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Evolutionary DNA variation in the genus hypochaeris

The genome size and the base composition (GC%) of eight Hypochaeris species were determined by flow cytometry in order to establish the pattern of nuclear DNA variation within the genus. The species analysed showed an almost fivefold range of variation from 1.68 pg in H. cretensis to 8.10 pg in H. uniflora. This variation in DNA content is greater between taxonomic sections of Hypochaeris species than within a section. There was no correlation between 2C DNA content and GC% indicating that neither the GC fraction nor the AT fraction were preferentially associated with variation in genome size. Because there is little heterochromatin, these results show that it is interspersed repeated sequences that are most probably implicated in this variation. From phylogenetic analysis, it is likely that genome size has evolved by loss of DNA content in some lineages and by gain in one lineage from an ancestral genome which was probably similar to genomes of intermediate size in Hypochaeris.

Journal Article↗

Unique amino acid composition of proteins in halophilic bacteria.

The amino acid compositions of proteins from halophilic archaea were compared with those from non-halophilic mesophiles and thermophiles, in terms of the protein surface and interior, on a genome-wide scale. As we previously reported for proteins from thermophiles, a biased amino acid composition also exists in halophiles, in which an abundance of acidic residues was found on the protein surface as compared to the interior. This general feature did not seem to depend on the individual protein structures, but was applicable to all proteins encoded within the entire genome. Unique protein surface compositions are common in both halophiles and thermophiles. Statistical tests have shown that significant surface compositional differences exist among halophiles, non-halophiles, and thermophiles, while the interior composition within each of the three types of organisms does not significantly differ. Although thermophilic proteins have an almost equal abundance of both acidic and basic residues, a large excess of acidic residues in halophilic proteins seems to be compensated by fewer basic residues. Aspartic acid, lysine, asparagine, alanine, and threonine significantly contributed to the compositional differences of halophiles from meso- and thermophiles. Among them, however, only aspartic acid deviated largely from the expected amount estimated from the dinucleotide composition of the genomic DNA sequence of the halophile, which has an extremely high G+C content (68%). Thus, the other residues with large deviations (Lys, Ala, etc.) from their non-halophilic frequencies could have arisen merely as "dragging effects" caused by the compositional shift of the DNA, which would have changed to increase principally the fraction of aspartic acid alone.

Amino Acids↗

Genome assembly of Astatotilapia latifasciata uncovers B chromosome-linked chromatin reorganization.

B chromosomes (Bs) are supernumerary genomic elements found in many eukaryotes, yet their full sequence composition, functional potential, and regulatory impact on the host genome remain unclear. Here, we present a chromosome-level genome assembly of the cichlid fish Astatotilapia latifasciata, integrating PacBio long reads, Illumina short reads, and Hi-C chromatin contact maps to resolve both A and B chromosomes. The 0.93 Gb assembly (N50 = 36.2 Mb) includes a 34 Mb B chromosome containing 789 predicted protein-coding genes and a markedly higher density of transposable elements (TEs), especially long terminal repeats (LTR) retrotransposons. Transcriptome profiling revealed that B-linked genes are predominantly transcriptionally repressed relative to their A chromosome paralogs. Hi-C-based chromatin modeling uncovered distinct 3D structural configurations associated with the B chromosome, including fewer topologically associating domains (TADs), reduced loop formation, and altered compartmentalization. These changes are linked to long-range chromatin interactions and genomic rearrangements, suggesting that the B chromosome reshapes the nuclear architecture of the host genome. Our study proposes a potential regulatory role of Bs in genome and provides a genomic resource for investigating chromosome evolution in cichlids.

Animals↗

A compositional map of human chromosome 21.

GC-poor and GC-rich isochores, the long (greater than 300 kb) compositionally homogeneous DNA segments that form the genome of warm-blooded vertebrates, are located in G- and R-bands respectively of metaphase chromosomes. The precise correspondence between GC-rich isochores and R-band structure is still, however, an open problem, because GC-rich isochores are compositionally heterogeneous and only represent one-third of the genome, with the GC-richest family (which is by far the highest in gene concentration) corresponding to less than 5% of the genome. In order to clarify this issue and, more generally, to correlate DNA composition and chromosomal structure in an unequivocal way, we have developed a new approach, compositional mapping. This consists of assessing the base composition over 0.2-0.3 Mb (megabase) regions surrounding landmarks that were previously localized on the physical map. Compositional mapping was applied here to the long arm of human chromosome 21, using 53 probes that had already been used in physical mapping. The results obtained provide a direct demonstration that the DNA stretches of G-bands essentially correspond to GC-poor isochores, and that R-band DNA is characterized by a compositional heterogeneity that is much more striking than expected, in that it comprises isochores covering the full spectrum of GC levels. GC-poor isochores of R-bands may, however, correspond to 'thin' G-bands, as visualized at high resolution, leaving GC-rich and very GC-rich isochores as the real components of (high-resolution) R-band DNA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Base Composition↗

Nucleotide sequence and topography of chicken c-fps. Genesis of a retroviral oncogene encoding a tyrosine-specific protein kinase.

We isolated molecular clones of chicken DNA that carry portions of the cellular proto-oncogene c-fps and then determined the nucleotide sequence of all regions of the gene that are related to the retroviral oncogene v-fps. The homology of v-fps within c-fps resides on at least 19 interspersed segments, 17 of which represent complete exons and two of which may represent only portions of exons. Fusion of these segments reconstructs a facsimile of v-fps. The arrangement of introns and exons within c-fps differs from that of the related proto-oncogene c-src in the domains of the two genes that encode tyrosine-specific protein kinase activity. It therefore appears likely that the introns arose subsequent to the gene duplication that engendered c-src and c-fps. The data also reveal potential junctions between viral and cellular domains in the genomes of two independently isolated avian sarcoma viruses (the PRCII and Fujinami strains). The lefthand junctions can be well defined: they occur at the same position in c-fps but at different positions in the viral gene gag. The righthand junctions cannot be defined as precisely because they include a sequence of 10 to 15 nucleotides whose origin is not known. In the genome of PRCII virus, the composition of this sequence suggests that it arose from the polyadenylated 3' terminus of the c-fps messenger RNA. If this deduction proves to be correct, the data will provide direct evidence that the righthand recombination during transduction by retroviruses occurs between RNA intermediates. Irrespective of these ambiguities, both junctions are located within exons of c-fps, and both may have been formed by non-homologous recombination (although the evidence for the latter statement is not decisive). A sequence of 1020 nucleotides has been deleted from the transduced version of c-fps in the genome of PRCII virus, apparently by homologous recombination between sequences repeated within c-fps. Fujinami virus may contain the entire coding domain of c-fps, but mutations have created 26 amino acid substitutions in the viral version of the gene. By contrast, the partially deleted version of c-fps in PRCII virus contains no mutations that would alter the amino acid sequence.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Three views of microbial genomes.

We describe here GenomeAtlases as a method for visualising three different aspects of complete microbial chromosomes: repeats, DNA structural characteristics, and base composition. We have applied this method to all publicly available genomes, and find a general strand preference of global repeats. The atlas for the Mycoplasma genitalium genome is presented as an example, and results from all three views are consistent with known characteristics of the genome.

Base Composition↗

Segmentation algorithm for DNA sequences.

A new measure, to quantify the difference between two probability distributions, called the quadratic divergence, has been proposed. Based on the quadratic divergence, a new segmentation algorithm to partition a given genome or DNA sequence into compositionally distinct domains is put forward. The new algorithm has been applied to segment the 24 human chromosome sequences, and the boundaries of isochores for each chromosome were obtained. Compared with the results obtained by using the entropic segmentation algorithm based on the Jensen-Shannon divergence, both algorithms resulted in all identical coordinates of segmentation points. An explanation of the equivalence of the two segmentation algorithms is presented. The new algorithm has a number of advantages. Particularly, it is much simpler and faster than the entropy-based method. Therefore, the new algorithm is more suitable for analyzing long genome sequences, such as human and other newly sequenced eukaryotic genome sequences.

Algorithms↗

Streptomyces contain Escherichia coli-type A + T-rich promoters having novel structural features.

We describe here the isolation and characterization of a class of A + T-rich transcriptionally active sequences in the filamentous antibiotic-producing Gram-positive bacterial genus Streptomyces. These regions, which digress dramatically in base composition from the 73% G + C composition characteristic of the Streptomyces genome, promote gene expression in both Escherichia coli and Streptomyces lividans and contain the major elements that determine promoter strength in E. coli. The Streptomyces-E. coli-type promoters (SEP) also show novel structural features that include multiple direct repeats within the promoter region as well as a specific hexameric sequence in the vicinity of the mRNA start point.

Base Composition↗

The complete mitochondrial genome of the rayfish Raja porosa (Chondrichthyes, Rajidae).

We isolated mitochondrial DNA from the rayfish Raja porosa by long-polymerase chain reaction (Long-PCR) with conserved primers, and sequenced it by primer walking method using flanking sequences as sequencing primers. R. porosa mitochondrial DNA consists of 16,972 bp and its structural organization is conserved in comparison with other fishes and mammals. Based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) sequence, the phylogenetic position of R. porosa among cartilaginous fishes was inferred using different phylogenetic methods (ML-based quartet puzzling, Neighbor-joining (NJ) and Bayesian approaches). In this paper, we report the characteristics of the R. porosa mitochondrial genome including structural organization, base composition of rRNAs, tRNAs and protein-encoding genes and characteristics of mitochondrial tRNAs. These findings are applicable to comparative mitogenomics of R. porosa with other related taxa.

Amino Acid Motifs↗

Genes encoding major light-harvesting polypeptides are clustered on the genome of the cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon.

The polypeptide composition of the phycobilisome, the major light-harvesting complex of prokaryotic cyanobacteria and certain eukaryotic algae, can be modulated by different light qualities in cyanobacteria exhibiting chromatic adaptation. We have identified genomic fragments encoding a cluster of phycobilisome polypeptides (phycobiliproteins) from the chromatically adapting cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon using previously characterized DNA fragments of phycobiliprotein genes from the eukaryotic alga Cyanophora paradoxa and from F. diplosiphon. Characterization of two lambda-EMBL3 clones containing overlapping genomic fragments indicates that three sets of phycobiliprotein genes--the alpha- and beta-allophycocyanin genes plus two sets of alpha- and beta-phycocyanin genes--are clustered within 13 kilobases on the cyanobacterial genome and transcribed off the same strand. The gene order (alpha-allophycocyanin followed by beta-allophycocyanin and beta-phycocyanin followed by alpha-phycocyanin) appears to be a conserved arrangement found previously in a eukaryotic alga and another cyanobacterium. We have reported that one set of phycocyanin genes is transcribed as two abundant red light-induced mRNAs (1600 and 3800 bases). We now present data showing that the allophycocyanin genes and a second set of phycocyanin genes are transcribed into major mRNAs of 1400 and 1600 bases, respectively. These transcripts are present in RNA isolated from cultures grown in red and green light, although lower levels of the 1600-base phycocyanin transcript are present in cells grown in green light. Furthermore, a larger transcript of 1750 bases hybridizes to the allophycocyanin genes and may be a precursor to the 1400-base species.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Histone acetylase GCN5 enters the nucleus via importin-alpha in protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii.

The histone acetyltransferase GCN5 acetylates nucleosomal histones to alter gene expression. How GCN5 gains entry into the nucleus of the cell has not been determined. We have mapped a six-amino acid motif (RKRVKR) that serves as a necessary and sufficient nuclear localization signal (NLS) for GCN5 in the protozoan pathogen Toxoplasma gondii (TgGCN5). Virtually nothing is known about nucleocytoplasmic transport in these parasites (phylum Apicomplexa), and this study marks the first demonstrated NLS delineated for members of the phylum. The TgGCN5 NLS has predictive value because it successfully identifies other nuclear proteins in three different apicomplexan genomic databases. Given the basic composition of the T. gondii NLS, we hypothesized that TgGCN5 physically interacts with importin-alpha, the main transport receptor in the importin/karyopherin nuclear import pathway. We cloned the importin-alpha gene from T. gondii (TgIMPalpha), which encodes a protein of 545 amino acids that possesses an importin-beta-binding domain and armadillo/beta-catenin-like repeats. In vitro co-immunoprecipitation experiments confirm that TgIMPalpha directly interacts with TgGCN5, but this interaction is abolished if the TgGCN5 NLS is deleted. Taken together, these data argue that TgGCN5 gains access to the parasite nucleus by interacting with TgIMPalpha. Bioinformatics analysis of the T. gondii genome reveals that other components of the importin pathway are present in the organism. This study demonstrates the utility of T. gondii as a model for the study of nucleocytoplasmic trafficking in early eukaryotic cells.

Acetyltransferases↗

A complete and near-perfect rhesus macaque reference genome: lessons from subtelomeric repeats and sequencing bias.

A truly complete, telomere-to-telomere (T2T), and error-free reference genome remains a foundational resource-and long-standing goal-for unbiased comparative and functional genomics. While recent T2T assemblies of humans and other primates have made substantial progress, most still contain thousands of base-level errors, particularly within highly repetitive regions. Here, we present T2T-MMU8v2.0, a near-perfect T2T assembly of the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), representing the highest base-level accuracy reported in a primate genome to date. By employing an optimized ONT-only assembly strategy, we identify subtelomeric satellite-rich regions as the principal bottleneck to improving assembly quality, owing to technological biases in long-read platforms and limitations in current hybrid assembly frameworks. We discover 268 previously unannotated repeat families and resolve ~8 Mbp of SATR satellite arrays, with over 99-fold enrichment in historically misassembled subtelomeric regions. These satellites form four distinct genomic architectures, each with unique SATR satellite composition, segmental duplication organization, and epigenetic signatures, distinct from the subtelomeric architectures observed in hominid genomes. Notably, in contrast to the largely gene-poor subtelomeric regions in African hominids, the SATR architectures in macaques harbor 58 actively transcribed genes, supported by open chromatin and expression data, suggesting gene innovation within these repetitive regions. Functionally, T2T-MMU8v2.0 improves read mappability and accuracy across sequencing platforms, and results in a 19% improvement of transcription start site enrichment scores and 5,821 additional chromatin accessibility peaks on average, thereby enhancing variant detection, regulatory annotation, and transcriptomic resolution in population genetics or single-nucleus studies. Together, this work establishes a new benchmark for genomics, offers a roadmap for resolving complex repetitive regions, and reveals previously unrecognized features of subtelomeric genome structure and evolution.

Journal Article↗

Characterization of microbial dark matter at scale with MetaSBT and taxonomy-aware Sequence Bloom Trees.

Metagenomics has become a powerful tool for studying microbial communities, allowing researchers to investigate microbial diversity within complex environmental samples. Recent advances in sequencing technology have enabled the recovery of near-complete microbial genomes directly from metagenomic samples, also known as metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). However, accurately characterizing these genomes remains a significant challenge due to the presence of sequencing errors, incomplete assembly, and contamination. Here we present MetaSBT, a new tool for organizing, indexing, and characterizing microbial reference genomes and MAGs. It is able to identify clusters of genomes at all seven taxonomic levels, from the kingdom all the way down to the species level, using the Sequence Bloom Tree (SBT) data structure that relies on Bloom Filters (BFs) to index massive amounts of genomes based on their k-mers composition. We have built an initial set of databases composed of over 190 thousand viral genomes from NCBI GenBank and public sources grouped into sequence consistent clusters at different taxonomic levels, making it the first software solution for the classification of viruses at different ranks, including still unknown ones. This results in the definition of over 40 thousand species clusters where ~80% do not match with any known viral species in reference databases to date. Furthermore, we show how our databases can be used as a new basis for existing quantitative metagenomic profilers to unlock the detection of unknown microbes and the estimation of their abundance in metagenomic samples. Finally, the framework is released open-source and, along with its public databases, is fully integrated into the Galaxy Platform enabling broad accessibility.

metagenome-assembled genomes↗

DNA:DNA reassociation analysis of Aeromonas salmonicida.

DNA from 26 Aeromonas salmonicida strains, namely 11 'typical' and 15 so-called 'atypical' strains, was used to assess the taxonomic relatedness within the species. The genomes were characterized by determination of DNA base composition, DNA:DNA reassociation, calculation of sequence divergence following reassociation, and by genome size estimations. By comparison with DNA obtained from controls and the Aeromonas hydrophila group, A. salmonicida strains were determined to be correctly placed with respect to genus and species. A. salmonicida subspecies salmonicida (the 'typical' group) was an extremely homogeneous taxon. The 'atypical' strains were more diverse, but distinct biotypes were recognizable. The first biotype included several geographically diverse isolates from goldfish. The second recognizable biotype included strains isolated from European carp. Other 'atypical' isolates could not be grouped but showed enough internal homology to be retained within the species. The A. salmonicida subspecies achromogenes and masoucida were found to be closely related to the motile aeromonads. It is considered that the present classification of A. salmonicida is unsuitable and should be restructured to include A. salmonicida subspecies salmonicida, subspecies achromogenes (to include the present subspecies masoucida), and the reintroduced subspecies nova.

Aeromonas↗

A rare branch-point mutation is associated with missplicing of fibrillin-2 in a large family with congenital contractural arachnodactyly.

Congenital contractural arachnodactyly (CCA) is an autosomal dominant disorder that is phenotypically similar to but genetically distinct from Marfan syndrome. Genetic-linkage analysis has implicated the fibrillin-2 gene (FBN2) as the CCA locus. Mutation analysis of two isolated CCA patients revealed missense mutations, indicating that defects in FBN2 may be responsible for this disorder. However, cosegregation of a mutant allele with the disease phenotype has not yet been established. We have investigated the primary cause of CCA in a large well-characterized kindred with five generations comprising 18 affected individuals. Previous studies demonstrated linkage of this family's CCA phenotype to FBN2. Mutation analysis of cDNA derived from the proband and her affected brother, using a nonisotopic RNase cleavage assay, revealed the partial skipping of exon 31. Approximately 25% mutant transcript is produced, which is apparently sufficient to cause a CCA phenotype. Sequence analysis of genomic DNA revealed an unusual base composition for intron 30 and identified the mutation, a g-26t transversion, in the vicinity of the splicing branch-point site in intron 30. Genomic DNA from 30 additional family members, both affected and unaffected, then was analyzed for the mutation. The results clearly demonstrate cosegregation of the branch-point mutation with the CCA phenotype. This is the first report of a CCA mutation in a multiplex family, unequivocally establishing that mutation in FBN2 are responsible for the CCA phenotype. In addition, branch-point mutations only very rarely have been associated with human disease, suggesting that the unusual composition of this intron influences splicing stability.

Adult↗

Genetic dissection of trehalose biosynthesis in Corynebacterium glutamicum: inactivation of trehalose production leads to impaired growth and an altered cell wall lipid composition.

The analysis of the available Corynebacterium genome sequence data led to the proposal of the presence of all three known pathways for trehalose biosynthesis in bacteria, i.e. trehalose synthesis from UDP-glucose and glucose 6-phosphate (OtsA-OtsB pathway), from malto-oligosaccharides or alpha-1,4-glucans (TreY-TreZ pathway), or from maltose (TreS pathway). Inactivation of only one of the three pathways by chromosomal deletion did not have a severe impact on C. glutamicum growth, while the simultaneous inactivation of the OtsA-OtsB and TreY-TreZ pathway or of all three pathways resulted in the inability of the corresponding mutants to synthesize trehalose and to grow efficiently on various sugar substrates in minimal media. This growth defect was largely reversed by the addition of trehalose to the culture broth. In addition, a possible pathway for glycogen synthesis from ADP-glucose involving glycogen synthase (GlgA) was discovered. C. glutamicum was found to accumulate significant amounts of glycogen when grown under conditions of sugar excess. Insertional inactivation of the chromosomal glgA gene led to the failure of C. glutamicum cells to accumulate glycogen and to the abolition of trehalose production in a DeltaotsAB background, demonstrating that trehalose production via the TreY-TreZ pathway is dependent on a functional glycogen biosynthetic route. The trehalose-non-producing mutant with inactivated OtsA-OtsB and TreY-TreZ pathways displayed an altered cell wall lipid composition when grown in minimal broth in the absence of trehalose. Under these conditions, the mutant lacked both major trehalose-containing glycolipids, i.e. trehalose monocorynomycolate and trehalose dicorynomycolate, in its cell wall lipid fraction. The results suggest that a dramatically altered cell wall lipid bilayer of trehalose-less C. glutamicum mutants may be responsible for the observed growth deficiency of such strains in minimal medium. The results of the genetic and physiological dissection of trehalose biosynthesis in C. glutamicum reported here may be of general relevance for the whole phylogenetic group of mycolic-acid-containing coryneform bacteria.

Base Sequence↗

Conservation of gene organization in the lymphotropic herpesviruses herpesvirus Saimiri and Epstein-Barr virus.

By analyses of short DNA sequences, we have deduced the overall arrangement of genes in the (A + T)-rich coding sequences of herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) relative to the arrangements of homologous genes in the (G + C)-rich coding sequences of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome and the (A + T)-rich sequences of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) genome. Fragments of HVS DNA from 13 separate sites within the 111 kilobase pairs of the light DNA coding sequences of the genome were subcloned into M13 vectors, and sequences of up to 350 bases were determined from each of these sites. Amino acid sequences predicted for fragments of open reading frames defined by these sequences were compared with a library of the protein sequences of major open reading frames predicted from the complete DNA sequences of VZV and EBV. Of the 13 short amino acid sequences obtained from HVS, only 3 were recognizably homologous to proteins encoded by VZV, but all 13 HVS sequences were unambiguously homologous to gene products encoded by EBV. The HVS reading frames identified by this method included homologs of the major capsid polypeptides, glycoprotein H, the major nonstructural DNA-binding protein, thymidine kinase, and the homolog of the regulatory gene product of the BMLF1 reading frame of EBV. Locally as well as globally, the order and relative orientation of these genes resembled that of their homologs on the EBV genome. Despite the major differences in their nucleotide compositions and in the nature and arrangements of reiterated DNA sequences, the genomes of the lymphotropic herpesviruses HVS and EBV encode closely related proteins, and they share a common organization of these coding sequences which differs from that of the neurotropic herpesviruses, VZV and herpes simplex virus.

Amino Acid Sequence↗