same distribution of linkage disequilibrium with surrounding SNPs, indicating that these polymorphisms may share evolutionary history and that most deletion polymorphisms are effectively assayed by proxy in SNP-based association studies.

Gene Frequency↗
PubMed2006

Genetic mechanisms and evolutionary significance of natural variation in Arabidopsis.

Genomic studies of natural variation in model organisms provide a bridge between molecular analyses of gene function and evolutionary investigations of adaptation and natural selection. In the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, recent studies of natural variation have led to the identification of genes underlying ecologically important complex traits, and provided new insights about the processes of genome evolution, geographic population structure, and the selective mechanisms shaping complex trait variation in natural populations. These advances illustrate the potential for a new synthesis to elucidate mechanisms for the adaptive evolution of complex traits from nucleotide sequences to real-world environments.

Adaptation, Biological↗
PubMed2003

A coalescent model of recombination hotspots.

Recent experimental findings suggest that the assumption of a homogeneous recombination rate along the human genome is too naive. These findings point to block-structured recombination rates; certain regions (called hotspots) are more prone than other regions to recombination. In this report a coalescent model incorporating hotspot or block-structured recombination is developed and investigated analytically as well as by simulation. Our main results can be summarized as follows: (1) The expected number of recombination events is much lower in a model with pure hotspot recombination than in a model with pure homogeneous recombination, (2) hotspots give rise to large variation in recombination rates along the genome as well as in the number of historical recombination events, and (3) the size of a (nonrecombining) block in the hotspot model is likely to be overestimated grossly when estimated from SNP data. The results are discussed with reference to the current debate about block-structured recombination and, in addition, the results are compared to genome-wide variation in recombination rates. A number of new analytical results about the model are derived.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2006

Structural variation and evolution of a defense-gene cluster in natural populations of Aegilops tauschii.

Genetic mapping and sequencing of plant genomes have been useful for investigating eukaryotic chromosome structural organization. In many cases, analyses have been limited in the number of representatives sampled from specific groups. The degree of intraspecific genome diversity remains in question. The possibility exists that a single model genome may have limited utility for identifying genes in related members of the species or genus. Crop improvement programs have particular interests in disease resistance genes that are harbored by wild relatives of modern cultivated crops. These genes are evolutionarily dynamic and under selective pressure by a broad range of pathogenic organisms. Using resistance gene analogs as models for gene evolution, intraspecific genome comparisons were made among populations of wild diploid wheat (Aegilops tauschii). We observed that deletion haplotypes are occurring frequently and independently in the genome. Haplotypes are geographically correlated and maintenance of gene complements in localized populations indicates selective advantage. Furthermore, deletion haplotypes are not detrimental to plant health, since genes without adaptive value in alternate environments are eliminated from the genome. Deletion haplotypes appear to be a common form of allelic variation in plants, and we address the consequences on genome restructuring and gene evolution.

Chromosomes, Plant↗
PubMed2005

Complex haplotypes, copy number polymorphisms and coding variation in two recently divergent mouse strains.

Inbred mouse strains provide the foundation for mouse genetics. By selecting for phenotypic features of interest, inbreeding drives genomic evolution and eliminates individual variation, while fixing certain sets of alleles that are responsible for the trait characteristics of the strain. Mouse strains 129Sv (129S5) and C57BL/6J, two of the most widely used inbred lines, diverged from common ancestors within the last century, yet very little is known about the genomic differences between them. By comparative genomic hybridization and sequence analysis of 129S5 short insert libraries, we identified substantial structural variation, a complex fine-scale haplotype pattern with a continuous distribution of diversity blocks, and extensive nucleotide variation, including nonsynonymous coding SNPs and stop codons. Collectively, these genomic changes denote the level and direction of allele fixation that has occurred during inbreeding and provide a basis for defining what makes these mouse strains unique.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Variations in genome mass.

1. Genome size varies considerably among vertebrates, ranging from less than 1 pg to more than 200 pg; the amount of DNA differing among individuals in a population can equal the amount in the entire structural gene complement. 2. Recent technological advances permit evaluation of genome size variation at several levels including sub-chromosomal, chromosomal and cellular. 3. Genome size variation may also be viewed from taxonomic levels, and across evolutionary time frames. 4. As sources of genome size variation are identified and studied, the conundrum of the C-value paradox (lack of correlations among genome size, genomic complexity and phylogenetic status of organisms) may prove to be more apparent than real. 5. For example, the limited and relatively constant genome size of avians may be related to the physiological constraints of flight.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Microarray karyotyping of commercial wine yeast strains reveals shared, as well as unique, genomic signatures.

BACKGROUND: Genetic differences between yeast strains used in wine-making may account for some of the variation seen in their fermentation properties and may also produce differing sensory characteristics in the final wine product itself. To investigate this, we have determined genomic differences among several Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine strains by using a "microarray karyotyping" (also known as "array-CGH" or "aCGH") technique. RESULTS: We have studied four commonly used commercial wine yeast strains, assaying three independent isolates from each strain. All four wine strains showed common differences with respect to the laboratory S. cerevisiae strain S288C, some of which may be specific to commercial wine yeasts. We observed very little intra-strain variation; i.e., the genomic karyotypes of different commercial isolates of the same strain looked very similar, although an exception to this was seen among the Montrachet isolates. A moderate amount of inter-strain genomic variation between the four wine strains was observed, mostly in the form of depletions or amplifications of single genes; these differences allowed unique identification of each strain. Many of the inter-strain differences appear to be in transporter genes, especially hexose transporters (HXT genes), metal ion sensors/transporters (CUP1, ZRT1, ENA genes), members of the major facilitator superfamily, and in genes involved in drug response (PDR3, SNQ1, QDR1, RDS1, AYT1, YAR068W). We therefore used halo assays to investigate the response of these strains to three different fungicidal drugs (cycloheximide, clotrimazole, sulfomethuron methyl). Strains with fewer copies of the CUP1 loci showed hypersensitivity to sulfomethuron methyl. CONCLUSION: Microarray karyotyping is a useful tool for analyzing the genome structures of wine yeasts. Despite only small to moderate variations in gene copy numbers between different wine yeast strains and within different isolates of a given strain, there was enough variation to allow unique identification of strains; additionally, some of the variation correlated with drug sensitivity. The relatively small number of differences seen by microarray karyotyping between the strains suggests that the differences in fermentative and organoleptic properties ascribed to these different strains may arise from a small number of genetic changes, making it possible to test whether the observed differences do indeed confer different sensory properties in the finished wine.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

Patterns of genetic variation in the hypertension candidate gene GRK4: ethnic variation and haplotype structure.

Association studies using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have the potential to help unravel the genetic basis of hypertension. Nevertheless, to date, association studies of hypertension have yielded ambiguous results. It is becoming clear that such association studies must be interpreted within the context of the genetic structure of the populations being studied, and patterns of variation within specific genomic regions. With this in mind we analyzed genetic variation in the G protein-coupled receptor kinase 4 (GRK4) gene, a gene whose product has recently been shown to inhibit the dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1) from increasing sodium excretion. We genotyped three previously identified GRK4 SNPs, as well as ten additional SNPs, over 71.6 kb of the GRK4 locus in four populations: African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Caucasians. Haplotype structure varied among populations, with Hispanics and Caucasians having the most linkage disequilibrium (LD) among SNPs. African Americans had three shorter haplotype blocks, while patterns of markers in the Asian populations demonstrated less LD among markers, a pattern inconsistent with block structure. We observed limited haplotype diversity in each of the four populations, with differing haplotype frequencies among the ethnic groups. We also found substantial evidence for population differentiation, with the largest differences between the African-American and Asian samples with F(ST) values in the upper 90(th) percentile when compared to a genome-wide distribution. However, for all population comparisons, F(ST) values decreased sharply in the 3' region of the gene. This pattern of differentiation among populations is consistent with selection in this part of the gene maintaining similar patterns of variation among otherwise divergent populations. Our results document not only different allele frequencies between populations, but differences in haplotype structure that may be important in evaluating association studies between hypertension and GRK4.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1999

Genetic control of ventilation: what are we learning from murine models?

Advances in human and mouse genomes are revolutionizing research in lung biology and pulmonary medicine. Genomic strategies are available that link functional variation to molecular structure, and these approaches are currently being applied to the study of ventilatory control mechanisms. In this review, the author discusses the functional data obtained from inbred murine models in which genetic mutations and polymorphisms play a role in altered breathing. At the conclusion of this review, the author emphasizes the relatively small number of studies that have incorporated the use of genomics to link differential ventilatory function to molecular structure.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Genome sequence alterations detected upon passage of Burkholderia mallei ATCC 23344 in culture and in mammalian hosts.

BACKGROUND: More than 12,000 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have been identified in the genome of Burkholderia mallei ATCC 23344. As a demonstrated mechanism of phase variation in other pathogenic bacteria, these may function as mutable loci leading to altered protein expression or structure variation. To determine if such alterations are occurring in vivo, the genomes of various single-colony passaged B. mallei ATCC 23344 isolates, one from each source, were sequenced from culture, a mouse, a horse, and two isolates from a single human patient, and the sequence compared to the published B. mallei ATCC 23344 genome sequence. RESULTS: Forty-nine insertions and deletions (indels) were detected at SSRs in the five passaged strains, a majority of which (67.3%) were located within noncoding areas, suggesting that such regions are more tolerant of sequence alterations. Expression profiling of the two human passaged isolates compared to the strain before passage revealed alterations in the mRNA levels of multiple genes when grown in culture. CONCLUSION: These data support the notion that genome variability upon passage is a feature of B. mallei ATCC23344, and that within a host B. mallei generates a diverse population of clones that accumulate genome sequence variation at SSR and other loci.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Genomic haplotype blocks may not accurately reflect spatial variation in historic recombination intensity.

Recently, genomic data have revealed a "block-like" structure of haplotype diversity on human chromosomes. This structure is anticipated to facilitate gene mapping studies, because strong associations among loci within a block may allow haplotype variation to be tagged with a limited number of markers. But its usefulness to mapping efforts depends on the consistency of the block structure within and among populations, which in turn depends on how the block structure arises. Recombination hot spots are generally thought to underlie the block structure, but haplotype blocks can also develop stochastically under random recombination, in which case the block structure will show limited consistency among populations. Using coalescent models, which we upscaled to simulate the evolution of haplotypes with many markers at fixed distances, we show that the relationship between block boundaries and historic recombination intensity may be surprisingly weak. The majority of historic recombinations do not leave a footprint in present-day linkage disequilibrium patterns, and the block structure is sensitive to factors that affect the timing of recombination relative to marker mutation events in the genealogy, such as marker frequency bias and historic population size changes. Our results give insight into the potential of stochastic events to affect haplotype block structure, which can limit the usefulness of the block structure to mapping studies.

Animals↗