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The FSHD region on human chromosome 4q35 contains potential coding regions among pseudogenes and a high density of repeat elements.

The distal end of chromosome 4q contains the locus involved in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD1). Specific genomic deletions within a tandem DNA repeat (D4Z4) are associated with the disease status, but no causal genes have yet been discovered. In a systematic search for genes, a 161-kb stretch of genomic DNA proximal to D4Z4 was sequenced, analyzed for homologies, and subjected to gene prediction programs. A major fraction (45%) of the subtelomeric region is composed of repeat sequences attributable mainly to LINE-1 elements. Apart from the previously identified FRG1 and TUB4q sequences, several additional potential coding regions were identified by analyzing the sequence with exon prediction programs. So far, we have been unable to demonstrate transcripts by RT-PCR or cDNA library hybridization. However, several retrotransposed pseudogenes were identified. The high density of pseudogenes and repeat elements is consistent with the subtelomeric location of this region and explains why previous transcript identification studies have been problematic.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4↗

Isolation and characterization of the human UGT2B15 gene, localized within a cluster of UGT2B genes and pseudogenes on chromosome 4.

Glucuronidation is a major pathway of androgen metabolism and is catalyzed by UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes. UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 are 95% identical in primary structure, and are expressed in steroid target tissues where they conjugate C19 steroids. Despite the similarities, their regulation of expression are different; however, the promoter region and genomic structure of only the UGT2B17 gene have been characterizedX to date. To isolate the UGT2B15 gene and other novel steroid-conjugating UGT2B genes, eight P-1-derived artificial chromosomes (PAC) clones varying in length from 30 kb to 165 kb were isolated. The entire UGT2B15 gene was isolated and characterized from the PAC clone 21598 of 165 kb. The UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 genes are highly conserved, are both composed of six exons spanning approximately 25 kb, have identical exon sizes and have identical exon-intron boundaries. The homology between the two genes extend into the 5'-flanking region, and contain several conserved putative cis-acting elements including Pbx-1, C/EBP, AP-1, Oct-1 and NF/kappaB. However, transfection studies revealed differences in basal promoter activity between the two genes, which correspond to regions containing non-conserved potential elements. The high degree of homology in the 5'-flanking region between the two genes is lost upstream of -1662 in UGT2B15, and suggests a site of genetic recombination involved in duplication of UGT2B genes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization mapped the UGT2B15 gene to chromosome 4q13.3-21.1. The other PAC clones isolated contain exons from the UGT2B4, UGT2B11 and UGT2B17 genes. Five novel exons, which are highly homologous to the exon 1 of known UGT2B genes, were also identified; however, these exons contain premature stop codons and represent the first recognized pseudogenes of the UGT2B family. The localization of highly homologous UGT2B genes and pseudogenes as a cluster on chromosome 4q13 reveals the complex nature of this gene locus, and other novel homologous UGT2B genes encoding steroid conjugating enzymes are likely to be found in this region of the genome.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

An unprocessed pseudogene of inducible nitric oxide synthase gene in human.

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS or NOSII) is one of three distinct NOS isoforms in human. The NOSII isoform is expressed in a variety of cells and tissues in response to endotoxins and cytokines. The human genome contains at least two loci for the NOSII gene, one of which (NOSII-1) has previously been assigned to proximal region of the long arm (cen-q11.2 or q11.2-q12) or to pericentric (p11-q11) regions of chromosome 17. The present study, carried out using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method, shows that a pseudogene gene (NOSII-2) is mapped to chromosome 17q11.2 site. The NOSII-2 sequence contains the exon and intron sequences present in NOSII-1 but with several mutations such as single base substitutions, additions, and deletions. Additionally, the NOSII-2 sequence also contains an incomplete reductase domain which corresponds only to the cofactor binding sites without the oxygenase domain that carry heme and substrate binding sites. NOSII-2, therefore, appears to be an unprocessed pseudogene, which cannot be translated to a functional enzyme because of its incomplete sequences and mutations.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The legumin gene family: structure and evolutionary implications of Vicia faba B-type genes and pseudogenes.

We have characterized several Vicia faba genes encoding methionine residue-free group B subunits of the 11S or legumin storage proteins. The respective gene subfamily consists of 10 to 15 members, six of them having been studied by DNA sequence analysis. Four functional genes (LeB2, LeB4, LeB6, LeB7) are highly homologous in their coding region and 0.3 kb of their 3' flanking sequences. On the other hand, two pseudogenes (psi LeB1, psi LeB5) have accumulated a large number of mutations including an identical 0.7 kb internal deletion; they are both flanked by a repetitive element. Analysis of sequence changes show that transitions are nearly double as frequent as transversions. CpG is the most infrequent dinucleotide whereas TpA is significantly underrepresented in exon sequences. End points of deletions are correlated with short direct repeats and preferentially found in the two introns. Our studies indicate that the Vicia faba legumin B gene subfamily contains a group of expressed, highly homologous genes as well as more diverged pseudogenes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The rpl5-rps14-cob gene arrangement in Solanum tuberosum: rps14 is a transcribed and unedited pseudogene.

The L5 ribosomal protein gene (rpl5) and a S14 ribosomal protein pseudogene were identified by sequence analysis in the potato mitochondrial genome. The two genes are separated by one nucleotide and are found upstream of the apocytochrome b gene (cob), an arrangement conserved also in Arabidopsis and Brassica. The rpl5 gene has an intact open reading frame while the rps14 locus is disrupted by a five nucleotide duplication that introduces a frameshift in the reading frame. Editing of rpl5 and pseudorps14 cotranscripts has been studied by cDNA sequence analysis. Eight C residues are edited into U in the rpl5 coding region, resulting in eight amino acid changes that increase the homology between potato and other RPL5 polypeptides. Interestingly, the rps14 pseudogene sequence is not edited at any nucleotide position.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization of a Brassica napus myrosinase pseudogene: myrosinases are members of the BGA family of beta-glycosidases.

Myrosinase isoenzymes are known to be encoded by two different families of genes denoted MA and MB. Nucleotide sequence analysis of a Brassica napus genomic clone containing a gene for myrosinase revealed it to be a pseudogene of the MA family. The gene spans more than 5 kb and contains at least 12 exons. The exon sequence of the gene is highly similar to myrosinase cDNA sequences. However, the gene displays three potential or actual pseudogene characters. Southern blot analysis using probes from the 3' portions of the genomic and B. napus MA and MB cDNA clones showed that MA type myrosinases are encoded by approximately 4 genes, while MB type myrosinases are encoded by more than 10 genes in B. napus. Northern blots with mRNA from seeds and young leaves probed with the MA- and MB-specific probes showed that the MA and MB myrosinase gene families are differentially expressed. Myrosinases are highly similar to proteins of a beta-glycosidase enzyme family comprising both beta-glycosidases and phospho-beta-glycosidases of as diverged species as archaebacteria, bacteria, mammals and plants. By homology to these beta-glycosidases, putative active site residues in myrosinase are discussed on the basis of the similarity between beta-glycosidases and cellulases.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The size distribution of insertions and deletions in human and rodent pseudogenes suggests the logarithmic gap penalty for sequence alignment.

The size distributions of deletions, insertions, and indels (i.e., insertions or deletions) were studied, using 78 human processed pseudogenes and other published data sets. The following results were obtained: (1) Deletions occur more frequently than do insertions in sequence evolution; none of the pseudogenes studied shows significantly more insertions than deletions. (2) Empirically, the size distributions of deletions, insertions, and indels can be described well by a power law, i.e., fk = Ck-b, where fk is the frequency of deletion, insertion, or indel with gap length k, b is the power parameter, and C is the normalization factor. (3) The estimates of b for deletions and insertions from the same data set are approximately equal to each other, indicating that the size distributions for deletions and insertions are approximately identical. (4) The variation in the estimates of b among various data sets is small, indicating that the effect of local structure exists but only plays a secondary role in the size distribution of deletions and insertions. (5) The linear gap penalty, which is most commonly used in sequence alignment, is not supported by our analysis; rather, the power law for the size distribution of indels suggests that an appropriate gap penalty is wk = a + b ln k, where a is the gap creation cost and blnk is the gap extension cost. (6) The higher frequency of deletion over insertion suggests that the gap creation cost of insertion (ai) should be larger than that of deletion (ad); that is, ai - ad = ln R, where R is the frequency ratio of deletions to insertions.

Animals↗

Estimating the intensity of male-driven evolution in rodents by using X-linked and Y-linked Ube 1 genes and pseudogenes.

Using sequence data from the last introns of ZFX and ZFY genes, we previously estimated the male-to-female ratio (alpha) of mutation rate to be close to 6 in higher primates and 1.8 in rodents. As the mutation rate may vary among different regions of the mammalian genome, it is interesting to see whether sequence data from other regions will give similar estimates. In this study, we have determined the partial genomic sequences of the ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1 genes (Ube 1x and Ube 1y for the X-linked and Y-linked homologues, respectively) of mice and rats and two mouse Ube 1y pseudogenes. From the intron sequences of the Ube 1 genes, we calculated the divergence of the Y-linked genes (Y = 0.161) and that of the X-linked genes (X = 0.107) between mouse and rat, and found the Y/X ratio to be 1.50. This ratio led to an estimate of alpha = 2.0 with a 95% confidence interval of (1.0, 3.9). Similar estimates of alpha were obtained if mouse Ube 1y pseudogenes were used instead of the mouse Ube 1y functional gene. These estimates are consistent with our previous estimate for rodents and suggest that the sex ratio of mutation rate in rodents is approximately only one-third of that in higher primates. Our estimate of the divergence time between Ube 1x and Ube 1y supports the view that the two genes separated before the eutherian radiation.

Animals↗

Fine mapping of a human chromosome 6 ferritin heavy chain pseudogene: relevance to haemochromatosis.

We have used a somatic cell hybrid regional mapping panel for the short arm of chromosome 6, linkage analysis and a population study to map in detail a previously described ferritin heavy chain pseudogene sequence on chromosome 6. Our results show that this sequence maps to the short arm of chromosome 6 centromeric to the glyoxylase locus. The ferritin pseudogene locus is thus distant from the locus for the iron storage disease haemochromatosis, confirming previous evidence that this sequence is not a candidate for the haemochromatosis gene.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Assignment of a human autoimmune antigen, p80-coilin gene to chromosome 17q21-q23 and of its possible pseudogene to chromosome 14.

In order to determine the chromosomal locations of an autoimmune antigen, the coilin gene and its pseudogene, we amplified the segments of the two genes by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and screened a panel of somatic cell hybrids for the presence of the gene products. The results indicate that the human coilin gene and its pseudogene can be assigned to chromosome 17 and chromosome 14, respectively. Further analysis of cell hybrids bearing chromosome 17 with various deletions localized the coilin gene to the region q21-q23.

Animals↗

Localization of the active type I DNA topoisomerase gene on human chromosome 20q11.2-13.1, and two pseudogenes on chromosomes 1q23-24 and 22q11.2-13.1.

Different subfragments of a cDNA coding for DNA topoisomerase I were used as probes to determine the chromosomal localization of topoisomerase I sequences in human cells. Southern blotting of restricted DNA from a panel of rodent-human somatic cell hybrids revealed the localization of the complete gene on chromosome 20 and the presence of two truncated topoisomerase I pseudogene sequences on chromosomes 1 and 22. In situ chromosome hybridization experiments confirmed these results showing the location of the complete gene on band q11.2-13.1 of chromosome 20, and the location of the pseudogene sequences on band q23-24 of chromosome 1 and q11.2-13.1 of chromosome 22.

Blotting, Southern↗

Characterization and mapping of the 5' portion of von Willebrand factor pseudogene.

A genomic fragment containing the 5' boundary of the von Willebrand factor pseudogene was cloned, partially sequenced and used for in situ hybridization experiments on metaphase spreads from a Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1)-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia patient. Data obtained indicate that the von Willebrand factor pseudogenic region is centromeric to the breakpoint cluster region on 22q11.2. This probe could be used for the study of deletions in the DiGeorge syndrome.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22↗

Evidence for an iduronate-sulfatase pseudogene near the functional Hunter syndrome gene in Xq27.3-q28.

We are currently characterizing mutations of the iduronate-2-sulfatase (IDS) gene in patients with Hunter syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis type II). Surprisingly, all 17 patients with a mutation in exon III of the IDS gene identified by us were found to carry both the mutant and wild-type sequences in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products amplified from genomic DNA. Similarly, two unaffected male controls showed a heterozygous pattern for two different point mutations in exon III. Collectively, the data suggest that at least intron 2, exon III, and the 3'-half of exon II of the functional IDS gene are present in the human genome as (part of) a non-expressed IDS gene. Deletion mapping further suggests that the pseudogene is in distal Xq in physical proximity to the functional IDS gene. The high degree of sequence homology observed between the functional IDS gene and pseudogene results in permanent co-amplification in PCR-based screening methods and makes mutation analysis at the genomic DNA level difficult.

Base Sequence↗

Characterization and mapping of a highly conserved processed pseudogene and an intron-carrying gene of the heat shock cognate protein 70 (Hsc70) gene family in the rat.

A processed pseudogene of the rat Hsc70 gene, Hsc70-ps1, is described, which still presents the open reading frame of the original gene. The pseudogene does not appear to be expressed. It maps to rat Chromosome (Chr) 2. The intron-carrying Hsc70 gene localizes to Chr 8. Hsc70-specific probes detect a large number of more than 20 cross-hybridizing fragments, which show only limited length polymorphism among various inbred rat strains.

Animals↗

Phosphoglycerate kinase pseudogenes in the tammar wallaby and other macropodid marsupials.

Phosphoglycerate kinase (EC 2.7.2.3; PGK) exists in two forms in marsupials. PGK1 is an X-linked house-keeping enzyme, and PGK2 is a mainly testis-specific enzyme under autosomal control. We have used PGK1 probes derived from two closely related species of macropodid marsupials (kangaroos and wallabies) to demonstrate the existence of a large family of pseudogenes in the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). Over 30 fragments are detectable after Taq digestion. We estimate that there are 25-30 copies per genome. Most are autosomally inherited and are apparently not closely linked. Only two restriction fragments that appeared to be sex linked could be detected. Varying degrees of hybridization of fragments to the probes suggest different levels of homology, and hence different ages of origin. The existence of two PGK1 homologous restriction fragments from the X and a large number from the autosomes was also demonstrated by somatic cell hybridization for two other macropodid species, the wallaroo (M. robustus) and the red kangaroo (M. rufus). These results are compared with those from human and mouse, and it is suggested that the propensity of PGK1 to form pseudogenes is an ancient (approximately 130 MYR BP) characteristic of mammals. The high level of polymorphism detected in the tammar makes these PGK1 probes potentially useful for measuring genetic variability in this species and other macropodids.

Animals↗

Pseudogene of dihydrolipoyl succinyltransferase (E2k) found by PCR amplification and direct sequencing of rodent-human cell hybrid DNAs.

Previous studies have indicated that the cDNA for the E2k component of the human alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (KGDHC) hybridized not only to a major locus on chromosome 14q24.3 in a region associated with familial Alzheimer's disease and with Joseph-Machado disease, but also to another locus on chromosome 1p31. We now report that PCR of genomic DNA and direct sequencing indicated that the chromosome 1 locus is an intronless pseudogene. PCR of genomic DNA amplified E2k fragments from mouse-human cell hybrids containing human chromosome 1 DNA but not from hybrids containing human chromosome 14 DNA. The resulting amplicons were of comparable sizes to those when the cDNA was used as template. The direct sequencing of these amplicons confirmed the lack of introns and indicated a frame shift, which led to the presence of four termination codons early in the coding region. PCR followed by direct sequencing of the amplicons appears to be a convenient method for identifying intronless pseudogenes.

Acyltransferases↗

The rDNA ITS region in the lessepsian marine angiosperm Halophila stipulacea (Forssk.) Aschers. (Hydrocharitaceae): intragenomic variability and putative pseudogenic sequences.

Halophila stipulacea is a dioecious marine angiosperm, widely distributed along the western coasts of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. This species is thought to be a Lessepsian immigrant that entered the Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea after the opening of the Suez Canal (1869). Previous studies have revealed both high phenotypic and genetic variability in Halophila stipulacea populations from the western Mediterranean basin. In order to test the hypothesis of a Lessepsian introduction, we compare genetic polymorphism between putative native (Red Sea) and introduced (Mediterranean) populations through rDNA ITS region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) sequence analysis. A high degree of intraindividual variability of ITS sequences was found. Most of the intragenomic polymorphism was due to pseudogenic sequences, present in almost all individuals. Features of ITS functional sequences and pseudogenes are described. Possible causes for the lack of homogenization of ITS paralogues within individuals are discussed.

Analysis of Variance↗

GC content evolution of the human and mouse genomes: insights from the study of processed pseudogenes in regions of different recombination rates.

Processed pseudogenes are generated by reverse transcription of a functional gene. They are generally nonfunctional after their insertion and, as a consequence, are no longer subjected to the selective constraints associated with functional genes. Because of this property they can be used as neutral markers in molecular evolution. In this work, we investigated the relationship between the evolution of GC content in recently inserted processed pseudogenes and the local recombination pattern in two mammalian genomes (human and mouse). We confirmed, using original markers, that recombination drives GC content in the human genome and we demonstrated that this is also true for the mouse genome despite lower recombination rates. Finally, we discussed the consequences on isochores evolution and the contrast between the human and the mouse pattern.

Animals↗